Salamander

the inside of his helmet still smells of rain water that he collected to stay alive. no matter how much he cleans his helmet, it lingers. he has to smell it every time he puts his helmet on, a reminder of what he went through.

he can't eat fish, nor seefood as a whole. raw fish after raw fish, over and over, uncooked too. he struggles to adjust on Pabu, given that seafood makes up for a lot of their diet. he often eats alone, small meals, struggling to stomach them.

the sound of storms can sometimes trigger him. soaking wet, arms wrapped around his knees, no shelter as the rain comes hammering down, and the sea crashes around him. he just has to wait it out. shivering, trying to stay alive. is all this even worth it?

its quite ironic that Crosshair retired on Pabu, surrounded by the sea. the sounds, the smells. so many small reminders of a time long ago.

the inside of his helmet still smells of rain water that he collected to stay alive. no matter how much he cleans his helmet, it lingers. he has to smell it every time he puts his helmet on, a reminder of what he went through.

he can't eat fish, nor seefood as a whole. raw fish after raw fish, over and over, uncooked too. he struggles to adjust on Pabu, given that seafood makes up for a lot of their diet. he often eats alone, small meals, struggling to stomach them.

the sound of storms can sometimes trigger him. soaking wet, arms wrapped around his knees, no shelter as the rain comes hammering down, and the sea crashes around him. he just has to wait it out. shivering, trying to stay alive. is all this even worth it?

its quite ironic that Crosshair retired on Pabu, surrounded by the sea. the sounds, the smells. so many small reminders of a time long ago.

⬜️ taken

late night thoughts 

Open, close, open, close, those were the words repeating over and over in Crosshair’s mind as he stared at his wrist; he ran his left hand over where his right once was, wincing at the roughness of how his skin healed. His hand then traveled to his scalp, the divots and canons a harsh reminder of his poor choices with the Empire, only a year ago.

“Why did I ever think the Empire of all places would ever..”

He muttered to himself as he rolled out of his bed. Life on Pabu was more or less perfect. At least as perfect as it could be with the Galactic Empire growing ever stronger with each rotation. Pabu had no useful resources and nothing of overall value, if anything, it was a stain for the Empire; it was the place that Hemlock fell from grace in his obsession with Omega and what she could potentially offer.. Crosshair hissed at the memory as he slammed his eyes.

He had never stopped believing that he had inherently been the reason why Hemlock had even found this place, this heaven, if Crosshair had just let Omega return with the Batch without him, she would have never been found, and yet.. somehow it wasn’t all bad. He thought back to what they found while rescuing her, no, WHO they found. He let a smile creep on his face while he slowly made his way out of his personal hut.. having his own personal space, it still felt.. odd.

He slowly made his way to the infirmary, careful to keep his distance from the other villagers. While they held no animosity to him, he still felt out of place with them, often preferring to simply stay away. When he finally made it to the door, he eased the door open to see his pilot “resting” on the bed, meanwhile a woman he hardly recognized scolded him for working on his data pad, Tech of course, was more or less ignoring her.

“You were literally just rescued from a torture lab and are recovering from being forced into serving as a solder again, and instead of resting.. you’re on that damn data pad.”

Crosshair scoffed as he leaned against the door, ease dropping on this argument as this woman clearly did not know Tech very well.

“That is correct. I am monitoring my own vitals to ensure I am recovering properly.”

“That’s what the DOCTOR is for, brown eyes.”

“Seeing that I am still bedridden, the medical staff are clearly lacking in my treatment.”

Crosshair decided this was a good time as ever to intervene

“You also fell from a karkin rail cart that was over a hundred feet in the air and then were kept alive by a creepy shebs suit for almost nine months, you’re not going to recover fast.”

This made the technician huff in offense and attempt to sit up, only for his abdomen to fail him again and cause him to crumple back in the bed.

“Correction, I fell approximately four hundred and fifty feet, and I was in the suit as CX2 for eleven months.”

Crosshair sighed and flopped down on the bed, attempting to give the woman a salute, only to forget his hand was missing. He let out a defeated sound as the woman sat next to him -the added weight of them both causing Tech to shift uncomfortably from them both-

“I think you all lost something at that horrible lab.”

“Who even ARE you?”

Crosshair blurted out, absentmindedly shoving Tech back into the bed when he tried to escape.. again.

“Gee, each of you bad batchers are really just really good at introductions, huh?”

“At least I didn’t tell you to leave like I want to.”

“Fair. Well since you didn’t ask, the name’s Phee, I’m a liberator of ancient wonders and the whole reason you boys and Omega have this safe haven to call home.”

Crosshair stared at her for a beat before deadpanning at her

“So, you’re a pirate.”

“I most certainly am not!”

Tech leaned up to the bets of his abilities and attempted to adjust his absent goggles

“She is.”

“Not helping here, brown eyes.”

“I was not attempting to assist you.”

“You could at least inerdouce me to the last of your batch if you refuse to rest.”

“That is Crosshair.”

Phee sighed

“Charmed.”

Phee got up in a huff and made her way to the door before storming out, muttering something about not being a pirate, making Tech snort to himself, this was clearly a way to irritate the woman he found enjoyment in. Crosshair stared at where she once was before snorting and then crossing the room to grab Tech’s new armor for him. The technician had designed it himself; it allowed him to move as though his body had not been paralyzed a year ago. Crosshair helped him get the pieces on before adjusting the headpiece on his batchmate and giving him room to swing his legs over and stand.

“She refuses to ever assist me with equipping this. It is very frustrating.”

“Maybe she likes it when you’re helpless.”

“That is highly unlikely Crosshair.”

Crosshair snorted as he teased his batchmate, catching his own reflection in the window and wincing. Tech squinted his eyes to focus on his brother’s dilemma

“You are still valuable to me.”

“I can’t shoot anymore, and I look like..” he gestured to himself “THAT now.”

“And what of it?”

He held Crosshair’s face gently as he pushed their foreheads together

“You are just as beautiful as the day you left us- left me.”

Crosshair attempted to blink back the tears slowly forming in his eyes as he grabbed Tech’s wrist, careful to not hurt him somehow

“How.. how can you still love me after all of that?”

“How could I not?”

And with that, their lips met for the first time since Order 66, it was fragile, it was precious; neither wanted the moment to end. Yet they both had duties to attend to, either imagined or genuine.

-----------------------------------☆~♡~☆-------------------------------------

Crosshair attempted to fight the chuckle rising in his throat, somehow he, Tech, Hunter, Wrecker, Phee and the Mayor of Pabu, Sheb Hazard somehow got roped into a stupid little roleplay game Omega and Sheb’s daughter, Lyana had come up with. Crosshair snorted at his batchmates’ uncomfortableness with the mock costumes they had forced them in, he laughed until the girls came up to him holding a wig

“Absolutely not.”

“Crosshair, you owe me, so wear the wig and be XxDarkKittyGirlxX already.”

Lyana snickered as her friend further invaded her brother’s space

“I am not wearing that karking thing and under no circumstances will I EVER be XxDarkKittyGirlxX.”

Omega stepped closer, making Crosshair scoot back again

“I mean… you DID basically FORCE me to save you on Tantiss.. the LEAST you could do.. is wear the wig”

She gave her most pouty, puppy dog eyed look she could manage as Hunter scoffed in his blonde wig and tutu

“If I have to be Jessica, you have to be XxDarkKittyGirlxX.”

“Oh come on Crosshair, be a sport for the kids!”

Phee protested in her frilly pink dress and tiara

Crosshair signed and finally put up his hand in defeat, lowering his head as Omega put the wig on him. She stopped giggling and softly gasped when he looked up.

“What, am I that ugly?”

“No, Crosshair that looks really good!”

He looked at her before his eyes landed on Tech; he tilted his head when he noticed the gentle flush on the technician’s cheeks. Crosshair hopped to his feet and made his way to a mirror, gently moving the thick platinum locks of hair behind his ear before realizing everyone on the balcony was staring at him. He jerked the wig off and bolted down the steps, ignoring Omega crying out after him as he descended the mountain at speeds only a member of Clone Force 99 can.

He finally stopped and gripped a guardrail overseeing the waters, that was a part of him that he thought he had squashed years ago, back on Kamino, how dare those feelings creep back up inside his soul. He panted as he overlooked the water, rearing the wig back in preparation to throw it as far into the ocean as he could, to drown it alongside these forbidden dreams. Only for a warm hand to cover his

“Do you really want to throw that?”

“Get your hand off of me.”

“Crosshair, I saw that look.”

He whipped around to Phee; he was fighting back tears now. How dare this woman he had only just met talk to him in this state, what does she know!?

“What look?!”

“The look like you finally know who you are, or maybe you already have known who you were meant to be.”

“And how would you know that?”

Phee sighed and smiled, dropping her voice to a natural octave

“How do you think I know, Sniper?”

Crosshair’s eyes went wide with realization as he opened his mouth to speak, only for Phee to shake her head and raise her voice once again.

“No questions. But do you want help getting dressed up right, or would you rather throw that pretty wig into the ocean?”

-----------------------------------☆~♡~☆-------------------------------------

After a few more minutes, Hunter perked up to the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs, everyone else perked up as well as omega excitedly squeaked and ran to where Crosshair and Phee were slowly appearing, before she stopped in her tracks

“Crosshair, you look so..”

Phee patted the child’s head and smiled

“She’s gonna try something new, be the bright light I know you can be.”

Omega nodded and grabbed Crosshair’s hand and slowly lead her into the twinkling fairy lights of the balcony. Tech squinted and once again attempted to adjust his absent goggles as a soft flush entered his cheeks, Hunter blinked rapidly before scrambling to try and help Sheb cover Wrecker’s mouth to avoid whatever he was about to say.

Crosshair nervously tucked that same lock of hair behind her ear as before, only now the whole wig was adorned by tinsel and held back by one of Phee’s headbands, she sported some clip-on earrings, likely stolen from Omega’s personal collection, and was dressed in various shades of soft reds and light greys. She shifted uncomfortably from all the attention on her before Wrecker wriggled free of the other men’s grasps

“You look pretty Crosshair, it suits you.”

‘You really think?”

“Oh I know, and I’ve seen a whole lotta pretty girls-er, are you a girl now?”

“I always have been you idiot.”

This quip making Wrecker bellow with a laugh as he scoops Crosshair up in a hug

“We’ll in that case, sorry I ever called ya wrong.”

Crosshair struggled against the bearhug before giving up and letting the giant squeeze him.

“Everyone did, it’s fine.”

Soon the giant had mercy and rested Crosshair back on the ground, letting her boots hit the gravel with a soft “poomph” before Tech came up and kissed her gently, taking her breath away before he pulled away and thoroughly inspected her. He gently adjusted her headband and kissed her forehead with a soft smile before resting his own against her, just like he did earlier in the day

“I have always wanted to call you my mesh’la, now I finally can.”

“You always could’ve…”

“You are correct mesh’la.”

“Guess I couldn’t let you be the only one with a new look.”

This made Tech chuckle and give Crosshair yet another gentle kiss. When they finally parted, Omega walked back up to Crosshair with a smile, making the sniper give her a pointed look

“What?”

“So, I have forty-one sisters?” Crosshair chuckled and raised an eyebrow

“I guess you could say that.”

“Kark yeah.”

As she wrapped her arms around her older sister, Crosshair looked to Phee and mouthed a quiet “thank you” before the not-pirate gave her a lopsided salute and started back down the mountain, leaving the clone with her family to settle into her new normal.

She is tired.

The one day of rest She is bestowed, she has no energy for frivolous things such as her books or creating something new, she instead rots away in her chambers, listening to the others in the temple enjoy their day of rest.

She is tired.

She watches as the sun sets on the city planet, tomorrow she has more work to do, an army to command, younglings to teach, a war to win, civilians to soothe, no time for such things as her own enjoyment or rest.

She is tired.

She heaves herself up from her bed, the day calls, duty calls, the Force calls; she must always answer the call, for if she does not, who will? Her own exhaustion is irrelevant in the eyes of the universe, she must persevere, for the war will soon end, or so they say.

But alas, she is tired.

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Prompt: Laughing so hard he wheezes

“It’s not that bad!” -Omega