I'm so proud of myself for going two whole chapters without trigger warnings. 

Tw: Violence, blood, allergies? Lmao. 

And it's not an Ashla story without memes.

These were made by the lovely Sun-fl0w3r_

Amelia was nervous. Who could blame her? They were going into an active war zone.

Crosshair slid into the seat next to her and motioned to her hand. "Open."

She spread her fingers, holding out her hand. He placed a blaster into it and gave her a sharp look.

"Don't get yourself killed," was all he said before he gave his full attention to his rifle. She nodded and watched as he assembled it, carefully tuning it up as he went. It was impressive how much effort he put into it for the weapon to still look glossy and unused.

Amelia flipped the blaster over her in hand, rubbing her thumb along a ridge on the side. "How do I use this thing?"

"You don't," Crosshair firmly said. "Not unless you absolutely have to. You use it if we're not there to save you and if you're in danger."

"I understand," Amelia promised. She smiled at him. "Thank you, Crosshair."

He grumbled something and showed her how to turn the safety off. "I swear- If you die I'm going to kill you."

"That's impossible, considering she'd be dead already," Tech interjected from the pilot's seat. He flicked a switch. "And Crosshair, help her into her armour, please. She's too helpless to figure it out on her own apparently."

Amelia's face flushed. "I've done it three times! How many times did it take you to understand it?"

Tech glanced over his shoulder and grinned. "I understood it as I put it on for the first time."

Amelia stood up, but before she could do anything, Crosshair wrapped his fingers around her wrists and tugged her away. She glowered at Tech as Crosshair led her to the case that her armour rested.

Crosshair turned his back to her as she changed into the blacks Tech had gifted her. As soon as she announced she was finished, he faced her again. 

He slowly guided her through all the steps, but let her do most of the work. Eventually she was wearing all the pieces and looked proud of herself. She had a better understanding with Crosshair than with Tech.

Maybe it was Tech's fault.

"Now strap in." Crosshair pointed to a seat with his chin.

"Thank you," Amelia gratefully said as she sat. She pulled the safety bar down over her chest and tested it with a push before leaning back, satisfied that she wasn't about to go flying.

"Entering the atmosphere," Tech declared.

"Everyone ready?" Hunter asked as he buckled himself into the chair next to Tech's.

"Oh yeah!" Wrecker cheered.

"Let's just get this over with." Crosshair sighed.

Amelia wiggled her legs to deal with the anxious pit in her stomach. "How dangerous is this mission?"

"Not that bad," Hunter soothed. "We've had worse."

"Very dangerous," Tech argued. "We're taking on an entire legion of droids. There's four of us, and one useless data analyst who  know doubt hinder our ability and efficiency."

Hunter ignored him. "I was wondering, Amelia, what other jobs you've had? There can't be a lot of squads like us that you've had to do this with."

Amelia adjusted her glasses. "Delta squad, some CC training, oh- and Alpha-17! That was a bit of a nightmare. He's very good at his job, but not very welcoming to strangers."

"You know Alpha-17?" Wrecker questioned.

Amelia nodded, bouncing in her seat as the entire ship shook. "Yes. I'm still not sure if he hates me or not. He didn't insult me like he did the Kaminoans, but he was always glaring at me."

"I'm pretty sure that's just his face," Hunter remarked.

"We're being shot at," Tech said with way too much of a steady voice for such a statement.

"Wrecker!" Hunter ordered, desperately pressing buttons. "Shoot back!"

Wrecker grinned a little too excitedly as he pranced off. Amelia squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed the safety bar. 

"Hold on," Tech ordered, raising his voice slightly.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Amelia snapped.

"Not helping!" Hunter yelled.

Amelia was weightless for a moment as the ship dived. Her throat hurt as she screamed ag the top of her lungs. "What the kriff are you doing?"

"Saving us!" Tech replied, suddenly yanking on a lever. 

Then they were shooting up into the air, and Amelia was screaming again. Crosshair was smiling in delight like a maniac.

The ship gently tapped the ground as they landed, and Tech flashed Amelia a smug smirk as he asked, "Was that screaming worth it?"

Amelia blew her hair out of her face. "Maybe if you didn't fly like a lunatic I wouldn't have been scared."

Tech opened his mouth, no doubt with some argument, but Hunter held up a hand.

"Let's go, everyone." Hunter slipped his helmet on. Everyone filed out after him, and he nudged Amelia's shoulder. "Stay behind one of us at all times. I don't care if that means putting your report on the back burner. Your life is more important."

"Okay," Amelia agreed. "Or I could just stay out of the way entirely? Watch from behind a rock or something?"

"What if a droid sneaks up on you?" Hunter shook his head. "We'd be out of range. You're staying with us the whole time."

"Got it." Amelia looked around, noticing how silent it was. "Where did the ones shooting at us go?"

"I shot'em outta the sky!" Wrecker boasted. "They're gone now!"

"Nicely done," Amelia praised, making a note of it on her datapad.

Hunter pointed ahead. "That way. I'm picking up on their electronic signals."

Amelia walked by Wrecker's side as she logged the past hour in her datapad. She had her nose buried in the screen, so she didn't notice the rock ahead.

She stumbled over it, catching herself before she fell completely. Her lips thinned as she lowered the datapad, having learnt her lesson.

"It would be better if you were aware of your surroundings," Tech advised, slowing his pace to walk beside her. 

"Thanks," Amelia sarcastically said. Her fingers accidentally brushed his hand and she jerked away as if he had scalded her. "I'm sorry!"

Tech blinked at her. "It is alright. It was just a touch, and an accident at that."

Amelia tilted her head at him. "You confuse me. I can't figure you out."

"Why so?" Tech inquired as the hand she had touched twitched.

"You get so mad at me, but you also try your best to keep me alive. I'm not even in danger!" Amelia frowned as she tried to think it through. "It's not logical."

"On the contrary, it's logic itself." Tech offered her a shy smile as he explained, "I do not wish to be decommissioned. You can prevent that. But you're also... infuriating. I don't know why, either."

Amelia gazed up at him, eyebrows pulling together. "I feel the same way. You're irritating but you're right about most things."

"I'm always right," Tech corrected, a sly smile toying at his lips.

"Not about me just wanting to make you  all feel bad. I would've sent your answers to the physiologist already, but my datapad's transmitter broke," Amelia mournfully told him. "Getting it repaired is going to be so expensive."

"I could fix it for you," Tech offered. "If you have the necessary parts, that is."

"I do! Thank you!" Amelia eagerly accepted. "Thank you so much!"

Hunter held up a fist, and everyone came to a halt. Tech crouched behind a bush while Hunter dragged his fingers in the dirt. Crosshair and Wrecker each used a tree to cover themselves.

Amelia knelt behind the bush like Tech, pressing her lips together. She watched as Hunter took a deep breath before standing back up.

"Twenty metres out," Hunter told them, pulling his blaster out.

Tech paused, eyes flicking over Amelia. "Here." He reached out and handed her a hair tie. 

"Oh, thanks. I didn't think about that," Amelia admitted as she tied her hair up. Her gaze went to his hair. "Wait, why did you have it? You don't exactly... have enough hair to tie."

Tech smiled wryly. "It is for Hunter. I cannot count the number of times he's needed one. Actually, I could count it if I wanted."

"Hey," Hunter interrupted. "We're kinda in the middle of something."

"Ah, of course." Tech focused back on the mission. "My apologies."

They all crouched and silently walked to the droids. Hunter gestured for Wrecker and Amelia to stay in place, while the other three crawled through the bushes.

Then they each struck, pulling droid heads off as quietly as they could and dragged the droids into the bushes. Then Wrecker burst into the fray, charging at three B1s gathered together. He knocked them all over before shooting another.

"Wrecker!" Hunter yelled as he shot one. "You were supposed to stay with Amelia!"

"I got excited!" Wrecker sheepishly said. "Oops."

Amelia watched from where Wrecker had left her, frowning as her skin started to itch. She looked around before sighing. 

Great.

She was having an allergic reaction to something.

She didn't want to interrupt and possibly distract them, getting them injured. At the same time though, this was kind of urgent.

Amelia waited a couple minutes until the majority of the droids had been defeated before calling out, "I'm having an allergic reaction."

Tech whipped around. "Will you go into anaphylactic shock?"

"No." Amelia shook her head. "It's not that bad. I just need my medication soon."

Tech took out another droid. "And you don't carry it with you? That seems foolish."

"I forgot!" Amelia exclaimed. "It's been busy lately."

Tech sighed and returned his full attention to the battle. He made sure to keep Amelia in his line of sight at all times, however, in case she suddenly keeled over.

"I still believe you should carry it with you at all times," Tech said once he was free to go to her side. "It's a possibly life saving medication.

"I already told you that it's not life-threatening! I just get itchy and my throat swells up!" Amelia snapped. "Or were you too busy listening to your own voice to hear what I was saying?"

"Your throat swells?" Tech repeated, ignoring the insult she had thrown his way. "One would consider that life-threatening."

Amelia flinched away as his hands attempted to wrap themselves around her throat. "What are you doing?"

"I'm merely checking your lymph nodes," Tech distractedly said, once again trying to touch her neck.

"Tech!" Hunter shouted. "We need you over here!"

Tech stood and held out a hand, palm out. "Stay here. I will return shortly."

"I'm not just going to-"

"I do not wish for your allergies to worsen. Moving around could cause your throat to swell." Tech narrowed his eyes. "And seeing as how you made the mistake of not carrying it with you at all times-"

"Tech!" Hunter tiredly said again. 

Tech hurried over, giving Amelia one last warning look. Amelia huffed, but didn't move. Instead she pulled out her datapad and wrote her notes in.

"Hunter!"

Hunter turned to look at who was speaking to him, smiling once he saw Cody.

"Where have you been?" Cody demanded, looking him up and down. "You went no contact for months! Your files listed you as MIA!"

Hunter grimaced. "Yeah, we had to go dark for an important mission. It was confidential."

Cody's shoulders relaxed. "Oh. Sorry then."

Hunter shook his head. "Don't be. It went well."

Cody's eyebrows pulled together. "Wait, what about the data analyst? You left her behind and she couldn't do your report. You're still at risk of being decommissioned."

"What?" Hunter questioned. "No, we took her with us."

Cody cocked his head. "Hunter, she was found two days after she was supposed to be assigned to you. She-"

Amelia blinked, forcing herself awake. She stared at the ceiling for a moment before standing, wobbling in place slightly.

"Amelia?" Tech froze in the entryway to the cockpit. "Did I wake you?"

"No," Amelia answered. "I had dreams."

Tech nodded and sat in the pilot's seat, staring out into space. "Is it... alright with you if I remain here?"

Amelia nodded. She sat back down in the seat she slept in and pulled her knees up to her chest. "Yeah. Are you okay?"

"I'm quite alright." Tech adjusted his goggles. "I find it difficult to sleep sometimes. My mind goes so fast and is filled with so much that it's near impossible to turn it off and to sleep."

Amelia raised her head. "Have you tried meditating? I find it helps calm my mind."

Tech tilted his head. "I have not. Will you teach me?"

Amelia settled on the floor, crossing her legs. "You can sit any way you like. I just like sitting like this. It's comfortable."

Tech mimicked her position. "I will do this as well."

"Take a deep breath," Amelia told him. She heard his inhalation and closed her eyes. "Focus on the emptiness in front of you."

Tech peaked an eye open. "Do you mean the air in front of me?"

"No. Just the emptiness." Amelia opened her eyes to scrutinize his face. "Have it reflect you. As you focus on the nothing in front of you, let that fill you." 

Tech shifted slightly, taking another breath. Amelia returned to her own meditation, feeling the rush of the life energy of the others on the ship. She pushed it aside, narrowing in on Tech.

Her grasp pulled on the very essence of his being, and she eased him into tranquility. She watched as his eyes glossed over and his breathing became shallow.

"Feel better?" Amelia softly asked.

Tech slowly nodded. "I'm going to my bunk now. Will you sleep?"

Amelia smiled. "Don't worry about me."

Tech pushed himself to his feet, letting out a heavy breath. He was about to walk away when Amelia cleared her throat.

"What did Hunter want with you earlier?" Amelia asked. "He seemed worried."

"We have a highly sensitive mission coming up." Tech's eyes seemed unfocused. "I... I wasn't supposed to tell you that."

"I'm sorry," Amelia apologized. "But I won't tell anyone, okay? I promise."

Tech smiled at that. "Thank you, Amelia."

That night, Amelia worked on her report.