Rewind
Author's Note: Five thousand warnings! =D
~ Rivana Rita
PS. This is for the square "Lost" on the Bad Batch Bingo. ^-^ And it's also for Day 1 of Haunted Clone Week. :)
~ Amina Gila
After Bracca, after the explosion, and after his brothers nearly killed him, Crosshair was expecting to wake up in a medbay on Kamino.
Instead, he wakes up... on the way to Bracca again.
Was last time a dream? A nightmare? It certainly feels like it, though Crosshair shouldn't be as surprised as he is that they hurt him. Of course, they did – it isn't as though they hadn't already left him. They already hurt him. When they left him was the second-worst day of his life, and Bracca was the worst.
But he's going back there again.
It felt real, but it isn't as though he hadn't had very vivid dreams before. Doesn't mean they've ever been anything like... this one was. This was so real, and it doesn't... make sense.
He tries not to think about it. Doesn't really think about it, except that this time, Crosshair doesn't find them on the auxiliary deck.
Doesn't find them at all, actually. He has no idea where they went.
**w**
It takes a few days – or rounds, or whatever – that Crosshair finally starts piecing something together. He's stuck in a time loop of this – of the worst day of his life, which can't really be the worst, considering that what happened the first time doesn't repeat again. Either way, he doesn't like it, and he has no idea what to do about it.
It's not stopping on its own, and it doesn't make sense.
Crosshair doesn't really know why he thought it would. It might make some sense if he could talk to Tech about it, if he could talk to his brothers about it, but that's obviously not possible, since he's supposed to kill them.
The one thing that's stayed true all these times is that he never actually succeeded, and he'll chalk it up to that for now. He doesn't know what else it'd be for, so he carries on. Again.
It's exhausting, and he's so, so angry. They left him, hurt him, and he wants to hurt them, too, just for that.
They're traitors, and he's here to kill them.
That's what he wants to do.
If he's stuck here until he succeeds, that's what he'll do. It's what he was supposed to do, anyway.
**w**
Getting crushed on the auxiliary deck was actually very painful, and this is also the last time he's making that mistake, Crosshair decides grumpily.
Also, he's adding this to the endless list of reasons to be angry at them. They hurt him, and they –
He's angry.
They abandoned him, and they hurt him and they – they killed him.
He doesn't care if they don't remember.
They still did it.
**w**
The next time, he misses them entirely. Crosshair has no idea what number this is – ten, maybe? It's exhausting.
He can't find them, so he opts to wait by the Marauder instead. Hunter won't walk blindly into traps, and Tech probably won't, either, but it's still the best chance he has.
He still hasn't succeeded, and if it'll continue until it does, he won't stop trying.
Won't stop anyway, even if this is maddening.
He walks right into a bounty hunter, who shoots him two seconds before Crosshair even realized he was there.
If the next three loops are about him obsessively killing the bounty hunter out of vengeance, well, no one needs to know. Or ever will know.
**w**
The number of times he's died already is ridiculous, but Crosshair can still count on it happening again, considering that his brothers evidently have no qualms about hurting or killing him. They left him, betrayed the Empire, and as if that wasn't enough, they're still... willing to hurt him. He doesn't know why he thought anything else. And Crosshair is so, so angry.
It's around fifteen that the engine blows up in his face, the same way it did the first.
It seems... worse this time.
He would've thought he'd be numb to it by now, but he was wrong. He's not. Dying is always jarring, no matter who does it or how it happens. It's happened a few times, so he knows it doesn't really matter, but it still hurts. And then, he's waking up again, back in the shuttle on the way to Bracca.
They killed him. Again, and they don't even care. They're not stopping, and the rage inside him is growing to a bottomless pit of – of something, and he wants to lash out, to do the same to them.
It doesn't even matter how. He just wants to hurt them, to – to –
When he finds them in the engine again, he orders the shuttle to fire on the engine. Whether they die or not, Crosshair doesn't know. All he knows is that he doesn't see them come out, and he stands, watching.
He thought seeing them die would bring him some sort of satisfaction, but it doesn't. Not really. He just feels empty.
**w**
The one thing that stays the same every time he sees them, is that they try to convince him about the inhibitor chip Tech mentioned way back. The kid is always the most stubborn about it, and he doesn't know what to think of the weighted look in her eyes sometimes, the way he thinks it looks worse whenever he sees her.
Not that it matters, because she's still with them and guilty of treason, too, even if he thought he'd like her. Crosshair thought she wanted to stick around them. She shouldn't've left him either, then.
It really doesn't matter. It's just annoying.
This time, somehow, they're prepared for him. Their encounter usually happens here in the auxiliary deck, but they've never attacked him the moment he stepped in the door.
Hunter stuns him before he even has a chance to raise his rifle, and everything blacks out.
Consciousness fades back in slowly, not that he's missed much for the past month or so, anyway.
He recognizes the hum of the engine before almost anything else. He's in the Marauder, on one of the seats.
And he can't move.
So predictable.
Aside from how Crosshair never anticipated them to capture him. He has no idea what they're doing or what they want with him, and he doesn't really care.
The only thing that matters is finishing the mission that he's been stuck on for so long.
He can pretend to still be unconscious well enough – Hunter's up front, because he can hear Tech's typing nearby him. Which is good. That gives him a chance to move and get himself free before they can do anything. They weren't entirely as thorough as they should've been, not that he's complaining.
If he's stuck in this loop until he kills them, well, that's what he'll do.
That's what his orders were, and the desperate, frustrated rage is burning him inside out. Being stuck here is maddening. He doesn't know or trust any of these people, and he never will either, because his brothers left him alone here.
Tech catches it before he's even halfway to his feet, drawing his blaster. Crosshair swerves aside, lunging at him, twisting the blaster around so it misfires. He rips it out of his brother's hands, firing at him. The stunbolt hits him square in the chest, and Tech falls motionless to the floor.
He doesn't know how to feel about how they were going to stun him, but it doesn't really matter. They're traitors. They left him, the Empire, everything and it – if he gets this done, maybe he can get out of here. This is a nightmare, because even if he wants to hurt them, he doesn't want to be stuck confronting them again and again.
Crosshair flips the setting to live fire.
Wrecker comes at him next, as though he'd be able to stop him. Crosshair fires, and he goes down.
The kid screams his name, darting forwards.
Crosshair stares at him, feeling empty and numb. He should probably feel something, do something, but he doesn't.
There's nothing.
Omega shakes Wrecker's shoulder, calling his name, panicking. He's not moving, not reacting, and Crosshair doesn't look close enough to see if he's breathing or not. That isn't what he's here for.
She twists around, drawing her bow when he steps closer. Crosshair fires before she can shoot him a split second before Hunter tackles him. He hits the wall, shoving back against Hunter and trying to get him off. Crosshair has a mission to do, and he needs to finish it. That includes Hunter and Echo and –
He has no idea if he got the other two, but from the raw fury on Hunter's face, he'd guess so. Hunter rips the blaster from his hands, throwing it across the room where it clangs into something and onto the floor.
He's weaponless now, and Crosshair snarls at him furiously, shoving back against Hunter and pushing him off, rolling to his feet. He doesn't see Hunter's blaster – actually has no idea where it is. Hunter's halfway to his feet again, and Crosshair takes the moment to catch the hilt of Hunter's knife, pulling it out of its sheath.
A bit messy, and not preferable, but faster than getting anything else.
Crosshair flips the blade around, activating it and stabbing outwards. He hears Hunter's gasp, feels the way he curls away, and Crosshair's hand lands on his shoulder, shoving him back and ripping the knife out.
Hunter falls to knees, gasping out a strangled sort of whimper, and something inside him just... shatters.
He doesn't know what or why seeing it hurts so much, because this is Hunter, and he's the one who left, who hurt Crosshair. It's Hunter, and he shouldn't be – be hurt like that. But he is, and Crosshair's hand is still on his shoulder. He doesn't pull back, doesn't really know why, either.
Hunter's hand presses to the wound, and it's bleeding fast. He'll be dead in minutes, max. It hadn't felt like this when Crosshair shot Wrecker and the kid. Those had been fast, momentary, instant. He thought it would make him feel something to see Hunter die, when he's the one who started all of this, but it doesn't.
Hunter's weight is somewhat leaning against him, even if he's trying to curl away from him, and seeing that hurts. It's Hunter. This is Hunter, and he shouldn't look scared. He was never scared, always knew what to do. He was never lost, but when Hunter tilts his head back to look at him, the only thing Crosshair sees in his expression is something too worn out to be fear, though there's still so much of it, he doesn't...
This is Hunter, not any of the others, and Crosshair still can't imagine him being afraid of anything.
He just watches it, him, feeling numb and empty.
"Crosshair," he rasps out, voice faint and strained.
He thinks Hunter's trying to say something else, but he doesn't really know. Doesn't really matter, either, but Echo's still here, and Crosshair should – worry about that, but he feels frozen, standing here watching Hunter.
The wound is bleeding fast, and it's soaking through his glove, and there's so much of it.
Crosshair hasn't seen this much blood since Wrecker got blown up, and there's a certain finality to this that it didn't have with Wrecker, and it shouldn't matter, because Hunter's a traitor and was supposed to die, but it still... does.
He didn't want this to happen. He didn't want to have to hurt them, but they didn't give him a choice.
That doesn't make it any easier to see the gutted look on Hunter's face – well, literally.
He's breathing in gasps, and he's dying and...
Crosshair stands there, watching numbly as Hunter tries to keep himself somewhat upright before he slides onto the floor. He's still alive, but the energy field of the blade spreads fast, was made to kill fast, and a small cut can cause extensive damage. Crosshair remembers hearing that from Hunter's knife training.
It wouldn't have been fatal if it wasn't a vibroblade, no matter how deep it was or how badly it hurt.
He's crying, and Crosshair has no idea if it hurt that much or if he's that upset Crosshair just stabbed him.
Doesn't really want to know, either.
He's still standing there watching when he hears the click of a blaster and jerks around.
Echo's still here, and Crosshair can't remember the last time he was so angry.
Before he can move, Echo fires, and everything blacks out again.
**w**
"I'm quitting," he says grumpily, cutting the connection before the Admiral can argue.
Yes, he killed his squad aboard the shuttle.
No, he doesn't care.
They were getting very annoying anyway, and he doesn't really want to confront his former squad again, either.
Did he just desert too?
Yes.
And no, it doesn't matter, because he'll wake up in the past again anyway.
He woke up in the same shuttle again, Hunter's motionless body still burned in his mind. He feels sick more than anything else, and he doesn't want to see them again.
He had orders, and he still wants to hurt them but seeing it was different.
That was Hunter, and he hurt Wrecker, too. And the kid.
He wants to get out of this, but he doesn't know how.
**w**
It's Tech he sees again, when he goes back to the Cruiser to search for them, as he has the entire time.
He can still see Tech's face, can see the tightness of his expression. He's seen Tech angry before, but never quite like this.
"I would suggest you surrender," Tech says curtly, blaster raised towards him, but Crosshair already has his rifle raised, so it doesn't matter.
Crosshair makes the first shot as he always does, hitting the weapon instead of his brother.
He doesn't really want to shoot Tech right off, though he doesn't know why.
That's what he's here for.
But why did Tech come after him alone? That's never happened before, and it makes no strategical sense.
They end up beating each other up.
Tech leaves after Crosshair shoots him in the shoulder – minor, but still there.
He's sore in about five hundred places, but well, doesn't really matter in a time loop, does it?
**w**
The next time it happens, it's Hunter who he sees first. After last time, Crosshair doesn't stop to consider why. He raises his rifle, about to fire, and Hunter throws his vibroblade at him, the blade slashing through the end of the rifle so it can't fire.
Smart.
Annoying, but still, smart, and something he should've expected from Hunter.
Hunter tackles him before he has a chance to go for his blaster, and it reminds him jarringly of a few days ago. It's almost exactly the same.
Crosshair rips the blade from his rifle, dropping it to the ground. Crosshair really doesn't want to get stabbed any more than he wants to get shot again – he's already died about four times, and it's getting old.
Being stabbed probably wouldn't be as painful as being crushed or when the ion engine blew up in his face, but he wouldn't know. Hunter would, but he's not asking.
It hurts every time they hurt him, and he's so angry, and he's tired of being angry.
"Wasn't once enough?" Hunter practically growls at him, hand pressing to where Crosshair stabbed him last time. That – it – he shouldn't know that. He can't say what it is, but something about the fierce desperation in Hunter's voice makes him freeze.
"You remember." He states more than asks.
His expression shudders as he inhales shakily. "Yeah."
Hunter remembers it.
Crosshair thought he was here alone.
He didn't know it was... serious. He didn't know it actually mattered what he did or didn't do for the past – Crosshair has no idea how long it's been, but it's been a while. Many days. Rounds, whatever. And he killed them. Hunter remembers that. So does Wrecker. And the kid. And – Echo killed him.
He doesn't know who else did it, but it doesn't matter.
"You killed me," Crosshair tells him sullenly.
Hunter flinches back like he slapped him, and it sort of feels like he did. "I didn't –"
"You did," Crosshair snaps, shoving him back into the wall.
Hunter's expression closes off from fear to angry desperation, hands jerking upwards to shield himself. It's defensive, and it makes something inside him scream in protest, but Crosshair opts to ignore it. There's nothing else he can do. "You did the same to us," Hunter snaps back.
Crosshair scoffs. "You started this on Kaller, Hunter."
Hunter shoves back against him, and Crosshair jerks the knife up towards his neck. Hunter blocks it, and Crosshair briefly contemplates going at him again, but he doesn't. "Twice, Crosshair," Hunter says, and his hurt is as unmistakable as his anger.
"Three times."
Hunter's eyes widen a bit, and he looks hurt. They look wet. He looks on the verge of tears again.
Crosshair should just finish it, do it, kill him and get it on with.
He doesn't think he can do it again.
"I – I didn't –" His breathing hitches and Crosshair steps back, knife clattering to the floor. He didn't really mean to drop it, but he doesn't want to do this. He could, but he doesn't want to see Hunter dying again, doesn't want to watch as he bleeds out.
A stun shot hits him from behind, and everything blacks out again.
**w**
Crosshair doesn't wake again until he's in the Marauder again. He's not restrained this time; he's free, and he's being held in Wrecker's lap.
Yeah, he's used to the sensation enough to know when he wakes to it, and he's a bit sore, too.
He shot Wrecker. Twice now. And he remembers that, doesn't he? That's why Omega looked so upset sometimes. That's why Tech was so angry. That's why – so many things make sense now. How couldn't he have figured it out a long time ago?
He – they remember that.
Hunter remembers when Crosshair stabbed him. Wrecker remembers when Crosshair shot him, and Omega –
He didn't think he had a choice, but he – why? They're still his family, no matter how angry he is, or how much they hurt him. And they did, though all he can feel about that right now is a gaping hole of emptiness.
He hates himself for doing it to them, and he hated them for making him do it, but right now, he just feels hurt. That they left him, that it happened, that it – they –
"Crosshair?" Hunter asks, crouching beside him.
He flinches back, pressing closer into Wrecker's grip. Hunter is the one he doesn't want to confront again. He doesn't – he shot Wrecker and Omega and Tech, and he killed Hunter, too, and he doesn't know how to deal with this.
Hunter's their leader and – and –
(He must be so disappointed in him, and Crosshair has no idea how he can even want him around after he killed him.)
He doesn't have any weapons with him, and Crosshair is glad for that because if he did, he'd probably be drowning in an overwhelming urge to hurt them again, and he can't do that. Doesn't want to do that – not again.
"It's okay," Hunter says, gentle, but somehow also wary. Crosshair glances their direction – Echo and Tech are hovering a short distance behind Hunter, and Tech has his hand on his blaster, ready to pull it on him at a moment's notice. Considering before, well, that's fair.
It still hurts, though. Which is stupid and selfish, because he's the one who killed them. He hurt them, and they're the ones who had to deal with that.
This is what happened before, and this is a terrible idea.
"You shouldn't have brought me here," Crosshair warns.
"We got your chip out," Hunter continues, "You'll be fine."
"Assuming the programming will break right away," Tech interjects. Crosshair can't remember Tech ever being this pessimistic. He – he's changed over the past month or so that they've been stuck in the loop.
Crosshair shifts a little, and Wrecker lets him, though he's still keeping his arms held firmly so he can't attack them if he'd try to. Which he doesn't want to do, won't do, but he still remembers doing it. He still killed them all at least once – twice, Hunter had said, which must include the time in the engine – and he can't stop remembering it.
What if they're wrong, and he's still a danger to them?
He remembers Hunter's expression as he bled out, his panic when Crosshair took his knife again.
He – he killed them, and nothing they do will change that, even if it didn't stay real. It could have been. Almost was, whether it was a nightmare or not.
"Crosshair?" Wrecker asks worriedly, the first to pick up his uneven breathing. Okay, probably, Hunter noticed first but nothing he can do will help. Nothing any of them do can.
"You shouldn't have – taken me."
He struggles against Wrecker's grip, half instinctively, even though he knows there's nothing he can do and nowhere he can go to avoid hurting them – leaving on its own would hurt them more than anything else. He knows them, and they know – knew – each other. They would rather he be there to hurt them than not around and all, and he can't – they can't live without each other.
And that's part of why he's so afraid.
He hurt them, and he can't – can't just forget that.
Wrecker squeezes him tightly when he finally shatters, and Hunter reaches to touch his shoulder. He curls closer, and Wrecker loosens his grip a little.
"It's okay," Omega tells him, moving closer, though she doesn't actually touch him. Crosshair blinks at her blurry image, unable to see her face clearly from the tears burning his eyes. "It wasn't your fault, and it wasn't for real." She's still keeping her distance, but he thinks she, at least, believes what she's telling him, even if he can't, and probably will, never understand it.
Hunter squeezes him tighter, pressing his forehead to Crosshair's and sliding an arm around his back.
Hunter and Wrecker shift closer to him, and Crosshair curls up between them, shaking. Hunter's hand lifts to his hair, stroking it lightly.
Crosshair could've killed them. It could have been real, and he doesn't want to think about what that would mean for him or any of them. They're family. If they hurt each other, they could – could figure it out, maybe, but not – not that. Not if he killed them.
It's no wonder Tech is so angry, if he woke up to see them all dead.
Except Echo, who killed him, and yeah, he knew it was just a time loop, but that still hurt. And it feels stupidly selfish of him for even being bothered by it.
"I'm sorry," he rasps. It still hurts – everything they did to him, but they're more important, and he should've just left with them. He – they say it wasn't something he could control, but that feels wrong because he's been saying that all along. It felt like his choice to leave them, to hurt them, even if he doesn't feel the need to anymore. What if they're wrong? It'll all go back around, anyway, and – and he can't deal with not being himself again.
"I know, Crosshair," Hunter tells him, "We know."
They don't say anything for a while, just staying pressed around him, and Omega moves closer somewhere in the middle, climbing half onto Wrecker's lap and half in Crosshair's to hug him.
She's tiny, so she fits in well, but he's never been hugged by someone smaller than him before, and it's weird.
He adores her. Probably more than he should, considering he doesn't even know her, but she wanted them the same way Echo once did, and that's all that matters. That, and that his brothers care for her.
He cries, until he's too worn out to, though nothing really makes sense anymore. Maybe it never really has.
They might not blame him for what happened, for what he did, but he does.
"It doesn't matter," he says, miserably, still curled between the three of them. "We'll just wake up yesterday." And I'll be trying to kill you again.
Omega tilts her head back, looking up at him, then stands and moves off to where Tech is. Crosshair doesn't really know what she's going for, but he doesn't ask. Doesn't matter. If that thing is real, it'll be back in him when the time rewinds again. It doesn't matter, and he'll be stuck trying to kill them. Again. Maybe it wasn't his fault – wasn't it, though? – but the thought of something controlling him is almost as bad. Almost.
Hunter sighs. "Maybe, but we had to try to get you out."
"Why?" he asks, pulling back.
"You're our brother," Wrecker supplies, squeezing him, and Crosshair rests his head on his shoulder.
He's warm, always has been. Something about his metabolism, he's guessing. It doesn't really matter – all that does is how they're here. And how Crosshair is probably about to try killing them again.
If they have to die to break it, then... what are they supposed to do?
He doesn't want to think about it, because it'll probably happen again – assuming it didn't already when he had the shuttle fire into the engine. He doesn't know.
There are so many things he wants to say, but there's no time. There won't be time before the loop rewinds, and he's so, so tired of being stuck here.
He presses closer to his brothers, desperate to soak up their warmth even if he knows they're about to go back to fighting, that the moment will be over, and –
"Yes!" Omega cheers, jumping in a way that really reminds him of when he and Wrecker were little. "We broke it!"
She's adorable, and he can't believe he killed that little ball of light and cheer. She's their sister, and he just... she couldn't hurt him, and she's so young. It makes him sick to think about. And –
Wait.
What?
"We broke the loop," Echo says finally – it's the first thing Crosshair heard him say.
"Yes," Tech agrees, "It appears we did."
"Really?" Wrecker asks, instantly brightening.
Probably, they're all as freaked out about it as he was. They're the ones he kept killing, after all.
"You sure?" Hunter inquires. He sounds slightly hopeful, but too afraid to actually hope.
"I am sure," Tech responds, "It is past the time it has been since we first left Bracca."
Crosshair realizes with a jolt that he has no idea what happened with his brothers all the previous times they were in. He doesn't know how many times they got hurt, even not because of him. He doesn't... know how to deal with this.
Hunter's hand moves to the back of his neck, and he leans forwards, briefly kissing his forehead – and nearly smacks face-first into Wrecker for his efforts – before pulling back. Crosshair misses the contact instantly, but he won't ask for it back.
He stabbed Hunter, and he can't believe he did that. And he can't – can't stop seeing it. Doesn't think he ever will.
Echo catches Crosshair's gaze and hesitantly steps forwards when Hunter turns to Omega, who's still bouncing with excitement. "Are you okay?"
He tries not to think about the burning pain of the blaster bolt through his heart, even if he only felt it for a moment.
That's assuming he really has one.
"Fine," he says, very un-reassuringly.
The cold metal of Wrecker's armor against his face is a welcome distraction from the memory of the ion engine explosion, from the light and pain and heat. They're together though, so they'll be fine.
Echo crouches beside them, and Crosshair shifts a little, suddenly self-conscious. They're not supposed to be close with each other, because it's distracting, though they still did it sometimes. After Echo joined, that changed a bit, and he still... finds himself wanting to change things for Echo to fit in with them.
"About the..."
"I would've killed me, too," he says, honestly, even if it's a bit blunt.
Echo huffs. "That wasn't the best reaction. I know it didn't matter, but I knew it wasn't something you could control."
He doesn't know why it bothers him so much, either. It shouldn't, but it does. It's somehow worse than the time when the ion engine blew up in his face, because he actually saw Echo doing it. It wasn't the same when he didn't see them. "I didn't know you would remember." He feels small, stupid, and hopelessly out of place. He should have figured it out long ago. It was so obvious. He just wasn't looking.
"Neither did we," Echo admits, "I thought... it doesn't matter. I shouldn't have done it." He holds out a hand to Crosshair, who hesitantly takes it, letting Echo pull him to his feet.
Wrecker stands right after, and he can't imagine how much self-control they must have for even letting him be here unrestrained. He doesn't have his weapons, and he won't ask for them until he needs them, because he really doesn't want them.
He doesn't trust himself with them, and he has to look away from Hunter the moment he sees his vibroblade.
This is the part of the Marauder that he saw half of them dead in just a few days ago.
He sees light farther back, and turns to the gunner's mount. It's lit up, and it looks... so different.
Lula's back here, too.
"You made this for the kid?" he guesses instantly, because that much is fairly obvious. No one else would want something this fancy, and the color makes him think it's probably Wrecker's doing.
"Wrecker made it for me," Omega volunteers instantly, appearing at his side. She somehow sounds cheerful, despite everything he did to them.
"Hm," is all he offers instead.
It looks so different, but it fits, and it's... something. They've changed, and he wouldn't want them to pretend otherwise.
Tech is still doing something on his datapad – probably monitoring communications, if he had to guess, but he seems... marginally less tense than earlier.
It'll probably take him a while to get over it, too.
Hunter offers him a weak smile, but it's still there.
They're fine. They'll be fine.
Right? He doesn't know anymore – he thought so once, too, and he was wrong.
Wrecker steps up beside him, and Crosshair turns to face him, hesitantly reaching out to touch him. He's a bit... uncomfortably uncertain about it, but they touch each other all the time, and Wrecker obviously didn't mind it too much earlier, given how he was holding him.
His hand lifts to press against Wrecker's chestplate where he shot him last time, trying to remind himself that he's still here and Crosshair doesn't need to worry about them disappearing. He didn't really hurt them. Not in this time. Not for real – it wasn't real, and he needs to accept that.
Wrecker's hand lays on his shoulder, heavy and big and warm, but it's him and they know each other.
"It's okay," Wrecker assures, "It wasn't your fault."
"How do you know?" He sounds desperate, but he is.
"It happened to me," Wrecker says quietly, hand lifting to Crosshair's head. It feels a little... weird, and he realizes – really realizes – for the first time that there's a bandage on it, presumably from the surgery. He was asleep through all of that.
His gut flips. "When?"
"Right before you showed up," Hunter interjects, "His inhibitor chip activated, and it got... bad, but we got it out before anyone was hurt."
Crosshair somehow doesn't believe that, but he'll take it.
Wrecker scoops him into a hug, and Crosshair wraps his arms around his neck, clinging. The last time they were together was – a long time ago now, or at least it feels like it was a long time ago, but they'll... fix it.
Hunter will fix it, because he makes everything alright somehow.
They'll be fine.
Somehow.
Omega wraps her skinny arms around Crosshair's waist, and Hunter presses in behind him a moment later. Echo and Tech join a few minutes later.
And maybe they can avoid getting stuck in a time loop again?
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