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He has Hunter pinned beneath him, a blade at his throat, yet Crosshair is the one who feels at a complete disadvantage. His brother could turn the tables at any time, and it’s telling that he doesn’t.
“You wanna try not lying to me this time?” He hisses, despite knowing full well that what Hunter told him just moments ago was the truth.
“She’s gone, Crosshair. We don’t know where.”
Hunter’s voice is level, calm, and certain – everything Crosshair isn’t as the words sink in. She left? Why would she leave?
He can feel the eyes of the others burning into him, waiting for his next move. As if he’s volatile, a bomb about to go off. Which he supposes isn’t far off from the inner turmoil he’s currently experiencing, although he’ll never let them see it.
“Explain,” he demands, barely able to keep his tone even, eyes and knife steady on the one man who holds the answers he needs. “And tell me why the fuck you let her go.”
Hunter sighs. He knew he’d probably have to tell Crosshair all this eventually, but he’d been hoping it would be in a more neutral situation.
“She left about seven standard months ago. We just finished some work on Cyrea. I tried to talk her out of it, I really did. But she… her mind was made up. You know how she can be. Stubborn. Like someone else I know.”
Crosshair resists the urge to roll his eyes. He knows exactly how she can be, and shit, that’s why he loves her. Loved her. For the first time in his life, he’s not sure.
He removes the knife from Hunter’s neck, and practically stalks over to Tech. “And you couldn’t fucking track her or some shit? What kind of a genius are you if you can’t find a goddamn civvie?” He spits out.
Tech, to his credit, is as calm as ever. He been on the receiving end of these tantrums before. Sighing and pushing his goggles up the bridge of his nose, he launches into his explanation matter of factly. “She left us a tracking device, with instructions that she’d activate it if and when she wanted to be found. However, she also stipulated that if I tried to activate it, or in any other way tamper with it, it would damage itself beyond repair. My preliminary scans and subsequent analyses reveal that her information was accurate. She is smarter than I gave her credit for, or she spent a lot of credits to find someone to make this device to her specifications. Given enough time maybe I could find a way, but I’m uncertain-“
“I fucking get it, you can’t find her,” Crosshair snaps, interrupting Tech and stalking away towards the landing platform where his ship waits.
He makes a quick detour to glare at Hunter. “You better fucking tell me when she activates that tracker,” he spits. “That’s the only reason I’m letting you go.”
As he climbs the ramp, he can’t help but wonder why she left. Why she felt the need to be so secretive, even with his brothers. Why she didn’t even try to fucking face him before disappearing off to who knows what corner of the galaxy.
In the end, he decides it doesn’t matter why she left. All he knows is that if she really loved him, she would’ve stayed. She would’ve stopped at nothing to find him. And if he ever finds her, well… she’s a part of the Bad Batch. He’s a good soldier. Good soldiers follow orders.