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intricatechaosofyou · 3 months ago

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What a gorgeous story! And what a fantastic way for Crosshair to gain some peace about his training and his new life! I love that they have a similar past and can relate to each other!! I’m so grateful you wrote this and I hope you’re feeling better!! <3

PAIRING: Crosshair x Fem! Reader

SUMMARY: Crosshair must reach into a dark place to rescue from a group of pirates who captured you during a mission. But you show him there's always a way out of it.

LYRIC: "Tell me it's alright/Give me the green light." - 5 Seconds of Summer

WORDS: 4.7K

WARNINGS: Blood, Violence, and Swearing

This story is dedicated to @intricatechaosofyou as part of the Clone x Reader Song Fic Exchange.

I am profoundly sorry about how late this is. I had a stressful month due to a cardiac issue, which has been resolved now, and I didn't realize how long it would take to tell the story I wanted to tell. As a result, I wrote this as fast as I could. It's not my best work, and I'm still getting used to writing for the Clone fandom, but the ending is fluffy.

It was an honor writing for you, and I beg your forgiveness for the delay.

@callsign-denmark @jedi-princess-kestis @cloneficgiftexchange

Idanus’s dual moons shined high in the Outer Rim’s azure night sky amongst an endless sea of twinkling stars. The verdant branches of the planet’s montane forests danced in a temperate breeze, causing water beads from a recent rainstorm to slide from the glistening leaves and drip into the muddy underbrush below amidst an aroma of petrichor. Despite being nighttime, a chorus of nocturnal creatures performed a soft melody of buzzing and croaking throughout the scrub as they socialized and foraged for food.

An abandoned Republic intelligence base stood in a sprawling meadow against the idyllic scenery of herbage and mountain ranges. Nature had long since begun to reclaim her rightful lands from the behemoth, spreading greenery across the rusted grey walls with an eerie beauty. A lone red scroll from Clone Wars, bearing the torn visage of a black Galactic roundel, hung adjacent to one of the base’s entrances, the final thread of a tragic past. Yet, the square turquoise lights decorating the installation’s facade continued to flicker, meaning someone reactivated the power after years of activity.”

Several pirates dressed in discordant, makeshift armor stood guard in the staging grounds with DC-15 rifles resting against their shoulders, probably burgled from the armory. They conversed under the watchful eye of a rival sniper lying prone on the roof. He scanned the jungle horizon from a provisional nest constructed from plywood, searching for any hungry predators who caught a taste for unwashed humans. Little did they know, a much more dangerous and unprecedented hunter watched them like prey above an overlook.

A scowl appeared on the sniper’s scarred face as he noticed brush moving on the cliffside through his night scope. “What the kriff was that?” he grumbled as he switched to thermal imaging and returned his eye to the lens. He hoped to pick up the heat signature of a small harmless rodent who emerged from its underground burrow and scampered around the precipice. Instead, the scope detected the tall, lithe frame of a fellow marksperson flat upon the ground with their crosshairs fixated on the base. The pirate scrambled to his feet and activated his communicator, yelling, “Hey, we have a problem out here! There’s another sniper across the cany-”

“Nest, could you restate that?” buzzed the person on the other side of the radio. But his crewmate could only manage an anguished groan as he released his rifle and fell forward deceased. A miniature burn hole sizzled with tibanna residue in the back of his skull, the characteristic entry wound of the 773 Firepuncher. Startled by the response, the crewmate bellowed, “Nest, do you you copy?! Nest!”

Crosshair chuckled as he rose to his knees and tapped the side of his helmet to access their communication frequency. “What’s the matter? Did someone lose their sniper?”

“What? Who are you? How the kriff did you access our comms?” the perplexed pirate said.

“It doesn’t matter because none of you will be alive to tell the tale.”

“Are you threatening us?”

“I don’t make threats. I make promises, especially when a bunch of bandits steal someone precious to me.”

“Screw you and your girl!”

“Let this be your first and final warning. Run while you can because when I come down there, I will hunt you like the cowardly little rats you are…” Crosshair stated as he returned his eye to his scope, watching the frantic pirates as they fled back into their hovel. They pointed their carbines in all directions as they backed towards the door, desperate to find and incapacitate Crosshair. After some time, the group reached the base’s gargantuan metal doors and scrambled inside, closing them with a thud. “...and eliminate every one of you.”

A Klaxon blared in the background as the line went dead. “Let the games begin!” Crosshair announced, standing and looking across the ravine.

His gaze followed the seemingly endless cragged escarpment as it fell several hundred feet until it met a thin cerulean creek. Straining, he could almost see the whitewater from the violent rapids splashing against the boulder jutting out from the water. Crosshair returned his attention to the base and shook his head, attempting to eliminate his vertigo. He couldn’t risk jumping several hundred feet without the team here, but neither could the pirates or the Republic analysts who once called this place home.

There had to be some way across the chasm.

Suddenly, the soft chord of an engine’s roar appeared in the background of the verdure’s orchestra. Crosshair lifted his reticle again and espied a pair of massive in-groud doors opening to receive the inbound vessel. It was less than a klick away and approaching fast based on its dynamics, meaning Crosshair would only have one shot at accessing the base as he loaded an adhesive grapple and aimed it at the starry sky.

His knuckles tightened around the gun’s handle, holding his breath as he waited for the cruiser to zoom past. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest, almost as if it was urging the ship to hurry the fuck up. As the minutes ticked away, a torrent of thoughts ravaged his mind over what would happen if he couldn’t get there swiftly. Crosshair attempted to assuage the pain spreading through his bones that you were a talented mercenary who could get out of almost anything. However, the past year taught him that skill sometimes does not displace luck. Images of finding your corpse in the middle of the base, executed for being dead weight, taunted his psyche. He didn’t know what he would do or say if he returned to Pabu with your body for burial.

The ship’s engine crescendoed until a Z-95 appeared against the firmament. Crosshair pressed the trigger, launching the adhesive toward an opening section of the ship’s dirty red and white chassis. It stuck and lifted Crosshair into the air as he retracted and tightened the line. As planned, the Z-95 carried him across the gorge’s breadth toward the gaping metal maw. Crosshair lifted his head as the ship stalled its engines, preparing to land. Sirens across the hangar illuminated the room red and blared at each other like a pack of ice vultures fighting over carrion. However, aside from the pilot, there appeared to be no one else in the vicinity, giving Crosshair ample opportunity to begin his rampage.

The pilot landed on the pad in the center of the room and quickly unbuckled his belt before grabbing his gun. Crosshair shifted his weight, moving closer to the ship’s edge to see better the impromptu chauffeur racing down the exit ramp. Like the others, he wore mismatched armor, most likely pieces stolen from his victims. However, aside from a knife attached to the outside of his thigh, he didn’t seem to have any other weaponry. The man ran to a console on the other side of the room, speaking into his intercom to get an update from the crew.

Crosshair loaded several armor-piercing bolts and fired at the tarnished metal plate protecting the corsair’s torso. A smile crept across his face as his target crumbled to the ground, unmoving. He stowed his rifle and crawled out from underneath the cockpit, resembling a spider who caught a fly in its web. On and off, and on and off, went the hangar’s red siren lights as Crosshair stalked towards his paralyzed prey.

The frightened pirate whimpered, watching his mysterious hunter with wide eyes. “Please don’t hurt me. I don’t know what you want. But I will give you anything, anything you could want. Please, just let me go,” he sputtered.

“Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! Please don’t tell me that kriffing nerf-herder is in the base!” pleaded a horrified crewmate over the mounted console’s comms.

Crosshair circled the incapacitated desperado lying on the floor, not shifting his gaze as he wandered over the terminal and pushed its green PTT button. “Tick, tock, tick, tock!” he hissed. “Also, don’t worry about your friend. We’re going to play a little game, which will be a blast.”

As he finished his sentence, a shot whipped past Crosshair’s head, leaving a burn spot on the enormous automatic doors sealing both him and the pilot in the hangar. But Crosshair didn’t flinch and instead coldly glanced over his shoulder to the pirate, who held a blaster in his trembling hand. The man moved the gun back and forth, in a final attempt to escape the encounter alive but could not find an efficient target on the angel of death before him. Crosshair crooked his head, standing frozen and watching, taunting the sobbing bandit. He permitted several more minutes of sniveling and pathetic invocations before pouncing on the man’s hand and twisting his wrist.

“Drop it. Drop it now before you wind up with a broken hand and a bullet through the skull,” Crosshair growled, applying more pressure to the man’s wrist. After some time, the bandit’s finger unfurled from the handle and trigger, allowing the blaster to fall with a clatter. A satisfied Crosshair pushed the firearm to the other side of the room before kneeling on the man’s arm to prevent him from doing anything foolish.

He watched as the bandit struggled to free his arm, like a rat caught in a trap, before continuing, “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it? Here’s what will happen. I meant what I said when I would hunt all of you down. But you, you little cretin, are helpful for now. Thanks to your friends, this whole base is in lockdown. The good news is that all Republic bases have a door code allowing the officers to travel freely between the halls. I know you know it because I heard you asking for it from your friend. Tell me it and your death will be clean.”

However, the man only responded with a gulp and some snuffles, staring at Crosshair with tear-filled eyes. “What’s the matter? Does a Loth-cat have your tongue? Well, maybe a little paint will loosen it,” Crosshair said as he grabbed the man’s knife and drove it into drive into his bicep. A torment cry fell from the bandit’s lips as he attempted to pry his arm away more vigorously, but the activity only caused more of his blood to seep out from his armor. “You’re bleeding pretty heavily. This is your last chance. Tell me the code before I bleed you dry.”

“It’s 192225! 192225!” the guy shouted in desperation.

“Are you lying?”

“No, I ain’t lying. It’s 192225 after 19 BBY, the year the Empire decommissioned this base.”

Crosshair rose to his feet, leaving the knife in the man’s arm, and said with a click of his tongue, “How touching and do not move the knife. I need you alive for a few more moments.” He typed the code into the console, causing the hangar doors to part. “Well, it appears some of you bandits are truthful after all. I appreciate your honesty. Pleasant dreams.”

Crosshair fired a blast into the man’s head, causing it to fall back onto the floor with a burning hole. His eyes shifted to the knife, still embedded in his arm, reflecting the forming blood pool on the mirror of the blade. “I will also take your knife. Aberrantium is hard to come by now that the Empire has depleted almost all of the mines,” he stated, removing the dagger and painting his chest plate with blood.

Leaving the corpse to exsanguinate in the landing dock, he stepped out into the hallway and turned his attention to the resounding sirens. He had no reason to be silent as he detached and stowed his silencer. The last thing these assholes will hear is their screams echoing through the base would be the roar of the Firepuncher, and screams of horror as the syndicate falls.

And that is precisely what Crosshair did.

He walked the ghostly halls, only giving the bandits a brief look at his deadly mien before striking the darkness. Blaster fire erupted as the pirates did their best to stay alive, but it was too late as Crosshair dodged their bolts with balletic precision and transformed the base into a killing ground. One by one, bodies fell upon the ground as anything and everything in their maelstrom’s path became a weapon, from an unassuming shard of glass to one of the stolen DC-15s. A metallic fetor soon permeated the air as Crosshair continued his rampage, staining the walls red.

A xenohistorian, several millenniums in the future, would eventually stumble upon the

base and wonder what monster caused the carnage. Little did they know that the brute was a passionate man trying to get back one of the few people in the Universe who loved him past his flaws.

“There you are, you bastard!” the pirate said as Crosshair opened the doors to the inner warm room. He tightened the grip his forearm had around your neck and dug the barrel of his blaster into your temple, dragging you further into the room.

“You’re going the wrong way,” Crosshair derided, stepping into the room.

“It doesn’t matter because I’ll take you down myself.”

Crosshair held up his knife perpendicular to his helmet, a testament to his strength and skill. “Do you see this? This is all that remains of your crew. What makes you think that you’re any different?”

The captain stood there in silence, watching the vitality of his people drip from the tip with a steady rhythm. He tried to retain his stoic facade as he shifted his body and grip on you. But he couldn’t hide the minute tremors in his shooting hand or beads of sweat forming on his forehead. With each passing moment, it became more apparent that there was no way out for him without releasing you. He shifted his gaze between Crosshair, who had now lowered his dagger, and you. “Fine. If that’s how you want to play!”

“Hey, asshole! Do you want to play a game?” you blurted out before he could pull the trigger.

“A game?”

“Yeah, a game. Have you ever played Red Light, Green Light?”

“What that kriff is that?”

“Come on, just humor me as a last request,” you teased, moving your head to rest your chin on his forearm and creating space between him and your larynx.

“Alright, fine. How do you play?”

“It’s easy. All you have to do is reply ‘green light’ after you say ‘red light.’ Ready?”

The captain furrowed his brow but affirmed with a not.

“Red light!”

“Uh, green light?”

Before he could finish his sentence, Crosshair launched the knife by its tip. It flew across the room and wedged into the captain’s skull between his eyebrows. He let out a gurgle as a rivulet ran down his nose from the wound before loosening his grip around you and falling backward.

You and Crosshair watched the body briefly before he looked at you. “What were you thinking? How could you be so stupid as to run off without telling anyone?” he finally said. “It’s good that I planted a tracker on your suit.”

You blinked several times, and your mouth fell agape at his words because of his tone and the revelation that you had a tracker somewhere on your person. You spun in a circle, searching every crevice of your suit until your elegant fingers ran over an inconspicuous bump in your underarmor’s sleeve. At first, you thought it was just a normal tear from being kept by a pirate crew for the past few hours. However, upon further inspection, something rigid and circular embedded into the suit fabric formed the bump.

“How did you get it in there?” you questioned with a scowl.

“One of the Pabu seamstresses helped sew in it.”

Your gaze softened, and you turned your head to your sleeve. You had no reason to be mad at Crosshair. When Fennec Shand contacted you about a lead on a job, you disappeared into the night without telling Crosshair or the rest of Clone Force 99 where you went. It was stupid, yes. But at the time, you thought you were protecting them because you were always wary of mercenaries. Pabu had been through enough over the past year, and the last thing you wanted was to bring them more trouble due to a job gone awry.

You returned your attention to Crosshair, who characteristically loured at you with his arms crossed. He remained surly and reticent even after he departed from the Empire and sometimes still stewed in his emotions when angry. However, underneath his withdrawn shell, there was a kind and selfless man if you dug long and hard enough. The blood spots on his armor attested to that. He just needed someone patient enough to wait for him until he was safe to express his emotions.

“Thank you,” you said with a smile after a few moments.

Crosshair furrowed his brow in confusion and straightened his back, clearly not expecting your gratitude. He assumed you would get mad at him for planting an unknown tracker in your suit, telling him that you didn’t need his help to stay safe. You had always been headstrong that way. But perhaps that was what endeared you to him, enough to make him travel across the stars to some backwater mercenary haven in the Outer Rim.

Back on the island, he would have to sneak into a nearby alleyway to prevent anyone from seeing him smile. The Force knows that Hunter and Wrecker would not let him live it down if they caught him joyful over something. However, he would always be nearby, watching you from the shadows. He studied your smile and memorized the intonation of your laugh as you played with the Pabu children along the shoreline.

The two of you shared a similar story: Imperial agents who left the Empire for a better life. Of course, your story didn’t have nearly as many trials and tribulations as his. You were an Imperial tactician sent to oversee the stormtroopers accompanying CX-2 in his mission to recover Omega. However, after the unwarranted destruction of Kamino, the decimation of Pabu flipped the switch on light flickering in your heart for a long time. The Empire never cared about its citizens and never would. As a result, you set your ship to self-destruct and jump off on the island’s sandy shores.

Given your past, it took some time for Pabu’s citizens to accept you. But as you helped the settlement rebuild, you started ingratiating yourself into society until everyone trusted you except Crosshair. He’d frown at you, never speaking, almost as if he used you as a catharsis for the pain he suffered at the hands of both of your former employers.

But your tactical training taught you therein lay the answer. Whatever happened to Crosshair still pained him.

While the rest of Clone Force 99 began to move on from their harrowing journey, Crosshair remained imprisoned in his cell. He continued to be irritable and withdrawn despite being reunited with his brothers and having autonomy over his life. Omega’s meditation techniques had created cracks in his proverbial prison. However, it would take someone who truly knew the brutality of the Empire, someone like you, to free him from his mind.

After weeks of trying, he initially relented because you were the only one who recognized that his pain didn’t end when Hemlock’s body fell off the bridge. However, minuscule changes began to appear whenever he was around you: a smile here and a gentle touch there. Now, he transversed half of the Outer Rim to rescue you from a backwater mercenary haven and murdered an entire base of people, a morbid but admirable goal.

Crosshair closed the gap between you and took your hands in his. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he whispered.

“Me too!” you replied, smiling and studying his angular features. “Now, let’s get back to Pabu. Omega will be expecting us for the summer festival.”

“Do we have to?” an annoyed Crosshair grumbled as you pulled his hand, leading him past his victims back to the hangar.

“You made a promise that you would be there.”

“I just fought an entire pirate crew. Can I not have a few moments of rest?” “We still have to make it off of Idanus. You can rest when we get back to the island.”

Pabu’s sun shimmered high in the azure sky, reflecting against the calm waves lapping against the sand. Avian creatures soared on the warm winds filling the tropical air, signing their gentle melody. Meanwhile, a pack of mischievous moonyos stole several pieces of fruit from bowls laid out by the residents before climbing back to their trees in Upper Pabu.

Due to the island’s small size and contiguous buildings, there wasn’t much room for expansive farms. But survivors adapt, after all. The residents scoured the Archium’s tomes, holding the secrets of the island’s ancient residents, searching for anything to assist their horticulture. To their joy, they found diagrams of farmers from a bygone era using hatcheries, vertical farming, and aquaculture to produce crops and marine resources to sustain themselves. They set about recreating the techniques described in the diagrams, constructing large poles for climbing vines and vast nests to capture fish and other wildlife.

The crop never yielded much, only enough to sate the island residents. Whatever surplus they received, if any harvest, got shipped off-world to help make little money for the supplies the island could not provide. As a result, whenever a good summer crop, the island residents tried to give back to the earth by hosting a summer festival to bring the community together. They used a portion of their production to cook enough dishes to make even a glutton like Wrecker sick and hung green lights around the settlement to signify growth and inspire the elements to bring them a good harvest in the fall.

The people sang and danced in the square, enjoying each other’s company. That is, all except for one. Crosshair was never one for soirees and gaiety. But in the interest of trying to put his past behind him, the two of you always kept proximity to the activities Today, however, he was gone, like a sylph. You searched Upper and Lower Pabu, from the beaches to the home the two of you shared with the rest of the Bad Batch, and found no sign of him.

Where could he have gone?

You sighed and placed your elbows on a half wall, looking out into the endless ocean as you restrategized and thought of any new places to search. Below, you could see Omega laughing and kicking a ball with a few children from below. A smile appeared on your face as you watched her finally receive the chance to be a kid. Though you had only known each other for a few months, you learned from the stories told by Hunter and the rest that she had a difficult life from the moment she left Kamino. Yet, no one would ever think twice about trying to leave her with the Lawquanes again. Her story, while arduous, made her and the Bad Batch who they are today. Nevertheless, it was nice to see her being a child for once instead of dealing with adult issues.

That’s when it hit you: the cove.

Since returning from Weyland, the cove underneath Lower Pabu had become a makeshift sanctuary for the group. The way nature carved the grotto permitted one to contemplate one's life under the comfort of shade and amongst the calming breezes and splashes of the sea. You grabbed a faint purple fruit shaped like a small melon, beloved by a particular sniper for its sweetness, from a nearby table before following the grand stairs down to the shore.

Cautiously, you jumped from rock to rock until you reached the archway to the oasis. You looked around at the beautiful decorations, surprised that a group of men who spent most of their time in frigid, austere military bases would have such an idea for detail. They scattered vibrant flowers throughout the area, complementing the pile of pillows and blankets in the middle. Against a wall, Tech's carved effigy stood as part of a small memorial decorated with little trinkets. The Bad Bad had a precious habit of collecting small items they thought Tech would like during their travels and placing him at his shrine to keep his memory alive. You smiled as you picture Tech’s spirit wandering around and talking to himself about the history and minutiae of the objects.

Near the sea cliff, a familiar person sat in meditation. He replaced his dark grey armor with a simple short-sleeved white tunic and tan pants, but he kept his Firepuncher by his side out of nervous habit. His remaining hand rested on his knee, just as Omega taught him, as he relaxed amongst the waves' soothing sounds and the sea salt aroma. You sat next to him and placed the fruit in his open palm, causing him to grimace at the sudden sensation of the fruit’s leathery skin. He played with it in his hand for a moment before opening his chocolate eyes to look at the vegetation.

“You’re missing the party,” you commented, gathering his attention.

“I don’t like people,” Crosshair retorted, placing the fruit in his lap.

“I know, but you’re usually not this secluded. I can typically find you somewhere in the settlement, not out here, which means you have something on your mind. Do you want to talk about it?”

A frown appeared on Crosshair’s face as he watched the green rays swimming around the estuaries. As if like clockwork, his hand left hand began to flex, mimicking the right one before he lost it during the Seige of Tanttis. It was a nervous tick he had whenever he was thinking about his time with the Empire, one that you knew all too well. You took his hand in yours, running a gentle thumb over the back while you waited for him to find the words he searched for.

After a few minutes, Crosshair lifted his head and sighed. “I keep thinking back to Idanus about how I promised never to use that training again. It reminds me of how close I came to becoming a monster and how things could be so different. I know that’s false, but I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“You’re right. It’s not true because you’re not a monster,” you responded. “You’re Crosshair. Sure, you can be gloomy and a bit dark at times. But that’s part of your charm. There is a man worth loving under all that gibe, and I think allowing people inside has worked out for you so far.”

Crosshair turned his head to meet your warm smile and gaze. There was a glimmer of something unknown in his eyes. It wasn't anger or disdain but warm and inviting, as if the words you had told him so many times before had finally begun to affect him. Before you could even respond, he planted a peck on your cheek so fast that you almost missed it. You raised your hand to the spot where he kissed you and focused on a stalactite reaching down from the top, trying to stop your heart from racing. There was no mistaking. Crosshair, who seldom shared his feelings with anyone, had kissed you.

“If you tell anyone I did that, I will kill you,” he stated as he broke apart the fruit and handed a piece to you.

“That assumes you can touch me,” you responded, accepting the fruit and planting a more significant kiss on recoiling Crosshair’s cheek.

“You’re good, but you’re not good.”

“Excuse me, I have taken down several soldiers in my time.”

“From the safety of an Imperial strategy room, maybe. But I have taken down far more than that in hand-to-hand combat.”

You gave Crosshair a playful jab in the ribs as you sat in the cove, having your tête-à-tête while the others danced above you.

Peace, albeit temporary, had returned to the Bad Batch once more.

#star wars #the bad batch #crosshair #star wars tbb #star wars the bad batch #star wars the clone wars #tbb starwars #the bad batch star wars #crosshair x reader #tbb crosshair

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intricatechaosofyou · 3 months ago

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AHHH!! This is so perfect for Crosshair!! Someone finally melted his cold heart and he just couldn’t tell her!! And I love Hunter and Omega’s meddling! Thank you for writing such a great story <3

Stop Running From Love

Crosshair/Fem!Reader

Words: 2,968

Summary: Lost after finally escaping from the Empire, Crosshair crash lands on your property. While he's recovering, he realizes something important about himself, but it takes the meddling of his brothers for him to actually admit it.

Prompt: “Falling in love, no, it ain’t for the weak" (In The Kitchen, Renee Rapp)

Notes: this is a gift for the lovely @intricatechaosofyou in the @cloneficgiftexchange song lyric exchange! I thought Crosshair fit the vibes of this lyric especially well because he would be the most apprehensive about falling in love. there's some canon divergence here, and in my head it takes place in a world where crosshair escapes the empire sometime in season 2. I hope you enjoy it :)

Clone Troopers Masterlist

When Crosshair first opened his eyes, he didn’t recognize his surroundings. He remembered the escape pod hurtling through the atmosphere of a planet he didn’t recognize, and of course he remembered crashing on the outskirts of a forest and field, but that was about it. By the time he hit the ground his vision had gone blurry, but he remembered the jolting feeling before all his other senses decided to sign off as well.

Now, the first thing he registered was the wafting smell of something cooking in the next room. It had been so long since he had any kind of food other than stolen Imperial rations, and even then, he could tell that whatever was being made now would be infinitely better than the flavorless slop and rock-hard bricks they used to serve at the bases and send on missions.

The second thing he noticed was how warm his body was. Spending a seemingly endless amount of time trapped with the same air in that escape pod was completely different than the soft blanket that was currently resting atop his body, and there was no way the Empire would hand out supplies like this to clones, let alone prisoners. Running his hand across the fabric, a small smile curled on his lips.

Maybe he was dead. He couldn’t imagine a version of reality where he would be afforded these comforts, not after what he had done to his family. He had spent so much time in that tiny vessel, chasing down an ice cold trail his brothers left in the endless expanse of the galaxy, maybe that crash had finally put that journey to an unsatisfying end.

But those thoughts immediately exited his head as he heard someone enter the space, and he turned to see you approaching his resting place. “You’re awake,” you said softly, still at a distance. “That’s good, I was just about to come and change your dressings.”

In that moment Crosshair realized another thing, that his armor was gone. He was wearing the bottom part of his blacks, but there was a loose tunic of unfamiliar fabric resting over his top half. He shifted as he sat up to face you, and he could feel the tightness of bandages wrapping across his right shoulder and upper area of his chest.

“Who are you?” he said, and this version of his voice was alien to even him. It was scratchy and hoarse, a product of both the injuries and the fact that he hadn’t spoken aloud in quite some time. He hoped his tone wasn’t accusatory, especially if you had taken care of him while he was unconscious.

You told him your name as you stepped closer, fresh bandages in your hand. “Your escape pod crashed at the edge of my property and when I found you, I didn’t know how long it would be until you woke up.”

If you woke up. You didn’t say that part, but Crosshair was willing to bet you’d considered it.

“Is the escape pod still functional?” he asked, his voice coming out sharper than it had before. That thing, cramped (and now busted) as it was, was his ticket off this planet.

You stared at him for a moment before responding. You were so close to him now, one hand reaching out to remove his tunic. “I don’t know. It’ll need some new parts and heavy repairs at the very least, but I might be able to make it fly.”

Whew. That was at least something he could work with. “Where can I find-”

At this point you had begun to remove his old bandage dressing, but you stopped as you registered his words, raising your eyebrows. “Woah buddy,” you said. “With your injuries, you’re not going anywhere anytime soon. You need to focus on healing, and then we can tackle the task of your ship.”

He scoffed. Who did you think you were? This was his life, and if he wanted to make terrible decisions he was fully within his right to do that. Besides, the voice in his head he so desperately tried to ignore chimed in, he didn’t deserved to be treated with this kindness. “I need to leave as soon as possible,” he said, his gaze turning steely.

You returned the expression, gesturing down to the bleeding gash on his chest and burns on his shoulder, which were both thanks to his less-than-graceful landing. “Not in this condition.”

“It doesn’t matter what condition I’m in, I need to leave.”

You must have noticed the desperation in his voice, because your tone softened as you began to apply a bacta solution to his shoulder. “Look,” you said. “I don’t know what happened to you, or what you’re looking for beyond this planet, but I do know this. Unless the Empire is seconds behind you, which they aren’t since you’ve been passed out on my couch for over a rotation, leaving hurriedly will do you absolutely no good.”

“How do you know?” he said, too shocked to elaborate but hoping you understood.

“Your armor was a pretty dead giveaway,” you said. “And besides, people who aren’t on the run usually let their wounds fully heal.” He was silent, his mind still attempting to figure out exactly what your game was. “I don’t work for the Empire, that’s one thing I can promise. All I want is to help you, but I can’t do that if I’m worried you’re going to bolt the moment I turn my back.”

“Fine,” he said, though it came out more like a growl than he intended.

A smile crossed your face, clearly happy at the small victory you had won over him. “Excellent,” you said as you finished re-applying his bandages. “And now, since you already know my name, can I ask yours?”

“Crosshair.” He still wasn’t happy about the current state of things, even though he knew it would be for the best.

“It’s nice to meet you Crosshair,” you responded, seemingly not bothered by the annoyance in his voice. “Would you like some soup?” He nodded, and you left the room to fetch it, humming an upbeat tune under your breath as you did so.

As much as he didn’t really want to admit it, something about you made him want to stay, and the thought was terrifying.

Over the next few rotations, Crosshair got a glimpse of what it would be like to settle down. Yes, you lived away from others (there wasn’t another home nearby that he could see), but you didn’t do so out of fear, like he would have (and like other clones who defected were forced to). You grew your own produce, sewed your own clothes from fabrics purchased at the local market, and made a life working as a droid and speeder mechanic. In a different life, Crosshair could see himself going about his days in a similar fashion.

The internal conflict started not long after. The escape pod he had been traveling in turned out to be crushed beyond repair, so you had pulled a decrepit-looking starship from your shed and offered that to him, and he didn’t really have any other options.

You didn’t let him help because the injuries on his chest were still too fresh, but he made himself useful in other ways as he sat on a chair next to where you were working on the ship. “Could you toss me the wrench next to you?”

“The small one or the large one?”

You poked your head out of the ship’s cockpit. “Small one please.” Crosshair nodded and tossed the tool in your direction. “Thanks!”

Kriff, he wanted to stay. But he needed to finish what he started, to find his family and at the very least apologize for not listening to them about the Empire. And while you were so kind, could he really ask you to permanently allow him to live here? He doubted you felt the same way about him that he did about you, so those desires would have to remain in his mind for now.

“Okay, I refitted the hyperdrive and adjusted the control panel in the cockpit,” you said, popping into view and tossing the tools in your hand to the ground with a clatter. “With a new set of converters, she should be able to go as fast as you want her to.”

“When are you going to let me out of your clutches?” Crosshair asked, leaning back slightly in his chair.

“Why, you want to escape or something?” you fired back, raising your eyebrows in his direction as a playful smile crossed your face. “A few rotations probably, once your chest wound closes up more and doesn’t take as much gauze.”

“I don’t want to take up more of your time and resources.”

“Don’t worry about it,” you said. “It’s been nice to have someone else around here.”

Maker, did he want to stay.

But he couldn’t.

In a very Crosshair fashion, he slipped away in the dead of night, the moment his wounds were healed. As much as it hurt not saying goodbye, it would hurt more if your feelings didn’t match his.

***

On the surface, the man standing at the produce stall didn’t really look like Crosshair (for one, he had a rather striking face tattoo), but you could see resemblance in their mannerisms. Or you were just crazy, because there was no way those two could be connected. At this point, you had accepted that Crosshair was not coming back, and that was the end of things.

It had stung, to wake up one morning and see him gone, with the cot he slept in perfectly made and a scrawled note on the pillow thanking you for everything you did. Of course you knew he would leave, but you at least expected that you would be around to say goodbye.

Clearly he didn’t feel the same way about you that you did about him, or this would not have happened. It was stupid, to allow yourself to fall for your temporary houseguest, and you were paying the price for it now. You just didn’t know that paying the price meant you had to be content with seeing ghosts of him at every turn.

You were looking at the homemade sweets one Twi’lek was selling as you watched as a young girl drag the man with the face tattoo over in your direction. “Hunter, let’s get some candy for everyone back at the ship!”

You smiled quickly before turning away, they didn’t need you watching their every move. “Do have leftover credits?”

“Yes, and Crosshair gave me some as well, though I don’t know why.”

Wait.

Crosshair?

Maybe you hadn’t been so incorrect when you noted their facial similarities earlier.

The man and young girl walked up to the booth, and you couldn’t stop the words from falling out of your mouth. “Excuse me, did I hear you say Crosshair?”

The man instantly stood up straighter, a threatening gaze on his face. “What’s it to you?”

But you stood your ground and didn’t back away. “I knew someone by that name,” you said. “I was just wondering if it was the same person, as I’d like to send him a message.”

At this point, you saw the girl’s eyes widen, and you could hear your name in a quiet voice. The man stopped. “What did you say Omega?”

“This is the person who helped Crosshair,” she said excitedly. “That must be why he gave me the extra credits when he heard we were coming to this system!”

The man’s face changed instantly, the threatening expression evaporating in a second. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “But usually, people who talk about my brother aren’t exactly happy to see him.”

You laughed and introduced yourself to the two, moving away from the bustling market to talk. “Crosshair told me a lot about his brothers and sister, but he never told me any of your names.”

The man, who you learned was called Hunter, smiled. “That sounds like Crosshair for sure. He owes you a great deal, for saving his life.”

“He doesn’t owe me anything,” you said, shaking your head. “It’s just nice to know that he found what he was looking for.”

You didn’t say anything about how he left, not sure what he had told his family. “He should have still waited around to say goodbye though,” Omega said, and Hunter stopped.

“How do you know about that?” he asked, and you had the same question.

“I overheard him talking to you and Echo when he first came back and you asked him about his injuries,” she said, before turning her attention back to you. “He really likes you, you know.”

That was certainly news to you. “He does?”

Hunter nodded. “The di’kut just didn’t know what to do, and he made the decision he thought he had to.”

“I wish he would have said something,” you said softly, before you could think twice about it.

“Crosshair won’t admit it, but he feels the same way,” Hunter said.

Omega’s voice was bright as her face lit up with a realization. “You should come back with us!”

Immediately, you shook your head. “No, I don’t think that would be such a good idea,” you said.

“If you’re worried about Crosshair being mad at you, that won’t be an issue,” Hunter said. “But if you’d prefer to move on completely, I understand. We won’t say anything about seeing you here if you don’t want us to.”

You had to admit, the choice was a difficult one. And despite a knot of worry taking hold in your stomach, you eventually agreed to return to the ship with Hunter and Omega. If all went well, you certainly had enough land and resources for your family to grow by six, and if it didn’t, you could always pretend this day never happened.

Omega gave you a hug as you nodded, and soon you were walking with the two of them to the rendezvous point, anxiously staring at the sky. What if Hunter and Omega were wrong? Could you handle that embarrassment?

You wanted to run as a ship descended from the sky, but you stayed rooted in place. As the ramp touched the ground you could see three figures in the doorway, and Omega gleefully shouted across the space. “Hey Crosshair! Look who we ran into at the market!”

Crosshair’s eyes widened as he registered you standing there, and he pushed past the other two people on the platform to step onto the ground. “We’ll give you two some privacy,” Hunter said, shooing both his brothers and Omega back into the ship.

“It wasn’t my idea to come back with them,” you said quickly, still unsure if he was unhappy with the current situation or not.

“I know,” he said. “When I told them how I left, I got a lecture about how I should have said goodbye, and I knew they were right. I need to apologize for that, I didn’t want to take your aid for granted.”

“Why did you leave?” you asked, your voice quiet. “I didn’t truly imprison you, did I?”

“It was the opposite actually,” he said, shaking his head. “I liked spending time with you so much that it terrified me, because I didn’t think you felt the same way. It wasn’t fair of me to do that, but I don’t think I would have been able to resist if you asked me to stay.”

The feeling of worry in your stomach dissipated instantly, and it was replaced with a thunderous herd of butterflies. “Crosshair,” you said kindly, reaching up to softly run your fingertips across his cheek. “I would have never asked that of you, no matter how much I wanted to.”

His hand moved to rest over yours, and the feeling of warmth that overtook your body was honestly a little embarrassing. “I wanted you to ask,” he said. “More than anything. And I thought that these feelings were unimportant, that I could just move past them, but I couldn’t. Eventually it was Hunter who demanded I tell him why I was moping around all the time.”

You smiled. “Well, you’ve seen my place,” you said. “I’d be happy for you and your family to come live there, if you’d be interested.”

“Yes, we would be,” he breathed, his hands moving down to rest on your waist.

Suddenly your faces were much closer than you realized, and your gaze flickered down to his lips. It seemed that Crosshair had the same thought, because he moved even closer. “Can I kiss you?” he asked, the look on his face akin to that of a desperate plea.

Instead of torturing him any longer, you closed the gap between you two, crashing your lips into his. It was everything you’d dreamed of, the feeling of his hands resting on your waist and his lips against yours for the first time something you would remember for the rest of your days.

You were so utterly lost in each other that you didn’t hear the ramp of the ship descend again, but the gleeful shouts of Crosshair’s family did pull you two apart. “Shut up,” Crosshair growled at Hunter, whose grin was the widest of them all.

You smiled, placing a quick peck on his lips. “They’re just happy for you,” you said softly.

“It’s annoying.”

You laughed. “Come on, we can always continue this back home.”

Crosshair’s grip on your waist tightened for a moment. “That better be a promise, mesh’la.”

You just smiled as you pulled away from him, excited to extend your offer to your new family, whether they knew it yet or not.

- the end -

i no longer have a taglist! if you're interested in being notified when i post, you can follow my library blog @ghostofskywalker-library and turn on notifications!

#tbb crosshair #tbb crosshair x reader #tbb crosshair x you #tbb crosshair x female reader #crosshair x reader #crosshair x you #the bad batch x reader

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intricatechaosofyou · 4 months ago

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Potato <3

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intricatechaosofyou · 4 months ago

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To Keep Memories Alive

Pairing: Echo x f!reader

Fandom: The Bad Batch; Star Wars

Summary: The Republic might be gone, but that doesn’t mean the war is over, especially not for the clones. You and Echo manage to find solace in each other. And memories would always remain. But sometimes you just need someone to listen to you.

Based off the song “Ghosts That We Knew” by Mumford & Sons

Lyrics: “And the ghosts that we knew will flicker from view // And we’ll have a long life”

Warnings: angsty, talk of death and loss, hopefully a touching ending!

Author’s note: Happy @cloneficgiftexchange day!! As usual, @ghostofskywalker hosts an amazing event and I’m so grateful to participate!This was such a fun prompt to work with! I saw the characters and the song and knew exactly who I had to write for! Thanks to @akaanade for such a fun idea, and I hope you like what I have for you babe! Happy summer to all the clone lovers <3

━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━

No one exactly knew who decided to create the clones. One day, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi ventured to a planet called Kamino, and the next, the clone army served the Republic.

They fought side by side with their Jedi generals, helping to bring about the end of the Separatist army and restore peace to the galaxy.

Until it all changed.

Suddenly, the Jedi were deemed traitors of the Republic and the clones that once fought with them now had orders to eliminate them.

You remember that day. The smoke from the Temple, the panic in the senate, the day the Republic turned into the Galactic Empire.

And now the Empire was trying to phase out clones, the clones who fought so valiantly in the name of the Republic, and now in the name of the Empire.

As an aide for the Pantoran Senator Chuchi, you worked with her side by side to fight for the rights of the clones.

That’s how you ended up in ties with the unofficial clone rebellion.

There were familiar faces, like Captain Rex and Captain Howzer, distinguished clones you had met before during assignments with Senator Chuchi.

But among the group of identical faces, there were some you knew you hadn’t met before like Fireball and Gregor.

And Echo.

The ex-ARC trooper was unlike any other clone you had met. His bravery and intelligence were unlike anything you had ever seen, not even in a clone trooper.

Between missions, when you had downtime and weren’t required by the Senator. You’d find yourself seeking him out, hoping to hear another story, to hear about his brothers that he held in such high esteem.

You’d hear tales about his days stationed at the Richi Outpost with the Domino Squad, his missions alongside the 501st as an ARC-trooper, and then there were stories about his most recent adventures alongside Clone Force 99, more commonly called the Bad Batch. His stories about the special troopers and the young girl, Omega, who joined them never failed to make you smile.

While you loved all of his stories, the ones about his brother named Fives were always your favorite. You could watch the wistful look in his eyes grow as he recounted their adventures and heroics—and of course, their (mostly Fives’) accidents.

“And when Rex walked in, Fives stood at attention hoping Rex wouldn’t notice the fact he had gotten his bucket stuck on his foot.”

Your laughter echoed through the night air as you listened to the tale from Echo’s ARC-trooper days.

“What did you do?” You managed to get out between your giggles.

Echo chuckled and shook his head. “When Rex asked what Fives had done, I looked him dead in the eyes and asked ‘who’s Fives?’”

“You didn’t!” You gasped, grabbing onto his shoulder in an attempt to keep yourself steady as another bout of laughter came on.

The clone nodded, chuckling quietly to himself at your reaction. Recounting stories of his fallen brothers was often painful. Even the mere thought of them was enough to put him in a stupor for the rest of the day.

But somehow you made his recollections a little lighter. The way you listened so intently, the way you asked questions and got involved in the conversation, the way you would rest your hand on his knee when you noticed his words start to stall and voice started to waver.

As you finally recovered from your fit of laughter, you turned your head to look at Echo only to find him already looking at you with a soft smile.

A warmth bloomed in your stomach at his expression and you found yourself matching his smile. There was something about the way he looked at you that made you feel giddy despite yourself.

“What?” You asked.

Echo’s answer was immediate. “Thank you for listening.”

Although it was a simple thanks, there was a deeper meaning behind his words.

It wasn’t just a thank you for listening, it was a thank you for being there with him, a thank you for your kind smile, a thank you for reminding him that there was still good in the galaxy after everything he had lost. You gave him hope that one day he’d see the light again.

And maybe he’d express all of that to one day. But for now, his simple thank you would have to do.

You grinned at him. “Anytime, Echo. I love your stories.”

You laid your hand on his shoulder, leaning towards him and planting a kiss on his cheek.

A small part of you relished the way he flushed at the action.

“They’re hard to tell sometimes,” he admits, glancing up at the stars above your heads.

You nodded, keeping your hand on his shoulder as you noticed his somber tone.

“But that’s why it’s good to tell them. Your brothers live on in your stories, they’re not just memories anymore.”

You let your hand slide down his shoulder until it reached his own good hand. You tangled your fingers with his, giving his palm a gentle squeeze.

He turned his head to you, gently pressing your foreheads together. He had told you about this gesture before. It was a Keldabe kiss, a tradition of the Mandalorians. And in moments like these, it felt more intimate than a normal kiss.

Maybe one day the fighting would stop and things would settle down once the peace returned. And as Echo sat with you in a moment of serenity, he was sure of it: the ghosts that he knew would flicker from view, and the two of you would have a long life.

#SFE24 #star wars #star wars tbb #star wars the bad batch #star wars the clone wars #tbb starwars #the bad batch star wars #tbb echo x reader #echo the bad batch #tbb echo #arc trooper echo #echo x reader #echo x you #echo x fem!reader

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intricatechaosofyou · 4 months ago

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It’s the first day of August 1893 2024!!

happy tuck everlasting day to all who celebrate

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intricatechaosofyou · 6 months ago

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WE ARE BACK BABY

the second clone exchange of the year is looking for the song(s) of the summer! Sign ups for this event close on June 21, 2024, at 5 PM EST.

here’s how the exchange will work:

1. Read over this post, reblog it to the blog you want to participate with, and fill out the sign up form linked below!! The event’s rules will be available on the sign up form for you to agree to, but you can also find them HERE!

When you sign up, you’ll choose which of the clones you would like to receive an xreader fic about. Because this event is random, I require participants to at least be comfortable writing and reading for Cody, so no one gets an assignment they can’t fulfill.

You’ll also give a prompt that the person who has you will use in their fic! This time, prompts will be song lyrics, which can be used as either dialogue prompts or just general vibe prompts. however, a song can only be on the prompt list once, so it's advised that you have a backup choice just in case the one you sign up with is already taken!

2. A day or two after sign ups end (extra time has been allotted to make sure there are no repeat songs on the list), you will receive two emails from me:

I’ll be using a secret santa website to do the matching, so one email will come from that website, and it will tell you who you will be writing for. I can easily randomize the assignments this way, and it ensures that everyone has a match.

The second email will come from this blog’s event email ([email protected]) and it will have posting information, general information for the participants, and a document of all the prompts. Once you find out from the secret santa website who your person is, you just need to find them on the list to see your prompt and the characters you have the option of writing for.

3. You will have about six weeks to write your fic, and the word minimum is 800 words. On Saturday, August 10th, participants will post their fics to tumblr. I’ll send out more details about posting when the event gets closer, so don’t worry about that. I will also put together a list of all the fics when the event is over, which will be linked on the blog’s pinned post with the other past exchanges.

you can sign up here!!

please feel free to reach out to me with any questions! hope to see you in the signups :)

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intricatechaosofyou · 6 months ago

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This discourse telling bi women to leave their boyfriends at home during pride is absolutely ridiculous for so many reasons, main one being is that allies are allowed to go to pride, you know that right? People have to also let go of this idea that they can 'tell' who is queer. No you can't! Plenty of trans men pass as cis men, and plenty of bi women date bi men.

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intricatechaosofyou · 7 months ago

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Only crying a little bit 😭

Happy last bad batch eve guys

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intricatechaosofyou · 8 months ago

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The Right Wrong Turn

Pairing: Crosshair x f!reader

Fandom: The Bad Batch; Star Wars

Summary: A hiccup in the mission ends up with you on a rooftop with the Batch’s sniper. Using the prompt “This did not go the way I expected.”

Warnings: 18+!!!!, blasters, shootouts, cursing, some sexual tension, a couple of references to lines in season 3 but NO SPOILERS (tell me if you find my references though ;) !!)

Author’s note: Happy Bad Batch season my loves!! Our boys are back and I couldn’t be happier (or sadder). I had the privilege of writing for @urfriendlyneighbornightfury so I hope you enjoy this babe! I had so much fun writing it. Italics indicate small flashbacks. Also, please keep in mind that this is post-Echo but pre-Order 66.

The Bad Batch has meant so much to me over the years and while it feels like the end has come far too quickly, I’m grateful for everything it’s done for me and the rest of the Star Wars community! Thank you to @ghostofskywalker / @cloneficgiftexchange for putting on this event!! I’m so grateful to participate in this huge event!!

Sending everyone a Wrecker-sized hug and a happy season 3!! <3

━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━

You panted as you made a sharp turn down an alleyway, trying to lose your pursuers.

It was supposed to be a simple mission: sneak in while Hunter and Wrecker distracted the guards, download a few files, then Echo and Tech would pick you all up in the Marauder.

What you hadn’t planned for, however, was the heavy encryption on the files you needed.

———————

“Tech, I thought you said I just had to plug this data stick in and the files would download!” You whispered into your comm as a red screen appeared on the datapad.

“Theoretically, that should be all you have to do. However, I do suppose the encryptions on the files could prevent the transfer,” Tech replied, his static voice from the comm making you angrier by the second.

Your failed attempts at transferring the files had set off the alarm. You needed to get out of there, but you needed those files first.

“Keep the data stick in,” Tech requested. “I can undo the encryption from my end and transfer the files manually.”

A blaster shot fired right past your shoulder and you immediately ducked behind the large desk in the office. Sneaking a look, you counted three guards with their blasters pulled on you.

Kriff. You had to get out of there.

“Cross,” you hissed into your comm as you pulled your blaster from its holster on your hip.

You didn’t even have to finish your sentence before you heard the sniper’s voice crackle through the comm.

“I’ve got eyes on them. I take middle.”

You couldn’t see him on the next rooftop over, but you knew he was already lining up his shot through the large glass window behind the desk you were hiding behind.

“No fair. I wanted middle this time,” you answered, a smirk forming on your face.

Crosshair tutted. “Too bad, sweets.”

You rolled your eyes as you shifted your blaster in your hands, getting ready to fire.

As soon as Crosshair’s shot came through, shattering the window behind you and killing the assailant in the middle, you stood and shot the two remaining.

“Tech, how’re we looking?” You questioned.

“Files are transferred. Make your way back to the Marauder.”

You grabbed the data stick and booked it to the stairs just as another group of guards bursted into the office.

———————

You thought that they’d give up once you exited the building, but they were still managing to follow you through the busy streets of Bracca.

It was getting harder to lose the guards behind you as you dashed through the streets. One wrong turn and you knew you were in deep trouble.

As you turned down the next alleyway in hopes that you’d finally outpace the guards you heard someone hiss your name.

Looking up you found Crosshair, leaning over the roof of a nearby building, hand outstretched to you.

“Hurry up before those di’kuts catch up.”

You smiled and grabbed his hand, allowing him to hoist you up onto the roof.

“Could’ve used some help earlier, Cro—“

The clone’s hand covered your mouth before you could finish your snarky comment, pushing you to lay down the cold metal roof as he followed suit, laying halfway on top of you as the guards flooded into the alley in pursuit of you.

He lowered his head, sharp eyes watching the guards, ensuring that they didn’t spot the two of you.

But you? You watched him.

He had shed his bucket before helping you onto the roof, granting you full freedom to ogle at his face. You watched the way his eyes darted across the length of the alley, the way jaw clenched every time a guard spoke, the way his lips were parted as he took slow, steady breaths.

Suddenly, the chill of the night was replaced with a heavy heat and you were overcome with the need to move out from under him.

The hard plastoid of his armor dug into your skin as you attempted to shift out from underneath him. But your movement only caused him to hold you down harder, his free hand pressing your hips down to keep you from squirming.

You stifled a frustrated groan, going to shift again but the way he turned to look at you made you freeze. He stared you down, almost daring you to move again.

Unfortunately for him, you loved getting under his skin.

You tried to shift out from under him again, accepting the unspoken challenge from the sniper.

He retaliated, pressing his entire forearm against your hips to prevent your movements.

With a huff, you realized this might be one battle you wouldn’t win. You resigned yourself to watching him again as he took a glance back at the alley.

When his eyes found yours again, he finally took his hand away from your mouth but his arm across your hips stayed in place.

“You nearly got us caught,” he hissed.

“Yeah, well, this didn’t go the way I expected,” you replied, a sarcastic smile on your face as you once again attempted to get out from under him.

The way he put more weight on your hips told you he wasn’t letting you go that easy. “What did you expect? That I’d just let you stand around up here and let the guards catch both of us?” He questioned.

“Stow it,” you demanded, trying to ignore the way your face felt hot. “We need to get back to the Marauder.”

“Not until you answer my question, sweets.”

You huffed, letting your head fall back. Maker, this man was stubborn. “Don’t call me that. You know I hate it.”

“Hate what, sweets?”

“You calling me that!”

“Why, sweets?”

You bit back a snarl at the way he emphasized the name just for the sake of driving you crazy. “I said stow it.”

“What’re you gonna do about it? I seem to have the upper hand, sweets.”

You hated the way his lips curled up into his signature smirk as the nickname left his mouth. Your hands acted on their own accord as they grabbed his face and crashed his lips onto yours. His response was automatic, hands coming to cradle your face to bring you closer to himself.

The kiss was a mess of tongue and teeth, both of you still in an attempt to win an imaginary battle against the other. He pushed you and you pushed back harder against him. Around and around you two went in desperate attempts to put the other in their place…until Crosshair’s comm sounded.

The sniper let out a discontented huff as your mouth left his as you pulled the comm from the belt at his hips.

“We’re still on a mission, sweets,” you reminded him, reveling in the way his jaw ticked as you used the nickname against him before turning back to the comm and assuring Hunter that you and Crosshair were en route to the Marauder. “We gotta get going.”

Despite his groaning, he still shifted off of you and offered you a hand to help you stand up.

You brushed yourself off and took in Crosshair’s usual frown. “Cheer up, Cross.”

“I don’t like being interrupted,” he replied, pulling a toothpick from the pocket on his belt.

Shrugging, you grabbed the toothpick from his hand and put it in your own mouth. “Don’t worry. We’ll finish this later.”

The corners of Crosshair’s mouth ticked up at your insinuation. “I like that plan, sweets.”

Although you rolled your eyes, you couldn’t help the fond smile from growing on your face. Instead of granting him a response you simply turned and started the trek back to the Marauder with Crosshair right beside you, his hand resting on the small of your back. Yeah, you’d definitely be finishing this later.

#tbb crosshair x reader #crosshair the bad batch #tbb crosshair #the bad batch crosshair #clone trooper crosshair #crosshair x reader #star wars tbb #the bad batch star wars #star wars #star wars the bad batch #tbbe24 #tbb starwars #star wars the clone wars #bad batch crosshair

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intricatechaosofyou · 9 months ago

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It’s here!! ❤️🖤

sign ups are officially open, and it's just in time for us to see the bad batch return to our screens for season 3! Sign ups for this event close on February 25, 2024, at 2 PM EST.

here’s how the exchange will work:

1. Read over this post, reblog it to the blog you want to participate with, and fill out the sign up form linked below!! The event's rules will be available on the sign up form for you to agree to, but you can also find them HERE!

When you sign up, you’ll choose which bad batchers you would like to read about. Because this event is random, I require participants to at least be comfortable writing and reading for Hunter, so no one gets an assignment they can't fulfill. You’ll also give a few prompts that the person who has you will use in their fic!

2. The day after sign ups end, you will receive two emails from me:

3. You will have about six weeks to write your fic, and the word minimum is 800 words. On Saturday, April 13th, participants will post their fics to tumblr. I’ll send out more details about posting when the event gets closer, so don’t worry about that. I will also put together a list of all the fics when the event is over, which will be linked on the blog’s pinned post with the other past exchanges.

you can sign up here!!

tagging those who said they were interested: @ladyanidala @dragonrider9905 @urfriendlyneighbornightfury @lizartgurl @intricatechaosofyou @flyiingsly @freesia-writes @frostycatblr-fandom-files @rosegold-darling @knightprincess @lightwise @skellymom @masterjedilenawrites @hexerein @apocalyp-tech-a

#TBBE24

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intricatechaosofyou · 10 months ago

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HAPPY CODY DAY MY LOVES!! 🧡🤍

happy cody day!!!!!!

#commander cody #cody day 2224 #star wars #star wars the clone wars #cody day 2024

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intricatechaosofyou · 1 year ago

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Sewing Lessons

Fandom: The Bad Batch; Star Wars

Summary: Life Day is quickly approaching, so you and Omega set out to give your boys some gifts.

Using the prompts “Did you get us matching pajamas?”

Warnings: sewing needles (no one gets poked, they just exist), kissing, I am unaware if mistletoe is a thing in the Star Wars universe but it is now so deal with it

Author’s note: Happy Life Day Exchange @wizardmandoo !! It was great getting to write for you. I hope you enjoy this story and have a fantastic Life Day season, babe!

And thank you to @cloneficgiftexchange for putting this together!! This was my first exchange and I’m so glad to take part!

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Strands of green hung around Omega’s door frame as she sat in the gunner’s mount that served as her makeshift room. The young girl had never experienced a real Life Day before. Kamino wasn’t known for their festivities; the long-necks claimed they took away from their work time. So although the boys didn’t have much experience actually celebrating the holiday either, they all tried their best to give Omega a perfect first Life Day.

Hunter had let you all stop for a few days on a snowy planet. With enough supplies, he figured you could take a break somewhere festive for the holiday.

Wrecker had let Omega sit atop his shoulders to hang up homemade garland around the Marauder.

Tech had taught her about the history behind the holiday, telling her everything he had learned from the Holonet.

Crosshair had taught her to make the perfect snowball and helped her perfect her aim.

And Echo told her stories every night before bed he had heard back during his days celebrating Life Day in the 501st.

Yes, all the boys had done their best to give Omega a perfect Life Day. But Omega was even more excited to give them a perfect Life Day. The girl had the biggest heart, so that’s how you found yourself crammed in the gunner’s mount with her, carefully watching as she stitched her design.

She had wanted to give the boys gifts, and when you recommended pajama pants, she jumped at the idea. The boys only had their blacks and sometimes the Marauder could get cold, even for them.

So the two of you found the perfect red and black pants that would match the team’s colors, and Omega was insistent on adding the Clone Force 99 symbol onto the pants, skull and all.

“It’ll be perfect!” She claimed.

So you found the sewing kit you kept in case someone’s clothes needed repair and showed her how to sew.

The girl was very intent in her escapades, listening and watching your stitching intently. She put her all into making the design. And when she was disappointed about her stitches being crooked, you reassured her that her brothers would love them no matter how they looked.

“I’m done with Tech’s,” she announced, holding up the pants to show the freshly sewn design on the left leg.

“Perfect, Megs. Now only Echo’s and Hunter’s left.” You took the garment from her and folded them up to add them to the pile of finished gifts.

She nodded and began to thread her needle when Wrecker called her name from the cockpit.

“I got something else to hang up!” He called.

Placing her supplies down, she rushed down the ladder to help Wrecker hang up another decoration.

You laughed and climbed down from her room as she took off. You smiled at the small girl before looking to your left, finding Hunter leaning against the wall, arms crossed across his chest.

“Hey there, Sarge,” you smiled.

He smiled and glanced over at Omega. “You two are certainly spending a lot of time up there.”

“Just having a little girl time.”

His eyebrow raised at your response. Although it wasn’t a complete lie, it wasn’t the complete truth either.

“Anything I should be concerned about?” He questioned.

You adamantly shook your head. “Nope!”

He smirked and leaned in to whisper in your ear so Omega wouldn’t overhear him. “No Life Day gifts hidden up there?”

You gasped and gently hit his arm. “How dare you accuse us of hiding something!”

He rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t move away from you. “Don’t worry, I won’t ruin the surprise, cyar’ika.”

“You better not,” you retorted as Omega came rushing back up to the two of you.

She immediately grabbed your hand and tugged you back towards her project. You didn’t resist the girl’s pull and sent Hunter a wink before heading back to Omega’s little room.

———————

The seven of you sat in the middle of the hull of the Marauder. Omega had practically been bouncing off the walls as the time to exchange gifts came around. She happily handed each of them their gifts. Even though you didn’t have enough credits to wrap them in something nice, it was clear by the look on their faces that they appreciated the gesture.

As they unfolded the garments, Hunter smiled at you. “Did you get us matching pajamas?”

You nodded and gestured to the girl beside you. “Megs is the mastermind behind this one. She wanted to do something special for you boys.”

“Do you like it?” The young girl asked, eyes sparkling in anticipation.

“They’re perfect, Omega,” Echo replied.

“They’ve even got our symbol on ‘em!” Wrecker shouted, glee evident in his voice as he held up the pants. “Looks great!”

Omega smiled and happily retold the story of sewing the symbol on as the boys listened, indulging her in the exaggerated tale. Even Crosshair had a small smile on his face as Omega spoke.

You happily listened along from your spot on the floor when you felt a hand on your shoulder. Looking up, you found Hunter standing above you. Subtly, he tilted his head towards the doorway of the cockpit.

Getting the message, you nodded and stood up, careful not to interrupt Omega’s story as you two made your way to the cockpit.

“What’s up, Hunter?” You asked, voice barely above a whisper as you stood in the doorway.

There was a pause as he considered his next words, fingers twitching as if he was twirling his vibroblade between them.

“I wanted to thank you. For the pants,” he finally said.

“Megs and I just want our boys to be comfortable,” you responded, heat blooming in your chest. “Thanks for not spoiling the surprise.”

A smirk made its way onto his face and he leaned back against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. “So you two were hiding Life Day gifts.”

“We weren’t hiding anything. We just evaded your senses,” you lied, smiling innocently at the sergeant.

Hunter clicked his tongue. “Nothing evades my senses, cyar’ika.”

You tensed slightly, wondering if that was true. Could he hear the way your heart was fluttering in your chest? Could he see the way you smiled just a little bit bigger when you saw him? Could he feel how your skin was always warm when he was around?

Hunter opened his mouth, no doubt to tease you again, when Crosshair’s voice rang out through the ship.

“The mistletoe seemed to evade your senses though.”

You glanced at the team’s sniper, brow furrowing before looking above your head.

There it was. A small plant hung from the cockpit’s doorway: the new decoration Omega and Wrecker had hung up a few days prior.

Glancing back at Crosshair, you found that the rest of the team was staring at you.

“What‘s so important about mistletoe?” Omega asked innocently.

“It means they gotta kiss,” Echo explained, a teasing lilt in his voice as he glanced at the two of you.

“Technically—“

Tech was quickly cut off when Wrecker shoved him.

“Shush!”

You turned back to Hunter, slightly confused when you saw the small smirk on his face.

“Hunter…”

One of his hands came up to cradle your jaw, tilting your face towards his.

He leaned in, nose brushing yours. “I told you. Nothing evades my senses.”

Before you could respond, you felt his lips press against yours. It was completely intoxicating, and you grabbed his shoulders to keep yourself steady. The kiss was filled with such precision, every movement careful but filled with such feeling, you felt like you were drowning in him.

As Hunter pulled back from you, the rest of the world came crashing back on you. The cheers of his brothers, the feel of his blacks beneath your fingers, and yet you could only focus on his eyes and how they remained fixed on you.

You, stumbling over yourself as your mind tried to catch up.

Your head spun as you connected the dots, the fact he brought you over here purposely, knowing the mistletoe hung above you.

Just to kiss you?

It seemed surreal, the ghost of Hunter’s lips still on yours. But it was real.

A smirk spread across your lips. “I’m glad you liked the present.”

“That’s all you have to say?” He asked.

“Happy Life Day,” you whispered, before reconnecting your lips, earning another round of hoots and hollers from his brothers and Omega.

And as you two rejoined the group, Hunter’s arm draped across your waist, you smiled to yourself. Happy Life Day indeed.

#LDE23 #the clone wars #hunter tbb x reader #tbb hunter x reader #clone x reader #tbb starwars #hunter tbb #star wars tbb #star wars the bad batch #star wars the clone wars

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