ORD MANTELL, CID'S BAR "Alright, boys, get in here." Wrecker and Omega didn't seem to hear Cid and continued playing some sort of clapping game. "That means you too, tiny." Excitedly, Omega smiled and ran toward the room that Cid usually briefed them in. Wrecker followed gleefully. They entered the room, already filled with the rest of the Batch. Omega seemed to be the most comfortable with having Crosshair back. It was a little strange for all of them; having back the brother who betrayed them and tried to kill them. Cross never saw it that way. Not on purpose. Although he never showed it, except in forms of silence, Crosshair did have guilt. He felt more and more like he didn't belong with them anymore. The Batch was persistent in making him comfortable again, but Cross didn't feel it. Thing were different; very different; and they would never be the same. That didn't mean bad, but it meant change; and sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.
"I've got a juicy mission for you." Cid crossed her arms and waited for the strange look they always gave her when she said things like that. Omega smiled at Wrecker, who was smiling back. "When you say 'juicy' I hope you don't mean like that time we were literally stuck in juice." Echo blurted. The entire room cringed and groaned. "Relax, grumpy." Cid didn't move a muscle. At this point she would be turning on a holo device to show who or what they were retrieving or delivering. Hunter eventually spoke up. "So... what is it?" He stuck his hand out. Cid scoffed and smiled as she prepared to share the news. "You'll be running a retrieval. A twilek female, almost 5 feet tall, red-pink skin. She goes by 'Aguilla'. Apparently, she's committed treason against some big organization. No harm is to come to her. I want her unscathed." "Sounds easy enough!" Wrecker practically shouted in Crosshair's ear, which caused him to move away and bump into Omega. She placed her hand behind him to balance him. Cross just looked away blandly.
"There's no bounty puck?" Hunter asked. I don't even know why I'm surprised anymore, he thought. "There's no puck. Apparently, she was incognito until two days ago. All of a sudden she's a full blown criminal." "Well, that's not convincing." Cross threw out. "Crosshair, you haven't been around long enough to know what we usually do." Tech said. The room grew awkwardly silent. Tech realized his mistake and glanced at Omega, who gave him a reassuring grin.
"Anyway-" Cid continued slowly, "She's made a getaway to a shipyard on Corellia. They need you to to find her, collect her, and bring her back. I'm sending coordinates now." Cid tapped a few buttons on her small datapad. Tech, looking down at his batapad, gave a thumbs up when he received them. "You move out tomorrow." Cid's last words before she rushed them out of her office like she usually did.
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"Hunter?" Echo sat beside Hunter in the dark side of the bar. Hunter was fiddling with his knife and didn't look up. "Yeah?" Echo scooted in a little more. "I was thinking about what Crosshair said back in the briefing." "Yeah, me too." Hunter stopped his knife and gripped it tight. "She's probably just some person who got in with the wrong crowd. We'll go easy on her." "Yeah- well..." Echo scratched his head. "What?" Hunter finally looked up at him. "Never mind." Echo looked down. "I'm gonna grab a drink." He hoped that Hunter would join him but Hunter just watched as he walked away. Hunter never poked at people to tell him things, and just like he always did; he would wait for Echo to tell him whatever he needed to. There's no point in trying to pick a fruit that isn't ripe yet.
Cross resided outside the bar, leaning on the cold damp wall. He gnawed on a toothpick anxiously; staring at the ground; lost in thought. None of it felt real. It felt wrong. Everyone was trying to act the same way for him but it was wrong. No one goes through that and comes out the same, he thought. Lessons were learned, and intensions made clear; how can anyone pretend it never happened? No- how can anyone accept it and try to put back to the way it was? A broken glass is never the same once glued together. It reminded Crosshair of what he was. Shattered.
A warm feeling came to his side, he pondered it for a moment, and leaned into it only to bump into Omega again. He quickly jerked away and stared blankly. "What do you want?" He asked harshly. Omega frowned but extended her hand to him again. He didn't pull away; instead, he just watched her eyes as she placed her hand on his forearm.
One thing they both did not expect was to find that communicating with each other was easier without words. Cross could feel the ache in his chest; the kind that urges you to open up; the kind that wants to embrace; the kind that feels like it could kill you. The feeling was so strong and the only way Cross could fight it was to remain still and wait for her to leave.
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Hunter lay awake, thinking about the mission they would all be on tomorrow. He went over various things Cid covered in the briefing. Twilek, Corellia, Female, Criminal- that one thought stopped him. "Criminal..." he whispered out loud. Stopping bad guys is what they were good at, but something felt different. Somehow, he couldn't get the idea out of his head that whoever they were chasing, this Aguilla, was nothing more than a scared little girl. A wave of sympathy swam over him. He thought about Omega; What would I do if something like that happened to her? "Everything I could." He said silently but not quite in a whisper.
"Hunter?" Echo whispered over. "Did I wake you?" Hunter whispered back. "Not really. Can't stop thinking about that girl." "What do you mean?" Hunter turned on his bunk to face him. Echo was already watching him. "I just have this feeling- like something is-" "Wrong?" Hunter finished. "Yeah. You too?" "Yeah. Hey, don't worry too much. If things turn out differently, we'll improvise; like we always do." Hunter chuckled softly. "Yeah, I guess." Echo grew silent and sleepy. Hunter watched as Echo tucked himself back into his bunk and sighed. "Hunter?" Another whisper came forward. Hunter turned the other direction and barely made out the figure of Wreckers drowsy face. He was rubbing his eyes and yawning. "Go to sleep, Wrecker." "Are you talking about that Twilek?" "We'll talk about it tomorrow. Sleep." Wrecker was quiet for a few seconds and yawned again. "You still like Twi's, don't you, Hunter?" Wrecker smiled. Out of nowhere, the whole room filled with soft chuckles and giggles. All the boys were awake and listening. Hunter was surprised with how embarrassed he was. He sighed. "Go to sleep, guys." He heard them shift on their beds and quiet down. "Sweet Twilek dreams, Hunter." Crosshair whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, and again the room started laughing again, even louder this time. Cross was funny when he wanted to be. "Huh?" Omega stirred awake near Hunter's bunk. "Nothing, Meg." He patted her disheveled hair, "Go back to sleep." Once again, the room was quiet and this time is stayed quiet. Until the snoring kicked in. Hunter lay on his back. He exhaled and pulled the cover up to his belly. Sweet Twilek dreams....
