Yay! I've Not Seen RDR2 So I Don't Know That All, But This Is Adorable And I'm Nervous!

Yay! I've not seen RDR2 so I don't know that all, but this is adorable and I'm nervous!

Marked Part 1

A Bad Batch x Red Dead Redemption crossover AU (with illustrations :)

This is my first time writing fanfiction!

“Omega” felt like too sci-fi of a name for this universe so I changed it to “Meggy”. Everyone else is the same.

If you haven’t played RDR2 don’t worry, I’m not counting on every reader having done so. All you need to know is it’s about a gang of outlaws in 1899 running from trouble, chaos everywhere. There are also some sci-fi elements to the world that I may or may not implement :) This takes place around the first chapter of RDR2 when the Van Der Linde gang is camped out at Horseshoe Overlook.

Word count: 2045

No content warnings.

The foothills above Valentine were peaceful, densely forested, and rarely traversed. Above the treetops the snowy peak of Mount Hagen shone like a beacon. Below the hillside the earth plunged into the deep and narrow Dakota River canyon. It was a perfect place to lie low for a while. Plan the next move.

Meggy sat on the back of her brothers’ wagon, the horses had been unhitched and were grazing on the small clearing where they had set up camp. The contentedness of the beasts calmed her. The two massive horses simply snacking away and existing, nothing else on their mind. She wished she could escape worry so easily as the breeze blew her short blonde hair and ruffled her skirt.

Swimming in her own thoughts, she didn’t hear her brother's voice calling to her until he was beside her. “There you are!” Hunter sighed with relief as he approached. “Are you… alright?” His tone dropped quieter.

“Yeah, just thinking I guess.” Meggy swung her boots ponderously. She held something in her hands, resting on her lap.

“What’s this?” Hunter came closer, looking at her hands.

Meggy froze. Frozen like she had rehearsed time and time again at the school. Bracing herself physically and mentally to be in trouble, again. She looked down with shame.

Hunter parted her hands, revealing a tiny rabbit kit, its unweaned eyes still closed. “Where’d you find this?”

Meggy looked up and was confused to see her brother smiling. This was wrong. She should be in trouble for touching dirty animals.

“Under the wagon.” She muttered, still not convinced she wasn’t about to be reprimanded, especially now that she had just confessed to a second crime: crawling around under a vehicle.

“We should find its nest, it needs its mother.” Hunter took a step back. Meggy stared at him, her mind was still not catching up to the fact of what was going on. “Pick him up, let’s go look.” Hunter helped her off the wagon so she could safely cup the tiny creature in both of her equally tiny hands.

“Look for a hole capped with fur, there might be tracks of bare earth in front of it, and cropped grass.” Hunters eyes scanned the forest floor for rabbitsign, Meggy watched him and then mimicked his movements.

Hunter noticed that Meggy was uncharacteristically quiet as they searched. Did I do something wrong? Having a kid around had been an ongoing adjustment. In the short time she had been with them Meggy had shown a wide range of emotions, profoundly sensitive and resilient at the same time.. But this was the first time he had seen her freeze up like this.

The kit began to squeak incessantly. Hunter saw a flit of movement near a Boulder. Meggy followed his gaze. A rabbit doe near her burrow.

As they neared she scurried back underground, Meggy deposited the kit near the hole and they watched it crawl inside.

“Nice work, kid!” He held his hand out for a high five, Meggy flinched, almost imperceptibly, but Hunter noticed.

In a moment the worry melted off her face and she grinned, slapping his hand with her new energy. “That was fun! Do you think I can learn to track like you someday?”

“I think you just had your first lesson.”

The next few days were a much needed break from action, for the most part. The gang lived on small game, wild edibles, and what was left of their canned goods. Wrecker showed Meggy how to pick the best firewood. Echo lent her a couple of his books, glad to have a third person around who knew how to read. Crosshair kept his distance, but patiently entertained some of her questions as he cleaned his rifle. Then sent her away after warning her to stay away from their munitions crate.

Tech finally caved to Meggy’s insistence on riding one of their draft horses. He picked Marauder, the slightly less excitable of the two. The chestnut gelding was certainly not a kid’s horse, but as a retired warhorse, he was desensitized at least. Meggy was surprised at how much thinking went into riding, or maybe that was just because Tech was her teacher. He had a lot to say about riding technique. As he lunged Maurauder with Meggy astride, barely able to straddle the barrel chested beast, he rattled on about gaits, position, neck-reining, posting, side-passing, halting, and so on.

Meggy woke on the fourth morning. A wave of bliss washed over her as she sat up in her bedroll. The last few days had truly been the best ever, living off the land with her brothers who she didn’t even know she had until a couple weeks ago. They chose to risk everything to save her.

She was still coming to terms with what they had sacrificed for her. Couldn’t help but feel a twitch of guilt every time she could sense them censoring their usual crass demeanor in front of her (even though Wrecker had already willingly taught her a few of his favorite curse words). She didn’t want them to change for her, but also didn’t want to be anywhere else in the whole world. Crosshair seemed especially snide about her presence, always keeping his distance and almost never speaking to her.

She scanned the camp, the fire was still smoldering, the bedrolls still lined around it like a flower. Two of which were empty, one was neatly made, the other looking like a wild animal had escaped from it.

She got dressed and walked around the wagon, surprised to see Hunter and Echo tacking up the horses.

“You’re leaving?”

Hunter looked up first “You’re up early!” He adjusted Havoc’s bridle. “Just getting some supplies in town, we’ll be right back.”

“Can I come? Please?!”

Echo glanced up at her,, and then looked to Hunter “I don’t think it’s a good idea.” He said before going back to picking Marauder’s hoof, holding it on his thigh between his torso and what was left of his right arm.

There was a long silence. Echo could practically smell Hunter’s guilty look, even with the ass end of a horse between them.

“Of course you can come.”Hunter gave in. Echo rolled his eyes.

Meggy tried to contain her excited squeal.

“Hunter, there are people looking for her, we can't bring her to town.” Echo spat as he stood up.

“Don’t worry, I have an idea.” Hunter smirked.

The world was so much bigger than she ever could have imagined. The trees flew by as the trio cantered down the wagon trail toward Valentine. Meggy rode with Hunter on Havoc, his black mane nearly whipping her in the face. The speed was terrifying at first, but Meggy’s fear was quickly replaced by excitement as they got closer to town.

Her skirt had been replaced by a pair of extra trousers lying around, they didn’t have a belt small enough so a length of rope held them up. Finding a hat that didn’t look ridiculous on her was more challenging but a wool cap ended up being the best fit.

Now hopefully anyone looking for a “girl kidnapped from the Saint Denis Orphanage” wouldn’t think twice if they saw a boy.

Echo still didn’t think it would work.

The streets were still a sloppy, muddy mess from rain several days ago. Echo frowned as he dismounted and his boots sunk into the filth. They hitched the horses and went about their business, Echo to the gunsmith and Hunter and Meggy to the general store.

The streets were fairly quiet, an early start to the day meant less eyes around.

Meggy marveled at the abundance of items in the general store as Hunter bartered with the shop owner. She had so many questions, so many items she couldn’t identify, but tried to keep quiet so her boyish illusion would remain uncompromised. Once Hunter had packed the new supplies into his saddlebag they exited the store.

”G’morning, mister. Got a light?” A tall burly man leaned against the wall just outside the store. Meggy startled a bit, Hunter did not, he heard the lumbering figure approach while they were still inside.

“Sure.” Hunter fumbled in his pocket for his lighter and handed it to the man. The flame illuminated his face, his eyes rimmed with the cracked tan skin of someone who spent a lot of time outdoors. His battered brown hat and dirty blue jacket bore similar weathering. He took a long drag and handed the lighter back. “Thank you mister.” He blew out the smoke “and little miss.”

Hunter nodded and began to walk away, then realized what the man had just said… “little miss”. It could be nothing… just a slip of the tongue… there’s no way someone this far out could know who she was. He quickened his pace as they rounded away toward the gunsmith.

The man took one more drag from his cigarette before putting it out on the ashtray on the windowsill, as he did so he scanned across the street toward another figure sitting in front of the saloon. A shorter, thinner man with black greasy hair and a black hat, two long scars clawed from under his eye to the corners of his jaw. The blue-jacketed man gave a nod just big enough to be seen from the distance between them.

Inside the gunsmith, Hunter spoke in a low voice from behind Echo “we should go.”

“I’m not finished yet.” Echo was inspecting the quality of the bullets he was about to purchase.

“Just get them and let's go.” Hunter murmured.

Echo gave an annoyed look, but reluctantly agreed and they paid the gunsmith.

As they exited the store Hunter’s paranoia climbed several levels when he saw the stranger was gone, his presence replaced by his still smoldering cigarette.

The trio hurried to the horses, mounted up, and headed back up the hill into the forest.

“What the hell was that about?” Echo scolded once they were farther away from town.

“I just got a bad feeling.” Hunter checked over his shoulder for the fifth time in a minute, instinctually resting his hand on his thigh holster.

“But we just got here!” Wrecker complained loudly, the only way he knew how to complain. The gang deliberated around their late morning campfire.

“I agree, moving camp would be unwise.” Tech fiddled with some type of hardware from the wagon on his lap. “Moving around would only draw more attention from more people.”

Crosshair remained silent, dragging on his first cig of the day. “If you really think they were after Meggy, don’t you think that guy would’ve just taken us then and there while we were in town? Instead of now when we’re back with our full party?”Echo wondered.

“If he’s such a good bounty hunter that he found us all the way across three states, surely he could take on one guy, a gimp, and a child.” Crosshair smirked.

Echo ignored his antagonistic younger brother.

Hunter sighed.

“I’m sorry. This is all my fault, isn’t it?” Omega sulked in the grass, hugging her knees at her chin. Flowers she had picked drooping in her hands.

“Her situational comprehension is quite high for someone her age.” Tech observed.

“We’ll be fine. We’re far off the trail, hidden by the trees. I did my best to cover our tracks. Let’s just keep the fire small tonight, we’ll be fine.” Hunter reassured them.

“Four men, two of them are the ones we saw in town earlier.” Arthur focused his binoculars across the canyon. “No wait, five.”

“What’s the plan?” John shifted.

“Bounty is for all of them, but the kid is the biggest reward.”

“And we gotta bring them all back to Saint Denis?”

“Nah, I talked to the sheriff in town, said he can hold them until we can wire someone to collect. For a price.”

“No way we can take all five of those guys.”

“For once, we agree, Marston.” Arthur noticed one of the taller fellows cleaning his rifle. “Poster said they’re ex-military.”

“What are they doing kidnapping an orphan?”

“I don’t know, but it can't be good." Arthur lowered the binoculars.

Home With All of You

Week 2 Prompts: Injured & Comfort Zone

Summary: When Omega becomes injured during a rebel mission, she is asked to rest and visit her worried family.

Notes: FINALLY finished this, decided to mesh Week 2's prompts together to present a fic filled with angst and family time! divider by @summer-of-bad-batch

Warnings: Blood, description of an open cut (putting here if you're uncomfortable with that, it's just a small part)

Blaster fire engulfed the storage compound. Stormtroopers fired shots towards many rebellion fighters trying to get back to their ships after a mission of obtaining important supplies. Many Imperials were on patrol in the area, and a mishap involving a few rebels led to being spotted and a battle igniting.

The rebels ran towards the landing pad where their makeshift (and stolen) Imperial ships were parked. Two ships stood out from the others as a smaller modified starship and a customized light freighter. The blaster fire continued on, rebels kneeling behind crates to protect themselves.

“Got it!” A female rebellion fighter dressed in a signature yellow jacket with a loose red bandana tied in her blond locks ran while carrying a small crate in her arm, using her free hand to handle her blaster.

“Omega, watch out!”

Omega ducked a few blaster shots that had headed towards her, cradling the crate and hiding behind some cargo.

“Glad you could make it, we really need to get out of here!” Hera Syndulla exclaimed, shooting a stormtrooper.

Omega chuckled, striking the eye area of a stormtrooper’s helmet. “Thanks for stating the obvious, Hera.” Hera gave her friend a smirk. The number of stormtroopers kept increasing as the rebels began running into their ships to make their escape.

“Cover me!” Omega told other rebels around her, holding the crate and shooting stormtroopers as she ran towards the Marauder II, her own small starship named after her family’s shuttle that they lost so many years ago to honor it. The ship had been a gift from Echo after it was stolen from smugglers during a mission to retrieve citizens kept captive, and Omega loved flying it around.

Omega kept on running towards her ship. Paying more attention to the stormtroopers trying to shoot her head off (with very poor aim), she didn’t see a sharp torn piece of metal that was placed near a few cargo crates. Omega ran past it and her right leg met contact with the sharp metal, exclaiming in pain and falling to the ground. Her gray jeggings were ripped open in a straight line as the metal dug into her flesh, cutting open her skin and peeling it apart.

Omega looked over and saw blood flowing down and seeping into her jeggings, the cut burning. But there wasn’t any time to stop. She groaned and bit her lips to hold back whimpers as she picked the crate up and limped to her ship. The pain was excruciating, but these supplies had to be delivered to help the rebellion.

She heard something solid roll near her, turning and seeing a small explosive stop rolling next to one of the cargo crates an inch from her. Omega’s eyes widened as the explosive beeped and was ready to go off at any second. She tried to get away as quickly as she could, but it was too late. The explosive went off and created a blast of fire and smoke, sending Omega back to the ground and hitting her head. Everything went black.

“Omega!” Hera saw Omega get knocked to the floor, dropping her blaster and the crate. Her crew was getting ready to leave with most of the cargo on her ship. Some rebels had also noticed Omega falling to the ground and ran over to help her up. Hera had to help her best friend, so she quickly ran over to assess the situation.

“Omega, wake up!” Omega had been knocked out after the explosive went off, and her leg was bleeding badly. She wasn’t waking up.

“Hera! We need to go!” A man dressed in green wielding a lightsaber shouted to get Hera’s attention from the ramp of her ship. She looked back at Omega, still barely breathing while laying in the arms of a rebel.

“Zeb, get her onto the Ghost!” Hera made a quick decision, telling a member of her crew to bring her aboard. She pointed to another rebel. “You, pilot her ship back to base!” The rebel ran over to the Marauder II and got it started up so Omega’s ship wasn’t left behind. Rebel ships made their way to lift off while stormtroopers heated up their blasters, continuing to fire shots at their enemies.

“The crate-”

“Just leave it, there’s no time!” Hera exclaimed at Zeb, running back to her ship and ducking many blaster shots.

Omega was carried into the Ghost in Zeb’s arms and gently laid down in a room filled with colorful graffiti and doodles on its walls. The rebel ships made their way into the atmosphere with some TIE fighters on their tail, jumping to hyperspace within seconds.

***

Omega woke up in a brightly lit room, which hurt her eyes when she managed to open them fully. She blinked a few times and tried to recognize her surroundings. A medical droid hovered near her with a tray of tools. A mechanical ventilator was attached to her mouth to help her breathe. Her left arm was wrapped in an arm sling.

This was the medbay in the rebel base. How did she get here? Omega could hardly remember bits of where she was before this. She could remember being at that Imperial compound, hearing a blast, and then the rest was blurry in her memory. Omega tried to stretch her arms and sit up.

“You must rest,” the medical droid interrupted, its metal claws now free and attempting to get Omega to lay back down. Omega mumbled to herself and laid back down per the droid’s instructions.

“Oh, thank the stars.” Hera strolled in to check on Omega as part of her daily routine for the past days, relieved she was finally awake. She had seen Omega lay back down once she entered. Omega turned to look up at Hera, giving her a smile visible through her ventilator.

“Thought we had nearly lost you there. You took quite a blast,” Hera sighed. A few rumbled noises piped up next to Hera. Chopper, her astromech, was glad to see Omega no longer asleep. Omega had remained unconscious during the entire trip back to the rebel base as Hera’s crew tried their best to tend to Omega’s deep wound until they could get her medical care. All other rebel fleets had been found by Star Destroyers and were under attack, so the Ghost wasn’t able to make a stop anywhere to get help for Omega quicker.

Omega took off the mechanical ventilator to breathe freely. “How long have I been out?”

“Two rotations,” Hera said, Omega’s eyes widening in shock. Hera continued, “You were losing a lot of blood from your injury and that explosive had hit you hard.”

Everything was slowly coming back to her. Omega remembered running as fast as she could in the midst of blaster fire with pain stinging in her leg. There was an explosive, and it had gone off.

“The cargo..”

“Lay back down,” Hera said. Omega got a glimpse of her right leg. The open cut on her upper leg had been stitched together with a few bandages wrapped around her knee to help heal another injury, some specks of blood visible through the fabric.

“We got most of what we needed, and the rest had to be left behind. Including the one you were holding. And don’t worry, we brought your ship back to the base.” Hera added.

“Thank you, Hera.”

“Don’t thank me,” Hera sat beside Omega on the medical bed. “You always do so much for the rebellion, going above and beyond to help us fight. Now you need to get some rest.”

Omega wasn’t fully listening. She thought back to what Hera said earlier. “Hera, you said I was out for two rotations?”

Hera nodded. Omega furrowed her brows, trying to remember something important. It hit her. Omega had told her brothers that she would call again at night after the mission was over before she had left for that mission. It has been two days now. They were likely worried sick. Omega pushed herself to sit up, wincing.

“I need to call my brothers. Who knows what they’re thinking because I haven’t called them yet.” Omega moved her legs slowly, preparing herself to stand. Hera put a hand on her shoulder.

“Echo informed your brothers about what happened. He and Emerie had visited while you were unconscious and they’ll come again later. Maybe you should take a break and visit them.”

Omega turned to her. “And leave while the rebellion still needs all the strength any of us can offer? The Empire already found and attacked one of our far bases and blew it up. I-”

Hera stopped her before she could continue. “The rebellion isn’t going anywhere, Omega. We’ll always be here to fight against the Empire, but what matters right now is you getting better so you can fly a ship. Your brothers miss you, so you should go rest and spend time with them until you are fully healed.”

“But-”

“Ah-ah, general’s orders, Commander,” Hera raised an eyebrow. Chopper made some noises, knowing Omega wouldn’t be able to get out of this one once Hera went under “general” mode.

Omega sighed. “Yes, general.” She pushed herself to stand up with one hand and grabbed her jacket. Her wound still ached, but it didn’t affect her abilities to walk too much.

Once Echo and Emerie had arrived to visit Omega, she boarded the Marauder II to head back to Pabu using her ship. Echo piloted the starship while Emerie stayed with Omega in the back. Gonky honked, talking to Omega.

“Don’t worry, I’m doing better, Gonky,” Omega replied.

Emerie knelt down, examining Omega’s leg after she woke up from a nap. Her medical training kicked in when she saw Omega’s wounds. Omega winced when Emerie moved her leg up a bit.

“Forgive me,” Emerie apologized, setting Omega’s leg down. “It’s a good thing General Syndulla advised you to rest. Your brothers were worried when we gave them the news. Echo let them know you’re on the way while the pain meds had made you unconscious.”

Omega held Lula in her lap. She bet they were. Omega could just imagine Hunter’s reaction once she reached Pabu and he saw her injuries. Crosshair would likely immediately tell her to rest in her room. Wrecker would make her all her favorite comfort foods while she got better. Tech would consistently make sure she was taking her meds on time.

“Coming out of hyperspace,” Echo’s voice said over the comm. The starship slightly jolted as it exited hyperspace. Echo flew down into Pabu’s atmosphere and headed for the landing zone.

Omega stood up as the ship landed. Echo opened up the side ramp, light coming into the ship. Omega followed Emerie down, immediately catching sight of her brothers coming towards them. They hadn’t aged much since the last time she saw them in person, which had been one cycle ago.

Hunter jogged forward as Omega leaned herself into his arms. Hunter used one arm to hug her away from her injured arm, tightening his grasp. His sister was home after so long. He didn’t want to let her go right now.

“Ow,” Omega winced.

Hunter broke the hug. “Sorry, kid.”

“You’ve been through a lot!” Wrecker said, coming in for a gentle hug next.

“I guess it was a serious mission that led to an encounter with various troopers?” Tech came forward, adjusting his glasses and examining Omega’s injuries. Omega shrugged. “Another day in the rebellion.”

“What happened?” Hunter asked, concern glowing in his eyes.

Crosshair removed a toothpick from his mouth. “Let’s get her into her room first so she can rest.” Omega smiled. She knew he would say that.

“She got hit by an explosive and got her upper leg cut,” Emerie said with a straight face, watching her brothers’ eyes widen. “She’ll heal quickly in time with rest.”

Echo saw the way his brothers became worried for her. The over-protectiveness was about to begin and Omega couldn’t escape that. Hunter looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

“You heard Emerie, you need to rest,” Hunter said, pushing her forward to walk to their home in the village. “Are you hungry? What hurts the most?”

Omega was overwhelmed by the amount of questions she was getting from her brothers. They cared deeply about her health and were happy to have her back home. Omega relaxed and let her brothers take care of her.

Echo couldn’t help but chuckle. He had panicked when he heard about Omega becoming injured, but she was a strong girl. Seeing her awake after two days was a good sight to see.

Days passed as Omega stayed with her brothers on Pabu. Tech made sure she was taking her meds on time, and Emerie found time to stay to help her injuries heal and check on them from time to time. Echo had stayed for a while to catch up and had returned back to base for another intel mission.

“Your favorite fish soup, coming up!” Wrecker knocked on Omega’s door with a food tray. Omega laid in her bed, reading a few files on her datapad. Her back was supported by a bunch of pillows that Crosshair had put together so Omega could be as comfortable as possible while healing. She smiled as Wrecker delivered the tray and placed it on a breakfast tray. Batcher came in, pouncing onto Omega’s bed to give her some loving licks, making her laugh. Batcher settled down to take a nap.

“Thank you, Wrecker.” Omega picked up her spoon and filled her mouth with the warm and spicy liquid, chewing on soft pieces of fish. She savored the taste of Wrecker’s cooking; finally something other than bland soup and rations.

“How you feeling today?” Wrecker asked. He sat in a chair next to her bed.

Omega swallowed her next bite. “Pretty good. My leg doesn’t really hurt much anymore.”

“Speaking of which,” Tech strolled into the room. “Time to take your meds again.” He set down a few meds on top of her drawer for her to take after eating.

Omega gave her brother a smile. “Thank you, Tech.” She was happy he was here with her.

It had been so long since Omega had been on Pabu and spent time with anyone here. Lyana was happy to see her again, and spending time with her brothers was the best vacation Omega could ask for.

During dinners and outings, Omega told her brothers, Phee, Lyana, and Shep all about what she had done and seen while in the rebellion. She told them about the new friends she had made and a lot about Hera’s crew. Omega was definitely going to bring them to Pabu one day so they could meet her brothers.

“I hit a stormtrooper right in the eye,” Omega told Crosshair when she spent time outside on the beach with him.

“Heh, you did?” Crosshair chewed on a toothpick. “At least you’ve got better aim than them.” He was very proud of her inside for blasting those nat-born bucket-heads.

Omega told her brothers all about the many missions she had been on and all the planets she visited. She did leave out the parts whenever she would get injured or things would go wrong so Hunter didn’t start feeling uneasy and worried, but sometimes it would slip out whenever she was too excited telling a story. All of her brothers were happy to have her back while she healed and prepared themselves to let her go again once she had to go back into the fight.

Her comfort zone was with her brothers. Her family. Staying on Pabu was temporary for now, but Omega was going to cherish every moment until she was fully healed. It was difficult to find peace in a time of war, but whenever Omega was with her family, everything felt okay.

Nini's Writing Masterlist

taglist: @summer-of-bad-batch @orion-tyche @bossboudicca @magicandmundane @kurlyfrii @locitapurplepink @ahsokashawarma1138

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singingwhilebaking

10 months ago

I want to go to more places like this