FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

C H A P T E R S I X T Y-T W O

Show me it isn't just me. Athena begged with her eyes. You must care about me—why else would you offer me a toothpick when I am distressed? Or support me when I am at my lowest? I truly believe I know who you are, or at least who you are meant to be—let go of this futile purpose of yours. It is only going to ruin you and strip you of everything you truly protect and want in your life...or worse. She wondered if she should confess her foreign, yet passionate feelings she has discovered. Would that be enough to convince him to wake up?

There is a part of me that thinks if I find the right words...it will save us...

"You have me," Athena breathed before she could decide for certain... "until every last star in the galaxy dies, you have me, Crosshair."

The soldier sharply inhaled through his nose as he felt his chest tightened, his heart pounded violently in its constricted cage. His jaw clenched as he struggled to fabricate a single truth in his mind. He began by breaking down what he has known and what—rather, who— was before him.

This woman...

The unyielding, severe outer shell he has portrayed all his life was an unique kind of armor—one that gave him the reputation of being prickly and cold. It concealed all the protective instincts and foreign emotion behind its thick walls. He was engineered to be that way. His job was to watch from afar with his sharpshooter eyes and keep his comrades and brothers from being overwhelmed by enemies they can't possibly see coming. All of his acts of service were motivated by the intention to protect, and they were deeply rooted by his strong opposition to change of any kind...

Then, Athena Quinn entered his life...and over time that instinct to protect has focused, like it evolved into its own form of tunnel vision.

Your very existence has brusied me. He fought with his torrent emotions. I have felt the plans I had fall through, and whatever is left now depends on you. I don't know how to convince you that I am prepared to die, but I am also ready to live. And somehow, I know you will take me as I am—it seems like you already have and are prepared to take on the entire Galatic Empire to convince me to run away from it all. With you by my side. There is a lot at stake, though. There is doubt for what the future holds. And there is fear. But, with all that said, what I do know...all I know...

Actions had always spoken louder than words, in Crosshair's case. It was that turn of phrase that surged the soldier forward, locked his hand around Athena's wrist, and scooped up the nape of her neck. The soldier froze as his face loomed over hers, hovering only mere inches from her crimson-red lips. Under his fierce touch, he found Athena unmoving. His long fingers tangled into her tousled, raven hair as he supported her head on his palm. He felt her breath on his stubbled chin. Unknowingly, his soul melted with hers. She was breathtaking. It was when he gazed into her firey, dark eyes, dilated with anticipation, that his thoughts concluded into one singular verdict to a question Athena Quinn once asked him...

"Have you ever wanted something...so badly you cannot breathe?"

Crosshair, at last, had his answer. But words, would not do... He could feel her lips just grazing his when—

Ding.

The panel door effortlessly glided open and Mayday walked in. Upon entering, the commander's view was blocked by a stack of crates. By the time he'd rounded the corner to meet the two clones, Crosshair had swiftly dropped his hands, swerved on his heels, turning his back on the stunned Athena, and returned to the spot he stood when Mayday had departed.

"I managed to acquire some tackle equipment and extra rations." The commander lifted his head and his thick brows rose when he sensed the tension in the frigid, claustrophobic air. "Am I," he slurred as his attentive eyes panned the room. "interrupting something?"

Neither Crosshair and Athena responded immediately. The latter's lips were parted. He was going to kiss me...wasn't he? He leaned in with that intention in his eyes. I know it. Scrag, my legs feel like they are about to give out... Breathe, Athena. We just got startled, that's all. But now...he won't look at me.

"No." she sighed, managing her breath. "No, I am just concerned, that's all. I do not approve this mission."

"So you've said." Mayday nodded his head to the side. "Repeatedly." He eyed the sharpshooter, who, despite the chilled atmosphere, was sweating. "Ready to go?"

Crosshair marched to his left, scooped up his helmet, and slipped it on. "I'm always ready." He continued to swallow down the recurring choking sensation in his throat and chest. Fisting his rifle in hand, he headed for the blast doors after Mayday. His face burned feverishly; the sweat was dripping off his chin. His body was so focused on composing itself, switching gears to fixate on the mission ahead, that his ears almost missed the bounty hunter's last remark.

She inhaled sharply before barking, "Come back alive."

Both men briefly stopped, but only the commander faced her. He nodded to her with an assuring grin, then donned his own headgear. "That's the plan, Ensign. Keep a watchful eye on the horizon."

The blast doors slammed close, and Athena Quinn was alone. Her lips achingly throbbed for the most anticipated, yet absent kiss.

He bested you... A voice whispered in her ears.

Athena cracked an ironic smile.

My foresight did not intervene, thus Crosshair has finally bested me. Her fingers absentmindedly caressed over her wrist where he had squeezed. The moment his touch grazed her skin, her visceral impulse should have been to seize his and reverse roles before immobilizing him. Instead, when the soldier arched her head back and cradled it in his hand, his soft breaths colliding with hers in their close proximity, she had surrendered...

Athena could not conjure up the words to describe exactly what she was experiencing: on one hand, her body swelled with elation. Crosshair's actions did not just speak—they screamed. There was no doubt in her mind that Crosshair regarded her highly, and for a moment, the galaxy froze in time perfectly. On the other hand, time had resumed its natural course, and her partner was out of sight...The bounty hunter was suddenly drowning under the waves of all the words she never uttered. If she was to ever resurface, but he was not there to hear her, then she would surely die of regret...

But perhaps...he was drowning as well? And he would fight to emerge victoriously.

We've come too far to end it here...and I know you are too stubborn to let it all go to waste. Everything you are, is something I have never come across nor will ever see again. You are my only chance. My 'once in a lifetime'...

So you come back, Crosshair. I can be patient now.

I can wait.