Chapter 6: Crosshair and "Melany"
The sun had set on Alderaan and the stars were shining brightly as Melany stepped back into the house from the vineyard. She had finished taste testing a couple batches of wine and given her notes to her droids, planning on trying them again tomorrow. Before changing out of her work clothes, she popped her head into Omega's room to check on her. Just as when she left, the young clone was still fast asleep. Melany then pulled out her data pad and analyzed the trooper's vitals on her way to her room. She needed to clean up and change before checking on them since she was a bit dirty from the day's work. About half hour later, Melany was jogging down the stairs in a fresh set of scrubs and her hair pulled up into a messy bun, still slightly damp from her shower.
Striding into the medbay, she headed to Wrecker's bedside first, wanting to check on the progress of the claw marks across his chest. Using her medical scissors, she cut off the bandages wrapped around his upper body and peeled off the gauzes. "Hmmm." Melany mused out loud, reaching for the magnifier. She peered at the wounds closely, noticing the gashes were a bit more red and swollen than the last time she examined them. Possible infection? She thought as she grabbed a sterile wound cleansing solution and began washing out the wounds before applying more bacta spray and an extra dosage of antibiotics. She put on fresh gauzes and wrapped up the wounds, then she replaced the bacta patches on his blaster wounds. Before moving onto Hunter, she double checked Wrecker's vitals. Once she was content with what she saw, she made her way to Hunter.
Melany started running another round of thorough head scans on him while she changed out the bandages on his abdomen. When the scans were complete, she attended to the cuts on his face and then analyzed the brain scans. Once again, the electrical activity in his sensory cortex was still hyperactive but stabilized over the last 24 hours. Assuming this was his typical baseline, given his heightened senses, Melany decided to stop inducing the coma tomorrow morning. Another look at his stable vitals and then she decided to move onto Crosshair.
Crosshair was the most stable out of his brothers so she saved him for last. Just a quick bacta patch replacement and bandage change and then dinnertime. She sighed as she lifted his shirt and rolled him onto his side. As Melany peeled off the used bacta patches, she could've sworn she heard a groan from him. She froze and curiously peeked over his shoulder, trying to get a look at his face. With his eyes still shut and his face nondescript, she continued her task. Once finished, she lowered his shirt and rolled him over to lay on his back again. Melany jumped with a yelp when a pair of suspicious brown eyes were glaring back at her.
"Oh! Jeeze, you scared the stars outta me." She breathed with a hand on her chest.
"Who…are you?" His voice was raspy, no doubt his throat dry from the lack of water.
"I'm Melany." She lifted the head of the medical bed for him, helping him sit up, "Rex sent me to find you. Good thing too, you and your squad were about to be a manka cat feast."
"What." He coughed, sounding more confused than questioning.
"Hold on, let me get you some water. Then I'll explain everything." She scurried out of the room.
Crosshair grimaced as he shifted in his bed, his eyes scanning the sterile medical bay. He glanced to his left to see Hunter and Wrecker laying on similar beds, hooked up to machines just as he was. But what concerned him was the lack of a little blonde girl. Another concern was this stranger apparently attending to him and his squad. Was she a true ally or a double agent for the Empire? She mentioned Rex's name but was that just a ploy to gain their trust? His sniper's paranoia was raging.
"Here we go." Melany hurried back in with a polite smile on her face as she handed him the glass.
Crosshair glanced around the room once more, then glared at the woman, "Where's Omega?"
Melany ignored his mistrustful gaze, stepping away to grab a medical scanner, "She's resting in her room next door. I was going to wake her up but her medication should be wearing off any time now so she'll probably be up soon."
"You drugged her?!" He growled, his eyes hardening.
Melany remained unfazed at his harsh tone, "I gave her a light painkiller. She broke two ribs in the crash." She began examining him with the scanner.
"What."
"When your shuttle crashed? She broke two ribs? She was in pain so I gave her some medicine?" She answered sarcastically. Once she finished looking him over, she lifted a skeptical eyebrow, "Can you just drink the water?"
He glanced down at the glass in his hand and then suspiciously eyed her, "How do I know I can trust you?"
"Rex trusted me enough to handle your extraction."
"You've already mentioned that. What else?"
Melany huffed in annoyance, she had never met a clone so insistent on her justifying herself over a glass of water. There have been some cautious troopers in the past but most were just grateful for her help. "Well, Omega trusted me. She drank the water I gave her. Took the medication I gave her. Ate the meals I gave her. And she's still alive." She defiantly crossed her arms, a smug expression on her face.
"Fine." He huffed in defeat before guzzling the water. Melany softly laughed to herself as she walked away to grab more medical equipment so she could begin to change the bandage wrapped around his right arm.
When she returned, his glass was completely empty, "You're still alive?" She teased with a smirk.
"Hilarious." He scoffed as he handed her the empty glass. She paused with the glass in her hand, staring at him with a concerned expression. "What." He muttered, averting his gaze from her vivid blue eyes.
"Do you need more water?"
"No. Why?" He grunted, still avoiding her stare.
"Your voice is still raspy. Is your throat still dry?"
He glared up at her, "This is my voice."
"Oh? OH! That's your-" Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment, "I'm so sorry. I just assumed since you're a clone-"
"Do I look like a reg?" His fiery stare rattled her nerves.
"R-reg?" She sputtered, feeling a bit flustered.
"Regular clone."
"Oh, no, I didn't mean to offend. I'm just used to hearing the standard clone voice. I didn't know what to expect. I apologize."
He did not respond with anything more than a grunt. She set the glass aside and then took a seat beside him, reaching for his right arm. She huffed when he jerked his arm away from her, "Excuse me? Is there something wrong?"
"What did you do to my arm?" He scowled, "I had a fitting when I escaped Tantiss."
"I took it off. It wasn't properly fitted and was agitating the connecting tissue. If I left it on, you would be in much more pain. I'll get you properly fitted for a new one once the tissue heals a bit more." She outstretched her gloved hand, "May I attend to your arm now?" He reluctantly relented, gingerly placing his arm in her open palm. "Thank you." She sternly replied as she began to remove the bandages. As she continued to work, she noticed Crosshair's intense stare on her, "Question?"
"No." He immediately turned his head away from her.
She laughed in disbelief, she could clearly sense an air of inquisitiveness radiating off of him, "That's unlikely. You don't know where you are. You haven't asked about anyone on your squad besides Omega. You made it clear you don't trust me." She paused when he winced and flinched in her grasp when she applied a sterile cleansing rinse to his open wound, "Sorry. I know it hurts, but please hold still or if you wish, I could sedate you?"
"I'm fine."
"Okay." She glanced over at Hunter and Wrecker, wondering if those two were just as grumpy and cold-shouldered as Crosshair. Then a thought struck her, "Well, if you're not going to ask any questions then I will." She pointedly gestured her chin in Wrecker's direction, "Where did those claw marks come from?"
"An animal." He snarked.
"No druk." She rolled her eyes, unamused by his snarky attitude, "I figured out that much on my own. What kind of animal?"
"Dryax."
Melany froze, "Wayland? How in the blazes did you end up on Alderaan?"
"Alderaan?!" His squinted eyes flew open wide and his nonchalant exterior completely shattered for a moment.
"Guess I answered one of your supposedly non-existing questions." She abruptly stood up and took off her gloves before washing her hands and grabbing a fresh pair.
Crosshair watched her closely as she rummaged through a cabinet and pulled out a small vial and a syringe, "What are you doing?"
Melany spoke evenly as her focus was on the new task at hand, "Now that I know what creature gave Wrecker these gashes, I can give him the proper medication." She injected a small amount into Wrecker, "This should help with the possible infection."
She changed gloves once more before returning to her seat beside Crosshair. He noticed the smallest hint of a smile on her face, "What's so amusing?"
"You said you didn't have any questions. But you just asked me two within the last five minutes." She giggled when she caught his eye roll, "Seems to me you don't like to initiate questions but you're fine with asking them while in the middle of an ongoing conversation. Am I right?"
"How perceptive." He scoffed, desperately wishing for a toothpick to chew on.
"Thank you." Melany knew his comment was not meant to be taken as a compliment but she did so anyway because she knew it would annoy him, "With that being said, allow me to begin explaining what's going on and you can stop me whenever a question comes up, okay?"
He grunted in agreement, not exactly fond of her overly considerate nature. He was barely starting to get used to Omega's overbearing kindness, but he could not handle another similar personality. Nonetheless, he quietly listened to her explain where they were, the health status of his squad, who she was and what she does for the Imperial clone deserters. He interrupted her a couple times with questions of his own, but for the most part he just listened to her ramble on as she continued to work on his forearm. Despite not fully trusting this stranger, he did feel an oddly comforting sensation from listening to her chatting away. In a strange way, it reminded him of when Tech would tend to his injures after a particularly intense mission. With Tech being Tech, any time he had a captive audience he would take that as an opportunity to overshare an abundant amount of unnecessary information. And with Crosshair being more of a listener than a talker, he did not mind his brother's babbling as much as his other brothers did. In fact, he found Tech's nonstop chatter to be quite relaxing, similar to how Melany's tales were calming him down. And with her being distracted with her explanations and attending to his wounded arm, he was given a chance to do what he does best. Observe.
His skilled eyes methodically examined her, taking note of her damp reddish-brown hair, soft round face, kind smile, calming voice, gentle mannerisms, and the most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen. Granted, he did not meet many blue-eyed people since he was surrounded by his brothers for a majority of his life and the few times they did interact with locals, Hunter and Tech normally did all the talking. But the few times he did see someone with blue eyes, they all dulled in comparison to hers. Her's were more tranquil and mesmerizing than the crystal blue waters of Pabu, he could almost get lost looking at them. His eyes then fell to the delicate golden chain around her neck with an intricate triangular looking trinket at the end. It was a beautiful necklace and the design of the charm was intriguing but he suddenly found himself staring at it a bit too long. Given to where the necklace was resting just above her cleavage, he realized it was inappropriate for him to be staring at it so he quickly redirected his gaze back up to her captivating eyes.
By the time she reached the part of how she met Rex, she noticed he was hardly listening. His eyes were so focused on watching her and what she was doing with his arm, he did not notice her giggling when she caught him staring at her.
"You okay?"
"Huh?" He immediately snapped out of his daze.
"Looks like you zoned out a bit there." She tried her best to hide her smile, "Do you want me to repeat myself?"
"No, I heard you." He raised a cocky eyebrow, "You grew up in Coruscant and worked in the public sector near the barracks, that's how you met Rex."
She shrugged, "Yeah, close enough."
"You didn't believe I was listening?"
She giggled again, "You were staring so intensely at me, I figured your mind was elsewhere."
"It's called multitasking." He scoffed with an eye roll.
"Oh I know what it is. I've been doing it for the past ten minutes." She finished wrapping his arm and gently pat it, making her point.
"True." He sighed in embarrassment.
Seeing the small amount of blush creeping up his neck, she quickly tried to change the subject, "Are you hungry? I was just about to make dinner."
"I'm fine." He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, silently dismissing her. Unfortunately, his stomach betrayed him and growled in response to her question.
Melany stood up with a soft laugh, "Come on. Let's get you on your feet and then we'll move to the kitchen. Omega should be joining us soon." She disconnected him from the medical equipment before discarding her gloves and walking over to his other side, reaching for his left arm.
"I'm fine." He pulled his arm out of her grasp, "I can get up on my own."
Despite her desire to help, she knew better than to argue with a clone trooper when it came to matters like this. From her extensive experience with them, she knew these men were born and breed to be tough and resilient but sometimes that meant they had trouble asking for help. Melany knew better than to force herself on him, so she stepped away, just not too far that she could not still grab him in case he was weaker than he anticipated and lost his balance. She anxiously watched him swing is gangly legs off the bed and carefully place his feet on the floor. With a grimace and a groan, he painfully stood with minor wobbling. Her lips unintentionally parted when he slowly rose to his full height; wow he's much taller than the 'regs'.
"You okay?" His steely gaze looked down at her in amusement.
"Huh?" Melany blushed as she realized she was caught staring at him and he called her out for it just as she did to him a few minutes ago for staring at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare, I just didn't expect you to be so tall."
"You're used to dealing with regs." Crosshair smirked as his sultry voice dropped an octave, "But I'm no reg."
"Yes." Melany breathed as she turned to exit the room, "I read your profile. Clone Force 99. Genetically altered clones with desirable mutations." She smirked over her shoulder, "You coming?"
The corners of his lips tugged upward at her snark as he cautiously stepped forward. His body still ached tremendously from all his injuries but he was relieved he did not fall on his face, especially in front of her.
An hour later, Melany was bustling around the kitchen while Crosshair rested on the hightop stool at the counter, closely watching her prepare dinner. She may appear friendly and caring but he still wanted to keep a close eye on her until he was sure he could fully trust her. As Melany cooked, she continued to chat about her winery and her work with helping clones, all while constantly refilling Crosshair's water glass on the counter. He listened intently as she shared many interesting tales about all the troopers that had stopped by over the past several months, but she also made sure to keep every single clone identity a secret. Normally Crosshair could not care less about the regs but ever since the mission on Barton IV with Commander Mayday, his attitude toward them changed completely. During most of the Clone War he looked down on them, aside from Commander Cody, even after the mission on Skako Minor. Sure, he had come to respect Captain Rex and Echo, but other than those few outliers, the regs were just subpar compared to him and his squad. Clone Force 99 had a 100% success rate for a reason.
"Here we are." Melany proudly served him a large bowl of soup with a side of toasted garlic bread with butter and herbs on top.
"Hmm." He eyed the soup, poking it with his spoon.
"What's wrong? Don't like soup?" She ladled out a bowl for herself, "Or still don't trust me?"
"No, I like soup. I just don't have a good record with it."
She bit her lip in a desperate attempt to not laugh or crack a smile at the ridiculous comment, "Care to elaborate?"
"No." He dismissively slurped up a spoonful into his mouth.
Melany watched him swallow and breathe a contented sigh, clearly enjoying her cooking. She studied him as he continued to eat the soup, practically ignoring her when she set down her bowl across the counter from him. "You don't talk much, do you?"
"I'm more of a listener than a talker." A hint of irritation flashed across Crosshair's face as if her question was an inconvenience, "I like to observe more than interact."
"Hmm." She hummed in response, putting a spoonful of soup in her mouth.
"What." He glared at her.
"Oh, nothing, it's just…" She took a bite of the garlic bread while she continued to stare at him, "Used to being set apart from the rest of the team, isolated battle positions, kind of the lone wolf of the squad. Typical sniper personality."
He scoffed, "That's what I was made for."
"Ah, yes. CT-9904. Enhanced sharpshooting abilities." She slurped another spoonful of soup, "So it's safe to assume the customized 773-Firepuncher Rifle is yours then?"
Crosshair froze mid-bite but his mind was reeling; how does she know I own a 773-Firepuncher? Let alone a customized one? His eyes incredulously gazed up at her, "How did you know about that?"
She went on to explain how when she was deployed to rescue them, she identified two separate crash locations. One was the shuttle and the other was the escape module. The one closest to her compound turned out to be the shuttle. Although it was in pretty bad shape, she searched the debris for any survivors but despite the lack of lifeforms, she found three trooper packs. "I know how important those packs are to troopers so I grabbed them before they were destroyed in the wreckage." She pointed her spoon at the packs tucked in the corner across the living room, "Only one pack contained a sniper rifle with customized attachments and considering how clean your rifle is, I can assume it's quite valuable to you?"
Crosshair glanced over his shoulder to see his squad's packs piled up on the floor, "You've gone through my stuff?" He sneered.
Melany shook her head profusely, "Of course not, the rifle is stored on the outside of the pack and I just noticed the barrel had no buildup. You must scrub it down after every mission to keep it so pristine."
He slowly nodded with a nonchalant shrug, "A clean rifle is a precise rifle. The slightest bit of buildup can determine whether a shot from ten klicks is a hit or a miss."
She practically choked on her soup, "I'm sorry, did you say ten klicks?" Melany started coughing, watching him continue nodding with a smug expression on his face. "That's-" Another cough, "That's impressive."
He smirked in response while a small bud of pride blossomed in his chest. It had been a while since someone commended him for his skillset. He never sought the approval of others but he did miss seeing the stunned expressions on people's faces when they saw him and his squad in action. Back in their heyday, Clone Force 99 was a force to be reckoned with and although he rarely showed it, he was immensely proud to be a part of his squad. But that time had passed and his superior precision, along with his fallen brother, was gone. Taken from him. Clone Force 99 would never be that squad again and he would never be that Crosshair again.
Melany noticed the thousand-yard stare on his face and assumed he was thinking about his time in the war. She understood the toll the Clone War took on him and his brothers, more than she would like to know. She heard a lot of traumatic stories from all the different clones who stayed with her. As Melany gazed upon his expressionless stare, she sensed a mixture of pride, fondness, wistfulness, and ultimately, a lot of regret radiating off of him. Remembering what she read when she researched Clone Force 99 earlier, she wanted to ask him about his Imperial record but, given his torrent of emotions, she decided tonight was not the night to dig into his past.
She stopped analyzing him when he suddenly blinked himself out of his trance and returned to eating. Another few minutes of silent eating passed before Crosshair lifted his eyes to look at her, his gaze landing on her necklace again. "Can I ask you something?"
Melany's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "You want to ask a question?"
"Never mind." He shook his head with an eye roll.
"Oh, come on, I was teasing you. Of course you can ask a question." She tilted her head so she could try to catch his eye while he actively tried to avoid her stare, "Crosshair?"
With a sigh, he finally met her gaze, "Your necklace." He gestured towards it with his chin, "It looks unique. Where did you get it?"
Her lips pursed into a sad smile as she held out the charm for him to see, "This belonged to my grandmother who gave it to my mother when she was a baby and my mother passed it down to me." Crosshair silently outstretched his hand as she leaned across the counter and delicately placed the charm into his open palm, "My mother died shortly after giving birth to me so this is all I have of her. My father gave this to me on my fourth birthday. I've cherished it ever since then."
A strange wave of sadness washed over Crosshair but what the reason was, he could not say. Was he sad for her loss or sad that he and his brothers never had any sort of real parental unit? Sure, Jango Fett could technically be called their 'father' but he was more of a donor than an actual father figure. The only thing passed on to him was genetics. No family history. No family relics.
"Crosshair?!" A young voice gasped from her open bedroom door.
"Omega?!" Both Melany and Crosshair exclaimed as they quickly jumped apart from each other. As they did, Crosshair's elbow caught the edge of his bowl and he ended up spilling some of his soup onto his lap. Fortunately the soup had cooled to room temperature so he did not get burned, only his pride was hurt.
"Ah! Hold on." Melany rushed around the counter with a towel in her hand, "I've got it."
She began dabbing along his lower abdomen but he yanked the towel out of her hand, "I can handle it myself." His tone was a bit harsher than he anticipated but he was already embarrassed and he knew if she continued dabbing any lower then he would be even more humiliated. Even though he was not completely sold on trusting Melany, she was still an attractive woman and he was still a man. He could only allow so much embarrassment for one day.
Before he had time to comprehend what just happened, Melany had taken a step back and Omega was now standing by his side, "Crosshair, are you okay? I'm sorry for startling you, I was just surprised to see you awake and already up and about and-"
"I'm fine, Omega." His voice softened when he regarded her, something Melany immediately picked up on. Once he finished wiping off as much soup as he could from his military blacks, he looked over to Omega, "How are you doing? Are you okay?"
She smiled up at him, a look of relief in her eyes, "I'm fine, Crosshair."
He smirked when he caught her response was similar to his own. She really did have a knack in absorbing her brothers' habits quickly, for better or worse. Omega stepped forward to give him a hug, but hesitated knowing he was not fond of physical touch. Crosshair noticed her hesitation so he opted for giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze and she put her hand over his as her smile grew.
"So…" Crosshair mused with a smug expression, "Remember when I mentioned your crash landing on Lau? I wasn't actually asking for an encore."
Her smile instantly disappeared as she pushed his hand off her shoulder, "Stow it."
He chuckled as he watched her slowly climb onto the hightop stool beside him at the counter, careful not to irritate her injuries. "I heard you broke two ribs in the crash?"
"Yeah…" She grimaced as she adjusted herself in the seat, "But the medication Melany has given me really helps with the pain."
Melany took that as her cue to join the conversation, "See Crosshair? Told ya I wasn't trying to kill any of you." She stepped back into the kitchen to serve Omega her dinner.
Omega's eyes widened, "You thought she was trying to kill us?"
"We don't know her, Omega. We can't be too trusting nowadays."
"She saved our lives! Without her, we'd all be dead! You should be thanking her!" Omega narrowed her eyes at him, "Have you even thanked her for everything she's done for us?"
Crosshair lowered his eyes then looked up at Melany, her doe eyes blinking curiously at him. "Thank you."
"You know her name." Omega crossed her arms at him, giving him her big sister stare.
He begrudgingly sighed, "Thank you, Melany."
Omega rolled her eyes at him before addressing their hostess, "I'm sorry about him, Melany. Sentiment isn't his thing. I promise Hunter and Wrecker aren't like this."
Melany softly laughed as she served Omega the soup and garlic bread, "No need to apologize for him. I can handle a bit of attitude. Not everyone is as kind and eloquent as we are." She winked at her with a smirk.
Omega giggled, ignoring the pain from her injuries, "Believe it or not. He does have his good moments from time to time. They're just few and far between." Melany and Omega continued to giggle at Crosshair's expense. The rest of dinner was spent with Omega catching up Crosshair on what happened after he was knocked out during the escape from Tantiss. When she got to the part where Melany saved them in the forest with a headshot to one of the manka cats, Crosshair did his best to hide how impressed he was.
Shortly after Omega finished the tale, Melany excused herself to prep and freshen up the guest rooms upstairs. A half hour later, Omega and Crosshair had moved to the couch in the connecting living room and she was almost done catching him up on everything that happened since she awoke at the compound, "And we each get our own room here. I picked the one right next to the medbay 'cause I wanted to be close to you guys so you'll have to pick one upstairs."
"Great." Crosshair leaned back on the sofa with a sigh.
She frowned at his grumpier than usual attitude, "You don't seem very happy about being here. Considering the alternative, this is a much better option."
"It's not that I don't like this place. I just have a strange feeling about Melany."
Omega bit her lip. She was able to figure out that Melany was hiding from the Empire under an alias because she was charged with treason but she still did not know why. Omega had decided to keep her discovery to herself even though she wanted to tell Crosshair this bit of information. All she could think about was Melany's warning; "As far as the Empire knows, Rex and I are both dead. And it's best if we keep it that way. If they knew I was alive, they'd hunt me down and kill anyone else affiliated with me."
"Ya know what I think?" Omega desperately tried to think of something that will would get Crosshair's mind off of Melany's mysterious past. Then an idea hit her as a smug smile spread across her face, "I think you like her."
Crosshair practically choked on the toothpick in his mouth, "W-what? That's absurd."
Omega was relieved she was able to distract him but now she was even more intrigued by his surprisingly baffled response, "Is it?"
"Don't start." He grumbled while he turned away from her.
"Admit it." She leaned toward him and nudged his shoulder, "When I walked out of my room, I saw you two looking pretty chummy across the counter. What was that all about?"
"She was showing me her necklace. The design looked familiar to me but I just can't place it." He narrowed his eyes at her, "That's when you showed up."
"Necklace?" Omega did not notice Melany wearing a necklace earlier but Crosshair was always on target when it came to observing the small details. However, that did remind her of the engagement ring she found hidden in her shorts, "Actually, speaking of jewelry, I found-"
"Alright! The bedrooms are all tidied up and ready to go." Melany cheerfully strode into the living room with a smile on her face. Her joyful expression faltered when she sensed an awkward feeling in the room, "Is everything okay?"
"Everything is great, Melany." Omega carefully stood up from the couch, "On behalf of Crosshair and I, I wanna thank you for dinner and for letting us sleep in the guest rooms."
"Aww, thank you Omega. But before you go to bed, I want to take a look at your hands again." Melany motioned for Omega to head into the medbay and the young clone obediently obliged while Melany hovered by the medbay door, "And Crosshair?"
The sniper slowly turned to look at her from his spot on the sofa, "Yes?"
"Pick any guest room on the second floor for yourself. The first door on the left is my room but any other room is up for grabs. There's also a full guest bath upstairs as well but I must insist you hold off on taking a shower until tomorrow when I can properly waterproof the bandages around your arm." She did not wait for him to respond, it was probably only going to be a grunt anyway.
Melany stepped into the medbay and found Omega sitting on the small cot in the far right side of the room, "I didn't get the chance to ask you how your pain was doing?" She knelt down beside her with a sympathetic smile.
"It's getting better. Clones are engineered to be fast healers so I'm sure I'll be back to normal in no time." Omega responded with a shrug.
Melany softly laughed, "I like your optimism." She began unwrapping the bandages around Omega's hand, "Optimism isn't a word found in Crosshair's vocabulary, is it?"
"Umm…" As much as Omega liked to tease her brother, at this moment she felt like she needed to defend him, "He's had a really tough time lately. I mean, we all have, but Crosshair especially. I told you I was imprisoned on Tantiss for a little over five months but I didn't tell you there were some days that I felt like giving up. I was grateful I wasn't treated as poorly as the clone troopers were though. I was allowed to walk around kinda freely, attend to my duties, have a semi-private room with a view. But Crosshair was imprisoned there a lot longer than me and he was tortured and experimented on nearly every day. Stuck in the same tiny cell under constant guard, no window to the outside world. He had a lot of regrets leading up to his arrest and I'm sure his time in Tantiss only made them worse." She paused when she realized Melany had stopped working, "I'm sorry, I'm rambling again aren't I?"
"No, no…" She hesitated with a solemn expression, "I appreciate you sharing his side of the story." Melany took a deep breath and stood up, her serious expression quickly changed back to her normal cheerful self, almost as if a switch had been flipped, "Your hands have scabbed over nicely. You no longer need these bandages." She walked over to her medicine cabinet and returned to hand Omega another painkiller, "Take this when you're ready for bed. Let me know if you start feeling worse, okay?"
Omega nodded as she watched her head for the door, "Melany." The hostess silently froze by the door, waiting for Omega to continue, "Despite his first impression, Crosshair really is a good guy. Loyal to a fault, fiercely protective, and quite the gentleman if he allows himself to show you his softer side."
Melany faced her with a confused expression, "Why are you telling me this?"
"Oh, uh, just because?" Omega did not want her to know that there may be the slightest chance Crosshair might like her, "If we're going to be here for a while, I want everyone to get along. Which means we'll all need to understand each other."
Melany smiled, "For being so young, you are very wise, Omega."
The young clone beamed, "Thank you."
"I put some more clothes on your bed that'll hopefully fit you." She waved, "Have a goodnight."
"Goodnight." She waved in return as Melany disappeared out the door. Once alone, Omega made her way to Wrecker and gently picked up his hand, holding it close in a hug, "Goodnight, Wrecker." She whispered. Omega then made her way to Hunter and delicately brushed some loose strands of hair away from his face, "Goodnight Hunter." She glanced back and forth between her two brothers one more time before leaving the medbay and heading back to her room for another rest. She felt bad she did not get the chance to say goodnight to Crosshair but knowing him, he was already in the most secluded bedroom upstairs with the door closed, wanting to be left alone. She sighed as she went through some of the clothes Melany left out for her, smiling at the variety of shirts, shorts, vests, wraps, sweaters, and jackets. She is really going above and beyond to make us feel welcomed here. I really like her. It's so rare to find someone like that nowadays. Aside from the people of Pabu, Melany is the only other person to show us clones this much kindness. She has such a strong connection to clones, I hope she'll tell me more about her time on Coruscant with Rex and the other troopers. She then thought about the scene she walked in on earlier with Melany and Crosshair leaning so close to each other across the counter. She had never given her brothers private romantic lives much thought, besides Tech and Phee. But since her brothers are now technically retired, there was no harm in investing in their future happiness. Besides, that's what big sisters are for. She giggled as she snuggled under the covers.
A couple hours passed into the night and Melany found herself tossing and turning more than normal. In general, she did not necessarily sleep well but she usually got at least a solid four hours every night. But tonight was going to be one of those rougher nights. Whenever she closed her eyes, faces of loved ones she had lost over the years kept popping up in her mind. The curse of having a photographic memory. With a drawn out heavy sigh, she sat up and turned on the light. Her eyes flickered around the room as she brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. She was not sure why all of a sudden these tragic memories kept flooding her mind. Was it the presence of this new squad? She did not think so. Normally having guests at her compound made her feel more at peace, reminding her of a more familiar time before the Empire. Knowing she was not going to get any sleep tonight, she decided to get up and get dressed. Usually she would wander around in her nightgown, but given the presence of her guests, she did not want to seem inappropriate.
Slipping on something warm and comfy, Melany wandered out into the hall. She stealthily made her way downstairs and into the garage where she stored a bunch of extra clothing material. She knew Crosshair was not going to fit in the standard clone trooper clothes she kept in the guest closets and she could not give him her hand-me-downs until they went shopping, like she did with Omega. If she was going to be up all night, she might as well make good use of her time. Melany pulled up his dimensions on her data pad from when he was first admitted into her medbay and got to work. The cold late-winter air invaded her serene dimly-lit garage, running a small chill down her spine. She pulled out a pair of fingerless gloves and continued working diligently at her work bench for another few hours until she had completed a couple basic outfits for Crosshair. She then ran all the new clothes through the washer/dryer before folding them up nicely for her guest.
It was nearly morning when Melany reentered the house and snuck back upstairs, trying to deliver Crosshair's clothes before he woke up. Just as she approached his room, the guest bathroom door behind her slid open and Crosshair stepped out in nothing but his lower blacks.
"What…are you doing." His sultry voice drawled, catching Melany by surprise.
"Oh, uh, good morning." They both glanced down at the clothes folded up in her arms, "These are for you." She shoved them at him, trying her best to avoid looking at his chiseled bare chest. "The clothes in your closet are sized for regs which you made perfectly clear, you are not. So I made you some better fitted clothing. They should fit fine but if they don't, let me know and I can make adjustments." She breathed when she realized she was beginning to ramble. "Did you sleep well?"
"Mhmm." He grunted. Crosshair did not speak right away, he was busy analyzing her baggy fleece pants, oversized blue sweater, cozy winter boots, and most importantly, the slightest bit of faint dark circles forming under her eyes. "Were you up all night making these?"
She shrugged, shyly playing with her plush sweater, "I couldn't sleep so I figured I'd make the most of a quiet night." Melany could feel the tips of her ears grow hot. She was not sure why she felt so timid all of a sudden. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep messing with her emotions. Perhaps it was the way he was looking at her, so intense and unyielding. Or perhaps it was because he was still not wearing a shirt. "Would you like to shower?"
That caught his attention as his narrowed eyes widened in bewilderment. Melany picked up on his confusion and with a mortified expression on her face she quickly added, "Oh! No! I didn't mean-I just meant-" She covered her embarrassed face with her hands and sighed, before peeking through her fingers, "I'm sorry." She ran her hands through her messy braid, desperately trying to regain her composure, "I meant, I can wrap your arm up with waterproof bandages so you can take a shower. On your own. Alone."
Crosshair continued to stare at her with a baffled expression on his face until he finally chuckled, "Alright."
She nodded in response and swiftly turned on her heels but before she could leave, Crosshair murmured her name. Melany turned to face him again, his large 6'4'' frame towering over her 5'7'' body. The slightest hints of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips, his hazel eyes softening when he gazed into her deep blue ones, "Thank you." He whispered as if he did not want anyone but her to hear his gratitude.
She cracked a small, genuine smile, "You're welcome, Crosshair."
Happy Bad Batch Wednesday everyone! As much as I wanted to continue Evesa's backstory, I figured bouncing back and forth between her past and the present situation would be a better balance than dumping a TON of backstory all at once. Next chapter will be the second part to Evesa's childhood. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful week! :)