starry-crossing-zone

[starry-crossing-zone]

Love Finds a Way - Hunter (Part 2)

Summary: Hunter and the rest of the Bad Batch tries to help you restore your memories. Length: 3.6k Warnings: Mentions of Jedi Purge; Mentions of Death; Amnesia; Scars; Angst; Female Jedi Reader

Part 1

Hunter stood in the entryway of the cockpit with his arms folded across his chest. You sat in the co-pilot chair as Echo and Tech asked questions about what you remembered.

Hunter tried to appear stoic, serious, and focused on the mission at hand. But yet his gaze was soft as he watched you explain your memories. He studied your mannerisms and listened to every intonation of your words. And yet, he found that his close analysis only made the situation more difficult to stomach.

It made his skin crawl when he heard the accent of the planet reflect in your words. Or the way that you sat slumped in your seat. You did not carry yourself like a Jedi general with several hard-fought victories under your belt. You were a negotiator. You were an ambassador. You rarely dropped your composure and were cool under fire.

But the you before him wasn’t you. It was your face and your body, but yet it wasn’t. You were nervous and fidgety. You were constantly running your hands down your pants to wipe the sweat off and your voice never rose above a certain level. 

Hunter thought that it was hard to grieve you. But now he realized that this was somehow worse.

“Byn found me unconscious on the bank of the river that runs north of the village. There’s a lot of berries that grow there, and it’s not uncommon for villagers to go up there to pick them. But I have no idea of how I ever got there in the first place.”

“And about five klicks from where you were last seen,” Echo noted, reading through the Imperial report.

“The river appears to be part of a larger tributary network,” Tech cut in, tying away at his datapad. “There are several water sources that flow south from a mountain range.” He stood up from his seat and a hologram of the planet appeared in the center of the cockpit. “And if we overlay the crash location with the tributary network, it appears that the crash site is above a lake that is part of the network.”

Tech pointed at the red point on the map. You slowly stood up and stepped towards the hologram, studying the map with furrowed eyebrows. Hunter, trying to not get distracted by how the light reflected off your eyes, watched you with concern.

“It would make most sense to start at the crash site.” Echo stood up and moved to stand beside you in front of the hologram. “We can search for the wreckage and see if there are any clues that can help trigger your memories.”

You nodded firmly. “Let’s do that.”

It was the most like you that you had sounded since Hunter found you again.

“Then let’s not delay,” Tech agreed, already typing in the coordinates of the crash site.

As Tech began the flight sequence, you slowly retook your seat in the co-pilot’s chair. Turning, you stared out at the darkened landscape and fiddled with your fingers.

Echo turned to do some more research into the explosion when he spotted Hunter staring at the back of your head. With a sigh, Echo walked over to Hunter and stood beside him. Echo glanced in your direction before turning to Hunter.

“How are you holding up?” Echo asked quietly, keeping his voice low.

“I’m fine.”

Hunter felt Echo’s stare of disbelief and turned to meet his gaze. With another nudge, Hunter sighed and ran a hand down his face. He pushed himself off of the wall and turned around, heading back to the barracks. And with one last glance between you and Tech, Echo moved to follow him. Hunter leaned against the console and stared at the floor.

“I just hope that we can find some answers for her,” he admitted quietly, causing Echo to nod.

“That’s what all of us want. And that’s what we’re all going to try to do.” Echo studied Hunter’s body language for a moment before he stepped forward and gently grabbed Hunter’s shoulder. The sergeant picked his head up at the contact. “Try to get some rest, Hunter. You need it.”

Echo gave Hunter’s shoulder a squeeze before he turned to return to the cockpit. Hunter watched Echo leave before his eyes wandered over to you. You smiled at Tech as the two of you discussed the mechanics of the Marauder. And when Hunter felt his jealousy spike at the fact that you hadn’t smiled at him, he shook his head and decided that Echo was right. He did need some rest.

With a heavy heart, Hunter stood up and walked into the barracks to go mope by himself and dream of a different, simpler time.

*~*~*~*~*

Hunter stepped out of the barracks when the Marauder began its landing sequence. You stood up from your seat when the ship touched down. As you waited for the doors to open, you locked eyes with Hunter. The two of you held each other’s stares, searching for some kind of familiarity that continued to elude you, until Tech cut into the moment.

“This is about as close as to the location of the crash that we can reach, as the actual explosion occurred in the air above the planet’s surface.”

“Explosion?” you asked, causing Tech to nod in confirmation. In a passing comment, you muttered under your breath, “No wonder my hair was singed.”

And although no one else heard it, Hunter did. The small comment made his fists clench and his jaw lock before he forced the muscles to relax. Instead, he tried to focus on Omega as the rest of the Bad Batch stepped off the Marauder.

Staring out at the small lake, you glanced up at the sky as if you were trying to remember the explosion. You stepped further from the group, tuning out Wrecker, Tech, and Echo’s discussion of investigating the area. Your eyes dropped to the surface of the lake.

“Wait.”

Blinking back to the present, you looked down to see Hunter’s hand wrapped around your bicep. It took another moment, but you suddenly realized that you were standing knee-deep in the lake. Hunter stared at you worriedly, trying to read your expression.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know.” You trailed off as you turned to look back into the lake. It was clear and warm from the season, but there was a drop off to a darker depth. A depth that you needed to see. “But there’s something down there that’s calling to me.”

“Calling how?”

“I don’t know how to describe it.” You turned back to Hunter with hope shining in your eyes. “But I need to go down there. I need to see what’s calling me.”

Turning to where Tech and Echo were standing, you walked out of the lake and out of Hunter’s grasp. Despite the fact that you left, his hand remained in the same position, holding onto the ghost of your past self.

“Tech, do you have underwater masks?”

“Certainly,” Tech piped up as Hunter turned around quickly.

“You can’t go down there,” Hunter stated firmly and with a sense of finality.

It was in that moment that the galaxy seemed to stop. Omega and Echo both winced, clearly having seen the change in your expression, and shared a look. Wrecker even appeared a bit scared as you slowly turned around to glare in Hunter’s direction.

It seemed that even if you didn’t have all your memories, you reacted just the same way to demands. Unreasonable demands, you would have said.

Your eyes narrowed dangerously and for a moment, Hunter could see a peek into your past self. The general who conducted herself with an impeccable sense of power and prestige. You did not back down and you were not one to cower away from a fight, no matter the opponent. You were a fierce warrior and negotiator and you never took kindly to being ordered around.

“Excuse me? What do you mean that I can’t go?”

There was a beat of silence before Hunter replied, “We don’t know what’s down there.”

“Congratulations, Sergeant, you just discovered the reason why I need to go down there.” Turning back to Tech, who was typing away at his datapad, you asked, “Can I have that equipment, Tech?”

“It’s too dangerous,” Hunter continued, walking closer to you. You turned around at the sound of his footsteps and stared him down. “You could get hurt.”

“I already got hurt. I didn’t have this scar the last time that you saw me, did I?” You gestured to your jagged scar, which caused Hunter to look away, pained at the reminder. Trying to quell your annoyance, you stated, “I need answers. And I’m not going to find them up here.”

“Then let us go down there for you.”

“No,” you snapped back. “These are my memories. My life. If anyone is going down there, it’s me.” Hunter could hear how hard your heart was beating in your chest with anger towards him. “Would you have trusted her instincts?”

Hunter slowly turned to meet your gaze again. There was that spark, that fire that drew him to you—well, the old you—in the first place. Your tenacity, your refusal to give up, to give in. There was always a way and you never stopped until you found it. And that little spark, that little fire, glowed bright in your eyes as you awaited his answer.

“Without question,” he responded quietly.

“Then trust mine.” Your figure relaxed and you slowly unhunched your shoulders. Holding Hunter’s gaze once more, you added, “If you want me to get my memories back, if you want the old me that you knew and remember, then you have to let me go.”

Let you go? Could he?

The last time that he saw you—well, the old you—you were in the process of being shipped out to some Outer Rim mission without them. A clone battalion needed a Jedi general after their last one was killed in battle and you were the closest and most capable replacement. The orders came with urgency and you barely had any time to say goodbye.

He had let you go then and what happened?

He lost you. You got hurt. The entire galaxy flipped on its head. He lost Crosshair. Bodies stacked up and there didn’t seem to be an end to the suffering.

But as you suited up and prepared to dive to the crash site, Hunter felt just as powerless as he had the first time that he read the report of your supposed death. If he stopped you, he risked alienating you forever and never reawakening the side of you that he remembered. That he loved. And if he let you go, you could get hurt. You could be lost forever.

Either way he lost, just as he had with every decision since the fall of the Republic.

“You can communicate with us at all times,” Tech assured you as you zipped up the suit. “And should you need to resurface quickly, press that button.”

“Thank you, Tech.”

With one last glance in Hunter’s direction, you placed the helmet over your head and turned for the water. Stepping slowly into the water you took a deep breath to steady yourself before you dove down.

“She’ll be alright, Hunter,” Omega assured him, leaning against him. Hunter merely nodded in reply, not trusting his voice.

Meanwhile, below the water’s surface, you swam deeper. The light from your helmet allowed you to see the bottom of the lake. Kicking along, you paused when the light reflected off something in the sand. You hovered over the lakebed. Staring at the shiny piece of metal in the sand, you gently brushed your hand over it.

You sucked in a sharp breath when the symbol of the Republic appeared before you.

“Everything alright?” Tech’s voice echoed through your helmet.

“Fine.” You looked along the lakebed and found a deeper canyon. And that call seemed to tug at you again, only this time it was even more powerful. “I’m going deeper.”

Swimming into the canyon, you uncovered more wreckage. Pieces of metal and other materials from a ship that had been blown up. And when you found the main part of the wreckage, you took a moment to stare at it. Pieces were scattered around, strewn about as the current and time slowly hid the truth of those horrors from the galaxy.

You approached the body of the transport carefully, using your instincts to guide you. Placing your hands on the lakebed, you started to push the sand away and move the debris in your way. The call was louder now, almost consuming you. Resting your feet on the ground, you grunted as you pushed one of the larger metal pieces out of the way.

Breathing heavily, you stared down at the lakebed as the sand slowly settled. A new glint of metal caught your eye and you bent down to investigate. Your hand wrapped around a column of metal and all of a sudden, the call stopped.

Pulling your hand up and dragging the material to the surface, you stared down at a lightsaber. Your lightsaber, you realized with a sinking feeling.

*~*~*~*~*

Hunter looked up as he sensed you about to resurface and walked to the edge of the lake. Your helmet appeared a few moments later and you slowly swam towards the shore. When your feet touched the ground once more, you slipped off the flippers and slowly walked out of the water.

“Did you find it?” Hunter asked as you approached.

You did not respond to him, tossing your flippers onto the sand of the shore without a word. Hunter waited intently for your response as you reached up and removed your helmet. You turned to look up at Hunter with an mix of emotions that he didn’t have time to identify because the sudden hum of a lightsaber drew his attention first.

You held the blade in front of you, not in a defensive or aggressive manner, just simply to make a point. Your eyes, however, never left Hunter’s face, trying to read his expression.

“You never thought that it was important to mention that I was a Jedi?”

And when Hunter turned to hold your gaze again, he only found a look of betrayal staring back at him.

“I can explain,” Hunter replied carefully, taking a step towards you.

But at the slight movement, he found the blade hovering dangerously close to his neck. The other Bad Batchers jumped into action, their hands reaching for their weapons, but Hunter held up a hand for them to stop. He stared at you and found tears gathering in your eyes.

“Save your breath.”

Hunter noted the subtle shake to your hand. Although the blade had called out to you, it clearly was not held with confidence. You once described your lightsaber as an extension of yourself. You toiled and meditated to build it over the course of several days. Without it, you felt incredibly exposed. And now it was foreign to you.

“We’re not here to hurt you,” Hunter tried to assure you.

“You’re not?” you snapped back incredulously as the shake in your hands became more apparent. “You know, this may be a dustball in the Outer Rim but even out here, we heard about what happened to the Jedi. About what men just like you did to them. To me.”

“We didn’t carry out the order.”

“Why should I trust you?” you demanded from Hunter. “Why should I trust any of you!?” You cast a glare in the direction of the other Bad Batchers before turning back to Hunter. “How do I know that you didn’t just play along, waiting until you had the opportunity to drag me away to your overlords? How do I know that I wasn’t just a bounty on your list?”

You stepped closer to Hunter, who remained still, holding your gaze with a measure of calm that was unsettling in of itself. Your lips trembled as emotions that you had no control over surged through your mind and cracks started to appear.

“I saw the Republic insignia down there on that ship. The ship that I was on when I lost my memories. The ship that was littered with blaster holes! After people just like you tried to kill me!”

“But we didn’t,” Hunter replied softly. “We would never.”

“I can’t trust you,” you hissed back, tears dripping down your cheeks. “You lied to me!”

“We held truth back from you. We did,” Hunter agreed, sharing a look with Echo and Tech. “But we thought that bombarding you with that information all at once would be too much.”

“You were just trying to control me!”

“I was trying to protect you.”

“Why do you even care about me?” you asked, another set of tears dripping down your cheeks. “Was all of this just a game to you?”

“No!” Hunter protested immediately. “No, it wasn’t.”

“Then why did you offer to help me?”

“We knew you as a Jedi. I knew you,” Hunter started to explain. “You were our Jedi general during the war. You served on countless missions with us over two years. We had a perfect success rate under your leadership. And you were . . .”

“I was what?” you demanded from him once more. “I was what?”

“Hunter,” Echo warned, but Hunter ignored him.

“We were friends, you and I. And we became even more as time went on.”

“Jedi aren’t allowed to have relationships,” you snapped back, the whirr of your lightsaber reminding Hunter of the very present danger in front of him. “Stop lying to me!”

“I’m not.” Hunter paused for a moment, searching your eyes for any familiarity. “You have a scar on your back. A thin, raised pink line that you got during the Battle of Geonosis. You told me that it aches when it gets cold.”

Your hand seemed to drop back to the scar before your brain caught up with you. Shaking your head, you held the lightsaber back to Hunter’s neck.

“That’s just a coincidence.”

“You can’t eat Muja fruit because it makes your throat itch.”

“Lucky guess,” you breathed out, though your voice started to lack force.

“You have a tattoo on your right hip. Just a simple stick and poke of a star that Tech did for you.”

“Stop it.”

“You favor your left foot for balance because of an injury to your right foot when you were a padawan. Even now, you’re balancing predominantly on your left foot.”

“Stop.”

“And you—”

“—I said stop!”

The Force seemed to return to you as the dust suddenly swirled around you after your outburst. Hunter looked down at your shaking hands before he slowly met your gaze once more. Your eyes were wide and frightened, lacking the anger and frustration from a few moments prior. Slowly, and as he held your gaze, Hunter reached down to grab your lightsaber.

You flinched, but didn’t push him away. He could feel you shaking more now that he held your lightsaber. Gently twisting his grip, Hunter deactivated the weapon.

“Put it down, mesh’la. You can put it down.”

“No, I can’t,” you breathed heavily. Your grip tightened on your lightsaber.

“Yes, you can.”

Your grip remained tight on the lightsaber as your hands shook. But soon, Hunter’s words seemed to have an effect on you. Your grip slowly loosened as Hunter continued to hold your gaze until your hand dropped back down to your side and your lightsaber remained in Hunter’s hand.

Staring at him with tears streaming down your cheeks, a sudden force seemed to come over you after you relinquished your lightsaber. Hunter’s hope evaporated and your lightsaber clattered to the ground as he lurched forward to catch you before you fell. Your head lolled to the side as your eyes rolled into the back of your head.

“No, no, no,” Hunter breathed out, holding your face in his hand. “Tech! I need help!”

Echo and Tech raced over and Tech quickly began to assess your condition. Hunter held you in his arms, tears streaming down his cheeks as he stared at your seemingly lifeless form. He could still hear your heartbeat and the sound of your breathing, which was the only reason he still clung to what remained of his sanity.

“She is stable, medically speaking. I believe that this is her body’s response to this encounter,” Tech announced after completing a scan.

“Her body shut down to protect herself?” Echo suggested, causing Tech to nod.

“Precisely.”

“When will she wake up?” Hunter asked, holding you closer to his chest.

“That is uncertain. It could be hours or days, if not weeks.”

“Tech.”

But Hunter tuned out Tech’s ramblings about the likeliness of your quick recovery. Brushing the hair that had fallen on your face away, Hunter lowered his head to rest against your own as tears continued to dribble down his cheeks and onto your own.

Peeps who asked about a Part 2: @astralqueenoc @mariahstarwarsgal @pissandgrits @sflame15-blog @oceansssblue @skellymom @leapingbadger @dragonrider9905 @sh1zhu @clonethirstingisreal @griffedeloup @literallydontlook

[starry-crossing-zone]

Love Finds a Way - Hunter

Summary: Hunter thought that he lost you in the Jedi Purge. But then he sees a familiar face. Length: 2.6k Warnings: Mentions of Jedi Purge; Mentions of Death; Amnesia; Scars; Hunter's Undefined Heightened Senses; Hunter is Bad with Emotion; Angst; Female Jedi Reader

“Don’t tell me you spared the padawan because of her,” Crosshair rasped.

The temperature in the Batch Batch’s barracks instantly dropped several degrees. Hunter continued to stand by the window, not dignifying him with a response. But the sharpshooter wasn’t going to just drop it. Crosshair walked forward, not unlike a predator about to leap on its prey.

“She’s a part of it, isn’t she?”

“Crosshair, stop it,” Echo warned him, but Crosshair was not deterred.

“Are you willing to throw everything away for her? Turn your back on the Empire, on your brothers, on your purpose for her? A traitor?”

“She’s not a traitor,” Hunter interjected, finally turning around. “She fought for the Republic, just as we did. Side by side with us, with other clones, and there was never a word against her.”

“But you were always her favorite pet, weren’t you, Hunter?”

Crosshair squared up against his older brother, relishing in the hidden rage that he could see boiling beneath Hunter’s surface. The button was right there and Crosshair was going to press it over and over again. Until Hunter finally snapped.

“If she was so popular, maybe the clones were kind enough to aim for her head.”

Hunter’s fist swung around and slammed into Crosshair’s gut, causing the sniper to fold over, clutching his stomach. But when Wrecker moved forward to break them up, Crosshair dared to grin at Hunter. Ready to deliver a second blow, Hunter silently glared at Crosshair. But then Wrecker grabbed and set Crosshair on his bed like a petulant child.

“Take it back, Crosshair,” Wrecker warned, pointing a finger at him. “She was your friend too.”

Crosshair glared up at Wrecker before turning to look over at Hunter. But Hunter was too busy staring forlornly out the window at the Kaminoan storm. Probably wallowing in thoughts of her.

“Pathetic,” Crosshair muttered under his breath, knowing that Hunter could hear him.

*~*~*~*

It was late, at least on a standard rotation cycle, and it was Hunter’s turn to be on watch. Sitting in front of the computer, he started to slowly type. Tech had hacked into the Imperial system earlier and gave Hunter instructions on how to navigate through the database. And now that Hunter was alone, he needed to do some investigating on his own.

Finding the list of Jedi, Hunter scrolled down it with a heavy heart, wincing when he saw familiar names. Continuing on, he paused when he found the name that he was looking for. Your name. And then his eyes landed on the big, bold, red word beside it.

TERMINATED

Hunter closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, the fight leaving his body. He sat there, wallowing in pain, before sitting up again. And even though he knew that it wasn’t healthy, he clicked on the report.

The clones under your command had attacked you while you were pursuing Separatist stragglers who crash landed on an Outer Rim planet. You managed to get away from them and stole a speeder, which they then shot down. You crashed into a lake and your body was never recovered.

Hunter stared at the hologram image of you that accompanied the report. You looked stoic, cold, and calculating. Completely unlike the woman that Hunter knew. But he supposed that erasing the Jedi’s compassion and humanity was just another part of the Empire’s propaganda.  

“Who’s that?” Omega called from her perch, causing Hunter to look up at her.

“Just a Jedi that we used to serve under,” Hunter explained softly, looking back at the hologram. “I thought that there was a chance that she was still out there.” Hunter powered off the computer and turned back to Omega. “What are you doing up? Did you have a nightmare?”

“Not really,” Omega stated with a shrug of her shoulders. “Is your friend still out there?”

“No, it doesn’t look like it,” Hunter replied quietly.

“I’m sorry, Hunter.”

He nodded curtly, forcing a smile to urge Omega back to sleep. But when Tech awoke to take over watch, he found his brother staring at your hologram again.

*~*~*~*

“It is unlikely that we would run into any Imperial entanglements out here,” Tech stated, leading the way down the stairs of the Marauder. “This planet is mostly farmers and not ones that provide any product of high value. Mostly standard grains.”

“Does that mean that they have food?” Wrecker sighed, rubbing his stomach.

“I would assume so, yes,” Tech replied, typing away at his datapad.

“Let’s go explore then!” Omega exclaimed, running down the gangplank. “You said that the largest city is right there, Tech?”

“The term ‘city’ might be inaccurate given the low population density, number of buildings, and other indicators of a traditional urban center,” Tech stated, not looking up from his typing. “But, yes, the closest organization to a city is in that standard direction.”

Echo and Hunter pulled up the rear of the group as they headed into town. Echo glanced worriedly at Hunter. He had been quiet ever since Tech mentioned this planet and even Omega hadn’t been able to pull him out of his brooding. And a quick check of the Imperial database clarified why. At least, if one knew where to look.

“Are you alright?” Echo asked Hunter as they walked towards the city.

“I’ll be fine.”

“You should try to learn to be convincing before Omega asks you that,” Echo replied quietly.

Hunter sighed and looked down at the dirt path. They walked in silence for a few more moments, both keeping a close eye on Omega, before Hunter finally let some of the load off of his shoulders.

“I have the coordinates. For where it happened.”

“How far is it from here?”

“Two hours by speeder.”

“Whenever you feel that you’re ready to go,” Echo stated gently, keeping his voice low, “just give me a signal. I’ll distract the others.”

“Thank you, Echo.”

They reached town and looked around at the various stalls and short buildings scattered around. There were a few supplies that they needed and so the Bad Batch split up. Hunter walked off on his own, searching for some part that Tech knew that this small planet would not have. But it allowed him some time to think, or brood, so he didn’t mind.

Hunter walked around the small mechanic market in the village, at least trying to look like he was putting in effort to find the part. He was in the middle of inspecting a part for sale, which wasn’t the one that he had been sent for, when a voice broke through the mist and clutched his heart.

“Can I get you anything?”

With his advanced hearing, Hunter was accustomed to tuning out the useless background noise and focusing on only what he needed or wanted to hear. And normally, he tried to block out the useless background conversations.

But yet that voice stuck out. Its familiarity haunted him and Hunter found his legs moving on their own, following that voice like it was a siren song.

“Byn, Table 3 is asking for more of the soup.”

“Did you want another napkin?”

“Can I get you a refill?”

“Thanks for coming!”

Following the voice, Hunter paused when he turned the corner and found an open-aired restaurant. There were a cluster of tables spread out in front of a white tent. There were some customers milling around, but it was mostly quiet.

And then there you were, appearing with the sun glowing behind you. It was you. He knew it was you. It had to be you.

Even though you wore civilian clothes now, he knew that it was you. Even though your hair was shorter now, he knew that it was you. Even though there was now a jagged scar across your cheek, he knew that it was you. And when you turned your head and he finally caught a glimpse of your eyes, his knees nearly buckled under him.

It was you. You were here. You were alive.

“Hunter?” Tech’s voice cut in, jolting Hunter out of his thoughts. “Hunter, do you copy?”

“I can hear you,” Hunter finally responded, pressing the button on his commlink.

“Are you alright? It took three tries for you to respond,” Echo pointed out, causing Hunter to look over at you again.

“Meet me at my coordinates. I’ll explain when you get here.”

Soon the Bad Batch took their seats at a table in the open-aired restaurant. Hunter’s legs bounced nervously as he waited for you to walk over, earning worried looks from Echo and Omega at his unusually anxious fiddling. Omega had only been given a brief overview of your history with the Bad Batch, as she was never there to witness it in person, but it was easy to see how important you were from Hunter’s reaction. She had never seen him like this before.

You walked over to their table with a polite customer service smile. Hunter held his breath, waiting for you to recognize him—how many men had half of a skull tattooed on their face? Or of Wrecker’s size? But as you passed out menus and treated them like any other patrons, Hunter felt his hope quickly dash.

“Welcome. I’ll be your waitress. Here are some menus. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them for you. Otherwise, I’ll give you a minute to look it over.”

You gave them another kind smile before walking off without even a small trace of recognition for any of them. Hunter stared after you with a broken expression.

“She didn’t recognize us?” Wrecker asked softly.

“There is still a statistical possibility that our waitress is not her,” Tech pointed out calmly.

“It’s her. She smells just like her. I know it. I know that’s her,” Hunter insisted, causing Tech and Echo to share a concerned look.

“Then why didn’t she recognize you?” Omega asked quietly, voice barely above a whisper.

“I don’t know.”

*~*~*~*

“You ever seen those patrons before?” Byn, the head chef of the restaurant, asked you as you loaded up another order onto your serving tray.

“No, why?”

“They seem to have a staring problem. Especially dark and broody.”

You glanced back at the table in question. The Bad Batch, once they realized that you were staring at them, quickly turned back to their meals, trying to appear normal. Save for Hunter, that is, whose gaze lingered, until Echo elbowed him stiffly in the side. Turning back to Byn, the man who had taken you in after your accident, you shrugged your shoulders.

“They’re probably just staring at my scar,” you mumbled, adjusting the plates on your tray.

“You let me know if they say anything to you.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl. I can handle them.”

Walking over to their table again, you placed down some of their plates, before turning around to grab the rest. But feeling Hunter’s gaze on you again, you turned around briefly, holding your serving tray to your chest. Echo once again elbowed Hunter in the side, causing the sergeant to turn to him with a sour expression.

“You’re going to scare her away if you keep staring at her like that,” Echo reminded Hunter quietly.

“I can’t help it.”

“Well, try to, before she calls the authorities on a man who looks like he wants to eat her.”

When you returned a second time, you placed a plate down in front of Tech and then Hunter. He thanked you quietly, causing you to nod and smile. Placing Omega’s plate down last, you turned to conduct your rounds of the tables.

“What do we do?” Omega asked Hunter, who was still staring after you. “She doesn’t recognize you. How do we get her to do that?”

“Based on the report of her supposed demise, it would not be out of the question that she likely suffered severe injuries as a result of the crash,” Tech began to infodump. “If that woman actually is her, then she clearly sustained trauma to her face, as demonstrated by the large scar on her cheek. It would therefore follow logically that she may have sustained head trauma in the crash as well, which would explain why she does not appear to recognize us.”

“So, there’s still a chance that she could get her memories back,” Omega suggested, but Tech did not look convinced.

“I am not certain. Head injuries are not simple to treat. And if that woman is in fact her, she would have been without her memories for several months now. And I would assume that given the simplistic nature of life on this planet that she was never properly treated at a professional medical facility for her injuries, which would likely exacerbate her memory loss and other symptoms.”

“Get to the point, Tech,” Wrecker grunted out.

“It is a possibility, perhaps even a high one, that she might never recover her memories. In part or in full.”

“But we have to try,” Omega insisted, slowly turning back to Hunter. “Don’t we?”

“I would raise an ethical concern about doing so,” Tech stated, adjusting his goggles.

“And what would that be?” Echo asked gruffly.

“If we are able to restore her memories, that will include the ones where clone troopers attacked and nearly killed her. And we will also have to inform her that her entire culture and civilization were destroyed along with most of the people she considered her family and that she will never again be safe in the galaxy as a Force wielder.”

Hunter stared down at his plate as Tech continued on with his explanation.

“While restoring her memories may provide us with a satisfactory outcome, she does not appear to be in distress here. As far as we can see, her other symptoms are not affecting her quality of life. And as the Empire has her listed as deceased in their database and she is seemingly unaware of her abilities, she is safe here. On the other hand, if she comes with us, there is a very high statistical probability that she will not be.”

“Maybe so, but is that our decision to make?” Echo pointed out, causing everyone to turn to him. “Because speaking as the only person here who’s actually forgotten who they were, and not by choice, I wouldn’t choose peaceful ignorance over the truth.”

“Well, what would she want?” Omega inquired, looking up at Hunter. He turned his head to meet her gaze, but couldn’t find the words.

“How is everything over here?” you asked kindly, walking over to the table.

“Can I ask you something?” Omega questioned suddenly, causing you to turn to her.

“Sure.”

“If you have the choice between remembering everything from your life—even all of the bad stuff—or not remembering anything but being happy, which would you pick?”

You froze at her question, tensing up as the scar on your face burned. Sensing your unease, and after working through his own shock at her question, Hunter scolded Omega.

“She didn’t mean any harm by it,” Hunter tried to assure you.

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” you laughed off, waving your hand. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

You walked away and carried on with your work. But you couldn’t help but raise your hand to your scar as it continued to pulsate and burn after Omega’s question. Glancing over your shoulder at the Bad Batch, you found your eyes landing on the dark and brooding figure who looked exhausted and dejected. You looked down at the dirt, feeling responsible somehow. But then Byn called your name and you had to go back to work.

*~*~*~*

Night had fallen on the quaint planet and Hunter sat outside of the Marauder, mindlessly whittling at a piece of wood with his vibro knife to pass the time. He tried sleeping, but after tossing and turning a thousand times, he decided for a change of scene. Hunter studied the design that he carved when he heard a speeder in the distance. Standing up from his seat, Hunter stared out at the night landscape with narrowed eyes.

A speeder came to a stop a few meters from the Marauder and Hunter crept forward, moving to intercept the figure. But when he smelled your familiar scent, he paused. Stowing his vibro knife away, Hunter stepped into the light emitted from your speeder. You set your helmet and goggles on the seat of the speeder bike before turning to meet his gaze.

“Can I help you with something?” he asked quietly.

“You tell me.” You stared at him with a familiar fire in your eyes. “You know who I am, don’t you?”

“Yes,” he confirmed softly after a moment.

“Good,” you stated, resting your hands on your lap. “Because I don’t.”

Part 2

[starry-crossing-zone]

Crash and Fall - Rex

Summary: Rex won't give up hope that his Jedi lover is alive after the Jedi Purge. Length: 3.7k Warnings: Mentions of Jedi Purge; Angst; Longing; Clone Rebellion; Special Guest Stars; Mentions of Pregnancy

Rex stood beside the Y Wing as Ahsoka took a moment with his fallen brothers. He typed away at the datapad, attempting to send a long-range message. Across the galaxy, his brothers were murdering the Jedi against their will. And he was frantically trying to get in contact with one specific Jedi so that she did not become the next victim.

It might have been too late already to warn her, but Rex needed to try. He refused to accept defeat.

When the comm failed to go through again, Rex couldn’t help the burst of emotion. Driving his fist onto the top of the Y Wing and tossing the datapad away angrily, he slumped into a crouch. Steadying himself with one hand and resting the other against his face, he didn’t fight the tears.

Ahsoka slowly walked over to him and gave him a moment to gather himself, giving him the space to grieve. Although they had never had a frank conversation about it, Ahsoka understood enough to know why Rex’s inability to get a message out caused him to collapse. Rex slowly lowered his hand from his face and started to stand up again.

“No luck,” Rex replied quietly.

“Where was she stationed last?” Ahsoka asked softly.

“More than halfway across the galaxy,” Rex stated, closing his eyes with despair.

They were too far away to help her. It would take them days to reach her. And he wasn’t even sure if that was her actual last location. Plans changed in a moment in the GAR. It was a start, but it was also more than likely swarmed with his brothers, who would try to murder them the moment that they arrived on the scene.

“There’s still hope, Rex,” Ahsoka replied quietly. “There’s still a chance.”

Rex nodded slowly, not trusting his words, before he turned to the Y Wing again. He climbed into the pilot’s seat and input coordinates to a safe location before starting the take off procedure. And trying to block the images of his beloved with blaster holes in her chest from his mind.

*~*~*~*

Washa was not a heavily populated planet. It was far from the major space lanes and had remained neutral during the war because there was nothing on the planet worth fighting over. It was mostly farmers and traders. No one of importance. Just like the Jedi were of no importance anymore. It was no wonder she fit in so well.

“Two please,” she told the vender, holding out the credits.

“Price just went up actually,” he remarked, turning his two noses up at her. “You need five more.”

She withdrew her hand and looked at the credits. Letting out a sigh, she stowed some of the credits back in her pocket and turned back to the greedy vender.

“Just one then.”

Taking her purchase, she stowed it in her bag and kept walking. She bought rations and some water before making the walk back to the small hut that she now called home. It would have to do, for her true home was gone. Destroyed. Forever. Sitting down, she crossed her legs and tried to meditate.

It had been a month since her own men turned against her. Men that she fought beside for years, thought she knew, men that she was prepared to die with. They raised their blasters at her and tried to kill her. And they had nearly succeeded too.

The scars on her back burned at the painful memory and she forced herself to take a breath. Pushing past the pain that lingered, she tried to connect with the Force again. Resting her hands with her palms upwards, she took a deep breath.

“I am one with the Force and the Force is with me.”

After she managed to escape the assault and effectively faked her own death, she had all but severed her connection to the Force. To reach out and feel the gaping, open wound quickly overwhelmed her and she had withdrawn into herself to survive.

“I am one with the Force and the Force is—”

She tensed as the nightmares that plagued her while she slept crept into the daylight. Ones that involved a clone in blue-painted armor raising his blasters at her. She shook her head, trying to banish the images, swearing to herself that Rex would never hurt her. She trusted him with her life. She cared for him well beyond the considerations of her culture.

But she trusted Sinker too. And Boost. And Comet. And they had all fired on her just the same.

And when it became too much, as it had countless times before, she broke down, holding her head in her hands as she struggled to hold onto her sanity.

*~*~*~*

“But we managed to save the padawan,” Hunter stated, causing Rex to pick his head up.

“Have you run into any Jedi since?” he asked, sounding more alert.

“No, none.”

Rex nodded slowly, trying to mask his disappointment. He spun his glass around on the bar top, letting his thoughts drift for a moment, before he focused back on the present. Echo, however, noticed the change in his brother.

“You’re looking for her?” Echo asked Rex knowingly. Rex turned to Echo and nodded slowly.  “Tech can look in the Imperial database for you.”

“Already checked. Read the report. She’s . . .”

Rex trailed off, being very careful with his words. He knew what the report said. He’d practically memorized it at this point. But he also knew that these reports weren’t always accurate. He was dead, according to the Empire, so there was still a chance. And a chance was all that he needed. Hope was all that he needed. And it was all he had too.

“There’s a chance . . . and I need to know for myself.”

“I came back from the dead. So could she.” Nodding slowly to show his support for Rex, Echo promised him, “We’ll keep an eye out for her.”

“Thank you, Echo.”

*~*~*~*

When she felt that she had overstayed her welcome back on Washa, she found her way off planet. The number of planets that she would consider both safe and habitable was extremely low, but she managed to find her way to a small moon in the Outer Rim. It was warm, almost jungle-like and full of life. And she hoped that it would help her reconnect with the Force.

Weeks passed and she fell into a routine. There were a few remote villages scattered around the jungle and she made a few tentative acquaintances, but she was always quick to return to her alcove. She had managed to build a small home up in the trees and was starting to settle in.

And that was when the Force decided to pull the rug out from under her all over again.

Dropping her hands from her abdomen, she stared down at them as tears filled her eyes. Memories of her last few nights with Rex came to mind. They assumed that it was impossible or at least highly unlikely. They were safe in the beginning but as the war drew on and their ever-fragile mortality weighed on both of them, they forwent it.

 And the spark in the Force that she sensed was the unmistakable result of that carelessness.

She fell forward and curled up on herself, that same fear that ate away at her for months now crawled up her spine yet again. Every labored breath she took pushed that numbing pain closer to her heart and mind, igniting flames where the now healed blaster bolt wounds had laid. She picked her head up, refusing to succumb again, but also terrified and alone, she reached out into the Force.

“Master,” she begged softly, “what am I going to do?”

*~*~*

Rex set his ship down on the dirt of a remote backwater planet that Senator Organa assured him would be a safe meeting location. Walking down the gangplank, Rex took off his helmet when he spotted Bail descending from his own ship. The two men greeted each other politely.

“What is this planet anyways?” Rex asked as he turned to follow the senator into his ship.

“It used to be inhabited two centuries ago. But then a civil war broke out and eventually destroyed all of the resources on the planet, forcing the survivors off world,” Bail explained, glancing out at the dustball. “And it’s not strategically located, so the galaxy has left it alone.”

Rex stared out at the landscape again, frowning as he thought about the galaxy’s current situation before heading inside the transport. They discussed intel and exchanged information. Rex delivered a copy of some Imperial intel that Nemec had managed to gather and Bail offered him what little he had heard about the remaining clones.

“You haven’t heard anything about any Jedi, have you, Senator?” Rex asked quietly.

“Not the one you seek information on, no,” Bail replied, causing Rex to look down. “I’m sorry, Captain.”

“All the more reason to keep fighting,” Rex reasoned, earning a nod of support from Bail. Grabbing his new intel, Rex added, “I won’t take up any more of your time. And I should be getting back to my men with this new intel.”

“Of course.” 

“May the Force be with you, Senator.”

“And May the Force be with you too, Rex.”

*~*~*

“I told you that the hyperdrive was acting funny!” Echo huffed with frustration.

The Bad Batch struggled to their feet after crash landing on a remote jungle moon in the Outer Rim. Hunter was first back to his feet and quick to check Omega over for any injuries or scratches from their crash landing. Tech straightened up from his seat and slowly moved to stand.  

“It appears that there was a slight misalignment,” Tech stated, adjusting his goggles.

“Slight?” Hunter emphasized sarcastically. He looked out at the dense jungle through the viewport and sighed. “Let’s get the door open.”

With a bit of an extra push from Wrecker, the door of the Marauder opened and the Bad Batch spilled out into the jungle. Hunter kept Omega close, aware of the high number of life forms crawling around. The Batch tried to pull the Marauder out from the dense foliage that it crashed into, but it was of no use. Not even Wrecker’s full strength was enough to pull it out. And not with light fading.

“What are we going to do?” Omega asked, glancing between her brothers. “It’s starting to get dark.”

“And I’m starving!” Wrecker sighed, sitting on the root of a large tree.

It was eventually decided, after some deliberation with Tech, to scout the nearby area for sources of food and water, as their rations were already low. Hunter led the way into the jungle with the team forming a single-file line behind him. Entering a clearing, Hunter scanned the area when Wrecker stepped around him.

“Hey, look!” Wrecker yelled, pointing over at some vines berries growing on them. “I bet that we can eat those berries!”

“I would disagree with eating whatever you find on the ground out here,” Tech stated, shaking his head as Wrecker ran over to investigate. “And there is a high probability that those berries could be poisonous to us.”

“Then let’s figure out what they—” 

Wrecker yelled out when he was suddenly strung up by his ankle by a thick rope. It was looped over a branch of the tree side Wrecker and connected to a pulley system.

“Wrecker!” Omega yelled out as Hunter ran forward to help his brother.

He scaled the tree and jumped, slicing through the rope with his vibro blade. Wrecked landed roughly, but he was unharmed. As the Bad Batch gathered around Wrecker to assess the situation, the sound of a rifle clicking caused Hunter to spin around, putting himself in front of Omega protectively.

“Someone’s out there,” Hunter warned, pulling out his blaster. “And they’re armed.”

“The person who set the trap, more than likely,” Tech stated, scanning the jungle around them. “Though this system is not listed as civilized.”

“Where are they?” Echo asked, looking around the jungle. “Up in the trees? On the ground?”

Hunter paused for a moment, waiting to hear the individual again. But then he suddenly turned and held his blaster up, pointing at the shadows. A hooded figure stood just out of the light, with a rifle in hand that was aimed straight at the Bad Batch.

“Easy,” Hunter stated, trying to reason with the individual. “We’re not here to hurt anyone.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” a feminine voice replied, a bit gruffly. Echo paused for a moment, frowning at the familiarity of the voice. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll turn around, head back to your ship, get the kark off of this moon, and never come back.”

“We cannot complete that sequence of events. Our ship is damaged and stuck in the jungle growth. We are unable to get it out on our own,” Tech spoke up, causing the rifle to briefly train on him. “If you could point us to the nearest spaceport—”

“—There are none.”

“Then perhaps you have a device that we can use to remove our ship from the growth,” Tech continued, seemingly unfazed by the rifle. “Seeing as that is in line with your own objectives, it should be reasonable for you to provide us with assistance if you are able.”

“No.”

“Then perhaps—”

“—Are you always this talkative with someone holding you at blaster point?” the woman interjected, growing steadily more annoyed.

“Just him,” Wrecker stated, nudging Tech.

“General?” Echo called, causing the woman to hesitate. “Is that you?” The rifle lowered a bit more and Echo stepped forward, removing his helmet. “It’s me. Echo.”

“Who is it?” Omega questioned Echo curiously.

“A Jedi?” Hunter asked, causing the rifle to quickly lock on him.

“The Jedi are all dead,” the woman spat, though the edge of grief was easy to detect to Echo’s ear. “The Empire made sure of that.”

“We helped a Jedi escape,” Wrecker spoke up, causing the woman to train her rifle on him.

“A padawan. Caleb. He was General Billaba’s padawan,” Hunter recalled, causing the woman’s finger to shake as it rested against the trigger. “We received Order 66, but we never carried it out.”

“And they removed their chips,” Omega chirped, causing the woman to pause.

“What chips?” she demanded, causing Echo and Hunter to share a look.

“All clones were designed with inhibitor chips built into our brains. They were primarily designed to make us more obedient, especially to several predesigned codes to carry out specific orders that we would otherwise hesitate to complete,” Tech explained rapidly. “Every clone who heard the command, save for us really, immediately lost control of their minds and bodies to carry out the order.”

“Order 66,” she breathed out, remembering what Comet had been muttering to himself.

She looked down, starting to piece together the timeline of what happened that dark day. Echo shared a look with the other Bad Batchers before turning back to her.

“We all removed our chips. And we have the scars to prove it. And if you need, Tech can show you the report explaining what the chips are.” After a moment, he added, “It was written by Rex. Before the order came through.”

At the mention of Rex, she lowered the rifle completely. And after a moment’s hesitation, she stepped out into the light. Staring down at them with a measure of distrust still in her eyes, she sat the butt of her rifle down against the branch.

“Show me.”

After reading through the report for the third time, she tossed the datapad down to Tech again. Jumping down from the branch, she landed gracefully and straightened up. There was still an edge of distrust to her stance, but she looked more like the general that Echo remembered that a frightened hermit. And he considered that to be a success.

But when he glanced at the pack on her back, he paused. Because it was moving.

“Why are you here? What brought you here?” she asked, glancing between the Bad Batch.

“His faulty calculations,” Hunter explained, earning a sharp look from Tech in return.

“It was a minor misalignment.”

“You said that your ship is damaged?” she inquired, causing Echo to shake his head.

“We don’t think so. It’s just stuck in the vines.”

“Well, you won’t have any luck getting it out in the dark, even with my help,” she replied seriously. “There’s a lot more that lurks out here that you don’t want to run into in the dark.” After a moment of thought, she added, “Follow me.”

She turned around and for the first time, the Bad Batch could see what was in her pack. Or rather who was in her pack. A little swaddled baby was strapped to her back. Staring at the Batch, the baby cooed and giggled at their incredulous expressions.

“Is that . . .?” Hunter trailed off, sharing an incredulous look with Tech.

“A baby?” Omega completed softly.

The former Jedi turned around and slowly slipped her arm out of her pack until her son was strapped to her chest instead of her back. Resting her hands on the sides of his carrier, she slowly turned to look at the flabbergasted expressions of the clones in front of her.

And Echo couldn’t help but notice the blond hair atop the baby’s head.

“What’s his name?” Omega asked, taking a few steps forward.

“Atin.”

“Tenacious,” Tech translated quickly, adjusting his goggle. “In Mando’a, that is.”

“Yes,” she agreed, gently running her hand over her son’s head.

“Did he know?” Echo inquired quietly, causing her to shake her head.

“I didn’t even know. How would he?”

With a bitter smile, she turned and called for them to follow her again. Echo moved to walk beside her and Hunter held the others back a step, trying to give them some semblance of privacy. Echo glanced down at the baby content in the carrier before turning to the baby’s mother.

“He’s alive,” Echo stated softly, causing her to turn to him. “He’s alive. And he’s free.” After a moment, Echo added quietly, “And he’s looking for you.”

She nodded slowly, careful to step over a root, before carrying on her way. Echo walked beside her, giving her a moment to process the news. Reaching the base of a large tree, she turned to Echo with a tentative look in her eyes.

“Where is he?”

“It changes by the rotation,” Echo replied honestly. “He’s running around the galaxy. Freeing brothers. Stoking rebellions. Gathering intel.”

“I don’t think he knows how to relax,” she commented with an edge of humor before she glanced down at the child strapped to her chest. And then the smile slowly faded. “Do you think that you can convince him to come here? Alone?”

“I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer from him,” Echo promised her, causing her to smile softly again. “Rex didn’t give up on me. And it’s my turn to return the favor whether he likes it or not.”

“It’s like you two are brothers or something,” she joked, walking over to a hanging vine. Tugging on it until a ladder rolled down to the jungle floor. “Neither of you know how to give up.”

“It’s not in our blood,” Echo stated, glancing down at her baby. “Nor his.”

“Why do you think I named him ‘Atin’?” she asked rhetorically before moving to climb.

*~*~*~*

Rex wasn’t sure what Echo was thinking when he came out of hyperspace and spotted the jungle moon ahead. But he trusted Echo, so he flew towards the coordinates that Echo provided him. Slowly setting down the Y Wing on the jungle floor, Rex hopped out and started his short walk. Coming up on the meeting location, Rex looked around curiously when he heard a branch break behind him.

Grabbing his blaster, Rex whirled around, ready to defend himself. But when he saw her standing there, he dropped his blaster out of shock.

“Cyare?” he called softly, like he couldn’t believe that it was her.

“Rex,” she returned, smiling nervously.

Rex walked forward slowly. His blaster laid forgotten on the jungle floor. With his eyes never leaving her figure, he moved like a man possessed. She remained still, forcing her body to stay where it was, even as her mind screamed to move, to flee. Her nightmares started to creep up again but when Rex gently cupped her cheek, she returned to the present.

“What?” she asked quietly, staring up at him with tears in her eyes. “What is it?”

“You’re as beautiful as the day I lost you,” he replied, causing her lips to wobble.

They quickly held onto each other, in disbelief that they were able to have the honor again. Rex cupped the back of her head to keep her close and let his tears slip free. She buried her face in his neck, ignoring the uncomfortable way that the plastoid dug into her. She didn’t care. Rex was here. Her Rex was here. Despite everything, he was finally here. They were finally back together.

Rex only loosened his grip when he heard a gentle cry echo through the jungle. Looking up, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise, he turned back to her as she grabbed his hand. Gently leading him up the path and to the home that she built for them, she stepped inside. Rex, his heart thudding hard in his chest, waited a moment before walking in behind her.

And when she turned around with a baby in her arms, he fell to his knees.

She smiled, drying her own tears, before moving to join him on the floor. Sitting cross-legged in front of him, she held out their son to Rex for the first time. After hesitating for a moment, he gently moved to cradle his son—his son—against his chest.

“I believe you now,” she quipped, wiping his tears away.

“Believe me about what?” he croaked out, turning back to her with a loving expression.

“You are a natural blond.”

[starry-crossing-zone]

General Storyteller - Rex

Summary: After the Battle of Kamino, Rex finds you surrounded by clone cadets. Length: 1.4k Warnings: Post-Battle; Lots of Teasing; Rex's Flirting is Improving

The battle of Kamino had yielded heavy and unfortunate losses, but the Republic managed to repel the Separatists in the end. Rex, after promoting Echo and Fives to ARC Troopers, sought out the generals. He walked over to where Jesse and Hardcase were relaxing, assuming they would have an idea.

“Has anyone seen the generals?” Rex asked, resting his bucket against his hip.

“General Skywalker’s at the south end of the city, but I have a feeling that you’re not asking about him,” Jesse quipped, causing Rex to narrow his eyes. “She’s with Kix in the infirmary.”

“You know how she always turns into a mother hen after battle,” Hardcase reminded his captain, leaning back against the wall. He elbowed Jesse with a mischievous grin. “She’s probably giving shinies heart attacks.”

“Well, if she can make our esteemed captain blush, what hope do the shinies have, Hardcase?”

Rex, tuning out the rest of their conversation, turned and made his way to the infirmary. Due to the overflow from battle, it had expanded into the mess hall. But Rex assumed that a Jedi would be easy to spot among the clones and Kaminoans. But when he didn’t spot you, Rex made his way over to Kix, who was setting another trooper’s ankle.

“Kix, have you seen the general?”

“She’s in the other room,” Kix stated, pointing to his right. “You won’t be able to miss her.”

Rex raised an eyebrow, but continued on his way. Stepping into one of the wings of the infirmary, Rex paused when he spotted exactly what Kix was talking about. You sat at the end of the room, smiling and talking with all of the young clone cadets gathered around you.

“And then the bridge started to collapse,” you retold dramatically as you carefully bandaged up a cadet’s wrist. “The Separatists planted detonators along the bridge and lured us onto it. And the tactical droid tried to blow us all up.”

“How did you escape?” one of the cadets asked, sitting on the edge of his seat.

“Well, we started running. Anakin and I pushed your brothers to safety with the Force because all of you and all of your brothers in every corner of this galaxy are important to us.”

You gently poked one of the cadets on the tip of his nose to emphasize your point. He blushed bright red, reminding you of another clone, and looked down at his feet bashfully while one of his brothers grabbed his shoulders from behind.

“And no good leader and certainly no good Jedi would say otherwise,” you added, looking out around at the clone cadets. 

Rex was quite sure that the meaning behind your story was not part of the approved Kaminoan curriculum, but he couldn’t help but smile at his younger brothers’ reactions to your story. You smiled and finished up with bandaging a cadet’s wrist before continuing with the story.

“But then we had to run to safety ourselves. Now, Anakin was lucky enough that he was standing close to the edge. So, he escaped easily. But I wasn’t so lucky because a lingering detonator went off right behind me, causing me to lose my balance.”

“What happened next?” a cadet gasped.

“Shhh!” one of the other cadets shushed his brother.

“I’m getting to it,” you promised them with a chuckle. “As I was saying, your brother, Captain Rex, grabbed a long gun—right out of Mule’s hands, mind you—and shot a cable at me.”

“Did he hit you?” one of the cadets asked quickly.

“Do you think I’d miss, Cadet?” Rex called out teasingly.

“Captain Rex!” the cadets called turning around to see him walking towards them.

They all jumped to their feet and stood at attention. Rex stopped in front of the crowd of his young brothers and dismissed them, urging them to sit down again. He turned to you as the cadets got settled again. And even though Rex felt a familiar heat start to climb up his neck, he moved to take a seat on one of the beds. Clearing his throat as you offered him a soft smile, he nodded.

“You were saying, General.”

“Right, Captain,” you mused before turning back to his brothers. “No, Captain Rex didn’t hit me with the cable. It landed in front of me and I held onto it as the bridge tumbled down. And with some help from some of your other brothers, he pulled me up to safety.”

“Captain Rex saved your life?”

“Yes, he did,” you stated without hesitation.

“To be fair, you’ve saved mine a number of times, General,” Rex spoke up, causing you to smile.

“Yes, shall I tell all of you one of those stories next?”

The cadets cheered but Rex got back to his feet and motioned towards the door. You nodded and slowly stood up, causing the cadets to sigh and whine. Giving them a kind smile, you kneeled down so that you were eye level with all of them again.

“I must go back to being a general. But you should try and find General Kenobi, for he’s an even better story teller than me. But which battalion is the best in the GAR again?”

“The 501st!”

“And don’t you forget it,” Rex added, causing his younger brothers to grin.

Bidding the cadets goodbye, you stood up and walked with Rex out of the infirmary. The two of you moved in silence for a moment before Rex turned to you with a soft look.

“You survived the battle alright, General?”

“I should be asking you that question, Rex. This is your home. All of your homes.” You sighed and added quietly, “I’m sorry we didn’t defend it better.”  

“Kamino was always a target to the Seppies,” Rex stated, turning to look forward again. “But thank you, General.” Clearing his throat a bit, Rex turned forward once again. “And thank you for looking after the cadets. They were bred for war, but they were never trained for it to happen in their own home.”

“Of course,” you returned, nodding politely. “I have a soft spot for children. I believe my master’s habits rubbed off on me.”

“It’s not a bad habit to have.”

“Well, and clone cadets are adorable. In a way, the clones and the Jedi have a lot in common. We were raised communally as well. It’s a setup most citizens find unnatural, almost.”

“Well, your people can move things with their minds. My brothers and I all share the same face. They might not be far off,” Rex quipped, causing you to chuckle.

Stepping into the lift together, you stood side by side as you made your way back to the upper floors of the facility. No doubt that Shaak Ti and Obi-Wan were looking for the two of you. Placing your hands on your hips and turned to Rex with a mischievous smile.

“What were you like as a cadet, Rex?”

“Top of my class, of course.”

“Of course,” you agreed teasingly, causing Rex to tilt his chin up. “But don’t tell me that you were always this stoic and brooding.”

“Brooding?” Rex repeated, earning a laugh in return.

“Come on, Rex. You must have broken a few rules in your time on Kamino.”

“I would assume as many as you did when you were a padawan, General.”

“My master was on the Jedi High Council, so I had an image to uphold.” After a moment, you added with a grin, “But also more time unsupervised. And, well, Anakin was a poor influence on me.” Your smile softened as you turned back to Rex. “Perhaps I’ll tell you some of those stories one day, Captain.”

“I look forward to it, General.”

Stepping off the elevator together, you and Rex shared a smile before Commander Cody called out to the two of you. Rex winced when he spotted Cody’s knowing look and you pulled on a more professional expression in the presence of the marshal commander.

“General Kenobi requested your assistance with moving some of the larger pieces of debris,” Cody told you. “He’s in the eastern part of the city.”

“Thank you, Commander Cody, I will go meet him.” Nodding to Cody, you turned to Rex, who returned your burning gaze. “I’ll see you later, Captain.”

And with that, you walked down the hall and away from them. You couldn’t help but glance over your shoulder at Rex. Staring after you until your figure disappeared around the corner, Rex ignored Cody’s stare and smirk. Rolling his eyes, Rex brushed past his brother.

“I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?” Cody called after him, causing Rex to wince.

“Stow it, Cody.”

[starry-crossing-zone]

Nail Polish - Hunter (TBB)

Summary: After Omega shows an interest in some nail polish, you steal some for her. Hunter pretends to be annoyed. Length: 1816 words Warnings: Female Reader; Former Bounty Hunter Reader; No Physical Description of Reader; No Y/N Used; Pickpocketing; Mentions of Dark Pasts (Reader)

Walking through the busy streets of a Mid Rim planet, you kept a close eye on Omega as you made your way back to the Marauder. The Bad Batch had split up to gather supplies and you and Omega had been sent to get a new water purification filter, which was securely strapped to your chest.

“Come on, Meg, this way,” you directed, resting a hand on Omega’s shoulder.

“Wait, what’s that?” Omega asked, pointing at a stand to the side.

You glanced over before slowly leading Omega over to the small stand. A group of merchants greeted you as you approached, and you quickly sized them up. Glancing down at what Omega was curiously examining, you bent down to Omega’s height.

“That’s nail polish.”

“What’s its purpose?” Omega questioned, turning to you.

“You paint your fingernails or your toenails with it. It’s pretty to look at,” you explained to her.

“Is it permanent?”

“No, just temporary. It’ll last longer if you add more layers of it,” you continued, glancing over the various colors at the stall.

“And can you only pick one color?”

“No. You can pick as many as you want. In the Inner Rim, there’re artists that spend their whole day painting people’s nails.”

“Really?” Omega gasped, causing you to nod.

“Where are you two from?” the vender asked, eyeing the two of you.

“Outer Rim. Just passing through,” you replied, shrugging your shoulders nonchalantly. You stared down at Omega, who was still curiously studying the vials of nail polish. You paused for a moment before nudging Omega in the side. “Come on, Meg. Let’s get going. The boys will worry if we’re late.”

“Alright,” Omega agreed, setting the vial of nail polish back.

Bidding the venders goodbye, Omega and you turned to head back to where the Marauder was docked. You waited until you were a few streets over before sliding two vials of nail polish out of the hidden compartment in your vambrace.

“I thought that you liked these colors the best,” you stated quietly.

Omega’s eyes widened in surprise when she spotted the two vials of nail polish in your hand. She quickly grabbed them, smiling giddily, before she quickly connected the dots. Turning back to you, Omega frowned.

“When did you pay for these?”

“That’s not for you to worry about, Meg,” you dismissed, pushing Omega forward to stay on schedule. Omega hissed your name, looking around nervously.

“We can’t do that," she insisted.

“Why not?”

“It’s illegal.”

“Well, I can think of quite a few other illegal things that we’ve done,” you replied evenly, leading Omega into the docking bay. “We’ll just add it to the list.”

“How did you do it?” Omega asked curiously.

“That’s far from the most impressive move that I can pull off,” you stated, shooting Omega a smirk. “Come on, Meg, give me more credit than that.”

“Can you show me?”

“I don’t think that Hunter would approve of that,” you mused. After a moment, you added, “We can start tomorrow.”

Omega grinned, but you shot her a look to keep a low profile. Omega stowed the nail polish into her pockets as the two of you walked towards the Marauder. Tech looked up from his datapad and perked up when he spotted the water filter.

“Ah, just what I was waiting for.”

“Sorry, got a little sidetracked,” you replied, tossing it over to Tech.

“What kind of sidetracked?” Hunter asked, stepping off of the ship. “Imperial trouble?”

“Just some window shopping,” you spoke evenly, folding your arms over your chest. “Don’t get your bandana all in a twist.”

“We now possess all of the items that we needed to acquire on this pitstop. We should depart shortly, if we want to return to Ord Mantell for a new mission,” Tech announced, causing the Bad Batch to make their way onto the Marauder.

You were about to take your seat in front of the computer when Omega gestured for you to follow her to the back of the ship. Smiling, you headed back, missing the way that Hunter turned in his seat to look back at you. He heard the clinking of glass earlier when Omega and you approached, but now he was certain that it was coming from the two of you.

“Can you show me?” Omega asked quietly, holding out the vials.

“Give me your hand,” you instructed, sitting across from Omega.

Opening the nail polish bottle, you gently grabbed Omega’s right hand and started to apply the dark gray nail polish. Omega watched, fascinated, as you worked to carefully paint her nails.

“Where did you learn how to do this?”

“I used to paint nails. When I was about your age,” you explained elusively.

“For who?”

“A lady.”

“Did she paint her nails like this too?” Omega asked, causing you to shake your head as you switched to Omega’s thumb.

“No, she preferred this weird green color. It looked horrible but apparently it complimented her eyes.”

“Can I paint yours next?” Omega questioned, causing you to look up.

“Course you can. Maybe if you ask nicely, you can paint the boys’ nails too,” you mused, dipping the brush back into the polish.

“They didn’t have nail polish on Kamino,” Omega continued, causing you to nod.

“I wouldn’t expect the Kaminoans to have much need for it. Do they even have fingernails?” you snorted, working on Omega’s left hand. “But a lot of species use this stuff. And there’s other types of polish or things that people put on their nails. But you have to be really rich to get those.”

“Like what?”

“Some people get gems and other valuables embedded into their nails,” you explained, causing Omega to frown.

“Why?”

“The same reason that why rich people do most things. Because they can,” you stated a bit blunter than you intended.

“Did you ever get your nails painted?” Omega asked, causing you to shake your head. “The lady whose nails you painted, she never painted yours?”

“No,” you replied, placing the brush back into the vial and screwing the bottle shut.

“Why not?”

“She wasn’t as nice as I am,” you responded, not meeting Omega’s confused gaze. “Now, keep your fingers apart and don’t touch anything. You have to let the paint dry first. It could take some time, but I didn’t put too thick of a layer on it.”

“And then what?” Omega asked, looking at her newly painted nails.

“Then we can put another layer on, or I can start with the red,” you explained kindly. “Your choice, Meg.”

“What did you do when you painted nails before?”

“I would put another layer of the gray first,” you stated, causing Omega to nod. “It could make the polish a little more durable.”

“What do we have here?” Hunter drawled, leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest. He noted the nail polish bottles on the floor and paint on Omega’s nails. And even if she hid them, he would have smelled it. “I didn’t realize that we had a salon back here.”

Hunter’s gaze drifted over to you, and you stared back at him with some measure of defiance, knowing that the edge in his tone was directed at you. But Omega got in between the two of you.

“Look at my nails, Hunter!” she called, causing Hunter to turn to her. He bent down to her height and reached out to grab one of her hands, but Omega quickly drew them towards her chest. “Careful! The polish is still drying!”

“I’ll be careful,” Hunter assured Omega before looking down at her nails. “Dark gray, huh?”

“To match your armor,” Omega explained, causing Hunter to nod. “We got red too. She said that she’s going to do designs on my nails once the layers dry.”

 “Anything specific picked out?”

Omega turned to you with a questioning look, but you simply smiled and casually leaned back against your hands.

“It’s whatever you want, Meg. You get to pick,” you assured her.

After the top layers of the nail polish dried, you got to work on the red nail art that you promised Omega. You did a horizontal stripe to represent Hunter’s bandana, two adjacent dots to represent Tech’s goggles, an ‘H’ to represent Wreaker’s lula, and a ‘V’ to represent Echo’s kama. And then a '99' symbol too.

“They should be all set now,” you stated, causing Omega to smile and get to her feet.

You watched with an amused smile as Omega ran around and showed off her nails to every member of the Bad Batch. Wrecker seemed most excited for Omega, though the others offered her their praise in their own ways. And it wasn’t long before Omega was going around and painting all of their nails.

You walked over to where Hunter was sitting in front of the computer, watching as Echo offered Omega his hand. Wrecker was blowing on his nails, not wanting to disappoint Omega by ruining her hard work. You folded your arms over your chest, as Hunter had done earlier.

“You going to give me a lecture on pickpocketing again?” you asked him, not taking your eyes off of Omega.

“I’ll make an exception. This time,” Hunter replied, slowly turning to look at you. “I still don’t like it though.”

“Yes, I’m aware,” you stated, pushing off the computer table.

“Then why do you keep doing it?” Hunter asked, causing you to raise a playful eyebrow.

“Well, someone has to teach her how to have fun,” you responded, brushing past Hunter. He turned slowly in his chair, watching as you kneeled down beside Omega. You smiled at her work and offered some praise. “You’re getting the hang of it, Meg.”

“You think so? It’s still sloppy compared to yours,” Omega replied, glancing down at her own nails.

“With practice, comes perfection, as with everything else,” you assured her before standing up.

Walking past Hunter once again, you could feel his eyes on you, but kept walking. Hunter shook his head and turned around to find Wrecker staring at him with a grin. Nudging Hunter in the arm with his elbow, Wrecker let out a teasing laugh.

“Did you want her to do your nails, Hunter, huh?” he teased, causing Omega to pick her head up.

“She’s the best at it,” Omega vouched innocently.

“I’ll just wait for you, Omega,” Hunter replied awkwardly, sinking in his seat.

[starry-crossing-zone]

Oh, Captain - Rex (TCW)

Summary: The 501st is getting a new Co-General and Rex wants to be prepared. His brothers, however, dare him to flirt with a woman at 79s the night before. Length: 1370 words Warnings: Unnamed Female Character (Can be Read as OC or Reader); Rex's Horrible Flirting Skills; Fives is a Menace

79s was packed full of clones as usual, though the color scheme of the night was predominantly blue and yellow for the 501st and 212th. They had just finished a battle together in the Mid Rim and returned to Coruscant to resupply before they shipped out again. And in the case of the 501st, they were on Coruscant to pick up their new Jedi general. 

It was the only reason why Rex went out that night in the first place. 

He had to make sure that all of his men were presentable for their meeting with the new assistant general, who had been assigned to the battalion so that General Skywalker could be called away more often. General Skywalker assured Rex that the new assistant general wouldn’t be that much of a stick in the mud, but Rex didn’t want to take a risk. 

“Oh, come on, Rex, you heard the General. The new general’s fun. Have a drink for kriff’s sake,” Fives urged, placing a drink in front of Rex. 

“I’m all set, Fives,” Rex replied, pushing the drink away from him. 

“Who is the new assistant general, anyways?” Echo asked curiously, leaning over. “The Commander didn’t have a name.”

“I bet they’re a brand new Jedi. Young like General Skywalker,” Jesse stated, earning some nods. “He mentioned that they trained together.”

“It’s not for us to speculate,” Rex replied, earning a sigh from some of his brothers. “We need to be prepared. I don’t want the new general’s first impression of us to be that we look sloppy.”

“Oh, relax, Rex,” Cody spoke up, causing the rest of the 501st to perk up. If anyone could talk some sense into Rex, it would be Cody. “You’re going to be fine. Have a drink. We were just in trenches on a dustball for fifteen rotations. Or maybe make a new friend.”

“Like her,” Fives interjected, smacking Rex on the shoulder. 

The entire table turned to watch a humanoid woman take a seat at the bar. A woman alone in a clone bar? It would be about five seconds before she was swarmed. But there was something about her that intrigued Rex. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was just something about her that drew all of his attention without any work at all. 

“I’ve never seen her here before,” Echo stated as the woman ordered a drink. 

“I wouldn’t mind seeing her around,” Fives spoke up before glancing at Rex. “And looks like you wouldn’t either, Captain.”

“Not all of us think with what’s under our codpieces, Fives,” Rex grunted in return. 

“I’m thinking that they are, though,” Jesse pointed out, gesturing to two clones who made their way over to the mysterious woman. “Hopefully her first experience with a clone isn’t one of Fox’s shinies. She’ll never come to a clone bar again.”

Rex glanced over at the woman again before getting up from his seat. Fives looked over at Echo with a shit-eating grin, to which Echo simply rolled his eyes. Rex walked around the bar, nodding to his brothers that he passed, but keeping his gaze on the mystery woman and the two clones that sat down next to her. 

But before they got too far into a conversation, she seemed to say something with a seductive smile and his brothers got up and left her alone without a word of protest. Now, downright curious, Rex found his legs carrying him over to the woman. She turned her head and their eyes met for the first time. His heart seemed to stutter as he took the last few steps toward her. 

“They weren’t bothering you, were they?” Rex asked, causing the woman to smile. 

“No, not at all. I told them that I was just looking for a drink and nothing more. They seemed to do the rest of the math.” She took a sip of her drink, peering over the rim of her glass and practically into Rex’s soul. “Sorry if you were planning on playing hero, Commander.”

“It’s Captain, actually. Captain Rex,” Rex introduced himself, causing the woman’s eyes to widen a small fraction. 

“My apologies, Captain Rex.”

And there was that arrhythmia again. Was this woman part-siren or something?

“You can just call me Rex,” he assured her, causing the woman to smile softly. “And what exactly should I call you, ma’am?”

“Anything but ‘ma’am’,” she quipped, taking another sip of her drink. “You’re making me feel a little too old, Captain.” 

Kriff, he could get used to her calling him that. 

They got to talking. Not so much specifics about themselves, but rather life around them. The GAR, galactic politics, the drink menu. Rex didn’t even realize that he literally didn’t know any basic facts about the woman until she got up to leave for the night. 

“Do you come to this part of town often?” Rex asked, causing the woman to chuckle. 

“Not usually, but I suppose I could make an exception . . . Captain.”

Rex watched her walk out the door before he was suddenly swarmed by brothers, rattling off question after question. Up until Cody, as the highest ranking officer of the bunch, took control of the situation and asked one simple question. 

“What’s her name?”

Rex opened his mouth to reply, but instead winced, causing his brothers around him to groan. 

“He’s hopeless,” Fives sighed, shaking his head. 

“He was hopeless the second that he decided to follow your advice,” Echo pointed out. 

*~*~*~*

Rex walked through the rows of his men, inspecting them one last time while the General and Commander brought aboard their new General. Co-General. Whatever. Either way, Rex wanted to impress them. And that meant that his men had to be in tip top shape. But when he heard the doors to the hangar open, Rex quickly took his place at the front. 

Only to nearly drop his helmet when he recognized the woman walking with Anakin and Ahsoka. And when he heard Fives’s giggle, he could only swallow down a choice set of words.

“And here’s our captain, Rex,” Anakin introduced, causing their eyes to lock for the first time since the bar. “The best of the best.”

“I would expect no less,” she replied with an easygoing and mischievous smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Captain Rex.”

“You as well, General,” Rex practically choked out, trying to not sweat through his blacks. 

“Rex, this the new co-general,” Ahsoka introduced, adding the general’s name. “She was Master Plo Koon’s padawan and served with the Wolffe Pack.”

“Why’d you leave it, General?” Rex directed towards the new general, who smiled at him. 

“The Jedi Council needed someone to babysit General Skywalker and because I value public service above my own sanity—”

“—This whole spiel again?” Anakin complained, causing her to turn to him. 

“You're just upset because Admiral Yularen laughed in your face when I told him what happened back on Corellia when you—”

“—Perhaps we should move on to the rest of the tour,” Anakin stressed, causing her to smirk. 

“Of course.”

Anakin and Ahsoka led the way through the rows of troopers, though she lingered behind them. Looking over her shoulder, she offered Rex a smile that made his heart stop for a moment all over again. 

“I’ll be back to meet the full battalion formally once the rest of my briefings are concluded. If that fits with your timeline, Captain?”

“Yes, of course, General.”

“Great.” She offered him a curt nod before that smirk returned. “And next time we’re at 79s, drinks are on me, Captain.”

The galaxy was testing him today, that was for sure. Rex watched her walk off with Anakin and Ahsoka before slowly putting his bucket back on his head. 

“Fives,” he growled out. “You have exactly five seconds before—”

Fives took off in a sprint across the hangar and Rex took off after him. Echo sighed and shook his head before turning to his comms. Sending Commander Cody a message that Rex did learn that the woman that he was flirting with last night was the new general, Echo couldn’t help but laugh as he watched Fives evade Rex. 

“Well, this is going to be interesting.”

[starry-crossing-zone]

The Medic - Echo (TBB) (Part 2)

Summary: Echo returns to his medic for help after the Bad Batch is betrayed by Sid. Length: 2475 words Warnings: Unnamed Female Medic (Can Read as Reader or OC), Canon Angst, Some Body Dysmorphia (Echo); References to the Citadel; Fives is Brought Up; Tears; Happy Ending **Picks up right after Season 2 ends. Written before Season 3 came out but is compliant with it. No spoilers.

Part 1

After Sid’s betrayal, Echo was first and foremost focused on getting somewhere safe to regroup. They needed to heal. They needed to gather information and supplies. And they needed to have a plan. Running after Omega blindly wasn’t going to solve anything.

They needed help.

“Where are we going?” Hunter asked Echo, walking into the cockpit.

“Somewhere safe,” Echo replied, keeping his gaze forward.

“Pabu?”

“No, somewhere different. Somewhere with brothers who can help us. Rex showed me a colony of clone deserters. Some were rescued directly from the Empire, so they may be able to help us.”

Hunter nodded and turned to sit at the computer, slowly typing away. Echo tried not to stare, knowing that the sergeant was still slightly manic from watching Omega be taken away. And Echo didn't need to be a medic to know that Hunter was still in pain from his injuries from their failed mission.

The weight of losing Omega so soon after losing Tech weighed heavily on the Bad Batch. And Echo needed to get them somewhere safe before something else happened.

Pulling out of hyperspace, Echo maneuvered the Marauder down to the same landing patch. Once the Marauder touched down and the landing sequence was complete, Echo stood up.

“I’m going to speak with my contact here. I’ll be back.”

Hunter nodded and Echo disembarked from the Marauder. Walking around the ship, he wasn’t shocked to see some of his brothers lined up with blasters. But when they spotted him, they lowered them. Echo walked forward and greeted them before getting straight to business.

“We were attacked. We need a medic.”

Echo gave her name and the clones nodded before walking off to contact her. Looking up at the Marauder for a moment, Echo followed after them.

*~*~*~*

When she heard that Echo had returned, albeit with a different ship and brothers, she hurried to meet him. Turning NAN back on, she jumped on her speeder and took off, her heart pounding in her chest. If Echo asked for her by name, that had to mean that he was conscious. And not severely injured. Right? But that didn’t make her blood pressure go down.

Slowing her speeder down, she slid off of it and grabbed her medic bag, barely breaking her stride as she ran down the hill. Echo turned around at the sound of footsteps and straightened up when he saw her approaching. She stopped in front of him, managing her desire to throw her arms around him.

“You came back,” she stated softly, reminding him of their conversations after battle.

“I need your help,” he replied, causing her to nod. “We were attacked. Our mission . . . everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. I have two brothers injured and they’re very sensitive right now. We lost two of our own.” Echo looked back at the ship before returning his gaze to her. “I didn’t know where else to go.”

“I’ll look at them,” she promised him.

Echo led the way into the Marauder before guiding her over to Hunter. After a brief round of introductions and an explanation of his enhancements, she started her assessment. Working diligently and professionally, she patched him up before reaching into her bag. Pulling out a pill bottle, she turned back to Hunter.

“How does your body take medicine compared to a normal clone?”

“Usually, they give me half or less of the normal dosage,” Hunter explained slowly, causing her to nod. “Tech had it all written out somewhere.”

“What about sleep pills? Did you ever try them?”

“A long time ago. When I was still a youngling.”

“How much did you take then?”

“A quarter of a pill.”

“Then let’s try half a pill,” she prescribed, moving to break a sleeping pill in half.

“I don’t need sleeping pills,” Hunter stated, straightening up.

“You need a bacta chamber, but we don’t have one of those here.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Muscling through the pain will only prolong your recovery,” she replied calmly, breaking a sleeping pill in half. “And right now, the best thing that you can do is have a good night’s sleep. Let your body relax and repair itself.” She held out the half pill to Hunter, who stared down at it. “There’s no shame in accepting help when you need it, Sergeant.”

Hunter stared at the pill for another moment before picking it up. She poured him some water before turning back to Echo. Leaving Hunter, Echo led her down the hall to where Wrecker was sitting. Echo made introductions again before she began to assess him as well.

“You definitely took some hard hits,” she commented, assessing Wrecker’s neck and spine. “Luckily, whoever set your casts did it correctly, so I don't have to redo them.”

“Echo did them,” Wrecker explained, causing her to turn to him.

“You taught me,” Echo reminded her, a bit sheepishly, earning a soft smile in return.

“I remember.”

Giving Wrecker some medication and a pain killer so that he could sleep peacefully as well, she packed up her med kit and made her way off the Marauder. Echo offered to walk her to her speeder, and she accepted. Throwing her leg over it, she offered him a smile that was brimming with anxiety.

“They’ll be alright, Echo. They just need some time to heal.” She let a moment pass before she asked, “Are you sure that you don’t need any medical attention?”

“I’m mostly machine. And metal can take hits better,” Echo replied, causing her to wince. “I’m fine. Thank you for taking care of them.”

“Of course.”

They stared at each other for some time, just silently communicating how relieved they were to see each other again. And in one piece, for another. She wanted to stay. She wanted to speak with Echo. To tell him. But he had just lost members of his squad and she knew that he wasn't in any shape to have that kind of discussion.

And then her alarm went off and she knew that she had to go.

“How long will you be staying?” she asked softly.

“I’m not sure. A few days? However long it takes for Hunter and Wrecker to heal some more.”

“Come visit my hut whenever you can. I’ll give you the coordinates.” She gently grabbed his arm and typed them into his vambrace, before releasing him. “Just . . . before you go.”

“I will,” he promised her, causing her to smile.

“Thank you.”

They bid their goodbyes before she rode off into the night. Echo watched her go until the small dust cloud from her speeder dissipated. Returning to the Marauder, Echo stepped into the barracks. Wrecker was already snoring in his bunk, but Hunter still seemed to be awake. Echo silently climbed up into his hammock and settled in for the night.

“That’s her?” Hunter asked quietly, causing Echo to look down.

“Yeah . . . that’s her.”

*~*~*~*

“Jemis! What did I tell you about biting your brother?” she scolded, pulling her son off of his twin. Marching over to the cot, she placed him down in toddler jail and when he started to pout and cry, she kneeled down to his height. “Don’t bite your brother, Jemis.”

Leaving Jemis to sit there for a moment, she turned to pick up her other sobbing son, who was holding out his arm to show her the bite mark. She pressed a kiss to the bite site before cuddling him into her chest and rocking him back and forth.

“I know, Rubem. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

When she soothed Rubem enough for him to focus on his toys again, she walked over to free Jemis from toddler jail. Picking her younger son up, she brought him back to her chest and pressed a kiss to the dark hair atop his head.

“Now, if you stop biting your brother, you’ll stop going into toddler jail, alright?” she promised him, wiping his tears and snot away from his face. Pressing a kiss to his chubby cheek, she set him down beside his brother again. “There, now can we have peace in this house for one moment?”

A knock at the door caused her to whirl around. Tapping NAN in for a moment to watch the twins, she made her way to the front door. She glanced out the window and sucked in a breath when she spotted Echo standing there. Taking a moment to gather herself, she opened the door.

“Hi, Echo," she greeted him nervously.

“Is this a bad time?” he asked, causing her to shake her head.

“No, no, come in.”

Sitting down at the table, Echo thanked her as she ran and grabbed him a cup of caf. They chatted casually, trying to ease into the conversation. They had a long history with each other, but with everything that had happened since the Citadel, it was best to be cautious.

“It’s a lovely hut,” Echo stated, causing her to nod. “Very spacious.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you live here . . . alone?”

“No.”

“Oh,” Echo replied awkwardly, causing her to pick her head up.

“Echo,” she stated, causing him to meet her gaze, “there’s something that I need to tell you.”

Here it was, Echo thought to himself. The moment that she told him that she had moved on and there was no way that they could ever go back to anything like they had before the Citadel. At least she was being kind about it.

“After the Citadel . . . there was more than one reason why I left the GAR. Fives came to tell me about . . . and I sort of passed out. He called Kix, who ran some tests, and Kix diagnosed me with a condition.” Fiddling with her fingers, she looked up at Echo, who was on the edge of his seat with worry. “Pregnancy.”

“You—”

Echo eyes nearly popped out of his head, and he went rigid. Almost like a robot. Pregnant. She was pregnant. Well, she was pregnant. She clearly wasn’t pregnant anymore. She had been pregnant. He sacrificed himself and he left her behind, pregnant and alone. He left her pregnant. He got her pregnant.

Kriff.

“And about six months after I thought you . . . I had our sons.”

“Sons?” Echo finally rasped, causing her to smile and nod.

“Identical twins. Fives thought that it was the funniest thing in the galaxy that a clone had identical twin boys.” Wiping tears from her eyes, she turned back to Echo. “He would have given you such a hard time about it. He actually read through the entire regulation manual to find the section that explicitly outlawed fraternization between civilians and clones.”

“I can imagine,” Echo croaked, struggling to keep his voice level. “Where . . . where are they?”

“Here. In the other room.”

“Can . . . can I . . .?”

She got up and gently grabbed his hand, pulling him with her. Opening the door to the nursery, she released his hand and stepped over the toys. Thanking NAN, she scooped her boys up and turned to Echo, who stood frozen at the door. She hefted her boys up and smiled as Echo stared at them with wonder.

“Our older twin is named Rubem. And our younger twin is Jemis.” Turning back to Echo, she added, “I wanted to name them after Fives in some way, because I thought it was what you would have wanted, and so both of their names have five letters.”

“You know,” Echo croaked, throat clogged with emotion and tears started to stream down his cheeks, “if he was here, he would have joked that they look more like him than me.”

“He definitely would,” she agreed, lips wobbling with emotion.

*~*~*~*

Hunter walked down the path that Echo had, tracing his steps. He talked with some of the other clone deserters that lived here and was gathering leads on where to look for Omega. Wrecker wasn’t in any mood to discuss them, though, so Hunter came in search of Echo.

Looking up, Hunter could see Echo sitting out on a porch. But Hunter wasn’t expecting to see two toddlers on the porch with him.

The medic sat beside Echo with one toddler in her lap, who looked distinctly clone-like, while Echo lifted the other into the air with his human arm. Echo laid on his back and did upside down pushups with his son Rubem, who giggled and squirmed in his hold. Holding Rubem above his head, Echo gently lowered his son until his and Rubem’s foreheads rested against each other.

He had struggled with physical touch ever since Skako Minor. His body had not been his own for so long that he felt protective over it. And also deeply ashamed of it. Ashamed of his grey skin, the metal parts sticking out of his head, all of it.

But Rubem did not care about how he looked. His son simply laughed and grabbed ahold of his dad’s cheeks, smushing his face into Echo’s own. Smiling at the action, Echo turned back to the mother of his children as Rubem continued to headbutt him.

“He’s not the biter, right?”

“No, that would be this little demon,” she replied, setting Jemis on Echo’s chest.

There were a lot of times why Echo wondered if it was all worth it. If all of the suffering and pain was worth it. And after the last few days of his life—kriff, the last few years—he was starting to believe it wasn’t. All of that loss was for nothing. And he was just the last man standing out of sheer bad luck.

But now, holding his sons in his arms, Echo was taken back to all of the times when he knew that it was worth it. His time with his brothers of the Domino Squad. And then his brothers in the 501st. Messing around with Fives. Meeting the future mother of his children. Strategizing with Rex. Joining the Bad Batch. All of the times where he felt like there was nothing in the galaxy that could stop him.

He lost so many of his brothers—too many—but he felt them here now. This was what they had been fighting for. This was who they had been fighting for.

Echo chuckled as he watched Jemis nibble at his skomp. Kriff, this kid was reminding him of Fives. Sharing a look with his partner, Echo smiled as she shook her head at their son’s antics. She smiled teasingly as Jemis looked up at his dad.

“He gets it from your side of the family,” she pointed out to Echo.

“I wouldn’t dare disagree.”

Hunter watched the family interaction from afar. The toddlers in Echo’s arms couldn’t have been anyone other than Echo’s children. Logic was Tech’s business, but Hunter was familiar with the look of a proud father. And he had never seen Echo happier.

Not wanting to interrupt the moment, Hunter turned around and started heading back to the Marauder.

[starry-crossing-zone]

The Medic - Echo (TBB)

Summary: Before the Citadel, Echo fell in love with the 501st civilian medic. After he's rescued, Echo tries to not think about her and what she's doing. But the Force has other plans. Length: 2056 words Warnings: Unnamed Female Medic (Can Read as Reader or OC), Canon Angst, Body Dysmorphia (Echo)

Part 2

Echo remembered everything about her. The way that her hand fit into his own as they laid together in her bed after a long campaign. He remembered the exact weight of her as she slept against his chest. The distinct way that her eyes always crinkled with joy whenever she spotted him among his brothers. 

He remembered all of it. All of her. But at some point he had to wonder if it was masochistic to keep thinking about her. 

She thought he was dead. And that was so long ago now. And a woman like her? There was no way that she wouldn’t move on. She was beautiful. She was smart. She was talented. There was no way that she was still waiting for him to come home. And why should she? Echo stared down at his scomp as his memories continued to whirl around his head. 

“Echo?” Omega called softly, breaking Echo out of his thoughts. 

“Hmm?” Echo hummed, turning to face Omega. 

“Are you alright?”

“Of course, I am. Why do you ask?”

“You looked upset,” Omega observed, causing Hunter to glance worriedly in their direction. “What were you thinking about?”

“Omega,” Hunter started to warn her, but Echo shook his head. 

“It’s alright, Hunter.” Turning back to Omega, Echo cleared his throat as he tried to come up with an explanation. “I was thinking about an old . . . friend of mine.”

“How did you know them?” Omega asked curiously.

“She was a medic for my old squad.”

“She?” Omega repeated, taking a few steps closer to Echo as she studied his expression. “There were civilians with you?”

“She was one of the few,” Echo replied softly. “And one that I miss. A lot.”

“We should look for her!” Omega suggested with a beaming smile, but Echo shook his head. 

“Any involvement with us would only endanger her. And besides, I’m pretty sure that she still thinks that I’m dead.”

“You never told her that you were alive?” Omega asked, sounding taken aback. 

“I didn’t have a chance. She left the GAR after the Citadel mission, according to Rex. And then I left with this team after I was rescued. There wasn’t much time after that to track her down.”

“I’m sorry, Echo,” Omega replied quietly, causing Echo to nod. “I’m sure she misses you.”

“Yeah,” Echo returned, though his voice lacked conviction. 

Echo got up from his seat and walked deeper into the Marauder. Omega watched him disappear into a separate room before turning to Hunter for further explanation. But Hunter merely shook his head in return, nonverbally telling Omega to drop it. 

*~*~*~*

“Come on, there’s someone I want you to see,” Rex stated, gesturing for Echo to follow him further up the hill. 

“Where are we?” Echo asked, frowning as he walked behind Rex. 

“Just a small pit stop.”

Echo continued to frown, but didn’t comment further. Once they reached the crest of the hill, Echo spotted a farm with a few huts scattered along the dirt road and a large barn adjacent to the dense forest. Rex strode over to the barn, where some light spilled out from the cracks in the door. Rex typed in a code and opened the door, revealing a large group of clones. 

It reminded Echo of the barracks from the war. Brothers were spread out around the barn, some still dressed in their plastoid armor, but most were in some mix of civilian clothes. Rex greeted the brothers that they passed and Echo nodded to them, but did not say or do much else. 

“So, this is where the operation is headquartered?” Echo asked, causing Rex to shake his head.

“No, just a small offshoot. Mostly for the brothers who want to disappear into the galaxy. Those who are ready to put the war behind them,” Rex explained to Echo, who glanced around the barn again curiously.

“Then why are we here?” 

“There’s someone here that I want you to see,” Rex replied, causing Echo to raise an eyebrow. 

“Who?”

“You’ll see.” 

Rex walked around a set of metal shelves, stacked with farm tools and fertilizer, but also medical supplies and other boxes. In the dim lighting, Echo quickly spotted the medical table under a brighter spotlight. An injured trooper sat on the table as the woman in front of him wrapped his bicep with a bandage.

“That should do it,” the woman stated, pinning the bandage in place. “You’ll be good as new in about two rotations.”

Echo froze at the familiar sound of her voice. And the closer that he looked, the more familiar that she got. Her hair was shorter now and she was no longer wearing her GAR uniform, but when she turned around, her eyes were just as he remembered all of those cold nights on Skako Minor. 

“Cyare?” Echo whispered, almost as a reflex. 

“Echo?” she returned, sounding just as surprised as he did. 

Rex nudged Echo in the shoulder before helping the injured trooper over to where the rations were kept, leaving the former couple alone for the first time in years. Echo stood frozen and rigid, not unlike a droid would, as she slowly stepped towards him, coming out of her own shock before him. Her eyes searched his face as the familiar warm smile fell over her lips. Echo was still frozen in time, but not frozen enough to miss the subtle tears building in her eyes. 

“You’re here,” she whispered out breathlessly. 

You’re alive, is probably what she meant to say. 

“Most of me, anyways,” Echo returned quietly, moving his mechanical arm behind his back a bit. Looking at the floor for a moment, Echo slowly returned his gaze to her, a bit sheepishly. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Over two years,” she returned sadly. 

“I’m sorry,” Echo replied, but she shook her head in return. 

“What are you apologizing for? You didn’t ask for . . .” Her eyes fell to his mechanical arm and headband before meeting his eyes again, “. . . what happened.” A silence fell between them before she continued, “I’m just happy that you’re alive. And free. That’s all that matters.”

Echo nodded slowly, his face dropping as he felt the warmth and kindness radiating off of her that he wasn’t sure he deserved after everything that he put her through. 

“What did they tell you?” Echo asked, his voice deeper than usual. 

“Fives told me about what happened at the Citadel. Most of it, anyways,” she replied softly, fiddling with her fingers nervously. “And he gave me the letter that you wrote.” Echo nodded painfully, remembering every last word that he wrote right after they got their orders. “But then I left the GAR about a month after and that was the last time that I tried to think about it.”

“Why?” Echo asked quietly, causing her to pick her head up. “Why did you leave the GAR?”

“It was . . . too emotional,” you returned softly. “I was too emotional. It was just easier to leave and start over.”

“When I told you to not be afraid to move on,” Echo spoke softly, causing her to wince and look up at him through her eyelashes, “you didn’t have to change your whole career around. You were integral to the battalion.”

“It’s alright. I found my calling elsewhere. I worked at a clinic on Coruscant for a while. Fives would visit me a lot.” She trailed off for a moment at the mention of the fallen trooper before snapping back to the present. “But after . . . I had enough of Coruscant. Of the Republic, even. So, I fled here. It was just a fledgling refugee camp at the time but we built it up. And now, we’re nearly self-sufficient. It worked out in the end.”

“I’m glad that it did,” Echo replied honestly, looking around the barn again. “But how did you get involved in this operation then? After you left the GAR and everything.”

“Rex found me. He asked for help and I wasn’t about to tell him that I couldn’t.”

“You’re taking a huge risk,” Echo warned her, causing her to pause for a moment. “If the Empire finds out about this operation . . .” He trailed off, that old concerned look that he got right before every battle coming over his face, “. . . it’s dangerous.”

“Existing in this galaxy is dangerous right now,” she pointed out, a bit firmly. “And if there’s something that I can do to help, I’m going to do it. Especially for your brothers.” 

Echo nodded, not arguing with her on that point. After all, he knew that he would lose. Every time that he told her to be careful or let someone else pull off the riskier part of a mission, she always went ahead and did it anyway. She never pulled back from a difficult mission and Echo wasn’t shocked to see that she hadn’t changed. 

“Thank you,” Echo replied quietly. 

“You don’t have to thank me for that,” she responded softly. “For any of it.” 

They stared at each other for a long moment, a wordless exchange of emotions passing between them. Echo spotted the conflict in her gaze, the way that she twitched a bit and looked grief stricken in a way that he knew meant that she felt guilty. And he had an idea about what caused it. That didn’t stop his stomach from flipping uncomfortably. 

“And you don’t have to explain anything to me,” Echo returned, causing her to frown with a bit of confusion. “I knew it probably happened anyways.” 

“You did?” she breathed out, pressing a hand nervously to her chest. 

“I told you to move on,” Echo pointed out, causing her expression to quickly change. “You shouldn’t feel guilty about that.” 

“Echo, that’s not what I meant,” she replied, her expression growing more serious. 

“Then what did you mean?” Echo asked, now confused. 

She hesitated for a moment, struggling to find the words, when the sound of footsteps caused them to turn. Rex, Gregor, and Fireball walked over to them, all suited up and ready for the next mission. Echo straightened up subconsciously and she quickly turned away, knowing that the moment was now gone. 

“Ready to ship out?” Gregor cackled, punching Echo on the arm. 

Rex appeared apologetic as he glanced between them, but Echo waved off his concern. Gregor and Fireball walked off to ready the ship while Echo turned back to her. She offered him a small, encouraging smile and a nod. 

“Good luck.” 

“Thank you,” Echo returned, nodding curtly. 

The two of them shared one last longing look before Echo forced himself to turn around and catch up with Gregor and Fireball. Rex watched Echo walk off before turning back to her, to find that she was still staring after Echo. 

“Did you tell him?” Rex asked her quietly. 

“No, not yet.” Looking to the floor, she let out a shaky breath. “I’m worried about how he would react to the news after everything that he’s been through.” Turning back to Rex, she straightened up. “But I will tell him. Soon. He deserves to know.”

Rex nodded, shot her a small, encouraging smile, before walking off to join his brothers. She stood there for a moment, lost in her thoughts, before her comm went off. Knowing what that meant, she headed out of the barn and to her speeder. 

Driving down the dirt road for about three minutes, she came up to her hut. Parking the speeder outside her hut, she slid off and headed inside after typing in the code. Heading into the room that faced the sunrise, she moved to relieve her droid. 

“Thank you, NAN. You can go recharge,” she suggested, gesturing to the charging port. 

“Thank you, Mistress.” 

The droid walked off. Walking over to the large wooden crib along the wall, she leaned over and smiled at the sight. Her two identical boys were curled up against each other, both looking up at her with wide honey brown eyes that they got from their father. Running her hand through their hair, she clucked her tongue as they babbled.

“You two drained your nanny droid. Again,” she teased her sons, pressing her finger gently against their chubby cheeks. “You’re going to be little menaces when you’re grown, aren’t you?” 

[starry-crossing-zone]

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Just my thoughts, headcanons, and fics centered on Star Wars. I mostly focus on The Clone Wars (2008), The Bad Batch, Prequels, and The Mandalorian, though I'm expanding

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Master List Below:

Captain Rex

Crash and Fall

Summary: Rex won't give up hope that his Jedi lover is alive after the Jedi Purge.

Rex and Jedi!Reader Series

Oh, Captain

General Storyteller

Sergeant Hunter

Love Finds a Way Part 2

Summary: Hunter thought that he lost you in the Jedi Purge. But then he sees a familiar face.

Nail Polish

Summary: After Omega shows an interest in some nail polish, you steal some for her. Hunter pretends to be annoyed.

ARC Trooper Echo

The Medic Part 2

Summary: Before the Citadel, Echo fell in love with the 501st civilian medic. After he's rescued, Echo tries to not think about her and what she's doing. But the Force has other plans.