Chapter 24: Loyalty Means Everything to the Clones
(TODAY - Early Morning - Day 37 w/ the Bad Batch)
It wasn't until long after they arrived on Kaliida before Hunter got some answers. Only after Talla suffered many grueling hours of examinations and tests and treatments and a bacta tank session that were all a blur for her, and an agonizingly slow time for him as he waited around with the others, doing nothing but worry and being hypervigilant. When Talla was transferred to a private recovery room, he was thankful to snag a few hours rest like she did, though it was only a cat nap in his instance considering his bed was an uncomfortable Kaminoan type chair.
Hunter technically wasn't supposed to be in there at all, but after a day and a half of doing nothing but worrying, unable to see the injured duo, the Sergeant had forced his way into this room after Tech got notified on his datapad of her transfer, to this room specially made up by Nala Se for her 'personal project' in case she was ever treated here. It wasn't the Intensive Care Unit, so the Kaminoan Doctor who no doubt glared at Hunter while he stubbornly refused to acknowledge her kind request leave, because SAC-1 needed her rest and shouldn't be disturbed.
He just claimed a chair in the corner, without using any words saying he'd be silent as the grave so TALLA could rest, but he was not leaving, and that was that.
The same was happening with Crosshair, them being unable to see him, so while Hunter decided to physically be here with Talla, turning down the lights in the room and getting some rest himself while she recovered from all the treatment, Wrecker and Tech were back at the Marauder, anxiously waiting for the time Crosshair would be out of Intensive Care and they could be by his side as well, no matter where they put him.
Being in such a light slumber, Hunter was aware of her starting to wake up, her little groan of protest instantaneously making him alert.
The first thing Talla could make sense of when waking up was the feeling of laying on top of a soft and heavenly mattress, wrapped up in a nice warm blanket that she tugged around her more snugly with a happy sigh. Next, Talla registered how surprisingly comfortable she was laying here, despite wearing heavy armor. When wearing armor, one always had to sleep in odd positions that honestly made things only microscopically less uncomfortable than before, but every little bit counted when catching a few winks on a mission.
Habitually, Talla shifted to try making herself more comfortable, but her eyebrows snapped together when the pokes and prods of bulky armor weren't felt and she was indeed already comfortable, like actually comfortable. Wait a sec.
Her mistrustful eyes snapped open.I'm comfortable and sleeping with armor on so isn't.
She peeped down under the blanket and saw a red tunic and pants dressing her body underneath the blanket instead of the plastoid-alloy.I'm not wearing my armor - Why am I not wearing armor?! Cold fear gripped her heart - these were experiment clothes!WHY AM I WEARING THESE?!
Shooting upwards, it took all of two seconds to see the stark white walls and floors, bright white lights, and nauseating scent of antiseptic, and naturally Talla assumed she was back on Kamino; cowering against the back of the raised hospital mattress she whimpered, "Oh kriff - Oh my Force -" Breaths and heart rate quickening, symptoms of an anxiety attack already coming on.
Until a calm, reassuring, baritone voice close by calmly said her name, She whipped towards the left and Talla gasped more out of relief than fright when a concerned Hunter was close by, palms up to show he meant no harm. Placing one of those hands on her quivering shoulder when he was sure there'd be no risk for a black eye or, you know, a bruised rib, the panic-stricken woman latched onto his midriff, and Hunter kindly let her hug him, knowing she'd need this hug to bring herself back down to reality.
Anticipating beforehand her need for this sort of comfort once she woke up, he'd even set aside his upper body armor earlier, sporting just his blacks from the waist up so he'd be more comfortable to hug. And because Hunter was also relieved, extremely relieved that the woman he really cared about was finally awake, without a second thought he hunched over slightly and returned the hug with as much fervor. "You're not in a lab, and you're not on Kamino." Making sure to add lowly for good measure, even going so far as to tenderly cradle the back of her head to his chest. As opposed to tensing up like he usually did, a warm glow sparked in Hunter's chest that he allowed himself to feel instead of push away. It was a nice but cursed change of pace from the usual uneasiness.
Hunter just really needed a win today. It looked like Talla was not vomiting anymore, she was only running a slight fever and had let out only two small, baby coughs since hugging him - he'd call that a win for this sucky day.
Thinking about his little brother's life still being in the hands of the long-neck doctors in the Intensive Care Unit, without them there for protection, oh it made Hunter itch to grab his blaster and shoot out every obstacle in their way, consequences be damned.
This clone hospital run by the long-necks was a lot stingier than the one on Coruscant, geared more for the Guard and as such was run by Coruscant doctors and trained Clone Medics. So no one had seen hide nor tail of Crosshair since he was cruelly whisked away from them, the Kaminoan Doctors knowing nothing about compassion or caring about the anxiety of his 'family.' The same was with Talla, till now, and Hunter fought the startling urge to kiss her forehead from another wave of relief hitting him, choosing to just hug her a little tighter and leaning his cheek against the top of her head, letting his eyes shut and a sigh of relief come and go.
Once Talla's mental wheel of anxious thoughts going a million lightyears a second came to a standstill, she gasped suddenly, "Crosshair!" The Sarge fought to keep a straight face as he anticipated what the next questions were when after she pulled away and frantically looked around, didn't see the sniper or any other hospital beds, Talla clutched his upper arms and implored Hunter, "Where is he? Where are we? Is he okay?!"
Hunter weaved his arms over hers and firmly grasped her shoulders, "He's in the bacta tanks again." He informed her, gently but forcibly easing her back against the raised bed without saying anymore, prompting her to ask impatiently, "'Again?'"
Hunter swiped a palm over his tired face and continued the path of anxious fidgeting by threading his fingers through his hair, obviously very reluctant to say anything more. He didn't want to cause a relapse with her health from distress. But he knew she could see right through him and knew that he desperately wanted to talk about this with his person, who looked more than eager to listen despite her near-death experience that happened not two days ago.
So when she shifted her legs, giving him a place to sit on the bed with a pleading look on her face, he couldn't help but give in and plopped down with a heavy sigh, hunching over to prop his elbows on his knees. "He's still going through treatment for his severe cortosis poisoning, but last we heard he's got an infection in the lungs now too so he's being shot up full of antibiotics while being in the tanks and, well -" He hunched a little more so he could massage the back of his tense neck while Talla's eyes widened more and more as he went on, "- he's in real bad shape, alright?" Hunter finished in a rush, getting that part over with quickly.
Her voice was small as she expectantly asked, "Is he gonna -"
"No," Hunter denied with a firm shake of his head. "No, he'll be fine, just-" He paused, really reluctant with finishing that thought.
Talla waited several seconds before prodding him on. "Just give it to me straight Hunter, because not knowing just drives me crazier than the truth itself - you know I have a very active imagination and will imagine a scenario possibly a hundred times worse than the truth itself."
There was another reluctant sigh in defeat - despite knowing that fact about her Hunter knew this would send her into another panic. But if the roles were reversed, he'd ask the same. He even said something similar to her not that long ago.
Focused on his hands that he now clasped so he wouldn't start messing with his hair again, he informed her as she wished but did it grimly, "Kamino is sending over a specialist who's treated members of our squad before and has had great success overseeing our care."
Hunter was right about that next wave of panic, not having to look at her to see the symptoms reemerging again. "Nala -?" With some difficulty Talla swallowed down some bile and let out a shaky breath through her nostrils. "Nala Se?" The female clone finished in an equally shaky mutter.
"Presumably." This flatly said, uninformative one word answer was all the answer Hunter got when he asked the brainiac the same question.
An attempt at a peeved huff only brought the urge to vomit back, and her next words were taut and mixed with more huffs as it was suddenly very hard to breathe. "It's not a presumption, she's the only one who's ever overseen our treatments." As he feared, the moment things went wrong flashing through her brain, and she curled up on herself, "I-I told him not to do it, Hunter, I told him to let me die!" She guiltily looked down at her lap when the man's head raised with his eyes widened slightly in horror. "Well - I-I tried to at least but I couldn't talk 'cause I was..." Hunter shifted closer and put his hand back where it was before, and he almost drew her back into his arms again but she took this as a signal to use the breathing exercises instead, did them, and faced Hunter more in control a short while later with a guilty expression, "He did it though, didn't he?"
Not wanting to put words in her mouth, he blatantly asked instead. "What happened after that last communication? Can you remember?"
So, she told him everything from her point of view.
(Flashback - Cortosis Mine - Talla POV)
They were forced to wait out the earthquake before attempting to escape. Talla counted to thirteen seconds before the trembles stopped wanting to introduce her face to the ground in an excruciating way, then without hesitation grabbed Crosshair's wrist and forced him to climb the wall of rocks with her to the narrow window of opportunity left behind, towards the upper left corner.
Except as he yelped a curse from the rough manhandling when she yanked him up to her perch, another sizeable boulder from the other side tumbled down and cut the window size in half.
With his broader shoulders Talla quickly calculated he'd never fit, and started looking around for a Plan B.
And that's when he caught her off guard - Talla wasn't expecting Crosshair to give her a little shove from behind and tell her to leave him behind. "Go, get out of here." But why he ever thought he could physically move a woman of her strength, let alone one briefly stunned to shock, it was stupid and wasted valuable time because he distracted her, Talla thought, among other things - like him, CROSSHAIR, being so selfless! With minimal effort she resisted his shoves, so he decided ordering in the most authoritative yet desperate voice she'd ever heard him use: "Talla, GO!"
Talla maintained her stubbornness after getting over her shock, "I won't leave you here!" She refused, continuing to turn her head this way that.
But there was no time to find a Plan B, at that moment another jostled piece of unsteady earth ramming into the exit and they recoiled in surprise. The duo stumbled over the edge of the perch and fell right down into their new dim and dusty prison cell, which became completely sealed off after a loud warning beep signaled the emergency doors activating and snapped shut moments later with a resounding CLANG!
There was a tense silence as their brains processed the grave situation they found themselves in. Then after Crosshair got his bearings and made sure to check over his and hers life support, the latter who looking back must have seemed completely unperturbed about this whole thing, which made him hiss at her, "Why didn't you escape when you got the chance, di'kut?!"
Hidden eyes focused on the doors, formulating a plan, Talla didn't spare him a glance and whipped out the trusty vibro strapped to her thigh. That didn't mean she was unperturbed by what just happened - on the contrary, what just happened made her feel so weird! The Agent was just focused on getting them both out of here alive, and jammed her blade in between the two metal doors. Next came her efforts to force them apart, expecting the other soldiers and Jedi to deal with the rock wall and wanting to do her part in completing the mission.
Assuming by the two holes burning into the back of her head while she worked, Talla suspected that Crosshair ferociously glaring at her due to her apparent rebuffing of his willing sacrifice was what made him not answer Hunter's comms right away. It admittedly made her feel bad about what he must be thinking about her, after all the progress they'd made, and she ended up jerking the blade in her fist with too much force too quickly -
SNAP!
There was a tense pause of disbelief as both took in the blade and handle of her favorite knife now in two pieces, the handle and part of the blade clenched in her fist and the rest of the blade still pried in the doors.
Then came the sewer mouth of a furious woman taught by the one and only King of Cussing in her eyes. "BLOODY MOTHERKARKING KARABASTS, LOOK WHAT YOU DID, SHABUIR! YOU BROKE MY KNIFE! THE KARK IS WRONG WITH YOU, KRIFFING PSHYCO BITCH!?"
And while she shouted vulgar obscenities of various languages at the doors with angry, jerky bodily movements to go along with them -
"DANK FERRIK YOU KRIFFING PIECE OF BANTHA SHIT -!"
Crosshair calmly answered Hunters messages, who she vaguely remembered giving promises they'd be out soon.
"DAMMIT, THIS WAS MY FAVORITE KNIFE TOO, YOU MOTHERKARKING CLANKER WANNABE -" With a flurry of fists and knees, she gave the door a few dents in payback, "I SWEAR TO THE V'HIINAN GODS, I'LL SHRED YOUR ASS INTO A KARKING SCRAP PILE AND SELL YOU TO THE JAWAS YOU SON OF A KRIFFING BITCHY BANTHA -"
When there was a pause in her rant, Crosshair mistakenly thought Talla was done and fell back on his habit - harsh criticism with no concern for her feelings right now. "Your precious knife would still be here if you'd just left me behind -"
Talla whirled on him, yet he didn't flinch. "Stow it, Crosshair!" But when she bent down to scoop up a stray rock he did flinch that time, no doubt thinking it was meant for smashing against his bucketed head. "Yeah, I'm mad about the knife, it was my very first one, but I'd rather a broken keepsake than a dead teammate!"
"Even me?" He frustratingly asked after her little rant, as if still believed she was a monster or something.
"Especially you!" Talla insisted, and he froze, staying that way even as she waved the deadly rock around to emphasize her words with the frantic gestures. "The first thing you guys taught me when you came back for me on Silva was that we don't leave our own behind, no matter what. And as much as you denied it I am - was a part of the Bad Batch." There was a touch of bitterness there, surprisingly. "But honestly, I know your brothers would prefer you over me when push comes to shove." Definitely bitterness there too, despite her denying being sad about this when talking to Hunter before. In all honesty, Talla hated that she hadn't found her place in the universe yet.
That was beside the point though, and she soberly continued. "Look, either way I don't want to live in a universe where you die and I live but we never got to patch things up properly - that would kill me, especially since I know you have a heart now. And I don't want your brothers to experience a loss like 99's again, because I'd never be able to live with myself with that outcome either." She put her hands on her hips, mimicking his authoritative nature from earlier. "So, we're both getting out of here, and we're going to be friends, and that's final!" Facing the door again while he remained stupefied, Talla raised her arm to slam the rock against it in a last act of revenge for her fallen blade, hurting it as much as it had hurt her blade. "Just shut up and let me have my moment and then I'll be fine."
That moment was her next fatal mistake. Upon impact with the metal door, her enhanced strength caused the lunged rock to shatter, making a huge dent, yes, but also sending sharp projectiles in all directions, and there was no way Talla could have jumped away in time. Several scratched her visor, several nicked the exposed areas between armor pieces and scratched through the body glove, and one lucky one lodged itself into her breathing hose, causing it to hiss as her vital oxygen supply was cut off and now being wasted, giving the toxic cortosis particles having the ability to enter her system.
And her body reacted accordingly - after a few panicked breath intakes, she couldn't breathe.
(End of Flashback)
"What happened next, it all happened so fast," Talla admitted regretfully, unable to give intricate details. "I remember falling to the ground because I was choking so bad. I remember Crosshair coming to my side and yanking out my damaged tube." Self-loathing caused her to grimace. "That made me look up because I thought he was trying to make sure I died and I was ready to try fighting back -" Her guilt hit its peak at this point because that didn't turn out to be the case at all, and if they weren't surrounded by Kaminoans she might have allowed herself to be weak and let a few tears to fall. She had to settle with wringing her hands, not wanting to shred her hair either, and couldn't meet Hunter's gaze either way, "But he yanked out one of his good ones instead, and I think I tried yelling at him to stop when I sort of realized what he was getting at... but after that, I can't remember anything. I guess I must've still passed out despite his sacrifice..." Those tears really wanted to fall and she had a hard time speaking after that, her throat painfully choked with emotion, "And now he's paying the price for my stupid actions while I'm already in recovery."
"He's going to be fine too." Hunter put forth hopefully, not wanting the pain or awkwardness that he would experience if she did end up crying.
There was no crying, but his words were no comfort at all it turned out, Talla's eyes trained on her lap sharpening in hate. "Only if Nala Se thinks his recovery is going to be worth it." She snapped bitterly, knowing otherwise, "Hate to break it to you, but there are other amazing snipers in the Grand Army, and while they can't physically do the impossible like Crosshair, there's blaster and helmet attachments that can make up for it - he's worth nothing to Nala Se, none of us are."
"We'll figure it out." Hunter put forth more strongly this time, then changed the tune of the conversation, wanting to ease her guilt. "But either way, Crosshair doesn't do anything he doesn't want to do." She huffed mistrustfully, "It's true, Talla. We all have that defiance, but if there was a competition on this, he'd win it in a landslide -"
Her head snapped upwards and he was sent a ferocious glare, the clear message being: It was way too soon to make a joke like that.
It was purely accidental on his part - he blamed it on not being able to think straight around her even now - but Hunter quickly said an apology anyways, "Anyways, none of does what we're told or can be forced to do what we don't want to do -"
"NoOo, really?" Talla interrupted with sarcasm dripping from her lips. "I wouldn't have guessed from all the resistance I've been getting with trying to house train you guys."
Hunter blatantly ignored that and smartly didn't retort, already on 'shaky grounds' with her with that landslide comment. "There's nothing Crosshair wouldn't do for those he gives a damn about, and he clearly gives one about you now." He chose to tell her instead, wanting her to see what he and everyone else would see in this situation. "His loyalty to you now means he'd kill someone for you if it came down to it, just like with the rest of us, and I can tell you he won't regret what he did for you."
This reassurance, dare he say it happy news only made her look down again, guilt spiking exponentially as opposed to being appeased. "I don't want Crosshair killing someone for me - I don't want him killing himself for me. I was fine after that first attempt because I thought we were going to get out together, but when it really happened... I'm just not worth the effort, Hunter."
She murmured that last admittance, and in his eyes, Nala Se's brainwashing symptoms making a reappearance despite Tech's and his efforts to get her to see she's not like a dummy droid. So with an edge to his tone Hunter asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Talla wanted to tell him everything that had nothing to do with the brainwashing, about how they were expendable now that she was fully trained, and probably wouldn't make too much of an effort to fix him up, since Nala Se was most likely looking for the perfect excuse to get rid of them since Talla interfered with her plans to dispose of the Bad Batch boys once and for all.
To spare his feelings, she let out a sharp breath in discontent and played on that brainwashing bit since it was also the truth - Talla did feel completely expendable because Nala Se constantly reminded her of that despite her now fine-tuned exceptional abilities. "Look, I know you said I was wanted in this squadron and fitted in with you guys, but the truth is no one would mourn me if I died, and if anyone did it'd be Nala Se because she wasted so many credits on me."
That struck a nerve, alright. "Well, I would!" Hunter blurted out, then made sure to add to not raise suspicion, "And so would Tech, and Wrecker, and considering he risked his life for yours I'd say Cross thinks the same."
The look he received was knowing and slightly accusing, "Not as long or as much if it was Crosshair who died." The silence received in response coupled with the hard stare made Talla believe he didn't deny this statement. "C'mon, Hunter, that was confirmed when I told you I was leaving, because you didn't even really deny that you'd choose Crosshair over me when it came down to it." A feeble smile to show that same fake understanding did nothing to appease the guilt rising on his part. "But I think I sort of get it - he's your family, and from watching you guys interact I can see it's a bond that goes way deeper than just friendship, and that's why I feel so guilty, because even though you say Crosshair did this out of the goodness of his heart, I still almost destroyed your family as you know it, and I think him dying would cause worse pain then losing 99. I trust him now, and I believe we can be friends and maybe I can meet up with you guys sometimes after I leave, I just wish it didn't have to happen this way... even though it did have to happen this way."
In reality, Hunter didn't know how to tell her she mattered a hell of a lot to him personally at least, not without revealing his feelings for her. That when he thought about what almost happened it gave him the same level of dread as when he saw her limp body after the wall was lifted. It gave him the same dread as seeing Crosshairs limp body and the narrow escape of survivors' guilt. He'd be absolutely crushed if she died, just as crushed if it was Crosshair or any other one of his brothers, like 99.
It was an alarming revelation. He never thought that would happen in a million years.
But this wasn't about him, this was about her and Crosshair, so he didn't say anything more about this for now and changed the subject by shooting a hand up to stop her own from victimizing her hair by shredding the crap out of it.
Talla rolled her eyes in annoyance and snatched her hand back, "I know it's bad for me to pick at my hair, but I think I deserve some anxious fidgeting right now."
Hunter cleared his throat nervously, "No, um -" Here came another thing he didn't know how to tell her, so instead he showed her by releasing her hand, shuffling closer to her, then unexplainedly tucked the loose strands framing her face behind her ear, then gently sifted the lock of hair with his own fingers.
And she was confused as to why he did this, flabbergasted at the seemingly tender action, until she saw the unnaturally sized clump of hair he held up afterwards, with fear written all over his face as hers morphed into one of terror.
Even mild cortosis poisoning can cause hair loss, Tech had mentioned during his warning rant before reaching V'hiina Prime.
Yeah, she wasn't too happy about this at all.
There was nothing that could pry Talla from Crosshair's side after she realized that Crosshair did in fact risk his life for her, and it wasn't done out of reluctance. Crosshair did it because he thought her life was worth it. It was a completely selfless act that signaled she had made it onto his tiny list of people he was loyal too and would do anything for, to the extent of even risking his own life, and she wasn't even family. Talla and even Hunter doubted he'd do this for their few other friends yet, the Glam Squad or that fellow from Saluecami they spoke about every once in a while.
To put it bluntly, it made her feel all the more guilty because in doing so he'd hurt his actual family in the process. But that didn't mean she was ungrateful on top of that.
In order to show her thanks, Talla made sure to be by his side when he did regain consciousness. And to be by his side, she had Tech hack into the hospitals network and forge a communication that looked like a direct order from the one and only Nala Se. In simple terms, the order stated that the sniper from Experimental Unit Clone Force 99 would continue treatment and recovery in the very same room as SAC-1, so he'd be protected from fellow clones who had a tendency to torment him, which would only aggravate his condition, draw out his recovery, and waste valuable medical supplies.
How touching, am I right? But it was such a cold-hearted phrasing of things that no one questioned the order came from the Mistress. And thankfully, no one bat an eye at Talla's strange relapse in health afterwards, now having to wear a breathing mask again after her scans showed promise of a speedy recovery.
Once Crosshair was done in the bacta tanks and it was seen he made great improvements, a hospital bed and other medical machines were hauled into Talla's wing of the glorious palace, and when they were satisfied with the monitoring system and his vitals continued to be steady after all that upheaval, Talla and the Bad Batch boys finally got to see the self-sacrificing sniper with their own eyes.
His skin was still lacking a lot of healthy coloring. His face was twisted in a permanent grimace from the discomfort of his aches and pains. Every once in a while, he'd let out a wheeze as his airways were in the process still of recovering from the he got from the inhaled toxins...
The most jarring symptom of all though? His silver hair had fallen out more dramatically than Talla's, patches of baldness spotting his head, and his eyebrows even thinned too, having some small patches with no hair.
Hunter almost fainted. And Talla was sort of grateful she had less drastic side effects to her physical appearence, losing quite a bit but her hair thickness was thinner as opposed to losing whole patches of hair.
Back to more important issues, there was a method to Talla's madness at the huge risk of forgery - there was not even such a thing as visiting hours here on Kaliida, but the Kaminoans would eventually kick out the rest of the interfering Bad Batch from the room with threats of reporting them to their superiors, which could unnecessarily complicate things; Talla wanted Crosshair to still have one of his team members around when he woke up, because waking up in an unfamiliar place that looked like a Kaminoan lab and had actual Kaminoans roaming the area, well, it goes without saying that wouldn't end very good for either side.
It was almost midnight when he did regain consciousness, and the plan of having him close by proved to be very astute on her part.
The first thing that registered in Crosshair's less sluggish mind was the repulsive scent of antiseptic hitting his nostrils, and that was enough for him to snap into full alertness. OH,HELL NO!
Fear-ridden eyes scanned the stark white walls and floors, bright white lights, various machines he was hooked up to, and naturally Crosshair assumed he was back inside a lab on Kamino. Oh Force, please no-
Trauma response engaged, senses and mind overwhelmed by the surroundings of his nightmares, when he shot upwards Crosshair didn't hear the soothing female voice call out to him in concern, only reacted to the other person's presence when she prevented him from jumping off the bed. When he went to punch and shove her hands away she expertly caught his fists of fury, and a masked figure held him back with surprising strength while he struggled to get away, feeling suffocated with the fogged up breathing mask over his face which only vexed him more. So did the beeping of the heart monitor when his heart rate spiked to unhealthy levels in his condition. And the experimental red robes he saw adorning his body now, and all the tubes and medical attachments stuck to him only sent him onwards toward the downward spiral
Until he registered it was TALLA'S FACE behind a breathing mask she also wore, there was some relief that he was at least not alone in here, and with eyes soft in sympathy she let go of him after the risk for a broken nose had passed. But that didn't mean he was done panicking and he latched his shaking hands onto her wrists as she tried gently guided him back against the mattress. His breaths were still coming out in short puffs and fogging up the clear mask, and his eyes wide and silently begging her to tell him this was all a bad dream. Crosshair needed her to actually say it out loud this was a bad dream.
So Talla gave him the reassurances he desperately needed after a few soft shushes and quiet 'Hey's' when his hands tremors grew worse as his heart monitor continued to beep in protest. "You're not in a lab, Crosshair, and you're not on Kamino." His shaky exhale mixed with a heart-string-tugging noise that escaped his mouth against his wishes, a whimper, she hoped it was out of relief instead of fear, and it took every ounce of restraint to not hug the living daylights out of him, never seeing him so vulnerable and wanting to give him all the comfort in the world, but hugs would make him feel more uneasy as opposed to soothing unfortunately. "You're safe." She settled on simply saying, and after a few more seconds of him hanging onto her for dear life - she swore there'd be bruises later on - he surveyed the room with a clearer mind and vision.
This room looked nothing like Nala Se's lab, just had a Kaminoan touch, definitely a bit cushier then the sterile and minimalist lab. And there was no Nala Se observing them behind a layer of transperisteel.
He really wasn't on Kamino. He was safe.
... and he could stop panicking now, he was being ridiculous.
In an attempt to preserve whatever shreds of dignity he had left, Talla's comforting touches were rejected by one more harsh shove, and Crosshair repositioned himself so that he sat up straighter in the bed. The life support system was sucker punched so it'd stop shrieking, and he tore off everything attached to his body in record time when the damn machine didn't listen to him, though when taking out inserted IVs he had to rip off the breathing mask not because it was annoying and uncomfortable, but because Crosshair had to retch into a container Talla held for him due to the awful sting that wracked his body with prickling sensations and numbness and general needle-phobia symptoms.
Once he recovered, with a face slightly red in embarrassment, Crosshair was going to chuck the stupid breathing mask across the room, but Talla caught it and amidst his childish protest's and struggles she easily dodged, it was reattached it onto his face where it belonged with a stern look down at his defiant one. "They haven't cleared you to go without it yet so until they do, you need to keep the mask on." She tersely ordered, keeping her stronger hands on the mask to hold it in place.
The irate glare she received did not intimidate her in the least bit anymore. "I can breathe just fine." Was his muffled claim.
"Yeah, because the mask is on." Talla retorted with the same muffled tone, and it just reoccurred to him that the woman had enhanced senses and could undoubtedly notice his faintly labored breaths from his mild freak out. And she did.
When his shoulders slumped a little in defeat, she let go of his mask and readjusted hers back into position, being jostled while dealing with him. "A doctor is going to do a scan once they see your awake." It wouldn't be long now, considering the previous alarm from his monitor would signal a medic on standby.
A glimmer of panic flashed through Crosshair's eyes, but he promptly 'masked' it behind more defiance. "I don't want any of those kriffing long-necks anywhere near me."
Talla caught the fear nonetheless and understood where he was coming from instead of putting him down for it - didn't mean he'd be allowed to refuse life-saving treatment though. "Well, you don't have a choice; they've been treating you for a few days now, and still have to make sure your body is healing properly." As he took in that piece of confusing information, questions piling up by the dozens, she went to go retrieve the chair Hunter had been previously occupying. "But now that you're sharing a room with me, I can make sure they don't try anything funny."
Crosshair flinched, his ears highly protested the sound of metal scraping against metal as she dragged the chair across the room, but his questions took precedence over his snarkiness at present. "Where are the others?" He queried first, a little wounded they weren't here of all times - when she was in the hospital, Hunter never left her side unless they dragged him away.
The big white chair was plunked down right next to his bed, and Talla made herself as comfortable as possible while explaining, "The Doctors got tired of them hanging around and finally sent them away -"
"And they actually left?" That wounded feeling festered, but he his weak feelings with quick, crude jokes as usual. "Hmph, must have gotten sick too from the -" He drew a blank, and was thankfully saved with a short coughing fit that Oh My Force, unfortunately felt like he was hacking up his lungs and it kriffing hurt!
Since she experienced the same thing upon waking up and physically exerting herself when trying to escape the nightmare of being trapped in Nala Se's lab, Talla didn't exactly panic as it was only a few coughs. A few loud, drawn-out coughs that made did make her feel sympathy pains, but a medic in charge finally arrived to see what was going on, so things would be okay!
The brief checkup was very brief unfortunately, Crosshair resisting his every effort and answering the medic's questions with minimal words, lots of vulgar insults, and borderline karate chops to keep the filthy reg from laying a hand on him or coming near him with the kriffing scanner. Eventually, after narrowly dodging getting a black eye, the medic had to settle with saying throwing his hands up in the air, scanner flying to Force knows where when he exasperatedly went, 'FINE! You clearly don't need the mask while resting anymore, but the specialist is arriving at any moment and HE can deal with your treatment from now on!' before stalking out of the room muttering a few choice words of his own.
Alone again, amused but annoyed Talla went more in depth with the first question, to get rid of at least half the piled questions before answering the new one - 'What specialist?'
"No, the others aren't sick," That drew his steely eyes back to her, their sharpness easing up just a smitch after the reg was gone, "And they actually were going to bring in camping supplies to literally camp out in here with us, but when I told them that I was tired and needed some peace and quiet, they got the hint to kark off and leave us be, that I would defend us both if it came down to it." Crosshair's eyebrow snapped up in disbelief. "Well, Hunter got the hint," She admitted, fighting a smile when the event replayed in her mind, "And he dragged the other two out kicking and screaming."
Against his willpower, Crosshair's mouth twitched in amusement, "How sad, I missed the show." He remarked, for he rather enjoyed watching a good freak out that wasn't his own, having witnessed several in his lifetime and loving every amusing second of it.
Her smile was free to express itself now that she knew he found this funny like she did. "Eh don't worry, I'm sure there'll be plenty others, because Tech estimated another couple of days before your cleared to leave this hell pit."
This wasn't so funny, and Crosshair stiffened. A couple more days in this hell pit?!
Next he froze.Wait... A couple MORE DAYS -?!
"What am I even doing here in the first place?" Was his next terse demand for an answer and he hated how weak and scared he sounded, but under the circumstances he couldn't control it this time.
A line appeared on her forehead, and she leaned forward with concern that irked him because it confirmed he was sounding like an invalid, "You got Acute Cortosis Poisoning when we were trapped in the mine... don't you remember what happened on V'hiina?"
And suddenly, he did.
(Flashback - Cortosis Mine - Crosshair POV)
Crosshair yelped a curse when his shoulder threatened to pop out of its socket while being yanked up to Talla's perch. He was about to tell her to lay off when another sizeable boulder from the other side tumbled down and cut the size of their small window of opportunity in half.
With his broader shoulders Crosshair quickly calculated he'd never fit, even if she did rip his arm off. And that's when he caught her off guard, he could only guess - with a little shove from behind her told her to: "Go, get out of here." Except she resisted his shoves, dumbly frozen in her tracks, and he thought she was being stupidly stubborn and decided ordering in the most authoritative Acting Sergeant voice he'd ever used: "Talla, GO!"
"I won't leave you here!" She still refused, and his anger spiked as she kept turning her head this way and that, thinking a Plan B would magically appear.
There wouldn't be one, and she wasted her only opportunity to escape, at that moment another boulder rammed into the exit. Next thing Crosshair knew, they were trapped in a dim and dusty prison cell, which became completely sealed off after the emergency doors activated and snapped shut moments later with a resounding CLANG!
After Crosshair got his bearings, he made sure to hiss at the woman who looked completely unperturbed about this whole thing, "Why didn't you escape when you got the chance, di'kut?!"
Hidden eyes focused on the doors, Talla didn't spare him a glance as she whipped out the trusty vibro strapped to her thigh, wordlessly jammed it in between the doors, and began her efforts to try prying them open. So with his eyes fiery with contempt, Crosshair burned two holes into the back of her helmeted head as she worked, and because he was so angry, he didn't answer Hunter's multiple comms right away, not caring if the Sarge was freaking out. In his eyes, Crosshair had bigger issues.
Talla wanted him to be nicer, and when he did the nicest and most selfless act in the entire universe, she completely rebuffed him! And she told him that HE had mood swings?! What more could he do to make things right between them?! Nothing! He didn't believe anything else could prove his trust or loyalty to her!
Snubbed Crosshair thought it was divine providence that she was punished for her apparent and downright stupid rejection... by the breaking of her favorite vibro. Yeah, his frustrations over that made him a hypocrite perhaps, considering he never went to go get his stinkin' broken jaw checked out because of HIS stubbornness, but in this instance, the Sniper felt it was justified.
SNAP!
There was a tense pause of disbelief as both saw the blade and handle of her favorite knife now in two pieces, the handle with some of the blade clenched in her fist and the rest of the broken blade still pried between the doors.
Then came the sewer mouth of a furious woman taught by him, the one and only Prince of Cussing.
"BLOODY MOTHERKARKING KARABASTS, LOOK WHAT YOU DID, SHABUIR! YOU BROKE MY KNIFE! THE KARK IS WRONG WITH YOU, KRIFFING PSHYCO BITCH!?"
And while she shouted vulgar obscenities of various languages at the doors, it made Crosshair wish he could see the regs mortified faces even if half of what she said didn't make real sense, feeling the rage he previously had fade away temporarily. He kinda felt like a proud 'Master' looking down at their excelling 'Padawan' - technically, if you think about it, his second padawan. Wrecker was his first. And Tech was Crosshair's 'Master' due to the fact it was Tech who started recording everything he learned on various planets and discovered the sentence enhancers known as 'expletives,' thus earning the title of King of Cussing when he introduced it to his little brother. Of course, this was one of the few things that piqued Crosshairs interest when sitting through the endless TECH-TALKS, and he is still even now always eager to learn new phrases, and has inadvertently been teaching them all to Talla.
"DANK FERRIK YOU KRIFFING PIECE OF BANTHA SHIT - !"
Unfazed but highly amused, he calmly spoke to Hunter, who promised they'd be out soon.
"DAMMIT, THIS WAS MY FAVORITE KNIFE TOO, YOU MOTHERKARKING CLANKER WANNABE - !"
And thankfully, he muted the commlink so Hunter wouldn't get a jump scare when she gave the doors a few dents in payback with her fists and knees, the sounds of impact deafening and pricking his own skull with dagger like figurative stabs.
Briefly, Crosshair dared to wonder if she'd be able to pry the doors open by herself now with so much rage -
"I SWEAR TO THE V'HIINAN GODS, I'LL SHRED YOUR ASS INTO A KARKING SCRAP PILE AND SELL YOU TO THE JAWAS YOU SON OF A KRIFFING BITCHY BANTHA - !"
- eh, probably best not to egg her on, being trapped in here with her and all. Don't want to end up with collateral damage. He mentally shrugged, then have his one worded, annoyed answer to Hunter's back pedaling on the promise made not two minutes ago.
When there was a pause in her rant, Crosshair mistakenly thought Talla was done and since the show was apparently over, that previous irritation towards her came rushing back. He fell back on his habit - harsh criticism with no concern for her feelings right now. "Your precious knife would still be here if you'd just left me behind -"
Talla whirled on him, and he resisted the urge to flinch. "Stow it, Crosshair!" But when she bent down to, alarmingly, scoop up a stray rock the size of a nuna he did flinch that time, thinking it was meant for smashing against his bucketed head. He sweated bullets as she waved it around while ranting some more. "Yeah, I'm mad about the knife, it was my very first one, but I'd rather a broken keepsake than a dead teammate."
She's not yelling anymore at the very least - He had a terrible headache now, and Crosshair swore he wasn't looking for a bashed in skull on top of that except he couldn't help but ask after that little rant: "Even me?" He was probably writing his own death sentence with this back talk, but his underlying insecurities forced him to ask it, wanting to see why she'd done this. Crosshair didn't get an answer earlier, and he wanted to know why the kriff she rejected his sacrifice considering that's what she wanted, right? For him to be nice? To like her? This is what he did for people he liked - well, 'tolerated' is more like it. He did anything for people he tolerated when push came to shove, even at the expense of his own life.
"Especially you!" Talla said, incredulous he'd suggest otherwise it appeared.
Not expecting this at all he froze, and would later on be thankful for the helmet covering his somewhat astonished face. This helmet prevented from showing one of the few times he let another emotion besides contempt, or annoyance, or anger freely express itself.
"The first thing you guys taught me when you came back for me on Silva was that we don't leave our own behind, no matter what." Talla revealed to his frozen form. "And as much as you denied it I am - was a part of the Bad Batch."
Yup, there's that twinge of guilt again.
"But honestly, I know your brothers would prefer you over me when push comes to shove."
Blast it! Now I feel like a heartless jerk again. He didn't have to be a people person or even have people skills at all to pick up on the bitter tones behind that statement, which she tried to hide - he was the 'King' in that area, after all. And it takes one to know one.
"And you know what, I don't want to live in a universe where you die and I live but we never got to patch things up properly - that would kill me, especially since I know you have a heart now."
That statement was like a slap in the face, but in a good way. It slapped him back to reality - Talla didn't reject his efforts out of a sense of entitlement after all. Rather, they finally proved to Talla that he 'tolerated' her now, which was the desired motive behind his actions up there. He'd predicted hoping in his last moments that Talla would see his newfound but all too late loyalty, and remember him in a good way at least, after she escaped.
If he was a different person, perhaps someone like said woman or Wrecker too, Crosshair would've jumped for joy!
Instead, he just remained motionless and 'emotionless.'
After a moment of reflection and no response whatsoever from him, she soberly continued. "Look, either way I don't want to live in a universe where you die and I live but we never got to patch things up properly - that would kill me all over again too, especially since I know you have a heart now."
Be still my 'black heart.' He wanted to joke. The rock still in her hand and lack of places for him to duck and cover stopped him though.
"And I don't want your brothers to experience a loss like 99's again, because I'd never be able to live with myself with that outcome either." She put her hands on her hips, no doubt mocking his authoritative nature from earlier. "So, we're both getting out of here, and we're going to part ways as friends, and that's final!"
Talla never stopped amazing him - she somehow managed to make that sound like a threat. Talla threatened him with friendship.
Facing the door again while he remained stupefied, Talla raised her arm to slam the rock against it in a last act of revenge for her fallen blade no doubt, hurting it as much as it had hurt her blade. "Just shut up and let me have my moment and then I'll be fine."
If there were any niggling doubts about her being a horrible witch out to destroy them, it was squashed now. Talla was given the perfect opportunity to be rid of her tormentor and no questions would be asked, and she'd get off scotch free... yet she chose possible death with him over being able to save herself and live a life free of his callous ways. The woman who he was dead set on believing was out to destroy them chose to stay behind with him when it turned out he'd done nothing but being the one actually doing the destroying.
Maybe I should have just tried escaping myself and let her die. Damn her and her heart of gold. She took loyalty to the next level, making his efforts dim by comparison. He was envious of her natural abilities to be kind, despite suffering the same if not worse treatment under Nala Se's cruel regime.
But it was because of this short conversation that when the dire situation came up again where it was his life or hers, Crosshair could actually sacrifice himself with the peace, something he previously could only hope would happen if the others couldn't break through the wall in time. He'd know beforehand that Talla saw the person behind the mask, so to speak, and his heart encased in frigid ice and protected behind a nearly impenetrable wall of bricks, covered in spikes for extra precaution. Showing he had the capability to have real feelings, let alone care for the feelings of others, was a something he rarely showed to his own brothers, and even he doubted it existed at times from everyone's offhand comments. He believed Tech's little chart labeled him as 'Severe and Unyielding'.
But showing raw emotions made him feel weak and opened the opportunities for ridicule and abuse, and he frankly didn't think it was worth it to be so straightforward with his affections if it brought along more suffering then feel-good moments.
Until recently, his brothers put in the effort to notice the indirect things Crosshair did to show the feelings such as affection, or regret, or approval, or care. Sometimes, he secretly and depressingly felt like their own little list of friends only let him hang around with them because they enjoyed his brother's company, and he was the baggage that came along with those friendships.
Yet, if Talla was able to see his heart after every terrible thing he intentionally put her through, him intentionally showing it the only indirect, almost nonexistent way he knew, when he imagined no other outsider would ever bother to look -
Well, maybe Crosshair didn't have to doubt himself so much. Maybe he was
And to show his thanks, after he secured his breathing tube onto her breathing apparatus and caught Talla before she face-planted after losing consciousness, he gave her a gentle squeeze in appreciation before letting out a gasp to release the hold on his breathing, and had just enough time to just as gently lay her down on the ground before the toxins accumulated in his airways and the violent choking began.
(End of Flashback)
"Hope you had a nice flashback." Talla jested when his eyes focused again. He had spaced out for an awkward spell of time. Didn't matter how long, it was utterly awkward and that's all she focused on. Next, she focused on the bone she had to pick with him, and made the dazed man she made him focus on her with much difficulty, because it just hitting him what almost happened. Her expression was dead serious about what she was going to say next, "Look, I know why you did what you did, but I never meant for you to commit suicide for me, and I don't want you trying to commit suicide for me ever again - understood?"
This demand rubbed him in all the wrong ways. She's rejecting my efforts again?!
His nostrils flared just as his temper flared. "You unbelievable, ungrateful little -"
Before Crosshair could spout profanities at her ungratefulness, impossible standards, all the works, Talla whipped off her breathing mask and that worked in silencing him, her breathing just fine apparently. She declared with an exasperated pitch. "Just let me finish -" His jaw set, but he complied, "There are no words to describe how grateful I am that I get to live to fight another day, and how kriffing lucky you got and that you're still able to fight another day too, and you've earned my trust, just like I earned yours." A finger was jabbed in his face having a touch of yet more astonishment written on it. "But if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will bring you back to life and kill you again myself!"
His shoulders released some tension when he saw it was just hitting her what could have happened too, and the potential case of survivors guilt she doubted would ever go away on account of what Talla said down there in the mine, about his brothers suffering more with his death than hers.
Talla was going to be point blank about something else though, "If we're going to part ways as friends before I leave, you've got to stop taking everything I say or do the wrong way, that's how trust works - I'm not out to get you, okay?"
So he was point blank as well, getting a weird feeling being so open about his thoughts and feelings, but this needed to be said too. "Then you have to stop taking everything I say and do so seriously - the others know that half of what I say or do is just a load of BS."
Her eyes developed a tiny squint. "If you mean from now on what you say towards me is going to be a load of BS, then fine! I firmly believe before the mission it actually wasn't that, and there were healthier ways to communicate what was bothering you..." She remarked off handedly, right as always and causing that stupid, stupid ache in his chest from guilt, "And I still don't know why you treated me so badly, but I will build on this newfound respect and trust by saying that:I'M really sorry about everything I said to you that was completely out of line,"
His eyebrows raised in disbelief - were there no limits to the powers her heart of gold possessed? Geez, she was a kriffing saint. No wonder it was easy for her to be taken advantage in the beginning, and he'd have to find a way to train her to be a little more cautious with her tendencies to see the best in people and ignore the red flags. Talla got lucky with him, sort of, but the next time it could end differently.
Yet she wasn't finished, "And, again, I'm sorry for whatever I did to you. I had no idea that whatever it was, it had hurt you."
Uncomfortable sensations coursed through his body: guilt, regret, the warm fuzzy feeling of friendship Talla was talking about a few days ago that she claimed he'd never feel -
HELL NO! He didn't like this, and was going to stick to the prickly stringbean bit as it was safe and safe was way better than sorry. "Quit apologizing - you're embarrassing yourself."
Nope, Talla was extra, always had been and always would be. To show the sincerity behind these apologies, she revealed a deep dark secret of hers, which also explained the feeling so bad about crossing into hypocrite waters when poking fun at his appearance. Pointedly not looking at his head he had yet to realize was half bald, Talla swept her thinned, greasy hair over her right shoulder - Force, she desperately wanted a shower! - and riddled with insecurity she instinctively tugged out a particular chunk of hair hidden a few centimeters behind left ear, this a particular flaw that'd been despised and hidden by the female clone for years.
Crosshair's exceptional eyes immediately picked out the difference in coloration from this chunk and the rest of her black-purple hair through the faded fiery tones.
It appeared the 'Little-Miss-Perfect' had 'imperfect' silver hair of her own.
"See? I guess I'm prematurely old too." She joked to cover up her embarrassment, then quickly tucked it back into its hidden spot while raising her pointer finger like Tech. "And fun fact: my eyes aren't even supposed to be this striking shade of grey! My genetic hosts eyes were actually brown, and my skin tone is also three shades lighter than hers. I was also, roughly, two inches taller than her by the end of my cadet career, and she had nowhere near as much muscle mass as I do so -" There was a sheepish shrug, "I was a hypocrite too, heh."
Well, this had been fun and all but they were going out of his comfort zone now. Touchy Feely was too Touchy and too Feely, and they were in fact sitting around, perhaps not in a circle but they were talking about their feelings and messing with hair had been dragged into the mix somehow.
A change in subject was in order, and Crosshair asked after a seemingly blank and long, uninterested stare before flicking his eyes to the mask deposited onto her lap, "Why were you wearing that thing?" She clearly didn't need it anymore.
Talla didn't have a chance to get frustrated at him, having a spilt second to reattach said monstrosity before someone knocked on the door to the room to signal their arrival before opening the door.
... Someone who they were never expecting to see in a million lifetimes here, of all places, and did in fact get grey hairs of his own since the last time he successfully treated a member of their squadron.
His opening line was dry and already showed signs of exhaustion, without even crossing the threshold of her room yet. "Special Agent Talla - how not nice to see you again." The very Clone Medic from her hospital stay on Coruscant greeted in the opened doorway, with his hands clasped behind his back and a tight smile.
Gears almost visibly turning in her head, the apparent bane of his existence put two and two together about 'The Specialist who'd had great success in treating them before,' while Crosshair ironically sneered at the regs crude tone, to which the medic immediately added while stepping into the room, holding a defensive hand up. "Don't take that greeting the wrong way -"
"Is there a right way to take that?" Crosshair challenged, coming to the gaping woman's defense against a potential threat despite his less than stellar physical health at present.
The medic gestured innocently with his hand, "Well yes, there is."
Yeah, right. Crosshair scoffed, followed by a few short yet excruciating coughs.
Medic Mode engaged, the reg went to retrieve the scanner, stoically explaining on the way, "It's always sad for a medic to see the same patient a second time -" He briefly turned away from the cabinet he was searching to ask rhetorically, "Crosshair, is it?" Not waiting for an answer because he already knew the answer, he started pushing aside various medical supplies, "Usually when a soldier comes back with grave injuries, the Kaminoans and even the Republic want to pay as little money as possible to fix up war machines they've already shelled out heaps of credits for -"
With furrowed brows he still didn't find the scanner. "... Surgeries or cybernetics are expensive treatments for a life meant to be completely expendable..."
Puzzled at not finding the scanner yet, he left the cabinet and began a sweep of the various surfaces while continuing, "And not to mention the risk of lower performance levels despite all that effort to save them -"
The two patients followed his movements and shared a look of amusement when he finally had to duck under Talla's bed across the room, made an 'aha!' noise, and while stretching an arm to retrieve the tossed scanner with zero doubts as to why it was there in the first place, his muffled explanation continued. "Frankly, it costs less to pop out a new clone from the tanks then to maintain the badly battered one's multiple times,"
He stretched a little further, straining his arm muscles to the max. "So, if a soldier comes back again and again with grave injuries, the chances of him - or her! -"
He grunted as more effort was needed to reach it, "Going back out there gets drastically lower each time -!"
He made a noise of triumph when the scanner was successfully grabbed, "As the risk of decommissioning gets exponentially higher due to the risks of not performing at the level they did before."
Upon standing with a ghost of a lofty grin on his face, he snapped his fingers at the amused Talla, indicating for her to sit at the edge of Crosshairs bed so he could have the chair, and she obeyed, and once he sat down the Medic finished his long, overly explanatory 'TECH-TALK.'
His speech patterns even sounded like Techs!
"What I meant by the cold manner of my greeting was: when I'm so lucky as to be able to send my gravely injured brothers - or other - back into the field in near perfect health, I hope to never see them again. I imagine them fighting on bravely, possibly even better than before and right up to the Republics victory. And then once the war is over, they'll live long and happy lives and can free as to do whatever they want, make a life for themselves with choices they made."
Fully intrigued and sympathetic as opposed to her bored companion, Talla admonished, "That's not a realistic view of the situation, Doc."
To which he flatly replied, "I'm surrounded by realities all day every day, Agent Talla." Her face fell, "I have to see many ghastly sights each day, and like you I don't have a choice in my career - I also swore an oath I had no say in taking or refusing whatsoever."
She never thought about it that way before.
"So please, let me have my fantasies about my recovered patients, because it gets me through each horrible day." Is all he asked of her, "I may not be out there shooting down clankers, but with this job one has to hope to keep on going, the hope that their efforts will not be wasted. We're aware clone troopers are meant to be expendable, but I hold some power to make them not be thrown away like a used tissue, and no matter what you say I will cling to the hope that when I send back out my healed patients, my handiwork has ensured they've lived to fight not just another day, but till the end of the war."
His stoniness was betrayed by his eyes, which revealed the months and months of pain he'd endured and still felt since the day the war began. Talla wondered if he'd been one of the first clone medics to treat injured soldiers after the Battle of Geonosis, and desperately wanted to hear more of his story -
But thoroughly done spilling his guts, the medics attention was snapped back to the equally uncomfortable sniper. "Now Crosshair, I do need to perform a scan, then give you the allotted doses of antibiotics and painkillers your body still needs -" Menacingly, he waved the cursed medical tool in his direction, "But are you going to do this willingly, or does Agent Talla need to hold you down?" An all-knowing look was sent her way when the Agent's eyes flicked down to her breathing mask, indicating she was clearly in no position to help out, DUH. "You can stop pretending to be on your deathbed around me at least, because I know you're really not."
Defiance taught to her by the best teachers in the galaxy made her want to keep up the ploy regardless of that (completely accurate) accusation, till her last fighting breath if need be (which was 'frightfully near' sadly)
"You think you're the first soldier to fake a relapse or injury in order to stay close to their comrade in arms?" The Medic inquired with a slight upturn of the corners of his lips when Talla was absolutely gob-smacked at his above average intelligence compared to the other regs here, who bought this ruse. "I'm not going to report you," He assured her, "But if you're going to continue trying to fool everyone else you should at least cough every once in a while, or pretend to be short of breath after simply walking across the room, and now that I'm here I'll vouch for you to make sure you're not suspected and can stay in here with your buddy." His promise to play along with her lies was firm and true and in complete contrast to his rigid ways of being a stickler to things always being done just so. With a mischievous twinkle appearing in his eyes and a curious twinkle glimmering in hers he offered, "I'll say your undergoing more treatment and being kept here for observation, then when Crosshair is set to be released you can make the fastest comeback in medical history," A breathy chuckle was followed by, "And the damn long-necks will be able to do nothing about it."
As she nodded, which indicated she took him up on his offer, Talla had to ask, "What's your name? Not your birth number, but your real name?" She made sure to add afterwards, just so there was no confusion like her first time hearing about that one and only cool feature which came with being a clone.
What kind of name did to symbolize his personality and capabilities did he personally give himself or his clique of brothers did if he had one?
Taken aback, a few blinks of his previously deceitful eyes were her only reply until he revealed the information she wanted, settling his features into neutral until he got a reading on what their reactions would be. "... Convor."
*crickets*
Well that was not at all what she was expecting. "'Convor?'" Talla repeated with a few confused blinks.
Crosshair was in the same confused boat as her and decided to voice it too. This was just too weird, even for his life, and he needed some answers. "Isn't that a type of liver?"
"Yeah, like that expression says?" Talla finished, referring to 'What am I, chopped convor liver?' "You named yourself after some animals internal organ?"
That mischievous twinkle was backed up by a conceited upturn of 'Convor's' mouth. "Convorees are a common, domesticated species of birds that just so happen to be sneaky and observant. They watch and wait for the perfect opportunities to defend themselves and their allies from crafty predators."
And it all made sense now, the fact he was so willing to help her fool the doctors.
Ooo, clever!
The smirk was returned to show her approval. "Well Convor, your definitely all those and on top of that way smarter than all these crafty long necks combined." Talla praised while Crosshair rolled his eyes, hoping for a more interesting story. Though, at least the reg wasn't as boring and predictable as others, but not by much.
And there was way too much touchy feely now. He didn't care about some random regs name. He just wanted to go home so things would go back to normal.
Convor was short and humble with his thank you, having spilled way too much of his guts now then he would have liked, showing emotions allowing an opportunity for patients to think they could manipulate him. The impassive mask was put up again as the reg medic shifted the focus back onto the Sniper again with a raise of the scanner and his challenging brow. "Willingly, or restraints?"
In stressful moments like these were when Crosshair craved the comfort of a toothpick the most.
To his relief, a guardian angel apprehended this type of situation beforehand. Glad there wasn't the complications of a breathing mask either, Talla wordlessly pulled out his emergency stash pack from her boot and handed it to him, the contraband brought in by his brothers earlier. Surprised but not ungrateful, this coping mechanism allowed the Sniper to not karate-chop Convor as he calmly scanned a blue gridded light over his body to collect data on his recovery.
Him and Talla were given a moment alone when Convor stepped away to compare the data to his charts on a lightpad at the desk halfway across the room, and Crosshair used this opportunity to put this whole mistrust thing to rest, so there'd be no more kriffing misunderstandings.
And it was done in a way that catered to his anti-social tendencies and only an observant person with a heart of gold could read between the lines with - a precious toothpick of his emergency stash was offered to her. "Truce?" He put forth, face devoid of all emotion just in case it backfired and he didn't risk being vulnerable to a woman who still wanted to ridicule him. Though, he felt that was a low chance considering she faked a relapse to stay by his side.
Short and sweet but it got the point across. There was a beat of stunned silence as Talla knew he didn't offer his toothpicks to anyone, then the same pleasant giddiness that they were friends now! On the outside though, she kept her cool to keep him from ridiculing her bubbliness just in case he felt like being an ass just to be an ass, though she knew now it was just BS. A toothpick was accepted with a playful lilt of her tone and smirk that removed the seriousness from his demeanor instantly, "Truce...Even though I would've kicked your butt." She claimed, perching the toothpick between her teeth.
Now this was a tone of conversation Crosshair was comfortable with, and he chuckled while folding his arms and relaxing his body as much he could against the lumpy mattress's back, eyes closing as he returned the quip with a playful comeback of his own. "Keep telling yourself that, 'cyar'ika.'"
Oh, he knew what nerves to strike. But instead of getting angry Talla was more annoyed at the stupid pet name that was supposed to be a term of endearment instead of making her feel like her skin was crawling. "Would you quit calling me that?"
His sharp brown orbs momentarily peeked out in slight challenge, "Would you quit calling me 'Crossy?'"
With childlike moodiness, Talla crossed her arms and huffed, "I'll only stop if you stop calling me cyar'ika first."
His frown deepened in mild disappointment, and Crosshair tried shifting around the stupid lump poking at his side, muttering, "That goes for me too."
The toothpick was removed from her teeth so she could clearly state her prediction: "Being friends is going to be harder than we thought, isn't it?"
"No, it's won't." He denied instantly, not opening his eyes.
"Yes it will." She pressed.
An eye popped open, and through gritted teeth Crosshair denied, yet again, with more force, "No, it's won't."
Talla wanted to have the last say, "Yes, it will -"
A vein on Crosshair's throbbed, HE being the one who always had the last word, and he wasn't in the mood to be pestered. "No. It. Won't." He enunciated.
By now, Talla was just messing with him, Crosshair having less control over himself from the medications he was hyped up on, and said one more time fighting grin 'Yes, it will -' before Crosshair snapped, 'NO. IT. WON'T -!'
Eyes not leaving the light pad he was transferring data onto, Convor flatly interjected, "Behave, children." Before Crosshair jabbed his toothpick into Talla's eye.
They obeyed.
And the peace lasted a whopping eleven seconds - a new record!
After putting her toothpick back in her mouth, Talla reached out and connected her hand with Crosshair's laying on the mattress just as he relaxed again.
His protests were immediate since he couldn't wrench his hand away, the woman tightening her hold when he tried. "Remove the hand, or lose the hand."
Those threats worked on Wrecker most times, but Talla was not afraid of him anymore and gave him a lofty look. "You almost died for me, so I'll hold your damn hand if I want to." He made a show of rolling his eyes, for he of course could never show such weakness as actually enjoying the comfort it secretly brought him. "Consider yourself lucky that I'm not doing what Wrecker tried earlier - squeezing into bed next to you and cuddling you like his tooka doll."
Speaking of Lula -
Crosshair made a noise of disgust and pretended to be repulsed by that sentence and her comfort while trying to relax again, only this time he found he had had enough of that annoying lump and with difficulty, only having one hand, went to twist and feel around whatever was making his bed do kriffing uncomfortable.
Out came a particular, aforementioned tooka doll with a warped face as it had somehow been crushed under him. "What is this doing here?" Crosshair pretty much knew why already but still reluctantly asked anyways, seeing Wrecker's reasoning for this time around, never bringing Lula into a hospital if they ever went with the risk of it being swiped when he wasn't looking.
"Instead of being able to cuddle you like Lula, he brought you Lula to cuddle instead." :)
The Sniper quickly shoved the stuffed toy under the blanket before Convor rejoined their little playdate, eyes trained on the datapad. "Now, Crosshair, I'm sure you've been made aware of the side effects you'll experience for the time being, even during the treatment for the poisoning?"
"... Am I aware that I feel like bantha shit?" He mocked, and allowed a few hacking coughs to happen instead of holding them back, "No, not at all." Crosshair wheezed, and Talla squeezed his hand despite the exaggeration.
Convor lazily raised his head to look at him, completely unamused. "A very informative answer, thank you. No, the symptoms I'm specifically referring to here are of course the coughs, and the nausea spells plus vomiting, the headaches, the aches and pains, the hair loss -"
Talla made a few frantic, slashing gestures over her neck that literally said, 'Cut it out!' but it was all too little too late. Crosshair stiffened, slowly shot her a hard-to-read look, then another one back at the expectant medic, then with painfully slow movements he reached up and touched his hair... or rather lack of it. He touched a spot that was a mixture of smooth and spiked with almost nonexistent tufts of surviving hair.
He didn't throw a fit as loud or as dramatic as Talla's earlier one, but amidst his muttered curses rivaling her V'hiina Mine Freakout of the Year the female agent was in a frenzy trying to console him, saying she thought he was going to look just fine once Hunter (the designated hairdresser for the guys) was able to shave off the odds and ends! He would look good bald!
It wasn't a very consoling argument for the second most conceited man in the Bad Batch who'd never dared shave his unique, silver toned locks before.
(Day 39 w/ the Bad Batch)
The estimated two days it took for Crosshair to be given the all clear to leave was interesting, to say the least. With Talla and Crosshair being roommates, there was never a dull moment. It was fun but exhausting; great to have a buddy when surrounded by the stuff of their nightmares but also terrible not having their own privacy; it gave them a chance to bond but also made them realize they were grateful for a) having separate refreshers and bedrooms and b) well, that was pretty much it.
Those paradox's aside, Talla was still overcome with a gloomy cloud over her head as opposed to happiness when her new friend was cleared to leave the hospital.
Because it also meant that the time had come for her to leave, just as she promised.
They all went their separate ways once they reached the Marauder - Crosshair to couches with Wrecker who begged him and Tech to watch something, anything with him after two whole days of being cooped up in a boring hospital with no access to entertainment; Hunter went to the cockpit to fly them away from this infested hell pit and set a course for the Glam Squad's homeworld; and Talla trudged to her room, unaware of the sniper fighting a foreboding sensation weighing heavily on his chest that she'd come right back out and rip him to shreds.
Because it turned out, she wasn't going to be rid of them that easily.
When Talla entered into her room with slumped shoulders, she fully expected to see the crates of her gear unmoved and ready to transport with ease, and planned to say the tough goodbyes on Coruscant.
Taken aback were not descriptive enough words to accurately express what she felt at seeing everything... unpacked? Out of storage and back into their proper places (more or less)? And a copy of a unique Nala Se target practice poster Hunter made for a certain prickly stringbean upon special request now hanging on her wall by the droid poster -
Well, this was obviously Crosshair's own handy work. How she knew was because of droid posters of Nala Se, which he kept in his Firepuncher case that no one was supposed to touch and everyone heeded to that threat with nary a peep. And it told her that not only were they friends, but Crosshair was also willing to share his home with her too. Talla was no longer a pest infesting his home, but someone he had grown used to having around... A person he tolerated and was now fiercely loyal too, a feat not to be taken lightly with the mistreated man.
I.E. - I DON'T HAVE TO LEAVE! :DDDDD
Talla didn't even question how Crosshair knew where most everything in her room went nor when he did all this, considering he'd been released at the exact time she made the comeback of the year with her poisoning relapse - a surge of happiness she'd never known was capable of being felt causing her to bound into the common area to shower him in Thank You's and hugs galore, even if he hated it.
But she paused before making her presence known, the loud holovids masking her footsteps stopping just behind the lounges.
It occurred to her that Crosshair might be currently sweating bullets for going into her room without asking, as he should. The perfect opportunity presented itself to play on his potential guilt by collecting herself, squaring her shoulders and marching in front of his spot on the couch, casting an unreadable look down at him when he slowly met her gaze when the intimidating shadow cast over him and blocked his view from the show.
His face was also devoid of all emotion, but inside he was fully preparing to and not above pinning the whole thing on the real culprits who dared to venture into her chambers... on his request.
Folding her arms, Talla curtly ordered, "Get up."
That didn't sound promising, and he mentally apologized to his brothers while slowly obliging her.
And he took a moment to ponder how strange it was that with other people, his height aided him in intimidation factors with his victims. Around this woman though, a whole ten inches shorter than him, he realized you didn't need height, or even bulky muscles to be intimidating. She just had this aura about her, something in her gaze...
And he decided right here and now he was never getting a girlfriend.
He was glad he never had a mother.
And maybe friendship with this scary lady wasn't so appealing after all.
And he braced himself for the reprimanding.
"I've been respectful of your boundaries, and you weren't respectful of mine -"
Out came the childish finger pointing to save his skin. "It wasn't me, it was - !"
Talla raised a hand. "I'm not finished." And it effectively shut his mouth. "Now, I think it's only fair I get a chance to disrespect your boundaries."
Oh dear lord, what have I sentenced myself to? He resisted the action of gulping, wanting to go out at least looking like he wasn't afraid.
Unexpectedly, Talla spread her arms. "I'm gonna hug you now."
...Oh God, please no. That was even worse than a verbal or physical smackdown for Crosshair.
"And you're not going to resist for at least the first three seconds -" She became smug while the will to live left Crosshair, "I mean, I guess you can resist, but I'm not even going to give you false hope by the empty promise I'll let go if you're too uncomfortable."
Intrigued from the beginning and the former shoveling mantell mix into his mouth, Wrecker and Tech watched as Crosshair had a mental battle with himself, wondering if he was calculating the odds of him being able to outrun her.
He was.
They weren't promising results in the end.
His shoulder's slumped a little, "Do I have to?" Crosshair still asked, sounding as much as a whiny teen as a guy like him could sound like.
And like an unshakeable parental figure Talla didn't back down, "Yes."
If Tech was the Drama Queen, Crosshair was the bloody Drama Emperor as he heaved the biggest and most dramatic sigh in the universe, as if hugging her would be worse than say, jumping into a nest of gundarks.
Almost vibrating in giddiness held back by all the restraint she possessed, Talla lost that control when all hope of evading this faded from his eyes and he spat. "Fine."
A wide grin plastered on her face, and he grunted when she made impact with his nearly recovered torso. Nearly. As in, it would already be hard enough to breathe with her squeezing him, but with sore lungs, "That's fine, I don't need to breathe anyways." He wheezed.
It wasn't even halfway through this torture session when Wrecker yelled, "GROUP HUG!" Scooped up unsuspecting Tech from the couch next to him, then squished him with the others he skipped over and gathered up in his arms.
You know, this was already great, but this first designated group hug sesh with their official, unanimously approved new buddy would be perfect if it wasn't missing a certain Sergeant -
Who walked in at the wrong moment, and tried noping out of that situation undetected.
But Wrecker was all seeing in this situation, hyper aware that if their first group hug was going to be perfect, the leader needed to be a part of it too! "If you fight it now, I'll just hug ya later!"
Oh God, him and Talla are two peas in a pod, Crosshair lamented. They threatened the non-Touchy-Feelys with Touchy Feelys.
No way in hell was he going to suffer alone though, and the sniper backed up Wrecker's threat/promise. "And I'll make sure it'll happen in the middle of the night, when you're sleeping like a little angel." He hissed to the best of his ability, hopefully hallucinating those black dots clouding his vision out of hypochondria.
Hunter didn't have a chance to retort if that 'LITTLE angel' comment referred to his so-called vertical challenges, Wrecker waddling over and squishing him into the bundle too.
With so many people squished within two arms that seemed to have a large span from a distance, neither Hunter nor Tech, nor especially Crosshair and Talla jam packed in the middle found they could vocalize their protests while having their internal organs turned to mush. "Aw, this is nice." Wrecker said, giving the two on the outside little pats of affection on their backs.
But as corny as it sounded, Talla didn't care about having her internal organs turned to mush.
It was made obvious by everyone now she was wanted here.
Everyone in this squadron believed she belonged here with them.
Being wanted and belonging somewhere was all Talla had ever wanted for as long as she could remember.
~ END OF PART 2 OF... the ending chapters of this arc ig ~
(NOT!):P
*bonus scene*
(Kaliida - Two Days Ago - Morning )
Hunter managed to find a moment the night before he was released to tell Crosshair about Talla's packed bags. So it was when Hunter was ordered the next morning by Convor to take Talla on a walk around the medical station, 'for building stamina,' when the Sniper put his plan into motion to keep Talla from leaving without getting all sappy with hugs, heartfelt speeches and crap.
He played on Wrecker's fussy tendencies and Tech's want to keep things calm, but was honestly sincere when he humbly asked a favor of them, knowing Tech had been in Talla's room at some point or another, and Wrecker would be an eager assistant helping him put things back into their places, more or less.
They nearly botched the whole operation with Wrecker's terrible acting skills as he excused them both to go 'Scrub the carbon scoring off the ships exterior' VOLUNTARILY AND WITH PERFECT GRAMMER, and Tech's obvious face-palming didn't help either, nor did Wrecker having to put a hand over his little brothers trap to haul the blabbermouth out of there, before he spoiled the surprise neither didn't know needed to happen to make Talla feel, finally, a part of their team.
Crosshair had never hoped for something to work out so fiercly in his life. And thank the V'hiinan Gods the two knuckleheads somehow pulled it off after that horrid display of keeping a straight face under pressure.
The Sniper thought he'd taught them better than that.
A/N:
CROSSHAIR AND TALLA ARE BESTIES, I REPEAT TALLA AND CROSSHAIR ARE BESTIES
It only took 170,000 words for Tal and Cross to be BESTIES but who's counting!
And I gave the Clone Medic 'Convor' from Talla's hospital stay a sort of redemption moment lol one of the things I wanted to do with the rewrite
also, i never want to hear or write the words CORTOSIS, or LONG-NECKS, or KAMINOANS ever again...
- Ella 3
