long way down

Hunter Cross

Basics Age: 37 Birthday: July 4th Occupation: Shamrock Junk Ranch  Born: Bradford Springs, Colorado Resides: Sunnyside Trailer Park, Bradford Springs ✓  capable, versatile and instinctive ✗  unpredictable, disagreeable and isolated

aiylaxavci​:

“Well she was poor, wasn’t she? So yes?” Aiyla shrugged, watching each subtle expression change over Elliot’s features. She wished he’d stop being such a stubborn man but she had no room to judge. Aiyla was sitting gleefully watching the table at every chance she had and then giving a not so subtle glance to the time. It didn’t bother her that while she was smug about Elliot’s date clearly disappearing, hers hadn’t even showed up but he didn’t need to know she was waiting for one.

Due to her attention being closely focused on Elliot, her eyes followed his and spotted the same faces she had seen before. Immediately, she scoffed and held up her hand to Elliot’s face to try and get him to be quiet. “Do you need chaperones and failed to mention it to me?” she quipped, slowly looking back at him with a look of dismay. “Everywhere you go, those two seem to be very close behind and I’m starting to think it’s some sick joke.” she scolded Elliot. “Let me guess, let’s see who can scare the rich pretty girl, hm? Is that some game you all like to play? Or see if you have what it takes to make me fall for you or something? Why are they always there!?”

•

“Why does it matter to you?” He returns pointedly. Elliot doesn’t get annoyed easily (or so he says), but it seems like Aiyla always knows what to do or say to get under his skin. Like a splinter, she’s a constant, irritating presence that he can’t seem to ignore. But his annoyance is quickly replaced by confusion at her presumption, refusing to look back at his brother or best friend and remain focused on her. “What are you talking about?” He scoffs, almost laughing at the thought. “They’re fucking annoying is why they’re here.” Elliot waves a hand, as though dismissing their very presence. 

“Besides, you’ve made it pretty clear you’re not interested.” He leans back now, too close for comfort as he shrugs, “Now you’re just being an asshole, sending drinks and shit. It’s fine. I get it.” Elliot is surprised by the bitterness that slips into his voice, “this,” he gestures between them, “isn’t gonna happen.” Because he’s just trailer park trash and she’s…well, she’s her. His mood has soured and he wonders what he’s even doing here. He can’t even afford this place. “Message received. I hope your date shows up,” he lies, already backing away, his own date completely forgotten as he avoids eye contact with his brother and Danny and heads to the exit. 

It had gone from amusing to watch to painful. Hunter, who couldn’t read a room if everyone had signs up with their emotions on, was even able to pin point the exact moment his younger brother fucked up. Embarrassing, actually. Even Wolf could leave Neon Boots with two or three girls hanging off his arms and that fucker braided his beard just for the hell of it. As soon as Aiyla and Elliot both spotted him and Danny...wait, Danny was here? Jesus fucking Christ. No wonder why Elliot was bombing. Hunter had to do what every big brother would do, help his brother get laid. 

“What the fuck was that?” Hunter asked as soon as he followed after Elliot and they were alone outside of the bar. “You got here on a date and she’s pissed because she wants to be the fucking date. It’s not fucking rockabilly science.” he didn’t have any judgement in his tone, this was going to be a pep talk. Hunter slapped Elliot’s chest with the back of his hand and gestured with the other back to the doors. “You’re doing it all wrong, man. Okay, brother to brother, when was the last time you got some?” he asked, talking a bit more serious. “Because right now, I could take bets ‘round this whole place and they’d probably put money on you being a damn virgin. So, you gotta go back in there and do what she obviously wants you to do. Take her on a fucking date. Or just...do what I do, kiss ‘em. You were both about two inches away from it for Christ sake. Have you actually asked her? Properly!? Not the weird fancy weird shit weird words you do. They don’t make sense to nobody. If I was her right now, I wouldn’t wanna fuck you.”

•

Isra’s been burnt before but she’d never seen it coming. At least with Hunter she knows exactly what type of person he is. She lets out a puff of air, laughing softly at his words. If she wants it.  This start-stop cycle makes her wonder if it’s smart to walk this road again, but she thinks that every time until she does. Until he’s there with his smug smile and flashing blue eyes and she’s keen for something to distract her. “That easy, huh?” she replies with a haphazard smile, heat creeping up her neck before a laugh escapes at the suggestion of him working for her brother. “Oh I can put your name down. I just don’t know if I hate anyone enough to subject them to Kemal as a boss.” She doesn’t even want him to be her boss. 

She scoffs, a genuine grin forming now as she raises a brow in amusement. “They find you with a neon sign,” she pokes without ire before chewing the inside of her cheek. His hands tug her close and Isra considers his words for a split second before deciding to be careless. Life’s too short, isn’t it? “Special might be too strong,” she says, hands moving to his shoulders, “But you’re the only one I let stay.” It’s as good as any admission as she leans down to close the distance between them. 

“Be as easy as you want.” Hunter suggested, finding himself funny as he chuckled. It wasn’t a complicated situation to be in, at least not from his perspective. The uncertainty of what happened next with them was half of the fun. Hunter could grow bored easily and the break off and make up routine helped his dopamine hits feel more exciting than the last. He claimed he’d never be an addict like his mother but there were certain addictions that seemed less harmless, like creeping the back of his hand along the inside of Isra’s arm with a soft graze of his knuckles. “I bet he’s not that bad.” Hunter wasn’t being diplomatic from an intelligent stance, he just figured he could punch most people into submission one way or another.

He could easily lose interest in someone like Isra, the indirectness of her answers made him unashamedly roll his eyes in a dramatic motion. “You ever answer a fuckin’ question or is this your idea of foreplay or something?” he cut through the nonsense, heavy handedly bringing her closer so she had no choice but to part her legs and join him against his lap. Then one of his hands found a possessive hold against her jaw, thumb running over the sharp angle. “If I ask you again, are you gonna answer properly?” he requested gently, brushing his lips closer to hers but not quite close enough to meet.

@cruz-silva​

It took a while for Hunter to follow Leo’s suggestion, heading to Silver Spur to try and find Cruz or Diego. He saw the Vice President first, nodding his head to beckon Cruz over. “You got a minute or two?” he requested because his impatience was going to get the better of him if something didn’t happen soon. “I got a few things I wanna say and you’ll probably end up wanting get Diego too.” he shrugged, not expecting the conversation to be civil for long especially if there weren’t any real answers. Cutting right to the chase, Hunter sniffed and waited for Cruz to sit with him. “I need to know something’s being done, Cruz. Like what the fuck is happening man? We’re sitting around like fucking dumbasses.”

“They told me yesterday but I thought ah, why bother the lazy asses I call brothers to come get me?” he teases Elliot with a laugh, jabbing a weak punch into his stomach before accepting the much needed hug. “Get on in here.” he then calls to Hunter, waving the other blond misfit into the pile. “No, no bribing. Just good old fashioned good behavior. One of the old timers had a heart attack and I took over the library trolley, been wanting that job since the last time I was in there. You can always tell when someone doesn’t give a fuck about books. It was the most organized it has ever been with me.” he explains away the life that he focused on for the previous five years. “You both gotta tell me everything. Everything you missed out in the letters and phone calls.” Wolf says excitedly, placing each of his hands on either side of his brother’s faces to try and knock their heads together. “Look at you both! Look at us three! Ugly motherfuckers.” @elliotxcross·

•

“You’re such a fucking cunt,” Elliot returns, jabbing him in the shoulder before giving him a squeeze. “I would’ve gotten you,” he doesn’t speak for Hunter though it’s clear they both would’ve been there to welcome their older brother back to the outside world. “Still find it hard to believe,” Elliot snorts, “had to be a trade involved. You running drugs on the inside?” He wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case, though he’ll give Wolf the benefit of the doubt this time. “This asshole wrote you letters?” He gestures at Hunter, skeptical like if Wolf was saying the sky was green. “What’d it say? Things good here?” he mocks in a cave-man voice before pulling a face as Wolf manhandles him.  “Shit, man, let’s just get drinks and then we’ll talk,” Elliot says, pushing Wolf’s hands from his face but not before pulling him in for another bro-hug. “Speak for yourself, Wolf – you’re the one who looks like you haven’t showered weeks.” he sniffs, “smell like it too.” @hunter-cross·

Hunter was too busy laughing to talk properly, but he joined in with making a punch into Elliot’s other side and then giving Wolf one too, right in the ribs. “Yeah right, you were still tunneling your way out. Whole place is gonna be crawling with cops looking for you.” he jested. He was cackling at the same time, clipping Elliot on the ear with a little slap. “Shut up man, I can write. I just don’t do all the weird-ass fancy flowery shit you do. And you.” he looked between them both but was happy Elliot finally had someone who he could talk smart with again and he had someone he could randomly fight people with. Best of both worlds with their brother. He dodged out of the way from being pushed into Elliot’s face and grabbed his tobacco to start making them some smokes. “Yeah, let’s head to The Phoenix or something first before we get everyone over excited at Boots. You’d probably be useful at the junk ranch with me and Finn. Or just go instead of me when I got a hangover from hell.” @wolff-cross​

he can hear the pity in hunter’s tone and that isn’t what ryan was looking for. in fact, ryan just wanted the whole thing to go away and the two years he spent alone to actually be worth something. “well, he ran me out of the city when i had a pretty good job, and now i just give people weird headset shit and tell them where to park so…if he wanted me to pay he should’ve thought about that.” ryan shrugs, missing the fact he should have never began borrowing to begin with. fighting isn’t the worst idea, axe is better with aggression and anger than ryan is but he knows how to punch and fight dirty if needed. it’s better than nothing so he nods slowly. “i’ll think about it, hunt. ‘cause i need to at least show up to finn with some kinda payment before i say i can’t get anything.”

Hunter laughed, assuming Ryan was playing around until he noted the seriousness. His laughter stopped pretty soon after that and he gave a disgruntled shrug. “Or if you couldn’t afford whatever the fuck you were doing, you should’ve thought about it.” he said back simply. Hunter never let gray areas into his way of thinking. Life was as simple or as complicated as people made it be. “True, well, you better pick up some extra shifts, Young. Once Finn hears you’re back, it won’t be long ‘til he’s coming to you.” Hunter said fairly. “I’ll talk to him next time I see him, ask him to take it a little slower but I can’t promise he will. That’s all I got for you. And technically, it’s only ‘cause of Axe that it might work so, thank your brother.”

wolff-cross​:

closed starter, cross trailer with @elliotxcross​, @hunter-cross​

He knows it’s too soon for either of them to expect him home, but Wolf loves the element of surprise. He purposely didn’t tell Hunter or Elliot about his early release and now here he is, breathing in the familiar air of home as he sees the top of his brothers heads side by side in the window. Like little Russian Dolls, round and identical even from the back. Now they’re no longer lone weirdos and have their older one to complete the set. The door is open, as it always is and it’s as if he has never been gone. He creeps, chewing on a snack he acquired from a friendly face. “Um excuse me, you wouldn’t happen to know if this is the residence of three Crosses?” he daintily speaks like an Englishman, waiting for the two heads to turn at him before he throws a chunk of the food at them. “Ha-ha, it’s me you fucking sorry asses. Come on, come and help me find a job. I have a felony now. But I love money.” he laughs as he disappears back outside, just to confuse them further but also because he knows the bundle that’s about to begin.

Elliot’s attention is torn away from the Kardashians playing on the TV (he was there first so Hunter had to fucking deal with the trash TV) when someone walks into the room. If this was in the before times, his hand would’ve already been on the trigger. But it’s not so his hand isn’t and, instead, he’s left staring like an idiot at his oldest brother, standing there like it’s fucking nothing. “Wolf...what the fuck?” His incredulous look is replaced by a wide grin which is replaced by a raised brow as Wolf heads back out. Elliot follows him in a swift motion, Kim and her photoshoot all but forgotten as he pushes the swinging door open. “When the fuck did this happen?” he laughs now, clapping his brother on the shoulder and pulling him in for a hug. “Thought you had another…how long was it? Longer than this,” but Elliot’s grinning, his stupid brother back from the clink probably the highlight of his week…month maybe (not that he’d say as much). 

@hunter-cross​

Hunter didn’t know when women started to become shaped like wisdom teeth, but the more he was forced to watch Leeching with the Sanitarians he could suddenly see why Elliot was obsessed with Aiyla. “Scott always tells ‘em but they don’t wanna hear it.” Hunter grumbled, torn away from the fuzzy T.V screen when he heard a God Damn British accent. He turned just in time for the food to hit him in the face but he burst into laughter. “Wolf!?” he followed after the eldest, and suddenly the trailer felt full again. Him and Elliot could handle life just fine without their older brother, but that was it. Just fine, Wolf was always a ray of weird sunshine. “We were hoping we’d get a few more weeks of peace man, the fuck did you do? Bribe the officers with a shiny rock or something?” he pulled Wolf into a hug but then stepped back so he could place his hands on both of his brother’s shoulders. “Fuck finding a job, Wolf. We need to drink.” @wolff-cross​

@volkanxzorlu​

It felt like the longest drive to Denver in Hunter’s life with Volk in the passenger seat snoring. He’d rather be stuck in the truck with Danny, which was saying a lot. At that point in time, Danny seemed like he’d be a better man for the job entirely because Volkan got the fucking time wrong. Which caused the two men to seek out a bar, which wasn’t the best idea in hindsight. Because somewhere during the night, Hunter lost all memory of what the fuck was happening but somehow gained conciousness in the location they were supposed to be in. Gun drawn, cocked and loaded at about five other people doing the same back at him and Volk. “Z...what the fuck happened?” he whispered harshly.

volk laughs childishly, pointing to hunter. “shouldn’t you be telling yourself that? i hear what you’re like.” he jokes along, but it’s not much of a joke. hunter’s never in his own bed according to the legend. “so danny gets away with being a dumbass but not me?” he tsks, feeling the injustice. “i’m not a newbie anymore, hunter. three years, and that feels like forever working with you.” volkan laughs before giving his friend a playful wink. “oh i already know why. it reflects your eyes.” he teeters boyishly, throwing his legs on the dashboard. “can i sleep until we get there? unless you want me to count the money wrong and us get shot.”

“Yeah? Well, fuck what you heard and fuck who told you.” Hunter said calmly, missing the point that he had probably done the last part himself. He had no idea why conversations about Danny always happened with him, like he was some sort of guardian to the middle Anderson. “Danny has been a dumbass since he was born, consider yourself lucky everyone expects more from you.” he replied, beginning their journey out of the trailer park. “Three years is nothing, Z. Don’t get cocky.” As if he wasn’t. The comment about his eyes made him laugh, shaking his head. “I ever tell you how much you piss me off sometimes?” Even though Hunter’s truck was far from clean, his hand roughly pushed Volkan’s feet off the dashboard. “Fuck outta here with that. You think this is the fucking Emirates?”

Leo laughs with Hunter, already knowing he’s spoken more promptly to Hunter Cross without getting punched than most people can say. Leo’s head bows when the names are reeled off, proving Hunter’s point instead of his own. They’d lost many, but nothing was certain who was to blame. “If we do something unplanned, we could lose a lot more.” he shrugs, the only thing he’s able to offer in return to prove their slow movements. “I’m not speaking for you Hunt, I just think you’re better off talking this through with Die and Cruz if it’s this strong.” he smiles crookedly before he sighs. “If you let bitterness stay in there, we’ll lose you too. Just in a different sorta way.” 

Hunter didn’t like reason or rationality, they conflicted with his brash and relentlessness. But, he’d be an idiot to say Leo was wrong. His chest rumbled with a crackling sigh as he threw his cigarette into the towering flames. “Yeah, guess I’ll talk.” he admitted bitterly, knowing it was for the best even if those sort of conversations never stayed conversations for long. “Thanks.” he then said to Leo, reluctantly but it was still appreciative. “But don’t go getting a big head that you talked sense into me, because I’ll knock your teeth out.”

-

“See him?” Fox was just as confused as Finn??? Who was this man!? “Who are you!?” he screeched, trying to angle himself in the seat as the truck swerved through the lanes. Oh my God, this was it, this was how he died. Not cooking pasta like he originally thought his way would be. How didn’t he know who Van Halen was? “Uhhh, self titled debut album was released in 1978. They covered You Really Got Me by The Kinks? People went crazy for it.” Fox had never talked so fast in his life, trying to speed through the information while understanding completely this was not the time. “Kas? Patch!? Man I am so confused, I’m Fox.” he pointed at himself, eyeing the road at the same time. “I think this is like…one of those identity fraud things but I duno why this Kas would wanna be me. I’m in debt.”

“Who...” Hunter worked his jaw, speeding up in the truck as his mind whirled. “I’m not Finn, who the fuck are you?” it was hard to look for longer than a second at the passenger, and the screeching didn’t help. Nor the lesson in music which made Hunter grumble with frustration. “Yeah, YEAH I know who you mean. The Jump dudes.” he shouted back, actually quite liking that song. “Fox!?” he yelled back, grabbing the guy’s arm to try and get a look at his face properly. “Angel’s weird ex?” He had heard many stories, always wondered what his kind-of-niece was doing with the guy from the things Finn told him. Immediately, Hunter began laughing. Loud and amused as they sped down the street. “Man, that’s hilarious. I was gonna punch you. Thought you were Kas fucking Morrison. Look alike. ‘cept...he’s less...soft.”

“people lined the streets and everything.” ryan laughs back but his shrug is defeated. coming back was his only option, and he thinks two years away from everybody he grew up with is a fair punishment. “no worse than you on a good day.” he bites back with a smile but the news about finn isn’t surprising. it confirms ryan’s worst fears that he’s returned with a price on his head remaining, and this time a more pissed off irish-man wanting his dues. “dude i don’t even earn half as much as what i used to, i don’t even think i’d be able to get him it by the end of the year.” he flaps his arms, sighing. “yeah…if you could talk i’d appreciate it. but i can’t pay what i don’t have, i wish i could pull cash out of my ass but y’know…”

Hunter laughed, happy to see Ryan hadn’t lost his sense of humor. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing though, stupidity or confidence. Hunter certainly wouldn’t be laughing if he owed Finn money, not even just a dime. His eyebrows raised when Ryan announced he still was in no position to pay up, and Hunter whistled with pity. “Damn, boy.” he dropped a hand onto Ry’s shoulder, giving him a rough slap. “Well, one thing about Finn is he’ll find a way to make you pay or you’re gonna be leaving the city again before you had time to unpack.” He wondered if the Jones knew he was back too. Hunter didn’t have good ideas often but sometimes a dim lightbulb flashed above his head. “Axe fights for us these days, you should think about it. Offer Finn to keep all your takes until it’s paid off. But I mean...be prepared for him to punch you too before you even offered.”