How You See Me
Chapter 1
A Bad Batch and Reader Imagine
You were at a bar with the Bad Batch laughing and having a good time. You
smiled brightly as Crosshair flashed you flirty smiles that gave you butterflies. Tech
would give you all the facts of whatever drink you were currently getting. Wrecker would
laugh loudly at any joke you threw out there clearly enjoying your comments. Hunter
would occasionally joke along with you, but mostly chose to people watch. Echo
listened quietly to the rest of the group.
Crosshair had his gaze focussed on you and
his brothers, adding in his own snarky comments. You all were having a great time. You
also noticed that occasionally guys were looking at you, which you couldn't lie and say
that it wasn't flattering.
You frowned seeing a drink be slid to you. You looked up to see it was the
bartender. "It's from that guy over there," You followed his finger seeing a guy wave at
you. You nodded smiling as a thanks before turning back to the boys. Your brows
furrowed slightly as Crosshair glared at the drink.
"I wouldn't drink that if I were you. He could have drugged it." Crosshair spoke up
looking at the drink.
"Why would he drug my drink?" Crosshair looked at you as though you were
stupid.
"Umm maybe because you're pretty? It's not hard to figure out." You smirked at
his words.
"Did you just compliment me?" Crosshairs cheeks heated up ever so slightly
before he rolled his eyes.
"It's not a compliment, it's just obvious." Tech nodded clearly agreeing, Hunter
just smiled at his brothers and you.
"Yeah Y/N is pretty!" Wrecker patted your back. You chuckled as you lurched
from the force of him patting you.
"Aww shucks. Thanks guys! I'm going to go thank him for the drink." You had
already gotten up so you missed the glare that Crosshair threw you.
"Why would she go thank him? He probably drugged that drink." Hunter chuckled
as Crosshair spoke.
"Why don't you just tell her you like her already? She probably likes you too."
Crosshair scowled.
"Someone like her would never go for someone like me." Hunter watched his
brother closely.
"What makes you think that?" Crosshair watched you walk over to that guy. He
sighed looking at his brothers.
"She is amazing and perfect. She's gorgeous, funny, and an amazing fighter. I
can't compare to her." Tech spoke up.
"Actually based on her body language and the vocal tone she uses when being in
your presence she returns your feelings. Also you're her preferred type in men so I
would say that there is a 99.89 percent chance that you two would work out." Tech did
look up from his data pad, letting his brother know that he cared.
"You and Y/N would be great together! Her humor with your sarcasm and your
harsh personality with her funny one would be unmatched!" Wrecker spoke up.
Crosshair smiled ever so slightly at his brother's encouragement.
You walked over to the man smiling. "Thanks for the drink" You spoke up as you
sat next to him. His eyes widened as he took in your figure, which you thought was
flattering until he spoke up.
"No problem, man I really lucked out. I'm into bigger women and you are
gorgeous." Your smile fell from your face at his words…what did he just say?
"Bigger?" He nodded looking back up to meet your gaze.
"Yeah, I'm really into bigger women. That's great for both of us, because I really
like what I see." You were inwardly proud of yourself for not punching him in the face or
crying. You smiled tightly.
"Ok I'm going to go now." You started to turn frowning as he grabbed your wrist.
"Wait a second, where are you going?" You turned glaring at him.
"You just called me fat. Do you think I'm going to sit and chat after that?" The guy
frowned, irritated.
"I didn't call you fat. I said you're large and that I like large women. You should be
flattered." You rolled your eyes scoffing.
"I don't call being called large a compliment. I'm going back to my friends. Just
leave me alone." You yanked your wrist from him and began to walk back to your group.
Crosshair frowned as he saw you clearly angry at the guy you were talking to. He felt
anger bubble up in him seeing the guy grab your arm. He was going to get up, but saw
you handle it yourself and decided to leave you be. Your frown matched him up until you
saw him looking at you. You pulled a smile back onto your face that he would have been
fooled by if he hadn't seen the situation. You sat down next to him.
"What did I miss?" He watched you closely. You were a good actress, but he
could see the small changes in your posture. The way that your eyes seemed a little
sadder and your posture was a little less confident. You kept an arm shielding a lot of
your body from him…why were you acting self conscious? He had never seen you
anything but confident, which was understandable. You were absolutely gorgeous and
you did well in anything you did. Seeing this version of you was unsettling.
"What happened with that guy?" Crosshair asked instead of answering your
question. You took a sip of your drink thinking over your answer. You shrugged trying to
play it off.
"We didn't mesh well." Crosshair watched you closely. You matched his gaze
closely.
"What?" You asked, clearly seeing his questioning glance.
"What did he say to you? You're clearly upset." You smiled softly.
"It doesn't matter. He was a jerk. Let's just have fun tonight ok?" You patted his
arm, turning to the rest of the Batch to enjoy your night. Crosshair watched you closely.
He knew that you knew that he was watching you, but you didn't acknowledge it. Your
laughter broke him out of his thoughts.
"Isn't that right Crosshair!" Wrecker laughed. Crosshair kept his face neutral, not
wanting to let his brothers know that he hadn't been paying attention. Hunter smirked
watching Crosshair.
"You don't know what he said, do you?" Crosshair glared at Hunter.
"Does it matter?" Hunter laughed.
"You would absolutely have argued with him if you had heard what he said."
Crosshair glanced at Wrecker, sighing irritatedly.
"What did you say?" Wrecker laughed all over again.
"I said that you sleep with Luna when I'm not watching." Crosshair's eyes
widened.
"I do not sleep with your stupid doll." Crosshair angrily. You covered your mouth
as you watched the argument. Not wanting either man to know that you were laughing.
Tech smiled as he quietly pulled up something on his holopad and turned it to show the
table. Your eyes widened. You hadn't really believed Wrecker when he said it, but in
front of you was a picture of Crosshair snuggled up with Luna. He looked so cute. You
of course would never say that out loud. Crosshair would for sure shoot you in the face
if he heard you say that.
Crosshair looked borderline murderous. "Tech, put it away now." Crosshair spoke
through gritted teeth. Tech shrugged smirking before putting away his holopad. The
group chuckled seeing how bothered Crosshair was. You patted his arm.
"It's ok Crosshair. We all have something like that." You said trying to be
comforting. He looked over at you warily.
"Really? Then what's yours" You shrugged unfazed.
"A watch." The group looked confused.
"You sleep with a watch for comfort?" Hunter asked, confused.
"It doesn't sound very comfortable." Wrecker spoke up confused. You chuckled at
the men in front of you.
"It's comforting for me because it was my fathers watch. It reminds me of my
childhood." Realization came over the mens faces. It faded to a bit of sadness, which
you hated.
"I'm sorry you lost your father Y/N" Tech spoke. You shook your head waving off
their sympathy.
"It's fine, don't worry about it. I had a good childhood, not many people can say
that." The men nodded, knowing that you didn't like sympathy. "Point is, it's not just you
and Wrecker." You said smiling at Wrecker and Crosshair. The conversation went on for
another two hours. Just you and the boys laughing and having a good time. You loved
moments like this with them. Where you really got to know them. You had been working
with the Bad Batch for a few months now and then had sort of known them for a few
years before that.
You had almost forgotten the words of the man from earlier when another drink
got sent your way. You frowned as the bartender sat it in front of you. Pointing to a new
guy who waved charmingly at you. "Wow Y/N you are popular tonight." Hunter spoke up
teasingly. You chuckled at his words.
"It would appear so, wouldn't it?" You chose not to get up. To just stay with your
friends. Your ego couldn't take another guy calling you fat. You had always thought you
were pretty, but comments like that made you feel awful.
"You're not going to go talk to him?" Wrecker asked curiously. You shook your
head smiling.
"I think I would rather just hang out with you guys." They smiled at you clearly
appreciating your company.
"Good, none of these guys are worth your attention anyway." Crosshair spoke
without looking at you." You smirked looking over at him.
"Did I just hear another compliment?" You teased. He rolled his eyes at you, not
bothering to respond. Crosshair couldn't get over what had happened earlier. That guy
had said something to you. He knew that he had. Your confidence had never wavered in
front of him. You were confident on missions and you were confident in your daily life. It
was unsettling to see you like that. You seemed better now, but he also knew that a lot
of that was due to not wanting him or his brothers to worry. He would admit that he and
his brothers had all been known to be protective of you. His reasons were a little
different from his brothers, but he wouldn't tell you that.
"I'm only stating the truth." Crosshair scoffed, rolling his eyes. He watched you
smile at him rolling your eyes. You really did confuse him. Some days he could almost
swear you liked him, that you were flirting with him, but they were always fleeting
moments. Moments he didn't feel brave enough to ask you about.
The night continued on with the guys and you talking and laughing. In the back of
your head you wanted to go throw up. Something you hadn't done in a long time. You
just couldn't get that guy's words out of your head. You were proud of yourself for not
eating any of the food the guys had ordered, but you couldn't stop counting your
calories for the entire week. After thirty minutes of keeping your cool and ignoring your
intrusive thoughts you made your way to the bathroom. You got down on your knees
and shoved your finger down your throat. You kept going until there was nothing left in
your stomach. As gross as it was, you felt so satisfied. You loved feeling empty.
You pulled gum out of your purse to get rid of the smell and doused yourself in
perfume. You knew you had to be careful. The boys were too observant, if you didn't
cover your tracks they would know. You stayed in the bathroom for a few minutes letting
the scent blend with your perfume and making sure your appearance remained
unbothered.
Finally you walked back over to the table a bright smile plastered on your face.
You subtly watched the boys to see if any of them were picking up on anything. You saw
Hunter's face become confused as he glanced at you, but he didn't say anything.
Crosshair was watching you, but that wasn't really anything new. He always watched
you, though you were pretty sure it was just because you were something new. Not
because there were any feelings there or anything.
You blended back into the conversation seamlessly, this seemed to distract the
guys and they joined in. You ordered another drink determined to have fun tonight. You
wouldn't let some stupid guy ruin your night. The one thing you had unfortunately
forgotten was due to your puking you didn't have anything to absorb the alcohol. You
were quickly becoming tipsy and were trying so hard to hide it.
"Looks like someone's had a bit too much to drink." Crosshair teased. You
giggled at his words.
"And who would you be talking about?" You leaned closer to him, smirking. You
had always managed to match Crosshair's snark. Something the whole team loved to
watch.
"Probably from your lack of food consumption." Tech spoke up, not looking away
from his datapad. You shrugged, smiling.
"Wasn't hungry." Tech looked up briefly. His observant eyes watched you closely
before he looked back at his datapad.
"You said you were hungry an hour before we got here." You shook it off trying to
keep away the panic you felt at his words. Tech was just being Tech, he wasn't calling
you out.
"It comes and goes I guess." You watched Tech, waiting for the response you
were sure would come.
"You should probably still eat. If you were hungry earlier that was your body
telling you something. Sometimes you aren't very good at listening to your body cues."
You kept the smile on your face as he spoke. You were pretty sure this was Tech
teasing you. You hummed at his words, leaving the conversation at that. Your brow
furrowed seeing Hunter watching you closely.
"What?" You asked confused. Hunter seemed to be contemplating something.
"Nothing." You frowned at him, you knew he wanted to say something. You
guessed you would expect him to hear from him privately later. Hunter tended to talk to
you about serious things in private, finding that you listened better without others
around.
You chuckled seeing Wrecker watch the dance floor excitedly.
"Wrecker, if you want to dance, why don't you go dance?" Wrecker laughed
nervously.
"I don't want to go alone." You smiled hoping up.
"You won't be alone." You held out your hand, which he excitedly grabbed
and dragged you to the dance floor. The two of you ran to the dance floor to dance
exaggeratedly. If you had stayed a second longer you would have seen the scowl cross
Crosshairs face. The others smile looking between you and Wrecker to Crosshair.
"She doesn't like him, you know?" Crosshair turned to look at Echo with a
frown.
"What are you on about?" Echo shrugged casually.
"She doesn't like him like that. She likes you." Crosshair hated the way his
heart rate increased. He didn't want to admit to anyone, especially you, how he felt.
"She doesn't like me anymore than anyone else on the squad. She's the
same with all of us." Hunter debated something before speaking up.
"She may be flirty with all of us, but she means it with you. Her heart rate
increases around you the same way yours increases around her." Hunter gave him a
knowing look. Crosshair hated Hunter's sensitive hearing. Crosshair shook his head
looking towards the dance floor where you and Wrecker were dancing, sure it wasn't
anything suggestive, but you were very close to him.
"Look at her out there. It's clear she likes Wrecker." Crosshair watched
your hair float around you. You looked like a goddess to him. You danced in such an
elegant way. Not a care in the world. Something he found truly impressive considering
your line of work. You were a light to all of his brothers, including himself.
Hunter, Echo, and Tech all looked to the dance floor. They could clearly
see the friendship between you and Wrecker, clearly Crosshair saw something more.
Tech spoke up at this point.
"Crosshair, I believe you are incorrect. I have been studying her behavior
patterns for months now and if she likes any of us it is you. She always positions her
body closest to you when speaking, even if she isn't talking to you. When there is
danger you're the first one she looks to. When she's scared she finds comfort in you.
She talks to you when she can't sleep. She loves all of us, yes, but not the same way
she loves you." Crosshair listened closely. Was there a chance you liked him? He
thought back to all his conversations with you. Anytime you had come to him when you
were upset. You came to him when you were angry, when you needed to vent. You told
him your secrets, you found his humor funny. You were the only one he let touch him
and you took advantage of that. You were always leaning on him or finding some way to
be tried to ignore the way his heartbeat kept increasing.
"You…really think she likes me? I don't want to make her uncomfortable." All
three of his brothers nodded excitedly.
"Cross we all see it. The two of you love each other. You two are the only
ones who can't see it." Hunter smiled at his oblivious brother. "Just go for it." Crosshair
watched his brothers closely before nodding.
"Ok, I'll tell her." His brothers cheered excitedly. Out of all of them they had
always worried about Crosshair, they all knew what people thought of his snarky
personality. You are the only person it didn't bother. They had all known within weeks of
having you join the team that you and Crosshair were the perfect pair. For Crosshair to
finally tell you was extremely exciting!
"You've got this Brother." Hunter said encouragingly. Crosshair turned to
watch you and Wrecker dancing. You were clearly wearing yourself out. You looked over
with a bright smile and waved at him. Wrecker must have seen something in the way
Crosshair was watching because he turned to you.
"I think that's enough dancing for me!" He laughed pulling you back towards the
table with him. You laughed following along. You plopped down next to Crosshair once
again. Crosshair looked at his brothers nervously, before looking to you. "Come with
me." He turned to you holding his hand out. Your brows furrowed curiously.
"Ok." You allowed him to guide you into the hallway, away from prying
eyes. You chuckled following him. "What's going on? Where are you taking me?" You
smiled at him as he finally stopped. You watched him expectantly. He took a breath
before stepping a little closer to you.
"I'm going to tell you something, but it might change the way you view me and I
just want you to promise me we will always be best friends….because you are mine you
know? My best friend and I never want that to change." Crosshair hated how awkward
he was being right now. He was usually a sly talker, but he just couldn't when it came to
this subject with you. You stared at him, eyes curious.
"Ok." You whispered to calm his nerves.
"I…I love you. I love that you and I tell each other everything. I love that you
come to me when you're angry or upset. I love that you laugh at my jokes when most
would find them annoying. I love that you never seem to have a care in the world. I love
how I can be when I am with you. I just really love you." He spoke slowly, wanting you to
absorb everything he was saying. Your eyes were wide, your mouth slightly open in
surprise.
"You love me?" You spoke surprised. He nodded slowly, a smirk forming
on his face.
"Did you just miss my entire speech?" The corner of your mouth turned
upwards as you slowly leaned forward. Giving him plenty of time to pull away. He
however leaned forward molding your mouth to his. It was a gentle, but passionate kiss.
Something both of you would savor. When you did finally break a part you smiled at
him.
"I might have missed the speech. I think you're going to have to repeat it."
You joked. He laughed at your words, pulling you in for another kiss.
"I will never stop loving you." He said after he broke the kiss. He had never
seen you like this before. So quiet, so surprised. It was like everything he was saying
was beyond your comprehension.
"You know you still haven't said it back?" He teased. Your cheeks turned
red. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer to you.
"I love you Crosshair." You whispered against his lips before pulling him
into another kiss. This kiss became more intense than the others. You felt yourself
wanting more. When you tried to deepen the kiss further however Crosshair chuckled
gently pulling you away.
"May I remind you we are in the middle of a hallway and for our first time I
want it to be somewhere much more special." He pushed a piece of hair behind your
ear. Loving the fact that your pupils were blown and you clearly did not want to stop. It
was cute. He decided to push his luck just a little further. Moving closer to you once
again he gently kissed your neck and then your ear. "There are so many things I want to
do to you that will have you screaming my name." With that he nibbled your ear. Loving
the way your body tensed. Before you could keep him close he stepped away again, a
large smirk on his face.
You bit your lip, not wanting him to see the effect he was having on you.
You took a deep breath before smirking yourself. You sauntered over to him smirking at
the way he watched your hips sway. You leaned forward lips grazing his ear. "I have
some ideas of my own." With that you backed away and began to head back towards
your table. You smiled feeling Crosshair's arm come around your waist.