Chapter Text
Hunter wasn’t happy about the idea of seeing the mind-healer, even over two months after he’d agreed to let it happen. Rex was still searching for one, which was the only saving grace in the situation, because Hunter was stressed just thinking about it, but at least it wasn’t happening yet. He understood the need for it, he really did, he wanted his family to be healthy and happy just as much as his brothers and sister did, but it still scared him that this was the route they were taking. All he could think about was the myriad ways it could go horribly wrong. They’d been hurt enough, they didn’t need to be hurt more.
One good thing though, was that with them hanging around Rex’s base Crosshair and Wrecker were back up to a healthier weight. Crosshair was still skinny, still a little under, but he wasn’t thin to the point of illness anymore, which was a huge relief, and Wrecker was doing better than ever now that he could eat his fill instead of trying to make it on what little food they could afford. Hunter hoped he’d be able to keep that trend up even once they started taking jobs and missions again instead of spending all their time at the base. It wouldn’t be easy, because it turned out the number of rations Wrecker needed a day was nine , three times what they could really afford…or at least what they had previously been able to afford. Hunter had reached out to the contacts Rex had given him to inquire about prices for the things they needed and found that as the captain had said, they were significantly cheaper than getting them anywhere else.
After their talk, Howzer and Rex had insisted on Hunter and Tech working on their weight as well, although they weren’t nearly as underweight as either Crosshair or Wrecker had been. Regardless the captains had insisted that being underweight at all wasn’t okay and that they needed to do something about it. Rex had promised not to get his medics involved so long as they ate three full meals a day and Tech added the two of them to his weekly weight checks. Tech had complained, but Wrecker was amused and Crosshair seemed to be vengefully pleased that they were getting hassled just like he had been for months on end. Echo and Omega were just happy that the four of them were working on it at all.
It was weird to be able to eat until he wasn’t hungry anymore though, Hunter definitely wasn’t going to be used to that any time soon, not after having been hungry for his whole life. So yes it was strange, but he wasn’t complaining, that part of the situation was great. He just hoped he could keep it up off-base.
The regs from the prison had really settled in nicely over those two months since the jailbreak. The base was still always bustling at all times of day and night, which Hunter found made it a little harder for him to sleep, just due to the extra noise he could hear from outside even with the Marauder's ramp up and door closed. As it turned out they had rescued about two hundred clones from the 481st legion during the jailbreak and Rex had had a hell of a time keeping the chipped clones from causing trouble while his medics worked tirelessly to free them. There had even been one instance of a chipped ARC trooper breaking out and freeing several of his brothers that then had to be pursued before they could find a way to call the Empire for help, but fortunately Rex had Hunter available and the sergeant had obligingly tracked the clones down for him so they could be recaptured.
The Batch had lent AZI to Needle so the droid could help with the surgeries and Tech had donated his second portable atomic scanner to the cause just like he’d donated the first one so many months ago, back before they’d rescued Crosshair. Giving it away the first time had caused them a little trouble since Tech had had to build that second one to check Crosshair for the chip, but with the Batch all together and dechipped Hunter didn’t see it being a problem again and Rex needed all the equipment he could get his hands on.
So with AZI and the medics working around the clock they managed to dechip all the 481st clones within those two months, freeing all of them and adding another two hundred clones to the population of Rex’s base. Apparently once he’d been dechipped the rogue ARC trooper had been extremely apologetic for all the concussions he’d dished out to the clones that had been on guard when he broke out, which everyone seemed to find more amusing than anything, and Captain Gregor had quickly roped the ARC into helping him with his continuing efforts to train the nat-borns. Regardless Hunter didn’t envy the officers trying to manage all those people, although technically Rex and Wolffe had managed entire legions back during the war, so this was probably much easier, even if the resources required were harder to get ahold of.
Several things had all converged at the end of those two months though, there was the dechipping of the 481st, Rex’s promotion to commander, and - although not of great importance to the regs - Crosshair’s decant day. As such at the end of the month the regs threw a massive party to celebrate. The clones and nat-borns alike went all out, making a festival of sorts with homemade games, costumes, and special food. It was all a little make-shift, given they didn’t have a lot to work with, but Hunter was still impressed by what they managed to accomplish with so little and in such a short period of time.
The event really started in the evening, when the colorful lanterns hanging off every building and stand lit up like stars in the night. Some of the nat-borns had musical instruments they had taken with them when they fled their old lives and they made an ensemble to play for everyone. People danced and cheered and laughed raucously. Unsurprisingly several stills had been set up at some point since the formation of the base and there was alcohol on offer.
The Batch was a little overwhelmed by it all, Hunter especially with all the noise, but Omega had never been to a festival before and her eyes were like saucers as she ran from stand to stand, playing games and trying to win the prizes of candy and handmade doodads. Crosshair obligingly won her a special treat that was some mysterious cross between a dumpling and a cake by shooting at a target with a toy gun, hitting it dead center with all six shots. In turn the rest of them tried to win him prizes for his decant day, trying for the games with edible rewards that weren’t overwhelmingly sweet things he wouldn’t like. He acted like it didn’t matter to him in the slightest, but Hunter could tell he was having fun and that made the sergeant happy just on its own. His littlest brother had been through so much over the last year and he really deserved to have a good decant day.
Commander Wolffe had insisted on there being a ceremony for Rex’s promotion, even though Rex seemed to be embarrassed by the spectacle of it, especially all the cheering. When that was over and the Batch had gotten themselves actual food from one of the many stands rather than just sweets, they had settled down on a little hill that overlooked the rest of the base. Captain Howzer showed up out of the blue with his own food not long after, settled in next to Crosshair, and immediately started teasing him. Crosshair griped back at him, but Hunter could tell he didn’t mind that either.
As if they had some semblance of Hunter’s own tracking abilities, more regs showed up and invited themselves into the gathering. First were Howzer’s two buddies, Sgt. Skroll and Klacks, who plopped down on Crosshair’s other side and joined in making fun of him. Then came the three regs Crosshair and Wrecker had apparently made friends with in the prison, Catcher, Trapper, and Boil, who settled next to Wrecker and took turns distracting each other so they could try to steal food off each other’s plates. The regs they had rescued from Actlyon and Belgaroth stopped by, with Snare and Needle making a ruckus while Crys did nothing to stop them and Hawk and Warthog, sporting strange costumes and a pair of painted wooden masks that reminded Hunter of animals he’d seen on Pantora, showed up to pleasantly enjoy the boisterous energy even if they mostly kept to themselves.
Hunter was more than a little overwhelmed by the ever-increasing group of regs and he could tell Tech felt the same way, even if Crosshair was largely distracted by Howzer and his buddies, Wrecker by the prison trio, and Echo and Omega by everyone in general. If somebody had told Hunter a year ago that something like this would happen, that they’d be surrounded by regs who wanted to party with them instead of harass them, Hunter would have called that person a goddamn liar. Yet somehow that was what had happened. It was so contrary to everything Hunter had always known about the regs that he had a hard time processing it.
“So I hear it’s your decant day, ad’ika,” Captain Howzer said to Crosshair in a stage whisper. The other regs whooped when they heard it, but they seemed to know better than to slap the sniper on the back or shake him the way they did to each other. Crosshair put up with that sort of thing from Captain Howzer and his siblings, but the regs seemed to know it was a select allowance that didn’t extend to just anybody. That was something that had always been true about Hunter’s littlest brother, but Hunter suspected it had become more important after Crosshair’s time with Rampart. Only certain people were allowed to touch him and only in certain ways and surprisingly even the regs who didn’t know why seemed to respect that. Another thing Hunter would never have guessed they were capable of being so considerate about.
“How old are you now, Cross?” Boil asked curiously.
“Six,” Crosshair said with a sigh like he knew exactly how everyone would react to that.
“You’re kidding! ” Catcher gasped, choking on a bite of his dinner and falling into a fit of coughing and hacking that caused Boil to thump him on the back.
Crosshair raised his eyebrows at the medic and Trapper grinned, “You're not kidding!”
“He is not,” Captain Howzer said lightly, “He is but a babe in the woods.”
“You guys are a batch right?” Boil asked, looking around at Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech, “So isn’t it your decant day too?”
“Nope!” Wrecker said brightly, “Just Cross. We’re a batch, but Hunter an’ me are a year older than Cross an’ half a year older than Tech.”
“How does that work?” Klacks asked them curiously after taking a sip of a drink that smelled so strongly of alcohol that Hunter was surprised it hadn’t melted through his cup, “I’ve been meaning to ask.”
Skroll nodded, “I was wondering about that too.” He had one of Dex’s super powerful nutritional drinks that smelled just as strongly of artificial grape flavoring as Klacks’s did of alcohol.
“We had different cook times,” Wrecker replied, which only served to make the regs look at him funny.
“What Wrecker means to say,” Tech cut in, “Is that while we all were created as a single batch at the same time, our mutations caused our development periods in the tube to vary wildly.”
“Ah, Wrecker was just saying some of you had to cook longer than the others to be ready for decanting,” Catcher concluded, once he was capable of breathing again.
Wrecker grinned, “Yeah exactly. Cross had to cook the longest so he’s the baby in our batch.”
Crosshair made a face at being called a baby for the second time in less than five minutes, but he didn’t actually say anything about it.
“No wonder Captain - er I mean Commander - Rex and Captain Howzer call you ‘kids’,” Trapper laughed, “You’re crazy young!’
“You’re just old,” Crosshair said snidely, to which Trapper brought a hand to his chest and gasped like he’d just been horribly insulted.
“Excuse you!” Trapper shot back, “I am third gen! If anybody is old it's Catcher!”
Catcher sighed and Howzer grinned, “First gen I’m guessing,” the captain said and Catcher nodded.
“Us oldies are always stuck keeping these brats in line,” the medic lamented.
“Ain’t that the truth!” Howzer laughed.
Snare made a series of gesticulations and the group of regs laughed. Apparently Rex had set up Galactic Sign lessons after all, although the Batch had been too busy getting their asses repeatedly kicked by the universe to be a part of that. Tech clearly knew it though, as he gave a mellow nod in response to whatever Snare had said.
“This is sorta like a big decant day party for Crosshair!” Omega said cheerfully.
“If you squint,” Echo added with a grin.
Omega laughed, “I’ve never been to a party like this before! It’s really fun!”
“Just wait until you’re big enough to drink!” Needle crowed, holding up his own cup of painfully strong smelling rotgut, “Then you can get absolutely trashed and have your brothers drag you into the fresher while you puke your guts out.”
Omega made a face and the regs cackled, “The perks of being an adult,” Howzer said, chuckling, “The first time my batchmates got me really drunk I threw my back out vomiting.”
“That’s disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourself,” Crosshair said dryly.
“I am never ashamed of myself,” Howzer replied in a mild voice, “I have no shame, you should know that by now.”
“Yeah Crosshair, haven't you been paying attention at all? ” Skroll asked with a laugh.
Crosshair bit out a sharp remark that made the regs all laugh again, but Omega had gotten distracted and had crept over to Hawk and Warthog which distracted Hunter in turn. He watched her carefully, always ready to intervene if something bad happened, although he was starting to feel like that was less likely than it had ever been before.
“I like your costumes,” she said a little shyly.
The two of them had pushed their masks up to the tops of their heads so they could eat and they both glanced at each other before smiling at her.
“Warthog’s started a romance with a Pantoran refugee here and she insisted on giving us these. She made a whole bunch for the party,” Hawk explained mellowly, “They’re some kind of cultural thing Pantorans make for celebrations.”
Warthog elbowed his brother in the ribs at the teasing way he said ‘romance’, but Hawk just laughed at him.
“Do you think she’d give me one?” Omega asked hopefully.
Warthog hummed thoughtfully and then nodded, “Yeah I know she made some youngling-sized ones, since some of the other refugees have kids, so she probably has one that’ll fit you.”
Omega whipped around and fixed Hunter with her most killer puppy eyes, “Can we Hunter? They’re so cool! ”
Hunter sighed. He really couldn’t say no to her when she was making that face at him. “Sure, once everybody is done eating we can go find this lady and ask her.”
Omega flung herself at Hunter and nearly knocked his plate out of his hands as she looped her arms around his neck and thanked him profusely while kicking her little legs excitedly and if that wasn’t worth the hassle he didn’t know what was.
The regs laughed at the happy display and Howzer immediately jumped on the opportunity to tease somebody by saying, “And I thought I was a softy!” he crowed in delight, “She’s got you wrapped around her little finger, Hunter!”
Omega grinned as she sat back enough for Hunter to see her face, although she was still in his lap.
“You are a softy, buir Howzer,” Skroll cackled, “The only difference is the kid that’s got you wrapped around his little finger is a lot meaner .”
Crosshair snorted into his drink, but didn’t deny the accusation on either account. Hunter couldn’t help but smile at that too, woe be upon Howzer for that, Crosshair could be just as much of a nuisance as Tech when he felt like it, worse even, since he caused trouble because he was just like that even when he wasn’t actually trying to stir anything up. Hunter’s littlest brother was 60% trouble, 30% attitude, and 10% pure deadly skill.
Hunter and Howzer had settled back on even terms since the lecture he and Rex had given the Batch. Admittedly Hunter had been extremely annoyed with Howzer for a few weeks after the sergeant had been made to accept the idea of his brothers going to see the mind-healer. He’d known it had been Crosshair who’d convinced Tech and Wrecker and Hunter blamed Howzer for putting the idea in his littlest brother’s head to begin with. They’d talked about it though, with Howzer checking in with him a few days after the decision was made.
The sergeant had been simmering with anger at the time, still frustrated that they were taking this risk, but what could he do besides completely override his brothers wishes, knowing it’d only lead them to going around him? The fact that the captains were right about what his brothers needed had only made it worse, because they’d known what to do when Hunter had been struggling to figure it out for gods only knew how long with no success. He’d felt so helpless for so long and then they’d put forth the worst possible solution like it was nothing and his brothers had accepted it, how could he not be angry with Howzer?
“How’re you holding up?” Howzer had asked him when he’d pulled the sergeant aside after dropping Crosshair off at the Marauder after their daily workout. The captain knew they felt better when they knew Crosshair wasn’t wandering around the base by himself and had taken to walking him back.
“Frankly Captain I’m extremely unhappy about this,” Hunter had bitten out, his voice tight. Howzer had just given him an annoyingly understanding look.
“I’m sure Crosshair went over everything I said to him about the safety of this, so I won’t repeat it to you, but you’re making a good call here, I promise you. Even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.”
Hunter had bared his teeth at him for a split second before purposefully reeling his temper back in. Howzer making promises about things he couldn’t possibly guarantee hadn’t done anything good for his mood. “You can’t know it won’t go wrong, maybe if you had somebody already, somebody you knew then I’d accept that reassurance, but you don’t know who this person is going to be anymore than I do. I respect you Captain, I do, but I won’t say I’m not angry with you.”
Howzer had sighed and nodded, Hunter suspected that here he would have put his hand on Crosshair’s shoulder had he been in Hunter’s place, but Hunter and Howzer didn’t have that sort of relationship. Maybe at some point they’d get there, but they definitely hadn’t reached that point yet. Hunter did trust Howzer, but he didn’t really know him like Crosshair did.
“I’m sorry for putting you through this kid, I know you’re scared, I’d be scared too, but just know that if this person turns out rotten and they do anything to hurt you or your vode you can come to me or Rex and we’ll turn them into paste, in fact if that happens and you don’t come to us about it I’ll turn you into paste too,” the captain had smiled even as he made the threat and Hunter wasn’t sure how he was supposed to take that, “We’re here to watch your back, Hunter. Let us do that, even if you’re pissed at us.”
“I trust Rex,” Hunter had said slowly, “And I’ve trusted you this far…so I’ll trust you again. Just don’t let me down. This is a high stakes gamble and if it goes wrong I’m putting it on you for roping Crosshair into this and pushing him to convince everybody else. If I didn’t know you were trying to help I’d call you a manipulative son of a Hutt for that alone.”
Howzer had given him a slightly apologetic looking smile, “I’m a sneaky shabuir sometimes, I’ll admit that freely, but I just wish I could get my hands on whoever it was that made you so afraid of this, digging graves is hard work but it’d be worth it just to put them in the ground.”
Hunter had just snorted at that, “The people responsible don’t deserve graves, you’d be better leaving them to rot in the sun for the animals to pick clean.”
The captain had let out his own snort and sighed, “It’ll be alright kid, if this doesn’t work out something else will, we’re not about to give up on you. Just do what you do, keep your vode out of trouble to the best of your abilities, and Rex and I will pick up whatever slack is left over. I can promise you that much.”
“Alright,” Hunter had huffed, “I’ll hold you to that.”
Somehow Howzer’s smile had stilled something tense and shivering in Hunter’s heart. He understood how Crosshair had come to be so close to the reg captain, Howzer was pushy and opinionated, but he was also stable, kind, and reassuring. Hunter got it, he really did.
“Hunter!” Hunter blinked, brought back to the present by Omega’s voice and her little hands shaking his shoulder insistently, “Hunter if you don’t eat your dinner then we’ll never get to talk to the lady before she runs out of costumes!”
Hunter refocused and smiled at her indulgently, “Yeah alright, sorry for spacing out, kiddo. I’ll be finished in a minute.”
Omega sat back, eyeing him suspiciously, checking to see if he was just saying that to pacify her, before she scampered out of his lap and over to Tech to get him to finish his food as well. Hunter shot his little brother a commiserating look over Omega’s head when she started patting him insistently on the knees and Tech returned the look with something unbothered. He truly didn’t mind her pestering him it seemed, Hunter had always wondered how Tech simultaneously managed to have both very little patience for nonsense and yet at the same time have the infinite patience of a Jedi master the rest of the time.
“I will finish eating when I finish eating and not a second before,” Tech told the little girl blandly. He would not be hurried it seemed and she fixed him with a mighty pout that bounced ineffectively off Tech’s durasteel nerves like a pebble against the wall of a fortress. Hunter was a little jealous, Omega really did have him wrapped around her little finger.
Echo laughed at Omega’s melodramatic despair and set his empty plate down next to him so he could ruffle her hair, “Patience cadet.”
Omega turned her pout on him instead and he quailed underneath its weight. Hunter laughed, at least he wasn’t the only one that couldn’t withstand it. Surreptitiously he checked on Wrecker and Crosshair’s plates and found to his pleasure that both of them had eaten everything they’d had. They'd both been good about eating everything they were given recently, but after months of fighting with Crosshair to get the sniper to eat anything at all, checking on him was pure habit and so was the relief he felt. Wrecker had just been added on to that because he’d lost all that weight, not because he’d ever resisted eating his meals the way their littlest brother had.
Satisfied that his brothers were alright, despite being surrounded by regs, Hunter started to actually eat his food for real.
In the end they all waited for Tech to finish, although the only one who was really in a hurry was Omega. Wrecker and Crosshair seemed content to spend time with their family and reg friends doing nothing in particular and Echo was basking in the happy atmosphere like a lizard in the sun. Hunter was happy too, even if some part of him was still unsure about the situation deep down. He did his best to stifle those shivering nerves in his heart, this was fine, everybody was happy and relaxed, the regs weren’t going to suddenly turn on them, this was safe. It was safe. Maybe if he repeated that to himself enough he’d eventually believe it.
“Fiiiinally!” Omega cried once Tech had finished eating and stood up. Hunter got to his feet as well and the movement got Crosshair and Wrecker’s attention.
“We goin’ somewhere?” Wrecker asked curiously.
“Hunter promised we’d go see if I can have a costume like Hawk and Warthog!” Omega chirruped.
Wrecker glanced over at the two clones in question, looking over their outfits with interest before nodding and getting to his feet. “Could I have one?” he asked in a hopeful tone.
“Sorry bud, but you’re definitely too big,” Warthog said lightly.
Wrecker pouted but Crosshair stood up, stretched out his long limbs, and said, “Your head might be solid fat, but you should at least be able to wear a mask.”
“Yeah!” Omega said happily, “You can ask for a mask! Maybe the lady will have ones that match so we can be twins!”
Wrecker grinned hugely at the idea and laughed, “Then nobody’ll be able to tell us apart!” He joked.
“I can’t imagine how confusing that’ll be,” Echo chuckled as he got to his feet as well and with all the Batch up Omega started dragging on Hunter’s arms.
Hunter glanced at Warthog and Hawk and asked, “So where are we going exactly?”
Hawk grinned and said, “It’s the first stall on the right of the armory. Warthog’s girlfriend’s name is Nalia. She’s dressed up in purple with a mask that has really big teeth on it. It’s some Pantoran predator, but I don’t remember the name of it. You remember Warthog?”
“I don’t know what it’s called either and she’s not my girlfriend, osi’kovid,” Warthog snapped.
Crosshair snorted and Omega started dragging on Hunter’s arms with her full bodyweight.
“Let’s goooo!” she moaned.
“Don’t be bratty or we’ll sell you,” Crosshair chided her. All it did was make her turn and stick her tongue out at him.
“Well I guess we’re off then,” Echo said to the other regs as Hunter gave up and started walking down the hill.
The regs laughed, “Don’t let the little girl tell you what to do all the time or I might promote her over you, Hunter!” Howzer called as Crosshair and Wrecker said their goodbyes to everybody.
Snare signed something that Hunter didn’t understand, but Tech replied with a snort and “Yes I would be interested in seeing that as well.”
“Huuunter!” Omega groaned as she hung off him.
“Alright alright we’re going,” Hunter sighed and let her pull him along, seeing to his relief that his brothers were following behind with no complaint. If Crosshair had really wanted to do something else Hunter would have told Omega no on this whole thing, given it was his decant day, but he seemed perfectly happy to go along with it, so Hunter saw no reason not to indulge her so long as she didn’t misbehave too badly.
They did eventually make it to the stall with the woman in question, Nalia, and to Omega’s delight she did have costumes left. None of the Batch were about to take off their armor to put the soft brightly colored robes on, although they did accept cloaks that they pinned at their necks with wooden pins as intricately carved and painted as the animal masks that they also accepted from Nalia. Omega did put on the robe, since it fit easily over the clothes she was wearing already and she did a twirl to show them once she’d picked out a mask. Wrecker picked out one that matched hers, just like they’d hoped, and then the giant picked his sister up and put her on his shoulder. Nalia inspected her work once they’d all been dressed to her satisfaction and then she allowed them to leave with a kiss on the cheek, even if the teeny woman had to stand on her tiptoes to kiss Wrecker’s cheek despite him bending down for her.
Hunter looked over his siblings with interest. Wrecker’s cloak was deep blue with a dark pin at the collar in the shape of a fish and a mask that looked like some sort of sea monster. Omega’s was the same although she had purple and red robes to go with it. Crosshair was dressed in a forest green cloak with a pin like a twisting vine and a mask like some sort of feline. Echo’s cloak was gold with a sun shaped pin and a primate mask, Tech’s mask looked like a great bird and his cloak was blood red with a black feather shaped pin, while Hunter’s own cloak was sky blue with a pin shaped like a predator’s talons and a toothy wolf-like mask. They looked like a pretty impressive group all together and Hunter had to wonder not for the first time how Nalia had managed to do all this. She must have been working on it for months. He had listened to her explain how she’d figured out Dantooine substitutes for the Pantoran plants and minerals she’d been taught to make the paints and dyes with and that alone must have taken ages to do.
Finally appeased, Omega let her brothers go back to doing whatever caught their eye for the rest of the night, happy to let Wrecker carry her around until something bright and distracting inevitably grabbed her attention and she squirmed until her big brother set her down on her feet so she could run in the direction of whatever had interested her. When she was done Wrecker picked her back up and carried her until it happened again, with the cycle repeating until all of them had been worn out by the festival and decided to retire for the night.
Inevitably they were all hungover the next morning and Omega, realizing they all felt terrible, helpfully grabbed everyone hydropaks and painkillers before applying all the patience she had seemed to lack the night before and letting them rest. Regardless of his pounding head Hunter forced himself to get up and get himself together.
“Where are you going?” Crosshair mumbled from the pile of blankets on his bed, face pressed flat into the padding on the bunk to protect his eyes from the light.
“Wanted to check and see if Wolffe or Rex need us to do anything, we’ve been sitting idle for a while and it’s making me anxious. If not then I might have us swing by Ord Mantell to check in with Cid,” Hunter explained.
“Oh joy ,” Crosshair grumbled.
“I’ll go with you, Hunter,” Tech said, pushing himself up. He’d had less to drink last night than the rest of them so he was the most put together, like he always was.
“Somebody’s gotta,” Wrecker huffed into his pillow.
Echo just let out an agonized moan at the continuing noise and shoved his head under his own pillow. Hunter could relate, he felt the same way, but laying in his bunk with all his worries swirling around in his head was making him feel worse rather than better. He’d rather do something about it even if every photon of light and decibel of sound was like an ice pick in his brain.
***
Hunter felt better after talking to Rex, he and Wolffe actually had had something for them to do and that had been something of a relief. Hunter understood that the food and space in the hanger weren’t conditional, but he knew he’d feel better if they were doing something to earn it, so long as it wasn’t something that would kill them.
When he and Tech got back they entered the Marauder and strode towards the bunkroom past Echo and Wrecker, who were awake sitting on crates and leaning against the walls in the back as they chatted softly with each other, but before he could make it to the door Echo grabbed him by the crook of his elbow. Hunter stopped and turned slightly to look at him, surprised.
“Don’t go in there,” the ARC said softly, “not for a while.”
Hunter frowned, “Why? What’s going on?”
His brothers glanced at each other and then Echo and Wrecker grinned when they looked back at Hunter. “Crosshair’s paintin’ his armor,” Wrecker told him in a voice so low it was practically a whisper.
Hunter sucked in a startled breath and had to school his face so he didn’t break out into a massive delighted grin of his own. “You’re worried if one of us interrupts him then he’ll change his mind?”
His brothers glanced at each other again and then Echo shrugged.
“It wouldn’t be the first time he’s done such a thing,” Tech pointed out, leaning sideways to meet Hunter’s eye. He looked both extremely pleased and a little cautious.
It wouldn’t, but Hunter could hear Omega in the bunkroom chattering at his little brother happily, so he figured if Crosshair had been in a mood to let something change his mind he wouldn’t have put up with the little girl talking his ear off in the first place.
“Omega’s in there,” Hunter reassured his brothers, “if he was going to stop because he was interrupted, he’d have done it the second she showed up. I think it’s safe.”
“You’re certain? If he changes his mind now he might never paint his armor,” Tech said, having caught on immediately to Echo and Wrecker’s concerns.
Hunter heard Crosshair make a snide remark in a low voice and his sister let out a peel of giggles. He smiled, “He’s in a good mood,” Hunter told them, “He won’t be bothered by us.”
They glanced at each other again, but when Hunter opened the bunkroom door they all followed him in and cautiously settled into their own activities. Crosshair, who was indeed painting his armor, had Omega draped across his lap and the both of them looked up.
“Look!” Omega chirped at Hunter, “Crosshair’s finally painting his ugly imperial armor! Now he’ll look good!”
Hunter chuckled as he hoisted himself onto his bunk, “Wouldn’t take much to look better than a stormtrooper.”
Crosshair snorted and to Hunter’s relief - for there was always a little nervous part of him that second guessed every decision he made - the sniper dropped his eyes back to the familiar dark chestplate he had in front of him and dragged his red-stained brush down the armor’s center.
“I’d rather not look like them anymore,” Crosshair said blandly after a moment and Hunter’s heart swelled.
They’d had their littlest brother back for a while, but now it was finally official.