Note: I'm going to try and work on the formatting of my writing so it looks cleaner and less jumbled when I write dialogue. Let me know if it's too 'spacy' and I'll fix it. I also decided not to keep saying things like, "Crosshair says" or "you say" every time I write dialogue. Hopefully the plot of this chapter kind of makes sense, I was trying to come up with something unique. :)
"Y/N. Get up."
You're startled awake by Crosshair. Half asleep, and panicked because he startled you, you reach for your medical kit.
"Hey, hey. Calm down. I didn't mean to scare you that bad." Crosshair chuckles.
"Well, you did." You huff.
You yawn. "What time is it?"
Crosshair pauses for a moment. "Around 2 AM."
"2 AM?" You repeat loudly.
He puts his finger to your lips. "Shh. We can't wake the others."
You lower your voice. "Why did you wake me up?"
Crosshair turns towards the door, gesturing for you to follow him. "Training. You said you wanted to get better at using a blaster, right?"
You groan. "Fine, fine. I'll be right out. Give me a few minutes to wake up."
"I'll be waiting." Crosshair says, leaving the room.
~
You get dressed and grab your blaster, slowly and quietly exiting your room. You don't see Crosshair in the main area of the Marauder, so you assume he's outside. You step outside the ship and close the door, hoping it won't make a loud noise.
"I assumed we were going to be doing training at a reasonable hour. I'm running off of three hours of sleep!" You complain.
"Well, I assumed that you would be used to it. You used to get up at 2 AM every day."
"That was months ago when I needed to care for patients."
The Marauder is on Pantora in the ship dock. The only lighting in the city is from the occasional streetlamps and flickering signs. Your teeth are chattering a little since it's very early and you're cold.
"You at least c-could've waited until it warmed up."
"We'll be inside soon enough." Crosshair says casually.
You tilt your head, confused. "The kriff do you mean, 'inside'?"
Crosshair smiles without saying anything. You keep following him until you reach what looks like some sort of bar.
"You took me here to get a drink? I told you, I-"
"I'm not that crazy." Crosshair chuckles. "You're not off the hook yet. We're still doing training."
You sigh, confused by your boyfriend, but follow him into the bar.
~
The bar is like others that you've seen in the past. There are some people getting drinks, others dancing.
"And you had me bring my gun because?" You say under your breath.
"You'll see."
Crosshair walks up to the bartender. You try to fix your hair so you don't look like you just woke up.
"I'd like a drink that's..." Crosshair lowers his voice. "Out of this world."
The bartender nods and points to the back area of the bar. Crosshair quickly starts walking that way. You see a ladder that seems to lead up to some sort of higher level of the bar. Crosshair starts to climb it.
"C'mon."
"I'm not even going to question it at this point..." You sigh.
~
The ladder leads to the rooftop of the bar. Around you are old signs and pots and pans that are hung up on a pole.
"Why do these have bullet holes in them?" You ask.
"I believe it was before I met you when I had a mission here on Pantora. We came into the bar for some drinks and some officers told us about the rooftop. Apparently, it's been some sort of training area that clone cadets used to use."
"Do people still use it?"
"Definitely not as much as they used to."
"How come people don't complain about the noise at night?" You ask, confused.
Crosshair shrugs. "There's always a lot of noise coming from the bar, so I guess people don't notice it."
You look around you. There isn't a lot of room on the rooftop.
"You won't have the range to shoot here." You state.
Crosshair smiles. "Correct. That is why I'll get some more range."
Suddenly, he jumps from the rooftop of the bar to the next building to your left. Crosshair grunts in pain as his body slams against the side of the building, him just barely hanging on. He uses his arm strength to pull himself up and lays on the rooftop for a moment.
"Crosshair! Why would you do that?" You say, frustrated.
He chuckles. "That'll hurt in the morning."
You sigh. "You need to be careful. If you aren't, I'll have to heal your injures."
Crosshair quickly stands up and takes a shot at one of the targets. It's a perfect shot, of course.
"See, darling? I'm fine."
~
Crosshair watches you from the other building.
"You're holding your blaster too close to your body."
You adjust the way you're holding it. "This isn't fair. You're perfect at aiming."
"Who knows? Maybe someday you'll be as good as me."
You look back and glare at him. "Yeah. Sure."
"Here, just try taking another shot."
Your blaster fire hits closer to the center than last time.
"Better."
You take another shot. "Did the clone medics ever learn how to shoot?"
"Of course. If those regs could, you can too."
"I'm nothing special, Crosshair."
You hear Crosshair jump across this time. You turn around and see that he landed a lot smoother. He walks up to you and kisses you.
"You're special to me. You're smart, caring, a badass..."
You laugh. "I don't know about that last one, but I appreciate it."
"It's true." Crosshair walks over to the target and points at all the shots you've taken. "See? Look how much you're improving."
~
You can't keep your eyes open any longer.
"Cross, can we take a break?"
"Yes. We're done with training. I'm sorry for getting you up at this hour. You can sleep in, and I'll make you some caf when you wake up."
"Thank you..." You yawn.
"Alright, sleepyhead. Let's get you back to the ship."
You slowly follow Crosshair to the ladder. He moves a few steps down it.
"Can you do it? I don't want you to fall since you're so tired."
You nod. "Yeah. I'll do it."
"Just take your time. I'll be right here."
~
After climbing down the ladder, you and Crosshair walk back to the main part of the bar. You're walking very slowly, practically dragging your feet across the floor because you're so exhausted from the training and your lack of sleep. Your arm is around Crosshair so he can help you to the ship.
"She had too much to drink." Crosshair says, making up an excuse to avoid people being suspicious that you came from the back area.
"Really, Crosshair?"
"The everyday people at the bar can't know about it."
"You didn't have to embarrass me..."
"Aw, well that's no fun."
You and Crosshair leave the bar and make your way towards the Marauder.
"We're almost there, Y/N. Hang in there."
~
As soon as you get inside the Marauder, you head straight to Crosshair's room and lay down, closing your eyes.
Crosshair chuckles. "You need to take your shoes off, mesh'la."
"Whatever..." You groan.
Crosshair takes off both of your shoes and lays down next to you. He pulls the covers over you and him and you move closer to him.
"Thanks for going with me, Y/N. I had a nice time."
"Me too, but next time, can we go at a reasonable hour?"
"We can, but the rest of the squad would probably like to go."
"I'd rather that than getting up at 2 AM..."
"I know, I know. I'm sorry. Now get some rest, you deserve it. I'll be right here when you wake up, my love."