Work Text:
It was their second mission for this … Cid, and Crosshair already didn’t like her. Echo had said she used to trade intel with the Jedi, but all of them weren’t sure about how trustworthy she really was. Credits were dwindling, though and they needed another source of income that didn’t involve selling off all of their weapons. In the end, they’d agreed but also decided to stay wary of her.
But the first mission had been rather easy. Retrieve some sort of intel from a wealthy man. Tech probably could have done it alone. So they had agreed to a … mutually beneficial agreement. Not too sure about that term but as long as they’d get a bit of money, it was fine. And they were still looking for better opportunities.
Now, the second mission was … something else. Not only had Omega begged to be taken along - she didn’t want to stay behind alone again, and even though it might be dangerous, at least she was with them. Crosshair didn’t trust Cid one bit looking after his kid. (And when had he started calling her that?) But also this was so different from the first mission.
They were pinned down already, and in an active firefight.
Crosshair took the rear, taking down enemy after enemy, while his brothers did their part. They worked together flawlessly, like always. They were still an elite squad after all. But, there was also Omega now, and she needed to be protected, even if she didn’t think so. And she hadn’t wanted to stick with him.
“It would be boring!”
Now, she was taking cover at Hunter’s side, ducking behind a corner. Crosshair didn’t have problems keeping an eye on all of them, but it was easier the closer they stayed together. And with five instead of three, his focus was divided more than ever. Especially here, with buildings and no perfect sniper spot in sight. But as long as they stayed together, he wasn’t worried.
And then they didn’t. Hunter told Omega to stay behind, while he tried to help Echo. Tech was off to the side, opening a gate, and Wrecker happily played his role as distraction - and Omega didn’t stay put, trying to follow Hunter.
“Omega!” Crosshair barked over coms - and it was too late. They all heard her yelp in pain.
“I’ll get to her in a second,” Tech said, still focused on his datapad.
“No, I’ll get her.” Crosshair was already going, slinging his rifle on his back.
“Crosshair, no, we need you in position.” Hunter might be right, but he completely tuned him out. They could handle themselves. Omega could not.
And he didn’t want to risk anything. Someone could snatch her up and use her to stop them or she could have been hurt badly or - there were too many possibilities. Crosshair wouldn’t take the chance. Two shots with his DC-17 made quick work of the trandoshan that had shot Omega and then Crosshair was at her side. She was curled up against a wall, one hand pressed against the injury.
When he slid beside her, she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
Crosshair had to hold back a frustrated growl at the situation, and instead, gently pried her hand away from the injury.
"Let me see."
It wasn't too bad. The blaster bolt had hit her, sure, and he knew it hurt like hell, but it had hit her shoulder. She wouldn't die, and it soothed his nerves.
Still, he had to get her out.
"Let's get to the Marauder," he muttered, attempting to pick her up, freezing when she whimpered in pain.
"It hurts!"
"I know." Crosshair paused. "Can you walk then? We really need to get out of here."
Two more enemies were drawing close and the others had enough on their hands, they didn't need to protect them too.
She shook her head.
"Okay, then I need to carry you." The way Omega tried to curl in on herself, away from him hurt him, but it didn't matter. Not right now. So when he picked her up this time, he ignored her pained noises, hoisting her up. Omega was somehow growing way too fast and he struggled to hold his balance for a moment, especially since she wasn't cooperating.
"Omega," Crosshair huffed. "Stop that, it's dangerous here."
Like the universe wanted to taunt him and emphasis on his words, someone started shooting at them and Crosshair ducked against the wall, raising his blaster pistol to shoot back. Even with his non-dominant hand, it was a direct hit.
He didn't want to stick around any longer, hoping they'd get to the Marauder in quickly. It was parked away only a few hundred meters. A few hundred metres too far, in Crosshair’s opinion.
And Hunter was still yapping in his ear.
“Crosshair we need you in position!”
“Negative, I’m getting her back to the Marauder!”
“Is it that bad?” Echo was obviously worried, Crosshair could see him peer back at them.
“It’s a blaster shot.”
“But not fatal,” Tech concluded, sounding only a little clipped.
“I don’t care,” Crosshair huffed. “You can take care of yourself.”
“Crosshair-” Whatever Hunter wanted to say he didn’t hear because he muted his comlink. He didn’t really care about Hunter’s opinion right now, he trusted them enough to not die. And Omega needed help. He ignored the small voice in his head that told him he was abandoning his brothers, in some way.
They at least reached the Marauder without further incidents. He sat Omega down in a chair and went to get the medikit. She was unnaturally pale, and clutching her shoulder again. Right. Painkillers first. He reached for the hypo and hesitated. Omega was way smaller than them - he needed to adjust the dose. And they only had the premade hypos. With a frustrated groan, he threw it back in the kit and rifled through it for some painkiller pills, handing her one with a bottle of water when he finally found it. She didn’t even complain when she took it. It was worrisome.
But that was something he could think about after he patched her up, so he pushed the thought away and grabbed the disinfectant. She hissed when he sprayed it on.
“I know it burns but it’s gonna stop soon,” he mumbled, digging through the medikit for a bacta patch. The beeping of a comlink distracted him, and with an annoyed glare he answered.
"Crosshair, we need an extraction, now!" Hunter sounded out of breath and there was the sound of blasterfire in the background.
"I'm patching Omega up right now!" Crosshair complained, attempting to peel off the protective film.
"I said now!" He almost flinched for the order. Hunter never sounded this harsh when it wasn’t necessary. With a roll of his eyes Crosshair dropped the patch, helped Omega strap in and ran to the cockpit.
The air was tense. Crosshair kept staring out the windshield, still in the pilot's seat. No one said a word, but Crosshair knew that Hunter was fuming. And not only Hunter.
Wrecker was the one who tried to diffuse the situation.
"This could have gone worse."
"How could that have possibly gone worse?" Hunter snapped, finally having an outlet for his anger. Wrecker didn't shrink back.
"We could have been captured. Or, uh, not completed the objective."
"The objective, which was a vase."
"A vase that'll bring us credits," Echo interjected. Always trying to keep them calm. Not that he was any less angry than Hunter, but Echo was better at not exploding in his face about it. Something Hunter should learn.
And Crosshair should learn to not run his mouth at every opportunity.
"They are right. We pulled that off."
"We?! You had nothing to do with that!"
Oh, so they were blaming each other now? He could do that.
"Hey, I'm not the one who left Omega alone!" Crosshair snapped back.
"So you blame me for an accident?"
"Acccident? It wouldn't have happened if you had taken better care of her!"
"You were supposed to watch our backs!" Crosshair glared at Hunter. That was a low blow. He was totally ignoring that he was doing the same.
"Enough!" Echo barked before they could continue their argument. "Passing around the blame won't help anyone."
Echo was grumpy because he had to be the voice of reason, again.
"Fine," Crosshair muttered, trying to slide from his seat.
"And what are you doing?"
He blinked at Echo, trying to catch up. "Uh, let Tech pilot?"
"I am still in the process of patching myself up," Tech piped up from where he was sitting beside Omega, outside of the cockpit
Crosshair winced at that, glancing at his brother. He hadn't even noticed Tech getting hurt too.
"I, uhm, gonna help Tech," Wrecker said and left the cockpit. Echo sighed. "You two behave!" he said before following Wrecker, shutting the door.
Tech was sitting opposite of Omega, patching up the burn on his leg. It wasn’t too bad, just as Omega’s injury wasn’t too bad after he had patched it up. Unfortunate, but not life threatening. She seemed more concerned by the ongoing fight and Tech tried to distract her.
"It's just a scratch. It might leave a scar though."
"Heh, then we match!" Wrecker appeared at her side and softly punched her not-injured shoulder - more like touched it, to not hurt her.
Omega gave Wrecker a half smile that immediately dropped when Hunter and Crosshair started yelling at each other again.
"Will they be okay?" Her voice sounded small.
"Don't worry about these two, it's not the worst fight they had. They are just worried about you,” Echo interjected, sitting down beside them. “And it’s not your fault. None of that is, okay?”
Omega nodded meekly, but she relaxed a little, climbing into Wrecker’s lap for some snuggles.
"Good,” Echo sighed and leaned back in his seat. "But also, Omega, promise me that you will stay put next time."
"Hm, I will try." Echo pinched the bridge of his nose at her tone.
"I think that's the best I'm gonna get out of you, seeing as you are one of them." At least that managed to make her smile a little.