Hehe Sorry

hehe sorry

in my defence I did put 'not a happy ending!!' and 'death' in the warnings, but alas

thank you so much though!!! you're fr one of my fav writers on here so it means a lot :)

we never quite made it

Tech x F!Reader

word count: 10k

description: after first meeting on kamino, you and tech seem to keep running into each other, without being able to fully indulge in each other's company. will you ever find the time to be able to tell each other of the feelings that have bloomed over the years?

warnings: not a happy ending!! death, torture (not in any great detail), blood & needles, some mentions of other medical stuff, tech brainrot I fear, don't wanna spoil it but... cx-2...

a/n: okay this was originally just gonna be a cute little fluffy thing and then I kinda went over board. it's a little more high-concept (which feels like a generous word for it) than my other oneshots but i'm pretty happy with how it turned out :) also anyone who writes tech fics regularly I salute you 🫡 it is truly not for the weak

22BBY, KAMINO

You waited patiently in the medical bay, lining up your various tools so none of them were out of place. You weren’t necessarily a neat freak, it was just something to occupy your hands. You were about to see your first patient since transferring from the hospital on Coruscant, to Kamino, in an effort to help the war effort.

The other medics around you weren’t new, and seemed a lot more relaxed, and sure of themselves. You had faith in your abilities as a medic, you had graduated from university into the job a number of years ago now, but somehow this felt like a lot more responsibility, looking after the men that fought for the Republic.

Your fingers were fidgeting at your sides when the door to the medical bay slid open, and a large group of clones were ushered inside by a Kaminoan. You were at the back of the room, so the clones from the front of the group were shown to the medics closest to them. As the group parted, you could see there were a group of clones in vastly different armour from their brothers, and your interest was certainly piqued.

You watched with intrigue as they got closer to you, and before you knew it, one of them was standing in front of you. You still felt nervous, but the timid look on the youthful face of this clone was enough to snap you into gear.

“Hello” You smiled at him sweetly, gesturing to the cot next to you, “Do you want to take a seat?”

The clone didn’t say anything, but obliged quickly. He was taller than many of the clones you worked on before, his hair a light auburn, and he wore goggles that were tinted a subtle yellow.

“What’s your name?” You asked politely.

“CT-9902, Ma’am”

The nervousness was evident in his voice, which you noted was different from the other clones, a more formal twinge and bite to the vowels.

“No need for all that Trooper, just my name is fine” You chuckled a little, tapping the name badge on your uniform, “and I asked for your name. What do your brothers call you?”

The clone looked to the name badge and then up to your eyes, “Tech”

“Well Tech, I understand that this is your last check-up before you graduate, is that right?”

“Uh, technically, we have already graduated. We are waiting to be deployed” He corrected you and you nodded.

”I understand” You smiled, “I’m just going to take some of your blood, if that’s okay”

“Of course it’s okay” He said matter-of-factly, “I wouldn’t expect anything less”

You had to suppress a smirk at his observation as you took the syringe from the tray, “It’s just what they ask us to say, bedside manner and all that”

“Ah” He replied, a blush tinging his ears pink, “My apologies”

It was hard not to find Tech adorable. He was so young and fresh-faced, somehow more so than the other recently graduated clones around the room. Perhaps it was the difference in facial structure, slightly pursed lips, or the big brown eyes that looked up at you though his goggles.

“No need” You waved off his apology, “It’s nice not to have to baby your patients really”

Tech nodded thoughtfully, and took of his left vambrace to allow you access to the correct vein, rolling up his sleeve. You raised an eyebrow at his actions.

“You had a lot of blood taken before?” You asked, and he looked at you puzzled.

“No” He replied simply, “Why?”

“I didn’t have to tell you where I was going to take it from” You gestured the syringe towards his now bare forearm.

“Ah, well” He looked down at himself and back up, “I am… a little knowledgeable about such things”

You smirked a little as you took his arm, keeping him talking while you placed the needle to his skin, “Knowledgeable huh? and why is that?”

He looked up at your face as you worked, wholly uninterested in the needle that was pressing into his arm, “I am interested in knowing about it”

You hummed slightly in reply, drawing the blood from the clone and placing the syringe down again.

“Just a few more things to check” You said, taking the small torch from your belt, “Would you mind taking off your goggles for just a moment?”

The clone didn’t hesitate, and pushed his goggles atop his head.

“Now, look straight ahead” You told him, and shined the light into his eye, checking to see if his pupils were dilating properly. At some point his eyes flicked up to yours, and you were surprised by the flurry of butterflies that filled your stomach. “Eyes ahead, Tech” You reminded him, and he righted himself straight away. You had to bite back your grin at his certainly interesting demeanour.

As you moved onto his other eye, you let your curiosity get the best of you, “If you don’t mind me asking, why are you and your brothers… a little different?”

“I do mind you asking actually” He said plainly, and you were unsure if you had actually upset him, if he was kidding, or if that was just how he spoke.

“Okay” You smiled graciously, choosing to just move on, “You can put your goggles back on now”

Tech watched you carefully as he pulled down and adjusted his goggles until they were comfortable again. With your pleasant smile, it seemed that you were just being sincere and inquisitive in asking about him and his brothers, and he felt a little silly for just brushing you off.

“We usually get seen by the Kaminoans” Tech noted, “Why are there civilian medics on Kamino now?”

“We volunteered” You shrugged with a small smile, “Could you lie down?”

Tech once again did as you said quickly, a little too quickly this time, hitting the back of his head on the cot that was not as comfortable as he had thought. You winced a little and his cheeks flushed immediately.

”Good thing I’m about to scan you” You joked, “Hopefully that didn’t do any damage”

Tech pointed his first finger up as he talked, “It is highly unlikely that I would sustain any dam-”

“I know Tech, I was just kidding” You interrupted, and he stuttered as he looked up at you standing over him with a gentle smile

“Right” He nodded, “Of course you do, my apologies”

”There’s no need to apologise” You smiled, pulling down the scanner over him “Stay still now”

You stepped back from the machine and picked up your datapad, reading over the information as the scanner picked it up. It scanned his identifying code in his wrist and your eyebrows raised at his profile. Defective, genetically enhanced intellect and cognitive functions.

“Is something wrong?” He questioned your reaction.

“No, you’re in perfect health in fact” You answered his question, pulling the machine away so he could sit up.

“What is the… matter, then?” He asked slightly hesitantly.

“The machine scanned your identifying code” You explained, unable to hold back your grin, “You sound like a very interesting individual indeed, Tech”

Tech blushed furiously, looking away and noting that his brothers were already finished with their examinations, huddled together watching him with the widest grins he had ever seen from them. He only blushed further upon seeing them, scowling and turning back to you. You just watched him with a look of vague amusement on your face.

“Well, you’re all good to go now” You informed him, and he stood quickly, accidently knocking the elbow of his armour against your hip.

He was mortified. “I am so very sorry” He spoke hurriedly, turning back towards you with wide eyes, gently holding onto your arm without even realising.

“It’s really alright” You replied with a chuckle, though it was a little strained.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you, that is the last thing I would mean to do” He continued, and you couldn’t help but find his reaction so effortlessly charming

“I like the way you speak, Tech” You smiled, genuine happiness just taking over your face.

Tech didn’t think it was possible for his face to heat up even more, but he had to clutch at the edge of his blacks and pull them away from his neck so it didn’t feel like he was over heating. He didn’t know what to say at all. He couldn’t think of the last time he had ever been complimented by someone, let alone someone as pretty as you. He willed himself to get a grip, knowing he was just giving in to his body in allowing those kind of thoughts to fester, and he cleared his throat.

“Well, it was a pleasure to meet you” He added your name with an emphasis, as if it was to help him remember it, “If I weren’t about to leave I would ask you to explain the functionality of this machine you’ve just used on me”

“Maybe another time?”

Tech nodded, “Another time”

“Goodbye Tech” You smiled at him warmly, “It was a pleasure to meet you too”

Tech nodded and turned to leave, making a beeline for his brothers, who welcomed him by teasing him mercilessly, the largest of the bunch ruffling his auburn curls. You watched them leave, and caught Tech looking back at you as he exited the room.

21BBY, KAMINO

“New orders”

Before you could realise, a datapad was being thrown at you. Luckily you got your hands around it before it dropped to the floor. You looked over the screen, then up at the other medic.

“We're not trained for that” You implored.

“The GAR is running low on medics, they asked for some of us to fill the roles for now” They replied with a shrug, “It's probably more interesting than being here anyway”

You could agree with that.

“What squad are you with?” The other medic asked, and you looked back down, tapping on your name.

“Clone Force 99” You informed them. The name rung a bell from somewhere…

“Never heard of them” The medic replied, “Guess you'll find out tomorrow”

Having stayed up late investigating the group of clones you were instructed to be joining, it was no wonder that you were bouncing on your toes with a beaming smile as their ship came hurtling into the hangar. You were impressed by their success rate, not falling short of perfect, but it was from realising exactly who was a part of this team that made you so eager.

You would be lying to say you hadn't thought of Tech a few times since first meeting him. With him being your first patient here on Kamino, it was hard not to compare the other clones to him, and while you had no issue with the other clones, you had not enjoyed your time with them as much as that first encounter.

The ship was set down on the ground, and soon the small batch of clones emerged from inside, looking particularly disinterested, and your smile faltered. They huddled together outside, talking amongst themselves, some of them leaning on the side of the ship.

You walked over slowly, feeling a little more hesitant than you had initially been. You couldn't see Tech, as he was behind his brothers, but you recognised the rest of them by their differing appearances.

You cleared your throat, gaining the attention of the clones, and offering them a small smile. They turned to look at you, apart from Tech who's face was buried in a datapad.

“Hello, I think I've been assigned to your squad” You spoke, and that's when Tech's head snapped up, his eyes meeting yours.

He looked a bit older than the last time you had seen him. His face seemed slimmer, his cheekbones slightly more hollowed out and defined, his jaw strong, but his widened eyes had the memorable sparkle in them all the same.

“We don't need you here” One of the others said, earning a elbow in the ribs as you looked up at him.

“Shut up Cross” The elbow-er hissed quietly at the elbow-ee, “Ignore him, it's nice to meet you…”

You told the man your name.

“Well, I'm Hunter” He introduced himself, and you gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

Crosshair rolled his eyes, “Why are we being made to have a medic?”

“I'm not sure” You shrugged, “I wasn't really told all too much about it”

Crosshair seemed almost pleased that you were just in the dark as them, then grunted, pushing his way past you and onto the ship.

Hunter huffed, noting your slightly offended expression, “Sorry about Crosshair, he's in a mood. We just weren't… expecting this, is all”

You chewed the inside of your cheek, “Me neither”

“Well anyway, let's get going” He walked up the ship's steps.

“I'm Wrecker” The large clone introduced himself with a warm smile, which you were inclined to return.

You held out your hand to him, and he took it with a crushing strength. “Nice to meet you… Wrecker” You managed to peep out despite the force of his grip.

Wrecker followed his commanding officer up the stairs afterwards, and you were about to follow after, but realised Tech was still stood firmly in his place. You looked back at him and he was still staring at you.

“You coming Tech?”

His eyes went a little wider.

“You know who I am?” He said, his voice holding a clear tone of surprise, though it was nowhere near as timid as it had been the last time you saw him.

Your cheeks flushed a little, embarrassed that he had clearly made more of an impression on you than you had on him.

“Oh, you don't remember meeting?” You asked, keeping your voice even.

“No, no, I remember” He confirmed, “I just didn't think you would remember me”

You gave him a puzzled look, a smile growing on your face, “Of course I remember you”

“Can you two wrap it up, we're leaving” Crosshair shouted from inside, and you chuckled slightly nervously, walking up the ramp.

Tech was still frozen in place for a moment. He hadn't been excited to be getting a medic, having ample training and knowledge of the subject himself, but now, he couldn't help but feel a little exhilarated that it was you that would be joining them.

The few times that the squad had been back to Kamino since graduation, Tech had found himself wandering down to the medical bay. He hadn't talked to you, he was far too nervous to do that, but he had watched you work through the little window in the door. You had almost caught him one time, and that's when he decided to stop doing it, realising how strange he was behaving.

He walked up the stairs of the Marauder, a little on edge, a little nervous, but a little more happy than he had been when they landed.

21BBY, MARAUDER

Tech was staring. At you, to be specific. Once again.

His brain worked at a klick a minute, and yet, whatever you had just said to him had him stumped. His mouth hung open a little, his eyes slightly narrowed and his brow furrowed deeply. He wasn't saying anything. For once, nothing was going on in his head. It was like his brain had frozen, unable to process any new thoughts. He was confused.

“Tech?” You said hesitantly, drawing him from his stupor.

“I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly” He replied assuredly.

You hesitated a little before asking again, “I asked you if you think I should leave”

That's what he thought you'd said.

“I don’t understand your meaning” He dropped the tool from his hand and stood up, facing you and trying to read every movement you made.

You felt a little uneasy under his scrutiny, but continued nonetheless, “Like… leave the team”

Tech still couldn't understand.

“Why are you asking me this?” He asked, his brow furrowing even deeper.

“Well, I figured you would give me an honest answer” You shrugged. Tech was nothing if not upfront, and it was one of the many things you liked about him.

“No, I mean… why are you asking this at all?” He surveyed your reaction to his words, your throat constricting as you swallowed and subtly wiped you hands on your trousers.

“Uh… I suppose I don't feel that my presence is very necessary”

“I don't see how you could possibly think that” Tech replied, “You have a very useful skillset”

“Well, I know that Hunter doesn't exactly love having me around, and Crosshair even less so” You argued, “And my ‘useful skillset’ hardly gets used around here”

Tech didn't know what to say. There was something nagging at him from the depths of his consciousness, urging him to tell you to stay. He found you exceedingly interesting, and enjoyed hearing about your medical exploits from before joining their squad. He always asked under the guise of learning new information, but his brothers all understood, far more than him, that it wasn't just knowledge that kept him asking you questions.

At this point, you had been with the Bad Batch for a few months, and - as you were explaining to Tech - you had not felt very useful at all. They rarely got injured, but even when they did, they would mostly refuse your help. Particularly Hunter. Crosshair had not warmed to you at all, though Wrecker did seem to enjoy your company. Tech was kind, in his own way. He always listened to you attentively, and as both of you were reasonably light sleepers, you had often found yourselves staying up together between missions, talking about a great many things. He seemed interested to know about medical procedures, but expanding his knowledge was only making you more and more obsolete within the group.

“I'm sorry if we've made you feel unwelcome” He said, and your gaze softened a little.

“It's okay, I know none of you really wanted me here in the first place”

“That’s…” Tech tried to find the words, “I would not say that is entirely factual. Though if you would like to leave, I think you should”

You couldn’t help but feel a little disheartened by Tech’s words, but you did come to him for the truth after all, you couldn’t be mad now.

“Alright, I'll notify the medical team back on Kamino then”

You walked away from Tech, and his brain began working, screaming at him to ask you to stay. He pressed his lips into a hard line, trying to come up with something, anything that he could say to make you stay, but all of the possibilities floating around in his head were jumbled and he couldn’t make sense of anything. He shook his head, trying to focus himself, but you had already walked away, already set on leaving.

“Get away from me”

You were crouched over Crosshair’s crumpled form, who was bent over and holding the wound to his side in the co-pilot's chair of the Marauder.

“Crosshair, I'm only trying to help” You insisted, trying to tend to him.

“I don't need your kriffing help, back off” He hissed, snatching the medkit from you.

You sighed deeply, taking a step back, “You know this is the reason I'm here right? To help when things like this happen?”

“We don't need you!” He shouted, “We never wanted you here, and we certainly don't now”

“Crosshair, calm down” Hunter scolded lightly, and when you turned to him you could see the look on his face, where you knew he agreed with his brother but was holding his tongue.

“Well good for you, I'll be gone soon” You mumbled as you stormed away, your eyes welling up instinctively from someone raising their voice at you.

You felt entirely useless.

You became a medic because you wanted to help people, and you joined the GAR medic team because you wanted to help clones specifically, but here you were, surrounded by clones, and they didnt want your help. It was hard not to feel downcast about it.

You understood Crosshair's contempt to a certain level, but did he really have to be so mean?

Tech could hear your soft sobs from outside the door to the cargo hold. He knocked firmly, and heard you sniff before telling him to enter.

When he saw the rosy tint of your nose and cheeks and the tears running down them, he realised that he had no idea how to comfort you in this moment. He stared at you as you stared up at him, waiting for him to say something.

“I'm sorry” He said unsurely, and you gave him a sad smile.

“It's fine Tech”

“I don't really think it is ‘fine’. I am very unimpressed with the way my brothers have behaved towards you” He asserted.

Looking down at you, your knees tucked into your chest and biting into your bottom lip to stop it quivering, he was reminded that he really didn't want you to leave, and even further, he realised the true reason why. He finally mustered up the courage to ask you to stay.

“I know that you're not happy at the moment, being with this team. I… I wish it were different, I wish we could have made you more comfortable. I am sure that if you stayed for a little longer and I talked to my brothers that-”

“I've heard from Kamino already, they want me back” You said softly, cutting him off before he could even say it.

“Ah, I see” He paused, then turned away “I shall leave you to-”

“Tech”

He turned back to you, and you offered him a soft, genuine smile, “I appreciate it, thank you”

He just nodded to you and left, the nasty feeling of rejection gnawing at his brain.

As the Marauder touched down in the hangar on Kamino, there was the most unpleasant sensation stirring in your gut. This was the right choice, you didn't fit in here, and you wanted to actually make a difference. Despite knowing all this, you couldn't help but feel strange, and descending the ship’s stairs felt like regressing, going backwards instead of forwards.

You turned to look at the clones as you left. Each of them, apart from Crosshair, gave a nod and a goodbye and walked back inside. Aside from Tech, of course.

He followed you down the steps, and it was the look on his face that placed that feeling in your gut. It was the reluctancy to leave behind this man that you had grown so fond of over the past few months, this man who listened to you and made you feel wanted despite the rest of the squad's insistency to not.

It had only been a few months, but you realised that you had grown very close with the clone before you, and your heart ached. You realised the depth of the feelings you harboured for him, that it was something you had never felt for another.

“I'll miss you Tech, it's been nice getting to know you” You spoke honestly, realising this could be the last time you saw him.

Tech sighed almost imperceptibly, “I agree, I shall miss… learning about medical procedures from you”

You couldn't help but laugh, “Well next time you're on Kamino, swing by the medical bay and I'll be happy to answer your questions”

“Are you making fun of me?” Tech suddenly resembled the shy cadet that you had met the first time.

“No” You smiled, “I'd always be happy to talk to you”

Tech didn't know what the correct thing to say was, so he said nothing. He just stared at you, once again, his mind fighting for anything to say once more. There was nobody that could send his mind spiralling like you did, and it seemed that you didn't even try to.

You smiled despite his slightly awkward silence, and stepped forwards, raising to your toes to plant a soft kiss to his cheek, “Goodbye Tech”

Tech could feel his face burning, from the blush that overtook him, and the feeling of your lips searing into his skin, rendering him completely speechless. As you walked away, he brought a hand to his face where you had kissed him and traced the area with his finger lightly.

“Ugh, I'm going to throw up” Crosshair asserted from the doorway of the ship.

“Shhhh” Wrecker pushed him and watched Tech swoon over you with a large grin.

Tech paid them no mind. He just watched you leave, a mix of emotions overtaking him. A frown settled on his face as your figure disappeared into the facility, but the feel of your lips on his cheek brought a warm feeling to his chest.

19BBY, ANAXES

“Hey Baar'ur'ika!” You heard the unmistakable voice of Jesse call out to you as he jogged over to the medbay in the Anaxes base.

“He doesn't call me that you know” Kix asserted from beside you, and you chuckled.

“Do you want him to?” You asked earnestly, but with an amused twinkle in your eye.

“That's besides the point" He grumbled, earning another laugh from you.

“Me and Kix are being sent on a mission with the Captain” Jesse said as he came to a stop in front of you.

“We are?” Kix asked

Jesse nodded, “Some special squad is joining us apparently”

“Special?”

“Yeah, I'm not sure why though, you wanna come find out?” He grinned, gesturing his head towards the landing strip.

“Can't. I've got all these reports to sign off” You sighed, holding up your stack of flimsi.

“Alright, we'll see you later on then Baar'ur'ika” Jesse smiled, ruffling your hair.

You huffed, putting the lose strands of it back into place, “See you later”

You took up your stylus again, clicking it absentmindedly as you read over the reports.

You had been reassigned to the 501st only a few weeks after leaving clone force 99, and you fit in so much better here. It seemed that the clones of the 501st actually wanted to get along with you, and they always included you in their shenanigans, reluctantly on your end. You got along with all of them really well, but Kix and Jesse were the ones you were closest with. You worked most closely with Kix, so that was only natural, but Jesse was certainly the most friendly to you from the outset.

You came across a report with an error, and checked the next piece of flimsi, and the same error had been made. You then leafed through all of the pages and realised the error had been made on every single one of them, and you groaned loudly. It then occurred to you that maybe you were the one making the error, and so you grabbed the stack of pages, rushing out the door to try and grab Kix before he left for his mission.

Luckily when you got to the landing strip, him and Jesse were still standing there with the Captain. You rushed over to them, almost dropping a page on the way.

“Kix, can I just ask you about something” You spoke, and the huddle of clones turned to look at you.

“Ah Baar'ur'ika, you came to investigate after all” Jesse slung an arm around your shoulders with a grin.

“I didn't come to investigate, I-”

Your voice seemingly stopped working as you turned your head and locked eyes with the specific ones that had always managed to draw you in and leave you speechless. Those wonderful brown eyes that always widened when they met yours

“Tech” You couldn't hold back the smile that grew on your face.

Tech spoke your name, and Jesse stifled a laugh when he felt a shiver run up your back.

You were absolutely mesmerised by the man in front of you. It had been just over a year since you had seen him, and in that time it seemed that he had only got even more beautiful. Your heart felt as if it had been set alight, the emotions that accompanied seeing Tech returning as if you had only said goodbye to him yesterday.

“We're here too” Wrecker laughed, snapping your gaze away from the spectacled clone.

“Hey Wrecker” You grinned, and he gave you a wink in return.

“Hey Hunter, Crosshair” You addressed the last two clones.

“Hey, it's good to see you” Hunter replied, a small genuine smile directed towards you.

Crosshair didn't say anything, but you hadn't expected him to.

“You know these guys?” Jesse asked, squeezing your shoulder.

“Uh, yeah. I was with them for a little while” You replied, looking to the floor for a moment before realising why you were here. “Oh! Kix, I just need to ask about this”

Tech watched you talking with the other medic and flipping through the pieces of flimsi as everyone else fell back into their previous conversation. His eyes lingered on the arm slung around your shoulders, and the way you placed your own hand on the shoulder of the other clone. You were clearly comfortable around these clones, and Tech's jealousy fizzled away to a form of sadness as he realised that you were so much happier with these clones than you had been with them. With him.

You settled the matter with Kix, and turned towards Tech once more, stepping forward so you stood in front of him.

“How are you?” You asked, clasping your hands behind your back.

“I am well” Tech replied flatly, not giving away an inch of the emotions that swirled within him, “How about yourself?”

“I'm good yeah” You smiled, “I've been here for a few rotations”

“With the 501st?” Tech asked.

“Oh no, just on Anaxes, I've been with these guys since… well, a couple weeks after I left you”

Something about the sentence pulled at Tech's heart. These clones were so lucky. They had got to spend all of this time by your side, all this time that he had spent with you only as a memory in his head, your absence taunting him constantly.

“I- Uh- I am glad to see you are doing well, you seem… happier, than last I saw you” He observed, pulling a small laugh from you.

“Maybe a bit. I do miss having someone to rant to though” You smirked a little at him, and despite his heated cheeks, he returned the gesture.

“I don't know that I'd call it ‘ranting’, you were always very precise with your words, very… intentional” He complimented you in a way that only made sense to both of you.

You hummed in response, “Well how's this for intentional - I've missed you Tech”

Tech couldn't hold back the small contented sigh that escaped him.

“I have missed you too” He admitted, indulging in losing himself in your eyes, inspecting ever fleck of colour.

“Hey Tech! We've gotta get going” Hunter shouted over to him. Neither one if you had realised the others had moved away.

Tech scowled inwardly, turning his attention back to you, “I was… I should like to ask you about biopsy methods, I am unsure of safe practice”

“Maybe another time?” You asked hopefully.

He nodded, a small smile quirking the edges of his lips, “Another time”

In a bout of confidence and rising adrenaline, Tech found himself leaning down and pressing a short kiss to your cheek, as you had done to him last time. Your mouth hung open a little as he then immediately walked off and joined his brothers on the gunship, surprised that he had actually done such a thing.

“Bye Baar'ur'ika” Jesse called teasingly, and you were snapped from your daze.

“Bye di'kut” You called, rolling your eyes as you clutched your flimsi close to your chest.

Tech's eyes locked with yours as the doors to the gunship closed, and it made your chest ache. You could still feel the warmth of his breath, the gentle scratch of his stubble, the softness of his lips. It was all too much and not enough, and watching him leave hurt more than you thought it would.

18BBY, CORUSCANT

You sat at your makeshift desk, your head in your hand and flicking through your datapad to survey the latest news. Things certainly had become bleak since the rise of the Empire.

You heard your name called, and your head snapped up to meet the golden eyes of Senator Chuchi.

“Senator, what can I do for you?” You asked, sitting up straight.

“Please, it's Riyo, and it's more what I can do for you” She said with a small smirk lifting the edges of her lips.

“Oh” You said, your eyebrows drawing together in confusion, “What do you mean?”

“There's a new clone joining us, I believe you know him” She replied, her smirk growing.

You immediately stood from your seat, “Is it who I think it is?”

“Perhaps” The Senator shrugged coyly.

You couldn't hold back your grin, “Where is he?”

“Just in the hangar” She nodded in the direction.

“Thank you Sen- Riyo” You said quickly, rushing from behind your desk towards the hangar.

You had known that Echo was alive, but this was the first time you would actually be seeing him since before the mission to the citadel where he had been presumed dead, and boy was he a sight for sore eyes.

“Echo!” You exclaimed excitedly, drawing the attention of the clone as you ran towards him across the hangar.

The clone's eyes lit up as he took in the sight of you, and stepped forwards, taking you in a tight hug when you crashed into him.

“It's good to see you” He said with a smile as he pulled away.

“It's even better to see you” You grinned, “I was so upset I didn't get to see you after you were rescued”

“I heard” He smirked, looking over his shoulder at Rex.

You looked over at the blonde clone too, and saw that he was watching on with three other familiar clones.

“Woah” You couldn't stop yourself from saying, “I heard you were hanging around with this lot nowadays”

Once your eyes found Tech, you couldn't bring yourself to look away. He seemed to be hanging back a bit, his eyes once again a little wide behind his goggles.

“Hey!” Wrecker said excitedly, earning a small laugh from you.

“Hey Wrecker, hey Hunter” You smiled at the clones.

“Hi” The Sergeant smiled at you.

Wrecker then pushed Tech forwards, and you smirked a little as he glared at his larger brother.

“Hey Tech, how's it going?” You asked, and he brought his eyes back to you.

In a way he couldn't define, you seemed more mature than when he had last saw you. Perhaps it was the tiredness he saw in your eyes, or perhaps it was the few small scars that adorned your skin, clearly earned in battle. The thought of you sustaining injuries made his stomach lurch, so he tried not to think of it.

The way you were looking at him was so familiar. Your smile was kind and easy, gracing your features in a way that was so uniquely you. The light crinkle around your eyes and lips, the small glint in your eye, the way one side of your mouth was more contorted than the other. Tech was certainly glad to see you.

“Uh… it is going well” Tech replied unsurely after a moment, and you smirked a little bit at his answer.

It was intoxicating to be in Tech's presence once more. Everytime you were around him, things felt a little different, like there was something in the air that made everyone else look a bit more fuzzy as he was brought into focus. It didn't ever help that he was seemingly always getting so much more handsome every time you saw him.

His auburn locks were a little longer at the moment, no doubt because his biggest priority whilst on the run from the Empire was not his hair, but you weren't complaining. His hair framed his angelic face so perfectly, his features undeniably sharper and more mature, though his eyes were still as soft and gentle as they had always been, with a startling youthfulness that he couldn't seem to shake.

“It's good to see you guys, I'm glad to see you're not… with the Empire” You said a little hesitantly, then noticed the small blonde girl that was hiding behind Hunter.

He noticed you looking at her and introduced her to you.

“It's nice to meet you Omega” You smiled, kneeling down to get on her level.

“It's nice to meet you too, though I have already heard of you since Tech talks about you a lot” She said matter-of-factly.

“Is that right?” You smirked, looking up at Tech, whose cheeks were positively burning.

“I think I may have mentioned your existence a few times” He spoke flatly, but the edge of squeakiness gave him away.

The idea of Tech talking about you, or even just casually mentioning your existence in a passing comment, was enough to set your heart alight. In whatever manner it had truly been, he had at least always remembered you in some way, and that brought the smile to your face.

Hunter then said goodbye to you, and then to Echo, and retreated to the ship. Tech did the same, but instead walked towards you, stopping just in front of you. You had to crane your neck a little to look up at him in the pleasantly close quarters. Had he always been this tall?

“I-” He just looked at you for a while, and you smiled at him, waiting patiently for him to continue. “I have many questions to ask you” He finished.

You chuckled, “Maybe another time?”

Tech couldn't help but sigh, the familiar words making his heart ache, “Another time, yes”

“I think I owe you something now” You said with a small grin, trying to ease the light crease in his brow.

Tech watched your expression change cautiously, “Owe me? I don't think so”

“I mean, if you don't want it then-”

“Well, I must admit, I am curious now”

You laughed at his interjection, smiling at him fondly, “Alright, here you go then”

You placed a hand on his cheek and brought your lips to the other one, placing a lingering kiss to his cheekbone. Tech closed his eyes at the bittersweet feeling of it, and opened them to look back into yours. He placed his own hand to your cheek before the moment could end, and gently rubbed his thumb back and forth, his eyes searching yours. He took a quick glance over your shoulder and saw his brothers all watching him, waiting for him so they could leave, and he chewed the corner of his lip a little as he looked back to you.

“One of these days, I'll give you a proper kiss” He said quietly, making your heart skip a beat, “If you'd like that”

“I'd like that very much” You replied quickly, the grin on your face only growing.

Tech cracked his own small smile. “Another time then” He whispered, and looked over your features for a second longer, before placing a soft kiss to your forehead and walking away.

You watched him leave with an undeniable fondness swelling in your heart. You had felt a certain affection for Tech from the very beginning, and the thrill of the idea of him returning the feelings that you harboured for him brought forth the newfound nature of said feelings.

It went deeper than just liking him in a special way. This emotion you felt when you looked at him, or when you thought of him, was different. The way your heart stopped when he looked at you, the way your breath hitched when he spoke your name, you knew it was different. This was far more profound than a silly crush. The longevity of your affections had caused them to develop into something deeper, more serious.

Something like love.

17BBY, REBELLION BASE

“I need to talk to you”

You looked up from cleaning your workstation and saw Echo striding towards you, determination in his eyes that seemed otherwise tired and possibly even sad.

“What's the matter?” You asked, rushing over to meet him in the middle.

He opened his mouth, trying to find the words, but finding them hard to say, to admit even to himself.

“I… was just on a mission with the batch” He started.

“Oh how are they? How's Tech?” You ask, your mood lifted just a little.

Echo's heart ached, his eyebrows pinching together as his lips formed a hard line. His eyes began to well up slightly and he blinked a few times to rid himself of the tears.

“I'm so sorry” He whispered.

“Why are you sorry?” You asked cautiously.

“Tech… He-” Echo swallowed, “He didn't make it, he fell”

The words hit directly into your heart, and you could almost feel it collapse in on itself.

“Wh- What?” You whimpered out, almost hoping that you had heard him wrong, or that it was just a cruel joke of some kind.

“He… He sacrificed himself for the squad, so that they could live”

You couldn't say anything, couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't think. The only thing you could do, was let the feeling of everything crashing down wash over you. It truly felt as if the hinges of your life, the certain something that seemingly held it up, had come loose.

You heard Echo say your name, but it was distant, like he was in another room. Your knees slowly gave in, and he grabbed you as you fell to the ground. He held you in his arms as you cried silently, your tears soaking through his clothes. He stroked your hair comfortingly, whispering assurances about how it was going to be fine, that everything would be alright.

“I never got to tell him, Echo” You choked out eventually, cutting through his smooth words.

“Tell him what?” He asked tenderly, knowing all too well what it was.

“That I… love him” You said, and a small sob finally escaped you.

Somehow it felt even harder to admit now that he was gone. Your love didn't feel as if it was in the past tense. It felt present, current, and that's why the sudden grief stung so much - the love was still lingering, and it didn't feel as if it was planning on leaving anytime soon. After all, it had managed to survive not seeing him for long periods of time, and to your broken heart, it felt the same.

17BBY, IMPERIAL PRISION

You surfaced slowly into consciousness, your eyes trying to open, but to no avail. You could feel your wrists caught in restraints, held above you on either side of your head. You tried to remember what had happened, but everything was fuzzy. You were… at the base. The Bad Batch were there, then… You were attacked? You were running with… Howzer? and then…

You couldn't recall anything past that point, but when your eyes finally opened you had a little idea of what could have happened. Sat opposite you with their arms crossed, was a man dressed head to toe in black armour, like the operative that Rex had captured before the attack on the base. He began talking, but it wasn't initially intelligible.

You shook your head to try and clear the brain fog a little, “Wha-”

“Tell me where the girl is” He demanded. The sound of his voice was so eerily familiar, but it was heavily modified by his helmet.

“Girl?” You questioned through your delirious state, turning your wrists in their restraints. Naturally, you knew who he was talking about, but you weren't going to give up that easily.

“Omega. I saw you talking with her, I know you know her and her brothers. Now, tell me, where would they have taken her?”

You pressed your mouth into a hard line, you could hardly deny it if he had seen you. “I won't talk”

He sighed, standing up and walking over so he stood in front of you, “I don't need to hurt you…” He said your name, and a chill ran up your spine. How could he know your name?

“That's not my name” You narrowed your eyes, looking into his visor.

“You cannot lie to me, Cyare” He spoke, and ran a hand over your cheek, “It would serve you well to tell the truth, it would be a shame to have to ruin this pretty face”

You looked over the man's appearance, for any semblance of individuality, but there was nothing.

“Who are you?” You asked.

“No one that concerns you anymore” The man chuckled, stepping back from you, “Now, tell me, what has become of the defective clones?”

You clenched your jaw in defiance, refusing to spill anything without even a little bit if incentive. You were clearly in some kind of imperial facility, but you weren't in any immediate danger, so you would stay stubborn for as long as you could.

The man spoke your name in a warning tone, his head tilted to the side, “I need you to tell me”

“I wont tell you anything” You spat back at him. He was irritatingly calm and collected, something you had not experienced from the Empire before.

He folded his hands behind his back, humming thoughtfully, “You will. Perhaps, another time”

With that, he turned and pressed the button on the door panel to leave.

You let your head hang down again, letting out a deep breath. If you weren't so tired you were sure that you'd be more panicked, but as your eyes closed and you let the exhaustion take over, you couldn't find it in yourself to be scared. Your body ached, and you needed it to rest if you wanted any chance of getting out of here.

The mysterious operative returned often over the next few days, pushing for answers but always leaving empty handed. He would always threaten violence, but had not touched you once since caressing your face in that first encounter.

He was now stood opposite you as he always was, making another empty threat about how you would be hurt if you didn't answer him.

You rolled your eyes, “Are you ever going to hold true to that promise?”

He stayed silent, and you laughed a little.

“Come on, I dare you, hurt me” You urged, jutting your chin out.

You were so tired of this, and he was obviously worn out by your defiance as well.

“I told you” He spoke quietly, “The last thing I would ever mean to do is hurt you”

Your heart stopped, and your eyes went wide as the familiar voice finally placed itself, hearing the same words that it had said all those years ago.

“It can't be, you-”

The man reached up and took off his helmet with a short hiss. He looked different, his face scarred and weary, his goggles nowhere to be seen, but it was undeniably him. The only thing that could have convinced you otherwise was the fact that his eyes didn't have the youthful sparkle they always seemed to in the past. Instead, they looked tired, completely worn down, and cold.

“Tech” You whispered, your heart beating impossibly fast in your chest.

He stepped closer, “I do not go by that name anymore”

On instinct, your eyes began to water, and a single tear ran down your cheek, “What are you doing here? You- You're with the Empire?”

He didn't reply, but he took off a glove and brought his hand to your face to wipe your tear away. You closed your eyes, and he let his hand remain on your cheek, rubbing your cheekbone lightly.

“I need you to tell me what I want to know” He spoke so softly now, and you opened your eyes and look up into his. They were still so inviting despite their unfamiliar coldness.

“Tech, why are you doing this?”

He didn't reply again, but brought his other hand to your cheek and held your face gently, his own just in front of yours, “Tell me”

“I can't” You choked out, brow furrowed as he ignored your questions.

“Please, Cyare. They will hurt you if you don't talk”

“Let them” You said firmly, tugging your face from his hands, “I won't betray your brothers”

Tech just watched you for a moment before opening his mouth again.

“So be it”

He put his helmet back on and left the room, leaving you alone with the revelation that the man you had been in love with was not only alive, but under the control of the Empire, the very thing you had dedicated your life to defeating.

The following day, when you lifted your head to see Tech enter your cell, he was now joined by an Imperial officer, and a floating droid that had a thin needle protruding from it. You understood all too well what this droid was, what it was used for, and you pulled at your restraints, a string of grunts escaping your lips.

“Resisting will do you no good” The Imperial officer chuckled, standing before you as the droid positioned itself to your left.

Tech couldn't watch. He kept his head up, appearing to be looking straight through you, but he had to close his eyes. Your screams were enough. You were resisting at every turn, and Tech just wished you would relent so that he wouldn't have to listen to the awful sounds that escaped you. The sounds that cut deep through his conditioning and hit his very soul, causing his chest to ache.

“Please, Tech. Make them stop” You cried hopelessly, and he squeezed his eyes closed even further, trying to block everything out.

To you, he looked cold, unmoving, and even after the Imperial had left with the droid as you had not let anything slip, he didn't budge at all.

After a few minutes of quiet, the only sound that was heard being your heavy breathing, he stepped forwards, taking off his helmet and letting it drop to the floor. He reached up and let you down from your restraints, catching your body as it fell down, limp with exhaustion. He knelt on the floor, his hand on the back of your head as it rested in his lap.

Your eyes fluttered open to see his face. He looked undeniably remorseful, and his eyes had a little amount of that special spark that they used to. You reached up and touched his face, causing his eyes to close with a shaky breath.

“What have they done to you Tech?” You whispered, your throat raw from shouting.

He didn't speak, but his heart clenched in his chest, every word you spoke bringing him further from the conditioning he had been subjected to to make him the way he was.

“How you could you let them do this to your brothers? To me? Do you not care about me at all?”

His eyes were now glassy when he opened them and looked down at you. He leant down and brought his forehead to yours, “I care for you more than you know”

Your tears were streaming down your face, “Then why are you doing this?”

Looking so deeply into your teary eyes, something in him finally snapped. He had a moment of intense clarity, fighting through his conditioning and realising the severity of his actions, of who he now was, who he had been forced to become.

He helped you stand before tying you back up in your restraints, much to your confusion.

You were sobbing now, your body and mind heavy with exhaustion, “Tech, please. Please stop this”

“I will come back for you, Cyare” He whispered, bringing his forehead back to yours with a hand on the back of your head, “I will get you out of here, I promise”

He stepped back, and was about to put his helmet back on, but he looked up to you once more.

“I am so very sorry”

You saw a tear slip from his eye, and he then placed his helmet on his head, leaving you alone once more.

Holding true to his promise, Tech returned that night. He unclipped your restraints, and you crumbled to your knees.

“Come on Cyar'ika, I'm going to get you out of here” He said gently, helping you to stand.

You tried to get a good footing, but your legs were too weak, and you fell into him. Without needing to be told, he picked you up, slinging an arm behind your back and the other under your knees. You rested your hands on his chest, looking up at his helmeted face and feeling unsure about his motivations. You were too tired to inquire though, so you just leaned your head against his shoulder and let him take you wherever he was going.

Tech carried you through the corridors of the prison, looking around corners and making sure to take the route where there would be the least guards. He constantly made sure you were still with him, as you kept slipping in and out of consciousness, so he'd place his fingers against your pulse point.

He slammed his hand into the door panel, and entered the elevator that would take you to the surface. The doors slid closed and he looked down at you, and behind his mask, he couldn't help but smile.

You looked so peaceful, so calm, so… beautiful.

For the first time, he let himself think of the future. He would get you out of here, and then he'd be free to think about his future. Maybe he'd re-join his brothers on Pabu, maybe… you would come with him. He hoped you could forgive him for the mistakes he'd made.

The doors opened, and Tech stepped out, pacing quickly across the landing platform to the nearest ship. Before he could make it there though, a bright light was shone on the pair of you from above.

“Trooper, put the prisoner down” A voice spoke through a loudspeaker, and he held you tightly in defiance.

He continued towards the transport, but was stopped in his place as blaster fire ripped through the air. His leg gave way as one of the shots grazed him, and he collapsed onto his knee, keeping you close to his chest so you wouldn’t hit the ground. He heard you let out a strangled gasp, and his heart sunk to his feet.

He pulled back from you, and sure enough, a blaster bolt had ripped straight into your chest.

He began panicking instantly, his breath quick and ragged, his heart stuttering and beating at an uneven pace. He let you rest in his lap, looking up to him through half lidded eyes that told him what he already knew to be true.

“No” He said assuredly, “You’re fine, you’re okay”

“Tech” You whispered.

“Everything will be fine” He bit into his bottom lip, completely in denial of what was happening.

“Tech” You said more firmly, though your voice was croaky, “It’s okay”

“It is not okay!” He exclaimed, tears spilling from his eyes that had quickly welled up.

He just watched you in disbelief, now unable to control the sobs that left his mouth. He had never cried so hard at anything in his life, but right now it felt as if everything was ending when it had only barely just begun.

“I'm so sorry Cyare, for everything” He whispered, his heart aching when you gave him a half-hearted smile.

“I know Tech, I know” You said breathlessly, the feeling of the blaster bolt to your heart ripping any strength from you.

Tech held your body close to him as the life slipped from you.

“It shouldn't have been like this, I should've protected you” He sobbed into your chest.

You pulled his head back and hooked your fingers under the edge of his helmet, taking it off his head so you could look into his eyes. You placed your hand on the side of his scarred cheek, and he leaned into it savouring your warm touch while he still could.

“It's okay Tech, I forgive you”

He didn't even think, he didn’t want to. Instead he just brought his lips to yours, the salty taste of his tears finding your tongue. The kiss was perfect, yet so bittersweet. It was something you had both waited years for, but now it would be one of the last moments you would ever share together. Tech kissed you so fervently, pouring every inch of his being into you, connecting his soul to yours, and in return you gave everything you had, even as it was slipping away.

He didn’t want it to end, and neither did you, but you knew your time was limited, and you had something you needed to say. You had thought that you had missed your chance before, and you’d be damned if you missed it now, in your final moments.

“Tech” You whispered, pulling away from him and looking into his glassy eyes, “I love you”

He let out a choked sob and brought his forehead to yours, “I love you too Cyar’ika, I always will”

His forehead rested against yours as you slipped away. He was whispering apologies, his eyes closed, unable to look into your eyes and see the light leave them. After a few moments, your hand fell from his face, and that's when he knew you were gone.

Tech held you close to him for a moment longer before his blood began boiling with rage. He laid your lifeless body against the ground, closing your eyes and making sure you could be comfortable even in death.

He stood, a flame burning inside of him that spread throughout his limbs, urging his fingers to find the pair of blasters that sat at his hip. He unholstered them just as blaster fire once more resumed. He dodged what he could, shooting the stormtroopers that closed in on him and depleting their numbers single-handedly, but his luck was eventually going to run out, and he knew that.

The first shot was to his shoulder, sending him stumbling backwards, but he fought through the searing pain and continued knocking down the soldiers. The second shot placed itself in his knee and he cried out as it gave way and he fell to his other knee, still fighting for his life. The third and fourth shots were the true nail in the coffin, both of them finding his chest and ripping him open as you had been. Even though he had armour, it was not enough to withstand two blaster bolts to the heart.

He fell forwards, his body sprawled on the floor unceremoniously. He lifted his head just a little to look towards your body. He grasped ahead of him and found purchase on your hand, still warm as if you were there comforting him through death as he had for you.

He laid down on his back as he saw his life flashing before his eyes, your hand clasped in his, and he mourned the life that could have been. Perhaps in another life, another time, things would have ended differently.

divider from this post <3

words in my mouth

Wolffe x F!Reader

word count: 3.7k

description: you never felt that your friendliness had made a positive impression on the ever elusive, always stern commander wolffe, but that all changes when he overhears a drunken game of truth or dare.

warnings: kinda grumpy/sunshine I suppose, a little fluff at the end, drinking, minor injury detail

a/n: was supposed to be working on my tech oneshot but... I got sidetracked. I also tried to make wolffe less toxic than how he's sometimes represented. grumpy king <3

“Hey Commander!” You chirp cheerily, passing the man in question in the hallway. You know you won’t receive any such a response from him, but you were nothing if not persistent. Sometimes, it was just fun to see his glare and the grinding of his jaw.

Truthfully, you didn’t do it to wind him up, you secretly hoped that one day he would relent and smile back at you. Though that was not in his nature, and perhaps you wouldn’t care to try if it was.

His eyes found yours at the mention of his title, and his teeth instantly ground together. You offered a sweet smile and a wave but his eyes held your gaze with a glare that was so equally lazy and irritated that you almost found it endearing. You were sure no one got under his skin like you did, and that's how you liked it.

“See you later!” You grinned as he walked past, clinging onto his glare so long that he was looking over his shoulder by the time you looked away.

You were stationed on Coruscant with the rest of the 104th for a few weeks at the moment. Usually, you worked aboard General Plo Koon's flagship as a strategist, which was how you got so many opportunities to irritate the broody Commander. You worked closely with him and the General before they were sent off on their missions.

The first time you had met Commander Wolffe, he was so taken aback by your friendliness and positive attitude that he had looked to his General, hoping for some kind of support. Seeing how confused it had made him, you just couldn't resist doing it every time you saw him outside of meetings.

Wolffe was thankful that you kept your overly-sweetened demeanour to outside of meetings, and it was when you became focused and as serious as he was during them, that he truly appreciated your role as a strategist. He wouldn't admit it to you, he hardly had to himself, but he secretly preferred your friendly off-duty persona.

He knew that you were friendly with everyone, but he got a certain thrill every time you went out of your way to say hi to him, to offer him that million-credit smile with the cutest spring in your step. He would be remiss to not realise how beautiful you were, everyone in his company had made at least one comment on it before, but again, he'd never let on.

Wolffe gave no indication of these thoughts and feelings that he kept close to his chest, in fact, he actively worked against them, glaring at you as he just had and not answering your questions that felt like they were meant to taunt him. You drove him up the wall, but in a way where he would lie awake at night and hope to run into you the next day.

Safe to say, you had no idea. No one did.

Though it wasn't long before your own affections came to light.

That night, you had been press-ganged into playing pazaak by Comet and Boost, both of them playing on the same side against you. You had groaned about how unfair it was, but by this point you were all drunk enough that it didn’t matter anymore. If anyone had walked in, they might not have even realised it was pazaak you were playing, you were all playing that poorly. Since you had lost all of your credits to the two clones - unfairly, as you kept reminding them - you were now playing for truth or dares. If they won, you picked truth or dare, and so on and so forth. Hilarity ensues, for them.

You lost another round, but you were past caring now.

“Alright. Truth this time” You sighed.

Comet grinned lazily, “I have a good one”

You rolled your eyes, “So, you mean, it’s actually bad”

“Shhhhh” Boost pressed a finger to your lips haphazardly, “Let the man speak”

You pushed him off, “Lay it on me”

“If you had to kiss one of us clones, who would it be?” Comet leaned forwards as he relayed the question.

“Ooh, that is a good one”

You laughed instinctively, “I’m not answering that”

“No. The rules dictate you must answer the question” Boost slurred.

“The rules?” You chuckled, “I think we lost our grip on rules a while ago”

“Cmon” Comet almost whined, pushing at your knee.

For a moment you placed a finger on your chin, pretending to think really hard, but then it was shortly over taken by a smirk as your brain brought forth exactly the clone to answer the question.

“So there is someone then!” Boost pointed at your borderline mischievous look.

“Keep your voice down!” You hissed at him, swatting his accusing finger away.

“You’ve got to tell us now” Comet insisted.

“No. I’m not saying”

“Okay well we’re just gonna start guessing and see how you react” Boost sat back in his chair, “Well there’s me, Comet…”

You rolled your eyes affectionately as they continued to list off people from their company. It was almost worth it to let them do it to see if they remembered everyone, but it was getting a little tiresome at the same time.

“Alright, alright. I'll kriffing tell you” You finally relented. Somehow they hadn’t guessed right yet.

The pair sat across from you leaned in with the biggest grins plastered across their faces, and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes again.

“I guess I don't hate the idea of making out with the Commander” You said coyly, as if you didn’t know how insane that was going to make them.

They both let out a borderline scream, Boost even jumped up from his chair for a minute. Your laughter forced its way out of you from their reaction.

“So what you really mean is, you’ve already thought about making out with the Commander” Comet asked with a knowingly raised eyebrow.

“Alright, that wasn’t part of the game” You shook your head, sitting back.

“Come on” Boost whined, and it cracked you easily in your drunken state.

“Fine. Maybe I have. So what?”

If either of the clones grinned any wider their faces would surely have split in half.

“So that's why you're so friendly with him, you have a crush on him” Boost laughed loudly, and you jumped to cover his mouth, but just a little too late.

“Will you please be quiet!” You hissed, and they erupted into even louder laughter at your reaction.

You grumbled under your breath and moved back, picking up the bottle of spotchka and pouring them both another cup.

“I’m making sure the both of you don’t remember this tomorrow” You mumbled.

Regrettably, both Comet and Boost were fully operational with no hangover and a complete memory the next morning, unlike yourself. You didn’t have a particularly low alcohol tolerance but the sheer amount of straight liquor that you drank last night was catching up with you. You had an agonizing headache and felt so foggy that you didn’t even know you were walking past the Commander. He called out to you, and you realised you had been walking down the corridor with your head in your hand as you looked to the floor.

“Are you… Alright?” He asked hesitantly, the words feeling unfamiliar coming from him.

You cleared your throat and smoothed down your hair slightly, hyper-aware of your less-than-alive looking appearance. You had really hoped not to see him today. Your eyes found his, his one natural eye holding a certain level of concern that turned your stomach.

“Yes sir, just… Drank a bit too much last night is all” You spoke, and your voice was more hoarse than you were hoping.

“What were you drinking? You look awful” He crossed his arms, looking down at you with his usual frown.

“How kind of you to point out” You chuckled, “It was spotchka, Boost and Comet convinced me to play pazaak against both of them”

“Well that was a mistake” He said flatly, his eyes moving to something behind you.

“Yeah, I can see that no-”

You were cut off as someone shoved your back harshly, sending you flying towards the Commander’s chest. Luckily, he saw the incoming attack and grabbed your shoulders before you could make impact. It was the first time he had ever touched you, and if you weren’t so angry your brain might have lingered on the warmth you could feel through his gloves.

You whirled around, looking for the culprit, and as expected, there stood Boost and Comet, snickering with each other.

“You’re going to regret that” You seethed, and their eyes widened, running away as you leapt at them.

Wolffe watched you sprint after his men, and failed to suppress the small smile quirking his lips. He had a little idea of what that might have been about.

Over the next couple of days, you had to keep your wits about you, particularly when you spotted Wolffe in the vicinity. You were constantly looking over your shoulder, as you had now been shoved number of times, being sent careening into the Commander. You apologised profusely each time, then turned around to whack whichever one of the two menace clones had done it this time. Wolffe couldn’t find it in himself to be annoyed by it, in fact, he almost looked forward to it.

He would grab your arms to steady you, and the wide-eyed look you gave him each time was enough to set his insides alive. One time, when you really hadn’t been expecting it, he had grabbed you by the waist, and somewhere in the altercation your hands ended up splayed against his chest plate. Your eyes went wide as always, and in addition, you cheeks flushed a deep red and your mouth hung agape. You couldn’t seem to move or say anything for a moment, only being snapped from your trance when Wolffe had raised an eyebrow at you. That interaction had only earned you an earful from Comet about how ‘down bad’ you were.

Even now as you walked into an important meeting, you couldn't get it out of your head, and the fact that Wolffe was stood waiting for you with the General was no help. The reality of your silly crush came crashing down on you. It wasn't just some fleeting fancy, this affection for Wolffe had been festering within you, and you had only been intensifying it each time you goaded him.

His eyes followed you as you walked inside, settling yourself at the central holotable and looking into it despondently. His eyebrows drew together in a frown as he walked towards you.

“Everything alright?” He asked as he rested on the holotable beside you. You jumped at the sound of his voice, looking up only briefly when realising who it was.

“Yeah, yeah” You replied non-commitally, causing Wolffe's frown to deepen.

“You sure?” He asked again, bringing his hand to your shoulder. You instinctively ducked away from it, stepping away from him, your body feeling like it had been struck by lightning.

“I'm fine” You managed to peep out.

Wolffe let his hand hang in the air for a moment, before he quickly brought it to his side again. What was he doing? He didn't touch people. He didn't double check if people were okay. But why had you moved away? Did he not overhear you right the other night? Was it someone else's name that you had said?

He could feel an embarrassed blush scorching his ears as General Plo Koon joined you both at the holotable, which he mostly did a good job of hiding. You, however, were doing a poor job of acting normal, and Plo Koon looked between the both of you suspiciously for a moment.

“Has something happened that I should be made aware of?” He spoke and you were pulled out of your mind that was purely filled by screaming thoughts.

“No sir” You shook your head, “Let's get to work”

Wolffe had always applauded your professionalism, and he was never more thankful for it than in that moment.

You had scampered from the command room as soon as the meeting was over. You didn't want to think for a while, so you had gone to your workstation in the hangar, hoping to rid the Commander from your mind.

Thus far, you had been unsuccessful.

You were trying to solder together two wires, but your hand kept slipping, your mind absolutely preoccupied by the few touches that Wolffe had allowed you in the past few days. Well, most of them had not been allowed, but the most recent one, the one you could still feel burning at your skin…

You grunted in frustration, just as Boost came strolling by with a wide grin.

“How’s it going?” He asked, spurred on by your glare.

“Not good. No thanks to you” You grumbled, looking back down to your work.

“Oh come on, it's just a bit of fun” He said, taking a seat on your workstation.

“For you. I can’t say I enjoy being pushed around all too much” You said pointedly, giving him a withering look.

He just shrugged with a grin, “I think you do really”

You huffed, continuing on with your work despite the distraction. At least your mind was off of Wolffe now. You weren't thinking about the feel of his hand on your shoulder, or your waist, the strength of his grip, this intensity of his gaze… oh kriff, who were you kidding.

“Boost I need you to-”

Before you could even register who's voice it was, Boost was pushing your side into the Commander. You cried out as the soldering tool stabbed and burned into your other hand suddenly, drawing blood and cauterising the wound all at once. It was a mess, and Boost immediately began apologising.

Wolffe sighed agressively, righting you again, “I'll patch her up, you best kriff off now Boost”

There was no room for objection in his tone, and Boost slinked off with another apology, and guilt weighing his shoulders.

“Do you have a medkit here?” Wolffe asked as you rested your back against the workstation, holding your hand closed with the other one.

“Bottom drawer” You said, unable to meet his gaze, unable to focus on anything but the searing pain in your palm.

He retrieved the medkit and opened it up, setting it down on the desk and taking off his gloves, “Alright, let's see it”

He took your hands in his, and that's when your breathing stopped. His hands were unexpectedly soft and gentle, pulling your hand away from the wounded one and opening it up. There was blood smeared all over your palm and fingers, but all you could focus on was Wolffe. The feeling of his hands as they cleaned you up, the gentleness of his grip and the lack of a scowl on his features.

“So are you going to tell me why the boys have been doing this all week?” He said, looking up to find you already looking into his eyes when he had wrapped your hand.

You huffed a bit, “I don't know, because they're idiots, mainly”

Wolffe hummed thoughtfully, “So it has nothing to do with the conversation I overheard the other night?”

You froze completely.

“What?” You managed to peep out, but it was barely above a whisper.

Wolffe’s lips curled into a small smirk, “Something about… not minding the idea of making out with me?” He jogged your memory teasingly.

You could feel your heart beating faster and faster, your insides constricting and your throat drying up. He had heard exactly what you had said.

“It was just a silly game we were playing” You tried to play it off but Wolffe wasn't having it.

“Mhm” He hummed amusedly, “A game which - if I'm not mistaken - has the word ‘truth’ somewhere in the title”

You had to rip your eyes from his at that point, it was becoming too uncomfortable, and you could feel the blush creeping up your neck. He stepped forwards so that his boots were touching yours, his chest almost against yours.

“So you're saying you haven't thought about it?” He asked, his voice in a slightly lower register, giving it a slightly gravelly tone.

You gulped. “No, I havent” You lied through your teeth, but you were never good at that, and it was given away by the quiver in your voice.

“That's a shame” Wolffe mumbled, and your eyes snapped back to his, slightly widened.

You were sweating at this point, your body feeling like it was on fire with his so close by. Wolffe just smirked knowingly.

“Ah, so it's true, you really do want me to kiss you?” He leaned forward a fraction more, his chest brushing against yours as he placed one hand on the bench behind you, the other finding your waist.

You were burning up under his gaze and now his touch, unable to think clearly.

“I feel like you're putting words in my mouth” You spoke breathlessly, clearly flustered as you looked between his eyes and anything around him in a panic. Wolffe just chuckled, gripping your waist tighter.

“I don't think I am darling”

By then, he was only a hairbreadth from your lips, and all the composure you still had was hanging by a thread.

“Commander, what…?” You trailed off, you couldn't make sense of the situation. You had assumed he found you completely irritating and just plain didn't like you, only holding it together in meetings because he had to. But now, with his breath mingling with yours, you were left confused.

“Do you not want me to kiss you?” He asked sincerly, his face moving back slightly and eyes flicking over your face for any sign that you didn't want this. Your eyes closed at the feel of his hot breath on your lips and you let out a shaky breath.

“I…” You couldn't muster up any words, your brain wasnt functioning as it should. The only thing you could get out, was “Why?”

He chuckled lowly, and your eyes opened to see the skin around his eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled fondly.

“Believe it or not, I don't find you anywhere near as annoying as I pretend I do. In fact…” He said quietly, brushing a piece of hair behind your ear before settling his palm against your cheek, “I might even like you, just a bit”

Wolffe could see your eyes sparkle at his words, “Really?”

“Really” He said resolutely.

You couldn't help but smile up at him, that winning smile that he so loved.

“See, how could I resist a smile like that”

You blushed and looked down shyly, unsure how to deal with this kind of attention from the Commander. You were used to him being cold, not necessarily ignoring you, but just not engaging with your friendly advances. That, you could deal with, but this, was something else entirely.

He tilted your head up again with a finger under your chin, “Not like you to be so quiet. Something on your mind darling?”

The pet name rolled so easily off his tongue despite how strange it was to hear from him, but the more you became intoxicated by his presence surrounding you, the more right it felt.

He's right, usually you had something to say. A quick joke, a quip, a small compliment at the very least, but nothing was coming to mind. You could only look at him and hope to convey everything that your mind wouldn't bring forth.

Your eyes naturally flicked down from his, trailing along his mouth that was so close to yours, and back up to his cybernetic one. He was so effortlessly handsome, in a way you didn't see with the other clones. Perhaps his eye set him apart, or perhaps it was his usual attitude. You didn't know, but with him pressing you into your workstation, there was no way that you'd figure it out right then and there.

“Wolffe” You whispered, the name causing his eyebrows to raise. You had never called him by his name, not once, and that was certainly not lost on him.

“What is it, Mesh'la?” He said lowly, his head tipping forwards to lightly press his forehead to yours. Your breathing evened out at the comforting gesture.

“Kiss me” You whispered, your lips almost grazing his.

He grinned, speaking almost as quietly, “I thought you'd never ask”

Then his lips were on yours.

He held your waist tightly as his lips moved in perfect harmony with yours, melding together in a dance of quiet passion. You had never been kissed with such reverence, such intensity and yet such sweetness. His lips captured yours as if they were made to fit together, and they had finally found their purpose in meeting. The kiss didn't last long, but all that needed to be confessed was laced within it's lingering aftertaste.

Wolffe pulled away, his grin no longer taunting in anyway, but just one of genuine contentment. His thumb stroked your cheek gently as he held you to him with his other arm.

“Was it everything you hoped it'd be?” He asked, rubbing his nose against yours slightly.

You chuckled softly, a smile parting your lips, “It was way better”

“Better?” Wolffe raised his eyebrows slightly, “So, in your wildest dreams I was a lousy kisser?”

“That's not what I meant” You frowned a little.

“What did you mean then?” He asked with a growing smirk.

“Just that it was really grea-” You paused, observing his amused expression, “You knew what I meant” You rolled your eyes affectionately, earning an amused huff from Wolffe.

“I did” He mumbled with a smile, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead, “I just wanted to hear you say it”

technical devotion, part thirteen: leaving

a/n: this is kind of filler. kind of. not my best work also but alas

content warnings: none :)

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“Hey Captain” Kan smiled at the small hologram Rex that sat atop the kitchen table.

“Hey Kan, Echo, sorry it took longer than expected to get back to you - there's been a lot of back and forth about what to do” Rex sighed, “We've decided to pull you out”

“What?” Echo frowned deeply.

“I'm sorry Echo, but we’ve decided that there’s not much more that you two can do on your own, and the information you've got for us already exceeds what we expected when we sent you, so you should return by the next rotation”

“Are you sure there's nothing more we can do? There was a lot of data in that base that we could still access” Kan tried to bargain.

“You've done enough, and we could use you back at base to be honest” Rex scratched his head, “There's a possibility of returning with an infiltration team later but that's a conversation for another time”

“Rex, please, there so much-”

“Echo look, if it were just up to me I'd let you stay, but it's not, so I need you back” Rex cut him off, “And I don't want you sneaking behind our backs and going back in anyway, alright?”

Echo sighed and nodded.

“Do I have your word?” Rex asked, knowing his brother all too well.

“You have my word” Echo said begrudgingly.

“Okay. I'll see you two back here soon”

The connection cut out and Rex's figure disappeared. Echo sighed deeply and sat down at the table, going to say something before Kan cut him off.

“I know” She said simply, giving him a sympathetic look, “I know, but you gave Rex your word”

Echo bit the inside of his cheek as he looked up at her, “Maybe I shouldn't have”

“Echo…” Kan sat down beside him, “We'll get another chance, we can push to come back”

Echo sighed again and looked away from Kan. He didn't want to admit it, but he was more reluctant to leave because of the living arrangements rather than the possible data they could obtain from the Empire's base. He enjoyed living with Kan, always being around her, and just her. He didn't want to go back to the base when everything felt as if it had changed so much here, that he had changed. He was so hyper-aware of his shifting priorities, but he couldn't stop it happening. He now cared more to keep Kan safe than to bring the Empire to its knees. Of course, he would like to do both, but he worried that one would eventually come at the expense of the other, and he couldn't bare the idea of either outcome.

“I have an idea” Kan said, interrupting his troubling thoughts. Echo looked up to see a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.

“Will I like this idea?” Echo replied, his eyebrow arched knowingly.

“Maybe not at first… but hopefully I can persuade you”

Echo turned to look at her properly, “What does that mean?”

“I figure that, since it's our last night here, we should do something” She said, a smile creeping across her face.

“Something…?” Echo questioned.

“Well, when I went out with Cap- Commander Levy, we went to this really charming bar, and I thought maybe we could get a drink there?” Kan said, trying her best to stay confident, but she felt shy in even asking to begin with.

“You want to get a drink with me?” Echo asked, a little surprised.

“Yeah why not? It could be fun” Kan shrugged, as if it was just a casual request.

“Um… I can't really drink in my droid mask” Echo stated.

“Well I really meant for you to go without your disguise” Kan subtly chewed on her lip.

“But I-”

“I just thought, you were worried about people asking about your scomp right? And you don't have it on show anymore so maybe you could come out as… you?”

The look in Kan's eyes was so hopeful that Echo couldn't deny her, “Okay, but- um, what about my… head stuff”

“It's fine, I'm sure people won't think about it” Kan smiled, “Besides, if anyone wants to comment on it I'll tell them to kriff off”

Echo chuckled, “I can't say no now I suppose”

“No, you can't” Kan smiled and jumped from her chair, “I'll go get ready, see you in like… 10 minutes”

Echo stifled a laugh as Kan scampered up the stairs and slammed the door to her room closed.

He breathed out a deep sigh and took off his headgear. Kan just asked me to get a drink? Together? He tried not to read into it. Kan is just friendly, we're friends, going out to a bar to have drinks. As friends. No big deal. Safe to say, he was making a big deal out of it anyway. He looked down at the floor, his head feeling heavy and weighed down by the sheer amount of things popping into his head. Kriffing relax.

Echo was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of Kan coming down the stairs, and his heart stopped when he looked up at her. She wore a simple red dress that hung around her figure perfectly and ended mid-calf, her boots disappearing above the hem, with a lacey white tie at the waist. She had applied some makeup that accentuated her eyes and cheekbones, and Echo found himself completely mesmerised.

“I got this dress the other day at the market, do you think it's appropriate for the bar?” She asked, doing a little spin.

Echo couldn't speak. His words caught in his throat until Kan looked up at him nervously.

“You look beautiful M'aira”

It was the only thing in his mind, the only thing he could conceivably say.

Kan blushed furiously, “Oh, thank you Echo”

Echo couldn't stop staring at her, and Kan became more and more nervous under his gaze. He looked completely awestruck, and it made her feel completely alive and frozen at the same time.

“Shall we go?” She peeped out, sounding more weak than she had wished.

Echo shook his head slightly and cleared his throat, “Yeah, let's”

The bar was dark, as it had been the first time Kan had gone there, and Echo was thankful for that. Despite Kan's assurances, he was still nervous about how people would react to the cerebral parts of his cybernetic makeup. He could imagine the things they were thinking as he walked in beside her, the most beautiful person he had ever seen. What's he doing with her.

Kan had no such thoughts in her head, she was only glad that this time she was at the bar with someone she truly liked, someone she felt comfortable with. She looked up to him beside her and noted his discomfort immediately.

“What's wrong?” She asked, gently placing her hand on his new cybernetic arm.

Echo looked down at her beside him and felt his worries ease just a little. “Nothing” He smiled weakly, “What can I get you to drink?”

Kan smiled at the stark difference between him and the last man who had accompanied her here. She didn't mean to compare them, but it just reminded her of why she liked Echo so much.

Kan shook her head, “I'll get the drinks, I was the one that suggested it after all”

“I don't think so” Echo smirked a bit, and placed his new hand on the small of her back, guiding her towards an empty booth near the back of the bar. She was startled initially, but relaxed into his touch and sat down in the booth once they arrived.

“Now-” He placed his hand on the table and leaned down to Kan's level as he spoke, “What can I get you?”

Kan was flustered by his behaviour but replied with her order, “I don't know, um, wine of some kind”

“Some kind?”

“Yeah whatever, I'm not fussy”

“Alright, coming right up” He replied, and walked over to the bar to order.

Kan's heart felt like it was trying to escape her chest, beating so fast she could feel it throughout her body. She couldn't say she didn't enjoy it when Echo was more physically comfortable with her, but it sure made her body act up. She couldn't help but think about what it might be like to kiss him, what her body would do then.

She shook her head to banish the thoughts as she heard someone call out her fake name. She looked up to see her previous date to the bar walking towards the booth.

“Commander” She greeted him with a gracious smile, one that Echo could see was forced when he came back to the table.

“Where is your husband tonight my dear” The Commander asked, almost challenging her it seemed.

“He-”

“I'm right here”

They both looked over his shoulder to see Echo returning with two drinks in hand. He placed Kan's in front of her and sat down beside her, placing his arm around her waist.

“It's a pleasure” Commander Levy spoke with a tight jaw, holding his hand out to Echo, “You're a lucky man”

“I know” Echo didn't shake his hand and instead held Kan tighter, pressing his temple into hers.

Echo and Commander Levy exchanged a few more words, but Kan tuned them out, albeit unintentionally. She couldn't focus at all. Echo was pressed up against her, and drawing small circles on her waist with the thumb of the cybernetic she had made for him. The intimacy of that notion wasn't lost on her, and she felt her body heating up as she dwelled on it more.

She didn't even realise Commander Levy was gone, or that Echo was talking to her, until he squeezed her tighter for a second. She met his eyes with hers and with how close they were, he could see how startled she looked.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, fine” She said, a little more breathless than she intended, “You didn't have to do that by the way”

“It's okay, I just wanted him to leave us alone really” Echo shrugged slightly.

Kan smiled up at him and then looked away as her cheeks heated up, realising that he was still holding her tightly. She edged a little closer to him as she took her wine glass in her hand, and they began talking as if it were normal for them to be in this position.

They talked as they usually did, swapping stories from their pasts, and as they drank more alcohol, their laughter turned to giggling and they became even more relaxed around each other, and Kan found herself leaning into Echo and resting her head on his shoulder when she felt tired.

“Shall we head back?” He asked quietly, speaking right into her ear, which made Kan hum contentedly and close her eyes.

“I like your voice” She replied, opening her eyes to look up at him.

Echo just chuckled, “You mean, you like clone voices?”

She shook her head, “No, yours is different. It's… warmer”

Echo had certainly never had anything about him described as ‘warm’, and he realised that even through his slightly altered state of mind.

“Alright, I think we should get home now” He said, gently taking Kan's head from his shoulder.

Kan huffed slightly, but followed him anyway as he left the booth anyway, a little unsteady before she found her footing. They exited the bar and into the cool air outside, winding their way back to their dwelling to spend their last night there.

Kan slipped her hand into Echo's as they walked, and he looked down at her suspiciously. They had had the same amount of drinks, but it was clear that Echo could handle his liquor a lot better than her, which made sense as she was at least half a foot shorter than him.

He decided to let himself indulge in the feel of her hand in his, even if it was for just for the walk home and never again.

Leaving the house the next morning proved more troublesome than Kan had realised, or was initially willing to let on. As they walked away, she turned and stood looking back at it.

“I'll miss it here, I'll miss-” She stopped herself, looking up at Echo who had stopped next to her, “You're a good housemate Echo, I'd live with you again”

Echo gave her a warm smile, “Well, we do sort of live together back at the base”

She laughed, “I suppose that's true”

“You know, if you actually slept in your bed like you're supposed to then you'd even sleep next to me every night” He smirked a little.

Kan's smile faltered, before it then got wider, “You're right” She said and moved away from the house, heading towards where they hid the ship, “That's as good a reason as any to sleep there”

Echo bit into his lip to stop himself saying anything more, for fear of misinterpretation, or overstepping any boundaries, but he was starting to think it was possible that it wasn't just him that harboured more-than-friendly feelings in his and Kan’s relationship.

honestly, I'm convinced

My take on Rex’s hair is that he is a natural blond and does not dye it

You may be wondering, why are his eyebrows dark then?

My very (un)serious headcanon is that part of the cloning process means the kaminoans (no idea if that’s spelt right) chose certain aspects of the clones genetics that they wanted to prioritise and put lots of attention into. One of the things they chose was eyebrows, to help the clones be more effective when they raise their eyebrows to judge/question people. Because naturally eyebrows are just as important to focus on as other useful traits a soldier needs (eg fitness, intelligence - obviously eyebrows are not at all out of place on that list)

Therefore, because they focused more on eyebrows, Rex has standard eyebrows but his hair is a different colour to most clones

Week 4

Main Prompt: Cadets

Alt. Prompt: "You really think you're going without me? Not going to happen."

Better Late than never.

a little while longer

Hunter x F!Reader

word count: 4.1k

description: your job keeps you away from pabu, your home, more than you would like, but when you return after weeks away, there's a certain someone eager to make you stay for good.

warnings: fluff, mutual pining, friends to lovers, all that good stuff, wet hair hunter !!!

a/n: been sitting on this for a little while and finally finished it lol, I'm pretty proud of how it turned out in the end. also I realised after that pabu's beach might not be sand....... just pretend it is okay

You brought your ship out of Hyperspace and sighed delightedly at the sight of the swirling blues of Pabu's surface. It was always such a wonderful sight after a long stretch of selling.

You owned a small vineyard on Pabu, though of course none of your customers from other areas of the galaxy knew that's where you operated from. The drinks you made were your main source of money, but you also owned a small wine bar on Pabu. Most of your time was taken up by travelling to other star systems and selling your wares, but your favourite times were spent back home, talking with customers across the bar.

As you entered the upper atmosphere, you were greeted by the wonderful orange and pink hues of the sun disappearing over the horizon. You quickly sped down to the surface, eager to watch the sunset from the town square as you often did when you were back.

When you set down your ship, you saw the flash of blonde hair as the young girl you had grown so familiar with rushed across the square. You smiled at her eagerness, and barely made it out of your ship before you were attacked at the waist by her crushing hug.

“You've been gone for so long!” Omega whined, “You've never been away that long before”

“It was only a few weeks Mega” You told her, but she still wasn't pleased.

“How long are you back for this time?” She asked, her eyes wide and shining up at you.

“I'm not sure” You ruffled her hair with tight lipped smile.

She groaned as she let go of you, “Alright, well I guess I should just make the most of it then”

“That sounds good to me” You smiled down at her as she slung her arm around your waist, pulling you in the direction she knew you'd be going.

Ever since the Bad Batch had arrived on Pabu, you had spent a lot of your time with Omega. For whatever reason, she was very interested by your work, and she often came to help you with some of the more simple parts of the process. She was fascinated that you could create such a mind-altering beverage just from simple fruits. She always wanted to try some, but she was many years away from an acceptable drinking age, and so you had to crush her dreams every time you said no. You thought that she probably continued asking because one day you might just break, and sometimes it felt like that. Her hopeful smile was just too precious, and the look of dismay that followed denying her a taste was enough to make most people do as she liked.

Omega let go of your waist to pull you down onto the ledge by your forearm, a little too close for your comfort but you knew she was smart enough not to fall off.

“Careful Mega” You reminded her anyway, and she rolled her eyes.

“I'm always careful” She said, shuffling closer to you so that she could rest her head on your shoulder.

“I know. Doesn't stop me worrying though” You sighed, leaning your head onto hers and pulling her in with your arm around her back.

“Maker, you're as bad as Hunter” Omega mumbled, earning a chuckle from you.

“Can you blame him? Chaos follows you wherever you go”

“That's not my fault” Omega shrugged.

“Hm, I'm not sure about that… but if you insist” You replied, and both of you settled into silence as you watched the sun setting.

The pink clouds circled and danced around the orange glow, and a deep red was bursting from the horizon line. As the sun sunk lower and lower, the air was filled with a haziness that only came on beautiful summer evenings such as this. It was still warm, a little light and people still moved about in the town, but the lack of wind made everything seem stationary, like a picture, a frame, frozen in time.

“You should get home” You mumbled to Omega, feeling calmed by the serene atmosphere.

“Probably” She sighed, and lifted her head from your shoulder to look at you, “Why don't you come with me?”

“I'd love to Mega, but I should be getting back to the bar really” You told her reluctantly. You had told the person working you'd be back before sunset…

“Awh, come on, just this once? You can come and see Hunter” She grinned up at you and you rolled your eyes. You had made the sore mistake of letting slip the nature of your feelings towards the Sergeant, and Omega saw it as a perfect opportunity to try and play matchmaker. “I'm sure he'd like to see you” She added.

“Yeah yeah, in my dreams right?” You chuckled, and held your hand out to help her up as you stood.

“You know, there's nothing stopping you from just telling him how you feel” She said matter-of-factly, looking up at you with her hands on her hips.

“Well, for now I've still got to go back to the bar. I'll see you tomorrow kid” You smiled at her, and she waved you off before running back home.

You chuckled to yourself, shaking your head as you walked in the direction of your bar. It was located down a small street, almost tucked away, but the people of Pabu all knew where it was, those that drank wine anyway.

You approached the building, flower baskets adorning the windows and metal chairs and tables outside, a few people sitting there and enjoying the last traces of light. You brought your lighter from your pocket and lit the candles at the tables, the people smiling appreciatively and welcoming you back to the island.

You absolutely loved it here. You hadn't lived here your whole life like many of the other islanders, but when you had arrived around seven years back, they took you in as one of their own. Everyone was exceedingly friendly, and your dream of running an orchard and wine bar was quickly taken up when you had mentioned it in passing to Shep. A lot of people had pitched in, and you would never be able to repay them for that.

That was partly the reason you spent so much time away, because you couldn't possibly cover the cost of running your business just through the wine bar and the sales you made on the island. There simply weren't enough people. Truthfully, you wished that you never had to leave at all.

“Heya Lenny” You smiled at the man currently working the bar.

“Hey boss, looks like you're late again” He smirked, knowing what had kept you.

“Sorry Len, you can go home now, I've got it from here” You chuckled, setting down your bag behind the bar.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, go spend time with that lovely husband of yours” You smirk at him, the emphasis coming from the newness of the title, as they had only got married a month prior.

“Alright, don't threaten me with a good time” He laughed, untying his apron and leaving out the back door.

You settled yourself behind the bar, looking up at all the bottles of wine that adorned the back of it. You smiled, looking at the labels from years gone by, as well as the new additions. You could honestly say that you were proud of yourself for how far you'd come.

“I heard you were looking for me” A voice spoke from behind you, and you instantly knew who it was. You turned towards the front of the bar, and met the soft brown eyes of your favourite customer.

“Who told you that? Wait- let me guess… Omega” You chuckled at the young girl’s attempts to get you two in the same space all the time.

“Oh, you weren't actually looking for me?” Hunter asked, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“I wasn't, but it's nice to see you anyway” You smile.

“You too. When did you get back? You should've come said hi” Hunter leaned on the bar.

“Only as the sun was going down, I had to get back here anyway” You shrugged, brushing past his comment, “What can I get you?”

“Oh nothing, I was only coming to see why you were looking for me” He backed away from bar a little, “I'll leave you to it”

“To what?” Your eyes sparkled with amusement, casting a glance around the empty bar.

Hunter chuckled a little at the realisation, clearing his throat, “Right, sorry”

“Come on” You grinned, grabbing a bottle from a few years back off of the shelf, as well as two glasses. You held them up as you moved from behind the bar, heading outside, “Have a drink with me?”

Hunter smiled, following behind you, “Sure, why not”

The customers that were here when you got back had since left, so it was just the two of you when you sat down at the table outside. It was quiet as you set down the wine glasses on the table, and poured a sensible amount for both of you. You swirled the deep red liquid in the glass and took a sip, smiling as the different notes hit your taste buds.

Hunter watched you with interest, inspecting the way you enjoyed the drink. He took a small sip from his own glass and swallowed thickly to get it down his throat.

“So” You began, crossing one leg over the other as you looked to the clone across from you, “What's been going on since I was away?”

Hunter began going over everything he could think of that happened, which didn't end up being too much. Pabu was peaceful, nothing catastrophic ever really happened, not counting the sea surge that you still jokingly blamed the bad batch for bringing with them. He recounted how Omega had been doing more flying, and that she was pretty much better than him, Wrecker and Crosshair combined by now. He talked about his brothers so fondly, and you loved to listen to it. The way his mouth curled at the edges as if he was trying to surpress it, the creases at the edges of his eyes giving it away. It was clear to you how much he cared for them all, how he still felt responsible for them, and it always warmed your heart.

“And you? How have you been?” You asked, a knowing smile playing on your lips.

He chuckled breathily, “Yeah I'm fine”

“Just fine?” You arched an eyebrow at him subtly.

“Good, then. I don't know” He shrugged with a small smile.

You shook your head a little. You had told him before that he thinks of himself far too little, so you knew he knew what you were getting at.

“Sorry, I've just been rambling on, what about you? How were your travels?”

A sigh escaped your lips before you gave it permission, “Fine, as always”

Hunter knew you didn't like leaving. You had once drunkenly regaled him with all of the worst tales of your travels, an unfortunate memory your mind replayed often at night when sleep eluded you.

“Did something happen?” He asked.

“No, I'd just rather not have to do it”

“Why do you? Couldn't you get someone else to do it?”

“I wouldn't want to subject anyone else to it, and besides, I've gotta pay the bills somehow” You said with a tight smile.

“I'm sure Shep wouldn't mind helping out in some way” He suggested, but you shook your head forcefully.

“I've already taken too much from the people of Pabu”

Hunter could see the guilt written on your face as plain as day. He wished he could reach out and ease the crease that formed in your brow whenever you were reminded of how much had been given to you in your time on Pabu. You found it hard to accept help, Hunter had learnt that the hard way, but he could never find the right words to express just how much he felt you deserved. He would give you the galaxy if it was his to give, but that was far to obscene to just say in passing.

“It's fine” You blinked a few times, “The time I do get to spend here makes up for it”

Hunter offered you a sympathetic smile, “Omega misses you a lot when you leave”

You chuckled, “That sentence alone makes me want to never leave again”

Hunter huffed a small laugh, understanding completely what you meant. He, along with everyone else, had a hard time saying no to the small blonde clone. The only person he had seen handle saying no to her well, was you.

After a moment of silence, he spoke what was on his mind.

“I miss you when you leave too”

You just took a sip of wine and tried not to react in any sort of way, but that was always more difficult around Hunter, who could sense just about anything, any changes in your body.

“Yeah, I- I miss you too, all of you” You tried to act casually about it. Hunter smiled kindly and your eyes flicked away briefly.

“You not enjoying this one?” You asked, pointing to his almost untouched glass of wine

“Uh…” He scratched his neck, “To be honest, I don't really like any wine” He said cautiously and your mouth dropped open, “Sorry”

“You don't need to apologise, but… Hunter you've been coming here for the better part of a year, and you don't even like any of the drinks we sell?”

“Well… I wasn't really coming for the drinks” He said with a small smile stretching across his face.

You just looked at him puzzled, but he waited for you to figure it out, “I-” You frowned deeply, looking at him and trying to understand, “I'm confused”

He chuckled at your cluelessness, “I only come to see you”

“Oh” You said quietly, almost dumbfounded.

“Yeah, you're either always working, or away, so… I have to take what I can get”

You suddenly felt alive inside.

“I… I would have hung out with you if you had asked”

Hunter cocked his head slightly, looking vaguely amused, “I did ask”

“Well, I didn't know you were serious” You said, your cheeks heating up a little.

“I'm always serious” He replied, earning a laugh from you.

You chewed on the inside of your cheek for a moment, just watching him, and him watching you. He raised an eyebrow slightly as if to ask what was going on in your head. Truthfully, you didn't know.

You then stood up quickly, “Let's get out of here”

“What?”

“There's no one here anyway, let's go to the beach” You said, drinking the remainder of your wine and grabbing the other glass and bottle.

“What's at the beach?”

You shrugged with a grin, “I guess we'll find out”

You're body felt like it had been electrified as Hunter helped you take the tables inside, and your hands were almost shaking as you locked the door. You never did anything spontaneous, especially not nowadays, and the prospect of taking the evening as it came felt exhilarating. You were positively buzzing, maybe from the wine, but mainly from the nervous energy bubbling up inside of you.

Hunter could sense it. It was the strangest sensation, it's like your insides were trying to escape you, pent up with fizzing electricity, like static.

“Race you there?” You smirked up at him, and quickly ran off in the direction of the beach.

Hunter let out a surprised laugh, and for a moment just watched you sprint away from him, his smile taking over his face. He darted after you as you rounded the corner, not necessarily caring to beat you there, but just to engage in your sudden spontaneity.

The wind was whipping at your face, sending your hair flying behind you as you winded around the cobbled streets. You hadn't felt so free, so youthful, in such a long time, and it was nice to indulge in such a feeling.

When you reached the beach, you slipped off your shoes and sunk your toes into the sand. The sensation was strange but familiar, something you hadn't done for years. The sun had fully sunk beneath the horizon now, and the moon was shining proudly, casting a gentle blue light over the waves.

Hunter came to stand beside you, an intrigued smirk curling the edge of his lips. You looked up him, and couldn't help but mirror his expression. He could see the glimmer of mischief in your eyes and waited for whatever idea you had to unfold in front of him. Though, he was wholly unprepared when you grabbed the hem of your shirt and pulled it off.

“Woah!” He stepped back slightly, “Uh… What are you doing?”

“Going swimming” You said simply, unbuttoning your trousers and tugging them down.

Hunter's mind was reeling. One minute you were standing next to him, looking up at him innocently, and now here you were, walking away from him in only your underwear. He couldn't help but let his mouth hang open a little.

You turned to look at him from the edge of the water, “Are you coming?”

The moonlight illuminated the edges of your silhouette, your smirk undeniable even in the low light. Hunter was frozen, the sight in front of him making him breathless. As you turned your body towards him, hands on your hips with your brow arched questioningly, he gulped.

He didn't say anything, but he slowly reached back and took off his shirt. He didn't take his eyes off of you as he unbuttoned his trousers and left them in a crumpled pile with the rest of the discarded clothes. You bit your lip a little, turning back to the ocean and stepping into the water.

It was freezing, and you shivered violently, a small gasp escaping your lips. You waded in, getting used to the temperature, until the water came up to your mid-thigh. You heard a hiss as Hunter followed you in, and looked back at him, a genuine smile on your face.

“How are you in that far? It's kriffing freezing” He grumbled, moving away from the shoreline.

You laughed at him, “What's that? The big bad Sergeant can't handle a little cold water?”

The teasing look on your face was enough to make his knees fold in on themselves, but he kept a calm exterior as he shook his head and stepped into the water again.

“I'm not so bad, am I?” He said in reply to your mocking remark, finally reaching your position.

“Hm” You hummed, arms crossed over your chest, “That remains to be seen”

Hunter's eyebrows raised slightly, looking down at your teasing expression with a smirk. The longer he looked at you like that, the more you cracked, your confident streak fizzling out. He could feel your heart beating faster each second, and saw the light dusting of a blush across your cheeks, and his smirk faded into a more sincere smile.

“Come on” You nodded your head out to sea, “There's a place I want to show you”

You then dove into the water, submerging yourself completely. You broke the surface after a few moments, swimming out into seemingly - to Hunter - the open ocean. After a minute, you got to the rock that jutted out just above the water level, and hauled yourself onto it. Hunter followed after you, reluctantly at first as the freezing water chilled him to his bones, but seeing you sat atop the rock, body glistening in the moonlight, he soon forgot all about the temperature of the water.

Watching Hunter pull himself out of the water was unlike anything you had ever gazed upon. The moon cast a light on the drops of water that ran down his toned body, making it glitter, and highlighting every muscle as it moved to push himself to sit next to you. His hair was pulled down by the weight of the water, the pieces around his face falling over his eyes so that he had to push them away.

You couldn't look away. He was gorgeous.

His chest was heaving as his eyes found yours, both of you out of breath from swimming. The air between you felt different, charged with unspoken feelings that were quickly becoming apparent. Hunter's gaze was serious, a small crease in his brow as he looked at you.

“I don't want you to leave again” He admitted quietly.

You sighed, tearing your eyes away from him. There wasn’t really anything you could say.

“I don't want to either” You confessed, your shoulders slightly slumped.

“Then don't” He urged, and you tilted your head back to him. He looked at you with such longing, his eyes slightly wide and swimming with emotion. He reached out and gently placed his hand on your cheek, “Stay with me”

Your breath caught in your throat, “I can't promise something like that Hunter”

“Why not?” He asked softly.

“I-” You began, but hesitated when Hunter brought your face closer to his.

“Why not?” He asked again, looking so deeply into your eyes that he could be looking at your very soul.

“I- I don't know” You stuttered out, mesmerised by his gaze.

Hunter smirked, “Exactly”

He then immediately pulled away and slid back into the water, swimming towards shore faster than you could possibly keep up with.

“Hey!” You shouted after him, entering the water once more and racing after him. He stood in the shallows as you approached him, but before you could ask what that was all about, he scooped you up into his arms. His hands found themselves under your thighs and he pulled your body towards his, making you let out a small squeal at the sudden and unexpected closeness.

“You're going to stay here, on Pabu. I'm going to make you” He claimed.

“You're going to make me? How do you intend to do that?” You asked with a smile, feeling giddy from his words and the feel of his strong arms holding up your almost bare body.

“Like this” He mumbled before his lips crashed into yours.

The kiss was passionate, so much more so than you were expecting. It was a perfect climax to the tension that had been building all evening, possibly all year, finally bursting and dissipating. His lips moved against yours with an urgency, his plea for you to stay echoed by his actions. He held you close to him, one arm snaking around to your back as you wrapped your legs around his waist. You deepened the kiss, your hand finding itself lightly tugging on his hair at the base of his scalp. He groaned quietly as he devoured your mouth, his teeth gently nipping at your bottom lip. After a short while, you broke away to catch your breath, the kiss feeling like it had taken your very lungs away.

“Well, that was certainly convincing” You grinned, pulling a laugh from Hunter.

He pressed his forehead into yours, his gaze becoming more serious, “If I do it again, will you stay?”

You sighed slightly, but the look in his eyes made you feel like everything in the galaxy was right, exactly how things were right now, with you in his arms. It made you feel alive, and the intense urge to finally do something self-indulgent brought your answer from you.

“Yes” You replied in a whisper, “I'll stay”

His hands gripped you tightly as he brought his lips to yours again, and you completely lost yourself in the sensation.

The feel of his body against yours, his lips on yours, his tongue on yours, were enough to make you want to stay forever. You could figure out the problems this would bring later, but for now, you were eager to get a taste of what the rest of your life could feel like.