Whumptober 2025
Day Two: Taking Accountability
Words: 1,903
Characters: Crosshair, Wrecker, Phee Genoa
Relationships: Crosshair & Wrecker, Wrecker & Phee Genoa
Description: Wrecker wanted to help his little brother. The only issue is that Crosshair clearly didn't want any. As Wrecker's concern grows he decides it's time for a conversation, rather Cross wants to have it or not.
Wrecker had been trying his best to make Omega and Crosshair's lives easier since their reunion. He made good use of Pabu and it's safety. He provided distractions, careful not to make his wariness of Cross too obvious. Between him and Shep they had been making sure the two ate. He at least attempted to keep Hunter from being too overbearing. In terms of what he could control, Wrecker felt he was doing a decent job with the two.
His sister seemed to respond well to his care, but his brother was a different story. Cross's naturally stoic demeanor had shifted into a stiff imitation of indifference, confident posture withered into hunched shoulders. Despite his best efforts to hide it, Wrecker could see the way his hand trembled. He sympathetically watched the way he'd grab at it, attempting to stop the shaking. He knew Cross needed to talk to someone. As worried as he was that any real connection would scare his brother he knew it was time they talked.
Previously, Hunter had told Wrecker to leave their little brother alone to brood. Echo had warned against pressuring him and advising Wrecker let Cross come to him. That could've been fine and dandy in other situations, but it clearly wasn't working for this one. It made sense they hadn't given the best advice. Hunter was only emotionally intelligent when it came to Omega and Echo was never there to see how bad Crosshair was doing.
Wrecker wanted to understand; to be able to find his brother underneath whatever the empire had done to him. He needed to understand why his brother had even truly chosen to stay with them, but that could wait. It was gonna be difficult to figure out how to have an honest conversation with him. Even before, trying to get Crosshair to open up was pretty much impossible. He didn't want to think about how hard it would be now.
Before they could have that talk he had to find him first. It wouldn't be hard given the fact Cross was always in the same two places: the shore or the Havoc Marauder. Wrecker was just at the Marauder so that left the coast. He'd use the short walk there to figure out what to say.
Under normal circumstances he enjoyed the trip, but these weren't normal circumstances. He wasn't going fishing or killing time around town. Wrecker was on his way to have a serious discussion. He fidgeted with his hands as he walked. He was supposed to be figuring out how to approach Crosshair, but he kept drawing a blank.
"Going somewhere important, big guy?" Phee startled Wrecker a little. He hadn't even realized she was around, deep into whatever non-existent thought process he had. He turned to face her. She had a meiloorun in one hand while the other rested on her hip. Wrecker had taken to her shortly after their first meeting. Phee was kind when she wanted to be. She was quick-witted and had never been genuinely demeaning to them. Tech had really liked her, and he got the sense she had really liked him too.
"Oh uh, yeah. I gotta go talk to Cross."
"Something serious?"
"Yeah... I gotta figure out what's goin' on with him." Wrecker rubbed his hands together. "I just don't know what to say when I get there." He chuckled halfheartedly. Unlike his brothers, he'd always been a bit of an open book.
Conversation had always been easy for him. More accurately talking had always come easy for him. How he was received was a different story.
"Hm, that's tough." Phee paused for a moment, genuinely deep in thought. A beat passed before she sighed.
"Well Wreck, I don't really have any tips for ya. I've talked to a lot of people before, from all different places and backgrounds, but I can't say I've talked to many people like him before. Crosshair's situation is... complex, to say the least."
"Thanks for trying, Phee." Wrecker meant it, even if he wasn't feeling much better about his imminent chat. Complex felt like an understatement.
"I'm sorry I can't be of more help. Anyway, I shouldn't keep ya, and Shep's waiting on me." Wrecker nodded, and the two started to go their separate ways. Before they got far Phee called back to her friend.
"Wait! Give this to him!" Wrecker turned in just enough time to catch the meiloorun Phee'd been holding. "Don't let him use it as target practice!" Her voice got softer when she spoke again.
"He's your brother; you'll know what to do." She turned away in that casual way she did just about everything, leaving Wrecker to ponder what she meant. He shook it off and finished his trip to the rocky shoreline.
Wrecker had been right in his suspicions about Crosshair's whereabouts. His rifle in hand, Cross was shooting at the various fruits the people of the island offered them. It had become the normal since they had been reunited. Wrecker had nearly worked up the confidence to start talking before Crosshair beat him to it.
"What do you want, Wrecker?" He sneered, not bothering to face his brother.
"Well uh, I wanted to have a talk with you about something." Wrecker could feel as his nerves started to get the better of him. He clenched his jaw and did his best to steal his resolve. This was important; he couldn't back down now.
"Not interested." His answer was curt. Wrecker hadn't expected anything less.
"I'm not giving you a choice, Cross. This is a conversation we have to have." Wrecker stood his ground. "Something's wrong with you, and I wanna help, but I can't do that if you don't let me." He was met with cold silence. The way Crosshair could just shut him out was familiarly uncomfortable. He had been ignoring them when he was upset since they were cadets. Back then Wrecker would've weaseled his way back in with humor and Lula, but they weren't kids anymore.
Wrecker kept trying, only to consistently run into the same reticence. He huffed and collapsed onto a nearby boulder, placing the meiloorun next to him. What was he supposed to do? He wasn't getting anywhere with this. The sheer frustration was enough to make his eyes start to water.
"Crosshair... I'm sorry, okay. We left. We left you with them and there's nothin we can do to fix it. So I'm sorry." Wrecker started speaking before he really realized what he was going to say. He wasn't sure what had prompted him to lead with his own apology. It felt nice to voice his feelings. He examined Crosshair to see if he would do the same.
At first it seemed like his words fell on deaf ears again. Crosshair grit his teeth, fighting the same losing battle with his rifle he'd been the whole time. Finally he stopped and cautiously leaned his weapon against a rock. He still stared out to the sea, hands hidden from sight in front of him.
"I'm the one that stayed. I made this mess, not you." He turned to face Wrecker. His tone was sharp, but he wasn't pushing him away anymore. Wrecker slid to the side of tbe boulder and pat it, welcoming him over. Crosshair hesitantly made his way over and sat on the ground in front of the rock.
"I... I made my own decisions, my own choices. There's no one to blame for all this but myself." Crosshair muttered. He continued, his voice strained.
"I know I hurt you. I did it on purpose out of spite and some twisted sense of duty. I thought I was doing the right thing, and I was too blind and too stubborn to see how wrong I was until it was too late..." Crosshair trailed off as he approached the boulder Wrecker perched on. He sat down with his back against the front of it. "It's not your fault I ended up this way. I did that by myself. I earned it too."
Wrecker almost didn't hear the last bit. He understood Cross had done things, but were they truly bad enough to deserve the torture he endured? There were few people he thought could deserve that type of treatment; His little brother wasn't one of them. He hadn't realized how harsh Crosshair had been on himself.
"You were wrong about some things, but thay doesn't mean you deserved what happened to you. And yeah, you hurt us pretty good. That doesn't mean we didn't hurt you right back." His brother responded with a dry chuckle. Wrecker continued speaking, but in a softer, guilt ridden tone.
"We abandoned you on Kamino that day. I remember when we were cadets, the way Hunter would promise you that one day we'd never go back there as he fussed over your fights with the regs. Most of the time those fights were for us. You defended us when we couldn't defend ourselves; watched our backs when we needed you. When you needed us the most, when you couldn't control what was happening to you, we left you in the same place we said we'd get you out of. It's no wonder you stuck to the idea of a higher purpose. We didn't exactly make it obvious we wanted you back. "
Wrecker surprised himself; he didn't know he could talk like that. Crosshair pulled his knees in a little closer, wrapping his arms around them. Wrecker couldn't see his expression but he knew his brother looked smaller than he had before. Thinking about it, he'd seemed smaller since they brought him home. The empire had taken the part of Crosshair that knew he was allowed to take up space.
"I-" Crosshair stuttered. Wrecker slid off the boulder and next to him. His baby brother looked like he was in so much pain. His eyes brimmed with tears and regret as he stared ahead. Without a word Wrecker placed his arm around Cross's shoulders, careful not to touch him until he got some form of an okay. Confirmation came in the form of Crosshair leaning into him.
"All of us made mistakes. Let's admit that now, and focus on what comes next. Okay?" It took a moment before Crosshair responded.
"Okay." He managed. They didn't move for a while; the silence between them different from before. It was comfortable. Wrecker thought back to what Phee told him, about knowing what to do when he got there. She had been right as it turned out. He hadn't known that when he started speaking, and he certainly didn't believe that at the beginning, but he had done the right thing.
Wrecker remembered the fruit above them and carefully reached for it. He hoped the movement didn't disturb Cross too much.
"Phee told me to give you this. She said you can't use it as target practice." Wrecker laughed a little as he passed it over to his brother. Crosshair took it with a little hesitation, but he took it. Wrecker considered that a win.
"Tell her thank you." He looked at the meiloorun and then to Wrecker.
"I don't know if I'm ready to talk about everything yet. I... still need time." Crosshair seemed sincere, voice a little stronger than before. Wrecker smiled in response.
"Whenever you're ready, I'll be here, so don't shut me out again."
@whumptober
