A/N: this first bonus scene inspired by a comment thread with @LaraYG18
Sorry if this turned out darker than we discussed my friend but... The scene ran away from me 😬
🚫 TRIGGER WARNING 🚫
If you are triggered by an... idk if I can call this an anxiety or panic attack... Idk, I'm still learning about all this tbh so don't take my word for it... But seriously please do not read this if it'll set you off.
Idk if Crosshair would ever react the way I ended up portraying, but here it is 🫡
_______________________________
(DAY 1 OF PERIOD)
(NIK'S POV)
~ Crosshair's Field Trip ~
When Nik had done the menstrual cramps simulation, he would admit to some blubbering on his part because HOLY MOTHER OF MOONS THAT KRIFFING HURT. He still apologized to this day for giving his twin sis so much crap for the better half of fifteen years, thinking Skylar was exaggerating when there were days she claimed she absolutely could not leave the house because of the pain.
These days, the siblings closely collaborated as best they could, making sure to schedule a few less appointments for Days 1-3 of her predicted week in hell, making up for the lost income on a future weekend. That way, there was less pressure on her, and Nik and Blair had more maneuverability to help her out if needed. The business had grown enough that they brought in enough income to have this cushion available.
These days, if Skylar still needed to kick off early during the work day or couldn't find the strength to even leave the house, enlightened Nik did everything in his power to make sure Skylar was comfortable and had everything she needed, then would either reschedule the client's who were understanding enough to wait for their body art, but for the select few snobs who didn't want to wait even though the artist was unwell, Nik would work past his shift hours to complete the jobs, Blair helping out where she could.
Would Nik have rather told those jerks to kark off, sure, but in most cases business was business and he'd much rather take their money plus charge a little extra for the inconvenience on everyone's part.
The point is that Nik learned his lesson the hard way, just as Crosshair was about to now. He was not a battle-hardened soldier like his buddy, so his expectations on how Crosshair would take it were somewhere on the 'Cursing Profusely' level on the reaction pole, perhaps a punch thrown in the direction of the simulator.
In no way did he expect Crosshair to have a trauma response.
The nurse might have thought she was just controlling the mechanical aspect of the experiment, but when she clicked to setting ten, a switch had unintentionally been flipped inside Crosshair too.
"Bloody motherkarking karabasts -!"
But instead of completely doubling over he snapped back upwards , it was as if he was frozen in suspended animation, wild eyes filled with horror foriegn and unnerving to his usual closed off facial features, which had drained of all healthy color.
"Crosshair?" Nik asked with knitted brows, but stayed by the wall.
Next, a mini earthquake seemed to sound within the makeshift cubby, turned out to be caused by the violent tremors possessing the sniper, the vibrations going straight through the plastic chair and repetitively thudding onto the floor, clearly heard by the nurse and the tattoo artist.
Crosshair didn't seem to notice, panic-stricken eyes facing forward but focused on nothing, yet Nik got the vibe his mind had him entranced on something horrific of its own making. Something his self-proclaimed buddy had not been made aware of before subjecting him to this harmless exercise. "Crosshair." Nik repeated more sternly, pushing towards the man who's face was twitching as he tries unconsciously fighting away the oncoming attack.
Guilt gnawed at Nik's insides when the first signs of Crosshair's gasping for air were backed by little, uncharacteristic whimpers. So he sprung into action when his saying Crosshair's name didn't break through the soldiers crazed mind. He didn't know if tearing off the sticky tabs while the simulator was on would hurt him or Crosshair, Nik just acted on his protective, older brother instincts. Against the protests of the nurse, with one yank all the cords were torn off with Crosshair gasping back down to reality, Nik hoped. Doubling over, the sniper curled up on his now covered but still wavering stomach.
If his actions did help Crosshair even the slightest, Nik would soon learn it didn't last. Standing above him, the twi'lek cautiously reached down to the soldier while soothingly murmuring his name, but out of nowhere the triggered man pounced, shoving Nik away with all his might. Nik felt the wind knocked out of him upon colliding with the makeshift wall, and it fell along with him, scaring the nurse and patient out of their seats in the next cubby.
Like a scared animal trying to escape a cage Crosshair launched himself from the seat his mind made him believe he'd been fastened to, only to recoil when his assigned tormentor dressed in white blocked the exit and shouted for help. Several shouts of annoyance from all around only furthered Crosshair's agitation, and his glassy, crazed eyes darting this way and that.
When a recovered Nik tried the calm approach again Crosshair could only recoil again, tripping backwards then just plain scrambling as far as away as he could with a feral, "Get away from me!"
To show he meant no harm Nik innocently threw his palms up -
It was as if Crosshair had seen a scary demon. The flip switched again and it was heartbreaking to see him violently flinch and cower, shoving himself as far as he could against the thin wall, an abused child trapped in a grown man's body making himself as small as possible. He had shown weakness. He had lashed out. He had disappointed them. "'m sorry." Crosshair blubbered up to the imagined monster.
This was all so messed up.
"Cross -" Nik tried again.
The sternness of his tone was mistaken, and Crosshair furiously kicked away as far as he could. "I'm sorry!" The cardboard-like wall shuddered and threatened to give out under his frantic movements.
All of this this raw emotion, all this manic moving, it looked, sounded, and felt like it was coming from a completely different person. This was not put together, confident, dare Nik say 'suave' man he had brought in here.
It was in that moment, Nik knew he karked up big time.
But not even having more than a couple of actual one-on-one conversations heavily based on begrudging small talk, how could Nik have possibly known that this sort of thing would've given Crosshair a major trauma response from Kaminoan actions he was not fully aware of yet?
Head snapping towards the exit, Nik watched a couple of more brawny built nurses scurry inside, one tearing off the protective casing of a sedative injection. He instantly knew they would only make things worse for Crosshair. Snapping in-between the nurses and his suffering buddy Nik thrust his arms out. "No, STOP!"
The one with the ready injection urged him, "Sir, we need you step away -"
"You'll only make things worse!"
The three nurses tried sidestepping to circle in on the mentally unstable clone, "We need to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else -"
But Nik was quicker and positioned himself directly in front of Crosshair's corner, "Just let me handle this!" They still didn't want to listen. With his hands on the adjacent walls, making his iron rods for arms an unmmovable barrier, and he greatly frustrated the nurses. "If you guys come at him with that needle and restrain him, it'll only make things worse for him in the long run!" Nik prevailed. 'But you've probably destroyed his mental state altogether.' Nik jerked his head to stop that unhelpful thought process, fixing a pleading look on the battle ready burses. "Please, let me calm him down, I know I can."
In truth, he actually didn't know. But better he try than risk losing Crosshair forever. He was reliving something, and if that something came true... No telling what he'd to do others or himself to stop them or his agony.
Down below the twi'lek barrier, the sound of the tense discussion, the shadow cast over him that he mistook for menacing, the anxiety radiating off of people watching this scene unfold, OH KRIFF the mention of NEEDLES and RESTRAINTS, Crosshair's hands had clawed away at his hair and his tingling scalp and down his tear-dampened face and scorching neck. And when the tips of a pair of boots came into Crosshair's blurry sight, those sputtered apologies were fruitlessly tries again. "I'm sorry!"
The tall person knelt in front of him.
He curled up on himself, drawn up legs almost snapping under the pressure of his locked arms. "I'm sorry!"
The tall person reached out to him.
He shoved his face against his knees, "HUNTER!"
His heart wrenching cry in vain for his big brother at the top of his lungs, raspy and laden with tears, made Nik's eyes sting and his throat choke up. It was the wobbly saying of his own name that made Crosshair slowly, slowly peek up from behind his knees at the person before him with vision clearing for the first time. Kaminoans didn't show emotion.
This person-
"Nik?" Crosshair hoarsely asked to make sure.
Yes, NIK looked like he was saddened at his display instead of disappointed. Hunter wasn't here, but Nik could maybe-
Locking his hands around the arm reached out to him, Crosshair pleaded, "Please help me!" The white robed people in the background made to interfere, thinking he was going to strike Nik, who knew he'd have bruises by how Crosshair had an iron grip on his arm being tugged as he cried out again, "No NO NO DON'T LET THEM DO THIS!"
If Nik hadn't shot his other hand up to stop the onslaught of medical professionals, he feared the occupied one would've been torn off by the constant, begging tugs, but Crosshair did not relax even when they backed up all the way into the hallway.
It was in this moment that Nik put two and two together: The Clone Army was considered great scientific achievements for the Kaminoans. This room was technically part of a big white lab used to draw and look over blood samples. It reeked of antiseptic. There were medical staff in white robes around every bend.
And Nik had just forced Crosshair into a sort of scientific experiment.
Even if it was an innocent mistake on his part, Nik still forcefully mumbled to himself, "I'm an idiot!" Because he should have put two and two together. "Oh kriff, I'm sorry, buddy." He apologized softly. A forcefully crying, shaky, broken Crosshair let himself be gathered into Nik's arms. "I gotcha, man." He mumbled into Crosshairs mop of silver hair, cradling his head to his chest.
He may not have been Hunter or even 99, but he was nice enough, childlike Crosshair supposed. "I just want them to stop." He whimpered into Nik's collarbone.
"I know."
"I wanna die."
"No," He sighed, "Shhhh, just hang in there, it'll be over soon -"
That was exactly the wrong thing to say. It pulled the trigger on the grenade and he escalated very quickly back into reliving the nightmare that was the dark half of his cadet training. Crosshair struggled against the imagined restraints, "No no NO NO -!"
It was only natural that Nik would tighten his hug when the tremors flared back up, to try and keep him grounded and in reality, "No, it's just me -" But this agitated the clone more, so yes Nik released him but he held fast to his wrists so as not to risk a black eye, "Crosshair, look at me - Look. At. Me." Thoroughly tear-stained by now Crosshair did eventually, and it was as if he'd just noticed Nik was here for the first time again, at if it was not made clear half a minute ago. "I'M here and YOU'RE here and it's just the two of us, alright? They can't get you here!" Nik made sure to get it through the raging storm this time. 'Why haven't the Republic put two and two together?'
Nik didn't care that everyone was watching them, didn't care if it was out of annoyance for the inconvenience or concern for the silver haired man's well-being. It may have seemed odd to a lot of the people small-minded, judgemental people in this room, a grown man sobbing in his arms of another, one who occasionally let out a little hum out to the tune of an old lullaby his own father used to sing to him when he was a child, alternating between this and equally soothing verbal reassurances both in Basic and Ryl, rocking back and forth a little, to the best of his ability.
But Nik didn't care. After a long while, it eventually did the trick.
Afterwards, he had no idea if Crosshair remembered any of that. Even if he did, why would he ever open up to the man who forced this experiment on him?
Nik had no choice but to treat him as he normally would, hoping to the Gods that he had not sent Crosshair back to the beginning on his path to recovery. Made him think he was beyond help, which might make him think there was only one way out.
He'd seen that before. And he was not eager to relive some dark parts of his family's life.
🚫🚫🚫
~(END OF TRIGGERING SCENE)~
🚫🚫🚫
🟣◾🔺◽🔻◾🔺◽🔻◾🟣
(DAY 4 OF PERIOD)
~ The (un)happy (fake)couples breakfast rendezvous ~
Not knowing he'd unscrewed the lid earlier when she paid a visit to the refresher, Talla reached around Crosshair for the saltshaker. "'Cyar'ika,' the waitress was giving me weird looks again-"
*tilt*
Clink.
"Huh? Noooooo!" A river of salt ruined her fries, and the table shook when Talla smacked shaker back down, "DANG IT!" Teeth on edge, she furiously growled at the smirking sniper, "You're so immature -"
He silenced her with a raised finger. "Ah ah ah - smile!" He replied, making a mocking gesture over his little fake one when catching sight of the waitress droid making her rounds. "We're under scrutiny, my dear."
Her nostrils flared, yet one eventually creaked onto her face. But with a sickly sweet giggle, Talla went so far as to cup his stubbly cheek and say, "My darling, if you pull something like this again, you're going to be sleeping on the couch." Steering closer, earning a much deserved panic on his end, Talla used the closed off view of her face to allow a glare to slip through the cracks, "And I mean that literally, because you'll be earning a one way ticket back to sunshine-ville." Backing away and back into character, "Mkay?" Her perkiness was more creepy than annoying.
Thankfully the waitress droid passed them by, and having a deadly fear of the angry pregnant lady was more than happy to replace the ruined fries with a fresh batch.
Things were not completely back to normal it seemed.
Crosshair had never bothered to be careful about his cruel or immature behavior... You can bet your butt he did in everything in his power to for the remainder of that week.
A large part of him died that week.
🟣◾🔺◽🔻◾🔺◽🔻◾🟣
(DAY 6 OF PERIOD)
As much as he liked causing mass destruction, Wrecker also found he kinda liked having a whole week to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! It was sort of a vacation!
A vacation where Talla was practically dying and wanted to kill the lot of 'em, but he didn't squabble with the details.
When Talla wasn't knocking on deaths door, he could spend time with Skylar after she got off work, occasionally visiting to spend time together on her lunch break. And all the hours in between he had blissful nights of sleep or just sprawled out on the couch with his friend and watched holovid marathons with no fear of being rudely interrupted for yet another mission!
Like right now! This was great!
But he oftentimes lost track of the hour... like right now. It was half past noon, Wrecker had not shown up, so Skylar took a quick ride out to their landing dock to make sure he had not gotten into trouble, like say: leveling another skyscraper.
"Hey now, should I be jealous?" She said to announce her presence with an endearing smile.
And just like that Wrecker's day got infinitly better! He would've jumped up to scoop his girlfriend in a hug, had Talla not been bundled up at his side again and the reason for Skylar's fake tease.
Eyes glued to the new episode of one of her favorite holos, and stuffing another bite of her blue ramen into her mouth, like a true lady Talla answered around the mouthful. "Not really, but your boyfriend is really comfy so you're gonna have to share."
Her third lunch was ruined when Skylar fell into her boyfriend's other outstretched arm, giving him a big kiss on the cheek.
"Aw - my girls!" Wrecker said, giving each one a careful squeeze, which earned him a proper kiss from the girlfriend.
"EWW!" Talla whined, tossing her takeout containor onto the table and shoving away. "Now you've ruined it!" She dramatically swished her blanket like a cape and stomped off. "UGH!"
A bit juvenile to be grossed out by a little smooch, perhaps, but Talla was under no obligation to be mature or rational during this delicate time when her hormones were outta whack.
"You gonna finish your ramen?!" Wrecker yelled after her over the back of the couch, not waiting for an answer and already helping himself, making Skylar roll her eyes playfully at the siblings antics.
Talla went to bug Crosshair, who already had a guest - a rambling Tech sitting upside down in the armchair. But the more the merrier!
The Sniper was propped up against a pillow in his bunk, and feigned being a privileged lower life form, placing a hand over his heart. "To what do we owe this great honor of you gracing us with your presence, your royal laziness?"
Talla rolled her eyes, shoving his legs aside so she could crawl into his bunk. True, she'd been milking this delicate condition today. Day six had shown 90% of her severe symptoms gone, yet when Talla dropped a not-so-subtle hint that she was craving blue ramen, the woman didn't stop the willing Sergeant from making the trek all the way to the Market District to her favorite stand, which made it just the way she liked it.
Without permission - not that she was going to ask for it - Talla made herself comfortable at the opposite corner of him, then explained with a gag, "You can thank Wrecker who's out there swapping spit with his girlfriend."
Crosshair didn't appreciate his feet being kicked away even more to make sure they didn't invade her space bubble, but chose to tease Tech instead because he figured he'd tested his luck with that 'royal laziness' comment. "Language, Talla," He purposely failed at whispering, not bothering to hide his gesture to the brainiac, "Little ears!"
That signature pointer finger was raised, though from his positioning it more pointed at the floor. "Let me reiterate the fact that I had learned how nat-born babies were created long before you did, and as such was not banished from my own home due to my unhinged behavior from being given a crash course on the rather complicated and 'squeamish' process Talla's body goes through to prepare for pregnancy, only to be greatly disappointed every time thus far and make her suffer for it." Crosshair was not given a chance to retort because Tech happily filled Talla in on what he'd been gushing about before she arrived. "Your arrival is perfect timing, for I was just telling Crosshair fascinating lore for the citizens on the planet Ahldani!"
A sucker for fascinating lore on distant planets, Talla immediately perked up. "Ooo, you know my weakness - spill the spotcka... ori'vod!" Sounded weird coming out of her mouth... But a nice weird.
The floodgates were opened, and the datapad lit up his already bright face as he started from the beginning. "'The Eye of Ahldani,' more correctly known as 'Mak-ani bray Dhani' by the natives, is a celestial event that occurs once every three years, at the same time every cycle and can be predicted down to the minute.
"The Dhanis revere it as a supernatural event, but a more scientific explanation is that the planet is actually moving through a crystal belt which allows meteors to harmlessly pass through and burn up in the planet's atmosphere, making it appear as if it were a supernatural phenomenon -"
'Finally, things are going back to normal,' both Talla and Crosshair mentally sighed in relief.