Chapter Text
“What are you going to do with your day off, Tech?” Omega had always seen the younger clone, sticking with his brothers, even on off days from bounty hunting, but today, he had put aside his armour, he wore some civvie clothes, and had even changed his goggles to wear some spectacles that Cid had someone make for him, a sort of graduation present for all the work they had done. She had given Hunter a brand new bandana, Wrecker was given a new explosive tool kit, Omega was given her own mini dejarik game console to fine tune her skills.
“There’s an archive building 9.5 kilometers from our current location. I noticed the building three weeks ago when we were exploring the city. I haven’t had a chance to spend time examining the building or what it archives. Today, I decided to take advantage of our day off and spend all day there.”
“Is that way you are taking ration bars with you and a lot of water?” Wrecker asked from the cockpit
“It is indeed. If there is flimsi materials, they tend to collect a lot of dust, which makes one very thirsty. Best to be prepared.”
“Have fun” shouted Hunter, “don’t come back too late.”
“Yes, Hunter”
“Tech” Hunter’s tone was warning, “seriously, I know what you’re like when you get into a research project. I want you back on this ship by no later than 2300 hours, is that understood?”
“Yes, Hunter”
“Do you have your comm?”
“Yes, Hunter”
“Do you have your blaster?”
“Yes, Hunter”
“Am I irritating you yet?”
“Yes, Hunter. Wait … what?”
Hunter, Omega and even Wrecker’s booming laughter echoed through the ship, Echo came from his bunk rubbing the sleep out of his eye, “who is being so loud, on our day off?”
“Tech is” Wrecker shouted, Tech simply rolled his eyes at his brother and walked out of the ship. Tech stepped off the ramp and took in a deep breath, this was the first time in a long time, he would be able to indulge in something he always wanted to, whenever they were on Coruscant, he longed to spend hours in the Jedi archives. Unfortunately, he didn’t get much of a chance, really he wasn’t close with any of the Jedis in order to take him, and now those archives were lost to anyone who wasn’t under the influence of the Emperor, and even then reading those archives, learning the history that was stored there wasn’t of any importance to the chipped clones.
“Bye Tech, we love you!” shouted Echo from the door of the ramp waving at his brother, “Play nice with the other kids!”, Wrecker, Hunter, Echo and Omega were all dying laughing on the ramp. Tech looked at them through narrowed eyes, he motioned to them a signal that in no way could be doubted as to his annoyance, which made the four standing on the ramp laugh even harder.
Tech was determined to get away from the ship as fast as his legs could carry him, and thankfully being a taller clone, meant his stride length allowed him to cover more ground, faster. It didn’t take long for Tech to arrive at the archive building, he viewed it carefully from the outside first, it seemed slightly worn down, almost as though the inhabitants of the planet couldn’t be bothered to appreciate the history and knowledge that lay beyond the doors.
He was practically bouncing on his heels when his hand hovered over the archive’s entrance, he was so excited to walk in, a day at the library just him, no Wrecker being loud inevitably getting him kicked out, no Hunter looking for exits, and constantly being overstimulated by the amount of people reading, turning pages and the amount of dust collected, no Omega asking questions endlessly, which he didn’t mind, in fact he enjoyed her questions, it gave him an opportunity to flex his knowledge, just not when he was trying to learn something new. No Echo, who tried to be enthusiastic for his brother, but inevitably became bored and would fall asleep in the chair beside him, snoring loud enough to echo through the halls. No Crosshair … no Crosshair, actually Crosshair was one of his only brothers who enjoyed the archives as much as he did, no one was allowed to talk, therefore no one would ask him questions or try to converse with him needlessly. Crosshair, would often find a book about the history of snipers for that planet, or different type of rifles used, different modifications made by famous snipers throughout the universe. He and Tech would be the only ones who could spend an entire day in the archives, and thoroughly enjoy the complete silence between the two.
As he stepped into the archive hall, he realized how much he really missed Crosshair, especially when Tech saw the three levels, and endless rows of flimsies on the shelves, it was as far as the eye could see. Crosshair would have loved it, he would have taken the highest position available, and be surrounded by the history of the planet. The outside may have left something to be desired, but the inside was phenomenal, there were desks stationed in the centre of the room three desks across, and about 15 rows down, in total there were 45 desks, each desk could seat four, there were also two lamps per desk. The bookshelves were made of sturdy Kashyyyk wood, Tech could almost smell the wood from where he stood. The ceiling had a skylight that spanned the whole centre of the room, providing able light. The tiles were marbled intricately and of Nabooian design, the railings on the second and third floor were of the same construction of the tiles, but denser providing security and safety to those up top.
“Can I help you?” Tech was pulled from his musings of the amazing structure, but a shy timid voice.
“This is my first time here” was all he said while keeping his eyes fixed on the archive before him, he had been on this planet for months and he never knew this was here, he scolded himself internally for not taking advantage.
“Is there something in particular you’re looking for?” the timid voice asked.
“Not really” Tech answered without turning to look at the voice, “I’m sorry, I’ve never seen a more beautiful archive, even the Jedi Temple archive was beautiful but nothing like this”, Tech just completely opened himself up to the timid voice, in that moment he realized how stupid that was of him, he was so flabbergasted by the building, he completely forgot himself.
The timid voice however gasped upon hearing that, “Jedi temple archive?” it asked, Tech knew he shouldn’t engage this line of questioning, but he couldn’t help it, it’s like the building took over his willpower, and he simply nodded to the voice.
“You’ve been to a Jedi temple archive, what was it like? Do they have flimsies or is it all digital? Does it cover everything from the beginning of the Jedi order? Does it contain information on all the planets in the universe? I bet you could find information on anything there.”
At that point, Tech decided to finally turn to the voice, standing before him was a smaller woman, she had spectacles on her face, similar to Tech’s but they were a shade of dark blue, and framed her soft round face beautifully. Her hair had been pulled up into a messy bun, she had at least two pens sticking out of the bun, another one behind her ear. She was wearing a cardigan that had seen better days, but it looked as though it was something that she wore specifically at the library, it was a grey-blue colour, missing at least two buttons, the sleeves were rolled up, showing off her toned arms, from lifting and filing away books all day. She wore a white tunic that complimented her frame and dark brown pants and boots that hugged her curves, accentuating her frame nicely.
For the first time, Tech was speechless, he had never seen anyone as beautiful as her, sure there was Senator Amidala, but that was more of an inside joke among his brothers, than anyone actually being interested in her.
Tech realized he had been staring at this poor woman for what seemed like forever, a slight blush beginning to appear on her face, however, he also didn’t miss how she had been eyeing him just as much as he had been eyeing her.
“I’m do apologize for staring, I just never met anyone as beautiful as you”
That really got her blushing now, Tech stepped forward, his hand stretched out, “I’m Tech, it’s nice to meet you”
“Hi Tech” the librarian took his hand and shook it, “I’m Jazamb, everyone here just calls me Jaz, I’m the librarian slash custodian of the library.”
“Well you’ve done an amazing job, it’s fantastic”
Jaz couldn’t help but giggle at Tech, “you haven’t even pulled one book yet. You can’t say it’s fantastic until you do, and knowing you have visited a Jedi archive, means that nothing you see is as amazing as you think it is. I’m sure I have nothing over the Jedi’s archives.”
“Oh I think you’re wrong there, there is something this library has that the Jedi archives certainly do not have”
Jaz looked around, still holding Tech’s hand, “I’m not sure, I mean the architecture is quite unique, it was designed by a famous builder long since forgotten, the great Legox Mepabai, the Nabooian marble is something most temples don’t have, the skylight”, Jaz dropped Tech’s hand and motioned towards the skylight. Tech missed her warmth, and the comfort her soft skin had against his calloused ones, “was designed by a Gungan glass designer, from what I’ve read, he actually designed the Gungan underwater structure on Naboo as well, his name eludes me right now. I do apologize for that.”
“Although, all of that is quite interesting, and I would love to hear more, I was alluding to you, being something the Jedi temple doesn’t have, if you had been there, I would have made sure to visit all the time.” Tech was surprising himself, he was never this smooth with women, the one time he did try, it had failed miserably, it was the one and only time he actually made an effort with a woman while visiting ‘79s.
“You’re quite the smooth talker”
“I’m really not, you can ask my brothers and my younger sister, I’ve only tried once before at a bar on Coruscant and it ended miserably.”
“It couldn’t have been that bad”
“I had a drink thrown in my face”
Jaz choked back a laugh, her delicate hands covered her mouth, Tech wanted to commit everything he was seeing to memory, and he was cursing himself for leaving his helmet and armour back at the ship, he could have recorded the entire interaction, all her tiny gestures and movements, and replayed the holo vid, until their first moments were committed to memory.
“What did you say?”
Tech rubbed the back of his neck, “I may have compared her hair to Wookiee fur, saying that it looked healthy and framed her face quite beautifully. Unfortunately, she understood that I was calling her hairy.”
Jaz couldn’t hold it back anymore and a light joyous laughter filtered through the air, Tech wanted desperately to hear her laughter again.
“Well you have certainly improved, if that helps at all.”
“Thank you” Tech couldn’t help but blush at this whole conversation, it was like a dream come true, not only for him to be able to talk so easily with her, but for him to be so confident with her as well.
“So tell me Tech, what are you hoping to look at, or are you hoping to just find something that sparks an interest?”
“Actually I was wondering if you have any books on Kamino?”
“Hmm, actually yes, specifically what about Kamino? How they’re cloners? How they created the clone army? The facility of Kamino? The history of the Kaminoans?”
“Well I know how they created the clone army, seeing as I am a clone”
Jaz leaned back against the desk, eyeing Tech up and down again, “really? You don’t look like a clone”.
“My brothers and I have desirable genetic mutations”
“That’s interesting. Would you care to sit down and we can talk a bit more. You know you’re awfully trusting. Should you be this quick to just offer up information?”
“No, I really shouldn’t but I just can’t seem to stop myself, I don’t know if it’s the library or you, allowing my tongue to be so lose.”
“Well there is a way to find out, if you would care to perform an experiment?”
“I do enjoy experimenting, what do you suggest?”
“We sit and talk here, for a while, maybe find some books to read and do some in-depth research on the topic you were interested in. Then we go for dinner at one of the restaurants nearby and see if we are just as open and free with our speech away from the library. That way we can determine if it’s the library or the company.”
Tech took some time to think, “for an experiment to be successful, the results would have to be duplicated at least several times”.
“Agreed, we can call this trial 1A, dinner at a restaurant could be called trial 1B”
“I have a better name”
“Go on” Jaz motioned with her hand towards Tech, she really had never met anyone like him, he was so easy to talk to, so calm, and he didn’t shy away from her knowledge, much less from her proposing an experiment. The few times she had tried to flirt with those she found attractive it hadn’t gone all that great either, they always found ways to indicate that she was either too much or not enough. In truth, she had given up on the dating scene all together, that is until Tech walked into her library.
“Rather than giving it such arbitrary names such as 1A or 1B, why don’t we just call this our first date, and our dinner can be our second date.”
Jaz couldn’t contain the smile that appeared, Tech watched as her cheek presented a dimple from how wide she smiled. Tech didn’t know what he had done, in what way the universe was making up to him, but he would take it, if it meant he got to see Jaz more often, he would take all the opportunities the universe would give.
“I like it. Well since this is our first date, do you wanna help me grab the books on Kamino?”
Tech simply nodded, Jaz held out her hand for him to grab a hold of, she noticed how her hand was dwarfed in size compared to his, he stood almost a foot taller than her, she didn’t feel shy around him, in fact, she’d never felt like this at all. She leaned into his side, feeling his warmth through his clothes, and through her cardigan. She always ran a little colder while she was in the library, the temperature had been regulated to keep the books in pristine condition.
Tech didn’t even realize it, but before long, they had been sitting at one of the desks near her librarian desk in case anyone needed help, they had spent the better part of five hours reading, researching, laughing, and getting to know one another. Tech had learned that she had an older sister who was married with three kids. They lived in the neighbouring system. She had learned how to be a librarian from the previous caretaker, she came to the planet during a summer internship program, and stayed because she fell in love with the architecture and the amount of books the library contained. She loved helping the younglings that would come in during the school year to learn what they could for their school projects. She even helped several older ones and ones who couldn’t afford school to read, write and the basics. She loved her library. She saved money for it, ran donation drives, and fundraisers to keep the library going. She lost her father during a Separatist occupation; he had fought as a freedom fighter, but was captured just before the end of the war and executed publicly to teach the citizens a lesson. Really, Tech was surprised how open she was with her own history.
Jaz learned how the clones all had chips in their heads that turned them against their comrades and their commanders, really anyone who wasn’t on the side of the Empire. She learned that Hunter blamed himself constantly for not being able to save Crosshair, that Crosshair had tried several times to kill them. Omega is one of only two clones that have 100% pure Jango Fett DNA, she had a brother named Boba Fett that had gone missing near the beginning of the Clone wars. The Kaminoans put a bounty on Omega’s head and were after her because they needed her DNA. Wrecker was loud and boisterous and although he pretends to be big, tough and strong, and he is those things, but he really wears his heart on his sleeve, and it kills him that they don’t have Crosshair, though he doesn’t say it out loud. She learned about Echo’s experimentation at the hands of the Separatists and how he still struggles at times with the trauma, yet he’s one of his closest brothers even though he hasn’t known him for long. She also learned how Tech wakes up at times from a nightmare, looking for Crosshair to get some comfort, only to see and be reminded that Crosshair is not there with, and that causes him to begin tearing up.
Jaz and Tech learned a lot about each other, before they knew it dinner time had arrived, and they continued their conversation as they sat down at a patio table, not far from the library.
Tech looked over the menu, “I have a confession”
“Oh, please do share” Jaz couldn’t hide her enthusiasm, if she had ever believed in soul mates, she could say that for sure she had met hers today. However, enough books had taught there was no such thing as soul mates, however the force certainly did provide her a man that was absolutely and completely brilliant, he was funny, smart, gorgeous, nerdy, capable with his hands, intelligent, a fighter, he was strong, there was no denying that, she saw how his arm muscles bulged when he helped her carry the books. She also saw how his back muscles flexed under his shirt, she fought hard not to run her hand across his back and down his arms. After all, she had only known the man for a few hours at that point.
“I rarely eat anything besides ration bars, and mantell mix, which Omega and Wrecker absolutely love. Therefore, I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s good here.”
“Would you like me to order for you? Then next time you can try something different. I’ll order two different meals and we can share, that way you can at least try two today, and then next time we can try two different ones.”
“I think that works beautifully for our experiment”
“Agreed”
Jaz looked over the menu, the waiter came by and asked if they were ready to order, Jaz nodded, and order two different dishes, the first one was some sort of soup, and the second was a type of meat and veggie dish, she also order two different drinks, that way Tech had a chance to try not just different foods but drinks as well.
“Tech can I ask you a question, it might be difficult so if you don’t want to answer it, I’ll understand.”
“Please ask, I feel even if I wanted to keep something to myself, I couldn’t”
“Interesting, so it’s not just the library”
Tech reached across and held Jaz’s hand, “no it’s definitely not the library”, his eyes were full of adoration, how was it possible that he had spent barely any amount of time with this woman, well not as much as he had spent with his brothers, and he felt like he could tell her anything.
“How come you haven’t gone back from Crosshair yet?”
“Honestly, I think we’re all scared to really talk about it. I think Hunter’s probably afraid of what Crosshair will say or do once the chip is removed. Wrecker’s probably afraid that the Crosshair he was close with, is no longer there, Echo is probably afraid, that Crosshair will resent him, since he was regular clone before his experimentation, and he was able to resist the chip more than he did, and I … I’m afraid that I’ll lose my brother completely. What if we remove his chip and it causes permanent brain damage? What if we remove the chip and he doesn’t forgive me for not going back for him?”
Jaz squeezed his hand “Tech, it’s true that’s all a possibility, but you know what’s worse than that possibility?”
Tech simply shook his head ‘no’.
“That Crosshair is under the Empire’s control and he has no choice. Imagine living your life day in and day out, forced to do things you would never condone. Imagine the pain Crosshair is under now, fighting the chip every day, and every time he sees you, after all you said he never misses a shot, yet from everything you’ve told me, he’s been less than proficient which I have to say, I’m really glad, otherwise I wouldn’t have met you.”
“You’re right” Tech’s eyes are filled with not just adoration, but now they’re also filled with determination, “do you think we could come up with a plan on how to get him back?”
“If anyone could, it would be the two of us,” Jaz smirked.
The waiter came by and left their food. Tech eyed the food, it smelled heavenly, they laughed and ate as they kept trading their food back and forth, even their drinks were delicious. Tech couldn’t believe all this time, he had been eating those disgusting ration bars, when food like this existed. If Wrecker tried food like this, there would be no way they’d be able to afford their food bill.
“You know maybe we should order some more, so you can take it back to your brothers and Omega, I’m sure they don’t get to eat like this.”
“That sounds like a plan, I just don’t know if I have enough credits for that”
“Don’t worry, I got you”
“You do?” Tech asked, quirking an eyebrow.
“Oh I’m sorry, is that over stepping? Am I insulting your manhood?”
“Mesh’la, my manhood is just fine, trust me you paying for food won’t affect it in the slightest” Tech couldn’t help but wink at Jaz, a blush appearing on both their faces. Seriously, who was he? Where did all this confidence come from? Was it her? Did she just make him confident? It had to be, there’s no way he would have been this confident with any other woman.
Jaz motioned for the waiter to come over, and asked for take away containers of the same order times four. The waiter’s eyes widened, “are you sure, miss?”
“Yes, thank you, oh and I believe we’ll need utensils as well”
“Mesh’la we have utensils”
“Will anyone wash them when you guys are done?”
Tech rubbed the back of his neck, “point made” she added at seeing Tech getting flustered. She couldn’t help but giggle, “I can’t wait to meet your brothers and Omega, they all sound amazing.”
“Wrecker once cried when he saw the armoury”
“Really?”
“Oh and he once held a proton torpedo like it was a baby and refused to let it down”
Jaz couldn’t help but giggle, “I’m sure he’s not the only crazy one in your bunch”
“Hunter once clipped himself to a keeradak that had kidnapped the General we were working with, in order to track him and get him back.”
“Mmhmm so just Wrecker and Hunter?”
“Crosshair, used reflective mirrors to shoot down a whole battalion of droids, he spaced them out perfectly, and shot once, that one laser bolt bounced from one mirror to the next, it was a thing of beauty.”
“So just Crosshair, Wrecker and Hunter?”
“Well Echo once connected to a Separatist terminal with his arm socket and brought all the droids to one location, only to have an electric pulse sent back disabling all the droids.”
“You’re telling me you’ve never done anything crazy?”
“Well yeah but that’s something for our second date”
“I thought dinner was our second date”
“True, okay for our third date then” Tech reached across and squeezed Jaz's hand again, his thumb rubbing her knuckles, Tech could stay there all day and just sit and talk and watch Jaz's expressive face all day.
“Miss, your orders ready” Jaz finally turned her head to face the waiter, he had two bags filled with food.
“Thank you, you can just leave it there,” Jaz pointed to the floor beside her feet.
“Here’s the bill miss” the waiter left the bill for all the food.
“Thank you”, Jaz reached into her pocket and pulled out enough credits to cover the food and a tip.
“That’s really expensive, mesh’la. I feel I should contribute at least something”
“You did contribute”
“I did?”
“Yup, you contributed to an amazing dinner with lively conversation, and a gorgeous face” Jaz looked down at her plate when she said that, she tried to be as confident as Tech was but she still couldn’t believe a man such as Tech would be interested in her.
“How did I get so lucky in meeting you, I mean really of all the people I’ve ever met at a library, I’ve never met anyone quite like you” Tech added, just looking at her with loth-puppy eyes.
“I’m the lucky one, most men” Jaz looked away for a second, “most men don’t think I’m worth it, that … that I’m not enough. They get intimidated by my knowledge, and quick thinking, they’re intimidated that I also run a library all by myself, and teach people life skills. In fact, this is probably the longest conversation I’ve ever had with a man, without him trying to correct me, or tell me that I should do something other than keep my head in a book.”
“Who are these men?” Tech’s anger was coming through, who dared to treat her like that? She is nothing but the very best of society. Who dared to even correct her? She was so knowledgeable, in fact she knew more than he did with regards to certain topics. She was a delight to speak to, and never once did he feel like she was talking down to him, or was becoming irritated by his knowledge. She sat and listened to him with full attention, and asked interesting, deep, and insightful questions. He would find the men who made her feel worthless and end them.
“I no longer talk to them, and they no longer live around here”
“Mesh’la, if they ever come back tell me, I’ll tell them and show them exactly where they can go. No one will ever say that to you. No one.”
“Thank you, Tech. You really are everything a girl could want, you know that” now it was Jaz's turn to have her eyes full of adoration.
“We should probably take the food to my brothers and Omega before it gets cold”
“Yes, good point”
Jaz grabbed one bag, and Tech grabbed the other, he wrapped his arm around her waist, she returned the gesture, as they continued walking towards the Marauder, they were less than ten minutes from the ship, when a wave of nervousness hit Jaz like a punch in the stomach.
“Jaz?”
“Sorry, I … Tech, do you think they’ll like me? I mean you barely know me, actually I think you know me better than anyone on this planet, but still, do you think they’ll like me?”
“Sweetie, how could they not? I’m not going to force you to meet them, if you want I can drop off the food and come back and we can go for a walk or something, I want you to feel safe and comfortable.”
“Thank you, Tech. I think maybe just this time, it would be better if you went in and dropped off the food. I’ll wait here.”
“You sure?”
“Positive” Jaz stood on her tippy toes and placed a kiss on his cheek, Tech couldn’t hide the blush or the look of shock on his face. He grabbed the other bag that was in her hands, and nodded once.
Tech walked towards the Marauder, he looked back once, he didn't even know why, he simply nodded and continued towards the ship, it was almost as if whatever spell she had him under, washed away when she placed the kiss on his cheek, and he had no clue what to do next.
“Tech?”
“Hey ‘mega”
“Whatcha got there?”
“Food”
“FOOD!” Wrecker shouted from the bunk room, Hunter and Echo came out of the cockpit looking from one another to Tech.
“Tech, where did you get the credits to buy this amount of food?” Echo couldn’t help but ask, any credits they earned, usually went to fix the ship, buy some Mantell mix for Wrecker and Omega, and ration bars to keep them all going.
“I made a friend and they bought it”
“A friend?” Hunter’s question was laced with doubt and concern, “what kind of friend?”
“I met my friend at the library, they’re the librarian there and they helped me understand the system of the archives. They’re quite fascinating”
“Really?” Omega asked, her eyes wide, she wanted to meet Tech’s friend, she had a feeling that she might like this friend.
“Where are they?” Wrecker asked as his mouth was full of food
“They’re waiting for me, I just came to drop off the food, I’ll be back by 2300 hours Hunter, don’t worry”
“Tech, you seem to have trusted them pretty quickly, you sure everything is on the up and up”
“Yes, Hunter, do you think I’m incapable of seeing deception?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“It’s just …” Hunter turned to look at Echo, how was he going to say this? Echo nodded, he knew what to say, “what Hunter is trying to say, is that it’s not like you to trust someone so quickly, Tech, don’t you think that’s kind of odd? After all, you thought Hera was exaggerating about the trouble her family was in, and she was a kid.”
“I don’t know how to explain it, but the moment I met her …”
“Her?!” Omega shouted
“You never said it was a ‘her’!” Wrecker nudged his younger brother, Tech couldn’t help blush.
“Ahhh, now I understand” Hunter answered, “all right, be safe, and we’ll see you at zero hundred hours”
“I thought you wanted me to be back by 2300?”
“What’s an extra hour? Have fun, Tech”
Tech looked from Hunter to the rest of his brothers and Omega, they were all nodding in agreement, Wrecker even had a thumbs up behind Omega’s head.
“Okay, I’ll see what she wants to do, she was worried you guys might not like her or trust her”
“I like her already, she bought us food!” Wrecker’s answer was loud and clear
“She likes you” Omega continued, “which means she has good taste, so I like her already”.
“I’ll hold judgment till I meet her, but you are the most level headed vod I have ever met, so if you trust her, I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt” Echo added.
“I look forward to meeting her, if and when she’s ready” Hunter encouraged, “it can be a lot for a civilian to meet a group like us, so don’t rush her Tech, give her time.”
“I will, thanks guys”
“If Crosshair was here, he’d been giving you advice on moves” Wrecker chuckled
“Maybe it’s time we discussed how to rescue Crosshair” Tech asked without really asking.
“Seconded” Wrecker said
“Agreed” Omega added
“Couldn’t hurt” Echo encouraged
“Alright, we can talk about it tomorrow” Hunter agreed, “but for tonight, Tech don’t keep your friend waiting, and make sure to take a jacket, it’s going to get cold later”.
“Thanks, Hunter”
Tech exited the Marauder his heart and head lighter than it had been in months, knowing that his date was still waiting for him, his brothers and Omega were willing to meet her when she was ready, tomorrow they would actually take time to actually discuss rescuing Crosshair.
“Mesh’la?”
“Over here, Tech” Jaz walked out from behind a tree.
“Why were you hiding?”
“Wasn’t hiding, found a spot where we could sit and watch the sun set, if you want?”
“That sounds perfect” Tech stepped closer wrapping his arms around her back, pulling her into him. He looked into Jaz’s eyes, who would have ever thought a day at the library would have led him to finding the one person in the universe he couldn’t bear to live without, even after only knowing them for such a short amount of time.
“You’re thinking loudly, my dear”
Tech laughed at that, “sorry, mesh’la, I just can’t believe how this day turned out. I guess the universe felt like it owed me a favour, and paid me back with you.”
“Do you want to return your gift?”
“Not in a million years”
“Me neither”
Tech leaned down, his lips pressed against hers, her lips were soft and warm, and for the first time he understood why some people said they had found their soulmate, in that instant when their lips joined, he felt as though his missing half had been found. He still didn’t believe in soul mates, the empirical evidence was clear there was no such thing as a soul mate, however, he was willing to believe he was wrong, since for the first time ever, he felt complete.
Everything in his life up to that moment had just been a journey, but now, she was his destination, and he finally arrived.
Jaz pulled back to look at him, she could feel his brain was racing a million thoughts a minute, “Tech, everything okay?”
Tech simply nodded, he leaned down pressing his forehead against hers, “honey, I’m home.”
Jaz giggled a little, “took you long enough.”