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“Would you mind picking Omega up today?” Hunter had asked at breakfast.
Of course, he would mind- Crosshair thought.
Heading out of the house at 4:00 pm basically meant his morning ritual would be broken up entirely. Crosshair moaned, staring longingly after the little bouts of silence he so desperately needed (and that almost never got fulfilled. At least not with all six of them present). Instead, he had just retorted a clipped “Sure.”.
With Tech staying for overtime, Omega's usual transport system fell flat. Considering Hunter and Wrecker had stretched their luck with their boss Cid two times in the month previous, the both of them had the best excuse to pull themselves out, leaving Echo as the only option. If he had two healthy legs, that is. Not being able to drive anymore also ruled him out, not giving Crosshair the freedom of choice.
After downing a cup of coffee hot enough to let him spit fire, Crosshair grabbed his keys and wallet, heading out the door and off on the freeway. If he at least wanted a little bit of his cherished peace before the others came back, he had to act fast.
Pulling into an especially strange suburban neighborhood, he quickly spotted the elongated, beige building at the end of the road. Dark brown roof shingles blended in perfectly with the precisely trimmed bushes. All in all, it looked fucking horrible. Torturously cold in its lack of color, instead of warm and inviting for kids to want to be around.
Omega spotted his car, jumping over, seemingly glad to be released from her off-to-the-side stance from the other children. She didn't even bother waving goodbye. What a way to make friends. Chin drawn to her chest, Omega wandered across the parking lot.
He narrowed his eyes. Something didn't look right... Even Crosshair, possessor of the sensitivity of a jellyfish, could see that.
“Hey.” Omega muffled, tossing her backpack on his back seat. Eyes lowered, her voice was cold and without her usual upswing. Crosshair’s throat clenched, making it hard to swallow his own foresight without choking on it.
“Hey.” Instead of pestering her, he tilted his head, giving her a knowing look. “Wanna get in or stand there forever?” What he’d meant to come across playfully instead sported a snide hint. He could beat himself up later for that.
As a reward for his gruffness, Omega didn’t lock her eyes with his as she normally would. Silently and without her usual grumbles, she slid beside him on the front seat and, much to Crosshair's horror, propped her sneakers up on his freshly cleaned dashboard.
“Ahem.” Crosshair tried, clearing his throat. He hadn’t had much respect for his car either, but the fact that Omega definitely wouldn’t have tried that with any of his other siblings irked him.
Omega crossed her arms, head turned aside, stare following other passing cars. She didn’t even seem to take notice of him.
Losing his patience, Crosshair furrowed his brows. “AHEM!” He called, to his surprise, making her shriek.
Omega turned her head, matching him with one of her best growling faces to date. “What?” She snapped back. Crosshair widened his eyes, aghast. Originally, Crosshair suspected that his behavior had gotten Omega to grow shy with him. He couldn’t even fathom his own relief in her proving to him that she wasn’t at all. Though, he would’ve taken a certain intimidation. Better than disinterest, he told himself.
“Feet off the dashboard.” Crosshair gestured, a smidge away from just picking up her legs to do it himself. “Now.” He strived for Hunter’s dad tone, in lieu washing up on the shore of I-don’t-fucking-know-what-I’m-doing. His feeble attempt at sounding authoritarian wasn’t even successful enough to fool himself. “You can be filthy all you want in your own car one day. But not in mine.”
That got a good, deep grumble out of her. Similar to when Echo said she had to eat her vegetables first before asking for a dessert. Crosshair pulled out of his parking spot, shimmying into the row of overly concerned helicopter parents, picking their kids up from school rather than having a bus take them home.
The aggravated silence was calm, for the first few miles a perfect welcome gift. Then it escalated into eeriness. At the first stop sign, he glanced aside, detecting the wobbling bottom lip she tried to hide by turning her head aside. Not knowing if he would regret it or not, Crosshair purposefully missed the first turn, instead he headed further down the street.
“You’re the worst.” Omega muffled from beneath crossed arms.
Duh, kid. Crosshair bit his lip, shifting in his seat to hide the snickering. “And you’re a cookie head.” He tossed back, tweaking a little snorted giggle out of Omega. “Want me to tell Echo or Hunter you insulted your brother?”
“I’m not scared of you.” Eyes wide and immediately plastered with innocence, Omega finally granted him a bit of her attention. “Besides, it wasn’t an insult.”
“Words with the intention to hurt others are always insults. Case closed.” Crosshair said, voice pressed crisp, almost to the point of displaying pure irony. HE was the one to talk about mean words and insults- Crosshair almost made himself cackle with that. “And you sure look scared.” He retorted, mocking her high-pitched voice. His features fell into a stupid little grin, causing a weird ache to emerge from the depths of his chest. What in the actual Mother Teresa was wrong with him?
Crosshair rolled his eyes at his own soft stupidity.
Omega broke her pout, gifting him a huff and shielding her mouth before a giggle broke loose. As brief as Crosshair’s relief allowed it to be, Omega pinned her chin to her chest, almost hiding herself behind her crossed arms. “Sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
Knowing his brothers would like him to ask what the hell was wrong, instead of him just being his grumpy old self, Crosshair mustered up any amount of comforting tones he’d left at that time of day. “What’s bugging you?” He asked, fearing that it might have been too impatient.
“Got picked last again.” Omega gulped, voice suddenly near to an unstable tone. “That sucks. They just don’t like me.” She quaked out, wiping her sleeve over her eyes.
Alas, the twinge in his chest prevailed. Crosshair gasped, internally mapping out routes to the nearest cardiologists if that should prove to be a permanent state of existence.
“You don’t know that.” Crosshair mumbled back; well aware that Omega meant her PE class. Her first month at school had certainly been something. Living in isolation for most of her life, Omega wasn’t exactly the most sociable kid.
“They don’t even want to eat lunch with me.” Omega’s voice travelled. Crosshair knew she tried her darndest to hold it in. Needless to say, that wouldn’t have been necessary. People often took their frustrations out on him. Not like he didn't though. If he could handle anger, he could handle sadness.
Omega sniffed, pressing on the button to his glove compartment on the hunt for a packet of tissues. “They hate me.” She sputtered out, emphasis on the second word. “I wanna be home. Why can’t Tech do the homeschool thing again?” Omega made a little sniffle, enough for Crosshair to nearly crash his car into oncoming traffic.
“Tech needs his job.” He worked his jaw, eyeing the road. “And we need the money for the house, food, cars, all of your stuff-” Whatever that may be… he’d lost track, to be honest.
He didn’t expect her to understand. Yet, he was thoroughly surprised when Omega fell silent.
“Give it time.” Crosshair schmoozed; voice softer than he’d ever heard himself talk before. “Nobody liked me at first…” Actually, most of his classmates came to fear him, given the four boys had the same societal problems. His obnoxious height didn’t do him any favors either. With Crosshair towering above his peers as soon as he was twelve didn’t leave any bullies the chance to pick on him. Tech however…
He noticed Omega to relax a little, tissue clenched tight in her fist. At least she didn’t sniffle anymore. Crosshair headed further down the freeway, not taking the usual way off.
“Wait! Where are we going?” Omega grew restless. “Our house is that way!”
“We’re not ending your day like that.” Crosshair supplied, smothering any of her fears to be carted to an undisclosed doctor’s visit.
“What are we doing?” Omega asked again, not buying anything he’d in store for her. He couldn’t fault her, though. The both of them hadn’t spent that much time together after all. Therefore, letting any of his plans not involving the other brothers sound suspicious.
“Surprise…” He made all efforts to keep his tone excited.
His plan didn’t take long to unfold. Five minutes off the freeway through a suburban neighborhood, he finally passed the annual spring fair sign, giving Omega the first clue on where they were heading. He drove past a couple of remote houses to pull up to a semi-filled parking lot. The strange time of day left the battleground of awful music and overpriced sweets mostly unoccupied. Only a couple of cars indicated for the place not to be completely vacant. It wasn’t much, but it was a distraction nonetheless.
He pulled into one of the many empty spots, turning off the ignition. Crosshair noticed the doodle doo from one of the rides and a chorus of occasional yelps immediately. Headache inducing shit... fun. He stepped to the other side of his car, opening Omega’s door, her face fascinated at the colorful sight.
As soon as she hopped out of the car, Omega gave it a good, deep inhale. “Whoa.” she breathed, probably already on a sugar high. The sweet tang hanging in the air was… overwhelming, to say the least.
“Stay close.” Crosshair warned, knowing Hunter wouldn’t ever forgive him if he lost her.
Obediently, Omega nodded, trudging in his path. Her eyes darted from side to side, taking in whatever she could. Suddenly, and without any prior warning, Omega stopped. Crosshair’s heart sank to his stomach, peeking over his shoulder and detecting her about 30 feet away. Omega cocked her head, face incredulous with the vendor of a cotton candy shop, not far away from the entrance.
“Omega-“ Crosshair snarled. “What did I tell you?”
Hand fumbling complementing her nervous glance, Omega slowly trudged away and into his direction. “Sorry.” Her tiny voice offered. “I never saw that before.”
“What? The machine thing?”
Omega nodded, staring back at how the woman took out a wooden stick, coating it with the sugary threads to hand it off to another child. Ugh… He couldn’t say no to that one, could he? “Fine.” He grumbled, this time letting Omega walk before him. Lesson learned. He thought.
Wasn’t the worst idea if it wouldn’t be for Echo’s overly strict meal plans. He bought a strawberry flavored one for her and a sour apple one for him. This time, he held the hood of her jacket, not risking to lose her a second time. Gently, Crosshair shoved her over to a stone bench next to another sweets shop.
Omega’s features fell, displaying pure ecstasy in how the artificial sweet flavor covered her tongue. Crosshair couldn’t suppress a smile, chest muscles contracting. He looked around the place, now slowly beginning to fill up with all kinds of parents, some of them pulling their screaming kids away from different attractions.
His head turned back, ready to take a bite, as he noticed a piece from the bottom of his cotton candy to be missing. “Did you just?”
Crosshair detected Omega’s eager chews, hiding what she’d just done. Omega shook her head, biting into her own one. “Noooo. Already was like that.”
He raised his eyebrow, gaze drawn to the green tint around his sister’s mouth. Crosshair managed a breathy laugh. A strange sound, coming out of his mouth at that time and with that company. He was more than sure he didn’t have a hole in his as the vender had given it to him…
As the sugary treat was devoured, and the wooden sticks were properly disposed of, Crosshair lend Omega a hand to hop off the bench. Contrary to his expectation, Omega didn’t let go of his hand, even leaning into his side as they walked. He hadn’t given it much attention at first, but after a while, it even started to feel good.
He looked down, watching Omega’s face evolve in all kinds of awe as she took in the sight of different stands, each more colorful than the one before. Crosshair let his own gaze travel, searching for the shooting one. Being equipped with the trained army skills of a sharpshooter, Crosshair knew he could make the owner go bankrupt if he so wanted.
“Shooting?” Stupid of him to ask a girl that. A concerning suspicion arose Omega might be more into some other girly crap like horse riding. But he wasn’t in the mood for the pungent smell of horse butts and hair all over his clothes...
Proving him wrong again, Omega nodded, pulling Crosshair to the nearest one. The old vender behind the stand opted for a short wave, smug grin already plastered all over his features. “This looks nice-“
“Right.” Crosshair breathed a chuckle, getting his wallet out, ready to be ripped off. “Two rounds, five shots each-“
“Alright. 10 $-“ the vender said, pushing the button to start the rotation of the small plastic disks. “Choose your fighter.”
He grabbed the child-sized rifle. Oh, this was going to be so easy. He tossed a smirk at Omega, noticing she’d taken a different weapon. “Bow, huh?”
She eagerly nodded, voice getting shy. “Like Merida.”
Crosshair chuckled, keenly aware of where that idea stemmed from. Brave had been Wrecker’s choice at the last movie night. “The hair fits” He quickly ruffled her locks, only for the vender to get aggravated and tsk.
He propped his rifle up, his recollection supplying the smell of gun metal. Arms level on either side, Crosshair leaned down. He’d done that so many times before, it became a muscle memory. Head slightly off-kilter to the right, Crosshair closed his left eye, narrowing his vision down. “Clear.” He heard himself say, more out of instinct than anything else.
One by one, he shot the plastic tabs straight off, not missing a single disk.
The vender bravely held his face, not knowing he’d just been uno-reversed by one of the best marksmen in the Army. Suppressing a self-sufficient grin, Crosshair handed him the rifle back.
“Whoa!!” Omega jumped, reaching for his high five. “My turn!!” Omega quickly grabbed her bow, imitating his technique. Unbeknownst to her, just blatantly wrong for an attempt with a bow and arrow. The first one went straight to the wall behind the target, the suction cup of the arrow sticking to the clumsily put-up sheet, disclosing the prizes. The second one grazed the target’s edge, though nowhere near the most outer ring.
“Another three bows and you’re out of shots, sweetheart.” He kept his voice sickeningly sweet, undisclosed joy over her misses obvious.
Crosshair masked a growl, towering protectively over his sister. He stopped her from her next uncoordinated shot, placing a hand on her shoulder. Crosshair leaned down, repositioning her arms. Omega froze, big, unsure eyes searching for the reassurance of his. They never had that close contact before. “Eye on the target, arms balanced.” He taught, propping her elbow up.
Omega took another shot, the third one hitting the most outer circle. Still zero points but at least somewhere near the target. He kneaded her shoulder, helping to reposition her arms once more. The fourth one came a little closer. The fifth one finally stuck to the second ring.
The vender muttered a curse underneath his breath, his frown feigned to a smile. “That’s 50 points for you, young lady.”
Omega tilted her head, looking up at Crosshair. “That good?”
“That’s a key chain…” the old man supplied, turning to Crosshair. “For you big guy-“ He mumbled, reluctantly taking down a row of plushies to set them on the counter.
Crosshair’s chest nearly caved in entirely. One tiny, disappointed pout of Omega was enough to make his world turn upside down. Damn- “Omega, which one do you want?”
Breaking out of her smolder, Omega timidly met his face, eyes traveling to the stuffed animals. “Really?”
“Really.” Crosshair nodded, knot in his stomach slowly dissolving and giving into a warm, fuzzy feeling around his ribcage. Maybe he should indeed pay the cardiologist’s a visit. The strange feeling didn’t seem to want to leave so soon.
Instead of going for the horse or the teddy bear, Omega decided on the robot, full tribute to their brother Tech. “This one” She extended her arms, clutching the stuffed doll close.
Next, the vender threw a bowl of key chains on the countertop. Omega fished in it for a little while, taking one out and putting it back again, before she finally found one up to her liking.
“Here. For you!” She smiled, holding the black and white skull shaped chain out to him.
Crosshair shook his head, eyes growing. “Omega, that’s your prize.”
“You won AZI for me-“ Omega protested.
“AZI?” Crosshair knew Omega’s liking to handing out strange names for her toys, but AZI???
“Look, here-“ she held it out to his face, showing him the textile label. There it was. Big bolt letters proclaiming the model: AZ 345211896246498721347.
“Omega, that’s nice of you but-“
“NO.” Omega stomped her foot, towing on his heartstrings. “I want you to have it!”
“Okay, Okay, calm down.” The last thing Crosshair wanted was for her to cause a scene over some stupid key chain he wasn’t willing to accept. What big brother would take his sister’s earnings? He sighed, fumbling out his keys, pushing his thumb nail in the ring to slide his new accessory through. “Here.” He demonstrated, the skull now dangling from his car keys. “Happy?”
Omega nodded, again slipping her hand into his and grinning upward.
Crosshair must say, that might have been the best waste of ten dollars ever. Subconsciously, he clutched his chest. Somewhere deep down, the fluttery feeling grew.
Immediately panicked, Omega noticed the change on his face. “What’s happening?” Her chin gave in to the tiniest wobble. “Are you sick?”
Crosshair shook his head, honest smile breaking through. Probably for the first time in forever. It was a strange feeling to be sure, but it was welcoming and warm in its own comfort. “No, it’s okay.” He squeezed her hand a little, taking her back to the entrance of the little fair. “C’mon, Let’s go. Or else Hunter sends out special forces for us.”
Clutched, their hands swung back and forth, Omega opting for little skips instead of her initial downbeat shuffling. “Hunter is nice. I like him.”
Crosshair’s windpipe edged up. He didn’t expect the statement to feel like… this. He wasn’t a lot of people’s favorite person. Why did he even fool himself? “Sure. Try living with him for twenty-five years. Then we’ll talk.” For the second time that day, his statement came out way too snarky. As a result, Omega abruptly stopped her skipping, feet rooted to the spot. Crosshair rolled his eyes, regret seeping through his intestines. “Look- I didn’t mean it like that.”
Instead of taking notice of what he’d said, Omega let go of his hand. She grew silent, eyes drawn into slits, a frown creasing her forehead. “I think you're nice too, you know. But not if you’re being a meanie.”
Instead of engaging to toss an argument back, Crosshair remained silent, utterly stunned his sister had given him a lesson in return. “Okay, Okay,” He mumbled, letting go of a breath he didn’t know he’d buried within himself. “I am very sorry.”
“Will you apologize?” Omega probed, reaching back out for his hand to hold on to.
“I already did.”
“Not to me. To Hunter.” Omega insisted, striking Crosshair clueless.
“Why should I do that?”
For the first time in his life, he heard Omega lose her patience. “You insulted him!” She cleared her throat, high-pitched noise for someone with that little of a voice-box. “Words with the intention to hurt others are always insults." She said, feigning his deep voice and being undeniably cute in the process. "And you need to apologize for insulting someone.”
Knowing Omega fucking outsmarted him, Crosshair had no other choice. “Fine.” He hissed, defeated. He wouldn’t be the one giving Hunter or Echo a reason to be mad with him for not holding true to his own principles. He still didn’t know Omega enough to be sure if she would snitch on him or not.
Clutching AZI tightly, Omega fell back into her habit of skipping to keep up with his long strides, only to come to a halt once more. Slowly, Crosshair grew clueless. “What now?”
Without any comment, Omega clutched at his legs, face pressed into his stomach. Crosshair startled for a second, utterly lost at what he should do. “Thank you.” She muffled into his shirt, exhaling a blissful breath.
“For what?” Crosshair sunk to her level, letting go of every singular speck of doubt that this wasn’t real. He allowed himself to be encompassed, wrapping his arms around Omega’s tiny frame in return. Resting his chin against her shoulder, he felt AZI’s antenna tickling his sides. He couldn’t care less, though. The hug wasn’t like he’d expected it to be. It wasn’t uncomfortable or weird… it was… nice, warm, secure… maybe even cozy? Crosshair cringed at the word, thinking if he'd looked at too much of Echo's Pinterest crap.
“For the fun day.” Omega mumbled behind his ear, making him shudder. "I like being your sister. You're cool."
"I thought I was mean?" Crosshair answered, regretting it as soon as it left his mouth.
"Sometimes. But I still like you afterwards. Even if you're not nice all the time." Omega held on tight, tiny hands caressing his back in circles.
Crosshair's clueless hands swept up and down her spine, reeling in the feeling that whatever his chest had been trying to execute here, it probably wasn’t warranted. All his life, Crosshair tried to accept the love he thought he deserved. Behaving mostly moody didn’t leave that much love to receive in return. But there Omega was, coming out of nowhere. She pulled a 180, turning his life around and showing him that deep affection might not have been a matter of earn at all. Omega liked him just as he was, and he would make a fool out of himself if he didn’t think that to be one of the coolest things in the entire universe.
______________________
Hunter stood in the doorway, franticly looking past Crosshair’s car. He almost sighed, knowing what was coming. He may or may not have forgotten to shoot him a quick text over their whereabouts. Whoops.
“Where have you two been?” Hunter rumbled, words toppling over one another.
“Cool your pants Hunter, sheesh.” Crosshair tossed back, indifference lacing his words through and through.
“Yeah, Hunter… sheesh.” Omega imitated, giggling. She leaned against Crosshair’s hip. One hand holding the plush, the other securing his grip on her shoulder.
Hunter’s half-face tattoo contorted in bewilderment. “What happened?”
Omega broke out into a broad grin. “We had soooo much fun.” She extended her arms, showcasing the amount. “Look-“ She showed him Crosshair’s gift, one of AZI’s feet already a little crushed from being clutched to tight.
Hunter raised his eyebrows at the pair, look darting between both of his siblings in disbelief.
“You had fun… with Crosshair? Really?” He leaned down to Omega’s level, not-so-silently whispering. “Is he forcing you to say this, kid? Be honest!”
Omega shook her head, twitching Hunter’s expressions into a silent “Damn.”.
“No need to be jealous Hunter- You’re still the favorite brother.”
Hunter supplied his typical, deep dad-sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Cross, there are no favorites…”
“Yes. I like you all equally.” Omega stated, confidence throttled by a mumble. “I think.”
Crosshair tried to push himself past the two into the house. Work started in under an hour. If he didn’t want to start his shift ravenously, he had to hurry his ass. He’d made the mistake of skipping dinner once before. It wasn’t an experience worth repeating.
He stopped, noticing his shirt clung to something. He tried to shake it off, but the tug remained. Crosshair’s subconscious needed a few seconds to get behind what it was. “What?” He declawed Omega’s hand, growing aware of Omega’s “Ahems.”, her head bobbing in Hunter’s direction. “You forgot something.”
Crosshair rolled his eyes, almost incapable of smothering his stupid grin. “I am truly, deeply sorry Hunter, please forgive me.” He begged, sarcasm filling the empty space between the words. He slid down to his knees, hands folded, looking up. Head turned to the side, he granted Omega a short wink.
She nodded approvingly, giggles rising to the top, smothered by the resolution to keep her mouth closed.
“What is going on? What are you sorry for?” Hunter’s vision lowered, looking at Omega as if she just lost her mind. Crosshair chimed in, gentle belly laughs warming his cold, dead insides to body temperature.
Crosshair arose, mustering an indifferent shrug. “My existence I suppose.”