The Bad Batch Fanfiction - Blog Posts

I have a weird obsession with Omega & Crosshair (fave sibling duo in TBB). I FEEL Cross & Omega have a VERY strong bond (First shown in S1E1). He just doesn’t know it YET lol! ALWAYS been my prayer that they will be reunited & I think he will WANT to protect her from his love for her!

I’m still TERRIFIED what will happen to her! Hunter is her FATHER, BUT Cross is also meant to be her protector!

I AM LEARNING HAWAIIAN TOO (day 466 or 467 straight on DUOLINGO lol)…. It’s number one on my bucket list BUT alas I doubt I will due to my military injuries and chronic illnesses lol. BUT THIS IS AMAZING never ever thought I would EVER FIND ANYTHING LIKE THIS!!!!!

Can anyone please please make a picture of this in ANY WAY AT ALL????? If there is ANYTHING anyone knows about that’s like this (Omega SPECIFICALLY like this please tag me :):):)!)

Sins of the Past: Ohana Means Family

Summery: A collection of drabbles set in my modern au where the Bad Batch raise Omega after rescuing her from the abusive hands of their mother. In this chapter Crosshair takes care of Omega whilst she is sick.

Notes: Happy Birthday @xoxo-40782 ! This chapter is dedicated to you! I hope that you have an amazing birthday! Everyone should check out their bad batch modern au!! It is amazing!! And I used a lot of inspiration such as Crosshair liking Ghibli movies and having issues with his similar appearance to Nala Se in this fic!! I hope that you guys enjoy!! Xxxxxxxx

Ao3

FF.net

They had been warned that this could happen. Obi-Wan had told them that having been trapped in that Hell of a house all her life, Omega hadn't had the chance to be exposed to all those childhood germs other kids did, leaving her more susceptible to them now. And a month after starting school, it finally happened.

Omega had woken up on Monday morning with the worst cold Crosshair had ever witnessed. Coughs had racked her shivering body that was half delirious with fever.

The boys had preciously decided on a rota to take care of Omega on sick days, and on Friday it was finally Crosshair's turn.

Thankfully her fever had broken by now but she was still bunged up with snot, so Hunter had decided to keep her off the rest of the week, hoping that she would be fighting fit by Monday.

So all Crosshair had to do was keep an eye on her.

Which was kind of the problem.

He had managed to get over most of his ill placed jealously after his talk with Hunter, but unfortunately Crosshair was well aware that trauma didn't disappear that easily.

There was no denying that any of them were Jango's offspring, with his apparent super spreader genes. But where the rest of their siblings were all blunt corners, he and Omega were sharp edges with their pointed features and lighter hair that was unmistakably the mark of Nala Se.

And Crosshair hated it. He hated it so much he once smashed the mirror in the bathroom which Ninety-Nine never replaced. He could deal with his own appearance. Shaving his hair till it went grey and getting a tattoo across his face helped.

But then Omega came into their lives. And whilst Crosshair would be eternally grateful that she never had to step foot in their sorry excuse for a mother's home again, sometimes just being around her hurt.

To see that same face that tortured him his whole life in the innocent one of a little girl felt like a cruel joke that the universe was playing to specifically spite him.

He had resorted to avoiding her which wasn't easy in a small house packed with six people. However he figured it was the better option than accidently snapping at her with something he knew that he would immediately regret. He was pretty sure Hunter at least had noticed although his older brother hadn't mentioned anything about it, yet. He knew it was something he'd have to confront eventually.

He just didn't think that day would be today.

Crosshair sat on the sofa, whilst Omega was bundled up on the other, Gonky curled up on one side of her and a stack of tissue boxes on the other, as she watched TV. Having missed out on the past decade of pop culture, Hunter was trying to rectify that, starting with the Disney classics after Omega had asked what a Disney Princess was when one of her classmates had made fun of her for not knowing. They were currently up to Lilo and Stitch. Whilst Crosshair was much more of a Ghibli fan, he didn't mind the colourful cartoon musicals, not that he would ever admit it.

He kept one eye on Omega whilst scrolling through his phone. Replying to the texts Hunter sent about every five minutes reassuring him that yes their sister was indeed still alive and ignoring the messages from his asshole of a boss Rampart who was still giving him shit about taking a day off even though Aayla had offered to cover some of his sessions for him.

The movie had barely finished playing when Omega burst into tears.

Shit, Crosshair thought, rushing over to the girl.

"Are you hurt? What's wrong?" He asked. Hunter was going to kill him if anything happened to her on his watch.

"Sh-She... she's just like me!" Omega managed choke through her sobs.

"What do you mean?" He asked, not understanding where this conversation was going.

Omega pointed at the screen where the characters were currently visiting a montage of Elvis exhibits as the credits rolled.

"Lilo! She's Polynesian! She is raised by her siblings! She's just like me!"

That was when Crosshair realised she wasn't crying because she was hurt. Happiness might not be the correct to describe word it either. It was hard to put into words the freeing ideal of being known.

And God had Crosshair realised just how badly he'd fucked up.

Growing up, if he'd seen a movie like that with someone like him in it. Maybe he would've been able to recognise himself in someone else instead of feeling isolated in a body that nobody else could understand.

He hadn't even realised he'd pulled Omega into a hug until Gonky tried to jump between them to get in on the action.

Omega's sobs subsided into giggles as Gonky's tongue locked away her tears,  tickling her face.

"Let her go you big lump." Crosshair told the husky, nudging him back to the girl's side. Since he was now over here anyway, Crosshair figured he might as well stay and settled into Omega's over side. He picked up the nearby remote.

"It might be garbage, a lot of the Disney sequels are but they made a second film if you want to watch that?"

Omega nodded eagerly, curling against his shoulder, as though it was the most natural thing in the world, even though it was the first time she had ever done it before.

To distract himself from getting teary eyed as well, Crosshair pressed play.

Echo and Omega

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen

Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon)

Relationship: CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo & Omega (Star Wars: The Bad Batch)

Characters: CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo, Omega (Star Wars: The Bad Batch)

Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, mentions of abuse, mentions of human experimentation, Started writing this at 1am this morning, Trauma, Family, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo Needs a Hug, Omega Needs a Hug (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Soft CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo, Set post-season 1 of The Bad Batch, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo has PTSD

Summary:

"Echo," Omega said softly, her voice still wobbly with tears.

"Hmm."

"I'm really glad Rex and the Batch found you."

Echo smiled. "So am I, kid," he said. He reached his hand up to stroke her hair. "And I'm really glad you found us too."

Wow this gave me chills! I absolutely LOVE Crosshair and Omega, both characters especially as a pairing are my favorite SW characters besides Grogu and Ahsoka Tano! The person who did this is AMAZING and hope they have one for each of the bad batchers (including Omega of course)!!! Not sure how to look lol.

"The Bad Batch | Crosshair"

Probably one of the best edits I've seen.

Anyone who follows me knows I have a strange obsession with Crosshair and Omega. I want more interactions with these two and think their dynamic is amazing. I love how hard Omega tries for Crosshair, harder than anyone else!

(‘: tis done

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33854569

enjoy

The Bad Batch taking care of a sick Omega

Hello! I am back with more Bad Batch stuff, I started out writing these as headcanons then got carried away and now they’ve sorta turned into drabbles/blurbs/mini stories. Maybe one day I’ll write an actual story.

You can find my other stuff here and here.

So this has been done before, but I wanna do my own spin on it. This is how I think the Bad Batch would react to Omega being unwell and how they would look after her. I love writing about the Dad Bad Batch interacting with Omega, it gives me life. Basically, they all encounter Omega sick at one point and this is how I think it would go. The boys won’t get sick since they are genetically engineered to withstand most illnesses, but Omega is not.

Warnings: Sickness (nothing explicitly described, just mentions of general unwellness), a plethora of fluff, some swearing, slightly AU possibly since Crosshair is in it. Some angst too. Also, it’s pretty long. I tried my best to look for spelling/grammar mistakes, but I may have missed some so sorry in advance!

Hunter:

Sergeant Hunter usually prided himself on his keen senses most of the time, they sure had gotten him and brothers (and Omega of course) out of some arduous situations. And this time was one of those times he thanked the Kaminoans for making him ‘defective’, because he sensed that something wasn’t right with Omega.

They were taking a break from mercenary life and were on a nice, warm planet to rest for a couple of nights. Omega was excited as they were gathering supplies for the trip. But the next day after they got there, Omega, usually the first to wake up, slept later than usual. Hunter knew for a fact that something was amiss. He could hear that her heart was beating faster than it usually did, and he could hear her quiet little whimpers and shuffling as she tossed and turned.

He immediately went to her little room on the Marauder to check on her. She was awake, and his heart broke at her little face, screwed up with obvious discomfort. Her hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat. Now, clones were genetically engineered to not get sick, but Omega, being an unaltered clone, clearly was not.

He immediately called on Tech, the squad’s de facto medic, to come and take a look at her. He concluded that she was suffering from the flu, and that she would recover in a few days, with plenty of rest, fluids, and medicine if needed. The rest of the batch offered to take it in shifts to look after Omega but Hunter, being the dad that he is, refused and insisted that he look after Omega until she was better whilst everyone else enjoyed the break, so that’s what he did.

He made sure that she drank enough water, and made sure that she was comfortable. He moved her to his bunk, and begrudgingly let his brothers take over when he could hardly keep his eyes open.

He held her hand and felt his heart clench when she moved to sit in his lap, clinging onto him. He adores his little Omega and it hurt him to see her unwell. He stroked her back and whispered comforting words to her whilst she drifted in and out of sleep. “Don’t you worry, ad’ika, I’m here to look after you,” he said gently, “I’ll keep you safe.” And from that moment on, any time Omega was unwell, she would usually seek him out first and he would stay by her side until she was better.

Wrecker:

Wrecker was using Gonky as a weight, like he always did. He always had so much energy and doing this helped. Gonky didn’t seem to mind either, kicking his legs lightly and beeping happily every time he was hoisted up. Having this routine helped focus his mind and calm him down, especially before or after a mission.

The ship was quiet, aside from the quiet chatter from his brothers. Omega was strangely quiet, and he put Gonky down, intending to ask her what was wrong.  Suddenly, Omega let out a rather loud and obnoxious sneeze that had her rushing forward in her chair. It was an impressive sneeze, Wrecker had to admit, even Gonky chirped in what could only be described as awe (or the droid equivalent of awe, anyway).

He guffawed loudly and patted Omega on the back, whilst the others looked on. Hunter went to stand up to go to her, obviously sensing something that the others couldn’t, but immediately hissed in pain and sat back down again, as he had evidently aggravated his chest injury from a blaster shot by that damn bounty hunter who took Omega on Bracca. Wrecker’s blood boiled at the thought of those bounty hunters.

Hunter pointed out that Omega was coming down with a sickness bug, as he recognised the symptoms. Omega tried to insist that she was fine, but another loud sneeze followed by a slight coughing fit proved otherwise. Tech confirmed that she was coming down with a common cold and should rest for a day or two until she was better.

She tried to refuse, not wanting to go to bed and miss out on any fun, but after a few stern looks from the others and a pointed scoff from Crosshair, she stood up to make her way to her little room. Before she could get there, however, Wrecker scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way. He then went to his bunk to get his extra warm and fluffy blanket, along with Lula, who, in his opinion, was the best medicine and could make anyone feel better.

He then went to her room and tried his best to sit beside her, but being as big as he was, it was a struggle. But somehow, he managed. Tech brought Omega some water, and Wrecker busied himself with trying to cheer her up and make her feel better. He told her silly jokes, and funny stories about him and his brothers, and made her smile. He let her cling to Lula as he recited funny stories about him pranking Crosshair when they were cadets on Kamino.

He loved making Omega smile and it made his heart soar when she did. He knew that he and Omega had a special bond, and he was glad that they escaped with her from Kamino. He was relieved that they managed to get her back from that bounty hunter, and he was impressed that she had actually managed to escape on her own. She was a little ray of sunshine in their small family, always full of curiosity and wonder and he couldn’t imagine life without her.

Tech:

Tech knew a lot about, well, everything. From fixing the hyperdrive on a ship, to the benefits of giving someone a hug. The knowledge that he held within his exceptional mind was important to the squad, and Omega loved to listen to what he had to say. She would often follow him around the ship when he was making repairs and ask him question after question, which he didn’t mind because it was refreshing to not be brushed off for spouting out ‘useless info’.

On one such day, Omega was dutifully helping him around the ship whilst Echo was holed up in the cockpit and the others were out gathering supplies. However, he could tell something was off about her as her movements were rather sluggish and she wasn’t enthusiastically asking about anything and everything like she usually did. He quickly came to the conclusion that she must be under the weather.

He checked her over and deduced that she was over-tired and needed to get some rest. She tried to protest, but was cut off by a large yawn. He helped her to her room and made sure she was comfortable, fluffing her pillow and tucking her into her blankets.

As he made to climb back down the ladder, Omega reached out and held his wrist in her little hand and asked him to stay. He hesitated for a moment, as there was work to be done on the ship, but when he looked into her tired, pleading eyes, he didn’t have the heart to say no, so he climbed into her room and she made room so that he could sit beside her.

He put his arm around her shoulder and sighed, racking his brain for some information on how he could help her get to sleep. He remembered reading that dim lighting can help a child sleep, so he used his datapad to dim the little lights Wrecker had installed in her room. He also remembered reading that reading or telling stories to a child can help them sleep, so he again racked his brain for a story he could tell her.

Before he could think of something, Omega spoke up. “Tech.. could you tell me a bit about the Jedi?” she asked shyly. He paused for a moment, thinking about the Jedi and what had happened to them, a pang of guilt finding its way into his heart. But he powered on and began to tell her about the Jedi and their powers, harnessed from the Force. After around ten minutes, she was fast asleep.

He slowly and quietly got up and left Omega’s little room, pausing briefly to brush hair away from her eyes. Who would’ve guessed that in the midst of the fear and turmoil in the galaxy a group of ragtag clones, bred for the sole purpose of fighting, would adopt a child into their ranks, especially one as pure and special as Omega? Tech would never have guessed that in a million years. But as he continued with his work around the ship, he thought about how happy he was that she was with them.

Echo:

Echo spent a lot of time in the cockpit of the Marauder. He liked to watch the stars, and he liked the swirling mass of brightness when they were hurtling through hyperspace. He also liked to stare out of the viewport when they were planetside, watching the comings and goings of the natives, or watching the sunsets and moons. When he first came aboard the Marauder, he wasn’t quite sure how he would fit in with the ragtag group of clones who had named themselves the Bad Batch, but they had let him aboard their ship and even made him his own bunk, and made him feel at home. And when Omega came aboard, he made sure to make her feel at home too.

On a quiet night on a quiet planet, Wrecker, Tech and Hunter had gone out to do an easy job for Cid, whilst he remained on the ship with Crosshair and Omega. Crosshair was outside of the ship sitting on the grass, cleaning his rifle, as he always did. Omega was in her room, electing to stay behind because she was tired. Echo thought nothing of this, as she was only a child and needed more rest than he and his brothers did.

He was starting to doze in the co-pilot's seat when he heard hesitant footsteps approaching behind him. Now, if this was a few months ago, his reflexes would have kicked in and he’d have launched himself out of his seat with alarming speed, blaster at the ready. But he knew that the only other person on the ship was Omega, and that Crosshair was keeping watch out front, his sharp eyes scanning for possible danger. “Echo?” Omega asked, her voice quiet and strained, a strange lilt to it as if she was on the verge of tears.

He swiveled around in his chair to face her. The lighting in the cockpit was dim, but he could still see her. She was standing holding her stomach, and everything about her stiff posture and hunched shoulders told him that she was in pain. He immediately stood up and went over to her, kneeling down in front of her. “What’s wrong, little one?” he asked her gently. She heaved out a little sob and told him that she had a sore tummy.

He then guided her to sit down in the co-pilot's seat that he had just vacated whilst he went to look through the medical supplies they had on the ship. He returned a minute or so later with pain medicine and some water.

He sat down in the pilot’s seat and gave her the medicine, and then gave her the water to take a sip. She sighed slightly and slouched back in the seat.

It appeared she was starting to fall asleep, so he tried to tell her to go to bed but she said she wanted to stay with him, and he just couldn't say no to her. So they both sat in comfortable silence in the cockpit, the only sounds to be heard being the odd beep from Gonky. Echo leaned back in his seat, glancing over every so often to check on Omega, who was just tiredly looking at the sky from the viewport.

He was starting to doze off himself again, his eyes closed, when he heard Omega stir beside him. He opened his eyes and saw that Omega had vacated her seat and was standing in front of him, rubbing her eyes. He watched her for a second and was about to ask her if she was alright, when she climbed onto his lap and curled herself up to his chest.

Echo froze for a few moments, unsure of what to make of this new turn of events. He had hugged Omega before when she had awoken from a nightmare or if she was upset, but this was something new.

Before the Citadel, physical touch was normal for him. He often hugged his brothers and found that he enjoyed the comfort it gave him. However, after he was rescued from Skako Minor, it was like he had to relearn some things, what he liked and disliked, and physical touch was one of those things. The Bad Batch didn’t regularly hug each other, but touches to the shoulder and other such things were not uncommon. But he found that after Omega joined them, hugging her had made him realise how comforting it can be for both him and her.

He slowly put his arms around her, and rested his chin on her head, rubbing her back soothingly. Soon enough, Omega was fast asleep and Echo found himself falling asleep too, happy that Omega was safe in his arms. When Crosshair came back onto the ship, he saw them both sleeping in the cockpit and he couldn’t help but let a soft smile grace his features at the sight of them. He grabbed a blanket from the bunks and gently laid it over them, before going back outside to resume his watch.

Crosshair:

Crosshair sat on his bunk, an ever-present toothpick hanging from his mouth whilst he disassembled, reassembled and cleaned his customised 773 Firepuncher sniper rifle. It was second nature to him and he didn’t even have to think about what he was doing. He enjoyed and took pride in setting up and cleaning his rifle. It was a part of him and who he was, and he enjoyed the routine.

The ship was quiet, the only people on it being himself and Omega, as the others had gone to gather some much needed supplies. He preferred staying behind, not liking going to stall after stall and store after store, looking at item after item and listening to his brothers haggling, so he decided to stay behind with Omega, who said she wasn’t feeling great. Hunter had tried to stay behind with her but Crosshair pointed out that he was the best at haggling and Hunter reluctantly left, only stopping to get Omega tucked up in his bunk under a mountain of blankets, with some water nearby and some medicine.

At first, Crosshair wasn’t sure what to make of Omega. But he had grown used to her presence and even began to enjoy it. They had grown closer and they bonded over him training her how to shoot her bow more accurately and he had even comforted her when she was upset. She usually always wore a smile on her face and it was enough to even bring a smile to Crosshair’s usually scowling face. His heart hurt a little at seeing her huddled under the blankets, looking so small.

He paused to look over at her every so often, making sure she wasn’t getting worse. He could hear her steady breaths as she slept, and he put his rifle to the side and stood up, flicking his toothpick into the waste-bin next to his bunk as he did so. He gently pressed his hand to her forehead and noted how her temperature didn’t feel as if it had gotten higher, but it didn’t seem like it was getting lower either.

He picked up the cup of water Hunter had left and gently roused Omega from her slumber. She looked up at him with bleary eyes, scrunching her little nose up in confusion. “Kid, it’s time for a drink of water,” he spoke softly to her. He put his hand behind her head to support her and tipped the cup slowly to her mouth, making sure she took a few small sips, before laying her back down again. He brushed her hair away from her head and began to stand up again, but she made a small noise of protest when he went to move.

By the way she looked at him, he knew that she wanted him to sit with her. After all, that’s what the others did when she was unwell. He hesitated for a moment, then let out a soft sigh, moving onto the bunk and leaning his back against the wall. Omega shuffled closer to him and reached out her little hand to take his. At first, he did nothing, he just looked at her small hand grasping his. Then he sighed quietly again and held her hand, rubbing his thumb gently across her knuckles.

“Please... don’t leave me,” Omega breathed, sounding scared. Crosshair’s breath hitched in his throat, and he swallowed thickly, having never heard Omega sound this way before. She was usually the life and soul of the group. “I’ll never leave you, Omega. I promise.” he replied, the words coming out oddly strangled.  His heart clenched again and he tipped his head back against the wall, a surge of affection and protectiveness going through him, thinking about how he would do anything for Omega.

tags: @eyecandyeoz @kratosfan6632466 @radbatch @crashbandicute @by-the-primes @justalittlecloud @itsjml

Love this and all Crosshair and Omega Fanfictions!!!! Really wish there was more Fanfictions out there of these two!!! So not fair that people are not doing them for this amazing pairing!

(‘: tis done

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33854569

enjoy

Need more of these please!!!!! And thank you

Trust

Season 1 x Episode 1 “Aftermath” Fix-It. After Crosshair’s chip is taken out, he has trouble coming to terms with what he did. The newest member of the Bad Batch is there to help.

“Come on, Crosshair,” Hunter pleaded, slowly taking a step forward. “Please, we-”

“Get away from me!” Crosshair yelled, curled up even more against the wall on the bunk. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

He could hear Hunter sigh, but luckily he also heard his approach stop. “Cross, I-”

“Hunter? What’s going on?”

Crosshair froze at the sound of Omega’s voice. Hunter could defend himself if he lashed out. Omega couldn’t. He whipped his head up, staring at Hunter. “Get the kid out of here.” he hissed.

Hunter looked between Omega and Crosshair. “Omega, I think it would be best if you-”

Omega took a step forward. Crosshair scowled. “Go away, runt.”

“No.”

Keep reading

Kiss Me Then Kiss Me Some More

Tech fans, come get ya’ll’s treat! another tooth ache inducing fluff piece about the bad batch’s beautiful balding man by yours truly. I was delirious with sleep as I wrote the end of this so please forgive any mistakes or whack ass sounding sentences. I’ll will go back through and edit this later. enjoy ya’ll’s cake!

Tag warnings: gtfo younglings, very fluffy and sweet but mildly suggestive, whole lotta kissing, slightly jealous Tech. reader and Tech have only been together for a short time. first ‘I love yous.’ new relationship jittery sweet goodness.

Summary: Tech x fem!reader. you and Tech have only been together for a month and you’re both still discovering new things about each other. On this particular evening, you approach Tech wearing Wrecker’s shirt and for the first time in his life, he’s jealous.

Word count: 2.5k

Taglist: @alegendoftomorrow @techwrecker @stellarbit

Divider by: @general-ida-raven

“Hey, Tech.” You smiled sweetly down at him from where he sat in his bunk. He was stripped down to his blacks snugged under the sorry excuse for a blanket that every clone was issued upon beginning active duty service.

“Hello, cyar’ika.” Tech greeted you while briefly looking up from his datapad, a small smile gracing his features at the sound of your voice. You blushed at his use of the Mando’a term while the butterflies in your stomach took flight.

“Are you busy?” You asked, slightly tipping your head to one side, hands clasped together behind your back.

“Not especially.” He replied, “Are you in need of something?” Tech continued tapping away at the keys of his datapad for another few moments.

“Oh, well I was just wondering..if maybe you’d like to cuddle and watch a holofilm with me?” You looked everywhere but at him while a blush crept its way across your cheeks.

Your relationship with Tech was still quite new, you two only having been together for a month, and you both were still learning to navigate being a couple within the squad.

Sitting more upright in his bunk, Tech set aside his datapad and adjusted his goggles that had slid down his nose. His eyes settled on you as he looked you over standing before him. You were wearing lounge shorts and a shirt that was several sizes too big with the Republic emblem on the shoulder of it’s left sleeve and Wrecker’s CT number and name sewn in Aurebesh into the hem. Though, Tech could tell it was his largest brother’s shirt simply by the size of it.

“You are wearing one of Wrecker’s shirts.” Tech stated and raised a quizzical brow as the unfamiliar feeling of mild jealously tugged at his heart. He inwardly scolded himself for feeling such a way but found that it was not so easily dismissed.

“Oh, yeah, he gave it to me when the ship’s air conditioning was broken a few months ago since my GAR issued sleepwear was long sleeved.” You answered him quickly, taking note of how his expression had changed after he had gotten a proper look at you.

Tech nodded but didn’t speak for a moment, seemingly lost in a thought that made his features harden just a bit. You glanced over his face as his lips pursed ever so slightly and immediately recognized the slight jealously he must be feeling over you wearing his brother’s shirt.

You dropped your gaze down to the shirt in question that hung very loosely on your body and then brought your eyes to look at Tech again, his expression unchanged as he stared off in thought, no doubt trying to wrestle with his feelings.

You couldn’t help the soft and barely audible “oh, Tech” that left your lips as you realized what he was feeling.

You smiled softly, deciding then that you’d make sure he felt every bit of your devotion for him in that moment. Climbing into his bunk, you reached for the privacy curtain and pulled it closed with a gentle swoosh. Turning from your seated position to face him, you leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. Tech snapped out of his introspection at the contact of your lips to his face, feeling his heart rate begin to quicken slightly. He noticed that you had pulled the curtain closed around his bunk but before he even had time to wonder what you were doing, he observed as you reached for the hem of Wrecker’s shirt. You pulled it off in one smooth motion, then folded it neatly and set it down on the floor next to his bunk.

Tech’s eyes widened behind his goggles as he took you in sitting before him, wearing only your GAR issued shorts and bra. His face had flushed considerably as his eyes wandered over your body. Watching him take in the sight of you seated in front of him made a blush spread across your own face. Dropping your gaze from Tech, you instinctively crossed your arms over your middle and shifted a bit nervously on his mattress.

Taking you in for another lingering moment, Tech finally opened his mouth to speak. “You are…stunning.” He said breathily while his eyes memorized every detail of your figure. Your blush deepened under his gaze. You smiled shyly back at him while tucking some of your hair behind your ear in an effort to keep from fidgeting nervously.

After passing his gaze over you once more, Tech leaned over the side of his bunk, reaching for the storage drawer just beneath it. He pulled from it one of his own GAR issued t-shirts, and pushed himself back up into the bunk. Once seated comfortably again, Tech offered you the shirt, “Here. I’d much prefer it if you wore my shirt instead of Wrecker’s. You may have it if you so desire it.”

“Thanks, Tech.” You murmured sweetly in surprise as you took his shirt from him. You ran your thumb over the stitching of his name and CT number embroidered at the bottom hem. Glancing back up into his deep brown eyes, you reached across the short distance separating Tech and yourself, gently bringing your hand to rest against his cheek. “I didn’t mean to make you jealous. My other sleep clothes need to be cleaned and Wrecker’s shirt was the only top I had.” Your tone had shifted, taking on the sincerity that reflected in your eyes. You hoped that your reassurance would ease his troubled mind.

Tech’s eyes flitted between yours and then down to your lips and back up again. “I am aware that you did not mean to cause me any ill feelings, dearest. It had just occurred to me that I would much prefer to see you wearing one of my shirts instead of my brother’s.” Tech’s voice was quiet as he admitted his feelings. Your eyes widened in surprise at his words and you felt your face flush yet again. He was terribly skilled at making you blush, even during the most inopportune moments.

Slowly, you moved in closer to him, setting his shirt aside then bringing your hand to rest on the other side of his face. Your fingers pressed firmly into the sides of his face as you gently pulled him towards you. Tech gasped slightly at your touch which made you smile before pressing your lips gently to his. He kissed you back with fervor while his hands came up to firmly grasp at your shoulders.

You felt Tech begin to shift in front of you without breaking the contact of his lips on yours. Gently, he eased you into his lap while his hands almost possessively found hold on your waist. Your body was now fully flushed against his with your legs wrapped around his waist and crossed behind him. Tech slowly, but deliberately began trailing feather-light kisses down your neck and across your shoulder. His touch pulled a sound from you Tech wanted to hear repeated over and over again for the rest of his life. The heat that was building within him was growing hotter the more he touched you and the more you whispered his name in pure bliss.

“Tech, Tech, my love…” You half whispered, half moaned against his ear. This sent a shutter through him as his hands began roving over the bare skin of your waist and back. You squeezed your legs around him in a desperate attempt to be even closer to him.

Feeling you press further into him sent Tech into overdrive. With one smooth motion he flipped you so that you were positioned underneath him with your legs still wrapped around his waist. You gasped at the sudden change in position while the warmth in your chest began to spread throughout your body.

Gazing up at him, wide eyed and with lips slightly parted, you uttered his name again, “Tech…” your voice dripped with desire as your eyes flickered back and forth between his own then down to his lips.

He stared back at you, both his hands on other side of your head with his weight not completely resting against you. Tech searched your face for any sign of discomfort before leaning down to kiss you once more.

“Please alert me if you become at all uncomfortable.” Tech insisted before lowering himself onto you, not wanting to push any boundaries you might have.

“I’m more than comfortable with this.” You smiled and gestured with a glance down at your two bodies, his hovering tantalizingly close just above your own. Your consent came much faster than he was expecting but he smiled down at you in a way that conveyed all the love and admiration he held within his heart. Before he could lean down to resume expressing his affection, you whispered something to him that he thought he must have heard incorrectly with how quietly you had spoken.

“I love you, Tech. I’m yours.” You whispered while taking in his expression. Neither of you had said those three little words yet, but now seemed like the perfect time to tell him. If you were being honest, you had loved him from the moment you first spent time alone with him in the cockpit one night during his watch shift, but it had taken a while for the two of you to admit your feelings for each other.

Tech’s eyes were wide and his breath hitched in his throat as his heart hammered against his chest. He opened his mouth to respond but the words wouldn’t form, so he just gazed down at you through his goggles with his lips slightly parted.

You chuckled softly while slowly running your fingers through his soft curls at the nape of his neck. “It’s okay, you don’t have to say it back if you’re not ready to.”

But his reply tumbles from his lips before you’ve barely finished your sentence.

“And I love you, however, based on the simple fact that I have been enamored by you since the moment you joined this squad, it is I who belongs to you.” He breathes out his reply.

Tech’s words bring tears to the corners of your eyes and you whisper his name yet again in an almost choked breath. It’s enough to push him forward, resting his weight against you and pushing his lips to yours in near desperation, like he needs your lips on his like he needs air in his lungs to breathe. Tech continues his desperate quest to taste as much of you as he possibly can, kissing from your lips down to the soft spot under your ear, then further down to your pulse point.

His kisses pull a gasp from you and then he hears you repeating his name over and over in the most blissful tone he’s ever heard. “Dearest, you will drive me mad with the way in which you are uttering my name.” Tech whispers into your neck, his mouth never leaving your skin.

“M-mad in a good way?” You breathily stutter out, further burying your fingers in his hair.

“Well, yes, of course in a good way.” Tech chuckles darkly against you while his hand moves to tangle in your hair. You sigh his name again, just to see and feel his reaction. Tech groans quietly into the spot between your neck and shoulder then places another needy kiss there.

“How touching, but could the two of you not do that while some of us are trying to sleep.” Came Crosshair’s voice from his bunk above Tech’s, annoyance dripping from his tone.

Your eyes grew wide at the sound of Crosshair’s voice as Tech pulled back slightly, rolling his eyes at his brother. Your hands retreated from the back of Tech’s head to cover your face as it turned as red as a meiloorun.

“Yeah, and for that matter, could you guys wait until the rest of us aren’t still aboard the ship before getting, uh…intimate?” Echo chimed in from the adjacent bunk.

“Oh kriff.” You cursed through your fingers as you locked eyes with Tech for a brief moment.

“Technically, we are not engaging in any intimate activity at this moment other than kissing.” Tech pointed out shortly to both of his brothers before planting another kiss to your forehead.

“Tech!” You squealed, bringing both your hands to cover his mouth. His eyes flashed with a mischievous and confident glint from behind his goggles.

Your hands slid down to rest on his chest as you giggled awkwardly. After a beat of silence, you mustered up the strength to speak directly to Echo and Crosshair.

“He’s right, guys. We were just kissing.” You say, trying to keep your voice steady and even, though your heart was still pounding from embarrassment.

“Doesn’t matter.” Crosshair shot back lazily. “If you’re gonna kiss in here, then at least have the decency to warn us first. Or find a different part of the ship that isn’t where we all sleep.”

Tech propped himself up onto one arm before pushing himself back into a seated position on his mattress. You let out the smallest of whines when the weight of his body pressed against yours was suddenly gone. After adjusting his goggles, he offered you his hand and pulled you up to sit next to him, both of your backs against the wall of the bunk.

“We did not plan on osculating. It happened organically.” Tech stated matter of factly as he adjusted his goggles again.

“Real romantic, Tech.” Echo deadpanned.

Echo’s comment made you bury your face in Tech’s shoulder. Huffing out a breath, you decided to silence Crosshair and Echo hopefully once and for all tonight. You really couldn’t handle much more of this teasing.

“Regardless, Tech is still right, we didn’t plan on making out. But get over it for kriff’s sake, I’m sure both of you have been caught more than once getting cozy in here with some fling or another so, stow it.”

The room would have been deafeningly silent if not for the hum of the Marauder. You worried for a moment if you’d spoken too harshly to Echo and Crosshair, but the feeling quickly drained from your mind as Tech interlaced the fingers of his left hand with those of your right.

“So, she does bite.” Crosshair’s slightly muffled chuckle broke the silence. “Watch out, Tech.”

You let out an exasperated sigh while pinching the bridge of your nose with your left hand. Before you could open your mouth to snark back at the sniper, Tech leaned in close to your ear, his breath fanning against your neck, stopping you from saying anything further.

“Do you indeed bite, mesh’la?” Tech whispered so that his brothers couldn’t hear. “What an intriguing thought. I do intend to find out at a more appropriate time and place if you do.”

Your eyes grew wide at the sudden boldness from Tech. But without skipping a beat, you turned your head to face him, leaning in to kiss him deeply before taking his bottom lip between your teeth and giving it a slight nibble. You gently pulled away and gazed at him through half lidded eyes, a suggestive look crossing your face as you took in his pleasantly surprised expression.

“Only if you want me to.” You whispered with an enticing lilt to your voice.

“Oh, I most certainly do.” Tech murmured as he leaned in to capture the soft spot under your ear in a gentle kiss.

•••

Feeling

Summary: When you and Hunter are left alone on The Havoc Marauder the feelings the two of you have kept well hidden finally come to light...

Pairing: Hunter x Jedi!Reader

Word Count: 5,271

Author's Note: I really don’t know how Hunter’s senses work, especially since they seemed to forget about them as the seasons went on. I like the idea most of fandom subscribes to that all of his senses are heightened but I saw a post once comparing his electroreception to that of a platypus which absolutely kills me. I guess we’ll never know for sure but no matter what I love our dear platypus man LOL

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The Havoc Marauder was uncharacteristically silent as you sat in the cockpit. Most of The Bad Batch, minus Hunter who had stayed behind claiming headache, had left for a supply run earlier and likely wouldn’t be back for a few standard hours. Hunter had retreated to his bunk to sleep moments after the others had left, effectively leaving you alone.

Normally, the chance to explore a new place on a new planet would have thrilled you but like so many other things that had changed recently too. What had once brought excitement now brought fear. You had volunteered to stay with the ship as you didn’t want to risk being seen in a busy spaceport. Not that there were many left in the galaxy that would recognize you, but you just didn’t want to take any chances that might further endanger the squad. Having a former Jedi amongst your ranks was essentially a death sentence these days, and The Bad Batch already had enough heat on them as renegade clones. 

With a sigh, you sunk further into the copilot seat as you stared out the viewport. As much as you appreciated some peace and quiet, which admittedly was hard to come by with the squad, the silence left you with too much time to think. Somedays it was hard to wrap your head around all that had happened. The weight of the grief you felt threatened to drown you when you took a moment to stop and acknowledge it. Everything you had once known, had once believed in had been completely turned upside down. Your friends, your former master, all gone in a moment. 

As far as you knew you had gone from being one of thousands to one of only a few that remained and even then you had only just barely survived. You weren’t sure if your survival was the will of the force or simply just the result of being in the right place at the right time. In your more cynical moments, you believed it really had only been luck. If Jedi masters with far greater power than your own hadn’t survived you felt you really had no right still being alive. It was a thought that kept you up most nights, survivor's guilt. 

Having only been nighted a few rotations before the Clone Wars had started you had never been assigned your own battalion. Instead, throughout the war you had often completed recon and special ops missions that had the GAR assigning small squads of clones to you as needed, mostly commandos. It had been how you had met The Bad Batch in the first place. You’d been paired with the squad on several missions towards the end of the war. In the end, this use of your skills as a Jedi had likely been what had saved you. You hadn’t been near any clones when the order had come through, instead you had been klicks away from the nearest squad scouting. The clones had known you were on the planet though and the manhunt that had happened in the days that had followed Order-66 had nearly claimed your life multiple times. But despite everything that had been thrown your way you had still managed to escape off-world with a blaster wound burning in your side and a broken arm. 

Your first thought had been to simply disappear in the galaxy, to find some small backwater planet to live out the rest of your days but without enough fuel or credits to get you anywhere far, desperation had driven you to seek out Cid. You had used the Trandoshan as an informant many times throughout the war and while you still didn’t trust her it had turned out to be a good idea after all as it had led you directly back to The Batch. 

You’d been terrified at first, drawing your lightsaber on them the minute they had entered the bar, but it had become clear rather quickly that they were not following orders like the other clones had been. They’d explained everything, Order-66, Palpatine, the inhibitor chips, everything that had happened in the days following the end of the war. To hear the truth, that the men you had fought alongside for so many years, your friends, had been used like pawns in a game, treated in such a horrendous way by both The Republic and the new Empire had broken you more than anything else. It had been in that moment as you stared at the squad in front of you in Cid’s dingy bar that you had come to the realization that everything you had once believed in, everything you had fought for had amounted to nothing at all. All it had done was bring about the demise of nearly everyone you had cared for. You hadn’t been protecting the galaxy, you’d just been one part in bringing it to ruin. 

The thought continued to haunt you, even now, months after the end of the war. It had been hard to keep going afterward but being with the Batch and Omega had helped. You had always gotten along well with the squad during the war, in fact, they had become your favourite team to work with and despite not often working with Jedi they had seemed to accept and respect you. You’d always felt welcome amongst them. When they had suggested you stay on with them as they worked with Cid you had initially refused, not wanting to put them in any more danger than they were already in. Even if you had mostly shut yourself off from the force to better hide yourself you still didn’t want to take the chance of being detected. But Cid being Cid hadn’t really given you the option, if you wanted to get the credits you needed to disappear into the galaxy you were going to owe her, and running jobs with the Batch became the only way to do so. 

You sighed as you slid further down in the seat if only your master could see you now. Jedi Knight turned mercenary. Your eyes began to sting as you thought of your lost master. Master Antar Wei had been so very kind, wise, and caring. He’d been a true keeper of the peace, a gentle soul with the strength of a warrior. He had taught you so very much, without his teachings you would not have been the person you are today. He had been as close to a father as you had ever had and his loss was nearly unbearable. Tech had been able to get access to some of the Empire’s files and when Master Wei’s name hadn’t appeared on any of the wanted lists you knew he had likely succumbed to the same fate that nearly all of the Jedi had. 

You startled slightly as the door to the cockpit opened, so lost in your own thoughts you hadn’t heard the approaching footsteps. You swivelled the chair around to turn and look at Hunter as he entered, trying your best to school your features into an expression that would best hide your inner turmoil.

From the look on Hunter’s face, you hadn’t done the best job. His warm brown eyes were filled with concern, the lines of his face taught as he hovered hesitantly just inside the doorway. He shifted from one foot to the other as his eyes briefly swept the cockpit, as though searching for signs of danger, before they settled back on you.  

“Are you… alright?” He asked stiffly, as though he found it uncomfortable to ask you such a thing. His long hair was ruffled, likely from his sleep, making him even more ruggedly handsome than usual. You felt momentarily guilty for disturbing him before you noticed the air of tension that usually surrounded him when he had one of his migraines was no longer present. Only the same unease that had been clinging to him for the past few weeks was there.

Of all the members of The Batch, you had always gotten along best with the Sergeant. You admired his intelligence, his straightforward manner, the sly sense of humour that he let escape every once and a while, and the way he was fully devoted to his brothers. He was one of the most honourable men you had ever met and watching him go from stoic soldier to caring older brother to Omega had been a joy to witness. 

Truthfully you had been wrestling with feelings for the gruff clone that were decidedly not Jedi-like since the very first mission you had been on together. There had always just been something about him that had drawn you to him. His signature always seemed brighter to you in the force, and like a moth to a flame, you had struggled to maintain your professionalism around him. Attachment was forbidden after all and some days when you looked at the ridiculously handsome man you knew your feelings were treading into dangerous territory. That had been before though, you reminded yourself, the Jedi were gone and with it, you supposed the rules you had once lived by were as well. 

At one point you had been certain that your feelings were not just one-sided, Hunter kept his emotions very closely in check, but there had been looks, touches, conversations, and jokes just between the two of you that had set your heart pounding. But that also had been before. It seemed that whatever had been there was now long gone. In the last few weeks, all you had been able to sense from him was tension. He had done almost a complete 180. He no longer talked to you directly unless absolutely necessary, whenever you entered a room he left as soon as he was able to, even on The Marauder he always retreated to the space furthest away from you. A part of you wondered if you were just overreacting but the other knew that you weren’t, something had changed in him and you had no idea what had caused it. Hunter’s cooling towards you had just been another knife in your already fragile heart. You had lost so much and watching him slip away too, even though he’d never been yours in the first place, had only added to your pain. 

You realized suddenly that you had been quiet for longer than what was considered polite you finally spoke, shaking yourself fully from your melancholy thoughts, “I'm fine,” Your voice was soft as you nodded at him. You did your best to plaster a gentle smile on your face in an effort to ease his obvious discomfort.

“Your heart rate was elevated,” Hunter said, answering the question that had been at the forefront of your mind. Though you thought with amusement that you should have known, Hunter’s heightened senses meant there was very little on The Marauder that could be kept secret, “I thought something had happened…” 

“No,” You replied with a soft sigh, shaking your head sadly as you continued, “I just got a bit lost in my thoughts. I'm ok.”  

His warm brown eyes were still intense but some of the worry had drained out of them as he looked at you for another long moment, “Are you…sure?” He asked hesitantly, looking somewhat like he’d rather be anywhere else. 

“I’m sure, thank you, Hunter,” You replied with another nod, hoping to reassure him even though internally your heart was aching at the distance between the two of you. 

“Ok, I’ll uh - leave you to it then…” While Omega’s presence had forced him to get better at dealing with emotions he still had the tendency to avoid emotional confrontations like a plague. But this complete avoidance was new, in the past you might not have talked about it but he had still always seemed to know when you were feeling down or conflicted. You’d spent many hours and missions together sitting side by side, usually, no words were needed as you had always just found comfort in his solid and warm presence, sometimes he would distract you with stories about missions the squad had been on, but often it was just his silent company that he offered. Those moments together had always been your favourite. You still didn’t know where things between the two of you had gone so wrong. 

You watched as he went to turn around and suddenly you found yourself moving from your seat.  Silently and quickly you closed the gap between the two of you, your hand reaching out to grasp his wrist, pulling him to a stop before you could really even consider what you were doing. You were so tired of everything but especially this unspoken conflict the two of you seemed to be in, “Hunter, wait…” 

He turned to look at you with wide eyes before his gaze darted between your face and where your hand was on his wrist. You let go of him, trying your best to ignore the way your palm was tingling from touching him. He’d always had that effect on you but whereas it had been comforting before it now only brought a sense of sadness, a sense of loss.  

“I’m sorry if I’ve done something wrong, or something to upset you in any way…” You said softly, the words suddenly flowing out of you without really thinking. Your heart was beating painfully in your chest and your stomach rolled with anxiety. You couldn’t bring yourself to meet his gaze as you continued to speak, too afraid of what you might find in the depths of his eyes if you did, “It was not my intention and if there is anything I can do to fix it I will. Or if my presence isn’t wanted here I understand. I know I’m putting you all in danger by simply existing.”

Finally, you looked back up at him just in time to see Hunter’s expression morph into one of confusion and shock, “What? What do you mean? You haven’t done anything wrong. Why would you think that?” He shook his head, “And no, that’s not - you’re part of this squad and we don’t abandon our own.”

“Then what is it?” You asked, suddenly nervous about confronting him. You’d faced down thousands of droids, beasts, criminals, and other adversaries in your life but staring in the face of your friend as you prepared yourself for rejection was almost more terrifying than going into battle, “You can’t seem to stand being in the same room as me. You always seem to leave as quickly as you can, you only talk to me when absolutely necessary, and even then it’s usually through someone else rather than directly. So, I felt the only reasonable conclusion was that I’ve done something wrong, that I’ve upset you in some way. But I can’t change if you don’t talk to me about it.”

Hunter seemed shell-shocked as he stood in front of you, his mouth opened and closed a few times. You could feel the rush of emotions from him without even really trying, but it was so jumbled you couldn’t make sense of any of them. Even in the dim light of the cockpit, you could see his face flushing, which was something entirely new. You had never seen Hunter this nervous before. He was quiet for so long that you were beginning to think he wasn’t going to answer. 

“I don’t - I’m not angry at you. I’ve never been more relieved than that day you showed up at Cid’s. I - I thought you had died but then you came back to us, to m-, and you’re a part of this squad. You haven’t done anything wrong…” Hunter finally spoke, his voice deep and rumbling in his chest, “I’m not upset…” 

The way he trailed off left you with more questions than answers, so you simply stayed quiet, hoping he would continue. 

He took a breath, as though he was steadying himself prior to battle, “You’re…You’re not the problem,” he said finally, “I am.”

You waited another long moment for him to elaborate, but when it seemed like that was all the explanation he was going to give you took a few steps towards him, closing the gap between you.

“What do you mean?” You asked. He seemed to tense at your proximity and at this distance, you could see the way his pupils dilated, the way his nostrils flared momentarily, the slightest flush of red on his cheeks. Your own heart was suddenly pounding in your chest at the intensity of his gaze.  

“I just…I…” He started then stopped, redness was beginning to creep its way up his neck and you were surprised to hear he sounded… embarrassed.

“I can…” He tried again, his voice suddenly lower and rougher than you had ever heard it before, “I just feel you more than anyone else. I always have.” 

Suddenly everything seemed to click into place, the feeling that had always been there between the two of you, the looks, the touches, the soft way he had always spoken to you, his sudden running away, the emotions he tried so hard to dampen around you. You couldn’t believe you hadn’t figured it out before, that his sudden avoidance was not a rejection of you. It was fear.   

You took another step closer, watching his face closely as you grasped his wrist gently once more. His eyes widened at your touch and his entire body seemed to stiffen but he didn’t pull away from you. 

“What do you feel Hunter?” You asked softly, your voice steady despite the fact that you were thrumming with nervous energy. You couldn’t stop the question from flowing out of you. Maybe it was wrong to ask, maybe it went against everything you had been taught, but you found that in that moment, as you stared up at him you didn’t care anymore. 

He let out a shuttering sigh before his head dipped just slightly to meet your gaze. His eyes were molten and so intense that you felt as if suddenly every nerve ending in your body were alight. You had kept your connection to the force limited in the past few months but you let your hold on it loosen in that moment, letting it surround the two of you. You listened to it sing, just as it had done every time the two of you had been together in the past. 

“Everything. I can hear your voice in a crowd of a hundred, I can smell you even when you’re not around, and I can feel your heartbeat in a different room. When you’re near me I can’t take my eyes off of you and even when you’re gone I can’t stop thinking about you,” Hunter’s voice was a husky whisper, “It-it’s not appropriate but I can’t seem to control myself. So it’s just better if I leave you alone.” 

You were quiet for a long moment, considering before you spoke softly again, “Better for who?” 

His eyes widened, as though he couldn’t quite believe what you had just asked. Before you could have enough time to second guess yourself you reached out gently to place your hand over his heart. Even without your own heightened senses, you would have been able to feel the way it was pounding in his chest. You had never been so close to him before in such a way and the sensation was thrilling. It was as if the air itself between the two of you was humming with energy. 

The brown of his irises had been almost completely engulfed by the black of his pupils as you looked back up at him, “I feel you too Hunter. I have from the moment we first met. The force feels different around you too, like you’re calling to me.” 

You closed your eyes as his hand reached up to cup your jaw ever so tentatively as if he were afraid that his touch would shatter you. Your skin thrummed under his touch and you pressed further into his hand, revelling in the sensation of finally being so close to him. For so long you had been so worried that his feelings for you had shifted. To have the truth finally out in the open felt as though the weight of the galaxy had suddenly lifted off of your shoulders. 

“But you’re a Jedi,” Hunter said softly, hesitantly, causing your eyes to pop open once more, “It’s not allowed.” 

“Attachment,” You replied as a wave of sadness washed through you. The words the Masters had once preached echoed through your head, “You’re right, it is forbidden. Or it was. I’ve spent so many days and nights thinking about the Jedi Order, about all that has been lost. And I still don’t know the answers to the questions I have, I don’t know that I ever will. But I can’t help but think that our ways only led to our downfall. Perhaps if we had done things differently if we hadn’t been so blinded by our own morality…” 

“I suppose we’ll never know. But the one thing I do know is that I want whatever this is between us. I’m not sure how something that feels so right, something that seems to be part of the force itself, can be considered wrong. I don’t know how many days are left to me, I am no longer a Jedi but I will live the rest of my life in danger. I do not wish to live the way I was before. I want you Hunter, I have since the moment I met you.” 

As you had spoken Hunter’s head had slowly lowered down towards yours until you were nearly touching. At your final words, his forehead had pressed against your own. His gaze was still intense as ever so slowly the hand on your jaw tipped your face up towards his own. His voice was so low when he spoke again that you felt it more than heard it, “I’m yours.” 

His words were all the encouragement you needed to close the final gap between the two of you, capturing his lips with your own in a desperate kiss. He was warm and wonderful and everything you had ever dreamed of. The hand you still had resting over his heart curled in the fabric of his blacks, pulling yourself closer to him as he deepened the kiss. His free hand came up to press against the small of your back, the heat of it searing into your skin as you gently nipped at his lower lip. You’d had dalliances with others before, that hadn’t been forbidden , but you had never experienced anything quite like this. The force seemed to come alive as the two of you melted into one another, thrumming in the air around you. Everything else seemed to fade away into nothing , there was only Hunter. 

A soft moan escaped him as you pressed further up into him, the sound rumbling in his chest and sending a shiver down your spine. You lifted your free hand to the back of his neck, fingers threading through his surprisingly soft hair. You’d always wondered what it would have been like to run your fingers through it and reality was proving to be better than expectation. He seemed to shiver at your touch, the hand at the small of your back flexing just slightly as he pulled your hips flush against his own. You could still feel his heart racing beneath where your other hand was still fisted in his shirt as his tongue pressed against your lower lip. You parted your lips, giving him access and gasping at the new sensation as his tongue explored your mouth. It was dizzying finally being so close to him, to be this connected. 

After what could have been simply minutes or hours Hunter pulled away from you, his chest heaving as he caught his breath. Your own pulse was still racing as he tipped his forehead back down to rest against your own. His eyes were closed as he pressed further into you, nose just brushing against your own as he held you close. 

You were both silent for a long time, simply basking in the warmth and feeling of being in each other's arms. But finally, Hunter spoke, his voice low and rough, “I’m sorry that I’ve been avoiding you, that I made you feel as though you’d done something wrong,” 

Your eyes opened, gazing up into his face that was suddenly filled with sorrow. You let the hand at the back of his neck slowly move until it cupped his jaw, mimicking his own hold on you, “It’s ok Hunter, everything has been so complicated lately. And I understand how conflicted you must have felt, I’ve felt that way too.” 

Hunter let out a soft sigh and with it you felt all of the tension he had been holding dissipate, his muscles relaxing beneath your hand as he seemed to melt further into you. He closed his eyes as his thumb gently stroked along your jawline, the sensation of it was electric and you wanted nothing more than just stay there and bask in his presence forever. 

His breath was warm against your face as each inhale brought you closer together. He tipped his head just slightly, his lips gently brushing against your own in the barest hint of a kiss, once, twice, before you pressed deeper into him. You shivered as your lips melted into his, tongue sliding over his full bottom lip before giving it the gentlest nip that made his chest rumble with another groan. 

The two of you came slowly together and apart, gasps and gentle moans escaping you both and you discovered this new part of one another. Your heart was racing in your chest, your skin tingling with each soft touch of his lips to your own, your skin flaming beneath his hands. The feeling is intoxicating and you have just enough wherewithal to briefly wonder if this is exactly why attachment was forbidden, because truthfully now that you have him you never wish to let him go. 

Eventually, you do pull away, instantly missing the contact but forcing yourself to look up at him as he moves both arms to wrap around your waist. You take a moment to simply look at him as your breath begins to even out once more, eyes tracing the lines of his face, the dark shadow of his tattoo. You’ve always appreciated how handsome he was but being so close is something special. You get lost in him for a moment as you notice the flecks of green in his warm brown eyes, the freckles across the bridge of his nose that are so faint they barely stand out against his deeply tanned skin, the dimple that appears only on the left side of his face as his mouth lifts into a soft smile as he gazes right back at you. 

You blink once, twice, trying to clear your mind of the distraction that he is and focus on the thought that had originally pulled you away from him. 

“How is your headache?” You asked gently, a small wave of guilt for having woken him in the first place rushing through you. It had been the reason he had stayed behind after all, and it wasn’t very often he had the chance to get any extra rest with the lifestyle you all led. 

His mouth curled into a smile and he let out a small huff of laughter, his hair flopping over the top of his bandana as he shook his head, “It’s fine. Forgotten actually,” He replied as he moved his hand to cradle your face once more, his touch feather-light. 

“Good,” You answered before you turned your head just slightly to press a soft kiss to the palm of his hand, “But you should still get some rest. It’s not easy to come by these days.” 

He hummed thoughtfully, his gaze still intense as he moved his hand away from your face, both trailing down slowly until he had your hands grasped in his own, “Only if you join me though.”

You felt your face flush at his suggestion, you wanted to, desperately, but another worry suddenly entered your head at the idea, “The others might be back soon, though…” This was still new and while part of you didn’t care if his brothers and sister saw the two of you together the other part wanted to keep this budding thing between you secret for just a little bit longer, if only for his sake as you knew how intensely private Hunter was. 

Hunter’s mouth ticked up into a smirk again, his brown eyes dancing with amusement as he answered, “Tech has been calculating the odds of us getting together since our very first mission and Omega has some Mantell mix riding on it.” 

You couldn’t stop the soft laugh that burst out of you at that, a bright smile overtaking your face, “Well, we wouldn’t want to let them down, now would we?” 

His eyes were warm and there was the barest hint of a smile on his face before he lifted your hand closer to his mouth, pressing a soft and quick kiss to your palm. Your smile brightened at his replication of your earlier gesture, the skin beneath his lips tingling from the contact. 

You let him lead you back towards the bunks, your pulse racing beneath your skin as he climbed up into the middle first before holding a hand back out to you to steady you as you found your own footing. It was a tight squeeze, but after some mild shifting you finally settled, your head resting against his chest as he laid on his back, his arms coming up to wrap around you and hold you closer to him as you let your leg rest over top of his own. Being so close to him every feeling you had ever sensed from him was amplified and it was easy to just get lost in the sensation of him as you listened to the steady sound of his heartbeat. Neither of you said a word, for there really weren’t any words to be said. Nothing had ever felt so right before and there was no way you were ever going to let that go, ever let him go again. 

It didn’t take long for your eyes to slip shut or for his own breathing to even out, his grip on you never lessening though even as he slept. The trauma of the past few years still haunted you as you lay with him but the thoughts were easier to push away as you focused on the force and the way it moved around the two of you, calming, gentle, right. You knew that nothing could ever truly repair the damage left by your losses but for the first time in a very long time, there was a glimmer of hope brewing in your chest. With Hunter, there was a chance at a future, something you hadn’t been able to even consider since Order-66 had been issued. 

You weren’t sure what that future would hold, for any of you, but right now, wrapped up gently in Hunter’s arms you felt safer than you ever had and there was nowhere else in the galaxy you would rather be. 

Ah so here we go...

My weekly paragraph... well novel.

My key moments:

- Echo and readers moment of reunion, her realising its actually him and not a trick of her mind. My precious ones.

- "Oh. She's brillant" yes, yes that child is. Just Omega in general the whole time proving her capability, care, leadership, and being the gem she is.

- Tech's return and how casual he is about it.

- Hemlock stressing the whole time. He was too cruel this chapter, bro. I skimmed the torture scenes that hurt too much. Specifically in getting the reader to submit, whoo boy.

- Tech's return.

- All of them being generally clued in to poor readers' pain, noting how's she beat down and her genuine fear. That's a neat little detail I loved every time I saw it.

- That hangerbay scene with Hunter reacting to readers' lasersword (as he calls it). Love. Love. Love. The following paragraphs of the two noticing each other. Urgh, I wanted nothing more than their reunion right then and there.

- Tech's return.

- Wrecker and Echo 🥲 but also ❤️ they just care about each other so much.

- Hunter and Crosshair together and going after the girls 🫠 and ❤️

- The whole scene on the bridge (Rip Scorch) I just love that whole moment from the tension, desperation, pain to the protectiveness, loyalty, and love. Such a wonderful gut-twister of a moment. Omega and reader hugging ❤️ Crosshair and Omega ❤️ "What no hug for us?" Followed by a group hug. My heart! My soul! My loves!

- Hunter and his love reuniting. I sobbed. It's all I've wanted these last few chapters, and we finally got it. Grinned at my phone with tears in my eyes. Perfection.

- The team reunion!!! Tech and Phee together. Urgh be still my throbbing heart!! It hurts we never truly got it! But that's okay cause this chapter is Canon and everyone's back together and safe and happy ❤️❤️ Perfection. Perfection. Perfection.

- Crosshair’s flabbergasted reaction to Tech and Phee. *chefs kiss*

- The moment under the tree with all of them and the moment between Hunter and Reader🥹. I'm healed. Well and truly. Im healed.

I know exactly what I want you to be Hunter. Put a ring on it.

Spectacular job! This is the ending we deserved but never got 🥲. And still more to come ❤️ this series I have loved since the moment I discovered its existence and boy what a privilege to read and experience while it's was still being written.

Thank you, dear author. I am eagerly awaiting your update.

S3: The Bad Batch (15)

Chapter Fifteen: The Calvary Has Arrived

Gif by @theworstbatch

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: Ever since Eriadu, Clone Force 99 had been a fractured squad. Months have passed but you're finally back with the Batch but Omega is still out there and you won't stop until you find her again.

Chapter Summary: It all comes down to this final fight on Tantiss

Masterlist for S1 and S2

<Previous Chapter

Chapter Warnings: Limited (Y/N), swearing, canon-typical violence, injury descriptions (blood, cuts, blacking out and bruising, loss of limbs, choking), needles and injections, Hemlock being extra cruel and evil, detailed torture and pain descriptions, mentions of self-sacrifice, begging and heavy angst, reader has a bit of a low moment, death, 'fixing' a death, I alter how the hangar fight goes ever so slightly, the Force and medical supplies suiting my needs, happy endings with nice emotions and light PDA

Word Count: 15.8K (Terribly sorry)

Author's notes: It's here! It's a rollercoaster! And Jen and Brad, we all know how it really went, okay? Happy reading!

Night had fallen by the time Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair had made more progress towards the base but even then, it was slow going. Patrols had increased and Wrecker’s injury was affecting him far more than he would like, they kept needing to stop to attend to it.

“Ow.” Wrecker complained as Hunter stuck him with another med patch.

“Did you think wrestling that creature was a good idea?” Crosshair snarked.

“At the time, yes.” Wrecker replied stubbornly.

“The base is five klicks away. Can you make it?” Hunter offered his hand out to Wrecker to get him back on his feet.

“Ha. Try and stop me.” Wrecker responded as he grasped Hunter’s hand.

Hunter waited a second to make sure the coast was clear before he led the way again.

--

Hemlock worked on drowning out the persistent blaring alarm as he walked down the corridor. His lack of success with you and Tech should not matter. He had enough to know how this squad operated. He still had everything under control. He stopped in front of the oncoming patrol group. “Guard the vault until the security lockdown is lifted.”

“Dr. Hemlock, one of the insurgents has been captured.” Scorch informed him.

Hemlock followed him down the side corridor towards the cells.

--

Hemlock opened the prison door to see a familiar face. He massaged the palm of his gloved hand as he entered the room. “Aligning yourself with insurgent clones…” He sighed, “Not a good look, Rampart.”

“You’re surprisingly calm, considering this secure and secret facility has been compromised.” Rampart said with a cool countenance. “I can’t imagine the Emperor will be pleased about that.”

Hemlock wasn’t about to let this failure of a man get under his skin. “All that time you spent on Kamino, yet you learned nothing about how clones think. I knew Clone Force 99 would eventually attempt to recover Omega and their Jedi. Their failure is inevitable.”

“The Jedi, I understand. But all this for the young clone too. I fail to see how she’s of value to you.”

Hemlock resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course, this fool didn’t understand. “What I am working on is beyond your understanding. Something so vital to the Empire, it makes me indispensable. Unlike yourself.” He waltzed out the cell.

--

“The longer this lockdown continues, the higher the chance you’ll be discovered.” Emerie advised cautiously as Echo kept working through the system. “We need to move. Now.”

“Why can’t I find any record of the vault Omega’s held in? Or this different cell you were talking about.”

“These databanks are heavily encrypted. The vault and the cell are several levels down. Hemlock keeps them under heavy guard, but I can get you inside.”

Echo unplugged and reattached his hand as he faced Emerie. “Why are you helping me?”

“Because I was wrong about this place. And-” She inhaled sharply, “I’m trying to do the right thing.”

The sincere way in which she spoke allowed Echo to view her in a new light. He gave her a respectful nod before he donned his trooper helmet and signalled for her to lead the way.

--

“You want us to do what?” Eva double checked as Omega finished telling them the plan.

“It’s how we’re going to escape.” Omega reminded them.

“But it sounds dangerous.” Sami said worriedly.

“My squad I told you about? They’re here. If we can get out of this room and find them, we can all go home.”

“What about your friend?” Jax asked.

Omega had to push you to the back of her mind, as much as it pained her to do so. “My first objective is to get you all home first.”

Home. The word felt so foreign to them now.

“You really think this will work?” Eva asked softly.

“I’ll make sure of it.” Omega promised. “I’ve been trained for this. Let’s get into position.”

Doing as she said, each of the kids took up a seat at a different table to wait on Sami’s signal that they were clear to start.

Sami looked up at the window to see Dr. Scalder step away which was when she tapped her puzzle piece on the table.

Omega readied her tool as Jax and Eva approached the supervising droid.

“My game is broken.” Eva held the device out to the droid. “Can you fix it?”

Omega snuck up behind the droid and stabbed the droid’s power centre. The three of them manoeuvred it into her cell where she could get to work on reprograming it.

Eva and Jax kept an eye out for Sami’s signal and Eva saw the Pantoran knock over the stack of pieces which only meant one thing, “Dr. Scalder is on her way. Hurry.”

“You’ve done this before, right?” Jax asked as Omega seemed no closer to getting whatever it was that she needed to do to the droid completed.

“Yes, but not on this type of droid.” Omega hissed as she hurriedly worked on the wires in the droid’s main control panel.

--

Dr. Scalder entered the lab and asked the specimen still at the table, “Where are the others?”

Sami stayed silent and held Bayrn close to her.

“Sp-39, I asked you a question.”

Sami pointed behind Dr. Scalder as she saw the three of them approaching.

“We w-were with the droid.” Eva said quietly, her head hanging in automatic submission.

Dr. Scalder sighed in exasperation. “Another scan wasn’t scheduled. Tell me what you were really doing.”

“Eva’s telling the truth.” Omega said calmy as the droid drew closer to Dr. Scalder. “We were with the droid.”

“Dr. Karr has been too lenient with you all. Return to your alcoves. A few days of isolation should remind you-” That was all she got to say before a needle pierced her skin and she fell unconscious.

“It worked.” Sammi gasped as Bayrn released a few happy babbles.

“You did great.” Omega praised. “Now, we have to hurry. Droid, guard the door. Sami, prep the sling for Bayrn.”

Omega dashed into her room and used her tool to get under the first panel before she could tear the rest down. Turning to the others and seeing that Bayrn was now secure on Jax’s back and Eva had her doll strapped to her, Omega asked, “Ready?”

“Ready.” Jax confirmed.

Omega led them into the walls as part to of their escape was underway.

--

Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair paused again as another ship passed overhead.

“He’s gonna need another med patch.” Crosshair advised Hunter as he heard Wrecker’s strained grunt and the way he kept bringing his hand to his chest.

“We’re out.” Hunter said regrettably. Seeing Wrecker so hurt was a rare thing and it made the decision to carry on forward to Tantiss that bit harder.

Wrecker got to his feet with a groan. “I- I can make it.”

Hunter and Crosshair shared a concerned look, but they followed in their brother’s insistent footsteps through the jungle yet again.

--

Emerie led the way to the vault, with Echo walking a few paces behind.

Echo took in the corridor awash with red beams of light. “The kids who are held in here, where’d they come from?”

“The Empire used bounty hunters to retrieve them. Their genetic material was required for certain medical testing. I didn’t know about them until recently. I couldn’t help them. Until now.” Emerie paused by the vault door.

“Well, how do the two of them fit into all this?” Echo asked as he thought about you and Omega. “These kids, are they like-”

“I believe they could be, yes. As for Omega, she’s vital to Hemlock’s main objective for the Emperor. Project Necromancer.”

“And (Y/N)?”

“Hemlock wanted her blood for the same purposes as these children, but he also had ulterior motives that his focus has shifted more towards. He stopped taking her samples a while ago.”

“Shifted to what?” Echo asked warily.

Emerie swallowed, “He wants her to join his operatives. He thinks he can… condition her the same way.”

All of what Emerie said made his blood run cold. “Don’t like the sound of that.”

--

“Everybody good?” Omega asked to the group behind her as they all squeezed along the path she had found to their destination.

“Bayrn’s getting restless. H- He won’t be quiet for much longer.” Jax warned.

“Don’t worry. Things are about to get very loud anyways.” Omega stopped and peered through the slats in the wall and saw that the Zillo Beast and the number of personnel watching it was still the same as what it had been when she’d first came upon it. “Wait here.” She removed the grate and sneakily clambered out and made her way to where the controls that were keeping the beast contained were situated.

However, just as she reached it and was determining which buttons did what, she heard Bayrn’s wails echo throughout the chamber, and she knew she had to hurry. She sussed out what controls would get her what she needed and when the button lit up and she pulled on the lever, she heard the winning sound of the system powering down.

As the troopers rallied to try to contain the now very awake and active Zillo Beast, she darted back and hid with the others in the wall once more and had the joy of watching her plan come to fruition.

The chaos and destruction that unfolded was something she knew Wrecker would be proud of.

--

Emerie opened the main vault door but was taken aback by what greeted her. “What’s going on in here?” She inquired as Dr. Scalder was escorted past- groaning and clutching at her head. But what concerned her more was the intense conversation occurring between Dr. Hemlock and Scorch.

“Omega and the specimens have escaped.” Hemlock informed her, rage simmering in his voice. “Due to Dr. Scalder’s incompetence, they exploited a weak point in within the walls. She will be dealt with.”

Just as he said that there was an intense rumble that shook the entire facility and the lights flickered off and on again.

“The Zillo’s loose in the containment level.” Scorch revealed as the information came through his comms.

Whatever was happening had not been what he’d anticipated, clearly, he’d been wise to seek the information from you and Tech, it was just an unfortunate setback that he had been unable to acquire it but no matter, he was still in control. Now that he knew Omega was out, he could go back to what he already knew about their ways. “Shut down the reactor and send a diversion to secure the transport hangar.” Hemlock said sharply. “Check on SP-42, Dr. Karr. Then find Omega. Consider your fate now tied to hers.” He exited the vault.

“SP-42?” Echo murmured, already knowing and fearing the answer.

“Yes.” Emerie confirmed quietly as the other troopers departed. She waited until everyone else left before she spoke to Echo in a louder voice, “I don’t understand. Where could the children have gone?”

Echo may not have understood a lot about the goings on in Tantiss but there was one thing about this that he did know for certain. “Omega. She released the Zillo.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because it’s exactly what I’d do.” He replied with a cheery sense of pride. “She’s splitting their numbers and creating a diversion. Come on.”

The two of them jogged out of the lab and Emerie led the way to you.

--

Echo followed Emerie as she took another sharp turn down a corridor and then opened a set of doors that led to another small, tight corridor with a door a few metres down.

Emerie rifled through one of the compartments in the walls outside the cell and took out your lightsaber which she clipped to her belt before she grabbed the proper medkit. Then, she grabbed a small set of keys from her person and cautiously opened the door, “(Y/N), it’s Emerie and Echo. We’re here to get you out.”

Echo’s mouth went dry as he saw you for the first time since Teth and he took in the dirtied and blood-stained uniform. It was definitely better that he found you like this instead of Hunter but even then, he was still having to steady his own breathing.

“Emerie, I don’t mean to tell you how to do your job, but you’re supposed to stick me with the needle before you say things like that.” You croaked through dry and cracked lips as you kept your eyes shut.

Echo took in the mix of fresh and fading bruises on your face and the way your body was racked with exhaustion. Emerie’s prior information did not even come close to accurate- this wasn’t conditioning, it was torture. “You just allowed this to happen?” He questioned angrily as he snatched the key from Emerie and strode over to your slumped form.

“Oh, now that’s good. He almost sounds like him.” You complimented with a weary sigh.

“I didn’t mean to- Hemlock- he was-” She stopped any attempt at defence because no matter what, she’d played a part in this. “I did what I could to help her.”

“Open your eyes and look at me.” Echo implored as he undid your chains and took off his helmet.

“No.” You whimpered. “It’s a trick. It’s always a trick.”

“It’s not a trick.” Echo reassured you as he rested both hands on your shoulders. “Open your eyes.”

“Echo doesn’t have two hands.” You said, aggressively shaking your head as you kept your eyes tightly shut.

“Look at me.”

“No.”

“Look at me.” Echo pleaded. Time wasn’t on his side here and he needed you back with them.

He sounded so real; you couldn’t help yourself. You slowly opened your eyes and took in the familiar face and the eyes that were filled with worry as they looked at you. “Echo?” You whispered; your tone filled with uncertainty.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“You’re here? This is real?” Even though Omega had told you this would happen, you hadn’t allowed yourself to fully believe it.

“It’s real. And the others are on their way.” He confirmed with a small reassuring smile.

You flung your arms around him and as he returned your embrace, you already began to feel more alive than you had since arriving here.

“Come on, we gotta get you on your feet.” Echo supported you as you shakily stood up.

“Where’s- where’s Omega?” You said through gritted teeth as your body protested the movement. You knew she had a plan of her own but with Echo and Emerie here, you had to wonder why she wasn’t with them.

Emerie gave you a round of E-bacta shots to get you closer to the level of fitness they needed you to be.

At the first injection, you automatically flinched away from her and into Echo’s side.

Emerie paused and chastised herself for being so thoughtless. She held up her hands in a pacifying gesture and apologised, “Sorry. It’s just bacta to help you heal quickly.” But she waited for you to give the okay before she went any further.

You regarded her suspiciously and made no moves to allow her to carry on. You were on edge, just waiting for the familiar effects to set in and for this to all come crashing down around you.

Echo felt your body go rigid as you leaned into him. He’d never seen you like this and it unnerved him. He was so used to seeing you remain unphased, no matter what came your way. Whatever torture Hemlock had done to you had left far more than physical marks. “I saw her grab the med supplies. She wants to help.” He reassured you gently.

You glanced at his face but saw honesty and so you nodded to Emerie to continue.

Once you were more relaxed, Echo answered your question. “Omega’s already helped us out. Her plan to release the Zillo Beast has worked very well so far. Their forces are a bit stretched and frantic at the moment.” He informed you proudly.

“Oh, she’s brilliant.” You murmured with affectionate admiration.

Echo nodded in agreement as Emerie finished tending to you.

“Hey, wait a minute, you do have another hand?!” You gawped before wincing as the final injection entered your skin- the pricks were still a painful reminder of what you had endured here.

“Not exactly the time for that.” Echo reminded you.

“We cannot linger here. We need to keep moving.” Emerie agreed hastily as she put the medical supplies away.

You nodded sheepishly. “Yup, you’re right, you’re right. Keep that for later.”

Echo picked up his helmet and put it over his head. “Can you walk?” Echo asked.

You rolled your sore shoulders as you took a steadying breath and nodded. “The bacta is working. Let’s go.” You called on the Force to help you find that extra bit of strength as you all exited the cell.

--

The three of them stopped again and Crosshair used his binoculars to scan ahead. He saw a squad of troopers with lurca hounds and everything he’d been trying to supress since arriving back here came rushing back. His hand trembled and his breathing came to him in short pants. He couldn’t do this. His brothers couldn’t do this; he wouldn’t let them. “They’ve got heavy patrols guarding the perimeter with lurca hounds.”

“Told you we should’ve brought Batcher.” Wrecker joked feebly, groaning in pain and bracing himself against a tree. He noticed the helmeted looks of concern that were sent his way from both his brothers. “Stop looking at me like that! I’m fine!” He insisted through another groan.

“No, you’re not.” Crosshair disagreed strongly. “Change of plans. You two, head to the communications array and try to contact Rex.” He drew his sniper rifle. “I’ll infiltrate the base myself.”

“Not happening.” Hunter objected.

“Yeah, we’ve handled worse situations than this. Countless-”

“Wake up, Wrecker.” Crosshair snapped. “Clone Force 99 died with Tech.” His voice dropped slightly, “We’re not that squad anymore.”

Wrecker and Hunter reflected on that for a moment and Crosshair was right, they weren’t, it was true. But they’d become something more, hadn’t they? Something that meant far more than just a squad title for a war effort. And Tech, alive or dead, was a part of that too.

“I’ve been inside that mountain. I know what we’re up against. If we all go in, we’re not all making it out.” Crosshair continued. “(Y/N) and Omega need you both. So, I’m doing this alone. It’s- it’s what I deserve.” He said, almost to himself.

Hunter wasn’t going to accept that or even entertain the possibility. “Don’t even think about Plan 99, Crosshair. They need all of us, and so do those clones.” He stood facing his brother, so he knew, even with his helmet on, that he meant every word.

“We’ve always known the risks. And so did Tech.” Wrecker placed a hand on Crosshair’s shoulder.

The sounds of the lurca hounds in distress got their focus back and Hunter looked through his binoculars just as the hounds were running away from their handlers.

“What’s going on?” Wrecker asked.

A deep banging and screaming of dying troopers answered his question as the Zillo Beast emerged from the base with a piercing roar.

Crosshair knew that could only be the result of one of three people. “Whose handiwork?”

“Omega’s.” Hunter and Wrecker said in unison.

“If she’s giving us a way in, let’s not waste it.” Hunter said before setting off towards the base again.

--

Satisfied that it was safe to emerge, Omega removed the grate and led the way over to the ladder that ran up the entirety of the base.

“You want us to climb up t-that?” Jax asked nervously.

“The Zillo got out this way. So can we.” Omega replied but she saw a familiar but fearful reluctance on Jax’s face. “What’s wrong?” She asked kindly.

“I’m not good with heights.” Jax admitted. “I- I guess I’d make a poor soldier.” He said shamefully.

Omega’s eyes softened. “My brother Wrecker hates heights too. And he’s the strongest soldier I know.” She touched Jax’s shoulder in reassurance, “Just stay focused on what’s ahead, not what’s below.” She waved them all over and led the climb up the ladder.

--

“The Zillo breached the bay doors and fled to the jungle after wiping out two full divisions of troopers.” Scorch said as he entered the control room. “We need reinforcements.”

Hemlock kept his hands behind his back but clenched his covered hand into a fist. “Send the shuttles after the Zillo.”

“But, sir, without air support, the rogue clones could exploit our weakened defences.”

“Of course they will. Do it.” Hemlock strode out of the control room.

--

Hemlock entered the training room and powered up the system. Even though he hadn’t wanted to use them just yet, the situation called for it and it was time they had a true test. Even though they’d only come up against you, Hemlock had no doubt that they were ready and could get him the results he needed. He watched with a dark smile as they emerged from their capsules.

He said nothing to them yet, he just motioned for them to follow him out but as he did so, he was interrupted by Scorch again.

“Sir, the Jedi has escaped.” Scorch told Hemlock. “Should I send a squadron to look for her?”

Hemlock massaged his gloved palm harder as he felt that rage flare up again but then a remarkable sense of calm overcame him, and a new idea emerged from the clarity. Perhaps this was the way to go after all. “No need, Commander. Send a squad to accompany the operatives to the hangar bay and when she is found, I want her alive. I want all of Clone Force 99 alive.” He nodded to his soldiers to leave for the hangar.

Now, you all would do the work for him.

All he had to do was wait.

--

The three of you waited until the corridor was clear before you followed Emerie around the corner and down towards another door.

Emerie slid her datapad into the panel and programmed the door to open, but it only opened a fraction before the system shorted out.

Echo peered through the gap and saw the wreckage ahead. “We’re on the right track. Omega definitely came through here.”

“And went where? How are they getting around unseen?” Emerie asked.

Echo followed up path of chaos up the way. “What’s at the top of this shaft?” He moved out the way so Emerie could look.

“It leads up to one of the transport hangars.”

“Any chance you know a shortcut?” Echo checked.

Emerie nodded and made to leave the area.

You didn’t follow them, instead you puffed out a short breath, “This isn’t going to work.”

Echo and Emerie paused and looked back at you.

“I can’t stay with the two of you. The fact we haven’t been caught yet is incredibly fortunate but the longer I’m with you, the more likely it is that’ll happen. We can’t risk either of you being discovered.”

“Well, what do you suggest?” Echo asked.

“You two can go find Omega and those kids, I’ll find Hunter and the others.”

“You don’t know the way.” Emerie pointed out.

“Sure I do.” You motioned through the gap in the door. “Just follow the mess and head straight up, right? I can get there quicker than you can now that I’m free and feeling a lot better.”

“There will be soldiers and you’re not 100%. And there’s no clear way through either.”

“I’m a lot more capable when I’m not bound and tortured.” You argued pointedly.

“It’s still not a viable-”

“Echo…” You tilted your head in his direction. “Please tell her.”

Echo nodded to you and then spoke to Emerie, “She can do it. Plus, you won’t really be able to stop her. There are only two that could, one of them is somewhere in this base and the other is doing his best to get here.”

“He’s right. You’ve helped heal me and I think you’ll find I can be far more stubborn and irritating when I’m not in a permanent state of pain.” You said with a simple shrug.

Emerie sighed but conceded the matter. The debate wouldn’t get them anywhere and, thanks to the bacta, you were on the mend. Plus, you had skills that would aid you in this task. “Very well. You’ll need this.” She handed you your weapon.

You took your lightsaber from her with a nod of thanks.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I should’ve done more to stop him.”

You offered her a slight smile. “Well, you did stop me bleeding out that one time so…”

Emerie wasn’t about to let you let her off the hook so easily. “I should’ve done more.” She repeated seriously.

“You’re doing more now.” You said, dipping your head in acceptance of her words.

Echo rested his left hand on your shoulder. “Be careful.”

You placed your own hand on his upper arm. “You too.” With that, you used the Force to widen the gap in the door and hurried through it.

Echo and Emerie began their more traditional route.

--

You took in the levels of destruction ahead of you and you had to hand it to both Omega and the Zillo Beast, they definitely didn’t do things by halves.

Calling on the Force, you jumped to the next highest safe point you could reach, and kept that going when you could, climbing quickly when you couldn’t, and the hangar was drawing closer by the minute.

You knew it wouldn’t be long before you saw them again.

But you also knew it would be far from over when you reached them.

--

Blasters drawn, the three of them had managed to reach the transport hangar and sneak their way in. The entire hangar was decimated, with bits of it’s interior now reduced to piles of scrap metal. Fires were dying all around them.

Just as Hunter was assessing the situation, he dodged the blaster bolt aimed right at his head.

They all took cover behind some scrap metal and looked ahead at the emerging squad of troopers.

“What now?” Wrecker grunted.

Crosshair was the first to peer out and he saw the stormtroopers but that wasn’t what unnerved him. The sight of four operative soldiers standing on a pile of wreckage is what alarmed him. They couldn’t handle this.

“How many?” Wrecker asked as he saw Crosshair press himself back against the scrapheap.

“Too many.”

“W-we can take ‘em.”

Crosshair steadied his shaking hand. “No we can’t. Not in your condition. We need to fall back.”

“Crosshair-” Hunter tried to argue, not trusting that Crosshair was planning.

“Go! I’ll be right behind you.” Crosshair placed a sticky bomb on the end of his rifle and fired it at a fixture hanging over the main area of the transport bay.

As they began their retreat, the troopers starting firing on them and advancing towards them.

They could only be on the defence as they fired back.

--

You heard blaster fire above you and- breathing hard after the strenuous climb- with one final jump, you reached the ruined transport hangar. Some wreckage blocked your path but you used the Force to push it out your way and the sight that greeted you had your stomach lurching. Troopers were everywhere and, although you had been blindfolded the entire time, you knew the four armoured soldiers making their way through the hordes of soldiers were the operatives Hemlock had pitted you against and were what he wanted you to become. You knew yourself that you still weren’t ready for this type of combat, but you couldn’t do nothing.

You took a revitalising breath as you centred yourself and blocked the lingering pain you were feeling from your mind before you ignited your lightsaber, the shining blue blade giving you that added strength you needed.

With a Force-aided leap, you sailed over the heads of troopers and placed yourself between them and the clones behind you.

--

For a moment, time stood still.

Hunter stopped falling back as he heard that familiar ignition sound and his head snapped towards the source and his breath caught in his throat as he saw you.

It was you. Standing in a soiled prison uniform but in a wash of blue light that stood out from the ember flames was you.

However, something was off as you blocked the blaster fire and struck down the troopers around you. Your movements weren’t quite as fluid or easy as they typically were. You moved stiffly, almost cautiously, and it was obvious to him that you were hurting. He could only let the worst imaginings take hold of him as he thought about what had happened to you and his blood boiled as anger raged through him.

Hunter got a hold of himself and fired at a trooper that was taking aim for your back.

At the sound of a body dropping next to you, you turned and followed the path the shot took, and sharp gasp left your throat.

Everything else around you slowed down and faded into the background as you caught his helmeted gaze. The paint, like his brother’s, had been stripped from his armour, but it was him. He could wear a hundred disguises, decorate his armour in a hundred different ways and you’d know it was him. You’d know him anywhere.

Time swiftly righted itself swiftly again once Crosshair’s bomb went off, shaking the already weak integrity that remained of the hangar. The entire room trembled.  

You cut through the final trooper before you turned off your saber and jumped over the falling ceiling beam. You saw the top of where the hangar bay doors used to be begun to collapse which threatened to block their way out and so you called on the Force and held the structure in place. You could buy them enough time to get out and then you could follow.

But you sensed the oncoming threat a second too late.

One of the larger operatives tackled your waist and you both went sliding along the floor.

--

Hunter and Wrecker watched as the once steady structure started to fall once more. Clearly, whatever help you were providing was no longer available. Now, the approaching gunship was their main concern.

Hunter shoved Wrecker out of the line of fire but the resulting explosions behind him threw him across the room where he clattered into a heap of wreckage and the knock-on impact from the blast saw more falling pieces land on top of him. Darkness engulfed him.

Crosshair killed the pilot and began to run over to the two of them.

Wrecker dashed over to where his brother had fallen, “Hunter!” He removed the metal and picked him up, but he didn’t get very far before a weighted bolas wrapped around his legs, causing him to trip and drop Hunter.

Crosshair caught up to Wrecker, holstered his sniper rifle, and took the vibroblade from the side of Wrecker’s leg and worked on cutting through the rope but he saw another operative heading straight for him. He wasn’t able to draw his blaster in time. The blow landed and sent him careening backwards.

Wrecker couldn’t do anything to help his brother either. The operative that had tripped him up and hit Crosshair now towered above him and pressed his electrostaff straight into the gash in his chest and the pain was excruciating. His entire body was engulfed by the electric current and he didn’t have the energy to fight against the man above him or the hurt anymore, it all got too much, and he succumbed to the darkness.

Stars danced in front of Crosshair’s eyes as his back hit against another piece of debris and his head snapped back against the metal, but he saw that Wrecker was in trouble and he made himself stay awake as he searched for his weapon which he saw a few metres to his right. But his attempts to grab it were thwarted instantly. Crosshair groaned as a foot stamped down on his wrist before he could reach his blaster.

CX-2 caught the vibrosword from his counterpart before he looked down at the pathetic form beneath him, “You should be more careful with your shooting hand.”

Those were the last words Crosshair registered before he saw the blade descend and he felt a deep, searing pain and his sight went black.

--

You and the operative that had attacked you had been engaged in a fight all on your own whilst that had all gone down.

The operative had gained the upper hand in the tussle and your lightsaber had escaped your hold in the struggle.

Right now, you were doing your best to stay conscious as the operative straddled your chest and wrapped his hands around your throat, squeezing hard.

You powerfully facepalmed the underside of his chin so his neck whipped back, stunning him for a second but it was a much needed second.

With that second, his hold on your neck loosened and you were able to remove his hands from you. You pushed him off you and to the side of your body where, with a ragged breath, you got to your feet.

You stomped down hard on his stomach as he attempted to sit up. With one hand, you used the Force to keep him flat on the ground- his futile struggles spurring you on. With the other hand, you called your lightsaber to your it and activated your blade as you swung it down…

“Stop.”

Your blade hovered over the operative’s chest as you angled your head in the direction of the recognisable voice. Your breathing left you in short, uneven pants as you glared at him.

“Surrender or his head goes next.”

Your mouth went dry as you saw what the operative from Pabu was talking about. Crosshair’s shooting hand had been cut clean off and now the long vibroblade weapon was resting over his neck.

“Put your weapon down, or they all die.”

You scanned for the other two and saw another operative standing over Wrecker with an electrospear pressing down on what appeared to be an open chest wound and Hunter lay limp and unmoving on the ground.

The only reassuring thing about this situation was that they all were still breathing. Unconscious, but still alive. And that’s how you wanted to keep them.

You clenched your jaw and ground out a defeated breath as you disengaged your weapon and released your hold of the soldier beneath you.

Your operative got to his feet and snatched your weapon from you and, with a hard punch to your jaw, took your arms behind your back and held your wrists together in a strong and unnecessarily tight grip.

You were too dazed to do anything to resist it.

They moved you all out and back into Tantiss base.

--

Omega reached the top of the level that led to the transport hangar. As they’d all drawn nearer, they had heard the sounds of blaster fire, but it had all stopped now. She only hoped that meant Hunter and the others had gotten through.

She headed off for the hangar bay, the children following behind.

--

Echo and Emerie exited the lift and made for the but both of them slowed as they saw a group of operatives go down the corridor.

There were three soldiers unconscious on hovercrafts.

You were pushed along behind them, your arms held securely behind you by one of the soldiers, a fresh purple bruise on your jaw.

Emerie glanced at Echo and even with the helmet on, she could tell he was worried, “Is that the rest of your squad?” She asked as they all rounded the corner.

“Yeah.” Echo said, his voice low. “Where are they being taken?”

“I don’t know. But Hemlock will keep them well guarded.”

“I can handle that. But we have to find the children first.”

Emerie waited a second in case he wanted to change his mind. She could tell his mind was still with all of you, but he was pushing through for the current objective. “The science hangar is up ahead.”

--

Omega guided the others into the room and took cover by a crate as they all took in the destruction. Whatever had happened here wasn’t solely due to the Zillo Beast anymore- a firefight had occurred here too.

“Do you see your squad?” Eva whispered to Omega.

“Not yet.”

“Hey! You don’t belong here. Call it in.”

Omega jumped to her feet and started to back away from the two troopers, but two stun blasts shot above her head towards the men. She turned back around to see her rescuer was another stormtrooper.

“Causing chaos, Havoc 5?”

“Echo?” Omega gasped happily.

Echo removed his helmet and smiled, “Hey kid.” He then saw more children come out from behind Omega. “And other kids.”

“The shuttles in bay four are still operational.” Emerie informed him as she came back from checking them out.

“You’re helping us, Dr. Karr?” Eva said in surprise.

“I am. But we must hurry.”

Echo put his helmet back on and he and Emerie led the way to the shuttle at a run.

As they reached the shuttle, Omega paused and looked around her. “Wait. Where are Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair? And (Y/N), we’ve got to free her!”

“We got her out, but we split up and now, they’re all detained together.” Echo told her.

“You mean captured?”

“For now.” Echo turned to Emerie and slotted his blaster under his arm. “Can you fly that shuttle?”

“Yes. Why?”

Echo brought out a datacard and gave it to her. “Take the kids to these coordinates. We’ll meet you there.”

Sami, Jax and Eva all looked at one another anxiously.

“You’re not coming with us?” Jax asked Omega.

“There are more prisoners inside, including my family. I can’t leave without them.” Omega welcomed their group embrace and rubbed Bayrn’s head. “Don’t worry. Emerie’s taking you someplace safe. We’ll meet you there.” The kids let her go and stepped away.

“Here.” Emerie passed her datapad to Omega. “This will help you access all wings of the facility.”

“Look after them.” Omega instructed her sister.

“You have my word.” Emerie promised. She placed her hand on Omega’s shoulder. “Be careful, Omega. And…” Emerie took a short breath before she shared her final bit of what she hoped was useful intel. “And if you can, check out the maintenance closet in the prison level. It isn’t what it says, Hemlock spent almost as much time there as he did with your Jedi friend, and he didn’t tell me why. But he never did anything without a purpose. He’s hiding something there; I just don’t know what.”

‘Tech was more resistant to my methods this time.’ Hemlock’s words echoed in her head, and she couldn’t help it, theories and hope started to stir in her. She nodded to Emerie before she and Echo took off back to the base and back to the rest of you.

“You ready?” Echo asked as the door opened just as the shuttle with Emerie took off and away to safety.

She’d succeeded in her initial objective. Now it was time for the next one. “Let’s complete the mission.”

--

This was no nightmare.

This was no illusion.

This was no trick.

This was not a figment of your imagination.

You were not under the influence of any injection or serum.

There was no denying what you were hearing and seeing now.

There was no blocking out this type of agony that you were experiencing.

Hunter’s moans and screams of pain as the electricity crackled against his temples and jolted through the rest of his body were real.

It was all horrifyingly, heartbreakingly real.

And no matter how much you struggled against your captor’s hold, you were helpless to do anything but watch and listen.

There was no convincing yourself that it wasn’t happening.

And you knew would do anything to make it stop.

Hemlock studied the room. Your hands were now bound in cuffs in front of your body, but one operative still kept a vice-like grip on your shoulder. Hunter and the others were in their capsules, bound and powerless. Crosshair and Wrecker were still unconscious, and Crosshair’s right wrist was being sealed off by a droid. He ignored you for the moment, your time would come soon, for now, his attention lied with Hunter. He signalled for the machine to be turned off.

Hunter panted heavily as the torture finally stopped. Everything hurt, his limbs burned, his head felt like it was going to explode- and that was just from this. He could still fill a deep soreness in his ribs from the blast in the hangar bay. And right now, it may have stopped but he still felt the current in his veins, so the pain endured. He could barely keep his eyes open. He attempted to free his hands from the binders, but they were too tight. Then, he heard Hemlock’s cool, quiet voice.

“The last time we crossed paths, you had just lost a member of your squad. And it appears history may repeat itself. CT-9904 resisted my conditioning in the past, but I’ve made alterations to my methods. Something your… partner can attest to. If you all survive, you will make fine operatives.”

Hunter followed Hemlock’s gaze to where Wrecker and Crosshair were and the wave of guilt that he felt upon seeing what he’d brought on them made way for new type of hurt to enter the mix. Then his sights found yours and he saw the fear and distress in your eyes at Hemlock’s words. He had rarely seen you look so genuinely terrified and yet whatever else Hemlock was talking about got that from you.

“No!” You shouted as you violently fought against the hand holding you back. You couldn’t bear it if they suffered that fate or had to go through anymore of this.

Hemlock ignored you and approached Hunter. “And if not, well, there’s no shortage of clones to test on next.”

“We’ll survive. But you won’t.” Hunter said with as much strength as he could muster.

Hemlock regarded the clone pitifully and indicated to the operative to start the process once more.

Hunter couldn’t help the anguished shouts that left him as he felt that electric fire deep in his body once more, each nerve felt like it was burning away.

“Stop! Stop hurting him!” You cried out as you pulled against the hand on your shoulder. You couldn’t tear your eyes away from him. You wanted to take his pain away.

Hemlock turned to you and hummed out a pleased laugh as he saw the torment on your face. He had you right where he wanted you. “Do you know I finally figured something out?”

You breathed heavily as Hemlock touched the recent bruise on your jaw but did nothing to stop him in case it made things worse for the rest of them.

“You didn’t succumb to my methods because they weren’t real. I was foolish to think a Jedi such as yourself would be so easily fooled by mind games. You needed the element of doubt removed and look at the results. One glimpse of the real thing and see how you quickly you fall apart.” Hemlock said smugly.

You weren’t looking at the doctor, you were looking past him to at the man you loved with every part of you.

The man who had brought you into a crazy, wonderful family.

The man who had shown you more patience and care than you had ever deserved.

The man who had enabled you to open your heart to everything he had to offer and who had shown you that attachment could be a beautiful thing.

The man who had your heart and soul.

But was now being put through the worst kind of pain he could experience.

And then you looked to the others. To the ones who had welcomed you instantly and who had risked everything for you and Omega and who were now hurting and endangered because of it.

And it was tearing you apart. “Just let them go. Let him go. Stop this, Hemlock, please.” You choked out.

Hemlock nodded again to get the operative controlling the machine to stop. He wanted the clone awake for this.

Hunter gasped in limited relief as the electricity turned off once more. He fought through the pain to keep his eyes open as he saw Hemlock beside you, a cruel yet somehow gleeful smile on the man’s face that worried him in a way he hadn’t experienced before. There was something deeply unsettling about the sight of him standing so close to you like that.  

“You know, from our time together, I can see why you would fall for her.” Hemlock commented to the clone. “She showed remarkable durability and resolve. She was quite a challenging subject.”

Hunter clenched and unclenched his hands as he watched Hemlock. It wasn’t just the physical torture that had his body feeling this much pain. After what you’d told him about Christophsis, he’d never wanted you to go through that hell again, but you had. He’d been far too late.   

“But of course, such feelings are a weakness, all too easy to exploit. Oh, you should’ve heard her cry out for you, just begging me to end your suffering.” Hemlock pretended to ponder the next decision. “Then again, perhaps you can.” He stood in front of you.

Your blood ran cold as you saw the look in Hemlock’s eyes.

“You wish for his pain to stop?” Hemlock asked you, a wicked and calculated smile on his face.

“Yes.” You said, your voice scarcely above a whisper.

“Beg.”

“No.” Hunter rasped as he heard the demand.

You shoved down the bile that rose in your throat at the thought. “Please.” You breathed.

“Not so resistant now, are you?” Hemlock taunted cruelly. “But I don’t think you mean it.”

“Don’t do it.” Hunter ground out weakly.

But you would. You would do anything. You kept your attention on Hemlock. “I’m begging you, please, please don’t hurt him anymore.”

“More.” Hemlock commanded, enjoying the distraught etched on your face and the pathetic attempts the clone gave at breaking free to stop this.

You didn’t need the pressure on your shoulder that came from the operative by your side. You did it freely. You didn’t care about the humiliation, you only cared about making it end. On your knees, you glanced up at Hemlock, your voice hoarse as you pleaded, “Please. Please stop hurting him. I’ll do whatever you want.”

Hemlock caressed the side of your head. “You know what I want.”

The sight of you begging on your knees for that man caused him more pain than any machine could. Hunter, as weak as he was, still attempted to get out of his prison. You shouldn’t have to do this, not for him.

You did. You knew precisely what he was after, but you automatically shook your head in refusal.

Hemlock simply snapped his fingers.

Hunter tossed his head back and writhed and yelled in pain as the electricity coursed through his body once more.

“No, stop! Please!” You begged. You couldn’t take it anymore.

Hemlock held his hand up and it ceased once more. “Well?”

You swallowed tightly. And it wasn’t just Hunter you wanted to save; you had a family you needed to protect. “I join you, they don’t.” You negotiated quietly, hating the words as they left your mouth.

Hemlock considered the options in his head. Getting a Jedi under his command would be yet another testament to his work and that was worth more to him than these clones. It was a sacrifice he could make. “Join me and I will allow them to remain prisoners here. No conditioning required.”

You knew that was the best you were going to get for them right now. You squeezed your eyes tight as you resigned yourself to what you were about to do and ignored Hunter’s pained and faint protests. “I’ll join you.” You barely got the words out, but you’d said them now. You opened your eyes to that sadistic and twisted grin, the one from your nightmares. The one that he'd wear once he made some kind of monumental breakthrough in his research. And this time, it was warranted. He’d done it. He’d finally broken you.

Another Imperial entered the room. “Doctor, there is an incoming transmission from Governor Tarkin.”

Hemlock signalled back to the operative stood by Hunter’s capsule.

A raw and tormented scream left Hunter’s throat as his senses were overloaded once more.

You rushed to your feet and went to lunge for the doctor, but the operative held you back. “No! You said-”

“Think of it as a reminder of what will happen if you change your mind.” Hemlock said icily as he left the room.

If it weren’t for the bruising grip on your upper arms, you would’ve collapsed to the ground, but you were left with no choice but to stand there and live with what you’d decided and to hear Hunter’s cries.

--

The lift opened to the prison level and before the troopers on guard had time to react, Echo shot them both. He picked up the loose blasters and he and Omega advanced down the corridor.

More troopers came at them, but Echo easily took care of them whilst Omega slid the datapad into one of the terminals.

“Hey, kid. What’s going on?”

Omega turned to the clone that addressed her from behind his cell door. “We’re breaking out.” With that, she programmed all cell doors to open. “Here.” She tossed the clone a spare blaster she had acquired. “I’ll look for the others.” She told Echo, mentally including the so-called maintenance closet in that statement.

Just as she looked down one corridor, she saw another familiar face. “Nala Se!” She ran over to the Kaminoan.

Nala Se knelt down to the girl’s level. “Omega, why did you come back to this place?”

“I had to, but it’s okay. We’re all getting out this time.” She reassured her old mentor before she carried on past her, anxiously scanning for any sign of you all.

--

Omega hadn’t seen any of you, but she had found the door Emerie had referred to. She knew perhaps the hope she was feeling in her heart was foolish, but she couldn’t help it, it was who she was. And she’d rather know for sure than spend the rest of her life regretting that she never tried. She held her breath as she opened the door.

Omega’s exhale left her with an indistinguishable surprised and elated sound as she saw the figure.

He may have a supportive brace encasing his entire right leg.

He may be without his goggles.

He may look dishevelled and weary.

But there was no mistaking his face.

This was her brother. The brother she never thought she would see again. The one that had given up everything for them. Yet, somehow, he was standing there before her.

Omega stared at the man that had turned to face her when the door opened. “Tech?” She gasped, scarcely believing it. She needed him to speak, to confirm that she wasn’t seeing things.

Tech’s eyes widened in shock. He hadn’t dared take Hemlock’s words as the whole truth, but he recognised the child immediately and… and he felt alive again. “Omega?”

Another joyful sound left her throat as happy tears welled in her eyes. She dashed forward and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Did it not work?” Tech whispered as he rested his hands on her back. He recognised the prison uniform. And he didn’t remember a lot since Eriadu, especially with the months spent enduring Hemlock’s manipulations, but he had thought the rail car had gotten away at least.

“No, it- well-” She stopped. “The main thing to know is Crosshair did betray the Empire and he’s back with us. We can catch you up on the rest once we’re out of here.”

The news about his brother made him sigh in relief. They had been without Crosshair for far too long and Hemlock’s lies had been the only moments he had to imagine what having him back would feel like but the happy emotions it brought had all been spoiled and tainted by Hemlock’s cruelty. Now, he could allow himself to feel that happy again and he could be confident in knowing it was true. Then, he remembered the last part of Omega’s statement. “Out of here?” Tech repeated, the very concept had felt like a distant desire for such a long time.

Omega smiled at him, “Come on, Echo is waiting. We’re breaking everyone out.”

Tech released a long, relieved breath, “An excellent idea.” He concurred. He followed her- a slight limp in his gait now- out of the cell that he hadn’t been sure he’d ever leave.

--

“We gave up hope that anyone was coming to help us.”

Echo held his helmet and addressed the clone that had first spoken to Omega when they’d arrived, “We’ve been looking for this base for a while.”

“Echo, I searched all the cells. They’re not here. But I did find someone else.”

Echo turned at the sound of Omega’s voice but what he saw had his jaw dropping and his helmet fell from his grasp. He said nothing as he walked towards his brother and clasped him close. “I don’t believe it. How- I mean- you called out the plan- we saw you fall.”

Tech hadn’t quite expected the hug, but he welcomed it all the same. It felt good to accept that fighting against Hemlock this time had been worth the pain. This was a truth he could trust. “You forget that my intelligence did not cease to exist after I shot that connection hinge.”

Omega smiled as she heard that loveable cockiness in his voice.

Echo released his brother but kept his eyes on him. “Are you okay?” He asked, voice fuelled with concern.

Tech grew more solemn again. “As much as could be expected. However, I’m afraid to say that I have failed our squad. Hemlock, he wanted information about you all. I resisted when I could but- but his methods were rather… effective at getting the results he wanted.”

Echo had seen what Hemlock’s methods could do so in a short space of time and Tech had been here for months. So, the very fact that he had even held out at all was something to admire. “Don’t worry about that.” Echo reassured him. “All that matters is that you’re alive.”

Tech gave him a grateful bow of his head before he straightened his spine. “I see that I am not the only one with a new look.” He commented lightly, gesturing to his brace and Echo’s mechanical hand.

Echo allowed himself a short chuckle, “Yeah, well, the situation called for it.”

Tech nodded in understanding before he scanned the group of clones around them all. “But where are the others?” Tech asked, fully realising that amongst these newly freed clones, there were four faces that were missing. And the worry that flashed across Echo’s face did nothing to ease his own anxieties.

Giving Tech’s shoulder one final squeeze, he spoke to the rest of the clones surrounding them. “The rest of our squad were grabbed by Hemlock’s operatives. Where else would he take them?”

“Well, they could be in the training room. It’s where Hemlock conditions the clones he deems useful.”

“I think I know where that is.” Omega said, grabbing the datapad. “Follow me.”

“Are you joking?” Rampart shoved past Echo. “The wisest course of action is to leave while we can.”

Echo glared at the man. “Clones don’t leave our brothers behind. And Hemlock’s also got someone who is just as important to us as any other clone.” He moved Rampart out the way and kept his speech for his fellow clones. “Listen, I know you’ve all been through enough. You deserve your freedom. But Omega and I can’t do this alone. Is anyone willing to stand with us?”

The clone that spoke to Omega spoke first, “I will. I’ve got one more fight left in me.”

That spurred others on. Soon more rallying shouts were declared throughout the group.

“Good.” Echo said appreciatively. Then he turned to Tech and took a reluctant breath, “Tech…”

Tech recognised that look but hearing that the rest of you were in danger had his loyal and protective instincts as a member of this squad come rushing back to him. “I want to go with you.” Tech insisted. “They need our help.”

“You’re not 100%. We lost you once, it’s not happening again.” Echo said firmly. “Get the injured to the hangar and secure a shuttle. You can help them there.” He gave Tech a spare blaster. “We’ll see you soon.”

“Very well.” Tech said with a heavy sigh. Deep down, he knew that his current situation made him more of a liability for such a high stakes mission. He needed to recover properly and get back to form and he could start by helping the rest of these clones.  

Echo put his helmet on once more. “I’ll trigger an alert in a different wing and reroute their troops. The rest of you, grab any weapon you can.”

Tech led the way with the injured, hoping that this would all come to a better conclusion that Eriadu had.

Before Omega left with Echo and the rest of their team, Nala Se’s voice stopped her.

“Omega, I must not allow my science to remain in the Empire’s hands.” She knelt down and placed a large hand on Omega’s shoulder. “The only way you will be free is if Hemlock is gone and the databanks are destroyed.”

“Then let’s get to the lab.” Omega said determinedly.

“No. Your place is with them.” Nala Se nodded to the clones.

Omega dipped her head in both a farewell and in understanding. “You’ll need this.” She gave Nala Se the datapad and watched her walk away before she joined up with Echo and left the cells.

Rampart watched the scientist go, a fresh plan of his own forming in his head as he made to follow her.

--

Hemlock walked back to the training room, working on dampening his simmering anger and irritation. The conversation with Tarkin had not been a productive one and now he was faced with having to deal with the lousy Imperial face-to-face.

He had it under control. Tarkin would just be another nuisance he had to deal with.

--

“The training floor’s two more corridors over.” Omega said to Echo as they eliminated the guards by the hall terminal.

Echo used his scomp to bring up schematics. “The pneumatic tube system runs throughout this base. Think you can use it to get eyes inside that room?” He opened a panel in the walls.

“It worked in the vault.” Omega ran over to the gap and crawled into the narrow space.

“Relay what you see, but stay out of sight until we’re in position.” Echo ordered before she disappeared. He handed her a comm.

“Rodger that.”

--

Nala Se had taken a grenade from a downed trooper as she made for the lab. She had accepted what her course of action would lead her to.

Covertly following her, Rampart grabbed a blaster from another body.

--

Nala Se entered the lab but just as she finished bringing up the databank and blood samples, a blaster clicked behind her, and she was staring down an unhappy looking Admiral Rampart. She activated the bomb behind her back, no one was going to stop her from doing what needed to be done. And if she took this Imperial down with her… well, that was an added bonus.

--

Omega peered out into the room from behind the ceiling grate. All was quiet. You were standing up, your hands in binders with an operative holding on tight to your shoulders, whilst the others were knocked out and in some type of capsule prison. “Echo, I have a visual on them. There’s an operative on guard but I don’t see the others.” She whispered into her comm. “I might be able to free them if you give me a big enough distraction.”

“We’re on our way.”

--

Echo and his group of clones entered the training room but as soon as they entered, the lights dimmed, the floor lit up in a harsh red light and parts of the floor rose up to form obstacles. They were ambushed by the other operatives in seconds.

--

You couldn’t understand why the operative holding you suddenly let you go to activate the downstairs area, but the sounds of blaster fire soon told you why.

You hoped Echo’s plan was going to work.

--

Omega managed to sneak into the room without incident. She caught your eyeline and motioned for you to be quiet as she went over to the main control box. She worked on Wrecker’s first, and she succeeded in removing one of the wrist cuffs. Before she could work on anything else, she felt eyes on her and she let out a fearful gasp as she saw the operative staring at her.

You acted quickly. You ran in front of the operative and saw your lightsaber attached to your belt. You lunged for it but with your hands bound, you were limited in what you could offer and a powerful kick to your chest sent you tumbling to the floor. Winded and gasping for air, you could only watch as Omega’s stun blasts did nothing to stop the advance of the soldier and he took a hold of her arm and dragged her into the centre of the room. You got to your feet just as Hemlock entered the room with the operative from Pabu.

“A glaring weakness in clones is their loyalty to one another.” Hemlock said to the young girl. “Thank you for proving my point.” Then Hemlock beckoned you over to him as you both walked towards the window.

“Now that you’ve joined our ranks, perhaps it is time to see what sort of matters you will have to deal with.” Hemlock said to you. He wouldn’t free you yet, not until he knew for certain that this matter was officially over and dealt with. Your attachment for the clones remained and therefore the margin for error was still too great so for now, you remained in cuffs and his prisoner.

You forced yourself to ignore Omega’s shocked gasp as she heard that.

“Shall we see if they fare better than you did?” Hemlock allowed the firefight to continue for a couple minutes before he pressed the buttons that would introduce his special toxin into the room.

You could only watch on in horror as the clones without helmets started to cough and choke whilst they desperately clutched at their throats before they collapsed to the ground.

“Perhaps an unfair comparison given that I didn’t use this for you but alas, sometimes such things are necessary. You will find that often the most pain gets the quickest results, but with your skills, you will make quick work of things, I am sure.”

“You joined him?” Omega said in dismay.

“I had to.” You croaked, your throat closing up as everything you loved fell apart around you.

--

Having entertained Rampart and his delusions of Imperial redemption for long enough, Nala Se didn’t fear the blaster bolt that entered her chest and as the light faded from her eyes, she took comfort in the fact that this final act of hers would bring peace to Omega’s life.

Rampart heard the rapid beeping of the grenade that rolled free from her hand as she fell, but before he could do anything, his life left him in a flash of blinding white light.

--

Having been the only one with the safety of a helmet to resist the gas, Echo was on his own against the three operatives.

He staggered forward as a knife entered the back of his shoulder. His blaster was knocked out his grasp, so he used his mechanical hand to defend against the swings of the sword from the operative that had cut him, and he succeeded in throwing the black-armoured clone against one of the walls, so his helmet came off and he too feel victim to the gas.

However, Echo didn’t have long to recover before he was knocked to the ground but just as he reached for his blaster, it was kicked away, and he glanced up to see another operative pointing a blaster at his head.

--

Hemlock kept his sights on the scene below. “Their efforts have failed.” Hemlock stated. “Predictably so.”

You were shoved back to stand in the middle of the room with Omega.

Omega glanced at you, but your face was a blank slate. Your posture was slumped and heavy with defeat. You had no fire, no fight in you.

“Sir, there’s been an explosion in the central lab. It’s been destroyed.” Scorch revealed as he entered the training room.

This news snapped you out of your fatigued and defeated state. Hemlock wasn’t untouchable and he knew it. You remembered the nervousness you’d picked up on when he’d first told you they were coming to the base, and you saw the way his body tensed after Scorch’s words. For all his victories and apparent calmness, he knew you were the people that could get to him which was why he’d done everything he could think of to tear you apart. The thoughts sent a surge of strength and resolve through you. What the fuck were you doing? This was your team, your squad, your family. You’d all never stop fighting for each other so why had you? You’d given up so easily and that wasn’t who you were, how could you have lost sight of that? You glanced over to Omega and nodded.

Omega felt hope rise in her chest as she saw the familiar spark and determination in your eyes. She then stole a look behind her to see Wrecker slowly waking up. “You failed too.” She said smugly to Hemlock. “Your data’s gone.” And she wasn’t just talking about the samples, she knew Tech was safe too.

Hemlock whipped his head around to face the two of you. He had what he needed; he could start again. “But I still have you both.”

Picking up on Wrecker’s movements too, you got ready to fight once more. “Hey, Hemlock?” You waited until his eyes arrived on you. “Go to hell.”

Hemlock glowered at you but before he could do anything more, Omega spoke once more.

“And you’re forgetting one thing. We have them.” Omega said proudly.

Chaos erupted.

Wrecker ripped himself free of his capsule and used the portion covering his legs as a shield against the blaster fire before he launched it towards the operatives, the impact of the piece of metal against one of the control towers took down the entire system in the process.

Crosshair and Hunter groggily woke up their confinement also loosened.

Wrecker shakily got to his feet and pushed against the electrospear that the operative shoved towards his chest. He ignored the pain of the electrical current and kept his focus entirely on meeting the soldier strength for strength.

You dashed over to Hunter and rested your bound hands just beside his head “My love, I need you to stand for me.” You murmured with urgency. You placed your hands under his neck and then moved them gently still to his upper back to support him.

Hunter strained to open his eyes as he took in your still slightly blurry form, but he never failed to recognise you or your voice. He nodded and inhaled sharply as he slowly rose with your encouragement.

Whilst you did that, Omega made a break for a loose blaster, but Scorch grabbed her. She struggled against him, but she was forced to stop as Hemlock paired them together with a set of cuffs.

“We’re leaving. Get the Jedi.” Hemlock said to Scorch, passing him a hypodermic with a sedative inside it. He then snatched a blaster from CX-2 as well as the set of controls he kept on his sleeve for his ship. “Deal with them.” He directed the operative before he dragged Omega out,

Scorch came over with as he saw you attempting to aid the clone sergeant to his feet. He speedily stabbed the needle into your thigh and pressed down on the plunger.

You reacted swiftly and slapped his hand away before you landed a kick to his gut, but you felt the broken skin and as you removed the needle from your leg, you saw that the tip of it was wet, and you knew that you hadn’t been fast enough. Some of it had entered your system. A wooziness overcame you and you swayed on your feet as you fought against it.

Scorch recovered from the blow you dealt him and as he saw the unsteady way you stood as well as the lack of clarity behind your eyes, he knew he had done enough to get you compliant. He grabbed your wrist and forced you out of the room as he hurried to catch up with Hemlock.

--

Seeing that Hemlock was escaping with you both, Wrecker thrust the spear above him and kicked the operative back.

Hunter wearily worked on standing up straight and finding the strength to go after you and Omega.

“Get them back.” Wrecker said to Hunter before he let out a roar and charged at the operative he’d been fighting. He tackled his waist and smashed through the cracked window.

--

The gas dissipated and Echo glanced up to see the glass of one of the windows had cracked and there were flashes blaster fire. Whatever was happening above him was the disruption he needed.

And that distraction developed as Wrecker came crashing through the window.

In the mayhem, Echo was able to divert the blaster pointed at his head to the second operative standing behind him and take cover. Even with one operative dead, he was still outnumbered but two more rounds fired past him to disband the operative forces. Echo turned and saw that Wrecker- despite being flat on the ground- had been the one to fire the shots but he was still in danger. Echo fired a series of shots to the operative that Wrecker had forced out of the window and that operative also fell dead to the ground.

But Echo couldn’t ease up. Another operative had recovered from the disruption and attacked them again. Echo opened fire back as he took cover behind one of the obstacles.

Wrecker was slower to react. The shot he took to the inside of his leg as he rolled for shelter was yet another painful sign of how out of it he was. But he needed to get it together, Echo still needed him, and he wasn’t going to let his brother down.

Echo carefully moved around the room. He knew there were two operatives remaining and they made themselves know quickly. Now that the danger of the gas was gone, he had removed his helmet to aid in his breathing but as he walked around the side of one of the wall obstacles, a wave of blaster fire was sent in his direction, and he quickly pressed himself back against the wall. He searched for another way to somehow get behind the operative who had fired on him but as he did so, he felt a threat approaching his own back. As he turned, he saw the operative with the vibroblade weapons lunge for him and his blaster wasn’t primed to take the shot to stop it.

With a loud shout, Wrecker got to his feet and picked the operative up by the neck and smashed his head through one of the walls. That took up the last of his energy, his legs gave out and he fell to the ground with a deep groan.

Seeing his brother go down so heavily alarmed Echo deeply which was why he wasn’t the one to kill the final operative that had emerged. No, those shots came from one of the clones who had rallied by his side for this fight. He gave him a grateful nod before he knelt by Wrecker’s side. The clone could barely keep his eyes open, and he was breathing in short, sharp pants, his pain was obvious. “Wrecker, where are the others?” Echo asked as he looked on worriedly as his brother.

“They’ve- they’ve gone after-” Wrecker broke off with a low groan and couldn’t finish the thought. He was too exhausted and sore to focus on anything other than staying awake.

Echo put it together. “I can help you get there but I need you to get to your feet.” Echo urged as insistent but as caringly as possible, but Wrecker made no move to stand. “Come on, Wrecker, you can do it.” He thought of the first thing he could think of to get him there. “Tech’s alive. He’s waiting at the shuttle.”

“If that’s supposed to cheer me up, it’s a bad way to do it.” Wrecker managed to grunt.

“I’m serious. Omega found him.”

Wrecker glanced at Echo and a brief rush of adrenaline hit him as he saw the serious and honest look on Echo’s face.

“It’s true. I saw him.” The other clone added as he came over to offer his help.

Wrecker allowed himself to believe that because it was now the only thing giving him the strength to even think about getting up. With a determined moan, he got to his feet.

Echo, along with the other clone, supported Wrecker as they all made their way to the shuttle.

--

Hunter had managed to stand and grab the spear that the operative had left behind, but everything was still blurring together in one dark and incoherent shape. He couldn’t fully tell one sense apart from the other, everything was too sore and disjointed.

But he knew there was still an operative up here and he had to focus on finding him.

Crosshair was also beginning to get to his feet and as he saw CX-2 creep next to his pod and aim his blaster at Hunter, Crosshair kicked his arm which caused the shot to go array.

Tracking the sound, Hunter threw the spear in the direction it had come from and heard the sharp blade meeting it’s target as CX-2 was speared in the gut and the power behind Hunter’s through saw doubly sure that he was dead as he was flung back into the power grid and electrocuted.

Hunter grabbed the fallen rifle and spoke to Crosshair through gritted teeth, “I’ll go get them. You should stay here.”

“Not a chance.” Crosshair grunted as he properly got to his feet.

Hunter picked up a second blaster and handed Crosshair the sniper rifle.

Supporting each other, the two of them hobbled out the room to go catch up with you and Omega.

--

The night air was cold as a storm raged on.

Thunder rumbled above you.

Lightening flashed through the black clouds.

The pouring rain pelted against your skin.

The wind whipped across your face.

But as unpleasant as it was, it did help get you out of your sedative state. You just had to wait for the right moment and so long as Scorch had a blaster pressed to your back and Omega was cuffed and attached to Hemlock, it wasn’t the right moment, so you pretended to still be as compliant as you had been when being led through the corridors out of the training room.

Hemlock led the way across the exposed and narrow walkway towards the landing platform. He was almost there. He could rebuild once he got away. He ignored the girl’s struggles and protests as he dragged her further along and pressed the button on the control sleeve that would bring the ship to them. Just as the ship was preparing to land, two blaster bolts hit the right and left engines and the ship erupted into flames.

You used as your moment to take care of Scorch. You smacked the back of your head into his visor and turned on your heels to grab his blaster.

In the push and shove struggle, both of you teetered towards the edge of the bridge. One particularly nasty shove from Scorch saw to it that you fell over the top, but you still had a hold of his blaster, so he toppled over with you.

You just about managed to take a scrappy hold of the one of the bars that formed the boundary of the walkway, Scorch fell past you into the abyss below. The metal was slick against your fingers and being cuffed wasn’t making holding on any easier, your grip was haphazard at best. Which was why you weren’t surprised that you couldn’t keep a secure hold and you slipped downwards, your fingers catching the edge of the platform.

You saw the scene unfolding across from you and you wished there was more you could do to help but all you could do now was fight to keep your head up as your legs dangled aimlessly. You called on every piece of strength you had to hold on and wait this out.

--

Hemlock thrust Omega in front of him and wrapped his arm around her neck as he held the blaster to her head. You were out of the picture for now, his main adversaries remained further down the bridge. “That’s far enough!” He threatened as he saw the clones

Hunter shook the rain from his eyes as he and Crosshair paused to figure out the next best course of action. He had to trust that you would hold on for long enough. Right now, his priority was Omega. He knelt down and kept his blaster trained on Hemlock.

Crosshair did the same, only he rested his rife on Hunter’s shoulder as he peered down his scope.

The two of them synchronised their breathing as the storm echoed around them but that didn’t distract them. Their entire focus was on the two people down the walkway.

“You won’t get past them.” Omega said, no fear in her voice.

“They won’t risk hurting you.” Hemlock said through heavy breaths. “And it’s not only you they have to consider.”

“Neither will you. You need me alive.” Omega countered. “And she’s a lot stronger than you think.” She said, knowing that no matter what, you would be fine.

Hemlock brought her to the edge of the bridge opposite to where you were hanging. “If I go over, then you go over.” He then bellowed down to the clones, “Drop the blasters!”

But Omega wasn’t going to entertain that outcome. Hemlock’s arrogance would be his downfall. She reached into her sleeve and grabbed the tool she had stolen from Emerie’s supply kit.

--

Hunter saw what Omega was doing and understood her plan. “Shoot the binders.” He told Crosshair.

“I- I- I can’t.” Crosshair stammered. He had rarely practiced with his left hand as the trigger hand and these conditions were less than ideal to make such a precise shot. “They’re too close. If I’m off- I can’t risk Omega.”

“She knows what to do, Crosshair.” Hunter said. He trusted Omega and he trusted Crosshair. He had all the confidence that his brother could make the shot. “Wait for her, then take the shot.”

Crosshair let that faith and his own desire to rescue Omega guide him as he rested his finger on the trigger. He could do this. He knew he could. He inhaled and exhaled steadily as he waited on her.

--

Omega stabbed her implement into Hemlock’s thigh and used his surprise to step away from him and she raised their cuffed hands in the air.

When Crosshair’s shot met it’s mark and separated them, she crouched down as she heard six shots hit Hemlock’s chest and she watched his body fall over the side.

--

Releasing a thankful sigh, you braced yourself on your forearms as you worked on hauling yourself back up. You felt a supportive hand tug at your arm and angled your gaze to see Omega doing her best to help you back onto the bridge.

Once safely situated and cuff free thanks to Omega’s tool, you stayed propped on your knees and braced your hands on your thighs as you caught your breath and looked at the young girl and all it took was that glance from you. She crashed into you, and you squeezed her close. “Are you alright?”

Omega squeezed you back and nodded into your neck. “Yeah… I’m okay.” She said through an exhausted but relieved sigh. “Are you?”

“Yeah, kid, I’m okay.” You said, your throat tightening as you realised what was about to happen next. It had been the thing that had gotten you through every night since arriving here. And it had been the thing you had so nearly given up and lost.

You both pulled apart at the same time.

You got to your feet and followed her gaze towards the two men still kneeling further down the bridge. You didn’t need to check with her, you both started running together.

Naturally, you reached them just before Omega did and you didn’t really slow down in your approach.

With adrenaline overpowering your own lingering pain and tiredness, you- getting caught up in the excitement of seeing Hunter again- foolishly forgot about his injuries and all but launched yourself at him. You collided against his chest with a happy cry and flung your arms around him and pulled him close to you.

“Ow ow ow.” Hunter mumbled with a sharp wince as he braced himself against your strength, but he couldn’t help himself, he clung to you just as tightly.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Your words were muffled from where you pressed your face in the crook of his neck. You went to pull away instead, but he wasn’t letting you yet, in fact he readjusted his hold to keep you right where you were.

Hunter breathed you in and let himself get lost in the feeling of holding you and feeling you against him. The familiar shape and scent of your body providing him the comfort and security he needed to alleviate part of the pain he was feeling with his senses. He nuzzled into your neck and used one hand to cradle the back of your head whilst his other arm still kept you tight to him.

The two of you held onto each other like you were terrified it was all a dream and you might be taken away again. The bridge was cold and wet against your legs but after all that had just happened, it hardly mattered now. The rain continued its deluge against your body, but you didn’t care. All you cared about was this moment right here and now.

Only when his body did truly start to protest against the strain, did Hunter relax his arms.

You released your own arms and hid your face in your hands as the emotions of the time that had passed hit you all at once. Sobs mixed with laughter left your throat and racked through your body as you realised that he was safe. That Omega was safe. That they all were safe.

Hunter gently took your hands away and carefully held your bruised face. He used his thumbs to softly wipe some of the rain and tears running down your cheeks. He brushed some wet strands of hair tenderly away from your face before murmuring, “I love you.” A kiss to your forehead. “I love you,” A kiss to your cheek. “I love you,” A kiss to your other cheek.

You stared into his brown eyes as you got yourself under control and they grounded you so completely as you saw the feeling behind them. “I love you too.” You gasped breathlessly. You threaded your fingers in his damp strands and-more mindful of his injuries- leaned forward.

Hunter went to close the gap but the sound of someone managing a strained but somehow still very pointed cough caused you both to stop and you turned your head to see Crosshair and Omega waiting expectantly.

“What? No hugs for us?” Crosshair said with a light-hearted, albeit pained, smile at the two of you.

You huffed out a chuckle and together, you and Hunter slid into their embrace, and you all wrapped your arms around one another. You shared in that moment until Omega decided to break away.

You all got to your feet, but you noticed how unsteady both Crosshair and Hunter were.

With Omega looking out for Crosshair, you focused your attention on Hunter. “Lean on me.” You instructed him as you placed his arm around you, and you took on his weight as you all made your way to the transport hangar.

--

You all reached the shuttle and slowly walked up the ramp but the person you saw tending to Wrecker’s wounds had you all forgetting any remaining aches and pains.

All three of you inhaled sharply and stopped short. You shared a look to make sure you were all in agreement with what- or rather-who you were seeing.

“Yeah, you’re not seeing things.” Wrecker told you all with a cheery disposition.

Echo had a small yet delighted grin on his face as he took in the stunned yet happy reactions from all of you.

“Oh… did I not mention that?” Omega kidded, a joyous smile on her own face.

“Tech?” Crosshair all but whispered.

“You’re alive?” You and Hunter said together, emotion overwhelming both of you as you spoke.  

“You sound surprised.” Tech said with a small smile. What did catch him by surprise though was the way he was dragged into a large group hug with all six of you.

And as the shuttle took off and you all had that minute together, you were hit with a remarkable sense of home.

--

The shuttle landed in Pabu and the rescued clones steadily departed the shuttle first.

Echo, Omega and Wrecker were the first of you all to leave with Echo wanting to check on Emerie and Omega wanting to check on her friends from the vault.

Tech made to go too but hesitated as he caught the attention of a familiar face.

Phee’s eyes widened. She walked up the ramp and took in the messy yet totally recognisable man in front of her. “Well, brown eyes, it’s about damn time.”

Tech made to adjust his non-existent goggles but caught himself. “I was- uh- rather occupied for a while.”

Phee raised her chin and smiled. She came up the ramp and linked arms with the clone. “Now your survival is an adventure I want to hear all about.”

You could’ve sworn you saw the faintness of blushes on Tech’s cheeks.

“Well, it involved a grappling hook and some pretty fast thinking. I was falling…”

You, Hunter and Crosshair watched them walk away and you caught the completely astonished expression on Crosshair’s face. It was possible he was more taken aback by that than by seeing Tech come back from the dead.

“I have a question.” Crosshair asked as he stared at the fading figures.

“What’s that?” You said, pretending to have no idea as to why he looked so bewildered. You welcomed Hunter’s arm that looped around your waist and the look he gave you told you that he was willing to play along.

“We just spent the duration of that journey getting medical attention and catching Tech up on everything that had happened since you all ignored Plan 88, right?”

“Right.” Hunter agreed, ignoring the playful jab.

“And I was on Pabu and with you all a good while before everything went to shit.” Crosshair said.

“Uh huh.” You concurred, a slightly teasing smile on your face as you waited for him to get to the point of his question.

“So, please explain to me why no one thought to tell me about that.” He pointed with his left hand towards Tech and Phee. “Since when did Tech get- I mean how- just what exactly is that?”

“Oh… that.” You feigned a sudden realisation. “Huh, I guess they did get pretty close whilst we were staying here. How many dates was it before we had to leave, Hunter?”

Hunter matched your teasing tone. “Yeah, I don’t know. At least three or four- not that Tech truly realised that’s what they were. We really didn’t tell you?” He asked Crosshair, a smirk on his face.

“You two are impossible.” Crosshair groused before he walked down the ramp, muttering under his breath.

You laughed quietly as you watched him leave.

Hunter let out a low chuckle too as he brought you in closer to his side and he pressed his lips to the top of your head before you both walked out the ship.

--

Emerie observed the children from afar and was pleased to see them chasing the animals of the island and interacting with the Omega and the other young clones. “They’ve adapted quickly.” She said as Echo approached her side.

“Kids are resilient.”

“A childhood’s not something we ever had. Our lives have never been our own.”

“Until now. I’m heading to Pantora to help get some of the clones settled. I’m sure Senator Chuchi would find whatever you have to say very helpful for our cause.”

“I have a lot to make up for. I’d like to help out however I can.”

Echo rested a hand on her shoulder before he made for the shuttle once more.

Emerie followed a few paces behind.

--

As you and Hunter were making your way from the shuttle, Omega called out your name.

You paused and turned to see she had brought a group of kids over with her.

“These were the children I was telling you about. This is Eva, Jax, Sami and Bayrn.” She introduced each child in kind before she introduced you and said to them, “And this is my friend I told you about.”

“Hello.” You said warmly as they looked at you, both with curiosity and nervousness.

“I um, I filled them in on everything. I hope that’s okay.”

You nodded. “You contact Rex, I’ll catch up.” You said to Hunter whilst Omega went to go find Batcher. You crouched down in front of the remaining children. “Omega told me a lot about you too. I hear you all helped with her escape plan, that’s pretty impressive.” You said sincerely, keeping your voice tender and kind.

“Omega was the one that led it. It was all her. We didn’t do too much.” Jax said.

“A team is only as good as everyone in it. You all had a part to play, and you did it well.” You cleared your throat as you readied yourself for the next part. “Now, I know Omega has told you that I’m a Jedi, and did she tell you what that means?”

All of them nodded.

“Okay, that’s good. And I have to ask, have any of you ever like an object moved without you touching it, or you were somehow able to jump higher than you expected?”

You knew Baryn couldn’t really understand and wasn’t paying much attention as he babbled away in Sami’s arms, but you figured he was there for the same reasons as the rest of them nodded again.

“We’re going to look out for you whilst we work on getting you back to your families, but life will always be a bit different for you now, and you’ll still have to be careful. But I can teach you some things whilst you’re still here that should help and once you’re home, if you or your parents have any more questions, you’re welcome to come back.” You offered, smiling at them as they nodded. “Alright, that’s all from the grown up for today. Carry on exploring.” You said fondly before you stood up and went to rejoin Hunter and Omega

--

You, Hunter and Omega had taken up position by the weeping maya tree with Batcher lying by Omega’s side. You all watched as the clones walked around freely and the children from the vault got to enjoy being kids once more and it was a delightful sight to take in.

“With Hemlock gone and his data destroyed, they’re finally safe.” Omega said with relief.

“Mm-hmm.” Hunter agreed and released a relieved sigh of his own as the impact of that statement properly hit him. “And so are both of you.”

“Will it take long to find their families?”

“Rex and I are working on it, but we’ll look after them until then.”

“And that brings the adoptive parent tally up to eight- nine including Gungi.” You kidded affectionately before you laid down next to Hunter and rested your head in his lap.

“Like you didn’t just offer them that exact thing whilst I was speaking to him.” Hunter retorted playfully as he brushed the backs of his fingers across your cheek.

You stuck your tongue out at him before the sound of the shuttle powering up grabbed all of your attention. You raised your head and saw Echo getting ready to depart with some of the clones that wanted to continue the fight. All four of you dipped your heads and smiled in farewell.

“What about the rest of the clones?” Omega asked as she watched the shuttle leave. “Will they stay here on Pabu?”

“Well, it’s up to them. They’re free to follow their own path.” Hunter exhaled tiredly but kept his voice light as he said, “We’ve all fought enough battles for one lifetime. Now we get to choose who we want to be.”

“Like what?” Omega asked.

You smiled at Hunter and placed your head back down in his lap. You closed your eyes and let the sun’s warmth seep into your skin.

“Whatever we want, kid.” The girl leaned against his arm and his voice and face softened at the action, “Whatever we want.”

Then, as the Tech, Wrecker and Crosshair came to sit down with the three of you, Hunter stared down at your utterly content form and stroked a hand past your brow and through your hair.

He had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to be next.

Post S3 oneshot (to be posted)>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @arctrooper69, @andreaaxy, @notgonnaedit, @dominoeffectsworld, @allthingsimagines , @nightmonkeysstuff , @jellybeanstacey0519 , @callsign-denmark , @superbookishhufflepuff , @qvnthesia , @justsomerandompersonintheworld

Writing some Sith Hunter things. He’s a little crazy but that’s ok !! Insanity gives spice !!

Wrecker is also a Sith, he’s just (surprisingly) not as unhinged.

(Hunter cannot stand the voices, Wrecker has no idea what bro is talking about ???)

In other words, I love this murder duo

*if yall are wondering, yes, Hunter and wrecker have been force sensitive since they were cadets in this AU, however, tech isn’t. Crosshair is *slightly* force sensitive, but not nearly as much as the other two.

Also, Wrecker and Hunter believe Omega, Crosshair, and Tech, are all dead. They “watched them die”, and kinda tapped into the dark side subconsciously as a treat (they don’t know they are still alive, they can hardly feel their presence anymore (what the dark side does to a mf))

Echo got separated from all of them(thinks they are all dead), but is trying to locate the “ghost” and “wraith”, two force sensitive beings who have been slaughtering the Empires forces. (Surprise !! Crazy Hunter and Less crazy Wrecker jumpscare !!)

So is Werewolf!Hunter scared or nervous that he might hurt omega?

He is a creature born of the Sith, after all.

teehee I’m back to drawing bad batch thingsss— gonna be answering all of your lovely asks in my inbox as soon as I can!! Take this fun sketch of Hunter, and the fear of his more…fluffy, toothy side.

He is definitely afraid of hurting her. Bloodlust is built into the curse, and sometimes, his instincts become difficult to quell. It’s in moments such as these, that he has to take certain measures to ensure he doesn’t do anything he’ll come to regret.

New chapter! Heavy gore in this one, so be warned. 

If I made a discord server, how many of you would join?

It would be a place to easily reach me, I would probably live-stream WIPs, you’d get to hang around and talk to other clone simps, share your art, writings, headcanons, AUs, ocs, play some games, and just chat or hang around.

Fluff with werewolf hunter and omega please

Because I'm a sucker for fluff

Ask and ye shall receive! This was so cute to do! Idk why it took so long fr 💀 BUT I hope you like it ❤️❤️ thank you for requesting 😩😭💞💞

The quality decreases as you go on but SHH

Send me more asks about werewolf Hunter doing werewolf Hunter things I like it

Me ignoring canon so my fanfiction can exist

Chapter 5 babyyyy 

please leave comments i love to read them and screenshot them to my phone so i can read them later at school

Werewolf Lore

Some stuff about the loth-werewolves in my fanfiction, and their history concerning the dark side/their origin!

A “curse” created by an ancient Sith Lord, who experimented on loth wolves from lothal in her laboratory on a moon deep in the territory of the Sith Empire. She was well versed in Sith alchemy more so than combat.

She wanted to serve the empire by providing it with soldiers that were made for dispatching force users specifically, and she had always been fascinated with the mysterious and archaic loth wolves who had been observed to have some connection to the force.

Using prisoners of war, volunteers, and kidnapping random civilians, she tested her experiments on many different species, including: togruta, Twi’lek, human, Sith, ugnaught, chiss, etc

Not everyone survived the transformations, and many died

The successful ones were studied excessively

However, the Sith and her apprentice mysteriously went missing, and it is believed her own creations destroyed her

Some cursed people escaped, and inevitably the curse spread to some extent in the outer rim.

Curiously, the loth wolves and loth werewolves all declined in number, and many infer that the Jedi set out to dispatch them in secret, however, the true reason is unknown.

Obviously, some remained.

Details on the curse

Most information about the werewolf illness is hidden in the deepest crypts of the Jedi archive, and is inaccessible to the public. Some information can be gathered from questionable sites on the Holonet, and old folktales.

Transformations are very, very painful. Most people do not survive the first shift. Only the strongest survive- a byproduct of the Sith’s lust for power.

Can be transmitted through bites(it’s in the saliva).

Transformations can be triggered by: a full moon, force sensitives nearby, and intense emotions (anger, rage, hate, sadness, aggression/agitation, anxiety/stress, and even extreme joy). This makes having a normal life exceedingly difficult.

There are rumors that “wolfsbane”, an alien herb, may have some effect on them, but the exact effect is unknown.

In human form, the werewolf may have intense cravings for meat. Additionally, non-meat foods are revolting, and become difficult to keep down.

As a human, they gain increased sight, smell, taste, and hearing. They are also more prone to out bursts of anger. Again, a byproduct of the nature of the Sith.

Space travel is almost impossible to achieve without randomly turning, and is very annoying to go through. Sometimes, though, a trip may be void of shifting, if they are lucky.

In their wolf form, they become violent and have an insatiable hunger. They have little to no memory of what they do in this state.

However, there is a possibility that the rational human mind can break free, and regain control.

Werewolves are very big and tall, but when on all fours, are slightly smaller than regular loth wolves.

Werewolves lack the pack mentality Loth Wolves have.

A couple days or even hours before a full moon, the person may experience fever-like symptoms and body aches.

Werewolves have hands and fingers, which can grasp things and even open doors! Yay!

As a result of being infected by the curse, the midichlorian count in their blood slightly increases. They cannot use the force, but are more resistive to force attacks and can track down force users easily.

In human form, they have longer than normal canines, and have tapetum lucidium at night.

Extra, Random Information:

There are rumors of a cure

The Jedi refuse to talk about the werewolves

The galaxy assumed werewolves were just cool, fictional horror stories

The wilderness makes werewolves have more feral, violent behavior, but they are least likely to attack a human in the open expanse of the woods.

It can be genetically transferred (ie: you have kids, or you get cloned; most likely, the clone is a werewolf, and so is your kid)

Planets that have a strong darkside presence may cause a werewolf to shift. Planets with a strong lightside presence also provoke shifting, but the werewolf may become violently ill.

Werewolves have increased rates of healing, which make them incredibly difficult to kill.

Silver has no effect on them.

Hunter hates everything about being a werewolf lol.

The increase in his senses coupled with his enhanced mutation is not tasty.

Chapter 4 is out!

💃💃✨✨

They really gave Omega her first sugary drink while Hunter was sleeping smh (they are gonna regret it later when the sugar starts hitting different and she becomes a true gremlin)

Saw this pic and had to draw it with fluffy Hunter

I thought this was kinda cute lol

chapter 3 is now up! 👀

Tech is probably letting him know he doesn’t look that great lol

Just posted Chapter Two! :D

He just like me after the fitness gram pacer test fr

First chapter out now! :D

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars - All Media Types Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Hunter & Omega (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Crosshair & CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo & Hunter & Omega & Tech & Wrecker (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Crosshair & Echo & Hunter & Omega & Tech & Wrecker (Star Wars: The Bad Batch) Characters: Hunter (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Tech (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Wrecker (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo, Omega (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Crosshair (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Cid (Star Wars: The Bad Batch) Additional Tags: Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Werewolves, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, werewolf!Hunter, Loth-Wolves (Star Wars), more characters come out later, Hunter Whump (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Hurt Hunter (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Hurt Tech (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Hurt CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo, Hurt Wrecker (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Omega Needs a Hug (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Hunter Needs A Hug (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Parental Hunter (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Sith Alchemy (Star Wars), The Dark Side of the Force (Star Wars), Imperial Crosshair (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Hurt/Comfort, crosshair appears later on, for now we focus on hunters little predicament, How Do I Tag, this fic came from the dark depths of my werewolf obsessed mind, hope yall like angsty werewolf transformations, because thats all we serve here, Crash Landing Summary:

When the Batch crash land on the outer rim planet of Sorgan, they discover things are not what they seem. Hunter, having been separated and injured from the crash, must fight to defend himself from a creature born of the hatred of the Sith, seeking to spread its beastly curse to the next vessel- himself. Now forced to deal with the excruciating and dangerous ailment, the Batch and Hunter must find a cure all the while evading the Empire, who will do whatever it takes to make him their next weapon.

Some sketches pertaining to werewolf! Hunter.

I feel like Tech would definitely try his best to research everything about the dark side of the force and Sith alchemy, mostly to find anything that can help cure his brother (and, of course, just because it’s very interesting to read about and he genuinely enjoys learning new things). But the content he’s delving into is probably less than appropriate for children, especially considering all the violence, dismemberment, etc, (you know, Sith things) that are all over his research. Spooky stuff, and not meant for Omega, lol.

I also think it would be pretty curious if the Jedi and the republic destroyed or kept all Sith documents pertaining to werewolf stuff under heavy security(Tech can get through (probably.. maybe) but it’s gonna be a hassle). Honestly, they might’ve just destroyed everything about the Sith and their discoveries as a way to purge their influence from the galaxy, but I think they could’ve kept a few things, right? *wink wink*

Finally, there’s Hunter writhing in agony 👍. Werewolf transformations are not pleasant, that is for sure.

The transformations run on a full moon cycle, and should occur once a month. However, during space travel, they become spontaneous and unpredictable, making intergalactic transportation a rather grueling and painful experience(trust me, he’d know).

(Cid would bully him about being a wolf man thing but in all honesty, she does feel bad for him 💀)

(I should be able to post the first chapter really soon! I just need to do some final edits to smooth it out)(writing is hard sometimes 💀)

Omega and Hunter have an unfortunate encounter with zygerrian slavers, he goes a lil cray cray, and so here we are 💃💃💃

A lil’ something for shits n’ giggles.

Had this “comic” idea in my head for a long time and I finally decided to do it 👹👹

Still trying to figure out how to draw Hunter, but I’ll figure it out one day 💀

He’s just hungry fr.

It’s difficult being a space werewolf- you never know if the planet you’re going to has a full moon or not. Makes not destroying your clothes a lot harder.

ALSO- he usually has control when hes in his werewolf form (besides the first night 🗿that’s also the day he destroyed his armor lmao, now he gets the new drip in season 2) but since it’s a curse created by an ancient Sith Lord, and he is supposed to be a dangerous beast, sometimes he’ll have darker urges that become difficult to quell(such as slaughtering normal ppl and attacking force sensitives lmao).

Hope y’all enjoy my cringe ❤️

The first chapters for my fic should be releasing soon!! Just trying to make enough content to keep y’all entertained till I can write more and release chapters at a reasonable rate.

Some werewolf Hunter brain rot from my fic

It’s not my fault I love the werewolf genre I swear

I had to fight the intrusive thoughts that were yelling at me to put his skull tattoo on his fur bc we all know that’s not how it works

...but should I add it?? 💀🤚

Love Against the Odds

Pairing: Tech x F! Reader.

Warnings: Fake Dating. Modern Universe. Smut/ Fluff. Sexual tension.

A/N: Hi everyone!! I hope you’re enjoying reading this modern au. There will be smut in the future chapters. I’m in the process of writing one chapter at a time. I do have an outline of the story! I do post on A03 too! Anyways please heart and let me know if I made any mistakes. <3

Summary: Tech and reader discuss the contract over a dinner date.

Chapter 4

Waking up the sound of your cat purring on your chest. You slowly open your eyes. The sun peaking through your blinds. Petting your cat softly as your cat sits in your lap. Finally getting out of the bed, you stretch your arms. You walk over to the kitchen to feed your cat who is meowing at you.

“Ok ok relax I hear you.” You say putting the cat food in the bowl. You watch your cat eat the food right away. Smiling to yourself as you walk over to your room. You pick up your phone seeing two notifications. One was from Hera and another was from Tech. Your heart skips a beat when seeing tech’s notification. Opening the message right away.

“Good Morning. I have made reservations for dinner tonight. I will pick you up.”

You sit on your bed. Thinking of what to respond to your fake boyfriend. Tilting your head as you text back.

“Good morning Tech. Ok I’ll see you soon.” You hit send as you walk back to your kitchen. You make yourself a breakfast. Another buzz comes from your phone. Seeing another text from Hera and Tech. You completely forgot to respond to Hera. Opening her message first.

“Hey! I hope you had a good night last night! I’m sorry I was not able to chat with you much.”

Another message.

“I hope my boss wasn’t to terrible to you.”

Your eyes widen. Remembering Tech is Heras boss. You debate on telling her the truth or coming up with a lie. If you told her the truth she could get mad going along with techs bizarre agreement. If you lie she wouldn’t have to know and it could just be a secret between you and tech. Taking a deep breath coming up with a reply.

“Heyy! It was all good Hera it wasn’t so bad. Your boss was fine.” You hit send. Feeling guilty for lying to your best friend. You chuckle a bit at your wording “fine” Tech was definitely fine. He was rather good looking with his soft brown eyes and his jawline…You shake your head from this thought. Going back to feeling guilty about lying to Hera. You never lied to her before. Sitting down on your kitchen table not being able to finish your breakfast. You open Techs message now.

“Yes see you soon. I will be there at five o’ clock.”

You take a minute for yourself deciding not text back. You just put a thumbs up on his message. Putting your phone down. You go sit on your couch. Turning on the tv to a series you were watching. Your cat napping next to you. Taking a photo of your adorable cat sleeping. Brighting up your mood as you look at the pictures. You turn your attention to the tv then grabbing your laptop. Scrolling and replying to work related emails.

After finishing up some work on your laptop. You yawn and look at the time on your laptop. Seeing that is it almost time for you to go on your date with Tech. Shutting your laptop down, looking over at your cat who is still sound asleep. A simple no responsibilities in the world.You roll your eyes.

“Oh how nice it is to be a cat.” You say while petting softly. You walk back to your room to get ready. Unsure of what to wear on your fake date. Still finding it weird on the wording fake date. You chuckle while looking through clothes in your closet. Pulling out a short white and black dress. Throwing it on debating to wear a blue dress or the one you have one. Trying them both on. The blue dress was too long and you weren’t in the mood to wear a long dress. You decide to go with the short black and white dress. The dress was fitted exactly for you. The short length and low cut design accentuates your curves and emphasizes your fitting style. Your breast cleavage being shown a bit more than usual. You hurry to the bathroom to do your hair. Afterwards, grabbing your bag and slight a bit of perfume. You see Techs black gloves on the table where your phone is at. Smiling at how thoughtful he was last night to let you wear them. Shoving the gloves in your bag. You hear a knock on the door. You quickly realize the time and know it’s Tech.

You smile to yourself before you open the door. Your heart skips a beat. Finally you get the courage to open the door. Checking him out. Tech would is well-put together and well-groomed. His black wool turtle neck with some nice charcoal trousers. His black trench coat keeping him from being cold. He fixes his glasses to check you out quickly and secretly. Your eyes still on him. It shows he was wanting present himself in the best light possible on this fake date. Tech clears his throat.

“you dressed up nice. We should be heading to our reservation now.” Tech says bluntly as he’s looking at you. He can’t help but admire your eyes. The dress making your eyes and body pop. He quickly looks at his phone to stop himself from looking at you. You chuckle at his somewhat nice compliment.

“You look nice yourself Tech. Where are we going?” You say a bit excited to go. You and Tech walk to his car. He opens the passenger door for you. Thanking him as he closed the door. He gets in the car and quickly puts on the car heater.

“I assume you’re cold. I put on the heater just incase. Mhm. I made us reservations at a restaurant with a rooftop bar and grill. The food is terrific. From what I heard. I looked into the reviews.” Tech says as he drives off. You smile at him. Tech doesn’t notice as he’s paying close attention to the road.

“Sounds like a fun date to me.”

Tech taps his fingers on the wheel. He looks over at you. “Remember this is not a real date. We are negotiating on our fake relationship.”

Your heart drops a little. You nod your head. Brushing it off. Chuckling to yourself.

“I know tech. I’m teasing you.” You say softly .

Techs attention still on the road. His fingers are tapping the wheel still. “Oh. It can be rather difficult for me to understand this sort of teasing.”

“Oh tech I understand.” You say feeling a bit bad.

“Mhmm. Pheraps if we agree to this negotiation. I can learn more about this teasing. with you….” Tech says while driving into a parking garage. Smiling softly to himself.

You see him smiling. You can’t help but think how his smile is beautiful. Even if it was a half smile there was just something about it. You felt like a sense of accomplishment every time he smiled. It made you want to keep a smile on his face as long as you could. As Tech finds a parking spot and finally parks. Both of you exit the car together. You can’t help but notice his height. He sure was taller than you. He’s tall and polite. Youd can’t help it but notice these things. Tech puts his hand on your back as he guides you to the restaurant. The restaurant is crowded and filled with customers. He holds your back close so you don’t get lost in the crowd. Finally reaching the hostess desk. Tech tells the hostess his reservation time. Both of you wait a few minutes till the hostess takes both of you to a private table on the rooftop.

The private table is a viewing of the beautiful sunset rooftop restaurant. It is the epitome of sophistication. The sunset is like a painting with the sound of light jazz music in the background. The stunning skyline with the cotton candy sky. You can’t help it but recognize the atmosphere is romantic. It’s creating a cozy and intimate feeling. The private table is a soft glow with the chic decor. The roof makes the space feel open and airy, accentuated by the sounds of the city below and the gentle breeze of the air. You smile at the sight. Tech looks up at from menu and he starts staring at you.

Tech can’t help but feel a bit of pressure in his heart. He never felt this before. Maybe it was the breakfast he ate in the morning. He can’t help but capture the beauty of the sunset. Then there was you. Just sitting right in front of him while you’re unaware of his admiration. His eyes were on you. His brown honey eyes in a form of admiration just on you. Looking at your soft lips to your eyes. He couldn’t help but admire the beauty. He catches himself looking at you longer than expected. Looking back at the menu. He breaks the silence.

“How are you enjoying the view?” Tech ask while he looks down at the menu.

“It’s definitely really pretty. I love how the sunset looks like cotton candy.” You say while picking up your menu.

“Ah yes. The sunset does look rather nice.” Tech says as he looks up to admire the sunset. Noticing the pink clouds do look like cotton candy.

“What made you pick this place out Tech?” You ask curious why would he take you to an expensive restaurant instead of somewhere less expensive.

“It is rather private. I have now done research on where to take a women on dates. I guess you can say.” Tech says confidently. Pulling out his phone to show the research he’s been doing. He is so confident in himself.

“Wow tech, I’m impressed that you done research for someone who says they don’t have time for dating.” You say teasing him.

“It is only because I want to this plan to work. If we are convincing enough, others will believe our fake relationship is real.” Tech puts his phone down. Paying his attention to you.

The waiter comes to take both of your guys other. Bringing out both of your drinks. You decided to just go with a simple water. Unsure if you should order anything else. Tech looks at you while you order. You swear it feels like he’s studying you.

“Is there something wrong?” You ask Tech while taking a sip of your drink.

“No. If you would like to order anything else you want go ahead and order.”

“Oh, I’m okay for right now. Thanks.” You say with a soft smile.

“Very well then… We should go over our contract.” Tech says while pulling out some paperwork.

Your eyes wide at the amount of paperwork there is. You look around making sure nobody is looking. Realizing the table you’re both sitting at is private and away from most people.

“That is a lot of paperwork Tech. You want me to go over all this?” You say grabbing the paperwork. Scheming through the papers.

“Obviously, it is a contract for a reason.” Tech says while watching you go through the paperwork.

You roll your eyes. Looking through the paperwork. Everything seemed normal nothing weird in the contract. Just the basics on not telling anyone about this. Agreeing to go on dates and events with Tech. You notice in the contract this fake relationship will last only 6 months. Looking back up at Tech. He is busy answering work emails on his phone.

“If you have any questions. Don’t be imitated go ask.” Tech says tapping away on his phone.

“Who said I was imitated? What if I want you to come with me for my own work events?” You ask with a bit of sass as you raise one of your eyebrows.

Tech stops tapping on his phone as he looks up at you. “Yes, this contract includes us both. Not just on my personal behalf.”

You nod your head. Continuing to read more of the contract. You see at the end of the contract in bold “Cannot fall in love.” You chuckle a bit reading that line. Tech hears you chuckle. He looks at you a bit concerned if he made an error.

“Is there some type of error?”

“No, I just thought it was a bit funny how you put “cannot fall in love” in the contract.” You say smiling at him.

Tech fixes his glasses. “I do not see the appeal on your amusement. It is a clear message on both of us agreeing not to fall in love.”

“Okay but what if we do fall in loveee?” You asking teasing him a bit. Trying to keep your laugh quiet as possible. You see Tech got a bit little flustered. He looks at his phone.

“Will not happen. Like, I stated before I do not have time for romance.” Tech says to you with a serious face.

You smile at him. “I know Tech. I’m just teasing you. Something you will get use to in our fake relationship. Everything in the contract looks good.”

He makes eye contact with you. A little smile appearing on his face but goes back to being serious. “Very well then. Just sign the agreement and we’ll continue discussing. I have an extra copy for you to keep, but it is in my car. After dinner I will hand your copy of the contract.” Tech says putting away his phone away.

The waiter comes back with both your meals. Sitting the plates right in front of you both. The waiter ask if you both want to order anything else. Tech shakes his head and the waiter looks at you. You smirk at tech.

“I’ll actually take a berry martini. Thank you.” You say to the waiter. He nods and goes to get your drink. Tech looks at you and takes a bite of his food. The waiter comes back with your drink. You thank the waiter once again.

“Do you want a sip Tech?”

Tech shakes his head no. “Not my ideal drink.”

“What is your ideal drink then?” You ask while taking a sip of the berry martini. Tasting the fruity drink on your lips.

“It depends on the mood. If I’m having a nice meal I will go with a vintage wine. Perhaps a classic shaken gin martini.”

You listen to him talking about his ideal drinks. “Oh come on tech this is basically a martini, but it has vodka not gin.”

Tech chuckles at your persistence to make him try new flavor. “I do not enjoy sweet alcoholic beverages. But, If you insist I will take a sip.”

You smile excitedly at him agreeing. You hand him the berry martini. An intriguing purple-pink color from the blueberries. Watching him take a sip of the drink. He looks at the drink and puts the glass to his lips. Taking a small sip and licking his lips. A rush of berry flavor bursting into his mouth. Slight of bitterness from the alcohol beneath. You look at him waiting for his response.

“That was rather bitter, but delicious. I quite enjoyed the drink.” Tech says while handing you back your drink. You smile in success.

“Yes! I had a feeling you would like it. Since we’re going to be in a fake relationship expect to experience new things.” You say while taking a bite of your food.

Tech nods his head. “Yes, we both will. Speaking of our fake relationship. We both do agree on not telling anyone about this.”

You finish chewing your food. “I don’t plan on telling anyone tech. You should’ve told me you were Heras boss in the beginning.”

“Yes, I formally apologize for not being truthful. If it makes you uncomfortable we can stop this fake relationship before I put the paperwork with my lawyer.”

“No no I’m comfortable, but you should’ve told me.” You say seriously.

Tech looks at you with a bit of guilt in his eyes. “Yes, I do apologize. When do you plan to Hers about us seeing each other.”

You didn’t even think of telling Hera right away. Or even thought about bringing it up. “I was hoping I could tell her before anyone else does. Hopefully I’m able to see her soon.”

Tech looks at you then takes a bite of his food. “Very well then. I will let you deal with that situation.”

You smile at him. Both of you finish up your food. The meal was absolutely delicious and did not leave you feeling bloated. Tech excuses himself to use the restroom. You sit at the table alone. Deciding to go on your phone. Seeing a message from Hera.

“Hey! Are you busy tonight?”

You quickly reply. “Yess I’m having dinner with a friend.” It wasn’t much of a lie. You could consider tech as your friend. Even though it will be shown to others as if you’re together. You sigh. Already receiving a reply from Hera.

“A friend?! Tell me all about it when you get home”

You decide not to reply. Thinking of what to say to her later. You groan slightly and lean your head on the palm of your hand. Looking down at your phone scrolling through social media. You hear your name being called. You quickly look up expecting to see Tech, but you see your ex Anakin. Your eyes wide open. Looking around to see if Tech was already coming back. You get up from your chair to give Anakin a slight hug. Anakin smile is wide as he places his hands on your elbows.

“You look amazing! How have you been?” Anakin says with a smile on his face. His blue eyes looking into your eyes.

“I’ve been okay! You know me busy busy with work. How are you?” You say a bit awkward.

“I’ve been good. I recently started a project with Obiwan. He’s been teaching as a professor at some university. Busy myself.” Anakin says.

“That’s wonderful to hear. Glad you both are getting along again.” You say softly. You look to make sure Tech isn’t back yet.

“Yeah it’s been tough. Anyways, are you here with Hera or a coworker?” Anakin says with a bright smile.

“Oh no actually I’m on a date.” You say nodding your head. You sit back down on your chair. Feeling a bit awkward using the word date since it wasn’t a real date.

“You’re back on the dating scene? That’s great. I hope I’m not interrupting. But, I don’t see him. Would he mind if I sat down in his chair?” Anakin sits before you could say anything.

“Um Anakin I don’t think you should. He’s my boyfriend actually.” Looking at Anakins reaction who looks rather mad that you moved on. “I see.” Anakin replies.

Tech comes back from the restroom. He had to take a business call but didn’t want to be rude. He had a confused face on why a man is sitting in his seat. An eyebrow raised as he rushes to table thinking the guy is a weirdo trying to make you uncomfortable. Tech clears his throat. His eyesbrows narrowed down.

“Excuse me, you’re in my seat.” Tech says coldly. A pinch of annoyance in his face.

Anakin looks at tech and scoffs. Anakin looks at you. “It was great seeing you again. If you ever want to catch up. You can give me a call.” Anakin says to you and leaves the table.

Your eyes move to the side. You sense tech feeling a bit confused on what happened. Looking at tech who is a bit annoyed on the situation.

“That was my ex boyfriend. I didn’t expect to see him here.” You say playing with your fingers.

“I see. No wonder why he glared at him.” Tech says while he sits in his chair. He looks at you. “Did you tell him we were together?” Tech says with a slight grin.

“He glared at you? Yeah I told him I was on a date. Nothing about our agreement.” You say softly.

Tech nods. “Good. Why did you two break up if you don’t mind me asking?” Tech looks at the table anakin was sitting at. Anakin was with a group of friends. He could feel anakins eyes on them.

You chuckle thinking of what to say. “We both just didn’t work well together. Just wasn’t feeling it.” You finish drinking your berry martini.

Tech nods at your response. Trying to understand the concept of relationship issues. Tech makes eye contact with Anakin. He looks back at you and places his hand on top of yours. You jolt a bit from the warmth of his hand.

“If we want this fake relationship to work. We have to make it look clear we’re together.” Tech says as he runs his thumb over your hand. You can’t help but feel a pile of butterflies in your stomach. The warmth of his hand feeling the coldness of your hands. You both make eye contact and smile at one another.

“Yeah you’re right about that.” You say looking at techs honey brown eyes.

“Of course, I am.” He says handing his card to the waiter. His right hand not leaving your hand. He sees anakin staring at you both. Now ignoring him as he puts his attention on you.

You both thank the waiter for his service. Tech puts his hand on your back. Guiding you out of the crowded restaurant. You can’t help but like the feeling of his hand on your back. Both of you walk back to his car. As he opens the car door for you again. Smiling at his generous gesture. As tech drives off to your place. You remember you still have his gloves.

“Tech, I can’t forgot to give you back your gloves last night.” You say looking at him driving.

His eyes turn to you. “Keep them. I read an article on how girlfriends keep a piece of their partners clothing as a form of comfort.”

You laugh. “Usually it’s a shirt or a jacket. Not always gloves but I’ll keep them on since I’m cold.”

“Oh. Perhaps I can let you borrow a jacket sometime.” Tech says with a small grin. As he turns lanes while driving.

“Great. I’m still keeping the gloves though.” Laughing a bit as you put on his gloves. Feeling the coldness leave your hands as you wear techs gloves.

Tech laughs softly. “The next time we meet. We need to discuss more about ourselves. Just incase others ask or tend to notice we don’t know much about each others interests.”

You nod your head agreeing. Looking out the window. Watching the stars as tech drives you home. Slight of excitement fills you as you think of knowing more about tech. You were curious to know more about his background and interest.

Tech parks in front of your place. You smile at him as he’s about to get down to walk you to the door.

“You don’t have to walk me to the door tech. It’s okay.”

Tech looks at you and nods. “I will watch you to make sure you get in safe.”

You smile and get out of the car. You walk to the front of your building. Looking back at him watching you from afar in the car. You smile and wave. You see him smile as you walk inside.

Closing the door behind you. A pit of hope fills your empty heart. You can’t help but wonder on how it would be if any of the dates were real. You sigh. Remembering you can’t fall for him. There’s a knock on your door. You open the door and see it’s tech. A pinch of excitement over takes you.

“Tech? What happened?”

Tech hands you the contract. “You see I lost in my thoughts while driving here. I forgot to give your extra copy of the contract.”

You take the contact from his hands. “Tech, you could’ve just gave it to me the next time we saw each other.” You laugh a bit.

He fixes his glasses. “Yes, I could’ve done that.” You smile at him. Your cat meows at tech. You bend over to pick up your cat.

“Fascinating. Cats are unpredictable creatures, which makes them interesting to observe. They can be fun and playful, but also aloof and independent creatures. Their unpredictable nature fascinates me.” Tech says as he studied your cat.

You think it’s cute how hes rambling on about cats. A bit impressed on the information he just told you. “Tech, you can pet my cat if you would like.”

Tech realizes he was rambling. He fixes his glasses. “I apologize for my ramble. Sometimes I can get ahead of myself.” Tech slowly puts his hand softly on your cats head. As he brushes the soft fur of your cat. Causing your cat to purr in your arms.

“Don’t worry about it tech. I find it really interesting when you info dump.” You say looking at him. His turtleneck making his shoulders look good. “My cat likes you. Usually my cat hides or doesn’t want to be pet.” You say staring at tech. He continues petting your cat.

Tech looks back at you and stops petting. He smiles and nods. “Great to know. I always wanted a cat but never have the time.”

“Now that you have a fake girlfriend. My cat is your cat for the next 6 months.” You say joking with him.

He laughs. “I should be heading home. Goodnight.” Tech smiles at you and leaves. Closing the door softly as you finally put your cat back down on the floor. You put the contract on the table as you go feed your cat.

After feeding your cat. You go get dressed to head to bed. Laying down and yawning. You remember you forgot to text back Hera. Thinking of what to say.

“It was a coworker. We had to catch up to talk about a client.” You hit send. Yawning a bit. Your phone buzzing seeing a message from Tech.

“Goodnight. I will text you details on our next date.” You grin at the message. “Okay. Goodnight tech.” You hit send as you put your phone on do not disturb.

Thinking of techs brown eyes looking into your eyes. You can’t help but fantasize on what his lips feel like. Were they soft? Would his kisses be harsh? The way his lips took a small sip of your drink. Wanting to taste the drink off his lips. You slowly feel your eyes drift to sleep. Finally falling asleep.