A/N:

~ Trigger Warning ~ for CHAPTERS 21-22(23?) Lots of tension within the Bad Batch because of Crosshair and Talla... this is probably not necessary and a huge, exaggerated precaution but I'm doing it anyways just in case. If you don't want to read about two people at each other's throats, then you can skip these chapters I've mentioned :)

~ presents ~ A beloved Togruta Queen and a certain Plo plus his 'Bros' will be in this Crosshair/Talla arc


(Day 34 w/ the Bad Batch)

Crosshair
376

Talla

378

That was the tied score as of this morning between the Sniper and the Agent in the war so fondly known as -

*ahem* correction - HATEFULLY known as: 'Who Can Deliver the Most Scathing Comeback?'

In order to maintain his sanity in the large ship that had grown incredibly small since the Battle for Kamino, Tech had turned Talla and Crosshair's verbal assaults against each other into a sort of game. He kept a scoreboard on his datapad for each opponent and would keep adding tally's when he felt one had been victorious over the other.

Needless to say, there'd been zero progress in Talla and Crosshair's friendship. There was no effort to even make progress. There wasn't even a microscopic hint of a friendship to progress on. No, Crosshair refused to believe Talla was a good person, Talla refused to believe Crosshair was a good person, so the war between the Sniper and Special Agent was even more gruesome than the actual, more important war they fought in.

Unfortunately for Crosshair, he learned the hard way very early on that he had met his match, and that made his already unhealthy levels of spite and hate rise by exponential leaps and bounds, thus of course stoking the barely controlled flames of Talla's fury to a full-blown raging forest fire within seconds flat. What Crosshair refused to believe though was that Talla hated all this fighting just as much as he did but felt like she had no other choice. So, each battle ended with a tie. Every single time. Crosshair would get a leg up, Talla would cut down that leg, and vice versa. They went back and forth, up and down, all day EVERYDAY OVER EVERY LITTLE THING!

Sometimes it didn't even take Crosshair seconds to enrage Talla. He apparently breathed wrong yesterday, she told him to shut up, and another battle ensued.

This was not a fun game. And it didn't appear to have an end in sight. But it did its job, and non-confrontational Tech did not snap from the insanity all around him, nor did he have to bury the bodies of the two bickering teammates he would inevitably kill if not for his not-so-fun game. It kept him grounded. It was fine. Everything was fine.

Even on the mission they received after Tech recovered, the two enemies didn't bother to set aside their mutual hate and held a petty battle of cruel wits during the actual battle! Ideally, it would have been great to have two snipers on this retrieval mission, but with them bickering at each other over the comm link, criticizing each other's snipe-shots, droid count or whatever little shred of error they found and had to be vocal about, both trained snipers combined efforts only had the efficiency of one... barely. The mission was a success, but there were several dangerous instances that were out of their usual level of control, putting ones at unnecessary risk.

And no matter how many times Sergeant Hunter ordered them to 'Stow it!' or 'Cut the crap!' or even when Wrecker jumped in and screamed 'SHUT UP!' the blissful silence over the comm channel only lasted a total of like thirteen seconds. Tech wanted to jam their comms, but then the rest of the teams would have been too, so he couldn't.

Hunter had tried every mediation technique he knew, he tried grounding them, he tried bribing them, he even tried Tech's suggestions on team building exercises he had found on the HoloNet! Nothing worked. Crosshair still thought Talla was out to get them, and Talla had no idea why Crosshair hated her but refused to be a doormat and fought his fire with explosions.

The Havoc Marauder II was no longer a safe haven called 'Home Sweet Home' to Hunter Tech and Wrecker, but now front row seats to the 'Crosshair & Talla Soap Opera Dramarama.' Those titles pretty much meant the same thing, but it was justified with how extra the two were being with their levels of pettiness. If this was an actual holoshow broadcasted for people to watch, there'd have to be a warning in the intro to every episode, IF people even made it past the first five minutes of the Pilot episode that is.

Warnings: May Cause Viewer to Have an Anxiety Attack, a Heart Attack, or a Stroke

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P.S. If Not One of the Above, Then Will Certainly Destroy Your Will to Live

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Enjoy the Show!

Or, in Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech's cases, it would cause the occasional day-drinking to bear the chaos by numbing their inhibitions. They had thought their bad day-drinking habits from the Dark Days were a thing of the past and never to be repeated again, but each had found themselves on occasions slipping a shot of something strong into their caf in the mornings for liquid courage and sanity... sometimes it was two shots though... and Tech would never admit it to Hunter but he had actually put in three after that 'breathing wrong' catfight yesterday morning.

Occasional sibling-like bantering was fine, the brothers bickered and teased each other all the time. But with these two specifically, fighting over every little meaningless thing and creating tension every time they entered a room, it made each day feel like a year, each week feel like a lifetime, and by the one-month anniversary of Talla joining the squad, the trio of innocent bystanders wished someone would just put them out of their misery. A moment's peace was a rare find these days.

Crosshair actually showed up to breakfast on the anniversary decked out in his best black clothing, and instead of being happy for the new addition to the team he claimed today was a day of mourning for the good ol' days, before their home became infested with a small pest that just wouldn't go away.

*tap* Point for Crosshair.

Talla responded to this by saying the small pest was nothing, because their home was already compromised by a blood-sucking parasite to begin with.

*tap* Point for Talla.

Tied up again.*Sigh*

Shockingly, neither opponent laid a hand on their nemesis, or a better term would be SLAPPED! their nemesis. That boundary was not crossed again. Yet they'd both proven it was not needed.

There was a brief moment of peaceful silence today after everyone's morning mugs of caf/hot chocolate when the two enemies took showers, but everyone else on this ship knew that there'd be another bloody massacre afterwards because two people could not bathe in the two separate showers at the same time. Crosshair ended up missing the allotted time frame scheduled for his shower but decided to jump in anyways, except he failed to rush in mere seconds before Talla got into her personal one and thus the man suffered a cold deluge. If the caf didn't help wake him up, the cold deluge certainly did and his curses of surprise, anger, and hate for Talla echoed all the way in the cargo hold, where Wrecker had tucked away himself in a dark corner so he could maybe sip his mug of delicious warm caf in peace then hide away until they reached Coruscant. There, he could scurry away with his girlfriend to a place, any place, that didn't have angry people yelling at each other from sunup till sundown, or sometimes even in the middle of the night if they just so unluckily intercepted each other while getting a midnight snack at exactly the same time.

The cold shower was totally Crosshairs own fault. He never took the blame for anything though, and it didn't stop him from bellyaching about it and shifting the blame onto Talla.

Still shivering from the frigid water despite wearing a long-sleeved shirt, his warmest sweatpants, fuzziest pair of socks plus a sweatshirt, Crosshair had his arms wrapped tightly around his quivering torso and tapped his foot impatiently as Talla took her sweet time getting ready for the day, and made sure to growl, "You took all the hot water." When she finally sashayed out of her room after seeming to have the best shower of her entire life!

And to Crosshair it seemed she had no regrets about it either, if her condescending tone wasn't enough proof. "Well, that is what happens when two people try to use the two showers at the same time, Crossy." His eye twitched at the stupid name stupid Hunter taught her yet she plowed on knowing if he hated this, he was going KRIFFING HATE what she was going to draw the attention of his twitching eyes to - the large, intricate, color-coded schedule hanging on the outside wall of the computer room. "So I suppose I must, yet again, refer you to - The Chart."

Referring to the schedule had its desired effect, as she knew it would. He wanted to appear unfazed but a second subtle eye twitch he couldn't stop gave him away. "Oh goody, The Chart."

Sitting at the workbench, Tech pulled up the scoreboard on his datapad and set it aside, then picked up his project - finishing the modifications to Talla's vibrosword that they did together - and silently listened to today's installment unfold. Here we go again. He had mentally rolled his eyes so much his poor exceptional brain was starting to hurt.

The Chart was a schedule Talla implemented so the Bad Batch would have some sort of organization in their lives. She couldn't control when or how the missions were assigned, but she could control the quality of life in their home when there wasn't one. Thus, The Chart was created. It organized a chore schedule ranging from sweeping to dishwashing to scrubbing the carbon scoring on the outside of the ship, and all the work was divided evenly among the five Bad Batchers. There was also a shower schedule for in-between missions and on leave, to ration the hot water as they all unfortunately preferred to bathe in the mornings. And meal cooks for dinners were assigned for a couple of evenings a week, though this was more of a suggestion depending on how tired or unmotivated Hunter, Tech or Talla were from their crazy, war-torn lives. Wrecker tried cooking once and they still needed to replace the hood over the stove because he somehow managed cause a small explosion making simple bantha burgers, BUT he was learning how to make other foods that didn't require the use of a stove or oven, like various tasty sandwiches! So he would soon be added to the meal schedule again!

Crosshair, he was resourceful and could probably cook too. But he refused to. The Chart was borderline control-freakish yet something good for them all, but because it was Talla who created it, Crosshair hated it. And since he hated it, the sniper dismissed it any chance he got. As you can see it sometimes didn't end well for him. That first time Talla slaved away in the kitchen for two hours to make a delicious dinner for them all... Crosshair ate a bland, chalky ration bar instead. At the dinner table. Right in front of her. In return, a cup of meiloorun juice may have 'accidentally' spilled on him... Right on his face. It was a strange phenomenon, Talla thinks someone must have turned off the anti-grav!

Back to the present, Talla reminded forgetful Crosshair of the successful schedule she made. "Let's see here - laundry schedule, trash schedule, other various chore schedules -" Her finger jabbed at his name written the same color as his heart - black - with the time slot he was assigned. "Aha! Shower schedule!" With unparalleled sarcasm dripping from her lips, she explained everything in exaggerated simple terms and a sickly-sweet tone. "Now in between missions and on leave, after the other three you are scheduled to use the shower between the minutes of 8:51 and 8:58am and after you, I get to use mine from the minutes of 9 and 9:15am." Oh he knew, he just didn't care. And she knew he didn't care, so she made him pay for it with fake concern about his mental state. "You must have forgotten, just like you forgot I was cooking dinner last week, but don't worry sweetie, forgetfulness happens when you get older - it's just a normal part of life!"

*tap* Point for Talla.

This insult derived from his silver hair did not go undealt with. Talla knew it was colored that way because of the enhancement process somehow and that he was not old. Though ever the patient young(ish)man when it came to finding the perfect insult to tear someone down with, Crosshair blatantly ignored this comment for now and Tech knew he'd wait for the perfect opportunity to return the favor. And it would be provided by picking at the bone they'd shattered into a million tiny pieces by now since the Madam Dictator had implemented the strict shower schedule. "Still not fair I only get 7 minutes."

No hint of annoyance yet, Tech noted on the female Agent. "There are five of us and we have to ration hot water." She explained again, with unexpected patience.

"But you get fifteen minutes." Crosshair complained again.

Talla still appeared quite smug, and even gave a snide chuckle, as if he was the stupidest man in the galaxy. "As I've stated before, countless times -" With a conceited smile Talla made a sweeping gesture from the neck up to draw attention on all her flawless skin and fiery-colored hair that did have to be maintained, "- you can't rush perfection, Crossy."

Ah, the opportunity to return the favor had arrived. Tech judged correctly and reached over to hover a finger over Crosshair's scoreboard on his datapad when the sniper smirked... but there was no joy whatsoever in it. "Well, taking your sweet time clearly isn't working out for you, so me and the others should get another two minutes added to our shower times."

*tap* Point for Crosshair. Tech sighed disappointedly at the tie again.

This comeback of course peeved Talla, and her face twitched as the figurative lid over her fury barely contained it. Unintentionally, she had crossed the boundary into hypocrite waters by a double standard just created - she could poke fun at his appearance, but he could not do the same with her. It made her feel dirty and miserable.

In a moment of gullibility, Crosshair thought he had actually won this battle - no one ever won a battle! (yes, he was well aware of Tech's game) As per usual he underestimated her, and he was woefully mistakened with his victory when her features calmed back down to fake concern. "You know, maybe I should be more considerate of my hot water usage."

He made a noise of distrust. Right, and I should let Wrecker cuddle me when he's upset - What's your angle, woman?

"I read somewhere that lonely people take longer, hotter showers or baths to replace the warmth their lacking socially or emotionally."

Crosshair squinted at Talla in mild confusion, and briefly thought she'd lost her touch. I'm not lonely, what are you talking about? Even Tech paused his sword tinkering to make sure he didn't miss Talla's explanation because he, too, was befuddled at her unusual weak tactics for this battle.

Here came the fists of fury right to the face. "You're clearly never going to know the warmth that comes from having a real friendship, or even a woman's love for that matter, so I may as well let you have more hot water so you can pitifully try making up for it."

Ouch. Crosshair felt like Wrecker punched him in the gut. What Talla said was probably was not even a proven scientific fact... the underlying message on the other hand: sort of depressingly true. No one but his brothers and 99 could fully handle him and his ways that Crosshair felt were out of his control. It was a defense mechanism, like Hunter said. Crosshair's trust issues ran further than anyone else in the family because of what he suffered in his cadet years, so making friends outside of it was almost impossible. He wasn't even completely relaxed around Nik or the others yet, and probably never would be, so she was also right in saying that getting a girlfriend was just that - impossible. No if's, and's, or but's about it.

Having his deepest insecurities thrown back in his face, Wow that hurt. He always knew his cruel words were meticulously crafted so it would effectively ruin a person's will to live and all that so the victims would not even think to mess with Crosshair, and he secretly hated doing it, but being on the receiving end of that level of verbal abuse... Wow. People usually inflicted physical pain on him, like she did, so he verbally lashed out because his physical strength was somewhat lacking compared to others, and his agility was often not enough to dodge the physical attacks. And when he did get delivered verbal blows it was mainly for his 'scrawny' figure or the squad of freaks he was a part of, which did hurt but not as bad as this. And if this hurt so badly, he couldn't imagine what it must have felt like to be told... What he said to her before the Battle for Kamino.

Right here, in this moment, it was the first time Crosshair actually considered stopping this war between them, whether or not he had proven Talla was out to destroy him and his family. He was the only one who could stop it, because he was the instigator as always and she defended herself as always, something he deep down admitted to himself a while back but furiously denied day after day. Her starting a battle was actually rare, and he hated it because it more proved Hunter's opinion about her instead of his theory.

Crosshair's brain felt like it was being yanked in two different directions at once at the two conflicting mindsets.Argh, this was all so frustrating!And judging by the fire in her eyes, she wasn't finished - Why is she never finished?!

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Oh, because she's just making sure there's no chance of recovering from this verbal smackdown... just like I inadvertently taught her how to do.

Talla tapped her chin, giving the appearance of contemplation, and his shoulders that had unwittingly slumped now became rigid one more as he prepared to keep up the appearance of not being affected at all by her words. "Except, ya know, if I sacrificed my precious shower time where I do my extensive hair and skin regiment to maintain my perfection, I'd wind up looking like you, and frankly I'd rather kiss a wookie."

Hmph. Not her best work.

Tech still subtlety put a tally on Talla's score, himself thinking the first remark at least was worth the point, not getting involved in any way because this was just a game, just a game that kept him sane. And Crosshair had said worse things to her.

*tap* Point for Talla.

Crosshair felt his strength return at that weak second comeback. The urge to rip her head off was still there, but the determination to not be defeated by her was stronger. "Two minutes on the HoloNet, and I can arrange that for you." That tired superior smirk returned to his face. He was tired. Tired of the fighting. Tired of being angry. But he couldn't stop himself. "Maybe even one minute if I don't use your picture."

*tap* Point for Crosshair.

The lid on her figurative container of anger flew off faster than a ship through hyperspace. "I hate you!" I hate the fighting! I hate being angry! I hate being a hypocrite!

"Like I care." He did care though. Quite a lot, in fact. And it only vexed him more.

It was extremely muffled, yet Hunter still heard all the ruckus in the common area from the almost soundproof cockpit where he had chosen to hunker down. Like Wrecker, he desperately wanted to camp out there till they reached Coruscant, but the exasperated Sergeant had to brave the storm after he answered a comm. "Break it up you two." He routinely ordered but it was never obeyed, stepping between them to push the opponents away from each other to literally grab their attention. "We got a mission."

While Tech left his place at the workbench and called out for Wrecker, Crosshair declared, "Thank God."Not even caring he wouldn't have time to properly recuperate from the last one. "I'm getting cabin fever."

"It's only been twelve hours since the last one." The Special Agent sometimes made it easy for Crosshair to cut her down, but Talla couldn't help it. She wanted to have the last word, just as he did, and she wanted to make him look stupid, just like he wanted to do to her.

"Twelve hours sealed inside a ship with you is twelve hours in hell." Crosshair retorted coolly down at her, which was ironic considering he was, apparently, in hell.

Surprising everyone in the room, after a glaring contest with him that lasted a whole three seconds... Talla's angrily twisted face briefly contorted with sadness. Without their usual spark of determination, her eyes flitted from cantankerous Crosshair to anxious Wrecker behind him, peeking through the cargo holds door, then to Tech pointedly keeping his eyes locked on the screen of his datapad, then to tired Hunter, who's hand placed firmly on her shoulder was literally begging her to not retaliate as they had more important matters to focus on right now.

To mask whatever she was feeling inside, her face snapped back to anger before she stalked to the sanctuary of her room with nary a retort.

That was odd, Tech noted. That was not even the most hurtful thing Crosshair had ever said to her, not even close, this was a mild spat compared to the soul-crushing stuff he'd hurled at her. The brainiac didn't even count it on the scoreboard.

A similar thought pattern was experienced by the sniper and the Sergeant. The former was more out of confusion yet relief at being oddly freed from a screaming match, while the latter out of concern. Something shifted within her, Hunter saw it. She tried hiding it by ducking her head, but he saw the tears prick her eyes that would never be allowed to fall, at least not in front of them. And he was certain he wasn't going to like the aftermath of this wimpy battle.

Wrecker was just happy no one yelled.


It was only ten minutes before their arrival to the meetup location - Christophsis - before Hunter braved seeing if Talla was okay. To put into context, their journey to the Outer Rim planet lasted six hours.

Talla had not left her room at all during those long six hours. For some reason, that mild insult from Crosshair really upset her above all the other ones, and Hunter really wanted to know why. So, while his brothers planted themselves on their seats in the cockpit to await exiting hyperspace, Hunter had to play it off as needing to make sure she was ready for the mission to have the believable excuse for knocking on her door, not wanting to appear like he was taking her side in the conflict. He had to play it safe, because Crosshair was his brother, and he always had his brothers back, but Talla was also a victim here. Crosshair was a victim of his trust issues because of the long-necks and regs, and Talla was a victim to his trust issues and defense mechanisms. He agreed with both of them, but they'd tell him he couldn't take both sides, so he had to keep up the appearance of neutrality.

After his brisk knock, silence was his only response for an agonizing short while, then to a measurable degree of relief the door whooshed! open and he was met with breathless Talla, who was still in the middle of getting ready mere minutes before their arrival while him and the others had been ready for hours. "'m almos' ready!" Was her obscured promise because a hairband was between her teeth... because she was still braiding her hair as fast as humanly possible and would need it soon... and her armor wasn't even on, she was just in her blacks! Before the taken aback man could question her, she rushed back into her refresher so she could pin her two messy braids up with the guidance of a mirror.

And now, Hunter didn't know what would be proper in this instance, not having a Plan B if she didn't leave her room. He expected they'd have a private chat out here before joining the other Bad Batchers. He'd never been in her room, just as she'd never been in his. If Tech had some mind-blowing information he'd discovered, his rushing around to find Talla sometimes ended with him bursting into her room when she was napping; Wrecker went in there once to borrow her pull-up bar; Crosshair was banned from the premises because she didn't trust he'd do something underhanded. So, Hunter didn't know what she'd be fine with.

Hunter opted for standing awkwardly outside the entrance of her room and having an awkward conversation through the not one but two open doors - this one and the refresher one several feet inside to where he could see her frantically pinning up her pathetic excuses for braids. "What have you been doing all this time?" He wondered as the leader of the squad, wanting to know why one of his soldiers wasn't battle ready when asked to be six hours ago.

The anxious woman jumped when she heard his voice, then mentally cursed the fact she stupidly forgot to shut the door behind her. Please stay where you are and don't walk in!Talla was not ready for him or the others to find out what she had decided to do, and if he crossed the threshold, it would give him a full view inside of her fortress that would immediately give away what she was planning... because all of her belongings, which weren't that much to begin with, they were now packed inside several crates that she had managed to sneak inside when everyone else was getting ready.

Obviously, this was a question Talla didn't want to answer but without even looking at him she knew it was Sergeant Hunter asking this question and not Hunter her friend, so she had to give her commanding officer some sort of explanation. Be vague, and maybe Hunter my friend will get the hint that I don't want to talk?She mentally hoped. Hunter my friend has been good at being understanding of my feelings and has turned into the main persona I get to see these days - maybe he'll push away Sergeant Hunter..."Thinking." She answered simply, then tried slipping another pin into her mynock-nest-looking hairdo to try and tame it.

"For six hours straight?" This was merely a curious question but -

He's relentless! Her hairpin painfully jabbed into her scalp on accident."Ow!"Dammit, don't decapitate yourself with a hairpin, Talla!Talla loudly cleared her throat to distract from her yelp of pain, ignored the lingering sting from her near death by hairpin, and gave her commanding officer another vague answer while stopping her jerky hand movements to give off the semblance of being calm, as if she didn't just spend the last six hours having an existential crisis."Yes." Please take the hint, Hunter...

Nope, Sergeant Hunter was again RELENTLESS. "What about?" Oh maker, he even stepped into the room to be closer to her if she was indeed hurt or something and needed assistance.

She began sweating bullets now, and her clammy hands made handling a small now slippery pin all the more difficult. Please don't look to the left, please don't look to the left, please don't -Her heart leapt into her throat as he ended up doing so anyway. GAH! He's looking -

Indeed, his eyes had shifted to the side because his awkwardness demanded it, for it had not toned down one bit despite the concern starting to seep through. All that was forgotten and replaced with gut-wrenching fear when he took in the bare walls, bare everything and the stacked crates in the back corner, no doubt holding all of her possessions.

Without a choice, Talla barreled out of the refresher once Hunter ventured deeper into the room and jabbed a finger on the close button for her bedroom door so no one else would see inside. The tense silence that followed were unbearable as he was silently taking in the empty surroundings and she wracked her whirling brain for a good way to explain herself without hurting her friend more, because he truly looked like someone had shot him in the head - or more accurately the heart.

In the past with instances like this, where Talla did something Hunter thought was not right or even underhanded, there'd be a severe scolding coming her way from a fuming commanding officer. This time would prove to be a completely different experience, because he didn't look the slightest bit angry when facing her after his brain processed what she'd been up to these last six hours. When Hunter finally turned back towards her fidgeting presence by the wall of the refresher, he wore the look of a betrayed friend, knowing exactly what would have happened if he had not stumbled across this secret. "You were going to just leave? Without saying anything?"

Talla didn't think it was possible for her to make Hunter look almost, if not just as sad as he was when told of 99's sacrifice, or even when he broke down that night after Tech's minor accident. The woman had no idea she possessed that kind of power over him. It gave her feelings of exhilaration because it meant he really liked having her around as opposed to what Crosshair tried to convince her otherwise, and also terrifying because the last thing she would ever want to do was cause him pain. It made talking about this a whole lot more difficult, that's for sure. "More or less?" She weakly admitted with a guilty shrug.

It only resulted in adding appalled to Hunter's range of negative emotions. "Why?"He pretty much knew why Talla wanted to leave, but he didn't understand 'Why now? Why this way?'

By the looks of it, with her hand fidgeting and flighty eye contact, Talla didn't want to do it this way either, her conscience plaguing her big time. Yet she still almost did. And her reasoning sounded so feeble now when it was voiced out loud. "...I thought it'd it be kinder."

Hunter had to blink several times to process this. "In what universe is packing up and just leaving without saying goodbye 'kinder?'" Hunter asked slowly, forcing himself to remain calm. He wasn't angry... just hurt.

Talla almost preferred the yelling, because the betrayal was so much more effective at making her feel guilty. She quickly added as if it would help things: "I planned on leaving a recorded holo or a handwritten note, saying goodbye!"

It didn't help things. And forget being a neutral party in this war, Hunter needed to know why this was happening now, of all times. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing!"

The pointed look that was her response said, 'BS.'

Stubbornly, Talla ducked her head to avoid it and walked around Hunter's rigid form towards the crate at the foot of her bed. "Don't worry about me, you've got enough on your plate." She said shortly for his own good, bending down to pull out the various armor pieces stored in this crate.

Hunter had to stop his eyes from rolling while she began to orderly sort the pieces onto her bed before putting them on properly. Sometimes her selflessness was annoying, especially when it involved his supposed delicate frame of mind right now. "It's my job to make sure everyone is okay, Talla." He reminded her with the same curt tone she used on him.

"... And everyone will be after I leave." Talla claimed, and she didn't have to turn around to know he didn't like this answer either.

"How can you say that?" Irritating silence was his answer again, so without much of a choice Hunter took the five steps to close the distance between them and grasped her shoulder to stop her. "Hey." With some force involved he made her face him, and he could clearly see that same dullness as before within her usually starry-like orbs. Being this close to her, the usual being tongue-tied happened, but under the grim circumstances he stumbled forward the best he could. "I mean, I thought we - I thought you and I, you know, we're open? With each other? I thought that's what me and you agreed to do, I mean you were talking to me before 99 died and after he did you held me against my will and forced grief counseling on me." His hand squeezed her shoulder in what he hoped was an encouraging way to show he that little dig was a joke to lighten the mood, and he was rewarded with a tiny twitch of her lips in the tiniest of smiles, "But I know because of that help you've given me I'm capable of helping you, so talk to me." He admonished, "Why did this stupid comment from Crosshair get to you more than all the other ones?"

Her stubbornness almost won out, but the wounded puppy look still evident on Hunters face made her concede. "... Fine." She huffed, then beckoned him to sit down on the edge of the bed after kicking away the crate she had been digging around in. Perching herself on the edge of the bed, her knees were hugged against her chest and while it made her look like a scared little girl it offered a feeling of security that gave her the strength to spill the beans after he uneasily settled next to her. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye, choosing instead to look in the opposite direction and rest her cheek against the tops of her bent legs. "Usually when Crosshair is giving me crap, I know most of it isn't true. I know I'm beautiful no matter what -"

Okay, I agree with you so far. Hunter mentally swooned. Even right now, with crazy hair with faded coloring, tear-stained red cheeks and hint of a red nose and puffy eyes, he still found her beautiful. She was too distracted ranting to see him have a brief existential crisis of his own. Dear lord, what's happened to me? I'm sounding like one of those cheesy love stories she watches on the holos!

This crisis was all mental freaking out of course, so Talla had no idea and seemed to not draw a breath throughout her spilling of the beans. " - and I know I'm not a pest (most of the time), and I know that the dinner I cooked last week was divine and I already knew that life on the ship was hell for me and him... but when I actually took a second to observe my surroundings in the middle a battle with Crosshair, I saw that it was also true for the rest of you. You all looked so on edge and tired and annoyed, and I realized that life has become unenjoyable for everyone, and it was because I started fighting back." Man, this was why I didn't want to talk about this - her blood pressure was starting to spike again! "But me being nice didn't help, me retaliating doesn't help, your interfering doesn't help - nothing helps!" A pause for a deep breath was needed, so she could continue calmly and not rile Hunter up. He didn't need that. Her head positioning shifted so her aching forehead now pressed against her knees, and the next phase of her explanation was quoting wise Captain Rex from that dinner on Kamino, her words now slightly muffled. "Someone told me that if a squad doesn't have a good dynamic off the battlefield they sure as heck won't have a good dynamic on the battlefield, and his words have proven to be true - we complete our missions, but definitely not to the best of our ability, and there's been a lot of unnecessary close calls..." Her shoulders slumped, "So after some crying and calculations I figured out how this is gonna end."

After several beats without anything more said, her chickening out, Hunter prodded her with a confused: "How will this end?" Mentally, he added: Whoever told her this and made her think she has to leave and cry because of it, the bastard is going to get a vibro stuck in his eye.

Talla wasn't going to allow the tears to come and fall again, it was bad enough some had come and fallen earlier, but there was no denying the crushing feeling in her chest as this truth meant to be kept secret to spare everyone's feelings had to be revealed because of her annoying need to obey direct orders. "Eventually, for your sanity and the Clone Force 99's efficiency, you're going to have to make a choice between me or Crosshair, and I don't need data to compare it to -" She found the strength to peek her face in the direction of the sad man, so a sad smile of her own could be shown. "I know it's not going to be me." The disagreements started pouring out of his mouth -

To spare my feelings no doubt, Talla assumed.

- and a quick hand was placed over one of his resting on his knee, and the sudden electrifying touch made all the arguments die on his tongue. "And I totally understand!" None of this made him feel any better and she could tell, the flick of his widened eyes to their joined hands a dead giveaway, so she removed hers and started one of her bad anxious habits - playing with her hair. The woman chose a loose wisp behind her ear that was long enough to reach her collarbone and began sifting the long strands through her fingernails, and as the seconds dragged on, she did end up pulling out a couple of hairs entirely and at the same time shredded the ends of those that stayed intact with her scalp.

To spare him some guilt, she admitted to some of the depression over the coming decision. "I mean, yeah, I'm a little sad, but he's your brother, and you were an amazing team before I came along, so I'm just saving you the trouble of having to tell me to pack up my stuff and get out of your face."

Like his was earlier, this dig was a sort of joke to make things more light-hearted, and flustered Hunter wanted to piggyback on the attempt at humor to make her feel better. "I wouldn't use those words exactly -"

...

WHAT THE KRIFF IS WRONG WITH YOU?! YOU'RE SENSE OF HUMOR IS WAY BETTER THAN THAT, DI'KUT!

That was just as bad as when Talla wanted his approval after her appearance transformation - he never retracted a statement so fast. "That came out wrong -" His hands had a mind of their own as they stopped her intensified hair shredding, and he engulfed her freed hand between his two to show his sincerity. "Talla, I don't want you to leave - we don't want you to leave." He made sure to emphasize because his painfully beating heart would hint something more behind the first declaration if he didn't. No need to open that can of worms now... or ever.

With no choice, Talla slid her legs off the edge of her seat so she could shift and face him fully and allowed him to keep a hold on her hand which was soothing, but it also shot lightning bolt-like tingles up her arm that made her want to jerk away, even with gloves on and all. "Hunter, if I stay I'm going to have to be prescribed blood pressure medication." She deadpanned. "Wrecker might develop a panic disorder, Tech will need to see a real therapist, and Crosshair will suffer a terrible accident that you'll either help me cover up, or the exact opposite will happen and you'll avenge him -" She huffed nervously, "I'd rather not find out who wins that fight, especially since you've picked up swordsmanship pretty quickly."

All this doomsday stuff that sounded like a huge exaggeration... was actually plausible. Even so, Hunter opened his mouth to tell her she didn't have to go anywhere! That they'd figure something out! Her free hand raising as a silence command nipped it in the bud though, and a slightly brighter smile on her behalf made him listen intently because somehow, he had made her feel better?! "I know this'll sound weird, but you saying ya'll don't want me to leave, that actually makes me feel happy." Hunter's brows knitted in confusion because this sounded crazy, "There were sometimes I did believe the rest of you hated having me around -"

Because of Crosshair, they both finished in their minds.

"- but knowing that it wasn't all awful, and you weren't always miserable, that makes me less sad about having to leave."

There was a finality to her tone, and it told Hunter that fighting her on this was futile. Talla was going to leave, and he couldn't stop her. Suddenly, holding her hand didn't seem like a big deal anymore because this would probably be the last moment they'd have together before she left.

The solution that she'd have to leave had crossed his mind, and it drove him crazy because her leaving would solve so many of his emotional control issues, but at the same time he didn't want to think about a life without her in it. The two of them had a rocky start, and yes there was a lot of tension on the ship now, but life was still better, brighter with her in it. It was terrifying she made him feel feelings, but when it was just the two of them and they did maintain some physical distance, he really enjoyed their time together. Even with her occasionally turning into a walking talking medical journal or like in this case thinking he couldn't handle a little conversation, she had a way of making him feel (99% of the time) not like an invalid when he was down for the count. She made him feel like a normal person, who had ups and downs like everyone else. It was strange and wonderful at the same time, and he didn't want to let that go.

But nothing short of a miracle would convince Crosshair that she wasn't out to get them. Their lives were filled with luck of the not-dying-in-battles variety, not the miraculous kind where their problems just vanished into thin air when it became too much. To resolve things between them would take work, and Crosshair didn't want to do the work. So, one of the two problems had to leave, and Hunter would of course pick Crosshair, but he knew he'd always wish neither of them had to go.

To see the hurt feelings return in Hunter hurt Talla in return, and she sighed, ducked her head and the nervous fidgeting came back, this time with his hands because she didn't want to let go either. "See, this is why I didn't want to say anything - I knew you'd try to convince me to stay, but I know I can't so I wanted to avoid any more sadness."

"That would've only driven me more insane." Hunter tersely informed her. Knowing is just as sucky as not knowing though. After this embittered thought, his own focus drawn to their folded hands and his feelings for her made him attempt calming her fidgeting by drawing soothing circles on the top of hers with the pad of his thumb, hoping it'd still be comforting despite the glove barrier. "Where are you going to go, anyways?" He had to ask, even if it turned out to be bad, like she was going to desert.

"Well, I'm planning on doing assignments solo from now on - I doubt anyone else could live with my strict schedules and stuff like that." She weakly joked.

"I doubt the Kaminoans would allow that." Hunter didn't find humor in any of this anymore, not even his soothing ministrations easing up her anxiety giving him the good feeling that always came after making her feel better.

"No, I'm positive they'd be okay with it." The last conversation with Nala Se recapped in her mind, and Talla scoffed without thinking. At least the Bad Batch's future is secured, so it won't be so bad following that witch's orders.

"What makes you sat that?" Clueless Hunter wondered, reluctantly letting go of her hand. He had to get used to not feeling her touch after all, whether or not he liked the brief occurrences - he hadn't figured that out yet - so he might as well start now. A part of him started to wish he had savored their first and only hug. But how did he know it would end like this? He couldn't believe she was leaving! And yet even with that denial he felt that stupid aching of his heart. Another part of him even wished, for the horrible second time, that she had never come into his life in the first place. He may have been an emotionless blob before she came along, but at least he was an emotionless blob who didn't stupidly allow himself to open his heart to heartbreak. And they weren't even together to begin with, so it just made him feel foolish on top of everything else. Why did he allow himself to become attached to a woman who could never be his and could be taken away from him at any given second? STUPID!

Saddened at the separation, Talla still gave a half-hearted shrug made her seem not so confident for the Kaminoans green light on her plans, lest there be suspicion. "... Just a hunch."


(several hours later)

The Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano could immediately tell her friend, Special Agent Talla, was not her usual sunshiny self when the two were reunited for this mission. Even Sergeant Hunter, who answered her distress call to the Havoc Marauder II, she didn't know him as well but when they spoke it was plain as day to her that he looked like a tired soul.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the time to catch up. After a quick hug between the two friends, awkward introductions were made between the Bad Batch and Reg Commander Wolffe, Reg Sergeant Sinker, Reg Corporal Comet, and several other reg members of the Wolfpack that would be included in the ground assault/infiltration team along with Padawan Tano and Jedi Master Plo Koon. It was awkward because the boys didn't like regs, and the regs openly gawked at the strange men with strange things called enhancements who were formaly known as Clone Commandos. Then, to the Bad Batch's extreme irritation, everyone was rounded up into the Marauder II which would apparently be hauling the entire said strike team to one of the moons orbiting the planet V'hiina Prime in the Outer Rim, where Separatists had managed to elude the Republic of a major mining operation for the extremely rare mineral known as cortosis.

Crosshair thought one pest was bad, TRY ELEVEN MORE! Every reg that looked sideways at him received a glare, and he was revved up and ready to tear down anyone who dared touch anything he wasn't permitted to, or dared talk to him, or dared to do anything he perceived as wrong or a threat. His frustrations quadrupled when neither the reg Commander nor any of the Jedi stopped the troopers from snooping around, only encouraging it by examining the specs of the ship themselves for the upcoming attack.

"I can't believe we're gonna have regs getting into our stuff!" Wrecker complained when all around them troopers began bringing in the crates of gear into the cargo hold and sticking their noses wherever they damn-well pleased, interested in everything they'd never in a million years ever get - basically everything on this shuttle, which seen so far already contained personal fancy smancy speeder bikes, and they haven't even explored the rest of the ship yet!

"You can blame friendly Agent Talla over here." Crosshair snarked to the woman next to him, his mood at an all-time low. First, his life was a hell of his own making. Now, he had to open his home, his safe haven, to nine pesty regs who weren't fazed by any of his threats. If any of them tried getting into his room, the sniper swore he'd -

"Pft, jokes on you - I take that as a compliment!" Talla sassed right back out of habit rather than want, interrupting his violent fantasy. "At least I'm not going to die sad and alone."

"I have them, di'kut." Crosshair rolled his eyes and nodded his head in the direction of his sulking brothers, one more so than the others because he knew of Talla's plans.

Hunter's moodiness didn't escape her notice, but Talla snarked at Crosshair again anyways. "Please, you'll outlive us all. The spiteful ones always live the longest, so after we're gone you're going to end up all alone on some backwater planet where not even the nuna or mice will be able to stand your company."

Calmly, Tech pulled up the scoreboard. *tap* Point for Talla.

The foreign sound of a blissful sigh coming from his lips caused her eyebrows to furrow up at him. "Oh, I can't wait."

She blinked. "To end up all alone?"

"No, you're funeral." And without saying it, everyone knew he'd be more than happy to speed up the date for the service.

*tap* Point for Crosshair.

Tied again. *sigh*

Thankfully, no yelling took place, as it was time for the mission briefing and everyone was gathered into a circle with Commander Wolffe at the head, holding up a holodisc with the map of the planet's surface displayed, lighting up everyone's features with a dim blue glow.

To his chagrin, Talla ended up interrupting Commander Wolffe twelve seconds into his speech, "Wait a minute," And the rudeness earned her a look of annoyance, but she still asked her question anyways, "Didn't General Skywalker already stop one cortosis mining scheme?" The woman swore she remembered reading that at one point.

"About a month ago, yes." Wolffe confirmed, then tried turning back to the tactical data. "Now -"

"So there's another one?"

Crosshair facepalmed, and Wolffe lived vicariously through him because one of his hands was occupied with holding the holodisc, and the other held his helmet against his hip like all the other troopers. "Yes." He confirmed again with a little less patience.

Talla tsked disappointedly, "Find some new material, Seppies. Using the same plotline twice - everyone knows the second time 'round will never be as good as the original!"

The concern that this squadron wasn't as good as Ahsoka talked them up to be became displayed on every outsider's face now save for Ahsoka and Master Plo, the latter keeping an open mind. The Bad Batch were used to her weird comments... the regs weren't and lifted a brow at her then shared looks of unsureness with each other, that were next directed to the young Padawan who recommended this strange Clone Agent Talla and her team of sulking Clone Commandos.

But Wolffe received an encouraging gesture and smile from Ahsoka to continue, so he just ignored that weird comment from the infamous female clone about the Seppies lack of creativity in destroying the galaxy. He had completed several dozen missions that said otherwise. Rex, I had no idea you went for the weird types - Agent Talla a few starships short of a fleet, vod. RUN! Wolffe briefly looked heavenward. Force, give me patience. And after that quick prayer, he cleared his throat awkwardly. "... Anyways -"

Now it was Tech's turn to interrupt, as he usually did when he had a brilliant idea no one else appeared to think of. "The eighteenth moon of V'hiina Prime is not inhabited." The lifting of his pointer finger signaled that Wolffe should not even attempt confirm this statement either because he probably wouldn't even get a chance to. "So is it really important to the system that it stay a frigid snowy utopia?" That was literally how it was described om the HoloNet, and Tech stepped directly up to Wolffe to use his signature finger to draw everyone's attention to the mineshaft at the top of a snowcapped dormant volcano. "Because one explosion at the entrance of the mine could be redirected down below the moon's surface into the mining tunnels due to the minerals energy absorption rate and transmission coefficients, and as such would cause explosive volcanic activity which would destroy several hundred square miles of the planet, but the operations underneath would effectively be destroyed along with it, without the need of two squadrons of soldiers or even one squadron - technically, Commander Tano and General Plo Koon could complete this mission by themselves, just as General Skywalker, Senator Amidala, and Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo did on Mokivj."

Tech-Talk translation: "I do not want to work with a whole flock of regs, nor have them on my ship, so can we just blow it up and call it a day? Who cares if V'hiina Prime loses a moon - there are seventeen others."

This sounded good and well to the rest of his brothers, and Wrecker was ready to lower the access ramp and tell the space invading regs to not let the door hit them on the way out! The sudden smirks on the Bad Batch boys' faces sent a new wave of concern through the regs and also Plo Koon because the first time they saw their spirits lift is when catastrophic chaos was potentially involved. Talla and Ahsoka on the other hand understood the anti-social meaning behind his words and ignored Plo Koon's fatherly concern cast down at his little 'Soka, and the two young women shared a knowing smile and amused shake of the head at the boys' undiagnosed pyromania.

Talla was gonna miss that.

The Wolffe on the other hand was not amused. And highly disturbed. "Um, the King of that planet wishes ALL of his beautiful home world and it's moons to be intact -" As does most every leader or SANE PERSON in the galaxy. "And that promise is already halfway broken because this was the moon before the first attack launched by the planet's primitive military force three days ago -" He clicked a button on the disk and a holo of the planet came up again - well, HALF the planet. It looked like something straight out of a nightmare, for one half was still a snowy utopia as Tech put it, but the other half looked like it had been blown clean away and in its wake nothing more than a flat sea of scorched land with lakes and rivers of fiery magma on the surface that had once been the moons inner core. "And this is what it looks like now after an accidental explosion this morning." Wolffe said grimly, and Talla felt a wave of nausea at seeing half a planet blown to smithereens. "The first cortosis mine found and destroyed on Mokivj turned out to be a decoy for this major operation, and the original strike team were wiped out presumably because of an accidental explosion. There were obviously no survivors left to tell the tale, and obviously no data was left behind for us to look into it, but it appears that the mine is split into two separate labyrinths, so there's thankfully one more chance to shut down the operation and restore what's left of the moon's ecosystem, and the King of V'hiina Prime offers their alliance to the Republic if we send a team of troopers more experienced with this level of technology."

When Talla put the pieces together for the exact requirements for this mission, Ahsoka next to her received a deadpanned look. "So you recommended a squadron that has the most explosive tendencies in the Grand Army for a mission where no explosions whatsoever can be used?"

Wrecker gave a dramatic groan of despair.

"No, I recommended the most versatile squadron in the Grand Army who are more capable than a whole battalion with any weapon given to them, and just so happen to know how to wield vibroblades of all kinds extremely well." Ahsoka corrected before nodding at Wolffe again, and he clicked up a holo of the C-B3 Super Battle Droids guarding the mines and brought to light the rest of the plan. "Regular plasma blasters won't penetrate the cortosis-infused armor of these particular battle droids and neither will lightsabers, so our best chance at taking down the droids is using vibros and lightning rifles for cover fire, and we'll slice and shoot our way into the mine to the Droid Control Mainframe. There, we can shut down the army, liberate the moon and begin restoring what's left of the ecosystem."

One explosion and we're toast?Talla did not like the sound of that."Is there even still an atmopsh - " She began asking.

"Wait, lightning rifles?!" Wrecker exclaimed excitedly and really hoped he heard that right because he knew all about those guns that shot bolts of energy instead of boring plasma, AND IT'D BE SO KRIFFING AWESOME TO USE ONE! Ahsoka instructed a trooper called Wolfpup to open a supply crate nearby, and Wrecker gasped in excitement when inside lay the beautiful creations of awesome semi-mass destruction. Like it was a newborn baby, he carefully lifted one out of the crate, and like it was his girlfriend he gave it a big kiss and said, 'Hello Gorgeous', and without warning he clicked the safety off and aimed the rifle at an imaginary target on the wall bordering his personal barracks.

The color drained from Talla's face, and she dropped her helmet and launched herself at him, "Wait no -!"

And Hunter was faster at yanking her backwards against his chest and swung them around to shield her from being roasted alive as a white bolt of raw electrical energy shot across the cargo hold, leaving behind a singing, gaping hole the size of a three meilooruns that created a new window looking right into Wrecker's room.

"Wrecker!" Talla wailed when Hunter deemed it safe to let her go as the madman whooped and hollered, "I just patched up the last hole you made in the wall!"

Everyone except Ahsoka: HUH?!

The rest of the troopers slowly rose from their crouched positions, as they hit the floor out of habit when the gun was raised and fired. And with the hair on the backs of their necks still raised from the electricity crackling around them, they joined Wolffe in pleading with the Force for this mission to go well.

Plo Koon, he still wanted to keep an open mind for the sake of Ahsoka's feelings... and it was not going be easy.

I'm definitely not going to miss the mess he creates everywhere he goes!Talla mentally fumed.Though maybe there won't even be a chance to not miss anything if we screw up on this mission!


It was not surprising that Crosshair locked himself in his barracks as soon as the mission briefing was over, and Tech followed suite soon after, when the Marauder II was in hyperspace. Hunter, as the leader, was forced to stay in the cockpit with the Jedi General and Reg Commander, and Wrecker stayed in the common area where the rest of the pests had congregated because Talla wisely turned on the holovids to keep them all occupied so no more unwanted windows would decorate the ship interior.

Speaking of Talla -

"What the kriff do you want?" Crosshair snarled when the lock on his door was bypassed by this hated female brainiac and she waltzed in here without knocking. At least he was just pulling out the case of his own vibro stash from underneath his dresser, but still -

"I want to talk with you." There was certainly no hint of sunshine in her demeanor whatsoever in this moment that suggested this would be a friendly chat, her piercing silver eyes now sharp in a different way, a menacing way.

And after the door securely shut behind her, Crosshair felt a wave of dread course through his body as she stalked across the room to him, but on the outside he lashed out like a territorial massiff and he would defend himself if need be, and since the case of knives was already open his right hand closed around the handle of a larger one. "Get out of here before I -"

When she reached his crouched form he allowed himself to be yanked up by the collar of his chest plate and planned to retaliate with a stab to her stomach, but his wrist was easily caught midstrike by her free hand and agonizing pressure applied made his hand seize and drop the knife after a pained grunt. A shove like no other stopped his next blow with his fist and made him collide into the chair several feet away, and another pained grunt came upon impact because this psycho harpy wasn't fooling around. "Listen to me because I'm only going to say this once." Talla demanded, swiftly kicking the blade and case out of his reach, so he was left with nothing to defend himself with before stalking up to him again.

Crosshair fought every urge to cradle his throbbing wrist and mustered the most menacing glare of his own to the woman now standing over him. "What the kriff is wrong with you -?!" He had a pretty good idea what was wrong though and would do everything in his power to make sure he lived to tell Hunter 'I Told You So!' He tensed then rammed his shoulder into her stomach, succeeded with the element of surprise and they tumbled to the ground in a heap of pained grunts from impact with the durasteel floor that he was quick to flee from, and managed to scramble to and grab hold of that knife again but he was yanked by the back of his collar now and made a choking sound as he was heaved back into his chair with enough force that it popped a wheely and the knife was lost in the process.

He wasn't going to give up, but a blade longer than any of his knives flashed into his line of sight, the pointed tip of a purple glowing vibrosword mere millimeters away from his throat now, and he had to freeze his next escape attempt.

"Do I have your attention now?" Talla queried darkly down to him at the other end of the extended blade with zero triumph because she didn't feel good at all about doing this. She wanted to use her new and highly improved vibrosword out there on the battlefield, not against her friends' brother.

He believed the exact opposite and held onto his defiance even if it was stupid.

Talla had to manipulate him in order to get him to cooperate, and it increased her self-loathing, but she was taught to adapt to any situation thrown her way. "I know you don't care about the regs or the Jedi or me, but if you don't want you and your brothers to die then you're going to listen to what I have to say, Crosshair."

Without much of a choice, he relaxed into his seat a bit so he could nod without having his throat sliced open. Keep calm, keep her talking, and you'll think of a way out of this. The other part of him: Karking hells, I was right?! Why did I have to be right?!

But he wasn't right. Not by a long shot. "We need to stay focused down there." He froze again, but for a different reason - this was not what he was expecting. "I'd rather be a live hero then be one of two dead idiots who couldn't suck it up for one mission and caused an explosion that destroyed the planet and everything on it everyone in it because of their petty grudges."

No, Talla wasn't here to give Crosshair an ultimatum that'd make stop his investigation over her secret plans to destroy them. She didn't even know of his investigation. She didn't even know she was planning to apparently destroy them. Talla was only here to make sure everyone on this ship got out of that mine alive. And since it was evident now Crosshair was stunned to silence and wouldn't lash out again, a button was pressed and the vibroblade retracted back into its sheath within the handle, and the sniper had the perfect opportunity to strike again but didn't feel the inclination to as she had more to say - or rather, she actually did have an ultimatum, but it was catered to his one dying wish since she came into his life. "So, this is my offer, take it or leave it." She declared, crossing her arms but still holding her connected dual vibros in case she needed its deadly powers of persuasion again. "You watch my back, I watch yours, the chances of us dying will infinitely decrease and if we succeed, you have my word I'll pack up my crap and leave. And our paths will never cross again, just like you want." The no-nonsense look he received had some hopeful undertones. "Deal?"

Crosshair had imagined this scenario of her leaving more times than considered healthy. Okay, in this fantasy she didn't hold a blade to his neck and gave him an ultimatum, but the basis of this fantasy was the longing for the sweet relief her packing up her crap and getting out of his face would bring.

And now that it had happened... he felt like letting her slit his throat anyways, and if she didn't want to, which was the actual truth he now saw much too late, he would have volunteered to do it himself.

The narrow-minded sniper did see how Wrecker and Tech had gotten attached to her. She provided Wrecker hugs and a buddy to have fun with when he was parted from his girlfriend, and she gave Tech someone who actually understood half the useless knowledge that came out of his mouth. He wasn't quite sure what she meant to his oldest brother, but her and Hunter had started spending lots of time together that didn't involve him furiously shouting at her, so it was safe to say they were friends too?

... Is she really out to get us?

Talla could have taken him out easily and said she had to do in self-defense when she tried working things out with him and he attacked her because she entered his domain. It would have been believable, because Crosshair was well aware of Hunter's watchful eye to make sure his little brother didn't return the favor from the smack that bruised half his face and didn't go away for several days even with healing bacta gel. He was not naive, he knew that Hunter didn't really agree with him, and tried playing both sides to get them to see the good in each other.

... But maybe he was right about her all along?

Because of all these factors, Crosshair didn't feel the sweet relief. He just felt miserable.

And yet, he still slowly rose from his seat so she wouldn't attack and so he also could tower over her once more. Unexpectedly, he stuck his hand out for her to shake, and after an unsure flick of the eyes, she took the chance he wouldn't use this as a decoy to strike back somehow and took his hand. And her risk was rewarded with no blow to cripple her but upmost sincerity instead.

"Deal."

Couldn't backpedal now. There was too much water under the bridge, and just like he couldn't drop his conspiracy theories and trust her just like that, she couldn't forget all he had inflicted upon her and trust him just like that.

But the two could at least stop their fued and work together to make sure they survived this mission.

And who knows, maybe afterwards there'd be a way for them to somehow patch things up before she left. Crosshair certainly hoped so, at least, for his brother's sake. He wouldn't blame her if she didn't though.

Crosshair may be a little OOC... But I think it's okay? I'd like to think he feels miserable making others feel miserable but can't help it because of how the regs treated him

- Ella