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Training with the clones on Kamino was beyond joyous for me, after all who could complain about being surrounded by so many handsome men, after all who cared if they had the same face. Granted, some of them were more, how should I describe it, extremely friendlier than others. None of them had the benefit of an education to know when too far was too far, yet, every time I sat them down and explained to them what was appropriate and not, especially going forward for them being on a ship with other female officers, was an education worth imparting. They were beyond grateful to appreciate the lesson, some needed a more physical education, but in the end they all learned their lessons.
Sitting in the mess hall day after day, I made an effort to get to know all the troopers, after all any number of them, might be a trooper I had to look after in my Med Centre. I noticed there was one particular soldier that always sat by himself. Sometimes he would sit with his brothers, but usually he would sit by himself. I asked a few around who he was, but a lot of the clones told me not to bother with him, that he wasn’t worth my time. Which of course, led to another lesson, that anyone is worth everyone’s time. Just because someone’s a little different doesn’t mean they were worth any less.
I resolved there and then, I would make an effort to talk to him. Yet something made me hesitant, maybe it was the silver hair, maybe it was the crosshair tattoo, or the scowl he usually wore, either way, it took me a full month to finally work up the courage to actually do what I resolved to do.
“Hey” I offered as I walked up to his table with my tray. He looked up, and barely grunted a hello. “I notice you usually eat by yourself, mind if I sit here?”
He didn’t say anything, just narrowed his eyes at me, I took that as a yes, since there was no actual dismissal to my suggestion. I placed down my tray in front of him, and took my seat.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Well seeing as how you didn’t say ‘no’, I’m sitting and eating my food, you know, for energy.”
“I didn’t say you could sit”
“You didn’t say I couldn’t either”
“You didn’t exactly give me time to respond”
“I gave you plenty of time, you just want to be miserable. Well they say misery loves company, so I’m your company”
“Are you always like this?”
“Umm … let me think” I took a minute to spoon a forkful of food into my mouth, I sat there thinking, as I ate, “yes, yes I am”
“Some might not like that”
“Does it look like I care what other people think? If I did, do you think I would have sat with you?”
“Why did you sit here?”
I took another bite, making my answer prolonged, I moved to stretch my legs, only to knock into his knees, “Kriff, what are you knees made out of durasteel or something?” I asked bending down to rub my own knees.
He chuckled at that, “Maybe you should take that as a sign”
“You’re right” I said nodding, he looked shocked at that.
“I am?”
“Yup, take it as a sign to move seats,” I grabbed my tray, his face remained stoic, but his eyes betrayed what he was actually trying to imply, I didn’t say anything, I got up and moved, he tried not to watch me, but I could see from the corner of my eye, how his eyes followed me as I placed my tray beside him and retook my seat.
“I thought …”
“You honestly think that would scare me off? Please. So what is up with the Regs not sitting with you or your brothers?”
“You really don’t know?” He asked turning to face me, as he turned his knees hit me in the thigh.
“Ow!” I leaned over and rubbed my thigh, “seriously? Is there plastoid armour under there?”
He let out a mild chuckle, well at least that was progress.
“Guess, you’ll have a mark to remind you of our lunch”
“Guess I will” I winked as I looked into his eyes, they were different than normal clones, they were steely, hardly any warmth, but ever so enticing, I smirked a little at his expression, he really had no clue what to do with me. “Anyways, you were going to tell me why the Regs don’t like you guys? Or at least why they don’t sit with you”
“We’re defective clones. Regs don’t like us because we’re different. We’re enhanced.”
“That’s stupid.”
He shrugged, “We’re use to it, have been since we were small cadets. We were always picked on, bullied, they used to pick on Wrecker and me the worst. Hunter, they didn’t bother too much, they still picked on him, but for the most part, he just gave it right back to them. Tech was always too busy with his head buried in his data pad, to really notice, or at least pretend to notice. However, Wrecker, was - still is a big softie. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and they used that as an opportunity to bully him.”
“What about you?”
“They would corner me in empty hallways, and beat the living daylights out of me” I saw how his eyes still remembered those moments, his body was rigid. I laid my hand gently on his arm, his head slightly turned to me.
“I’m sorry”
“You didn’t do anything”
“No. But someone should apologize, so on behalf of all the Regs, I’m sorry. No one deserves to be treated that way. I’ve been trying to teach the Regs about respect and boundaries. Maybe I should teach them about equality and throw in some good physical lessons too. Make sure they’d never forget.”
He gave me a smirk, “Somehow, I have a feeling you’d be quite the instructor.”
“I’m Kave by the way” I extended my hand to shake his, his hands were ridiculously big and his fingers were long, practically enveloping my own hand.
“Crosshair”
“Pleasure” the smile that appeared on my face was wide, I wished I had come over sooner, all those moments wasted, I smirked as I leaned in closer, “you know why the Regs picked on you guys right?”
“I just said we’re defective”
I shook my head, “No, because you guys are better looking than them” I winked.
“Hey Kave!” I turned to look at the clone that was calling me.
“Yeah, Sab, what?” I gave him a look that said ‘you better have a damn good reason to call me’.
“You coming for training or what?”
I looked to the chrono on my wrist, damn it my training was going to begin in ten minutes. I nodded to Sab, “I’ll meet you there,” he waved a goodbye and headed out of the mess hall. I turned to look at Crosshair.
“Sorry, I gotta go” I removed my hand out of his hold, “maybe we can sit again tomorrow?” His eyes were wide and shocked.
“Really?”
“Yeah”
“My brothers will probably be here tomorrow”
“Great! I’d love to meet them too” I got up to grab my tray, and for the life of me, I still don’t know why I did what I did. I leaned down and pecked his check. When I realized what I had done, a blush began to form on my face, I reached up and tucked a hair behind my ear. “Um… yeah, so that happened” I chuckled, after a moment of contemplation, I just shrugged it off, “oh well, see you tomorrow.”
I walked away, depositing my tray in the bin, I turned to look at Crosshair, who was still watching me, I noticed there was a slight tint to his cheeks. I waved goodbye, he gave me a slight nod. I smirked at the silver fox I just left at the table.
- - - - - - - - - - -
“What’s got you smirking, Cross?” Hunter asked me, as I entered the barracks.
“Nothing, just had a good lunch” I didn’t want them to know about Kave, not yet. They were going to meet her tomorrow anyways, for now today was just me and her. I couldn’t get over how beautiful she was, her gold hair, captured me. Her smile was the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. Her brazen attitude was infectious, she really didn’t care what others thought, nor did she really pay attention to the looks we were getting, especially when she sat with me. Her touch set my skin on fire. I don’t know exactly what was happening, all I knew is I wanted more, more of her, more of her smiles, more of her touch. Just more.
“Nothing ever good happens at lunch” Tech responded, pulling me out of my thoughts about Kave.
“Maybe he broke a Regs nose, did you?” Wrecker asked, half laughing.
“No”
“Then why the smirk?” Hunter inquired
“Why does it matter?”
“Could it be because of a certain blonde combat medic that happened to sit with you?” Tech asked
I looked at Tech, my eyes narrowing, “What?” The smirk was gone, did he see? Did they all see?
“We noticed when we came in to the mess hall, you were quite focused on her, we decided to sit at another table” Hunter added as he sharpened his knife.
I was shocked they stayed away, knowing them, they would have barged over and tried to embarrass me. “Why did you do that?”
“Wanted to give you some privacy” was all Hunter said focused on his knife.
“Why? It’s not like I like her”
“Ha! Tell that to your face” Wrecker shouted while simultaneously tossing a pillow into my face, I caught it before it actually hit me dead on, I threw it back at him, narrowly missing Tech who had been sitting at the middle table.
“Hit me and regret it, Cross” Tech warned without stopping his work.
I smirked at Wrecker, and motioned to Tech, Wrecker grinned and nodded. We each grabbed a pillow, silently getting read to throw the pillows, when a knock on the door pulled our attention. Tech simply shook his head, “Be glad there’s someone at the door, otherwise, you both would have needed new pillows,” he slowly reached down and grabbed his dual pistols and laid it on the table.
Wrecker couldn’t stop laughing, I watched as Hunter stood and walked to the door.
“Nala Se” Hunter announced, we all turned to look at the Kaminoan who felt we were her personal property.
“Hunter” she nodded and walked into the barracks, we all stood from our positions, “I come with news from Lama Su, we have your first mission”
“About time!” Wrecker shouted
“When do we leave?” Hunter asked
“Tomorrow 0600”
A pit started growing in my stomach, we were suppose to meet Kave tomorrow for lunch, she was going to meet my brothers. If we don’t show, maybe she wouldn’t sit with me again, maybe… I still could feel the pressure from her lips on my cheek.
“We’ll be ready” Hunter answered Nala Se, she looked around at all of us and nodded, exiting our barracks again.
“Alright, let’s double check what we’ll need, make sure we have everything ready. We need to complete this mission perfectly, don’t give them any excuse to decommission us.”
“Right”
“Affirmative”
I simply nodded, “Cross, you good?”
“Yeah, I just … I’ll be back” I got up and walked out of the barracks.
“Probably going to see that medic” I heard Tech answer, though no one asked, as the doors slid shut behind me.
I walked down to the mess hall, truth is I didn’t even know where to find her, where would one find a medic in training? Med Centre. It didn’t take me long before I was standing in the room surrounded by med beds, a medic walked over to me.
“Something I can help you with?” his face remained neutral but I could hear the attitude.
“Looking for Medic Kave, she here?”
“Why?”
“I need to speak with her”
“I don’t think she wants to speak with a defective”
I stepped closer, “Say that again”
“Be careful, defect”
“Listen Reg, I’ve been able to put plenty of your Reg brothers in these beds, wanna join them?” I motioned to the bed beside us.
“Boys, are we getting along?” Came Kave’s voice from off to the side.
“No”
“Not even the slightest”
“Wares, go stock the med cabinet”
“I already did” he kept his eyes trained on me, not breaking any contact as Kave talked to him.
“Then do inventory” she sounded annoyed now, “Now!” I watched as the Reg took a step back and huffed an annoyed snort. She walked up closer to me, putting herself in between me and the Reg. Wares turned to look at her, she snapped her finger and motioned with her finger to go away. I smirked at him, as he glared in my direction, finally heading off around the corner.
“I can’t leave you alone for five minutes, can I?” she smirked as she turned towards me.
“How else am I gonna get you to pay attention?”
“Oh now you want me to pay attention, cause at lunch you were very dead set against me even sitting down”
“Maybe I wanted to see if you scared easily”
“Maybe you just don’t know how to express what you really feel”
“You think you have an idea as to what I feel?”
“I think no one knows what goes on in that brain of yours”
“But you want to know, don’t you?” I moved a little closer
“What you think, I want to run around in that minefield you call a brain?”
“I think you are more intrigued then you actually care to admit”
“Or maybe you want to know what’s going on in my brain”
“I think I know what to expect”
“Really?” her smirk turned into a grin.
I watched as Crosshair looked taken aback, before he had a chance to react, I leaned up and gave a kiss on his cheek.
“Weren’t expecting that, were you?” I asked laughing. I watched his face, as Crosshair had a slight blush and a small smirk appearing.
“Keep that up, and I won’t be able to hold back”
“Is that a challenge?”
“You willing to step up if it is?”
“You say I’m difficult”
“You are”
“I think you’re worse”
“That’s Wrecker calling Hunter crazy”
“Mmhmm, anyways, you came to speak to me about something?” I smirked as his eyes bore into my very soul.
“Oh … yeah, um … about tomorrow”
“You don’t want me to sit at your table again, do you?” I shifted a little
“No. That’s not what I was going to say” he quickly corrected me, “we just found out we have our first mission tomorrow. Not sure when we’ll be back.”
“Oh” I looked around the med centre, I didn’t want to show him my disappointment, “you guys going to the mess hall for dinner?”
“Don’t think so” I heard how he sounded disappointed, I looked back into his eyes. His eyes were clearly the windows to his emotions, his face remained stoic, always, but his eyes, they were the only way to read what was going on in his head.
“That’s okay” I smiled, “when you guys get back”
“You’re not …”
“Upset?” He nodded, “No, I am disappointed, but it’s just a bit of a delay. No biggie.” I stepped in closer, reaching for his forearm, as I held his muscular arm in my hand, I rubbed smaller circles, “Be safe. All of you.”
“For you, Kave’ika” his hand reached up and brushed against my cheek, I was shocked really, I never expected him to be so bold. We were lost in each other’s eyes, when we heard a loud clatter coming from behind. I turned to see Sab’s mouth gaped open, and his eyes bugging out. I turned back to Cross and chuckled.
“You should probably go, before he may want to fight you”
“Why would he care?”
“He has a bit of a crush on me”
“Really?” I watched as he looked over to Sab and growled.
I laughed at his possessiveness, “Okay, calm down there snarky, just cause he’s interested doesn’t mean I am.”
He focused back on me, a small smile appearing on his face, “Does that mean I’m the only one you’re interested in?”
“What you think I just go around kissing every clone on the cheek?”
He shrugged, “I did just meet you today at lunch”
“Touché. Well rest easy, I don’t. Never been interested in anyone else. I mean they’re nice to look at, after all they are good looking” he growled at that again, “okay snarky, easy, but you are much better looking, and you’re a lot more entertaining.”
“Entertaining?”
“Do you think I can just banter with any of those guys?” I motioned behind me.
“So it’s my tongue you’re interested in?” He smirks
I just shake my head, “Whatever helps you sleep at night” I could still feel eyes boring into the back of my head, I turned to see Sab, just leaning against the wall and glaring at us. I turned back to Crosshair, I leaned up and give him another kiss on the cheek, this time I lingered a little longer, as I held on to him.
“Be safe, Cross, see you soon”
He placed a kiss on my cheek, “See you soon, Kave’ika” he whispered into my ear, he pulled back trailing a finger down my arm. He walked out of the med centre, I looked at the ground still thinking about what just happened. I can’t believe how quickly this was moving. It felt fast but right at the same time.
I turned to look at Sab, “So that’s the one you were having lunch with?” I simply nodded, “If I knew all it took to get into your pants was to be defective, I could have proven that” he glared at me, I just stood there with my arms crossed under my chest.
“Maybe what you fail to realize, is that unlike you, he has manners. He never once made me feel like I was just some contest, all you Regs were trying to win. If you don’t like it, well then you can go ahead and jump into Kamino’s waters.”
“That’s how you treat me after all we’ve been through?”
“Were you one of the ones who use to bully them?”
“What?”
“Answer the question, yes or no?”
“Why …”
“That’s a yes”
“Okay, yes. So what?”
“So maybe you need a taste of your own medicine. You think you’re so special because you are just regular?”
“That’s …”
“No, let me explain this, those men have more dignity in their fingernails than you have in your entire body. Don’t like that I’m calling you out on the truth, then do better!”
“Kave…”
“No, frankly we’re done talking. The big secret every Reg keeps to themselves, pick on the defective clones to make yourselves seem bigger and better. Well now, you’ll have to deal with me. If I so much as hear any back talk, any snide remark about them, any sort of violence acted on them, and you guys will receive it ten-fold back from me. You know who I am, you know what I can do. So just try me!”
Sab didn’t know what to do, I just brushed past him, to know that these so called men were doing that to their own brothers simply because they were different, really ticked me off.
I heard the door slide open behind me, “Medic Kave” I turned to see Nala Se walk in. I past Sab again, glaring at him as I walked past.
“Yes, Nala Se”
“CT-3536 you are excused” she motioned to Sab behind me.
“Yes, ma’am” he bent down and picked up the tray he had dropped and headed back to the other room.
“Medic Kave, I have a special assignment for you”
“I’m still in training, ma’am”
“I know, but this will be good field experience”
“I’m listening”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“We have everything we need” Tech informed us, as he finished doing inventory.
“Alright, let’s head out” came Hunter’s command.
“I can’t wait to blow something up!” Wrecker shouted as he boarded the Marauder, I turned to look at the hangar’s entrance to Kamino, I don’t know why I was hoping Kave’ika would show up. It was stupid. She had other duties. I boarded the ship, and sat in the common room of the ship, I pulled out my rifle and began cleaning. Before long, Tech had us in hyperspace. I noticed someone walking over, probably Tech from the footsteps, they were too quiet.
“How often do you polish your weapon?”
I stopped, that wasn’t Tech’s voice, I looked up to see Kave smirking at me.
“Afraid my rifle will take all my attention”
“Who am I to step in between a man and his first love”
“How kind of you to show such concern about my weapon”
“Well someone should be, despite your love for your rifle, no one should be handling their weapon that often”
“What are those two talking about?” Wrecker asked behind Kave
“Clearly weapon is a euphemism for something else” Tech answered
“Euph … euphemism?” Wrecker questioned
“A polite term to disguise a word or expression to hide the true meaning behind the term they wish to use”
“Oh, right” Wrecked said, although sounding like he was more lost in the conversation.
“They’re talking about his …”
“Stop!” Hunter commanded, “I don’t want to hear it” he mentioned to Tech, Kave couldn’t help let out a laughter. I turned to look at her, and that’s when I realized, wait she was on our ship.
“Wait, what are you doing here?”
“I’m your medic”
“I thought you were still in training”
“I am, but Nala Se said it would be good field experience. She also said, if it works out, I could be your permanent medic.”
“Really?” I quirked an eyebrow, if she was here all the time …
“Reel it back in there snarky”
“Reel what back in?”
“What you’re thinking”
“I’m not thinking anything”
“Oh I can see your gears turning”
“You see nothing”
I leaned down beside Cross’ ears, “I see everything, Cross, especially how tightly you’re gripping on to your weapon. Hold it any tighter and you might break it.” I stood again smirking.
“Welcome to Clone Force 99” he grinned
“Thanks, Cross. Can’t wait to put these talented hands to work” I moved my hands in front of him and wiggled, he simply smirked at my action.
“I’ll make sure to give you plenty of opportunity”
“Hopefully, not just when your injured” I winked and walked back to the cockpit.
I watched as Kave walked back to the cockpit, I was happy with our new teammate, and couldn’t wait to see those talented hands at work.