Chapter 25: Snarky Sniper Siblings? Force Help us...

First Night as Roommates

(Kaliida - Day 38 w/ The Bad Batch - Early Morning)

Have you ever slept in the same room as a person who snores? Crosshair had loads of experience, having used to share barracks and a very tiny ship with Wrecker not that long ago, which is why he had originally adapted to the sound of sawing logs, which if you think about it was not a hard accomplishment considering his unusual capabilities of falling into a kriffing coma when choosing to get some rest.

There were some good(ish) things about growing up on Kamino, he reluctantly supposed.

But he had had his own room for just over a month now.

AND he was in a hospital now. He was in an unfamiliar yet nightmarishly familiar environment, surrounded by unfamiliar and filthy medical personal he hated despite not needing to know them personally, he was shot up full of unfamiliar medications that he would have fought till the death to refuse if need be, but Hunter reminded him that he needed to get better, so there wouldn't be a reason given to Nala Se to decommission him.

As much as they said they were eager to blow her off the face of the planet, neither Bad Batcher actually wanted the entire Republic gunning for them at present, not if it could be avoided. At least it was a sort've tolerable reg giving the meds, one who definitely didn't like Nala Se.

As a result, Crosshair had to deal with the antibiotics making him feel the odd uncomfortable symptom or two.

So, you'd think Talla's presence would be a comfort to Crosshair throughout that first long night, when he tossed and turned uneasily from the nightmare circumstances he was in.

...

No, no she was not a comfort because TALLA WAS THE CAUSE OF THE NIGHTMARE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT CAUSED ALL HIS TOSSING AND TURNING.

Whether her snoring that could wake up the dead was due to recovering from the touches of lung problems still afflicting her, or she just kriffing snored already and he never knew about it, Crosshair didn't really care after rolling into hour two of listening to this.

Shocking that he lasted so long, I know, but he figured the fine-tuned skills of sleeping through anything would kick in and he'd pass out as per usual, like he did even during a Kaminoan hurricane - which Talla could go to head with on the noise levels.

There'd be moments of silence on her part and blissful dream land would start falling upon him -

Then Talla started up again, somehow getting louder and louder each time, which he didn't know how it was biologically possible. Right now, he was surprised the hospitals alarm systems hadn't been activated!

With a growl of annoyance, the stupid tooka doll still at Crosshair's side was yeeted across the room with all his strength and it hit smack dab right onto Talla's unsuspecting face, despite it being almost pitch black inside the room.

*snort* Groggy Talla shot upwards, "Wha-?" She instinctively reached for the blaster under her pillow while asking, "Are we under attack -?" Her eyes bugged out when there was nothing to grab, and the pillow was swiped away, "Where's my -?!"

"You snore worse than Wrecker." Crosshair snarled, then fluffed his pillow, shifted away from her and laid back down with an annoyed huff.

Talla blinked, brain circuits not quite fired up yet, then noticed the fallen tooka doll on the disgusting hospital floor and the Sniper curling up in his bed, already halfway to dreamland now with the sweet, sweet silence that came after her shutting up, apparently.

A pink tint dusted her cheeks in embarrassment by the claim laid at her feet. "I don't snore!"

"I got war flashbacks to the earthquake down in the mine." Crosshair dryly murmured halfway into his pillow, mentally telling her to 'Shut her trap.'

Her entire face felt like it was on fire now, and she insisted through gritted teeth, "I don't snore -"

Obviously not taking the hint, Crosshair pushed his upper body off the mattress so he could turn and pin her with a warning glare. "Just put on the breathing mask, then we'll both be happy." He instructed slowly, dangerously.

"Tch - I won't be happy!" She was appalled by this assumption!

Thing was, Crosshair didn't care about her anymore, he just wanted some damn sleep after said battle down in the V'hiinan Mines. "Fine, I'll be happy, and if I'm happy then I won't use the scalpel next time I try shutting you up." He crudely forewarned, then upon seeing her dramatic groan of defeat gave a tiny smirk in triumph, settled back into a comfortable position, and slipped into the amazing dream world not filled with Kaminoan hospitals or snoring Special Agents.

The only reason Talla conceded was because she knew he never missed, that sharp medical instrument was within his reach for some reason, and without wearing mask she'd be the one ending up having to sleep with one eye open instead. At least this way, they'd both get some sleep.

So, the mask was put on because she was nothing if not adaptable. Sleeping on her back was not comfortable for Talla as she preferred curling up on her side, but hey it could be worse - she could have a sharp object lodged in her eye.

But she learned soon after Crosshair didn't need to hurl objects at her head to deal with her - prickly stringbean packed quite a punch without throwing items.

Literally.

When Crosshair started sawing logs himself just as she was slipping off, Talla rolled her eyes at the cruel irony. "And the Jawa calls the Ewok short," She chuckled mirthlessly under the mask, then swung her legs over the side of her bed and trudged to his bed, and planned to give the estimated shoves that would wake him and he'd be ordered to put on a mask too.

Thing was, under normal circumstances it took two or five shoves before he startled awake with the fist of fury, so Talla's guard wasn't exactly up when she gave that first AND ONLY shove -

After the stars then blackness took over her, next thing Talla was aware of was someone anxiously smacking her face a little. The left side of her jaw was pulsating with an excruciating ache, she was awkwardly hunched over the Kaminoan chair by Crosshair's bed where she'd landed, and various medical tools strewn about that fell from the table she collided with, and speaking of Crosshair he was the one knelt by her and held her head up by chin with one hand and smacked her non-hurting with the other, going between muttering curses at himself or little phrases at her aimed at trying to get her to wake up.

Knowing her yet to be tamed explosive temper, Crosshair fully expected to face repercussions for his unforgiving strike to her jaw, courtesy of the jump scare she gave him.

Yet after helping the unsteady woman back to her bed, the only respons Crosshair got was the curt request that he wear a breathing mask too, 'cause he snored. Wordlessly, her personal mask was reattached, she laid back down, and he was completely baffled that was as far as the incident was being taken... with him at least.

The true object of her fury wasn't revealed until the other Bad Batchers returned first thing.

As Convor was examining her already black and blue jawbone - dang, Talla didn't know he could punch THAT BAD - Hunter of course asked two seconds after arriving and blinking in surprise, 'What the blaze's happened to your face?'

Convor released her so Talla could say to him, or rather she hissed at him.. the best she could anyways considering her jaw KRIFFING HURT, "You're lucky I don't do this to you, Sarge."

Crosshair raised a brow, Wrecker's happy grin faded into true terror and he clutched his retrieved Lula doll tighter, Tech looked up from happily tapping away on his datapad, and even Convor paused his action of deciding between bacta gel or a bacta patch and flashed a concerned glance.

Talla was mad at Hunter.

Talla never got mad at Hunter.

At least not openly. Even when he was being a jerk right after 99's death, she held back.

"I just realized why ya'll are so reluctant to wake Crosshair up, and the fact that time before the Kamino invasion you sent in the newbie, without any warnings -" She shook her head in disappointment while glowering at him, "That's low. And if I was a less mature person, like a certain prickly stringbean who apparently has a deadly uppercut, I'd pay you back for this."

Oops.

And seeing the tiniest bit of color drain from Hunter's stoic face, that was a funny enough sight that Crosshair let that pass about his maturity slide.

Their fearless Sergeant was in the doghouse.

Truth be told, it wasn't taken further after that either.

And it was because of the unspoken and unknown translation of the actually filtered threat in Talla's mind: "If I didn't have a little crush on you, you'd have to wear a matching red mask to cover the permanently crooked jaw I'd give you. But since I do kinda like you, I don't want to do something that will make you not like me, even though we'd never... yeah."

But Hunter did sleep with one eye open for a little while, just in case she snuck up on him. With the skills Talla displayed on V'hiina, he didn't doubt she'd find a way if she allowed herself to be so driven by revenge.

Fight fire with explosions, like she always said.


First Day as Roommates

(After lunch)

It seemed that Convor was valid in his 'cold manner of greeting' and Hunter actually sympathized with the reg at seeing the sight he walked into after escorting Wrecker and Tech to the mess hall for lunch (for obvious reasons ).

It looked like an innocent sight - Crosshair and Talla, sitting side by side on the side of the formers bed, each with a toothpick between their fingers.

It was when the toothpicks were expertly flicked across the room with spot-on accuracy, impaling a homemade target on Talla's bed - a simple foam cup they'd somehow gotten a hold of and perched between Lula's ears - that's when the concern kicked in.

Well, Crosshair was hitting the target with spot-on accuracy, and it seemed he was teaching Talla how to, if the sharp projectiles impaling the lightpad in front of her and cracking its screen had anything to say about it. With her strength, it didn't matter honestly because of her deadly speed.

(Of course Lula had a lightpad perched in front of her, to protect from the sharp projectiles Talla hurled at unnatural speeds because NO ONE MESSED WITH LULA)

And that's why Hunter was concerned, because if Talla could turn normal things, even tiny things like toothpicks into deadly weapons, he'd never be safe from her wrath no matter where he stood in a room nor even what room he stood in even if she couldn't aim them properly.

(Crosshair would pay to see that happen, which is why he was teaching her)

Crosshair snickered when Talla missed the target yet again, not even flinching at the sound of another crack exploding on the lightpad, like Hunter did. "And I thought you were this undefeatable super soldier."

"Stow it, Crosshair." She snapped while Wrecker was cheering her on and Tech was in awe, already picking out another toothpick from the container between them, determined to get this right, "This is different than aiming a blaster, and I'm all hyped up on painkillers for the broken jaw, remember?" She squinted at her fingers through her fuzzy mind, getting the toothpick perched into her fingers ready to flick again, "I just have to get the logistics down..."

Hunter didn't want to ask, but he did anyways while Wrecker bet five credits with Tech. "Why are you shooting toothpicks?"

"We're improvising." Crosshair said, not taking his eyes off the woman next to him, raising her hand up to position.

"Cause doc took away the syringes." She added, closing one eye to zero in at the target.

"... You used syringes as darts?"

"Aw man! Can't believed I missed the show!" Wrecker comically lamented, then got all excited when Talla flicked.

Then he and she sighed in disappointment when it was the stupid lightpad impaled again instead of the target. "Yeah, and he was completely mean about it too, even when we told him this would help us get over our fear of needles." Another toothpick was calmly taken out, "Then he took away all the scalpels and other sharp stuff when we improvised and we got bored, so we improvised again."

"You should be proud." Crosshair simpered in his direction while Talla aimed once more.

Hunter folded his arms and referred to the near empty container in between the pair. "I'm shocked actually - you're wasting your emergency stash."

"Actually, I found some in the Mess Hall - that's how we 'out-thought' him and improvised." Talla smirked also just as Convor returned from hiding the stash.

And ended up in the line of fire.

*flick*

"OW!"

Talla was frozen in shock for a moment when Convor clutched his victimized arm to his chest, a toothpick sticking out of the pricked and irritated flesh of his bicep, except Cross and Wreck snickered, Tech's jaw became slack, and Hunter... would have been shocked if something like this DIDN'T HAPPEN.

A nervous giggle from the sheepish Agent was followed by a sheepish wave greeting to the man dangerously close to the brink of insanity, "Hi."

They're Still Fighting About Showers, Guys

(Kaliida - Day 39 w/ The Bad Batch)

(Early Morning)

There was a thunderous knocking on the metal door of the Sniper and Agents private refresher. "Talla, you've been in there for half an hour - Get out!" Crosshair demanded as loudly as he could with the lingering sore throat he had.

"In a minute!" Was her muffled, completely misleading promise since he didn't hear the running shower be turned off yet again.

She'd been saying one minute for the last THIRTY minutes. Crosshair didn't think it was possible for someone to take a thirty-minute shower, but here they were. What the heck does someone do in the shower for thirty minutes?! Sergeant Luscious Locks himself managed with the seven or so minutes Talla set aside for him the other guys each free day, and he looked fine.

The desperate sarcasm Crosshair threw at her only fueled Talla's childlike games, "I find it amazing how you can calculate jumps to hyperspace faster than a clanker, but can't tell the difference between one minute and thirty."

"And I find it amazing how you can sit around for hours waiting for the perfect time to snipe out a tactical clanker or some other high ranking Seppie Scum, but can't wait a few extra measly minutes to use the shower!" She shot back.

Much to his surprise, he heard the squeak of the shower nozzle and the sound of raining water stopped. Throwing up his arms with a muttered 'Finally,' and an expectant Crosshair leaned against the wall by the door while folding them afterwards and went, "The war will be over if I have to wait a few extra measly minutes by your definition of a few extra measly minutes."

Talla's voice was laced with honey and ridicule, "If it's an emergency, Crosshair, you know there's always the communal refreshers and showers." She won this round, because there was no way Crosshair was going into reg infested territory. He could feel the smirk of triumph in his general direction from behind the closed door as she of course knew this fact.

But he didn't give Talla the satisfaction letting her hear him growl in frustration, just silently thumped his patchy haired head against the cold metal of the wall, and with no more complaints waited for his turn that was hopefully not too far off.

... And he kept waiting. For a long time.

Crosshair was appalled five minutes later, What the heck is she still doing in there?!

Next came the frustrating realization at ten minutes,She's doing this on purpose.

Then finally, FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER the door whooshed open, and Talla sauntered out dressed in fresh hospital garb with her damp and damaged hair was pulled into a simple low ponytail, a beyond easy peasy look that definitely didn't need to take up fifteen minutes in the refresher.

Pushing himself away from the wall, Crosshair didn't waste time before ragging on her, "You know, there are deprived children in the galaxy who could desperately use all the clean water you waste on a daily basis."

Across the room now, Talla rolled her eyes at his flair for the dramatics while plopping backwards onto her hospital bed with the same level of dramatics. "Okay okay - I'm sorry." About those children, not the fact that I annoyed you. 😏

He humphed in disbelief, as if reading her thoughts. That's why he kept up his own sarcastic quips while going to his bed and retrieving the fresh set of clothing provided by the hospital, "I didn't take into account that I'd have been saving the Republic an exorbitant amount of funds that could have helped those poor children if I just left you down there in the mine."

Words could not express the pure delight Talla felt in the fact she could get under Crosshairs skin. Turns out, she was a little petty after all, and felt Crosshair was due for some repercussions for all those weeks of torment he put her through. Only difference was, she wasn't going to destroy his will to live or cross into hypocrite waters like last time. Just make him want to tear out his hair a little.

Or, what's left of it anyways.

That was wisely left out, for as stated before she was not going to cross into hypocrite waters ever again.

But it goes without saying that he loved this to, and the battle of 'Who Can Deliver the Most Scathing Comeback?' was no longer a bloody war, but a truly fun game as opposed to Tech's previous game that helped him keep his sanity.

It was amazing how taking out the hate element, they could now go back and forth like this, and be completely fine, say, ten minutes later. And before, Talla would rarely take the initiative to try teasing Crosshair but now it was like second nature, just another enhancement if you will. Yes, she'd come a long way from when Ahsoka first exposed her to harmless teasing, and found it was strangely fun. "Hey, I wanted to wash all the hospital grossness off of me," She feigned sheepishness, "But -"

Crosshair sharply turned before entering the refresher. "But what?"

The embarrassed smile thrown his way was completely fake, "Well, after all that effort I still feel a bit gross, so I'm just going to have to suck it up and wait till we get home before taking a proper shower."

"Lovely." He deadpanned, then smirked. "Shall I shoot the Chancellor a warning message about the drought about to hit the galaxy?"

Talla's annoyance was betrayed by a cheeky grin of her own. "Oh, shut up and go take your shower, the others will be here soon."

"Is that right?" Crosshair deadpanned again, "I wonder if that's why I was rushing to get in one hour ago." He stalked into the refresher and would have slammed the door behind him if it wasn't automatic.

Talla paused for effect. "And you call Tech the Drama Queen!" With her enhanced hearing she swore a breathy chuckle was given at this.

Next, she used her fingers to count down the seconds before he actually blew up with annoyance.

One.

Two.

Three -

"What the - Ugh! - did you shove a wookie down the drain!" There were more noises of disgust as he no doubt removed her wads of fallen hair with unparalleled reluctance, just not wanting to take a shower in five inches of water pooling around his ankles. "Ugh! You're worse than Hunter!"

It was Talla's turn to laugh to herself, "Then you should be happy to hear I'm chopping my hair short!"

Muttered curses about her being disgusting no doubt only made her feel all the giddier.

When they played around, Talla could almost forget that after he was cleared to leave, it'd be time to say goodbye to this.

Haircuts - Love 'em or Hate' em

(Late Morning)

The constant buzzing sound of an electric razor filled the personal recovery room of one Sniper and the Special Agent that was his temporary roommate, irritating said Special Agent sprawled out on her bed and smooshing her pillow over her ears to ineffectively block out the torture. There were some noises that just drove her senses crazy, no matter the volume level, and this reverberating buzz turned out to be one of them, even though the hairdresser and client were all the way in the refresher.

The only non-irritating thing about this was watching Crosshair pout like a child the Kaminoan chair placed in the middle of the tiny washroom, really not looking forward to the finished look he'd end up with as Hunter buzzed off the last of his hair before touching up with a handheld razor. The impending discontent caused a lot of unintentional fidgeting on Crosshairs part which made the meticulous process more difficult for Hunter, thus causing a lot of bickering between the brothers.

Why was Hunter doing the haircut in the first place? Because Crosshair was not used to doing it himself anyways, and he definitely wasn't going to start now, which would require looking in the mirror. He avoided them like the blue shadow virus now, and pointedly made sure to face his swiveling chair facing away from the one behind Hunter, and would be damned if he had to watch the buzzing off of his unique, silver toned, and destroyed patchy head of hair.

Crosshair was upset from that, achy from the sickness still plaguing him and sitting in this uncomfortable chair, just plain miserable.

Hunter muttered a curse when the Sniper shifted again. "Cross, I'm only going to say this one more time -" The electric razor was intentionally held close to his left ear, causing Crosshair to fight a flinch, "- sit still, or I'm gonna chop your ear off."

"Perfect, then I can be identical twins with Wrecker." Crosshair retorted but complied, and the big lug sprawled out on his bed across the room protested this rude comment he overheard because Crosshair made sure he'd hear.

"Hey, I still have my ear!" Self-consciously, Wrecker reached a hand up to the deformed body part, "... It's just a little wonky, that's all."

Sitting still only lasted as long as that comment, causing Hunter to use force this time by literally grabbing Crosshair's head and snapping not-so-nicely it back into position himself. "Keep moving and yours will be too." He threatened as Crosshair spouted a few curses.

"Don't ever go into chiropracting." He snarked, neck sore already and not in the good way.

Sitting in a different chair next to Talla's bed and thought to be unaware of nothing but his datapad, the signature pointer finger was raised when Tech had misconceptions to clear up. He had a sixth sense about these. "Technically, it is not possible to cut off an ear with an electric razor - the worst would be some small nicks or perhaps a bad case of irritating razor burn."

"Yeah, I know," Hunter acknowledged, then snapped Crosshair's head back into position again -

"Ow!"

"- so you better start behaving before I whip out the manual razor." Hunter threatened one last time.

There were some more grumbles -

In retaliation, there was another jerk of the Sniper's head to the side so Hunter could raise a daring brow straight down at Crosshair's pain-twisted face. "What was that?"

"Nothing, Sarge." Crosshair spat.

In complete mockery, Hunter patted his cheek in good nature. "Good answer, baby brother."

Dull amber eyes became as sharp as the razor Hunter threatened him with, and through gritted teeth Crosshair gave his own threat up to his. "I'm going to make you eat that razor, 'not-so-big-brother.'"

It fell on unintimidated, unimpressed deaf ears.

Crosshair did finally master the art of staying still, and didn't sustain any collateral damage, but he wanted to cause some damage to anything and everything and everyone around him when Hunter announced, "Done!" And all the curious yet critical eyes in the room were trained on him - specifically, his smooth, freshly bald head.

From the silence that took place, you could hear a pin drop or that rumored enchanting whistle of the Force as its power is wielded, and it took everything for Crosshair not to squirm in his seat.

It was chipper Talla who sat upright and broke the silence. "I think you look great, Cross!" She complimented truthfully.

All she got was a muttered 'shut up' before a red-faced Crosshair threw unsuspecting Hunter out of refresher before locking himself inside, causing Talla's stomach to twist in knots from the guilt because his suffering, in a way, all her fault.

She was the one to reach a dazed Hunter first and offered him a hand once he shifted off his back, then everyone congregated in front of the locked door, offering little bits of encouragement to try helping the insecure brother.

"It's not bad, Crosshair!" Talla reassured him.

"Just different." Tech said, which could have been taken the wrong way.

"But not a 'bad' different!" Talla was quick to clarify.

There was no reply, which meant complimenting the new look wasn't working.

Wrecker switched tactics, "Maybe - maybe Hunter can be a hair donor?"

Across the semicircle of supporters, Hunter coolly riposted, "Over my dead body."

Next to him, Talla secretly also wanted to find a different solution, not wanting to sacrifice those glorious waves either.

But the others ganged up on Hunter. "If that's what it takes to get him out." Tech agreed with calm seriousness.

"What?" Hunter sputtered.

And to stop the potential assault, Talla gave two unforgiving shoves to the two potential assaulters chest plates and said to hiding Crosshair while they stumbled backwards right on their asses, "C'mon, even bald you're still good-looking!"

*crickets and various forms of odd looks from the man next to her and the two star-fished out on the floor*

"What?" Gaping Tech and Wrecker raised stepped back into line to their gaping older brother as she explained her strange reasoning, "I finally figured out why all those women glare at me when I'm with you guys at bars," She raised a pointer finger, "Or the flipside - they realize that I'm just a friend of yours, and some of the more reserved ones slip me their comm channel codes to give you guys."

The silence was out of astonishment now, and the three batchers outside the refresher shared looks combined with mortification, and perhaps a hint of smugness.

"We... get comm codes?" Tech asked with the common decency to act bashful. He knew some women tried approaching him, but it was admittedly only a few, and even fewer stuck around when he started babbling incoherently out of nerves. None stuck around, to be honest. It was still a confidence booster though, thinking more women found him appealing. But this was mixed with unease, because while he liked being intimidating out there on the battlefield, he didn't necessarily like others finding him intimidating unless it was a potential bully, least of all a potential mate. There were times he envied Wrecker's relationship, wondering what it felt like to find someone who looked beyond the initial anti-social tendencies and would be more than a friend.

He was on an emotional roller-coaster.

And while he'd never be unfaithful, Wrecker always thought no one gave him a second thought at all, besides his Skylar. It instilled confidence in himself. There were times he found his scar ugly and off-putting, yet he still found admirers.😌

As was Hunter, who also had been approached, but suffered awkward silences instead of babbling. It was depressing nothing had come out of those interactions, and depressing he did get comm codes he'd never have the guts or skills to reply to, but it was an extremely and awesomely pleasing fact that he was found attractive enough to be given them. Hunter had never felt for another what he felt for Talla now, but hey maybe he had options? If he, you know, could get over being so anti-social.

One look at back at sunshiny Talla made those thoughts come to a screeching halt.

Nope, no one could hold a candle to her. She actually looked past those tendencies and tried to understand him instead of assuming he was unfeeling. Didn't judge his character right on the dot, instead gave him several chances to show who he really was, or tried and wanted to be anyways. It'd probably backfire one day, her being so trusting, but for now he just was thankful, flattered, and oh so miserable.

Back to the topic at hand, Talla waved Tech's question aside like it was no big deal. "Yeah, but I always get rid of them because you guys are so uneasy with women at the bars already, I figured you wouldn't want the pressure of calling one back, especially one you've didn't actually speak to face to face."

A presumption like this was so not her place to assume, nor was this action hers to decide for them... but her reasoning was spot on, and in a way they were thankful for the interference.

That didn't mean the competitive brothers would let this slide.

From beyond the closed door, muffled Crosshair wondered with as much nonchalantness he could procure under the circumstances, "Who gets the most comm codes?"

Talla:...

...

Others:

...

Crosshair: |

"No comment." Talla finally said, and went to sidestep the man in her way - Wrecker - but he caught her, lifted her by her shoulders and ungracefully plopped her back down in front of the door.

"C'mon, who gets the most?" Wrecker urged with way too much eagerness.

He was really hoping to beat Crosshair at something this time around.

Wrecker and Tech took an eager step towards her, so pressed up against the refresher door now she held up her hands and giggled nervously. "Look, you all are great guys once you get past the anti-social tendencies -"

"Yes, yes, but who gets the most?" Tech pressed while next to him dazed Hunter's heart gave a happy flutter.

Talla thinks I'm a great guy!

It was a generalized compliment, but a compliment nonetheless and he'd take it, not caring about the unspoken stupid competition anymore. Talla thought he was a great guy and that took away his insecurity away for a blissful few minutes... then came back the miserable hate for his cursed luck.

On the other hand, Hunter didn't need to show eagerness about the competition to keep Talla evading the question because he had fixed her with a curiously apprehensive look that just caused a foreign, burning sensation in her chest that gave her the urge to claw the eyes of all the ones who gave codes for Hunter specifically.

After several more urges, almost pleas from the three other male Batchers but happily no more from the one with the skull tattoo, Talla reluctantly complied and started off by saying, "Alright, alright!" They shut up and listened intently. "It depends on the planet."

"Okay, say 79's then." Tech supplied.

In a moment of playfulness to lighten the mood and payback for the forcefulness, Talla decided to have fun with this by dragging on the suspense, leaning casually against the door she was trapped in. "You want the truth?"

"Yes."

Her chewed off, ugly nails were loftily glanced at with a smirk, nonetheless, to add to the sass effect. "You reeaally want the truth?"

"Yes!" All three non-dazed Batchers insisted.

There was a pause for affect and all of them this time leaned forward in anticipation for the big reveal.

Then she grinned, knowing what Crosshairs reaction was going to be. "Wrecker."

Pause.

"What?!" Unexpectedly, the door supporting her Whooshed! open.

Wrecker laughed "HA!" in Crosshairs slack face.

While Hunter was broken out of his stupor by hearing Talla's grunt of pain from falling backwards, then pushed past Crosshair to offer his hand first, Tech conceded, "That... actually makes sense." After some deep reflection.

Promptly letting go of Hunter's steady yet gentle hand that gave her the butterflies and electricity, Talla gave Crosshair a little punch for causing her fall.

"Ow!"

"Why are you so surprised?" She teased, "Wrecker's a lot of fun at a bar!" Wrecker's chest puffed proudly, "Dancing, singing, the life of the party really!" She swept a hand in the general direction of the other baffled three, "You guys just hunker down in a corner and avoid eye contact with anyone who passes, or glare if they linger by your table!"

"HA!" Wrecker triumphed again, whose mouth was pressed in a firm, greatly unsatisfied line.

"And now that he's got a girlfriend, it's gotten worse," Talla divulged in annoyance while Wrecker raised his brow confusedly, "It's like, they can't have you, so they want you more or something stupid like that."

"I can't believe this." Crosshair grumbled, folding his arms and looking like a huffy teenager.

Wrecker cupped his hand around his good ear mockingly, "Um, excuse me, what? Who's the one who got a girlfriend first?"

An eye twitched.

And an urge to kill was rising by leaps and bounds.

And he considered jumping off the edge of this space station when he heard that Tech came in second place because if approached he could actually give a friendly smile instead of the off-putting, resting bitch face never failing to be a major turn off, especially when it was followed by words that just had 'Kark off' undertones.

Tearful Goodbyes - NOT!

(Kaliida - Day 40 w/ The Bad Batch)

(Mid-Morning)

Convor was not a mushy guy. The medic was serious in saying he did not like seeing the same patient twice, and he was serious in his cold manner of parting.

Hands folded behind his back, face devoid of all emotion, Convor bid the woman looking up at him this flat goodbye: "Goodbye, Agent Talla - it hasn't been a pleasure and I hope we never meet again."

Mirroring his bored facade, Talla responded with as frigidness, "Yeah, same to you."

But when they went their separate ways - Talla to meet her team impatiently waiting outside the room already, Convor over to the desk in the corner to collect the light pad containing all their treatment info - small bittersweet smiles of camaraderie betrayed the medic and patient's true feelings about this goodbye.

And if he hadn't picked up on it by now, Talla was his exact opposite in every way, especially in how she expressed herself. She felt things very deeply, and expressed things very strongly, and decided she wasn't going to leave it at just this.

Behind him, Convor heard the clomping of her heavy army boots against the smooth hospital floor hurriedly reapproaching him, And turned in just enough time to see her skid to a stop several feet away, bursting at the seams with an emotion she was more than eager to explain, "I know that you try to be all tough, but I just wanted to say you've been INFINITELY nicer with my treatment than all the Kaminoan I've had the displeasure of treating me."

When she paused to let out a gasp, saying that all in one go and already breathless from her racing back in here, he couldn't help but candidly remark, "That is not much of a compliment, Agent."

She glowed with appreciation though. "Well, I say it is, because for reasons I can't say I was -" She paused when getting a knowing look, then shrugged a shoulder while admitting, "Alright, definitely still am afraid of medical facilities." Talla wracked her brain to not overexplain and put this into as simple words as possible in respect for her squads to make a swift retreat, but words that still packed the meaningful punch she was trying to make. "But believe it or not I've become less afraid of them, all because of you."

The harshness of his features easing up at this unexpected appreciation was almost nonexistent, but intuitive Talla saw it and it encouraged her to finish up her sappy second goodbye. "You're tough on your patients, yeah, but you're not unkind and never lay a cruel hand on them, and I wholeheartedly appreciate everything you've done for me - in fact, I don't think I'd still be a around if it wasn't for you so... I just wanted to say thank you." Melancholy overtook her for a brief moment. "Figure you don't hear that enough around these parts, and you deserve it."

She held her breath as the blank look he wore for a moment offered absolutely no insight as to how he felt about this little speech.

Then, the first kind smile she'd ever seen him give softened the harshness of his stress weathered features, which she returned with much more enthusiasm before giving an honorary salute despite him not being a ranking officer, then made to scram just like he wished.

The Honorary She-Wolf

(Early Afternoon)

Ahsoka was thrilled when she received word Talla and her teammate had been released and were en route to Coruscant, especially since she wasn't scheduled to leave with her Master until the day after the Bad Batch scheduled arrival - she'd get to see her friend again! This time not unconscious on a hospital gurney but in good spirits and well on her way to a full recovery!

Also stationed on Coruscant till the leader of his battalion was done with Jedi business was Commander Wolffe, and the Kel Dor General suggested the two of them join Ahsoka on her visit to the Havoc Marauder II, to congratulate the Bad Batch on the exceedingly helpful information Tech retrieved from the tactical droid's system, applaud their squadrons amazing ingenuity, and wish them a speedy recovery.

Hunter, Tech, Wrecker were not interested in socializing with Commander Buzzkill or anyone at that, their social batteries thoroughly drained from half a week surrounded by regs, reg medics, and long-necks, but Crosshair planted himself close by. If need be, he'd defend the new person he tolerated and had his undying loyalty now confirmed, giving off an air of intimidation while 'casually' lounging on the top steps of the ramp with a toothpick between his clenched teeth, and razor-sharp amber eyes training a withering glare on the reg Commander specifically, and answered the one and only question directed at him with an uninterested grunt, thus effectively sparing him having to endure any more boring, tortuous pleasantries.

To be expected, Wolffe was less excited to see Talla again, the eccentric nature of her and her squadron just not his forte. "Agent Talla, it was an honor serving with you, but you're a kriffing maniac so to be frank, if I ever see you again it'll be too soon." Was his clipped greeting once her and Ahsoka gave each other the expected hug and exchanged the expected pleasantries upon seeing each other again, then included the tag-alongs into the conversation.

To be expected, Agent Talla was a bit is thrown by this this greeting that doubled as a goodbye, especially since he looked completely unapologetic about the mockery of it. In response, Plo Koon gave a disapproving dad look and Ashoka was also put off, but not exactly surprised at the brusk words.

By now, Crosshair was fully aware of Talla's sword-like tongue, and like a proud Master he fully approved of his Padawan taking a page out of his playbook. Wolffe had no idea who he was dealing with, or who had helped her fine-tune her craft.

A hand was laid over her feigned wounded heart, And Talla addressed her leering mentor up top with eyes gleaming in the same mischievousness as his were now, "Cross, do - do you realize... I think that's the nicest compliment I've ever gotten from a reg!"

Even Plo had to crack a smile over that one.

If Wolffe was put off this time, it didn't show on his face but he did stutter once while he reiterated, "You're a - a hazard out there on the battlefield," Then paused to take out something from a pouch on his belt, "But despite the incident, the boys had fun working with you and seeing you in action so, they wanted me to give this to you."

Unfolded and held out to her was a simple, square piece of grey cloth bearing the painted white symbol of the Wolfpack with hints of red, to signify her Bad Batch roots no doubt.

"It's a patch to sew onto your kama." Ahsoka smiled.

"It's a parting gift, a get-well gift, and a peace offering all rolled into one." Plo stuck his two credits in, chuckling at the last one out of amusement but also embarrassment from the mess they caused during the brawl.

"And they remembered you said your name meant 'Stalking Wolf,' decided you're an honorary wolf in the pack, and are always welcome to join us if these guys get to be too much." The dismay in Wolffe's voice over this offer was evident.

And yet, to his surprise her smirk was not out of mockery this time, but was followed by harmless teasing this time around. "A compliment to be sure, but as you stated before I'm also crazy -" The humble, precious gift was accepted, "But tell them THANK YOU, and that they don't have to sleep with one eye open, and that I'm honored to be the honorary she-wolf in the pack."

Twinsies

(Late-Afternoon)

Looking in the mirror in Blair's salon station, Talla got the sneaking suspicion her cropped hairstyle looked vaguely familiar, as if she was having Deja Vu, but couldn't quite put her finger on it and flaunted it proudly, finding the shorter hair very freeing.

At least, on the outside she pretended to be okay with this. On the inside, having short hair again made her stomach churn at the horrible memories it resurfaced of the overly strict, harsh living conditions down there in Nala Se's private lab.

Until entering the common area of the Marauder, and Crosshair harshly probed her mind with his own figurative finger after a cruel bark of laughter. "Wow, looks like Hunter is the one who got a twin."

There was no way to deny that it killed Talla to hold her tongue, especially after the Sniper squinted at her with the message: 'I Dare You. He dared her to cartwheel over the line they had silently agreed to never cross again. Maybe dance on it a little like he did just now, but never cross.

What Crosshair said, it didn't mean the hairstyle looked bad... but it didn't mean it looked good either. And he wasn't going to confirm or deny this, instead he silently dared Talla to make a dig about his unwanted, heroic baldness. He took one for the team, and if she teased him about it she'd never hear the end of it for as long as she lived. And Talla was stuck with them now, so it was not like she could easily escape in their eyes.

But she so wanted to tear into him.

Her jaw clenched so tight the Bad Batch bystanders were very much shocked her teeth didn't shatter, same with the bones in her fisted hands as they trembled from the forest fire of rage threatened to blaze, her lips pursed so tight they almost disappeared, her starry eyes sharpened and were as cold as durasteel -

The only response he got was a tight smile and a taut, "I think I left my new headpiece at the Parlor." Before Talla turned sharply on her heel and rigidly marched out of the ship.

Her thin, hair was tied up in a low ponytail and she was still red in the face when Hunter caught up to her, having heard this interaction from the kitchen.

"Where you goin'?" He asked, half expecting her to say 79's where Talla could drink her problems away and forget Crosshair even said that, and fully prepared to join her. No way was he going to allow her to get drunk without someone there to make sure she didn't get taken advantage of, which was a confirmed definite possibility.

By his concern, he obviously heard what transpired between her and Crosshair, and that made her all the more self-conscious because if he wanted to get involved, he might want to see her new do. Talla went to pick her hair, but her hair was no longer there, so her arms wrapped around her midriff instead. "Blair said I could come back in a couple of days if I didn't like it, but Crosshair has sped up the decision-making process so..."

"So," He echoed, "She can make your hair grow back or...?"

This made her give a small laugh, a signal that maybe she wasn't so far down freak out lane. "Tch, no, but I can go shorter, and there's other hairstyles I can try - Hey, maybe I can shave half my head!" Her wrinkled nose gave away her chagrin over the idea.

"I don't think you need to go that drastic -" Hunter's eyes went round. "Not saying you wouldn't look good!" He overexplained, "You would - erm -" Pinching the bridge of his nose, he let out a sharp breath in frustration while the corners of Talla's mouth lifted in endearment. "You look fine now!" He blurted out while her self-consciousness ebbed away at his adorable attempts at complimenting her, "And you don't have to cut your hair shorter if you don't want to, the styles are different enough, plus your hair is straight and mines -"

"Luscious, flowing locks?" Talla finished, then without thinking went to change the uncomfortable tone of the conversation by reaching up to give one strand of the waves a gentle, playful tweak that she thought would ease his anxiety. And compliment his looks in the process.

Also not thinking, Hunter was able to direct a roll of the eyes at her and gave a grunt. "Kriff, not you too." Then he mentally went, Huh, because, the way she said it, with almost suggestive and yet playful words plus a demure sideways glance and smirk and the semi-physical contact that wasn't for comfort reasons that surprised her even but was intentional, it made Hunter swear... or perhaps hope she had just flirted with him.

He couldn't think straight around her anyway, but this - Wait, she flirted with me? - once the possibility was in his head, Hunter's stomach did a somersault like never before. Oh my kriff, she flirted with me.

SHE flirted with ME?!

If he's said it to himself once he's said it a thousand times - he's way better at flirting with death then the other kind. By the Moons of Gozgo, all he could picture was that time at 79's last month, Talla's first public drinking escapade that ended with the woman with getting completely blasted, and trying to braid his apparently awesome hair at the end of the night. A moment that he had tried to desperately suppress from his memory because it was not an ideal situation, and yet a bad part of him actually liked, I don't know, being that close to her? Her touch was exhilarating in a way Hunter had never experienced, and there were times he gave in and other times he fled. In that moment, he experienced and did end up doing both.

So yeah, he was flustered now because Talla hadn't been this way with him since that night when she was drunk, and he was sure she wasn't drunk now, unless she slipped a few drinks at Nik's or something.

Talla actually wasn't, yet the comment still came out without a second thought. It just... happened.

That theory aside, Hunter also wanted to say something clever and playful.

"That is so - just - no."

But if you'll excuse him, he was going to go take that swan dive off the side of the landing pad now.

The urge only increased when Talla misunderstood his dumbstruck muteness, wide-eyed stare, and pause in the middle of a busy walkway as that he did not approve of the unwanted teasing and physical contact. She went too far. "I'm sorry."

He dumbly blinked several more times. "What?"

Talla clutched her upper arm with her opposite fist. "I know that you get that stupid nickname constantly from Nik and Crosshair, and it's probably been done to death and not funny anymore, but I couldn't help myself." It was her turn to avert her eyes, take in a sharp breath and let it out, the tension in her frame like never before. "It's just, it almost killed me not taking my shot with Crosshair." She admitted with shoulders slumping.

Oh good, a conversation changer. "Why didn't you say anything back?" Hunter truly wondered, beckoning her to walk along with him now after a rude man rudely bumped his shoulder. "Never held back before." He pointed out while sending a glare to the retreating man over his shoulder.

"Yeah, before we became friends." Talla emphasized, "I like the playful banter, but I don't like crossing the line of just being plain mean, like putting good people down or poking fun at their insecurities, it makes me feel..." Her nose wrinkled again, "Dirty. And I think we've silently agreed we won't do that with each other."

There was a pause as Hunter reflected back onto the tense moment he overheard. "But he did cross that line, Talla."

"No," She sighed regretfully, "Not really, anyways."

"Then please explain, 'cause it doesn't seem that way to me." Hunter said, expecting this was another self-blame game when it wasn't herself to blame for his cruel commentary. He could have phrased the twin comment better or used a different tone being well aware of her history.

The messy ponytail at the nape of her neck was now a victim to her anxious fidgeting which confirmed she was going to try not inconveniencing anyone. He would've reached out a hand to stop her, but we see how well that ended last time, didn't want the anxiety that would come with walking with her hand in hand.

Alas, the fidgeting could not be helped this time. "Looking back, it was just a tease but I'm really insecure about this new look, and to be frank it brings back bad memories of my time on Kamino - Nala Se kept my hair short for easy management." His eyes narrowed. "So, I didn't want to cut off too much of my long hair because I really liked my long hair and I only had it that long for not-so-long, I'm sad to say. Nala Se kept it short most of my life, and I mean really short, and only let me grow it out this last year. But with my hair so thinned it didn't look right keeping it long, so Blair cut it at the maximum length that was still considered short, and I know that seems like a silly thing to be upset about but -"

"It's not." Talla peeked sideways at him, and Hunter shook his head without breaking the new eye contact. "Believe me, it's not." Force knows he had some weird things that triggered him too. Then, he figured if she wouldn't say the big bad comment to his brother's face, didn't mean she should keep it bottled inside. Say things like this in a safe environment, right? "What would you have said?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"What was the scathing comeback that almost killed you to hold back?" He clarified wryly.

Talla pointedly looked away in shame, "Oh, I shouldn't say it, it's really bad."

Unexpectedly, an elbow bumped her arm lightheartedly, "C'mon, it'd be a shame to waste good material." And while his face was almost inexpressive as usual when Talla graced him with eye contact, his eyes were roguishly lit up because while he couldn't flirt with her, couldn't even compliment her, teasing his brother was as easy for him as slicing through droids and gave him equal thrills.

It took several turnings of her head with an apprehensive lip bite, as if she was afraid of being caught somehow, then long draw of breath in, and finally, all in one breath she repeated her mental snark. "Better being a twin with Hunter than you, and, I might have rubbed his egg-like head a little, and this isn't necessarily a really bad joke -"

"- but considering he's really insecure about it -" Hunter interjected knowingly.

"- it'd be cruel -" Talla agreed.

"- yeah." He finished.

A moment after she looked away with the same level of shame as before, the snicker Talla heard sounding from the man next to her as he no doubt envisioned the mental picture of her joke, it gave her the relief in knowing Hunter didn't think less of her because of her comment.

Then a sober reassurance followed while he reached up to massage the back of his neck, the nerves returning, "You seriously don't have to change your hair again." A touched look was given to him, "I only got a glimpse, but it looked fine to me."

Another tease, or perhaps flirtatious comment could not be avoided when she also remembered something from that first trip to 79's. "Your compliments are improving by quantum leaps."

By outward appearances, his compliment was still a weak compliment, but it meant a lot to Talla anyways. Her hair was horridly damaged from the poisoning and treatment to strip the hair of its previous unnatural coloration, and yet Hunter said it was fine. Maybe he was lying, maybe he just didn't notice the frizzy dryness, or maybe it didn't look as bad as she thought it was, all she knew was that Hunter didn't lie. He was so honest, sometimes it hurt. And here he was, saying she looked nice.

Talla must have imagined the blush and bashful, slight upturn of his lips while he looked at everything but her.

There was no way he could feel for her what she felt for him... right?

Welp, time to change the tone of the conversation again! "I won't show you because I'm still stupidly embarrassed, but take my word for it -" He looked to her again as she bashfully shrugged, "It does look a lot like yours, especially since Ahsoka gave me a headpiece because she knew I couldn't dye my hair crazy colors for a while, and was nice enough to find me something to still glam up my appearance a little. And while you might be fine with it, I just simply cannot break the clone code."

He raised a brow. "'The clone code?'"

She raised her chin. "We must have our own, unique looks - no copycatting."

Talla did end up chopping her hair an inch or so shorter so it wasn't shoulder length like Hunter's, the finished product being chin length with lots of fun layers so that it was short and sassy and perfect for now while the hair regrowth project began.

And Crosshair wisely kept his mouth shut this time.

FIRST SNOWBALL FIGHT!

(Just After Sunset)

Crosshair announced his presence in the common room with a gruff, "Hey." And after the Explosives Expert and Special Agent Clone vedged out on the couches, Sergeant and Technical Analyst hunched over the work desk gave him their undivided attention, the Sniper held up a white, spherical ball of pure frigid ice irritating the palm it rested on. "What's this doing in the freezer?"

Talla perked up. "Oh, that's mine!" Without rhyme it reason she leapt off the couch to happily pluck it from his hand and shifted it in-between her warm hands with a shiver from the drastic contrast in temperatures. "It's the first snowball I ever made myself, and I wanted to save it."

While she gave it an experimental toss to see if it held together, Crosshair asked 'Why?' and Wrecker raised from the couch as curiosity piqued him. Both and everyone else received an answer when the snowball did hold together, and it was next catapulted at Wrecker's unsuspecting head, flinging him backwards onto the couch once more, the ball of pure, solid ice hitting him at breakneck speed rendering him unconscious.

"Because I wanted to pay back Wrecker." Talla revealed like it was no big deal.

(Flashback - V'hiina Prime)

In the distance, way in the distance a stomach-churning, sky-high, impenetrable wall of black smoke slowly came at them and flashed with lights that morphed it into terrifying and ugly shades of green and purple.

But here, at the Havoc Marauder II, it was so beautiful, and Talla gave a happy shiver that may also have been from the freezing cold temperatures she'd never experienced before. Her body glove provided insulated warmth from the artic conditions, but she had pushed her helmet up like a hat to see with unobscured vision what remained of the snowy utopia around them, face exposed to the delicate flakes of ice that twinkled in the early morning light starting to shine, the lights from the Havoc Marauder causing an enchanting twinkling and glowing halo themselves to certain patches in the air.

With childlike curiosity and fascination, she reached her palms out to catch then observe the tiny bundles of tiny ice formations, and was fascinated as her sharp eyes picked out that each one was amazingly, uncannily its very own delicately cut, unique, breathtaking hexagonal shape -

"Hey Talla!" Wrecker called out to her.

She turned, "Yeah, Wreck -"

WHACK!

...

"OH MY KRIFF - I THINK I KILLED HER!" Was the last thing Talla heard as unforgiving coldness seeped into her aching, fallen body.

~ END OF PART 3 OF... the ending chapters of this arc ig ️~

~ BUT THIS IS THE END OF THIS ARC, I SWEAR ~

~ NEXT WEEK ON PROJECT SAC-1: First Period Around the Boys ~


Ah, isn't it adorable watching our little awkward caterpillars turning into beautifully awkward butterflies?

I wrote the scene between Huntla purely on impulse and because I know this would be me trying to flirt, at least intentionally. My sister calls me feisty, and I can be if I don't try too hard, but when I'm around a guy I sorta have a crush on, sometimes I can be feisty, at least through messaging, and other times stuff like this happens, especially if it's face to face XD there's no in-between

Idk what I even wrote, but here it is in all its glory XD 7,500 words of complete randomness that I found hilarious, fluffy, and awesome, and I hope you do too! But I got lazy with writing this after a while, so there's lots of emojis and crap too describe what I'm trying to portray lol

Fluff, lots of humor, a pinch of angst - *chef's kiss*

I love writing Huntla fluff as that is one of the focuses of my book as she's learning all about life like what she feels inside, but family moments are great too :D I need to do more of them

And I did add a little Huntla fluff cause I can't help myself

Mwhahahahaha

- Ella