Chapter Text
I didn’t want a new addition to the team, especially not a girl. It had been just the four of us since the beginning and it was better to keep it that way. I liked it that way. Adding a girl into the mix was something I just couldn’t accept, and to be brutally honest, I wouldn’t accept it.
Hunter was surprisingly agreeable about the arrangement, to my horror. He said something about a second set of hands being beneficial and that maybe it would be good for the team to have relations with someone that wasn’t us or another clone. Not that I would have relations with anyone outside the team except for the occasional hookup. Although I have no intentions of getting anywhere close to this new girl, it's in my best interest to just stay away from her entirely and I could only hope she had a brain to understand that.
We landed in Coruscant after a particularly long mission and my mood was already one not to be reckoned with. Being cramped up in a ship with a brother who couldn’t stop mumbling and tinkering, a giant who always seemed to make a lot of noise no matter what he was doing, and a sergeant who was constantly reminding me to be nice to our new addition to the team really got on my nerves. What I wanted to do the first thing we landed was to go down to the range to shoot my rifle, but luck was not in my favor.
The moment we landed our revamped attack shuttle, The Marauder, was the moment we were meeting her. And I did not like how my heart had skipped a beat when I laid eyes on her.
It was easy to spot her, she was the only girl in the hangar after all. A suitcase and small duffle bag laid next to her feet neatly and she stood with her hands folded in front of her. Her clothes were like nothing I had ever seen before and frankly it seemed unfitting for anything close to a battlefield. She wore a long skirt that reached her shins and she wore a buttoned up blazer that accentuated her waist. There were little boots on her feet that reached above her ankle. Everything that she was wearing was black except for the gold accents of the buttons and the little buckles on her boots.
She stood up straight and observed the hanger around her. The clone that stood beside her was rambling intensely, but she didn’t seem to care all that much. In fact she appeared bored, like all of this was just another lousy day of her life. And that frustrated me.
“Uhhh what is the name of this girl again?” Wrecker groaned beside me, his hand sliding up to rub the back of his neck.
Tech looked up from his datapad annoyed. “Her name is Ellyzaveta Morozov, Wrecker. This is the fifth time I have had to tell you this.”
“Yeah but I forget.” He grinned sheepishly and dropped his hand to the side.
“It’ll be easier when you meet her, Wrecker.” Hunter patted the bigger clone on the back reassuringly. “Maybe she’ll let you call her a nickname so it's easier.”
I rolled my eyes. The idea was completely stupid, but my dumb brother didn’t seem to think that as his smile only just broadened and he shook his head enthusiastically. A nickname is one step closer to accepting this girl into the group. This is like a business arrangement. She’s here to work with us, she's our coworker, our colleague. Not some friend.
But I didn’t have a chance to try and oppose the idea, or even bring up the stupidity of it before Hunter started to approach her in the hanger. The others stayed beside me. We agreed early on that the sergeant would talk to her first, mostly to go over little details here and there before introducing her to the rest of the crew. I, on the other hand, didn't say anything on the matter. Any retort I had was shut down before, so what was the point in saying anything at all?
Hunter shook her hand when he reached her and I couldn’t help but notice how nice her hands were. They were small and appeared to be soft and moisturized. Not a callous was on her skin and she had long nails, but not the kind the girls at 79’s had. The girls there had long, colorful nails that were obviously fake and looked like daggers. But hers, hers were natural with a clear gloss over the top. I guess she isn’t very outgoing.
I shook my head slowly and let in a large breath of air just to release it back out roughly. She took too much care of herself. She was like any other girl, not one made for the horrors of war. She was going to be some damsel, I knew that much. What would be the point of her being there if all she was going to be doing is get herself into trouble she can’t be able to get herself out of?
They talked for a moment, or well, Hunter talked. She nodded her head and said little. Her lips were kept tightly together as if she was afraid of speaking, and a small wrinkled formed in between her eyebrows. The expression on her face was nothing like the bored one that sat there before. It was hard to decipher what she was feeling, but I could only come to the conclusion that she was annoyed. I hadn’t even met her yet and I already knew I wouldn’t like her.
Suddenly and completely out of nowhere she smiled, so brightly that I almost choked on my own spit. It practically lit up the entire hanger, her eyes shining a brilliant brown and her lips curling up to show her white teeth and pink gums. Hunter smiled with her almost instantly and I myself felt like turning up a lip to return the prodigious look on her face. But as soon as the thought came to mind I shoved it down into the dark depths of myself. She may be infectious, but I would not allow myself to stoop to that level of compliance.
Hunter gestured with his hand in the direction of our ship, probably to let her meet the rest of us. I cringed slightly at the grin that still graced his face and became even more angry at the fact her own was now void of any implication that she was the cause of that smile at all. That was all that I needed to retreat back into the depths of the Marauder.
***
The Sergeant of Clone Force 99 was still smiling brightly and it was a little amusing to say the least. The glares I was getting from the gray-haired clone across the hanger was a little more than disturbing and I thought it was because of my expression. So the moment the Sergeant, oh what was his name…Hunter, the moment Hunter said something that was cause for smiling, I graced him with the best one I could muster. And hell did it work. Well, on him at least.
The gray clone’s perception of me changed just slightly, I could tell. But the moment we started to make our way to the rest of the group, he slunked off into the confines of their ship. I guess I can’t say I’m disappointed, I do like a good challenge.
“Alright boys, this is our new teammate, Ellyzaveta.” Hunter raised a brow at the others while he introduced me. I think he noticed his missing brother as much as I did.
“It's a pleasure.” I nodded curtly. I wanted to keep things professional for the most part, I didn’t have any intentions of staying long enough that we could cross the threshold into friendship…or anything beyond that. God I hope nothing beyond that.
“Nice to meet ya!” The biggest clone held out his hand. I took it gingerly. “My name is Wrecker!”
I nodded before the clone with the goggles introduced himself as Tech. He looked at me curiously, almost as if he was studying a piece of information. It was a little weird to be honest.
“And the gray clone?” I mumbled cautiously.
“Excuse me? I’m afraid I didn’t hear what you said.” Tech glanced up at me quickly after he wrote a few things on the datapad in his hand. The others looked at me as well in confusion.
“The gray clone.” I said a little louder.
“Crosshair?” Wrecker perked up. “What about him?”
“I believe she was asking for his name, Wrecker.” Tech said.
They all looked at each other with knowing looks. The dynamic was clear with them. They knew each other best, better than anyone and they most definitely knew why this Crosshair guy was not out here meeting me like the others were. I think I have somewhat of an idea as to why he was gone, and I think it might have something to do with their new addition to the team. In other words, I am the cause for his disappearance.
“You’ll meet him eventually,” Hunter says. “I wouldn’t worry too much, Ellyzaveta.”
I cringed a bit at his pronunciation. “You can just call me Veta.”
He nodded quickly. “Wrecker?” Hunter got the attention of the big clone. “Go grab Veta’s stuff while we show her around the ship.”
The clone groaned but did as he was told. I hope he doesn’t break anything inside…
***
It was easy to tell who was on the ship almost immediately. She was on the ship and I knew the deal had been sealed. We were going to be working with a girl.
Her footsteps were careful, quiet, hesitant. I knew footsteps like that, I knew because the paranoia of being around our strange group was enough to warrant such a reaction. Other clones have walked the same way as herself as if we were just some animals waiting to attack.
Why she was hesitant, I wasn’t sure. It could have been for a multitude of reasons though trying to think of every miniscule possibility was too much than I was willing to give. I honestly couldn’t have cared less how she felt. Maybe it was better that way. If she was at all worried about being with a group of four, scientifically enhanced clones, that might benefit me in some way. She voluntarily came here, she decided to be a part of the squad. I knew that much from Tech’s constantly running mouth. It might not hurt if I pushed her into a direction of fear and discomfort. If it works out perfectly, she won't be here longer than a month.
A loud thumping noise came from the door, Wreckers blaring voice following after. “Open up Crosshair! I need to place Veta’s stuff in her bunk!”
Veta? Veta!? They had given her a nickname already. What a pain in my ass.
“No,” I groaned from my place on the top bunk that I shared with Wrecker. Kicking my feet over the edge of the mattress, I rub my eyes just to glance at the empty space that was once Hunter's bottom bunk. That's where she is going to sleep. Everytime when I wake up she’ll be the very first thing that I will see and I hate it.
“Aww, come on Cross don’t be like that.” I heard him nag. “You’ll have to open up at some point.”
He was right. At some point I will have to eat or drink something. At some point I’ll have to let the others return to their lumpy mattresses. At some point I’ll have to be out there with the rest of them shooting down droids. It was all just a matter of time and there was no point in being stubborn about it.
“Fine.”
I hopped down from the bunk and made my way to the door. I pressed a button and the hard metal slide opened to reveal Wrecker and the girl’s luggage.
He walked inside and sloppily threw her stuff onto Hunter’s bed. I didn’t miss the slight sound of what I thought was glass being jumbled around inside.
“Hunters showing her around the ship!” Wrecker turned to me with a large grin on his face. “You should introduce yourself.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah yeah, sure.” I slipped my hand into my pocket to pull out a toothpick. I slipped it passed my lips and used my tongue to move it to the side of my mouth. It was therapeutic, the strange habit. I’m not entirely sure when I picked it up, but I’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember. It calms me down, although I’m too proud to admit how much I rely on the little stick of wood.
“She’s nice.” He looked away, a sparse speckling of pink forming on his cheeks. Gross.
“Right.” Slipping out of the room, I make my way to the main part of the ship. I immediately noticed her, though her jacket was gone and her hair was pulled back into a long braid, the pale strands twisted together in a complicated manner. Hunter was talking to her and Tech was eyeing her with suspicion. That was strange.
“Crosshair.” Hunter took his eyes off her for a second to acknowledge me. “I was wondering when you were going to show your face.”
She turned around at the mention of my name. Her eyes dart up and down, lingering slightly at the toothpick in my mouth before locking onto my own eyes. Her gaze was intense, steady, and unsettling calm. I felt like she penetrated me, like she was looking right through all the composure, all the walls I built up as if it was nothing. And that terrified me.
“I got tired of waiting for you.” I looked away, twisting the toothpick around my mouth with the tips of my fingers. The taste of the wood was no longer pleasant to me, but I didn’t know why.
Hunter raised a brow. “Very funny, Crosshair.”
“There is something familiar about you.” Tech spoke up out of nowhere, his eyes still hesitantly watching her. That caught my attention.
“You might have seen me on Kamino a few times.” She said quietly, so quietly in fact that I thought she didn’t even speak at all. It was strange in comparison to her earlier demeanor.
“Kamino? What would you be doing on Kamino?” Hunter questioned.
“I’m not,” She paused and glanced off for a moment. “I’m not sure.”
Tech hummed and started to tap away on his datapad eagerly. Knowing him, he is probably going to look into Kamino’s visitation log. Hunter on the other hand took on a face of concern, though I thought it was dumb of him to feel anything of the sort. But for me, I was entirely suspicious.
“Hey, Veta!” The loud thumps of Wrecker’s footsteps drew us out of the awkward silence. “Your stuff is all ready on your bunk!”
A hint of a smile crossed her face. “You were careful, yes?” She asked.
He took in a large intake of breath and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yes..?”
She frowned and that little wrinkle that sat in between her brows formed again. A small flash of anger grew in my stomach at the thought of her possibly being upset at Wrecker. I clenched the toothpick in my mouth just a little bit harder.
“Oh, that's alright.” The wrinkle flattened and she lifted her hand as if to comfort the big giant. But she let it drop quickly. “It wasn’t anything important.”
Yeah, right. I see right through you.
“Haha!” He laughed, and I quirked a brow. “No worries, am I right?”
She nodded, another small smile coming to her lips.
“You came to Kamino with someone named Viktor Quillan, correct?” Tech said suddenly and she dropped that almost pleasant look on her face immediately.
“What?” She scrunched her nose.
“You came to Kamino with-”
“I know what you said.” She said quickly, sternly. Her face still showed that stomach curling calm but her eyes were filled with something close to pain. “I just want to know why it is any of your business to know that kind of information.”
He stayed silent and my fists started to clench close. Why does she think she has the right to question him? Who does she think she is?
“Well,” Tech fiddled with his datapad. “I was just curious to know more about you.”
She took in a deep breath and pulled her braid over her shoulder. Her thin fingers fiddled with the loose strands at the end, and her face slowly turned into one of calm and composure. It was infuriating to watch, mostly because I couldn’t understand her. I couldn’t understand why she looked like she was about to curse my idiot brother with brutal efficiency but then in a matter of seconds looked pleased and relaxed like a woman after sex. And I hated that.
“If you wish to know more about myself, it would give me great respect if you were to ask me myself.” She placed a hand onto her chest. “We are not here to be friends or lovers or close companions. We are coworkers, colleagues. I would not share personal information about myself to people like that, and I would hope they would not push for anything close to that equivalent. So please, please respect that.”
She slipped past me without a second glance to anyone in the room, and I didn’t have to look to know she was going into our sleeping chamber. The room was left in this fog of repentance, so much so that I felt bad myself though I had no reason to.
We’ve been with this girl for just an hour and everything was already made clear. There was no build up, no uncertainty, no misunderstandings. Just four simple words that defined everything that this arrangement was.
We are coworkers, colleagues.
I didn’t know why I felt bad. Maybe it was the realization that came to me just moments after she left, when Tech drew us out of the hanger and into the colorful depths of hyperspace. The realization that I didn’t hate her, at least not yet. I was protective of my brothers, I won’t deny that. And despite the close calls with the lingering annoyance she chose to keep deep inside herself, I had no right to get mad at her. She wasn’t awful, but she was quiet and her eyes held much more than her words did. She was too much like me and I hated that.
But I still didn’t like her. I had to deal with her though, I had to deal with the fact that we were working together now and that meant talking to her and spending time with her and being with her. I hated the idea like I hated everything else about this, but if I just follow the plan, it’ll all work out. I just have to make her hate me first.