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Sorry, Wrong Comms! : Hunter x Medic!Reader [Chapter 11]

Warnings and Information: Intended audience is 13+ (18 if you squint). Should know the drill on my use of Mando'a, italics and my headcanons by now if you've been following along with the AU series this far. Star Wars and real-world swearing. Can you call it a road trip if there's no cars in Star Wars? Who knows, who cares. Batch and Medic!Reader go on a road trip back to that mining planet so the brothers can have a nice little day to use their skill sets in peace and quiet away from the Empire. More domestic(-ish) moments. Only days into dating Hunter and basically like one of the family, lucky lucky you. If you don't try to embarrass your siblings in front of their significant others, are you really even siblings? Someone figured out where to make a "nap nest" in the Marauder to escape the heat? Sure why not, we don't know the exact layout of the attack shuttle so fuck it we vibe. ❤️✌️ Couple of suggestive lines but overall this is just me finding excuses for fluff/soft content. Batchers need a break and so do you.

Word-count: 5,479

Trp-trp-trp-trp!

Scraping wet food out of the can, [____] glances down at the light-furred critter winding eagerly around her feet, the sound of the Tooka's curved nails tip-tipping against the floor as she prances and paces in tight circles. "I'm going as fast as I can without making a mess, silly!"

Rorw! M'oww!

She sets the plate down along with the ceramic bowl with water just as there's a knock at the door. The hour, exactly on the dot, Hunter said he'd be by to walk her to the shipyards. "Spoon, you be good for me, okay girl? I'll be home before dinner. Sounds like that's him." Straightening out the hem of an older, comfortable shirt she won't mind getting dirty, she plucks the emergency medkit off the counter as she walks past it. "Be right there!"

Hunter doesn't hide the visual head-to-toe sweep when she opens the door to him, the dark ink that makes up his tattoo of the half-skull making it very easy to notice when he starts to smile at the sight of her. "Hey… Good morning." He looks bright-eyed in a way beyond possibly being awake for an hour or two longer than the medic. She'd slept in pretty late - compared to the days she was working at least - since she'd gone home late after dinner. It was difficult to say no to Omega's suggestion to watch a holofilm once the leftovers were tucked away in the cold-unit and dishes were washed up.

Besides, more excuses to remain close to one another and enjoy the company, the chance to hold one another close while she laid out her thoughts for how to spend tomorrow? (Distract themselves from the collective thoughts of the Imperial at her health practice.) Would they really have passed that up?

She smiles back, threading her arm in the offered space to walk arm in arm once she's locked the door. "G'morning, Hunter." She realizes he's clean-shaven when he moves in close to peck her cheek with a sweet little sound. "Sleep well, mesh'la?"

"Mhm. You?" she asks.

"Probably better than Wrecker and Crosshair…" Hunter chuckles, sighing just slightly. "They were pretty excited, y'know. They have a chance to show off, so there's a chance they'll get a bit competitive like the old days." he warns her; not that [____] needed the reminder that his brothers' habit of competition had survived the war.

"Still a little confused how exactly they competed with such different skill sets at times." [____] admits and laughs softly under her breath as they pass one of the management-personnel of the shipyards, the top fin of the Marauder easy to spot, "But siblings always find a way, don't they? So I suppose that's enough of an explanation."

Ducking under the wing of another ship just before they get to the Omicron-class ship, the two of them are greeted by the sight of his brothers waiting for them, and Omega breaks away from helping Tech with last-minute supply checks to greet her friend. "[____]!" Ordinarily someone would be warning her for forgetting (once again) that shipyards were no place to be running around, but she doesn't go too far before the medic catches her with a laugh and hoists her up in her arms.

"Good morning to you too, sweetie! Looks like someone's excited for today!"

"Yeah, we get to spend it with you!" Omega giggles, lacing her arms around the grown woman's neck and shoulders. Tech was pointedly looking away to conceal a grimace of annoyance, likely having lost track of what he was counting within a very full crate. Oh dear. Lowering the youngster, [____] kindly reminds the girl she was in the middle of helping one of her brothers with a wink and loving ruffle of her hair.

"And as much as I love a good hug from the galaxy's cutest little heat-seeking missile, you were helping your brother count something important from the look of things before you ran off." The crate was marked "SNACKS" in bold, sloppy Aurebesh, but something told her the contents inside were most definitely not bursting with flavor.

Omega's hands wring and twist the hem of her shirt. "Ri-right, sorry Tech! I just got excited."

"It's fine Omega, I understand..." Tech smiles softly, finally nodding in greeting in [____]'s direction to be polite, "I just lost track of how many I've already count-"

"Twenty-four!" Omega declares confidently, swinging off [____]'s wrist with a slight laugh.

"Oh, excellent, I was only one off. Twenty-five, six… twenty-eight. Perfect. Full crate." Lid latched tightly, the container is pawned off to Wrecker, excitedly prancing in place, so he can haul it up the ramp into the shuttle. "Awh right! Can't wait!"

[____] gives Hunter a questioning and amused look. Did Wrecker really have twenty-eight explosives in that crate? "Don't worry, those snacks aren't any spicier than the way Cross likes his fruit and spice-dough pastries." he assures her, nudging Tech and Omega to get into the ship and get things running now that Echo's called from the cockpit that the shipyard crew has given them the go-ahead to lift-off with the rest of the morning rush. They ought to hurry before the skyway was choked with ships.

Crosshair scoffed lazily, collecting his case for the 773 Firepuncher with a lifted brow and a gentle shoulder slugging. "Big words for the guy who didn't make the cut for galaxy's number one cutest heat-seeking missile."

"I'm okay with that." Hunter retorts in a gruffer voice, returning the slug with a touch more effort. He's the last up the ramp after the medic, so he hits the proper button on the panel to draw in the ramp. "I'll gladly settle for being number two." he adds with a smug, confident expression. Oh Maker, her face feels warm, suddenly. Something about Hunter's moments of confidence in himself could be so attractive.

Tech calls a final warning from the cockpit as the engines rumble and burst to life. "Ready for lift-off! Strap in, this will not be very smooth, I'm afraid!"

Finding a crash seat for herself, [____] gets her medkit secured and carefully straps in. Hunter joins her shortly after, having helped Omega get settled in in the cockpit's seats. (Until she was a little more acclimated to a bumpier than average take-off, she could get airsick being further back in the ship.) Crosshair takes a seat directly across from his brother, a devious smirk washing over every feature.

Oh boy, here comes trouble. Hunter senses it too, preliminarily rolling his eyes after securing the shoulder harness. "What is it, Cross?" He's certain he's going to wish he hadn't asked, so he chooses a non-Basic language to get this over with and spare [____] the potential for embarrassment. "Out with it."

Adopting the same language, Cross purrs delicately around the toothpick with a mirthful smile. "Shame you can't act out that bunkroom fantasy you had as a cadet, Hunter." He only groans regretfully, ignoring the provocative grins from the sniper and the strongman once he's gotten seated. "And I shouldn't have asked…"

She looks sideways at him and across the ship at his brothers, and her later reply only makes Wrecker laugh harder. Hunter's mortified because forgot she understands this language thanks to the time she was employed at her first of two health centers. That smirk tells Hunter he should have worried about himself being embarrassed.

Kark…

"Now, now, Crosshair. We both know he'd want a door he can lock before anything else." [____] croons in a salacious voice.

Hunter sinks further into the seat in a way that has nothing to do with the spacecraft picking up speed once hitting clear skies.

Kark!

"That looks like a mining town." Omega marvels, pointing to something she sees out of the viewport.

"That's because it is," Echo replies, reaching overhead to hit some control as part of the landing sequence, "that's the mountain [____] fell down, actually. Thank the Force she wasn't badly hurt at least." Omega shudders, shrinking back against her seat until the landing struts have made contact with the surface of the desert planet. "I know that she said it was more of an uncontrolled slide than a fall after she slipped on loose shale, but still… That must've been scary…"

[____] and Hunter briefly glanced at one another by chance as they gathered their things. The twisting expression of torment in his face when his eyes found that fading evidence of her partially unsuccessful exploit left no doubt in [____]'s mind that Hunter had some really strong what if? thoughts surging right now. Maybe the very same ones she'd had that day when making her way home.

What if she'd hit her head and ended up severely concussed? If she'd been badly hurt, would the wildlife here pose a threat to her? (What wildlife was out here, actually? She didn't know; hopefully no big carnivores.) How quickly would help have come to her if she'd given Echo the SOS; that unfortunately yes, their "favorite medic" had gotten herself hurt?

Was Echo serious about that… is she really their favorite medic?

"Wow. Hardly a cloud in the sky…" Wrecker rumbles with wonder as he's the first to step off the Havoc Marauder. "Good thing we brought so much water and stuff for shade! But first, needa put on all the sun-stuff before someone ends up lookin' like a roasted porg again; c'mere you!" He plucks his sister off her feet with frightening ease as she tries to skip past him after Tech, who'd wandered off ahead to inspect the desert vegetation. She giggles and struggles in mild protest, swearing she can put the protective lotion on herself without any help. "Nuh-uh, we're not repeatin' last time, Omega. Fried the back of your poor neck 'cause you forgot."

"But what about Te-!" she tries asking, gasping when Wrecker accidentally tickles her by moving her hair off the back of her neck to apply the sun protectant. He apologizes, large fingers making quick work of the application process before she's thoroughly covered and she can take it from there. "Awh, someone'll drag him back eventually if he's not coming back on his own. Y'know how Techie is."

"Don't be stingy on the lotion, sweetie," [____] encourages her, "I brought plenty."

Echo laughs, taking one of the many bottles from the crate she and Hunter had collected from her clinic last night as part of the preparation for today with a grateful smile. "Benefits of knowing a damn good medic." He tosses his head in a nodding motion at Cross, "Mind helping me out? Goes a lot faster with two hands." Both chuckle when Echo whirrs the scomplink attachment once for good measure to emphasize his point.

"Sure thing."

"Hey… uh-uh." [____] chides Hunter softly for quickly smearing the sun cream across his face before reaching behind his head to apply it to his neck, "Come here. I want to make sure that nice tattoo of yours is properly covered so it stays nicer longer." Her fingertips carefully paint a thin layer of the lotion over the dark ink of the half-skull on the left side of his face, glazing it in a coat of white before tenderly massaging it into his face so it absorbs into the skin. The whole ordeal, Hunter's keen eyes are trained on her, watching her with rapt attention. She'd become the galaxy's most interesting spectacle to Hunter since freeing himself from refraining from expressing how he realized he felt about her. Becoming braver, bolder, to watch her with adoration, without much shame if she caught him staring.

Her kindness, her compassion, her soothing, nurturing nature that served as the groundwork for her inner and outer beauty had him so enamored shortly from the start, perhaps.

And she… she's wearing the Nabooian pendant.

How in the stars did he miss that? It looked so beautiful in the sunlight. She looked so beautiful in the sunlight. "Something on my face, or…?" she asks softly, teasingly as she takes the container again and carefully applies some to her own face. "Am I missing something?"

"Mm-m." he confirms shortly and leans in to pepper her in sweet little kisses, feeling bold, daring, in this moment.

"Ew," Omega giggles brightly behind them when Hunter grimaces reflexively after hitting a patch of lotion, "I bet that didn't taste very good."

"No… Definitely went a lot better in my head…" he murmurs in answer, pulling on the collar of his civvies to clean the opaque residue from his lips. "Sorry."

She chuckles sympathetically, watching as Wrecker tramped up the gangplank and said he was gonna start getting the charges ready once he had them out of the ship, "Someone better ask Techie if there's a safe place to set these bad boys off! Don't want any serious debris comin' our way!" She agrees to go ask, taking the lotion with her to gently interrupt Tech's deep analysis if she can. He's hunched over in a squat, studying the roots of the shrub-tree now, muttering scientific names from the sound of things.

Recognizing her by the shadow she casts, Tech greets her with an enthusiastic question. "Aren't these fascinating, [____]?"

"Gotta know what I'm looking at, Tech," she laughs lightly, trading his datapad for the bottle of lotion, "and after you put this on, Wrecker wants your input on where he can safely plant the explosives to get the day kicked off with a bang." He takes the lotion with a sheepish smile. He’d gotten so ahead of himself he forgot to explain what he was looking at first. "Ah, of course-'' Tech murmurs apologetically, "These are ucca brevifolia - common name “shu'ah tree”. They have thick, waxy leaves that are capable of retaining critical moisture through prolonged drought that are protected against herbivores with a mild, serrated, outer edge. It serves as a deterrent to grazers.”

“Oh yeah? Is that an adaptation to grazing wildlife or something they’ve always had?” [____] asks with genuine interest as she walks with him back to the ship. Tech grinned appreciatively, a little relieved, as always, when someone wanted to know what was currently of-interest to him without brushing him off. (When he’d given Hunter’s letter a final read-through to catch any errors Hunter worried there being, he was surprised by some of the additional observations his brother had made about [____]’s friendship with him.) “I haven’t gotten that far in the reading I was doing, but I can determine such a thing once I’ve assisted Wrecker.” he admits with an offering, carefully lifting his goggles so someone can help him apply everything without squinting in the sunlight.

Wrecker looks from Tech to [____] with a curious smile, settling the crate at his feet to wait while she helps his brother carefully distribute the protective coverage around his eyes as Hunter helps out by holding Tech’s goggles for the time being. “Whatcha talking about?”

“Oh, Techie was telling me those trees out there,” she pointed over Tech’s shoulder with a free hand to indicate to everyone what their brother had wandered off to inspect, “the ones that have the shaggy-looking trunks and those red-tipped, blade-like leaves. I think they’re kinda pretty, in a way.”

Adding with a nod, Tech turns his face to the left to speak with Wrecker, “Which, once I’ve helped you, Wrecker, I can return to researching to answer her question once we’ve gotten the day ‘kicked off with a bang’. Ack, that tickles…” Wrecker chortles alongside Hunter, stitching his arms across his chest with a warm smile.

This was gonna be a fun day for everyone.

“HAHAHA! That last one could bring down the whole mountain!” Wrecker whooped, caught up in the excitement of planting the last of his charges at the foothills of the mountain the mining town is perched on as he gleefully jogs back to the safety zone.

Tech shakes his head as he ducks back into the ship. “Seems like a gross exaggeration for the amount of-”

“Hah! Dumb ol’ mining town deserves it!” Wrecker declares decidedly, tossing his head at Hunter knowingly, which only makes him chuckle and shake his head with a sigh, “Wrecker… Are you going to try to teach a whole mountain a lesson for hurting [____] when she slipped?”

“Nah,” Wrecker laughs, idly tossing and catching the primer, “not unless you want to.”

[____] and Omega exchange glances and shake their heads softly for more or less the same reason. "Boys…" they agree with a knowing sigh. The explosive charge wasn't going to be enough to bring down a boomtown mountain even if it was riddled with hollowed-out passageways and tunnels, but it wouldn't stop the brothers from arguing - playfully - if it would or not. The idea of showing an inanimate object who's boss after her mistake of not minding her footing was at least a little endearing and nothing she was stranger to either. The first time the medic had been invited to the Batcher's housing, she'd knocked on the door in the middle of Wrecker's tirade against a chair Omega had tripped over.

"Think you can get away with hurtin' MY sister, HUH?! You think you're tough?!"

"Hi... Did I come at a bad time, Hunter?"

"Er, no, it's just- You're fine. H-he's yelling at a chair Omega tripped over to try to cheer her up; make her laugh.”

“Aw, that’s nice of him. Is she hurt?”

Hunter shook his head, perhaps for the fifth time at Wrecker’s insistent offering. “No, really, I- I’m good, Wreck. Kind of you to offer, but it’s not really my thing. You can ask someone else.” He was more interested in just watching his brothers have fun, relax, and do their own things. More interested in listening to Tech rattle off a parts list inside the ship as he worked on repairing something, expressing terse disinterest to Wrecker. More interested in hearing the languid sweep of a cleaning cloth over a trusty 773 Firepuncher as Crosshair made sure sand didn’t settle into the grooves and crevices in the weaponry. Comforted by the aroma of sun-warmed cotton and skin from a pace away where Echo sat, happily soaking in the sun for some much-desired phototherapy. Amused by Wrecker’s delight in this opportunity to blow something up that was coming to a close as soon as he found someone to take him up on his offer. Entertained by Omega and [____] trailing their fingers in the sand of the desert planet, an endless, completely reusable canvas for their creativity together.

Stolen, precious memories the Empire could never take from him no matter how hard they tried. Acts of resistance in their own right. A refusal to be stifled, to be silenced, to comply blindly.

Man, someone in the Empire would hate knowing a stolen crate of their precious bombs were being used to blow craters in the desert sand for the hell of it. That Wrecker had scoffed over the fancy, intimidating exteriors and pulled them apart to scrutinize some sap’s work.

“Hah, that’s pathetic. I’ve made better bombs with half as many wires that I secured so much better than that under pressure! Tech, look!”

“... pathetic. Their wiring is so sloppy.”

“Tha’s what I said!!”

Omega lifts her head from her current work of art in the sand, brows lifted in question when [____] waves down the offer. “Can I set off the last charges?” Initially, Hunter wasn’t sure he liked that idea. Omega understood perfectly well that the vode didn’t mess with bombs of any sort that Wrecker or Tech cobbled together, and her first experience trying to disable a smoke bomb nearly a year ago with Wrecker’s tutelage had ended in, well, a smokeshow on Bracca.

“You let the kid try to disarm a bomb…? That has to be one of your dumbest-”

“C’mon, I’m not an idiot, Crosshair… I’m not gonna let her train with a live explosive. And would you stop calling her ‘the kid’ already? Omega has a name, just like you.”

“Whatever.”

“No, not whatever-”

“Hunter, don’t! Enough fighting, you two! We all just got our chips out for kriff sake!”

Omega looks to Hunter for permission when Wrecker hesitates. Deferring to the leader. But he wasn’t just their leader anymore, he was their brother. He was trying to be their brother more than a low-ranking commanding officer. They didn’t need his permission for every little thing, but it was so habitual. For all of them.

Good soldiers…

“Hunter, can I?” Omega asks softly.

“I’ll leave that up to Wrecker to decide.” he gives Wrecker a slow nod. I trust you, it says.

… follow orders.

“I’d feel better if we did it together, Omega. Jus’ to be safe, y’know. C’mere.” Omega took Wrecker’s outstretched hand and walked forward to get in-range of the charge with the primer, listening to his instructions intently as they walked a few paces closer to the old mountain mining town. Crosshair called over his shoulder into the Marauder that Tech might wanna watch this one, carefully laying aside his rifle. Echo sat up and climbed out of his low seat to move back towards their ship out of an abundance of caution. Hunter and [____] scooched closer together on the old blanket now that Omega had gotten up, leaning comfortably against one another. Hands finding the other’s, clasped comfortably.

“This oughta be good.” she murmurs fondly, head against his shoulder.

“THREE!” Wrecker called; the signal for all spectators to brace themselves for the noise to come. Three seconds to detonation and total, momentary chaos.

Cross calls them rib-rattlers. She can understand why. A thick plume of dust, debris and spent powder smoke shoots high into the blue expanse of the sky above the seven of them. They can feel the shockwave through the ground below their feet and booming into their chest cavities. Omega shrieks with delighted laughter alongside Wrecker, both of them whooping on their way back to the ship to watch as the dust cloud begins to disperse and dissipate with the gentle breeze that’s picked up across the arid plain.

“Not bad,” Cross approves, nodding to Wrecker and Omega as they get closer to the ship, approvingly before glancing around at his datapad for the time, “think I’ll go sneak a quick break from the heat. Then I hope you’re up for a- Hunter?”

Hunter’s suddenly on his feet in a flash, instinctually and visibly bristling at the sight of a second plume building and rising into the sky from the side of the mountain. The blast in the foothills has one last trick to play; one of the buildings nestled in the winding, serpentine road that had been worked into the stony surface of the natural formation has been knocked from its crumbling foundation and has become mobile. The entire structure is slowly sliding down the slope. It looks like a tiny, very old-fashioned and simple prison house; probably would have held no more than four cells for the roughest and rowdiest in a boomtown.

“Hunter, it’s okay.” [____] says soothingly as she too sees the little building coming down the mountain. “It’s coming to a stop on the next level of the switch-back. We’re not in any danger so far away.” she reminds him, putting a comforting hand on his back, his shoulder. “It’s okay. We’re okay. We’re safe. Right?”

It’s about a moment before he’s satisfied that the little structure sliding down the mountainside is in fact not going to move again before he settles himself down, softening his stance, feeling the fine hairs on the back of his neck lay flat once more the longer [____] keeps her hands on him, the longer her heartbeat remains so steady. “R-right…”

Crosshair cautiously utters under his breath to avoid breaking this newly established sense of calm for his brother that he’s going to find a snap-activated cold pack and hide out from the heat for roughly twenty minutes, and they’d front row seats to another impressive spectacle.

Twenty minutes of calm would do them all some good.

Well, calm as “calm” could be with his brothers. But, Crosshair supposed he wouldn’t have it any other way.

It was just a simple snap-pack and he couldn’t find the blasted thing, Hunter could hear Crosshair tramping through the whole of the Marauder, opening the odd cabinet here and there in his search. Just like he couldn’t find the spare blankets or pillows. Or the misplaced tool when the box tipped over as he helped Tech shift everything outside.

"Hunterrrr… I can't find it!"

He sighs heavily, finally and reluctantly pushing himself off the edge of the old blanket for the third time to assist his brother. "Do I seriously have to find everything around here?" He just wants to spend a little time in the sun, dammit. Some time to settle his head after that last detonation, and the ear-splitting clatter of tools after Tech had tripped over his own toolbox after moving everything so people could escape the heat in peace. (“Apologies! Don’t worry: I’m not hurt!”)

Tech was now working on his project in the shadow cast by the bulk of the Marauder's body, a long cable snaking out of the cockpit plugged into some radio-like device so he could continue listening along to an educational program about the insectoid Yalbec species. (No, she didn't want to know what happened on Yalbec Prime apparently.)

Echo just chuckles softly as his younger brother begrudgingly trudges past him to the ship for the fifth time in as many minutes. "Hey, I'd ask for help finding something from an expert tracker too." Poor guy just sighs, trotting up the steps to the side-ramp a little faster now after asking Tech to turn down the radio a notch. "Shut up…"

"You're a good brother, Hunter!" the ARC calls after him. Sometimes, try as he might, it was harder than other days to turn off that part of his conditioning to lead and look out for his brothers all the time. While letting go of leadership and rank was getting better with practice, it was that gnawing, almost screaming urge to constantly be on high alert and let his brothers mind themselves that was harder to wrangle.

What was it Crosshair had teased Hunter for once? Something about being paternal?

She wasn't quite sure what that remark was off the top of her head while she was more concerned with making sure she had a proper eye on Wrecker while he was moving heavy stones out in the dry heat of the desert. Thank the stars they brought so much water, no one would run the risk of being dehydrated at least, she thought as she watched Wrecker take another pull from his hydro pack. (Her bigger concern was heatstroke or overexertion.) Looked like he was crafting a makeshift bench for the targets and novelty props Cross had brought with them so he could show off his sharpshooting skills; the whole reason [____] had hinted to Hunter she could think of a good excuse to stay away from her clinic today last night over dinner.

(She thought of that letter often, and had read it last night before going to sleep as a way of warding away any dreams of the Imperial forces at her clinic.)

Wrecker sat down under the shade of a low shrub-tree after she flashed him a flat palm that morphed into a cupping motion with a turn of the wrist.

Rest.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't laugh," [____] chuckles softly behind that same raised hand to stifle her laughter, "but is Crosshair getting whiny?" She's no stranger to the often high and nasally whines of a tired tot or a fussy baby thanks to her professional experience, and the hint of impatience in Cross's voice is enough to remind her of the little ones she's treated over the years since completing medical training.

Echo just chuckles before adjusting his sun shades. Omega glances at the medic's time device on her wrist. "It's around the time Crosshair naps at home some days. He sleeps in bursts." Her voice drops into that timid, nervous whisper when she’s afraid someone will hear one of her inner observations that might not be taken so well if said out loud. “He can get… a little cranky in the heat, too…”

“Ahh…” she replies, understanding now, “I see. But hey, he’s got the right idea to escape the heat. Wouldn’t be a bad idea at all to do the same thing. Oh kriff, that’s right; should I tell ‘em they’re not gonna find any snap-packs in there, or do you wanna do it?” [____] had told them while they were traveling and hadn’t quite reached the planet that she was going to add the packs she found in their tiny infirmary aboard the attack shuttle to her medbag so they’d be in easy reach. (She couldn’t blame them for forgetting she did that when she’d done it herself until Echo diligently touched up his UV coverage with more lotion just a moment ago.)

“You better,” Omega tells the medic with a smile, “I’m gonna go get Wrecker. He looks tired.”

[____] nods. “Good idea.” Climbing up the ramp a step at a time, she’s got two snap-activated packs in her opposite hand that are a very welcome sight for the sniper.

“Oh, Maker, forgot they wouldn’t be on the ship. Thanks, doc.”

“I forgot too, sorry boys.” [____] offers an apologetic smile, peering around the marksman and tracker at a mess on the floor between all the sleeping racks near the back of the ship and gunner’s mount. “What’s all that?” It looked like a rumpled nest of blankets and pillows on the cool durasteel floor.

“Omega calls them ‘nap nests’,” Crosshair offers, biting down a yawn (Hunter less successfully) and thanking her for the rapidly chilling pack, “or, somethin’ like that… And how come you’re suddenly tired, vod?” Hunter shrugs. He’d truly slept fine last night, but he felt pretty tired being in the ship, suddenly. Admitted to feeling a little lightheaded, too. Neither [____] or Cross liked the sound of that. “That doesn’t sound good, vod.”

“Have you been drinking enough water?” [____] asks, patting down her pockets. Blast, she’d finished off the last of her hydro pack. “Shiiiit.” the medic hissed, mentally rattling off symptoms. “Are you also feeling like it’s difficult to concentrate?”

Omega and Wrecker poked their heads into the ship before climbing in, a hydro pack, unopened, in her hands. “Hunter accidentally let himself get dehydrated didn’t he? I-I found this where he was sitting.”

“I’ve had at least one pack,” Hunter tried thinking back, feeling that wave of guilt washing over him when his siblings, his… could he call her that, yet? “Girlfriend”? (Would she prefer something else?) “I think I just got distracted and forgot to open the next one. I’m sor-”

“Some water is better than none, could be worse.” [____] conceded with a tender smile, allowing Omega to take a seat next to her in the middle of the “nap nest” when Crosshair suggested Hunter better lay down and he’d climb into a sleeping rack instead, popping in a pair of ear-jammers so he could sleep while sister and friend teamed up to take care of his brother. “Here, bandana comes off, and we’ll give you the second cold pack while you slowly nurse this…” The scarlet bandana was pawned to Omega, and once it was carefully laid aside in a neat fold, she watched with interest (and confusion) as her little brother’s eyes fluttered reflexively at the first pass of [____]’s hand through his hair once his head was propped up with one of the pillows from the nap nest in the back of the ship, but not her’s. That was strange. How’d she do that? What did Omega do differently than the medic?

“Here, try it like this.” the grown woman offered kindly, noticing the girl’s cute pout of confusion. She tried encouraging Omega to give it another shot when it didn’t work as expected. “You’ll get it, sweetie. Just try again. He’s not going anywhere until I feel he’s properly hydrated again.” [____] laughed lightly at Hunter’s mumbled apology for making her play medic when she was supposed to have the day off, again, just to take care of him when he wasn’t being proactive about his safety and health.

Before bending forward to kiss Hunter, [____] playfully rolled her eyes in his line of vision before closing the distance. “Oh, hush, handsome. Like I told Captain Rex, you guys just keep my job interesting for me. And I don’t mind a bit.”

Taglist: @dragonrider9905 @ladytano420 @the-hexfiles @ilovethosebrowneyes9904

Note from Frost: The "shu'ah" trees Tech described for you are space!Joshua trees (I just tried to creatively modify the name and description a bit). The mining town is heavily inspired by Jerome, Arizona, which is what inspired the beginning and opening location of this fic even though it wasn't described in detail until now. Threw in a vague reference to Sliding Jail for funsies. As a born-and-raised desert dweller, this chapter felt like writing about home for me as much as it's about your more domestic/everyday-flavored moments with Hunter and his siblings. Start thinking now if you wanna be added to the all-encompassing SW fic taglist (sans OC stories, most likely) while I get the last chapter all nice and purdy! 🩷

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