Work Text:
Wrecker had returned alone and dazed from who knows where, all dirty and his face already changing colour because of new bruises that Hunter knew were not the result of their last operation three days ago. He sighed, disappointed at having hoped for better and at being unable to stop himself from hoping every time he met new troops. In general, they had found that the clones in the field were more tolerant of them, but that was not the case everywhere, and they had not yet proved themselves with this group, even if they had been sent in support by senior officers whose attention they had attracted by their abnormally high performance for such a small unit. Kriff, Hunter did not even know if the General approved of their presence or not, it would be difficult to stay safe if the aggressiveness was high among the whole Company, which represented more than 160 men in total when you counted the support staff who knew how to fight like any other clone.
"Did any regs jumped on you?"
"Hmm?" The big guy asked without really listening, unaware that their two team-mates had approached out of habit on hearing Hunter's question.
He was proud of them, their instinct to be a team and protect their squad was stronger than anyone would suspect and Hunter was genuinely relieved of that fact.
"Maybe a concussion," Tech says thoughtfully, frowning. "I'll see if I can find something to check. Don't fall asleep, Wrecker."
"Uh? I don't have a concussion, I'm fine."
"Then why are you covered in dirt?"
"I've been training with the Company regs."
"And you lost?" Crosshair blurted out with such raw and sincere surprise and disbelief that Wrecker chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Not against the regs."
"Against whom then?"
"General Kolar."
"You fought a General?!" Hunter says sharply, horrified.
"That's literally what he said."
"That Zabrak? He does look tall for a Natborn-"
"What were you thinking?" He took over without bothering to cut off his little brothers, who clearly did not give the priorities to the appropriate parts of the situation.
"Nothing, I swear! I didn't hurt anyone, I was very careful and all that, and at one point the General came up to me and said I looked bored. He asked me if I'd like a bit more of a challenge. I joked and asked him if he was up to the task, and he said yes."
"Were there any witnesses to these duels?"
"Of course, about twenty of his men were there, and nothing incredible happened, we just..."
"Just…?" He encouraged gently.
Crosshair was standing facing the outside but his eyes were fixed on Wrecker, a sign that he cared even if he did not show it, and the mere fact that Tech was still in the room meant the same.
"... fought?"
"What are you trying to hide, Wrecker? You know we'll find out eventually."
"We fought dirty, okay? Like, really violently, but I can't help it, all right? He's strong, really strong, and fast too! Usually Jedi are only good with their weapons, but he was good even with his bare hands!
"And he hit you."
"His face must look pretty much like mine," Wrecker clarified immediately before realising he was talking about damaging the face of someone so far above him in the hierarchy that 'gap' didn't even begin to describe it.
"Wrecker, be careful," Hunter began worriedly, because it was unfortunately a deeply ingrained habit of his to pay attention to these three. "General Kolar will more than likely be promoted to High General in the next few weeks, you have to be irreproachable and not find yourself alone with him again."
"Oh. Can you come with me later then?"
"Need Hunter to hold your hand?" Crosshair scoffed as he walked away with that bored nonchalance that only his snake-like responsiveness contradicted, but here no one was holding him back.
"He offered to do it again after lunch."
"And you accepted."
"Yeah, sorry, I didn't think you'd disapprove so much, he seemed quite nice."
Natborns, even the nice ones, were only nice up to a certain point in his experience. You should never test the limits of their patience, especially as they literally have your life in the palm of their hands.
"Anyway, just be careful and yes, I'll come."
"I'd also like to come and ask the General a few questions about Zabrak morphology and culture. Iridonians have a culture that's extremely difficult to access because it's poorly translated into Basic and the rest of it exudes a pervasive racism that makes it difficult to access reliable, neutral and verified sources. What's more, seeing someone take you down would certainly be a first for me, and I can't wait to observe their fighting style."
"It's just 'Fast, strong and explosive', his fighting style I mean. Anyway, I'm going to wash up."
He said this but did not move, so Hunter approached and slowly put a hand on his shoulder until his presence was acknowledged.
"He threw me to the ground like I weighed nothing," Wrecker said without looking at them, looking back at where he had come from with a moony look that made Hunter despair enough to hide his face in his hands.
After that, he saw the two interact an exact seven times during their joint campaign, and each time they got a little closer and more complicit without even realising it, and he had let it go. They would solve this on their own.
If he could not see it, it did not exist, and if something did not exist then it did not need any official report. For once everyone was in agreement, even Tech who appreciated official protocols more than they did for their regularity.
If things went well, they would let Wrecker enjoy it as much as possible, he deserved it.