Sharp Edges: Crosshair x Reader [NSFW]

Conspiracy

Note: Yes!! It's an AU where Fives hasn't found out about the chips yet, but the Batch has rescued/adopted Echo. So just rearranging the timeline around a wee bit. ;)

The next week had you completely swamped at work, with the sudden adoption of an entire content campaign that needed to be created, edited, scheduled, and finished for a new client immediately. Crosshair was fairly silent as well, most likely on some crazy mission, but you felt secure in the incredible connection you'd made. It was wildly difficult to focus on your work, as your mind kept drifting back to a whole new realm that seemed to have opened up to you. Not only the physical options, although that was tingle-inducing and exciting as well, but the intoxicating intimacy as your roots grew stronger together and you felt more of your true self being entwined with him. It also lacked the red flags of your youth, the desperate codependence and loss of yourself to a more oppressive force, instead making you feel more seen and understood than ever. A few days later, as you were eyeing the clock before lunch, Mel came rushing into your office, looking frazzled and bursting at the seams with news.

"I'm about to drop the biggest story the galaxy has ever seen," she said quietly, as though she were afraid of being heard. Her eyes were shifting back and forth at the people outside the glass walls of your office, and she turned back around to close the door.

"Well that's good...?" you began.

"No, it's insane. It's so much bigger than you can even imagine. I don't even know what's going to happen..." she said excitedly, and the anticipation was killing you.

"Okay, okay. Are you going to tell me what it is?"

"Yeah... You're gonna want to tell your boyfriend ASAP. So get this... Fives and I have been... heheh... kinda seeing each other, right? So he shows up at my apartment with some other clone at the buttcrack of dawn this morning, looking all crazy and suspicious of everyone and everything. He rushes in and asks if they can hide there for a couple hours while they get a transport off-world. APPARENTLY," she said conspiratorially, eyes wide with intensity, "His friend had a wicked headache and started acting really weird, muttering the same thing over and over. They took him to Kamino to get it checked out, and when they did a brain scan, they found a tumor. The Kaminoans wanted to operate on it immediately but they kept going back and forth with the Jedi in charge out there, so Fives snuck him away while they were arguing and had it removed with the help of a medical droid. Here's where it gets crazy! It was some kind of fried little microchip, and the droid found one in Fives too! He had his removed too, and it looked way different than the burnt one. THEN, they did some snooping and found out it's in all the clones' heads, like from birth, and they don't know what it does, but they're freaked out because... damn, what was his name... Chuck or something... He was completely not himself and he said he felt like he knew what was happening but couldn't control it."

You were barely keeping up, mind reeling with all she had said.

"Anyway," Mel continued, trying to keep her train of thought, "Long story short, the medical droid helped them escape. Fives has the proof with him, his chip and the other guy's; he just has to warn... Oh..." she drifted off, thoughts going faster than her words, "I can't publish it... Holy kriff... If whoever did this finds out that they know, who knows what they'll do... This is crazy..."

"Okay, okay, let's back this up a little..." you said slowly, taking a deep breath and blowing it out through your mouth. "So where are the guys now?"

"They're still at my place, but freaking out about being there too long cause they're sure they're gonna get shot or imprisoned or have their minds wiped or something. Fives is trying to get a hold of his squad captain; he's supposed to be back on world any day now. But maybe your boys can help somehow?"