A/N: Hi Everyone! Sorry for the delay, I just started a new job a couple weeks ago and it's been hectic to say the least. I'll continue doing my best to update at least once a week in the evenings. Thank you for all who read this story, I genuinely appreciate your support.
Chapter 15: Hunter and "Melany"
Melany was not lying when she said she wanted to do a perimeter sweep of the area to check on her crops, but there was more to this walk than that. As she monitored the grapevines and surrounding land, Hunter and Melany discussed the lighthearted topic about the day to day operations of owning one of Alderaan's finest vineyard and winery. After she was content with her examination, Melany led Hunter past the short stone wall that bordered her land and into the forest beyond. She briefly talked about the local flora and fauna of the surrounding forest but she knew this was just delaying the real reason as to why he agreed to take this walk with her.
"Sooooo…" She hesitated, listening to the steady sound of water dripping off the luscious conifer trees along with the squish of their boots as they continued stepping through the muddy trail.
"What do you want to know?" She tentatively asked, letting out a breath she did not realize she had been holding.
Hunter did not answer right away, he was not sure if it was because he did not want to bombard her with questions or if it was because he had so many he did not know where to start.
"What's your real name?" He inquired gently. He decided to start off with something simple.
"Although I already told you my real name is now 'Melany'. I suppose you meant what was my real name?" She nervously laughed, "I used to be known as Evesa Anful. But my friends called me 'Eve'."
"Evesa Anful." He repeated, "General Anful. General Evesa Anful." He continued to repeat her name, trying to see if it eventually sounded familiar to him. "And you fought in the GAR?" He glanced down at her incredulously.
"Can't seem to place me, huh?" She smirked.
"Don't take it personally. My squad didn't exactly report to any Jedi General so we weren't well-versed with who was in the Order."
"It's alright. My role in the GAR was a bit…unconventional. I was probably the least known Jedi who fought in the war. But that was intentional."
"Care to explain?" He curiously asked.
"Not really." She responded bluntly, "What's your next question?"
Hunter briefly hummed in thought before asking his next question, "What did you do to save Wrecker?"
"Force-healing. Essentially a Force-sensitive could heal someone through the use of the Force by pouring some of their Force life into the victim." She simply explained.
"With a talent like that, I'm sure you were popular among the troopers."
Melany firmly shook her head, "I didn't learn about this ability until after the war ended. During my time here on Alderaan, I stumbled upon some ancient Jedi ruins and among them was a transcription about Force-healing. I studied it for about a year but never used it until now."
She furrowed her brow in annoyance, "I don't understand why the Jedi never taught us this discipline. We could've saved so many lives. It angers me when I try to rationalize why they didn't teach us such a useful skill."
Melany paused to let out a cleansing breath, letting go of her frustrations, "Nonetheless, the unfortunate side of Force-healing is it comes at the expense of the Healer. I haven't learned how to recover from it yet and it's not like I can just go to the Jedi Temple and ask for mentorship." She cringed at her bitterness, "Sorry about that."
"No need to apologize. What happened to the Jedi was nothing short of tragic." Hunter consoled her. When she did not respond, he cleared his throat to snap her out of her thousand yard stare.
"So the 'Force-healing'? You lose years of your life to allow others to gain years of their life." Hunter glanced down at her, specifically her hair, "Is that why some of your hair went gray? You lost years of your life to revive Wrecker?"
"That's my hypothesis." She subtly touched the hair around her temples, "I was able to remove the gray hairs for now, but who knows what'll happen if I continue using this ability."
Hunter was silent for a few seconds, thinking about what she told him. "This…Force-healing ability. It's a heroic discipline. Sacrifice yourself to save others."
Melany hummed as she mulled over his words, "When you put it like that, I suppose it is." She smiled up at him, noticing how intense his stare on her was, "Next question?"
Hunter eased up on his intense stare without breaking eye contact, "I wanna know more about your 'unconventional' role in the GAR. Coming from a squad of genetically modified clones, we thrived on unconventional tactics."
"Uhh it's a bit messy but fine." She nervously laughed, lowering her gaze back down to her feet. "A lot of politics and deception behind my back got me relieved of commanding my unit. Fortunately I had a secret weapon that kept me in the GAR, my shadow training."
"Shadow training?"
Melany began to explain the purpose of a Jedi Shadow and how she was trained to walk that path before the war started. She did not get too in-depth about how she was betrayed by her mentoring Jedi General which ultimately led to her temporary suspension that prohibited her from commanding a clone unit.
"Turns out the only reason I was allowed to continuing serving in the GAR was because of my specialized Jedi Shadow training. The Jedi Council decided that instead of leading large companies of troops, I was better suited for working alongside smaller squads of elite troopers with the sole purpose of stealth and infiltration behind enemy lines. Gathering important intel and reporting back to other Jedi Generals so they could make informed decisions."
"So when commanding officers said things like 'our sources tell us', that was you? You were the secret 'source'?" Hunter looked over at her, an impressed tone in his voice.
Melany nodded, "Along with some of the elite troopers I worked with occasionally, yes."
"What kind of 'elite troopers'?"
"Commandos, ARC Troopers-"
"ARC Troopers?" He stopped walking to stare at her in intrigue, "Like Echo?"
She hesitated, silently taking a couple more steps before she realized he stopped. "I-uh…yes." She spoke over her shoulder at him, "I worked with Echo and his squad mate, Fives, on a handful of special operations before the Citadel mission."
Hunter quickly caught up to her and she continued explaining, "After Echo's presumed death, I continued working alongside Fives off and on for a while. Anakin was a good friend of mine and he requested my specialized skillset more than necessary but I think he just wanted to make sure I didn't fall through the cracks. He was thoughtful like that."
Hunter nodded understandingly, "My squad and I worked with General Skywalker on a couple missions. Coincidentally, our first mission with him was to investigate and rescue Echo from Skako Minor. General Skywalker was a great leader and I consider it an honor to have fought alongside him."
"Me too." She smiled sadly. They continued their hike, ducking under low hanging branches and stepping over fallen trees. "I haven't seen Echo since he was deployed to the Citadel. I heard rumors he had been found and rescued but I didn't know Clone Force 99 was responsible for that daring mission. I had hoped to reunite with him once the 501st returned from the Outer Rim siege but they never made it back to Coruscant before the end of the war. Little did I know he had joined your squad."
"You never reached out to Echo once you reconnected with Rex a few months ago? You knew he was working with Rex right?"
"I did but a lot has changed since the war ended. The less people who know I survived the purge, the better."
Hunter fell silent for a few seconds, contemplating her words. He thought chatting with her would answer his questions but it only created more. "You said you were temporarily relieved of command. That means you eventually returned to your Jedi General duties in a more conventional way?"
"Out of everything I told you, that's what caught your attention?" She laughed in amusement, "Yes. After the incident on Umbara, I returned to take back command of my old unit. Or what was left of it, no thanks to Krell."
"Wait. Did you say Umbara?!" Hunter stopped again, his eyes wide and mouth ajar in shock, "I may not have paid too much attention to the regs' battles but I do remember the Umbara campaign." He ran a thoughtful hand along his jawline, "You said your old unit? Does that mean General Krell took over your unit when you were relieved of command?"
Melany slowly nodded, "General Krell was my mentoring Jedi General when I first started serving in the GAR."
"He's the Jedi who betrayed you and got you relieved of duty." Hunter scoffed, jogging to catch up to her, "That explains a lot."
"I take it you've heard of Krell's legacy?" She knowingly asked, recognizing the all too familiar reaction to the infamous fallen Jedi General.
"Oh yes. Nearly every clone knew who he was before Umbara and those who didn't certainly knew him afterwards." He angrily shook his head in disbelief, "How did that hydrosnake almost manage to get you kicked out of the GAR?"
"Well, I was given command of the 810th brigade and I worked alongside of his legion. As you well know, Krell was notorious for high clone casualties. Foolishly aggressive battle tactics. Complete disregard for the lives of the clone troopers."
They reached the top of a large hill and found a spot that overlooked the forest valley below. The duo took a break on a nearby fallen log while Melany continued her tale, staring out at the majestic view.
"After the first couple of battles, I couldn't stand to watch so many men needlessly die from Krell's reckless tactics. So from that moment on, my commander and I would secretly tweak Krell's battle plans to make them more efficient. We managed to save a lot of lives but it still wasn't enough.
"Then the Battle of Atraken happened. It was a brutally long campaign and we were running low on troops and supplies. Krell had caught onto my schemes and before we made our last stand, he gave me an ultimatum. Either I learn to let go of my attachment to the clone troopers and stop meddling with his plans or I will be removed from command and put on trial for insubordination. I decided to ignore his threat and continued doing my best to protect my men but he double crossed me and most of my division was slaughtered. I almost didn't survive myself."
Hunter glanced over at her and noticed a haunted expression on her face as she continued telling her tale, "When the Jedi Council heard of what happened on Atraken, Krell blamed me and my 'deceitful tactics'. He also blamed me for the high casualties in all previous battles, saying if I followed his plans then there would've been significantly less deaths. I was fighting for my life in the infirmary so I couldn't defend myself and given Krell was a higher ranked Jedi than me, most of the Council believed him. So they voted to relieve me from commanding the 810th and gave Krell my division. If it weren't for a small handful of Jedi and my clone commander who stood by my side and petitioned on my behalf, I'm sure I would've been kicked out of the GAR and the Order."
"That's how your Shadow training saved you." Hunter quietly chimed in.
Melany nodded at his comment, "But after the Umbara campaign, the Council learned Krell was corrupted by the Dark Side and they realized I was never at fault for what happened at the Battle of Atraken or anything prior to. They apologized and ended up putting me in command of whatever was left of Krell's legion, including my old 810th division. I remained in command until the war ended."
Hunter hummed as he mused aloud, "This actually makes a lot of sense."
"What do you mean?" She curiously looked up at him.
"You spent your time during the war protecting clones from cruel leadership. You risked your reputation and your life to protect the clone troopers. That's exactly what you're doing now."
Melany blinked in surprise, "Wow. I can't believe I've never realized that until now." She turned back to the view when she heard a low rumble of thunder in the distance, "Looks like another storm is coming, we should head back."
"Yeah, I sensed that too." Hunter stared at the dark clouds along the horizon. The duo stood up and brushed themselves off before beginning their hike back to the compound. Hunter knew they would be back in no time and they would have to pretend none of this happened but he was not done asking questions.
"So working alongside General Skywalker's legion here and there is where you met Rex?" Hunter speculated.
"You're really curious about my history with Rex, aren't you?" She laughed.
"I saw the way you two looked at each other during this morning's transmission. You've got a history, that's for sure."
"If you must know, Rex and I met at the First Battle of Geonosis."
"Oh kriff, you two fought in that?" He furrowed his brow in concern, "We were still training on Kamino when the first wave of troopers were deployed to Geonosis. Heard it was ruthless."
"It was. Many clones and Jedi died that day. If it weren't for Rex, I would've been one of them." Melany went on to briefly explain what happened leading up to Rex's rescue and how he brought her to the medics just before she bled out.
"That would explain why he's so protective of you."
"I was in bad shape when he found me both physically and mentally. I-" She suddenly paused. Much to her surprise, a lump formed in her throat at the memory.
Hunter heard her heart rate increase and he recognized the haunted expression on her face, "Who did you lose?" He knowingly asked.
Melany hesitated, trying to swallow the lump of emotion bubbling up. She had buried this traumatic memory deep within her mind for such a long time and she never intended on bringing it up again. She hated crying in front of people she did not know very well. Because of this, she quickly brushed away the tears that threatened to fall, "My master and…" She let out a ragged breath, "my brother."
Hunter looked down at her in surprise, "Your brother? You had a brother who was a Jedi too?"
Melany nodded, "He was the most supportive and loving sibling I could've ever asked for. He was wise beyond his years, mild mannered, protective and loyal to a fault. My mother died shortly after giving birth to me and then my father was brutally murdered when I was four. My brother and I lived on the streets of Lower Coruscant for a year before the Jedi brought us to the Temple. But even while we were growing up at the Jedi Temple, he was always there for me."
She sadly smiled at Evem's memory but her smile disappeared when she continued onto the next part of the story, "On Geonosis, Evem and I were tasked with a special mission to infiltrate the Petranaki Arena ahead of the Jedi to neutralize the Geonosian's anti-aircraft proton cannons. This would allow the clone reinforcements to arrive without any complications. After we disarmed the cannons, a battalion of battle droids ambushed us and we were trapped in a hallway. My brother sacrificed himself so I could escape."
Melany forlornly sighed, apprehensively playing with her necklace, "It's been years since his death and yet, it feels like it was just yesterday." Perhaps because with her photographic memory, she remembered it as if it was yesterday. She decided not to tell Hunter about her photographic memory though. One thing at a time.
"I'm so sorry." Hunter offered his condolences, "You've been through so much. You've lost so many loved ones before the war even started. I'm starting to understand why you were-you are, so protective of the clone troopers."
"They were the only family I had left." She shrugged with a regretful smile, "And now with the Jedi gone, I'm more alone than ever before."
Hunter glanced down at her, seeing her in a new light now that he understood more about her traumatic past, "I can't imagine what it must've been like to lose your parents at such a young age, let alone living on the streets as a child for a year. But…" He hesitated. He was unsure about how much he wanted to share with her but after everything she had done for him and his family and after everything she shared with him about her past, it felt right to be open and honest with her as well, "I do know how it feels to lose a loved one."
"Who did you lose?" She curiously stared up at him, seeing the pain in his eyes.
Hunter quickly averted his gaze, focusing on his feet taking steady steps. After a brief moment of silence, he quietly explained, "My brother and squad mate. He was my second-in-command."
"CT-9902…" Melany nodded in realization, "I remember reading Clone Force 99's file when you first arrived. I figured out you were CT-9901, Wrecker was CT-9903, and Crosshair was CT-9904. But I just assumed CT-9902 was on Pabu with Echo." When he did not respond, she gently asked, "What was his name?"
"Tech." Hunter cleared his throat of any emotion threatening to bubble up, "He had a brilliant mind and was unapologetically pragmatic. A skilled pilot and master at tinkering. He was resilient, disciplined, and dutifully loyal. It was an honor to fight alongside of him."
Melany's heart clenched when she felt the overwhelming sensation of remorse radiating off him, "How did it happen?"
Hunter went on to briefly explain what led up to the squad's decision to embark on the mission to Eriadu and then he hesitantly continued to explain how he lost his brother.
"We keep his broken goggles displayed in the Pabu Archium to honor him and his sacrifice." He concluded his story with a sad smile.
Melany offered her condolences, gently placing a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, "That's a wonderful way to preserve his memory." She removed her hand when she felt him calm down, "Hold on…" She furrowed her brow in deep thought, "you said his name was 'Tech'?"
"Yes?" He stared down at her in confusion.
"And he was a pilot who wore goggles and liked to tinker?"
"Yes?"
"By any chance did he pilot a modified Omicron-class attack shuttle?"
Hunter stopped walking, frozen in bewilderment, "Okay you're really starting to freak me out."
Melany stopped walking as well, her wide blue eyes boring into his caramel ones, "Oh my stars. I knew him." She quietly gasped with a hand over her mouth.
"What? How?" He jerked his head in confusion.
"It was actually quite serendipitous. He, uh, helped me adjust to my cybernetic leg." She found a nearby stump and propped her right leg atop it. She untucked the bottom of her pant leg out of her boot and lifted it up enough to show her robotic lower leg, "Remember when I mentioned how I barely survived Krell's ambush during the Battle of Atraken?"
Melany continued to explain how since she was in hot water with the Jedi Council, they kept her at the GAR Headquarter's infirmary instead of the Temple's infirmary. While she was recovering at the facility, she was given a cybernetic leg. Melany, or technically Evesa at the time, was having a hard time adjusting because it was incredibly painful to walk on. One afternoon she was taking a walk around the facility and stumbled upon a modified Omicron-class attack shuttle. Except she literally stumbled upon it, causing quite a ruckus.
A peculiar goggled man who was working underneath the ship heard the commotion and helped her up. He introduced himself as 'Tech' but Evesa thought he meant he was just a technician. She didn't realize he was a clone because, well, he didn't look nor talk like one. The two started chatting and he offered to take a look at her cybernetic leg. He immediately noticed the fitting and build was not correct given her height and weight, it was designed for a clone trooper's physique. Because of this, he spent the next couple hours working on a new and improved cybernetic leg that was better suited for her. After they convinced the medics to replace the leg, Tech and Evesa took a long stroll throughout Upper Coruscant that lasted well into the night. He took care of her throughout the entire evening, studying how she was adjusting to the new leg. Occasionally, he stopped to make some tweaks to fine tune the robotic motor skills that would not only help her mobility, but increase it.
Melany tucked her pant leg back into her boot and they started walking again while she continued telling her tale, "Once we returned to the GAR Headquarters, we chatted for another hour or so while he discussed the data from his findings as well as proper cybernetic maintenance. After I profusely thanked him for the millionth time that night, he walked me to my hospital room and we bid each other goodnight. I tried to find him the next morning but he and the ship were gone. I never saw him again for the rest of the war."
"I can't believe this." Hunter shook his head, an amused smirk on his face, "Tech never told us he helped a Jedi."
Melany guiltily giggled, "Well, he didn't know I was a Jedi. I kinda kept that part a secret. People always look at you differently once they find out you're a Jedi. For better or worse."
She noticed the lighthearted judgmental look Hunter was giving her, "Don't give me that look. I was on the verge of getting expelled from the Order so I wasn't sure I was still considered a Jedi anymore."
"Fair enough." Hunter lifted his hands in mock surrender, "I still can't believe all of that happened while we were on a short shore leave. Ironically it was the one and only time Crosshair actually went out with Wrecker and I, normally he stayed behind with Tech at the ship. Nonetheless, Tech never said a word to us about your encounter."
"For someone who talked so much, I'm surprised." Melany mindlessly blurted, "He was so sweet though. A real gentleman." She quickly added, hoping to not offend Hunter and his deceased brother.
Much to her surprise, he wholeheartedly laughed at her comment. Partly because of her blunt honesty and partly because the fond memories of his talkative brother resurfaced in his mind.
Melany smiled at the sound of his genuine laugh, "I owe a lot to Tech. Because of his modifications, I was able to recover quickly and get myself back into fighting shape in no time."
"Well, knowing Tech, he probably had one of the best nights of his life. He got to build a cybernetic leg and go on a date with a Jedi." He chuckled at her frazzled expression.
"I-It wasn't a date-"
"It will be when I tell the others." He continued laughing when he noticed her cheeks turning bright red in embarrassment.
"There will be no 'telling the others' remember?" She tried to reprimand him which was difficult to do when blushing.
Hunter grinned, "Right." Despite the teasing, he knew he had to keep all of this to himself.
"We're almost back to the compound." Melany pointed out as they stepped out of the forest and approached the perimeter wall, "Any more questions before we start pretending none of this happened?"
Hunter hummed in thought, the Tech detour distracted him from the many questions he had prepared to ask, "This morning when we were talking to Rex and Gregor, I noticed you seemed to grow uncomfortable when I asked to speak to Howzer. Why's that?"
"Oh…" Melany's demeanor turned serious as she recalled the memory, "I lost my clone captain during the Battle of Atraken. When I eventually returned to the 810th brigade nearly a year later, I found out Captain Howzer was his replacement."
"So Howzer was your Clone Captain until the end of the war. But since you want to keep your identity a secret, you don't want him to know you're alive. Just like what you're doing with Echo." Melany silently nodded in confirmation but Hunter was not done asking questions despite them entering the vineyard.
"How did you survive the Jedi purge and end up here?"
"Tsk. Tsk." She clicked her tongue, "Sorry but we're back now. You're gonna have to save those for another time." She teasingly smiled up at him.
Hunter chuckled as he regarded her warmly, "Thank you for opening up about your past, Melany. I know it wasn't easy."
"Thank you for keeping my secret, Hunter." She sincerely expressed.
"You do know they'll eventually figure it out."
"Maybe. Maybe not." Melany nonchalantly shrugged, "Don't forget I was basically trained in Jedi espionage."
"Even more of a reason to appreciate your help with this Tarkin-Tantiss situation." They approached the compound just as another roll of thunder rumbled in the distance, "Speaking of which, anything from Rex?"
"Nope. When I hear from him, I'll let you know." She sighed as they approached the house, "Now it's time to pretend this conversation never happened."
"What conversation?" Hunter innocently blinked.
Melany laughed as they entered the house and made their way down the hall. They stepped into the living area to find Wrecker and Omega still watching space sitcoms on the HoloTV. Melany and Hunter greeted them and the duo on the couch mindlessly responded, clearly too absorbed into the drama on the TV.
"Where's Crosshair?" Hunter asked, taking off his coat.
"He's in his room reading or something." Wrecker automatically responded.
"Oooooh which episode is this?" Melany curiously inquired, leaning on the back of the sofa to watch the show over their shoulders.
"The human male and the Twi'lek female just hooked up on the evening before her brother's wedding-"
"What?!" Hunter stormed closer to the couch to take a look at the screen, "Wrecker, what are you letting Omega watch?!"
"What?" Wrecker glanced up at Hunter in confusion, "I figured she's fine. She is older than us after all. I don't see a problem."
Melany placed a calm hand on Hunter's shoulder, "Don't worry, Hunter, I've seen this series before. They don't show anything explicit, it's mostly just verbal and visual innuendos."
"Besides, I'm not a little girl anymore Hunter. I'm fourteen." Omega proudly reminded him as if that was supposed to change his mind.
"That's not helping, Omega." Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation, "Next time, I'm making sure Crosshair is left in charge of monitoring the shows."
"Knowing Crosshair, he'd probably let her watch this if he knows it's gonna annoy you." Wrecker bluntly stated, receiving a brotherly shove from Hunter in response.
"Speaking of Crosshair, I'm going to check on his arm. Then afterwards I want to examine your ribs, Omega." Melany excused herself and wandered over to the downstairs guest room. She furrowed her brow when the door did not open, realizing Crosshair must have locked it. She gently tapped on the door, "Crosshair?" She glanced over her shoulder to find the trio of clones staring at her in curiosity. "Crosshair, meet me in the medbay. I need to examine your arm." She stated in a more nonchalant voice, trying not to attract whatever attention she was getting from his siblings.
Once Melany stepped inside the medbay, Hunter turned to the duo on the couch.
"Okay, what really happened?" He quietly interrogated them, "We know Crosshair only locks his door when he's angry and when I left he seemed to be in a decent mood. So what did you do?"
Omega crossed her arms defensively, "Why do you assume we did something-"
They froze when Crosshair stepped out of the room, not missing the opportunity to throw his siblings a nasty glare and flick his used toothpick at them before going into the medbay.
Once the coast was clear, Hunter angrily whispered, "Who else could it be?"
"We were just joking with him." Wrecker shrugged nonchalantly, "A lil' teasing. Nothing bad."
"Wrecker, you know how he gets when we tease him." Hunter groaned in frustration.
While Hunter was busy quietly reprimanding Wrecker and Omega, Crosshair was taking a seat on the edge of a medical bed per Melany's request. She greeted him in her typical friendly manner, getting a grunt in response. Ignoring his surly behavior, she took a seat across from him and began examining his arm. Unfortunately for him, he involuntarily shivered when her soft hands gently grasped his right arm.
Melany froze, "You okay? Does it still hurt?" She looked up at him in concern, noticing how he avoided meeting her eyes.
"I'm fine."
"Would you tell me if I was hurting you?"
"Probably not." He answered earnestly with a hint of sarcasm. Much to his surprise, she softly laughed in amusement.
"What?" Crosshair bluntly inquired, watching as she continued unwrapping his bandages.
"You're funny." She responded without looking up at him.
"I'm not trying to be."
Melany smirked, "I know. That's what makes it funny."
Silence fell between them as she grabbed her medical scanner and examined his right forearm. While waiting for the results of the scans, she applied some bacta to his wound and began wrapping fresh bandages around his arm. Crosshair hated to admit it, but ever since Wrecker and Omega teased him about his so-called "crush" on Melany, he kept noticing how his heart rate seemed to speed up whenever she held his arm. His mind kept telling himself she was only doing this for medical purposes but his heart refused to calm down at her touch. Crosshair also realized this was the first time since Hunter and Wrecker woke up they've been alone together and a strange voice inside of him was telling him to seize this rare opportunity to talk with her. The problem was, he was not much of a conversationalist.
"How…are your crops?" He awkwardly asked, clearly uncomfortable with starting a conversation.
Melany momentarily glanced up at him in surprise before continuing her task, "The crops are fine. There's a second storm coming so I'll see if they survive another round of rain or maybe even snow. It's pretty late in the season to be getting these large storms."
Another few seconds of silence passed as Crosshair struggled to think of something else to say. Normally Melany was the talkative one but for whatever reason she was not continuing the conversation. Then it occurred to him that her mind was elsewhere, perhaps she was thinking about the romantic hike she just had with Hunter.
"How was your date?" His chest tightened at the sound of him saying those dreadful words aloud.
"Huh?" That definitely caught her attention, "What date?" She tilted her head to the side with brows furrowed together in confusion.
Crosshair lowered his gaze, he could not stand to look into those hypnotic blue eyes for too long, "You and Hunter. Taking a stroll through the rain together."
Her confused expression quickly dissipated, a knowing giggle escaping her lips, "Do you always assume it's a date when two people walk together in the rain?"
"Well-I don't know." The faintest amount of blush stained his cheeks, "I-I guess not. I just-"
"Hunter was helping me do my rounds. That's all." Melany shrugged as she returned her focus to bandaging his arm.
"You were gone for a while. The property isn't that big."
"We got to chatting."
"About what?"
"Wow, you're sure nosy today." She finished wrapping up his arm and stood with a sassy hand on her hip, "I thought you didn't like asking questions."
"Hmph." He huffed before standing up, his tall lean physique towering over her, "Are we done here?"
"We can be if you wish. But…" She reached behind her and grabbed her datapad, "We need to discuss your next step."
"What next step?" He drawled with a furrowed brow.
"Your arm is healed enough that if you wish to attach a cybernetic hand, we should make an appointment to see a specialist sooner than later."
Crosshair hesitated. He never imagined he would have to make a decision like this in his entire life. Although he lost his hand at Tantiss about a week ago, it did not seem real to him. He still could not even wrap his head around the harsh truth about Tech's death.
He glanced down at his missing right hand and sighed. The obvious choice would be to get the robotic hand but there was a strange sense of freedom in not having his dominant shooting hand anymore. He felt his identity as a sniper was tied to his sharpshooting abilities and without his shooting hand, he was free to be whoever he wanted to be. Problem was…who did he want to be?
A/N: Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week and Merry Christmas! :)
