Chapter Text
“I didn’t think getting a gift would be so difficult.”
“I’m sure he’ll be happy with whatever you get.” One of the merchants across from them was quickly tucking baskets of flowers back under the roof outside his shop. The man slid one of the doors closed then paused to wipe sweat off his head. Crosshair could see a small bracelet on his wrist with a few beads spelling something out in Aurebesh.
The man catches his eye and smiles, glancing between Crosshair and Omega before locking the other door. When he turns back he’s holding a small blue flower.
Crosshair doesn’t pull his pistol, but he can’t help sliding his hand a little closer and sweeping the rest of the street to see if anyone else had noticed them.
“Good morning,” he smiles down at a dejected Omega and offers her the flower. “This flower is my daughter’s favorite. It always helps cheer her up.”
“It’s beautiful,” Omega glances at Crosshair and he gives her a small nod. She reaches out and takes the flower with wide eyes. “Are you already closed today?”
“Oh no, but it’s lunchtime. I always close for an hour to go eat at home with my family.”
“What’s your bracelet say?” Omega tilted her head trying to read it.
“My daughter made it for me.” He stretched his arm out to give her a better look. “That’s her name: Palomella. The turquoise beads are for the flower she was named after.”
Omega’s eyes light up. “For Father’s Day?”
“Yes, actually,” he looks amused when he points up a street they hadn’t been down. “There’s a store run by a Togruta and his wife. Just turn right down there and it will be the third or fourth one on your left. They sell all kinds of beads. Maybe you can make one with your father.”
Crosshair’s whole face reddened. “I’m not her father.”
“Really? An uncle then?”
“No, I’m just-”
“Cross, let’s go.” Omega scrambled to her feet, wiping a sticky hand on her pants. “Thank you for your help.”
“Of course. Good luck to you.” With that the man walked away, whistling happily.
“Who goes around giving people flowers,” he glares after him for a moment before following Omega, tossing the remainder of his jogan fruit into a bin.
He had never tried to define his relationship with Omega. Trailing after her skipping form and glancing from her small shoulders to scowl at anyone that came too close to her, he guessed she felt more like a little sister might.
“I thought he seemed nice,” she hummed. Over the heads of the crowd he glimpsed the imposing, angular montrals of a male Togruta. The moment Omega sights them she takes off at a run.
“Move,” Crosshair elbows his way through the crowd, earning a few glares until they take in his armor and the rifle slung over his back.
Omega is already talking animatedly to the vendor, waving the flower still held between her fingers. Crosshair squinted toward the sun, trying to judge how long they’d been gone when he felt his comm beep with an incoming call.
“Don’t go anywhere.” Omega waves him off, already picking from the trays of beads.
“Crosshair, any idea when you’ll be back? I think Hunter’s going to pull his hair out soon.”
“Remind him I’ve never lost the kid before.” Crosshair glances back. Omega was inspecting each bead. Some she’d pick up between her fingers, angling them toward the sun, before putting them back or passing them to her other hand still cradling the flower.
“I did, but you know him.”
“I think we’re nearly done.”
“Alright, we’ll keep Hunter distracted. You might want to hurry if you don’t want him to storm the city.” He ends the call when Omega tugs on his arm.
“Do you mind if Arahla teaches me how to make bracelets? I promise it won’t take long.” He nods and plucks the flower from her hand, carefully tucks it behind her ear. It was something he’d seen all over Naboo the one time they’d visited the lush planet. It looked silly then, but it gets him another smile.
“Take your time.” He puts a fresh toothpick in his mouth. Hunter would just have to wait.
Omega plants herself on a stool next to the female Togruta. It’s low enough that her lekku nearly touch the ground on either side of her. He watches her orange fingers deftly braiding leather strands together, pausing to add beads, while she patiently answered Omega’s questions.
The white markings on her checks crinkle a little when she smiles. Passing fresh cord over to Omega and watching her try to mimic what she’d just seen. When he’s confident she’s safe he focuses his attention on the street. Deciding he’d rather focus on that than see what she’s making for Hunter.
There’s an awkward moment when the other togruta smiles and asks him if him and his daughter are enjoying the market. His arms are full with a baby that must be his daughter. Chubby fingers rest on his lekku, big eyes lock onto his hair and she lights up with a toothless gurgle. Her father sees where she’s looking and smiles.
“She likes your hair.” Crosshair lets out a heavy sigh. When he doesn’t say anything he just smiles. “Are you and your daughter here long?”
“She’s not mine.”
“Really? The way you take care of her I just assumed.” He glances over at Omega and shrugs. “I must be going crazy.”
“Right,” he turns away, signaling and end to the conversation, but the togruta’s attention is already back to his daughter. Crosshair watches out of the corner of his eye as he bounces her in his arms while cleaning up their tables.
The market slowly fills with last minute shoppers and it’s close to dinner time when Omega comes back to him with a bag clutched in her hand. She gives him a small nod that she’s ready. When she sees the toothpick she grins and holds out her hand.
He’s handing her one and starting to walk away when the woman stops them. “Wait, Omega. I have some extra cord you can have to keep practicing with. I hope you don’t mind.” She smiles at Crosshair as she presses a few small coils into Omega’s hands. “Your daughter is a very quick study.”
“Arahla, he isn’t her-”
“Thank you,” Omega smiles up at her then down at the cords.
“You’re very welcome. Just promise you’ll come say hi next time you’re here.”
Crosshair grabs onto Omega’s shoulder and tugs her away. He takes the lead, sliding through the crowd with Omega trying to keep up. He nearly loses her at one point, forgetting how long his strides are. When she catches up with her bag pressed tight to her chest he holds his hand out for her to grab.
“Do you think they’ll like it?”
“They?” He's thinking of the vendor now and wondering if he holds his daughter’s hand when the streets get too crowded.
“Hunter and the others? Do you think they’ll like what I made them?” Crosshair’s stomach twists when he realizes she made something for all the others. At least he knows why she asked him and not one of the others. He’s the only one that doesn’t count as a father.
“What happened to just Hunter?”
“Well, I thought about it and all the others take care of me too. Just in different ways.” Crosshair pulls her out of the way of a speeder. Omega keeps talking, trusting him to keep her out of harm’s way. “I think you can have more than one father.”
“Sure, why not?’ he keeps the bitterness out of his voice. Omega stops him at a cafe to buy a box of flaky pastries and he wants to tell her she’s already wasted enough credits on this, but he knows he’s already on the bottom of her list. It makes sense. The others have had more time with her and he has never been easy to like. He’s used to it, but he hates feeling left out in his own family.
Hunter is pacing in front of the ship when they get back.
“Sorry we took so long.” She grins up at Hunter while he inspects her for any sign of injury. Crosshair shoves past him onto the ship.
“Where have you been?” Wrecker dropped Gonky and turned his head, following him all the way to his seat.
“Out.”
“But why couldn’t I go? I’ve been bored all day.”
“We hadn’t noticed.” Tech already had both engines running when Omega strapped in.
She’s practically vibrating in her seat when they take off. She keeps giving him a conspiratorial grin that he pretends he doesn’t see. The moment they’re safely moving through hyperspace she jumps out off her seat and gets her box of sweets.
Crosshair ignores the treats, opting for another toothpick, and slowly backs away from the others gathered around Omega. Echo frowns at him, but he shakes his head.
“I know most families celebrate holidays together and I thought it would be good if we start our own traditions.” Omega looked a little nervous as she fiddled with the bag in her hand. “I know we aren’t a normal family, but I looked into Father’s Day and I think all of you count. You’ve taught me everything I know. How to fix anything and how to do the right thing.” She looked at Tech and Echo with a big smile. “And how to have fun and take care of people.”
Crosshair takes another step back. This time no one notices. Wrecker’s eyes were already filling with tears. He’d slung an arm around Tech and Echo, pulling them into his sides while he struggled to hold himself together. Hunter’s eyes were wide and completely unguarded. He was looking at Omega like she was the center of the galaxy and nothing else mattered.
“I made these, so you can always think of me and remember how much you mean to me.” Crosshair watches Omega take Hunter’s hand and press a bracelet into it.
Hunter is still speechless when he pulls her into a tight hug. The usually stoic leader buries his face into her neck and holds her close. All of them look more happy than Crosshair can remember. Gathered around Omega, they look like any other family.
Even Tech gives her a gentle hug after taking his. Crosshair slips away when Wrecker lifts Omega high up and he watches the flower fall out of her hair without her noticing, spinning to the ground.
The hold is quiet. He wants to distract himself by cleaning his rifle, but he’d only inspected it a few hours ago so he didn’t see the point. Instead he grabs Echo’s pistol, knowing he had a harder time maintaining it with only one hand. Before the Order Crosshair had always taken care of it for him. It was his way of accepting the reg into the Batch. He thought it was something Echo needed him for. Then they’d been separated and Hunter had taken the task over. When he rejoined them he’d started doing it again.
He’d been home for a few months now and just when he felt like they’d moved past all the damage he’d done there would be a small reminder that he was now a stranger in his own family. He’d missed a time when they’d grown even closer and he hated it.
“Cross?” Over the sound of the others laughing, Omega's voice reaches him.
“I’m busy.” It comes out clipped and he refuses to look at her.
“You left before I could give you yours.”
Crosshair freezes.
Omega comes around and sits in front of him, holding a bracelet out for him. “But I’m not-”
“You keep me safe and you’ve taught me too.”
“It’s different.” He doesn’t take the bracelet from her.
“I don’t think so. You’re the strongest person I know and you’re one of my biggest heroes.”
The cords holding the beads are a mix of black and red. She points to the three beads on his. “Everyone got an omega symbol, but I added something special that reminds me of each of you. Can I?”
He hesitates, but he sets the pistol down and takes off his wrist guard presenting his bare skin. She takes his hand and starts braiding the bracelet into place. “You taught me to shoot, but you also keep me safe. And see mine? I have something for each of you.” He could only make out a small human skull, a tooka head, a bolt, a smooth blue bead, and a flat disk with an eye etched in.
“Well?” She let him go and he looked closer at the bracelet. He gently ran his fingers over it, turning the small omega bead and the small arrow next to it. Omega shifted in front of him and pointed to the matching eye on her bracelet. “That one’s for you. They didn’t have a crosshair, but you’re always watching out for everyone and do you like it?”
He finally looks up at her, crooked smile and big eyes watching him close for his reaction. He swallows tightly and gave her a little nod.
The smile he gets in return was enough to make him realize he’d do anything for this kid. Her arms went around his neck and she buried her face into his chest. It’s not the first time she’s hugged him, but it is the first time he really hugs her back.