Work Text:
“You’re their brother, Crosshair…you’re my brother too.”
The words had stung then freshly spoken, and they sting now, salt to an open wound. If he had swallowed his pride that day, forsaken the Empire before it had forsaken him…Mayday would still be alive. Crosshair wouldn’t be in this cell. His brothers might have forgiven him, his sister could have even come to love him like she loved them.
But no. He’d clung to it, his pride, fisted tight in his grasp because he had nothing else left to cling to except being a good soldier. And their final memory of him will be his back turned on them, unwilling to even say goodbye. He’d felt Omega watching him, hoping he might change his mind.
He should have changed his mind.
Why didn’t he change his mind?
“You’re their brother, Crosshair…” They’ll forgive you.
“...you're my brother too.” I love you.
Crosshair does not even glance at his cell door when there’s movement on the other side. The guards have nothing better to do than to jeer at their prisoners, mocking their helplessness. He’s learned to ignore them. He’s learned to keep silent, even when his blood boils in his veins, when he wants to lash out. What good would it do?
“Crosshair?” a voice whispers.
“You’re my brother too.”
Crosshair turns his head, and there’s the girl. She peers at him, eyes and face wet. “Are you alright?” she asks. Her voice wobbles dangerously.
Crosshair doesn’t answer her. He sits up. “What are you doing here?”
“I–” she begins, then stops, gaze dropping. “We were trying to find you.”
If something like relief ignites in his chest, he snuffs it out.
“Trying to find me?” Crosshair sneers, “I told them to run.”
“Not without you,” Omega says. “Not again.”
“And yet, here we are, aren’t we?” The venom in his voice makes her flinch. “The others were captured too?”
Omega swallows. “I don’t think so. I think Echo helped them and they got away.”
“And they let you get captured? Pathetic.”
That seems to strike a chord. The girl bristles, drawing her shoulders back. “You take that back.”
“Make me,” Crosshair growls.
She holds his gaze, brow furrowed in a scowl. It reminds him of Hunter. It makes his heart ache.
When she doesn’t say anything else, Crosshair turns away. “Get out of here before you get us both in trouble.”
He almost hopes she defies him, almost hopes she lingers, tells him off. Instead, he hears her leave.
He wonders if she’ll ever come back.
**
Crosshair knows how to get a rise out of his little sister now, the right buttons to push to make her expression twist into one of anger or annoyance. However, even if her expression gives her away, she manages to hold her temper…most of the time. It reminds him of Echo, expressive but level headed.
Omega refused to leave him on Tantiss, refused to leave him behind. A small whisper inside him hopes it is because she cares about him. She has said as much, but words can lie. It is safer to believe the louder, darker thoughts instead, that he is simply a means to an end. She probably can’t get off Tantiss without him, can’t get back to the brothers she actually loves.
But no matter what Omega really thinks about him, no matter if she loves him or not, she is kind. She is kind to even those who don’t deserve kindness. And he most certainly does not deserve it. Not after everything he’s done.
If he had forsaken the Empire that day on Kamino…Tech would still be alive. Omega would not have been stolen away for months by the Empire. His brothers would not have suffered.
But Omega is still kind to him, even if she doesn’t love him like she loves their brothers. He has not earned her love, and he never will.
“You’re their brother, Crosshair…you’re my brother too.”
The words still sting.
**
Omega is taken again because he failed to protect her. He should never have let her go. Why did he let her go? His little sister, dark eyes determined to save the people she loves, people she barely knows.
And now they’re here, his brothers and him, staring up at the mountain fortress that he thought he’d never have to see again. He can’t lose his brothers too. Not again. Not to death. “Change of plans. You two, head to the communications array and try to contact Rex. I’ll infiltrate the base myself.”
“Not happening,” Hunter says.
“Yeah, we’ve handled worse situations than this. Countless–” Wrecker begins, but Crosshair cuts him off.
“Wake up, Wrecker,” he bites out, “Clone Force 99 died with Tech. We’re not that squad anymore. I’ve been inside that mountain. I know what we’re up against. If we all go in, we’re not all making it out. Omega needs you both. So, I’m doing this alone.” His voice catches. “It’s…it’s what I deserve.”
“Don’t even think about Plan 99, Crosshair,” Hunter says. “Omega needs all of us, and so do those clones.”
“We’ve always known the risks,” Wrecker says. “And so did Tech. We do this together.”
Omega needs all of us . The words rattle around in the hollow of his chest. He wants to believe it, he wants to believe it so badly. That Omega could miss him, that Omega needs him too. After everything.
But he doesn’t think he’ll survive to know whether or not it’s true.
**
The rain on Tantiss is warmer than Kamino, but Crosshair is still shivering. Pain and adrenaline leave him trembling. He can’t quite find the strength to stand. Not yet. Hunter, breathing raggedly beside him, doesn’t move to get to his feet either. It is all they can do, Crosshair thinks, to keep from collapsing entirely.
Omega is running toward them, the long distance stretching endlessly between them. He can see the binder bouncing on her right wrist. If he had just been a little off, he might have shot her hand instead of severing the connection between her and Hemlock. He would never have forgiven himself.
After a lifetime, Omega reaches them. Relief and elation on her face as she looks at Hunter, but when her eyes flicker to him, to his vacant wrist, the expression crumbles to something else. He can’t read it, but it surprises him, twists an emotion in his gut. A breathless sob escapes her, and she launches herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck.
The same way she embraced Wrecker on Ryloth’s moon…the same way she ran to Hunter…the same way she greeted Echo…extended to him.
Omega needs all of us…
You’re my brother too.
And he dares to believe it.
End.