Crosshair had the expression of a disgruntled tooka as he stirred awake. The beginnings of a migraine were already starting to form. Last night had been a whirlwind of blasterfire, explosions, shouting, and... freedom. 

    Oh yeah.

    He shifted to his side, squinting against the warm light streaming into the room. It was a stark contrast to the cold clinical lights that burned his retinas whenever he awoke strapped to that nightmarish lab table.

  His sharp eyes roved around the room, instantly drawn to the other convalescent occupying the bed across from him. Underneath the blankets, bandaging, and medical machines, he could just make out the slack face of his unconscious brother. A dark skinned woman sat at the bedside.

    "Tech," rasped Crosshair, his disused voice coming out just above a whisper.

    The unfamiliar woman snapped her head over in his direction.

    "Well, now. Look who's up." She greeted him with an all too knowing grin that instantly grated on him. She leaned over to inform Tech. "You better get up soon 'cause your Toothpick here looks like he wants to eat me alive. Not that he can walk very far though."

    Crosshair's furious glare had little effect on her. "Where... am I?"

    "If I tell you, are you gonna radio your Imperial friends and rat us out?" asked the woman, standing to mercifully pour the trooper a drink.

    With more effort than he would've liked, he struggled into a sitting position, accepting the drink with a tremulous hand. After a long sip, he replied, "They're not my friends. I don't have any."

    The woman hummed. "Hm. I can see why with that attitude." Before he could make his indignation known, she finally answered him, "You're on Pabu. One of the few places the Empire hasn't sunk its claws in. You're safe now, Toothpick."

    "It's Crosshair," corrected the sharpshooter vehemently. 

    She made an unnecessary show of looking him up and down, smirking. "Nah, Toothpick suits you."

    "For a nurse, your bedside manner is lacking," sneered Crosshair, hoping to make a jab at this nuisance.

    To him, this seemed to be a rather reasonable assumption. After all, why else would a woman be hanging around the clones? 

    Instead, the woman had the nerve to laugh. "Oh, no, no. I'm Phee, a liberator of ancient wonders."

    Crosshair would read between the lines, bluntly commenting, "So you're a thief."

    "Liberator of ancient wonders," emphasized Phee, making an unnecessary grand gesture with her hand.

    "Hmmph," scoffed Crosshair. "Thief."

    He scrutinized her, now extremely suspicious why she was hanging around. "What do you want?"

    "That's a very good question," deflected Phee. "You could say my latest treasure hunt has put me on the path of something priceless."

    Crosshair bristled when her gaze minutely shifted to Tech. He knew he and his squad mates were valuable assets. While she didn't seem to be on friendly terms with the Empire, that wasn't to say she still didn't deal with sleemos of other sorts.

    However, she gave off a mostly harmless air as she attempted to wave off his animosity, "Cool it with the glare, Toothpick. You're face might get stuck like that. Since you're up, I'm going to drag your siblings in here to deal with your sour attitude. Try not to look too upset about being alive."

    She ignored Crosshair's call to her as she disappeared through the threshold. 

    He huffed and sunk back against the pillows. Great. His siblings were guaranteed not to give him a second of peace. Hunter would harp on his horrible decisions with Echo backing him up with a scowl. Wrecker, who had no sense volume, would probably bellow on and on about how glad he was that the squad was finally back together. And Omega, that sunshine brat, would stare at him with the same watery eyes he'd seen a million times before and cannonball into his side for an over emotional hug.

    He looked over to his younger brother, wondering what had happened and wishing he was awake. Out of everyone, he'd been the most sensical, which made sense considering that was what he had been genetically engineered to be. But if he had to name a brother as "least annoying," that title would probably belong to Tech. Sure, he could ramble for hours about the flight patterns of aiwhas, but he wasn't one to judge or have an emotional outburst. He was blunt and straight to the point, how Crosshair liked things.

    "Crosshair!"

    As expected, Omega came joyously barreling into the room at an alarming speed for a kid with a cast around her ankle. Her brothers were close behind her, appearing the worse for wear. Before his brothers completely enclosed around his bedside, Crosshair caught a glimpse of Phee just outside with a satisfied smile.

    Apart from Omega, the squad's reactions were a lot more... muted than he expected. Their bodies sagged with fatigue as they warily greeted their estranged teammate as if they expected him to snap at them. From their previous encounters, such suspicion was not unwarranted. 

    The sharpshooter found himself equally as weary, not finding the energy to keep up the act of being anything but relieved to be among his family again. Omega burrowed herself further into his side when he hesitantly settled his bony hand atop her head.

    He soon understood the haunted expressions of his brothers as they recounted the events leading up to his rescue. Some of his former venom returned to his voice as he asked, "What happened to Plan 88?"

    Of course being rescued was a best case scenario that he hadn't even let himself hope for while in the clutches of Hemlock, but he'd gone through a good deal of pain to get that message out. His life wasn't worth it if it meant trading it for one of his brother's. Guilt burrowed deeper into his heart as he was informed that it was Tech who had been so adamant about saving him.

    He scowled at his heavily injured brother, hoping he could hear. "Self-sacrificial, di'kut." Hunter frowned and quickly moved to cover Omega's ears at the snipers's foul language. "How are you so bad with numbers?"

    No one missed the emotion that colored his harsh words. They all looked to Tech as if expecting him to spring awake to deny such a remark. Their youngest brother didn't so much as twitch.

    He remained the same over the next few days. Crosshair observed him closely and refused to leave his side, desperately searching for any sign of life. He would never forgive himself if Tech had sacrificed himself for him.

    Eventually though, his siblings cajoled him to start joining in on "family meals" because "it would be good for him to get fresh air." Crosshair hated the trips to the meal table. Why did this stupid island have so many stairs? It was humiliating to stumble and grip the railing for breaks every other step. At least with the threat that he would bite anyone who tried carrying him, Wrecker kept his hands to himself.

    Sitting at the table was far more pleasant. It lacked the militaristic atmosphere of the mess hall. Here, everyone was so...domestic. 

    When Phee excused herself mid-meal, Crosshair questioned his family the moment she was out of earshot. "What is her deal?" The question came out more bitter than he intended but Omega still answered him happily.

    "Phee? She's awesome. She's been helping us out since Cid kinda..." Omega's voice trailed off. A sad expression shadowing her features. 

    "Left us for dead," finished Hunter candidly, harboring no such lingering fondness for the Trandoshan.

    Crosshair had no idea who this Cid person was, but they were an absolute idiot for crossing his family.

    Wrecker supplied in a singsong tone, bringing the subject back around to the mysterious pirate woman, "She's Tech's ~lady friend."

    To be fair, Crosshair had suspected it with how often Phee hung around the sick ward but to hear such casual confirmation from Wrecker rocked his world. Thank goodness he wasn't eating or drinking anything at that moment because he most certainly would've choked.

    "Yeah, 'n Riyo here seems to really like Echo," added Wrecker, unintentionally answering Crosshair's curiosity about the Pantoran that was seated at the table with them. "Look at our reg, baggin' a senator."

    The abnormally large trooper pointed to the end of the table where Echo and Riyo abruptly dropped off from their lively conversation. He was completely unaware of how he added to the bombshell he just dropped on his estranged brother.

    "Wrecker, that is inappropriate," scolded Echo.

    "Well, I'm only blind in one eye, not both," shot back Wrecker.

    Riyo didn't join in the squabble, maintaining an impressive neutral expression, though Crosshair subconsciously noted the beginnings of a violet blush on her cheeks.

    Hunter sat back and crossed his arms, watching the chaos unfold with a bemused expression. Omega also observed with a wide grin.

    After a long moment, Crosshair blinked, the situation finally clicking in his mind. "You're telling me that while I was being tortured, the two most awkward members of our squad got themselves girls?"

    Echo once again protested, though his words fell on deaf ears as Crosshair still worked through his befuddlement. How in the galaxy had that happened? What sort of sorcery had he missed while he was away? There was no logical explanation for why a female would have an interest in Tech or Echo of all clones.

    He was broken from his muddled train of thoughts when Phee came rushing back to the table, sheer joy evident on her face as she breathlessly reported, "Brown Eyes, is waking up."

    Those seated around the table jumped up, running to the sick ward as fast as they could, which for Crosshair's atrophied legs, wasn't very fast. However, he arrived just in time to get an eyeful of Phee leaning over to plant a kiss on Tech's lips. 

    He struggled to scrape his jaw off the floor. Curse his genetically enhanced eyesight. Hearing the news was shocking enough, but seeing proof was an entirely new beast to deal with. Once again, he was questioning everything he had ever known. He doubted even Tech himself knew he had enough charisma to have a full conversation with a girl without confusing or boring her.

    Tech had a dazed, mildly surprised expression as he struggled to focus his gaze on the people standing around him. "That was not... e'pected," he quipped in a slow, strained voice.

    "Tech!" 

    His family joyously crowded in closer. Omega climbed around Phee to hug Tech, sobbing into his shoulder.

    "Don't you ever scare us like that again!" admonished Wrecker, barely keeping his own tears at bay.

    The celebratory spirit began dying away as it became clear just how extensive his injuries were. The middle of his spine was shattered from the fall. While they had been able to semi-repair the damage, it was unlikely he'd ever walk again. His hands twitched and jerked erratically at his sides. Gone were his fine-tuned reflexes. Even his voice did not obey his body's commands. The more he spoke, the more he stumbled over words, struggling to form certain syllables and remember the large vocabulary he had amassed over the years.

    Already, they could see the frustration brewing beneath his ungoggled eyes. His brilliant mind was still intact, but it would take time relearning the basics and forging new neural pathways. Who knew if he would ever return to his former ability.

    "Hey, Brown Eyes. We're gonna make it," encouraged Phee softly.

    As much as Crosshair wanted to agree with such a sentiment, he did not particularly like that it was coming from Phee as he still did not know what to make of this outsider. His family seemed familiar with her—far too familiar for his liking in some cases—and it annoyed him for some reason. Trust did not come easy for him. Had they not checked to see if she had any unscrupulous motives?

    Over the next few days, Crosshair's demeanor became rather insufferable, not nearly as bad as when he was under the influence of the chip, but still insufferable. He knew exactly what he was doing though. If no one could stand his presence then they didn't deserve to be in the presence of his brothers. Besides, how good could a pirate and politician truly be?

    Echo finally had to confer with Tech as Crosshair's waspish attitude grated on his nerves. "What is Crosshair's issue?"

    Tech looked up, pausing in his exercises to strengthen his hands as he focused on processing Echo's question. "Phee an' Ch–ch... blue?"

    "Yeah," huffed Echo, biting back a chuckle at Tech's description of Riyo. "Like I get it's 'in his nature' but c'mon. He could stand to be a bit nicer. It won't kill him."

    "Cross-hair... cares. Like you firs' join'," explained Tech haltingly, clearly frustrated by his inability to explain more articulately.

    Echo pulled a face as he remembered the rough adjustment of fitting in with the Bad Batch. The sharpshooter had been a menace, ridiculing him at seemingly every turn. But a light of understanding dawned in his expression. In retrospect, he saw how Crosshair had pushed his buttons to test him, to see if he was loyal to the squad. It was his way of protecting his brothers lest they get overly attached to a reg who wasn't worth their time.

    Somewhere along the way, Echo had gained Crosshair's respect. Well... as much respect as one could expect from him. When it came down to it, Crosshair had always had his back. 

    "You think he's trying to test Phee and Riyo?"

    Tech nodded. "Bad met'...od, but m-eans well."

    While he hated the disrespect Crosshair was dishing out to the women, Echo softened just slightly. Phee and Riyo were resilient and more than capable of fending for themselves. It was a matter of waiting to see if Crosshair would finally accept the growing family. In a way, it was refreshing to see that, even after all this time away from his brothers and acting as the enemy, deep down, Crosshair still felt protective towards them.

~~~~~~

    Apparently, Crosshair deliberately messing with Phee's collection as she tried organizing her latest haul was enough to make her finally confront him on his behavior. "Alright, Toothpick. I'll bite. What's been eating ya?"

    To be fair, in all his observations of her, she had annoyingly passed all his arbitrary expectations with flying colors. She could fly, adapt to the changing galaxy, and seemed to get along with his siblings, even himself as she took all his biting remarks in stride, teasing back with her own on occasion. But most importantly, she was always there for Tech. Her occupation was bizarre and needlessly hazardous, but if Tech had to like someone, Phee wasn't all that bad an option in Crosshair's evolved opinion. 

    When they interacted, they were gross and sappy in a way that made his stomach turn, but he'd never seen Tech smile like that. And it wasn't from the head injury. His little brother liked her, actually liked her, and she appeared to reciprocate. That was frightening because it mystified Crosshair how she could fall in love with a clone. Was she genuine? He had yet to decide that under her suave bravado. 

    He feigned ignorance, kicking a crate to the side with unnecessary force. "I don't know what you're talking about."

    Phee wagged a finger in his direction and placed an odd tree carving on a shelf. "Nuh-uh. You don't get to play dumb with me. I don't like making enemies, especially out of Brown Eyes' relatives."

    Crosshair paused in his move to displace the tree. He shot to the heart of his doubt point blank. "Why a clone? Why Tech? He's broken enough as it is."

    "Broken?" Phee cast him a doubtful and slightly affronted expression. "I think your eyes need to be checked."

    Her hand hovered over a small bowl that had clearly been shattered at some point in its life. Along the fracture lines, gold seams glued the piece together again. "He's changed, but I think that just adds to the beauty of the final masterpiece."

    He deepened his glare at her, unswayed . His big brother instincts roaring to life. "Don't play games with Tech. He's not some trinket to be won."

    Phee turned away from her organizing altogether. She matched his solemn expression and straightened her shoulders. "I know."

    "Then what are you after? What do you want from him?" bit out Crosshair.

    Realizing his animosity towards her was growing by the second, Phee tried assuring him, "Not everyone in the galaxy is out to hurt you—"

    Crosshair cut her off, "This isn't about me. Answer the question!"

    He was pleased to see she didn't fire off a rapid response and instead paused momentarily to truly consider her words.

    "I want... to see him smile. I think he deserves a bit of peace. You all do."

    He let the silence between them hang in the air for an uncomfortably long time before finally commenting in a snarky tone, "Well, I think he smiles plenty around you."

    It took a moment for Phee to decipher whether he was trying to insult her or not. She uncrossed her arms, a grin spreading across her face as she slowly realized, "You son of a Hutt, you were testing me, weren't you?

    He shrugged noncommittally, the barest hint of a smirk forming on his lips.

    The tension drained from the atmosphere.

    "Did I pass?" asked Phee curiously.

    Crosshair answered her question in his own. "Isn't about time you run off together to geek over sunsets?"

    Phee gave him a playful knock in the shoulder as she brushed past him. "Glad to see you have a heart after all, Toothpick." She offered, "You're always welcome to join us. It's a beautiful galaxy. You just have to know where to look."

    Crosshair declined. He may have approved but that didn't mean he wasn't weirded out by their romantic gestures. His little brother, in love? How wonderful yet revolting at the same time.

    The next time he interacted with Tech, he couldn't quite avoid the proud, knowing expression of the batch's resident strategist. He plucked up enough courage to muster a self-satisfied smirk at his brother. Tech understood his message loud and clear, affirming what he had known all along, Crosshair did indeed care.

    With Phee given his stamp of approval, Crosshair set his sights more fully on Riyo who was annoyingly good at maintaining an air of composure and ignoring him. Similar to Omega, she had an idealistic attitude that grated on Crosshair. More so because what right did a politician have to such fanciful ideas of a better future for the clones? Their miserable fate was set in stone before they were first decanted.

    Echo may have liked to boast of Riyo's vigor in the Senate, but Crosshair had yet to see any of that while she hid away on Pabu. She moved with the refinement and poise of one who hadn't experienced the hardships of war. While generally kind to everyone, she had a politician's mask in place, making her rather hard for Crosshair to read. There had to be some underlying motive. She was too soft. In Crosshair's opinion, she was more of a liability than an asset.

    "If you think you'll protect yourself with that shot, you're dead wrong. I've seen one year cadets shoot better than that," heckled Crosshair from the sidelines as Riyo practiced with a DC-17. She tended to prefer the cooler hours of the evening due to the heated climate of Pabu.

    If she was off put by such a direct insult, she gave no indication of acknowledgment. Yet, when he loudly pointed out what she was doing wrong, she made the appropriate adjustments to her form. Just a few shots later and her aim had already markedly improved.

    Crosshair tried again to elicit a reaction, sneering, "Were there not enough clones on Coruscant to fit your tastes? You see one reg you've seen them all."

    "I'm not a bucket bunny if that's what you're trying to imply," frowned Riyo, taking aim. Her shot went wide. "And no, in my time on Coruscant every trooper I've met is not the same."

    Hmm, he had to concede one point to a senator that acknowledged the differences between brothers, especially Corries who had little to no personality. He tried to further pick her mind. What made this former senator tick?

    "You are awfully interested in the rights of clones, so either you have something to gain from this or you're a foolhardy altruist."

    Now he caught a glimpse of the senator she once was as she holstered her blaster, perfecting her posture to professionally explain to him, "I'm one who believes the government should act in a manner that benefits all of its constituents."

    Her response was too polished, too rehearsed for Crosshair's taste.

    "Ah, so you just have a bleeding heart for lost causes," scoffed the tattooed trooper. "It's going to get you killed." 

    Him and his brothers. That he could not afford. The road to ruin was often paved with good intentions.

    "They already tried," noted Riyo wryly.

    She held out her arms, showing the thin lines crisscrossing them. Electric scars. It was quickly becoming a favorite interrogation tactic of the Empire. Finally, something that sparked Crosshair's interest about Riyo. So this petite Pantoran was not all talk and no substance.

    "All this to protect cannon fodder." He made a scathing remark specifically alluding to Echo, "Half-men, if even that in the eyes of the Senate."

    True fire flashed through Riyo's countenance as she debated, "And it should not be like that. War changes people. But at their core, they are still that, people. You've fought for us. Now, you deserve to be fought for. All of you, because you are men, humans, who deserve the same basic rights as any other sentient."

    "Well-said..." acknowledged Crosshair slowly. "It is good to see that not all politicians have empty skulls."

    It was as close to a thank you that he would give.

    She laughed lightly, the stiffness in her form loosening as she picked up on the shift in dynamic between her and the trooper. With a nod of respect, she excused herself for the night. He would not be fooled by by her demure manner. Not now that he had deciphered that she actually had the spine to stand for a cause. 

    Echo ambled up beside his brother, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and gruffly questioning, "Cross, were you harassing the senator?" 

    "She's not a senator anymore," pointed out Crosshair snidely. "I was showing her how a real soldier shoots."

    "Good." Echo missed Crosshair's attempted jibe. He had an annoyingly—yet slightly endearing all the same— sappy expression as he watched Riyo depart. "She's really something, isn't she?"

    "Not as naive as one might assume at first glance," admitted Crosshair.

    "So you approve?"

    "What does my approval matter?"

    Echo peered at Crosshair expectantly, warming the sharpshooter's heart against his wishes. "It's you're family too. I think your approval matters a good deal."

    The sharpshooter sighed exasperatedly and was unable to keep a soft smile from forming on his face, knowing he had been found out. Their family wasn't really whole in the purest sense, they were simply shattered pieces that had managed to find each other again. And against all odds, they were growing. 

    All he had all his life were brothers. Then, an unexpected sister had stumbled into their lives. Now, it seemed he would be gaining another two sisters. The Force worked in mysterious ways.

Bonus:

    Crosshair settled beside Hunter who was perched on a rocky outcropping overlooking the beach. The beautiful weather on Pabu afforded them many a beach day together. 

    "How do you do it?"

    "Do what?"

    "Handle the jealousy."

    Hunter pried his gaze away from where he was dutifully observing Omega and Lyana bury Wrecker in the sand. He narrowed his eyes incredulously at his brother. "You're... jealous? Of who?"

    He followed the sniper's gaze to where Tech and Phee had an impressive array of seashells and other marine knickknacks spread out in the sand. The two pack rats chatted animatedly together while Echo and Riyo were sat nearby in the shade together, soaking in Tech's rambles. With much practice, Tech's speech had been improving.

    "Them?"

    Hunter never would've suspected Crosshair would be interested in a partner. He seemed to just barely tolerate his own family most of the time. However, the way Crosshair flicked his eyes mischievously over at him gave him a split second warning something else was coming.

    "Oh no, I was asking how you handle the jealousy. You know... it must be difficult being a single father. Handsome, luscious locks, but... all alone."

    Hunter's unimpressed expression was not enough to shut up Crosshair.

    "You know the Holonet could take care of that. I hear there's plenty of dating platforms. If Tech and Echo can do it, there must be hope for you." He snickered, "We may have to lie about your height though."

    "Cross," said Hunter blankly.

    Already, the sniper was on his feet.

    "You get one second to run."

    Hunter's short legs served him well and Crosshair ended up buried right next to Wrecker. From the smug grin on his bald head sticking out from the sand, it was clear he was enjoying himself far too much and had no regrets.