His job would be a lot easier if his brothers weren't so stubborn and too protective for their own good.
âŸ-âŸ-âŸ-âŸ-âŸ-âŸ-âŸ-âŸ-âŸ
It's here! :D
Ngl, I had no intention of participating in Echovember, but the inspiration hit and so of course I had to comply with the urge to write! And, honestly, this just gave me an excuse to write Echo being stubborn, Crosshair being a little shit, and Kix being done with everyone all in one place
Hope you enjoy this one guys!
Link to AO3 here
Tags for peeps who be interested: @saturn-sends-hugs @the-bi-space-ace @inkstainedhandswithrings @floundrickthewayfarer @happybean17 @ffdemon @renton6echo
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon), Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: CT-9904 | Crosshair & CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo
Characters: CT-9904 | Crosshair, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo
Additional Tags: EchoVember, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo-centric, Sniper Sunday, CT-9904 | Crosshair-centric, TCWS7E3, Found Family, Comfort, Fluff, Narrative
Series: Part 9 of EchoVember, Part 1 of Sniper Sunday, Part 28 of 100x500
Summary:Â TCWS7E3. Crosshairâs hand lands on Echoâs shoulder.
Summary: Echo is injured on a mission for the clone network and dials a number and someone picks up. It isnât who he expects.
Ao3 Link: Call When You Need Me
Based on this post from March (yikes) that I finally managed to make full length!!!
tag list (I hope I caught everyone I had to go back quite a bit to try to find everybody <3): @yolowolf1 @runforrestr @laughhardrunfastbekindsblog @julijuli77 @girloffourhouses @blackseafoam @happybean17 @saturn-sends-hugs @phantom-of-the-501st @spicy-tomato-sauce @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius @ffdemon
Summary: Echo is sick and Rex is there to comfort him.
Ao3 link: Sick as an ARC
Tagging a few people who might be interested: @girloffourhouses @julijuli77 @phantom-of-the-501st @saturn-sends-hugs @renton6echo @floundrickthewayfarer
I think the phrase âIâm cold.â Became a sign for these two to let the other comfort them. To stop arguments about feeling coddled or not wanting to appear weak. âIâm coldâ means move over. Let me take some of the burden. Donât argue with me. Itâs a way to make the other feel better about accepting comfort so they feel more willing to accept it, as if they're helping the other person instead.
How about a cute little fic about how that starts?
Have you ever wanted a fic like "Oh, Shut Up" but the roles reversed? Well, here ya go! Some Echo and Crosshair hurt/comfort for your enjoyment <3
Happy Echovember!
Echo woke to what sounded like the cross of a groan and a whine, high pitched but pained. Instinct threw him to his feet, touching down onto the metal floor of the Marauder, confronted only with the dim light of the bunk room and the subtle snores from his squad. All sleeping except for Wrecker up in the cockpit on watch. It was still deep in the night cycle, their next mission still a rotation out from their current position. There that noise was again. This time Echo could pinpoint where it was coming from. He turned towards it, spotting the restless lump on the bunk across from him.Â
Crosshair was sleeping but it wasnât restful, body tossing and turning underneath the covers. Every so often he let out a noise not unlike the first one. Short gasps and grumbles that could have been words but Echo couldnât discern what he was trying to say. It wasnât often that Crosshair got nightmares. There were always times bad dreams plagued them but Crosshairâs were few and far between. It was always possible that he just hid it better than the rest of them, too proud to show himself needing help in front of them. On the rare occasion he couldnât hide it, usually Wrecker was at his side the second he made a noise, not even bothering to wake him up before climbing into the bunk. Crosshair always grumbled, bit back something snappy about how heâd been woken up, but he let Wrecker lay with him. Maybe that said more about Crosshairâs state in those moments than anything else.Â
Another toss, face screwed up in pain, and Echo couldnât wait any longer. He was careful not to let his feet make noise when he started to tip toe over to the other bunk. Noise behind him drew his eyes upward, meeting Hunterâs gaze as he was midway through tossing his own blanket off. Hunter tipped his head at Echo, eyes darting between him and their suffering squadmate. Was he the best person for this? That he didnât quite know but he was already out of bed. No need to have someone else take over what heâd already determined he would do.Â
Echo paused but flashed a quick hand signal to his sergeant.Â
Iâll take point.Â
Surprise flashed across Hunterâs expression for only a second then he flashed a quick OK before settling back down in his bunk. Echo could feel the eyes still on him but heâd committed to this course of action and heâd never been one to give up so soon.Â
Approaching a squad mate had never felt so weighty before. The dominoes had been loud, excitable, but heâd never felt quite so out of his depth. Perhaps approaching from eye level was safer. Echo crouched by the side of the bunk so he could watch Crosshairâs face, screwed up as it was. Tear tracks ran down his face, unable to stop the emotion while still asleep, leaving a glistening target in the dark. Echo took a deep breath.Â
âCrosshair.â Echo whispered. Nothing. Still tossing and turning uninhibited. With gentleness heâd not exhibited in a while he laid a hand on Crosshairâs shoulder, rocking him gently. âHey, Cross.â The touch woke him almost instantly, breath sucked in through his nose and bleary eyes cracking open. As quick and observant as ever, Crosshair closed his eyes again and rubbed the back of his arm over his face, trying to disguise the telltale sign of tears.Â
Echoâs heart squeezed a bit. He didnât have to do that. Hide. Not from any of them.Â
âWhat do you want, reg?â He bit out. Scratchiness from sleep mixed with a thickness that Echo hadnât heard from Crosshair before.Â
âYou were making noise.â Echo said. His hand was pushed away as Crosshair rolled over onto his back, eyes studying the ceiling above him.Â
Crosshair scoffed. âSorry to disturb your sleep, didnât realize regs needed such perfect conditions to pass out.â He sniffed, rubbing his arm over his eyes once more to confirm heâd gotten all of the tears off of his cheeks. Echo felt like he was trying to approach a scared tooka, one that was one step away from hissing and batting him away.Â
âAre you okay?â He asked, ignoring the dig.
âPiss off.â Crosshair bit out, head turning to face the opposite wall. Wasnât an answer to the question.Â
âI get nightmares, too, ya know.â Echo sighed, resting his arm and scomp against each other on the edge of the bed.Â
âIâm aware.â He grumbled, letting them fall into silence. The quiet only lasted until Crosshair huffed, turning back onto his side to stare menacingly at Echo. The red rimmed eyes undercut the curated mask. âJust go back to bed.â A dismissal. He wasnât going to be thwarted that easily. Breaking down Crosshairâs walls took consistency. He was learning the longer he spent with Clone Force 99 that his bond with Crosshair would take work but once it was earned it would be difficult to break.Â
Echo was planning on earning it.
âAlready awake. No sense going all the way over there again.â Echo shrugged, gesturing behind him with his scomp. All it did was make Crosshair glare a bit harder as if it would scare Echo away from him. Most of the bite to him was to scare people off, not let them too close otherwise they might start to matter. Thatâs what freaked Crosshair out, Echo was sure of it, that someone new might matter to him and it would hurt if one day they were gone. Better to ruin it before it got to that point, frighten off Echo before he made up his mind and decided to stay for good.Â
Not a chance he was letting that happen.Â
Echo had twice Crosshairâs weight in stubbornness. Once his mind was made up he was sticking to it, even if he had to get knocked down a few times before he could stand on his own two feet. He met the glare with a raised eyebrow, tipping his head in challenge.Â
A petulant eye roll accompanied a tired deflation. âIâm fine, reg. Use your pity on someone else.âÂ
âItâs not pity. You woke me, remember? This is your punishment for that.â The joke halfway landed, he saw it in Crosshairâs eyes, but it wasnât quite enough to soften his mood, still grumbling and keeping his feelings too close to his chest. Echo reached his scomp out as an offering, one that Crosshair eyed but didnât take. Not taking any of the bait. Mustâve been a pretty shitty dream. Echo deflated. His mind raced through options. Whatever he chose to do might get him slapped for his effort with the way his squadmate was reacting. He was at a loss until he shrugged, letting his head lay on his folded arm.Â
âIâm cold.â Echo wasnât sure how he had meant that to sound, how heâd like it to be taken, but waiting was the only way you got an answer out of their sniper. Crosshair watched his face for what felt like a full minute, thoughts racing behind steady eyes, brow pinching with that well earned skepticism. Temperature was almost always consistent on ships, especially theirs. Tech didnât like it fluctuating too much. Bad for his ship as heâd say. The âcoldâ was a poor excuse and they both knew it. Giving up was on the horizon, heâd fumbled this interaction enough it was about time to pack it in, but Crosshair surprised him as he often did.Â
Crosshair shuffled backwards, making room on the tiny regulation bunk, then lifted the blanket as if offering an invitation. Hesitation would only make Crosshair skittish so Echo took the opportunity in stride and slid into the free space. The mattress was warm, heated by the body recently laying in that spot, and the blanket thrown over his shoulders added to the exchange of body heat. Echo turned onto his back and lifted his arm to let Crosshair scoot forward, tucking into the space to rest his head comfortably on his chest. Echo held him tightly, hand rubbing absentmindedly over the expanse of his back. A weary sigh left the other manâs body, finally melting into Echoâs side like it had brought at least some relief.Â
Echo would like to believe that he could still give this kind of comfort. That he wasnât so changed that his squad wouldnât want to share such close space with him. He remembered holding Fives like this, carding fingers through his hair. Crosshairâs wasnât quite as long but it was enough to run the tips of his fingers through, blunt nails scratching lightly over his scalp.Â
âEcho?â The muffled voice brought Echoâs eyes downward. Crosshair wasnât looking at him but he did squeeze tighter into the space, pressing his forehead to Echoâs neck, his arm stretching across Echoâs waist to keep the hold firm. No other words came but he got the message. Whether it was the way he squeezed back or the way his chest stuttered every so often Echo wouldnât ever divulge. It was enough of an admission. Enough to know he was on the right track. Echo was as content to be the source of warmth for the night as Crosshair was to accept it now.Â
Protectiveness swept through him, almost overwhelmingly so. Something in him wanted to chase away all of those sour thoughts. The ones that made pits grow in your stomach and your throat tighten. Make sure none of Clone Force 99 had to hurt, even if that hurt came in the form of nightmares or cold nights. Without thinking too hard about it Echo pressed a quick kiss to the top of Crosshairâs head. âI know, Cross, I know.âÂ