To Heal Poignancy ■ TECH - The Bad Batch ■

Crosshair and Sola

"I need Commander CT-9904 for approximately two weeks."

"Oh, is it your turn of the custody agreement?" Adla glanced up at Rampart, irritated. She should expect by now that Rampart would rudely force his way into her office unannounced. Her poised temperament with him quickly depleted each time she saw his face.

"I expect him to be at the Central Senatorial Hangar by oh-eight hundred hours tomorrow. Do I make myself clear?"

"He's sitting right there, you could've just turned and told him this to his face." Adla turned back to her paperwork, ignoring Rampart's presence. "He heard you. He'll be there."

She didn't look up as Rampart left in a huff.

"Klenn," came Crosshair's warning tone.

Adla couldn't help the eye roll as she continued to stare at her paperwork. Rampart's mere presence always placed her in a bad mood. The pompous air that surrounded him made her want to develop the ability to spit venom at him. She wanted nothing more than for him to be belittled and humiliated at every opportune moment.

Before she could cut in with a response, a navy blue protocol droid knocked before it entered with a briefcase in hand. Recognizing the droid, Adla shot up out of her seat. She went to jog over and grab the case but Crosshair was faster.

"What's this?" Crosshair hissed as he studied the case. Ever since the attempted kidnapping, he had been paranoid and suspicious about everything.

"TC-6O!" Adla did a terrible job at hiding her panic. "I told you to bring that to my apartment!"

"I'm sorry, my lady," the droid turned to face her. Its feminine robotic voice sounded as though it were in fact, not sorry.

Adla came from around the desk and approached Crosshair. "You can just give that to me, Crosshair-"

The defective clone held the case away from her. A singular eyebrow arched higher on his face than normal, which caused his forehead to crease. "What if it's a bomb?"

"It's not a bomb," she huffed as she rested her hands on her hips.

"How do you know?"

"Crosshair!" Adla grunted, trying to snatch the case away again but was once again unsuccessful. Being a foot taller than her had its perks, to him at least. If she couldn't physically grab the case away, maybe she could try a different approach. "If you're going to open it, can you at least open it when we're back at my apartment. You know, in case it is a bomb and you don't blow up a chunk of the senate?"

Apparently, Crosshair was feeling rebellious himself. He kept his distance, but he retained eye contact with the nervous senator as he popped open the case. When it didn't immediately explode in his grasp, he looked down at the contents. His eyebrows furrowed as he studied what was inside.

Adla knew Crosshair had incredible eyesight. He would be able to recognize what was in the case. Meanwhile, as she nervously waited for him to realize, her heart began to pound. She fiddled with her fingers and shuffled her feet. Her tongue ran over her teeth back and forth.

Crosshair gently freed one of his hands to run along the fabric and pull it slightly out of the case. Adla backed up carefully to the desk. She reached behind her to grip the edge, to support herself.

Sharp eyes narrowed on hers from above the case. Adla tried to keep her face as neutral as possible. Unfortunately, her heart and eyes were connected the same way her ring and pinky finger were connected. For most humanoids, their thumb, pointer, and middle fingers could move separately on their own. The ring and pinky fingers were different. Those two couldn't move without the other one moving, or at least twitching. The ring finger did not possess an independent extensor muscle. In the current moment, it was the same for Adla's heart and eyes. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest, so her eyes gave her away by widening. No matter how hard she tried to keep a straight face.