#I mean hunter will stop at nothing to get omega back

[panic-in-the-multiverse]

Wrecker placing his hand on Hunter’s shoulder for comfort 🥰

[lost-in-fiction-like-ur-mom]

Hello love, I had a thought after the new episode about Crosshair x reader where she’s been with Hunter and wrecker trying to find Omega (and him) and when crosshair steps out of the ship she just runs to him <3 maybe it also includes them talking on the marauder after about what’s happened. I hope this sparks interest for you!! I love your writing :)

Forgiven

Crosshair x Reader

Summary- You reminisce on the first time Crosshair fought against you and his brothers. He thought you'd never forgive him, but he is surprised when you reunite.

A/N- So sorry this one took so long! I'm still sick but was determined to get this out! Thank you for requesting!! I hope you like it, please let me know if there is anything I can do to improve.

Word Count- 2,276

You remember the first time you realized you lost Crosshair to the Empire. The memory plagued your sleepless nights...

"I know what you're going to do, but please- don't." Omega begged Crosshair. You turned to listen to them, but couldn't figure out what she was talking about. What was he going to do? And how did Omega know about it?

"What do you know?" He remarked.

"I know you can't help it..." She rested a hand to his shoulder. The act warmed your heart, but anxiety rested in the deep pit of your stomach.

You couldn't place exactly why. I mean, you were all imprisoned. But, really, it was nothing the squad hadn't been in before. This was the kind of anxiety that rushed your veins. The kind that appears out of no where and strikes you.

At this feeling, you stood up to move and sit on Crosshairs right. He wasn't very affectionate in public, but you knew the proximity would ease your nerves.

Your hand gently ran down his arm as you sat, he straightened up at your touch. He was on edge as well.

The small gesture of him spreading his right leg slightly wider, to touch you, made you smile. Even in a cell, he could make you feel at home.

He didn't turn to look at you, but took your hand in his, holding it in his lap.

Just seconds later, a masked group of clones arrived.

"CT-9904, you're coming with us."

"Excuse me?" You stood, Hunter was quicker than you though.

"Oh no no, no. We stay together." The clone immediately rammed the butt of his gun into Hunter's stomach. He doubled over in pain.

"Stand down!" The clone yelled. You still advanced, determined to stick together.

A hand grabbed at your wrist. It was Crosshair, still looking down.

"Stop, you'll just get into more trouble." He then looked up at you. He stood, still holding onto you. Your breath hitched, scared for him. What would the Empire do to him?

"Wait!" You called out, he turned around just before stepping out of the cell.

You leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, somewhat of a 'goodbye.' You could see his face get visibly softer. You pulled him closer for a hug, your face in his neck. "Whatever happens, try to meet us at the Hangar..." You whispered. Only he heard.

He nodded his head at you, then turned to follow the clone. The jail wall went back up.

You watched him walk away, the clones right behind him. "He'll be okay. We'll find a way out." Hunter reassured, a hand on your shoulder.

He was right. You all did find a way out. In an attempt to retrieve everyone's armor, you all rushed to the Hangar. Just before putting your last arm piece on, you stopped. "Where's Crosshair! He should be back by now!" You had hoped he found a way to escape the clones that took him. Looking around again didn't help.

"Tech, power up the ship. The rest of us will go look for Crosshair." Hunter commanded.

No one had a chance to respond, the large doors of the cabin opened to reveal him. He was leading a large squad of troopers.

"Uhh, I don't think we'll have to go far..." Omega spoke.

Your breath hitched, but you weren't scared. Crosshair would never do anything to hurt you. Nor his brothers, right?

"Cross!" You went to meet him, you didn't care about the other clone troopers next to him.

However, Hunter blocked you with his body. You stopped, wary but trusting his extreme senses.

"Best stand down sergeant." Crosshair said, rifle at the ready. "Make it easy on yourself... And your team." He looked you in the eyes, then back to Hunter.

"Have you lost your mind!" Hunter interrogated.

The two of them argued back and forth, though neither side made an official attack.

You were so confused, why would Crosshair turn on everyone. Why would he turn on you? Tears prickled, you placed your helmet on so no one could see.

"Now surrender." Crosshair tried, deep down you didn't think he wanted to injure anyone.

Blast fired everywhere.

Omega covered her head- barred down. You rushed to her, giving her cover. Hunter joined your side, now he was guiding Omega back to the ship.

You, Wrecker, and Echo fought hard, which gave Hunter enough time to usher Omega safely to the ship.

Hunter barely had time to run back out, guns firing, when all the overhead lights went off. The storm outside did nothing to help the lighting.

You crouched down to collect your thoughts, looking through your visor you saw many heat signatures. It was hard to tell who was who, but identified Wrecker by his size and Echo by his arm.

You blasted at the on-coming troopers, distracted by a new wave of them coming in. Someone had called for backup.

A loud scream let you know Wrecker had been shot, you weren't close enough to help him. A glance back showed you Echo and Hunter pulling him to safety.

The second you turned back around the barrel of a gun was pointed at your head. A figure sat inches in front of you, also crouched down.

"Don't say a word." It was Crosshair...

You pushed your helmet off, suddenly desperate for some air. You stared at him with glossy eyes. He wouldn't really shoot you, would he?

"Follow them back to The Marauder. Do not tell a soul I let you." He commanded you, lowering his gun. Was he telling you to escape now?

"Cross, I don't-"

"It's not safe here. You have to run."

"Bu-"

"It is too late for me, but you need to go. Now." When you didn't get up, he raised his rifle at you.

"Go!"

You nodded, shoving your helmet over your head. You wasted no more time as you ran to the ship. Tech closed the ramp and door behind you.

The ship roared off, jumping into hyperspace immediately.

You were left dazed, confused, and heartbroken. How could you lose him so fast?

It had been a long time since you all had to run. Not a day, or night, went by that you didn't think about Crosshair. No matter what he thought about you- he was always going to be your true love.

You could only hope he still felt the same deep down.

While you secretly prayed that you'd run into him again, all your prayers were soon taken up. They shifted to be about Omegas safety, ever since she was physically taken from your arms on Ord Mantell.

They didn't stop until you, Hunter, and Wrecker received a coded message. It contained an abandoned planet's coordinates, sent by 'Lula.' You knew it was Omega, no one else knew about Wreckers (turned Omegas) stuffed doll.

Hunter couldn't fly the ship fast enough, you three soon arrived at the location.

At the sound of another ship landing, Wrecker went to see who it was. Just in case it was some kind of ambush.

Seconds later, you both heard giggles from Omega and laughter from Wrecker.

Hunter looked down at the floor, ashamed.

"Hunter, so see her." You said, resting a friendly hand on his knee.

He was silent for a moment, gaze still down. "What, what if she is ma-"

"Omega loves you, she's not mad at you for anything. Please go see your daughter." You smiled at your own words, and the fact that his face turned red.

He rose and walked out to see her. You followed behind, hugging Omega after she and Hunter had their moment.

"How... how did you escape?" Hunter asked, addressing the elephant in the room.

"I had help." Your smile dimmed, watching the empire ship door closely. A figure walked down, the second you copped a good look- you were running.

A gasp barely had time to leave your mouth, your feet hit the ground in quick strides. You didn't stop until you were met with his body.

He stumbled back, but caught you. Your arms immediately wrapped tightly around him. Like he was going to fade away.

You let out a single sob when his hand lifted to caress your hair, then back. "Cross..."

He didn't say a word, he just squeezed you tight. It told you all you needed to know.

In that moment you forgot all that he did. Heck, you didn't care about any of it. He was here, alive, safe, and not trying to attack anyone.

"I'm sorry.... I'm so, so sorry." He repeated himself, mumbling apologies over and over.

You pulled away, forcing his forehead down to touch yours. "Shut up." You silenced him with a kiss, your eyes closed.

It was an awkward few hours on The Marauder. Wrecker and Hunter were still wary on Crosshair. Truth be told, they had a right to be. Omega defended him when she could, but everyone needed to accept the change on their own time.

That Crosshair's days with the Empire was now in the past.

Omega soon fell asleep on Hunter, you could tell she needed a good nights sleep. One where she wasn't constantly looking over her shoulder, or scared someone would come in her sleeping quarters.

As Hunter put her to bed, Wrecker found himself on the verge of sleep too. He headed to one of the two cots hidden in the back.

"Hunter, go to bed." You gently suggested.

"You sure you'll be okay?" He eyed Crosshair, still not trusting.

"I'm a big girl Hunter. Plus, I don't think Cross would be dumb enough to go against all of us with no weapons." You tried to joke, but the tension was so thick you could cut it. Both men raised an eyebrow at you.

You sighed, "Go to bed. I'm fine, really." He nodded and headed off. That left you and Crosshair alone in the cockpit.

It was quiet for a minute, both of you were scared to speak first. It was all so... real, so serious all of a sudden.

"How bad was it?" You asked, turned away from him on purpose.

"Worse than you can imagine." He didn't mean to, but he broke your heart at his words.

You turned to face him, quickly taking note of how his hand shook. You looked from his hand to his face, he tried to hide it.

"Uhm, I guess i'll take the first watch if you want to get some rest." You were so uncomfortable. There was an unspoken thought dancing around the room. While you wanted to kiss and hold him, there was a weird air that surrounded you both. It made you question every move, like it was your first date all over again.

"Right..." Was all he could muster. He was terrified of saying the wrong thing.

He bit this fear back with his next words. "I wish, I wish I could go back. Do things... differently."

"I know. Me too." You tried to meet his gaze, but he stared at the wall.

You were tired of this. What happened to the two of you?

"Crosshair."

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong."

He stared.

"Cross, if you don't love me anymore just tell me. Don't beat around the bush."

This made him snap his head at you. "What? You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Really? Because after I kissed you, you haven't touched me! We used to tell each other everything, now we can't hold simple conversation! I Know a lot happened, I am so sorry you went through what you did. It shatters me just thinking about you getting hurt... but please, talk to me." You pleaded.

He grunted and sat up straight. "You deserve someone better! That's why. Because you shouldn't want to be with someone who turned on his brothers. Who abandoned his team. Who tried to kill the person he loved most. Maybe I should stop beating around the bush, you'll realize what I really am. Disposable."

You blinked up at him, heart beating fast. You didn't know what to say.

Crosshair 'humphed' and slouched back in his chair.

You rose to your feet, standing in front of him. You took his shaking hand in yours. "The man I love came back. He saved Omega. I know deep down you are the same Crosshair I fell in love with. The man that, even when controlled by an inhibitor chip, managed to let me run free. You could have killed me, that's what the chip told you to do... but, you didn't. Crosshair, I won't- I can't blame you for doing anything under the control of your chip."

"I did awful things after that chip was taken out..." He still thought he was unworthy, trying to make you agree.

"You can't push me away. You can't push away the people who love you." You still held his shaking hand in yours, raising your other to rest on his cheek.

"I forgive you... I truly do. I know it will be a long time until you forgive yourself, but I will be right here when you do. The guys will come around, just wait. I promise everything will be okay."

He closed his eyes, leaning into your palm. You moved down, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. At his, he rested his hands on your hips and pulled you to his lap.

You curled yourself up, finally feeling that warm comfort you always felt in him.

You kiss him again, slowly this time.

"I'll do better..." He croaked.

"I know you will."

A/N- Thank you so much for reading! I have fr been sick for a whole week, like give me a break, body! When I am feeling 100% I will come back and fix any grammatical errors. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

Tags- (lmk if you want to be tagged as well!) @thethreeeyed-raven @knight-of-flowerss

[toska-writes]

“Where the stars can shine”

Summary: the fighting never stops, and it never will so it’s in everyone’s best interest to find the calm moments when you can.

Pairing: The Bad Batch x padawan!reader (OF COURSE THIS IS PLATONIC)

Warning: none just so much fluff!

Word count: 1261 (not proof read but what did you expect)

Notes: IM WATCHING THE NEW BAD BATCH SEASON AFTER THIS! So this is my way of manifesting everyone being alright to end the show 🥲

The war never ended, nor would it for anyone who has endured it and its intensity.

One fight always rolled into another and nothing could be done to stop it. The only way to get through it was to find the little cracks in all the bad. The place where the sun could shine and the flowers could grow.

Or in this case, the stars could twinkle.

"This is already too high for me." Wrecker stated loudly hauling himself up the side of the Marauder.

Crosshair, who was currently under Wreck scoffed to himself before clambering up the side like it was nothing. "You never seem to have that problem when we're in the air." He quipped.

"Well I'm inside then." He whined finally being assisted by Hunter who had the small hands of Omega making sure he didn't fall.

You could only laugh at the scene, leaning back on Echo you could feel him laugh too.

"Who do you think's falling off first?" You ask with a smile that was masked by the moonlight.

"The real question is," Echo leaned forward, surprised a little bit that the top of the marauders could fit 5 fully grown clones plus omega and the Jedi padawan. "Who's going to be pushed off first."

You looked back towards him and in an instant you spoke the same word together. "Tech."

Speaking of the devil, Tech's voice rang out as you looked over to where he had an arm pointing something out beyond the horizon.

"-and if you look there you'll be able to see Endor"

Omega's eyes lit up brighter than they have been in the past few days, nothing seemed to be going right for that bad batch no matter how much they tried.

"Have you guys been there?" Omegas eyes scanned the rest of her family that sat gazing with her. The sky on this backwater planet was surprisingly clear, clearer than you thought it would be.

"Eh once or twice." Hunter shrugged it off with a smile as all that Omega could do was gawk up at her big brother.

"Thats an understatement." Crosshair added quietly from beside you. With a nudge to your shoulder he added. "That meat-head over there blew up more than half the forest and got us kicked out. For life."

"Hey!" Wrecker let go of his strong grip of the Marauder with one hand to wave it at the sniper.

Omega giggled giving you a glance as you could help but laugh at the exchange. "Have you?"

You could only smile at the found memories the question brought you. Landing with your Master on a planet you've never even heard of at that time. The trees the towered over you and the abundant shades of green that you didn't even know existed. The faint sound of your master laughing as you stared up from the base of the tall trees fathomed by the hight.

"Yeah I went once I think during the Clone Wars. It was beautiful there." You spoke, the smiles spread from Omegas face to Hunters as he watched you retell the fond memories.

"Well I also did kinda crash into a tree there but other than that the rest was beautiful." Echo hide his laugh behind you as you told the more embarrassing part of the trip.

"I think I did hear about that one." The ex arc trooper spoke out. You shoved him back slightly as your gaze returned to the stars above.

"Now if you all turn your gazes eastward you can spot the Orion constellation which should also mean the Canis Major is pretty close." Tech pointed upward now, his own eyes locked tightly on the stars.

"That one has the brightest star in the whole galaxy right?" Omega filled in, whether Tech wanted to continue himself or not he could only beam down at the girl, who clearly heard this from him before.'

You smiled also recounting when Tech probably told the group for the first time.

The bounty hunters came from nowhere that day, Omega gripped on the back of Echo's armor plate  with tears streaking down her face clearly scared.

Tech stood above you the, a data pad scanned over you as Hunter tried to apply some pressure to a wound you sustained on your side. Wrecker and Cross stood around the group, the sniper's gaze fixed on the darken horizon beyond.

Panicked breath sounded out and flown into the barren night, as much as you didn't want to scare Omega more you really could help it. You were scared yourself.

"Do you see that over there." Tech took your free arm in his hand and pointed up to the looming sky with it. "That really bright star?"

You were pulled back from your thoughts with the slightest nudge from Crosshair who spared you a glance, nobody else seemed to notice his movements

"I want to go to all of those planets one day." The words were light from Omega, a smile still evident in her voice.

"You'll definitely need to learn to fly then." You added shooting a look at Tech who finally spared a glance at someone else and was immersed in taking pictures of the different planets and constellations.

"If you can find another ship." Tech said mater-o-factly with a finger in the air.

"Aweeee Tech." Omega did the only thing she could think of, huge tooka eyes found Tech and with the pout of her bottom lip you could almost see the moment Tech cracked.

"More contemplation will be needed for that"

Though Omega wasn't disappointed for long as Crosshair whispered to her. "That's practically a yes."

Hunter laughed now shoving Crosshair back into a lying down position. He noted that his brother looked quite different without his armor, but it was a sight he could get used to.

Opening his mouth Tech was about to defend himself before a snore racked through the air. 

"Put someone else to sleep too Techy." Crosshair jabbed a finger at wrecker who still seemed to gripped the ship tightly.

You couldn't blame him though, and is wasn't just because of Tech talking, but you did insist the stars and planets were best to see in the late night. A yawn stifled through you, Echo wasn't the warmest person but the arms that wrapped around you from the clone seemed to do it.

"It's not even that late." Omega protested but her heavy eyelids seemed to contradict her own words.

"No no, we all can't fall asleep up here or it's going to be a pain getting down." Omega curled up into Hunters chest as he spoke. He slowly started to get up.

"One of us should get Wreck." Your own eyelids battled against you as you fought to sit up.

"On it." Crosshair was the last person who you thought would offer but as his leg extended you watched Wrecker rolled over the side.

His startled yell was masked by the thud of him hitting the soft grass below. 

"See it wasn't even that far." The skipper shrugged pushing himself over the edge and landing gracefully with even using the side to get down.

You chuckled as you rolled your eyes at the brothers were up to their old antics.

The chill air was a good contrast to the heated days that came before, so much fighting it seemed that it would never end.

Moments like these would always be cherished, and surprisingly Tech wasn't the one to get pushed off the Marauder.

_____________________________________

Taglist:

@arctrooper69 @thereforepizza @padawancat97 @pb-jellybeans @floffytofu @verybadatwriting @solstraalaa @ray-rook @gregorsmissingarmor

[green-alm0nd]

Hi, I really love your work. Could I please request a very platonic jedi padawan reader x bad batch. Basically, during the clone wars, there is a little Jedi toddler that is around about 3-4 years old by the last year of the clone wars. She was rescued and brought to the Jedi Temple when she was 6 months old by the Troopers during the first year of the clone wars. Basically, anytime they enter the Jedi Temple for missions, the same youngling runs/waddles down to them very enthusiastically to give them the biggest hug. She will even crawl through the vents to say hello. After the little one learns their names, she shouts it out happily whenever she sees them or senses them in the force. She does this for all, if not most, of the clone troopers cause she sees them all as new friends. Much later, after order 66, when they visit Rex's base and new squad, they see and hear the same little youngling wandering around and interacting with some of Rex's men and Rex himself, before greeting the Bad batch and happily making friends with Omega. The youngling does have some old injuries from order 66 but turns out to have been rescued by one of Rex's men.

You don't have to do this if you don't want to. I just thought it would be cute. Anyway I hope that you have a great day 😁.

Hello!

[The Bad Batch (platonic) x kid!fem!reader]: Adi'ka

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"'ika' is a suffix used for nicknames meaning 'little' ,so ad'ika means 'little child'"

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Summary:

A small, sneaky, young Jedi always snuck into the Bad Batch's business. Who knew that, after Order 66, they would be reunited with the same kid?

TRIGGER WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF ORDER 66, MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, there's nothing romantic happening in this fanfic, sweet, slightly short. Not proofread.

Enjoy! (And I'm sorry for the wait anon :'))

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There was always a small child that would walk around the Temple alone. Well, not alone. The kid liked to walk around and skip his mind training classes.

Just to see a bunch of clones work. It seemed as if the toddler enjoyed watching four clones train, which was odd. All regular clones disliked them, but there was a child that somehow admired them? It almost seemed unbelievable.

Hunter was the first one to notice this four year old child walking by, smiling and looking at everything as if it was the first time she saw the world. It was endearing. He would wave his hand awkwardly when he saw the small girl look at them from the side of the room. The Sergeant of the squad always disliked hugs, but his mind stopped working when this child walked towards him and hugged his leg. His fatherly instincts must've kicked in, since he gave the girl some pats on her small head. When you scream his name and hug his leg, he feels like crying.

Wrecker didn't really mind it, since he had always had a soft spot for little kids. When he first saw the little kid waddle towards him, he found it so endearing that he'd actually wait for you to always show up when they came back from missions. When Wrecker heard you scream his name for the first time after he came back from a mission, he almost cried from joy.

"Congrats Wrecker, you have become a softie." Crosshair grumbled, rolling his eyes as Wrecker gave him an angry pout before turning to the kid.

Crosshair reacted like Crosshair reacts. A scoff, a grunt and a huff was all the child ever received from the sniper. However, he did make a good uncle. And, whenever the kid wanted to hold his rifle, he'd try to hide in order not to put you in danger. You'd still try to find it through the Force. And, he'd act annoyed when you screamed his neck and asked him to piggyback ride you, but he actually loves it.

And lastly, Tech was very sceptical when the batch first saw a four year old walk towards him.

"Just ignore this kid. She's probably lost." He had stated, before walking away as The Batch gave him the biggest side-eye Tech had ever recieved.

"What? She should be in her Force training classes."

Tech does get annoyed when someone doesn't follow a schedule, so he did feel disappointed and irritated at the kid for accidentally skipping 'classes'. But, he secretly enjoyed your company. Especially when the only thing you know how to saw correctly is 'Tech'.

Before Order 66, you were able to meet Echo as you grew up. He wondered how the Batch had put up with you, especially since the Batch had never had a child onboard except when you came in. Still, it wasn't hard to find the little girl's waddling adorable and endearing.

...

After Order 66, the Bad Batch didn't know about what could've happened to you after that tragic moment of history. Wrecker wanted to go back to Coruscant and see if you were still there. Hunter, even though it hurt him to, decided against it. It was better to keep hiding and try to stay out of trouble. Besides, the squad had a new responsibility. To take care of their child, Omega; and to take care of his brothers.

After a long time, they decided to stay on Pabu, and if they felt it was safe, they could consider looking for the kid that had brought joy to them before Omega had.

But things went wrong. Very wrong.

With Tech's death, and Omega being captured, Hunter had a new purpose. He'd get Omega back, and venge his brother's death. Wrecker was the reason he kept his feet on the ground. Besides the constant reminder that he had to find you. He heard Wrecker cry sometimes, and talk about how much he missed the times you were with them.

...

Though, many things happened. By the time Rex got in contact with Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair, things had changed. Omega was back, Crosshair had rejoined the squad. The Batch was together. Though there was something missing.

The tension seemed almost palpable, as the Bad Batch was greeted by a bunch of old friends. Rex suggested to go speak inside their base, and everyone agreed.

Then, time seemed to stop. Wrecker's smile widened, Crosshair's shoulders slightly relaxed, and Hunter felt his heart rate quicken at the sight of a little girl he had been so worried about talking to one of the rogue clones, Fireball. Rex smiled at the sight of the three clones.

"Yeah. She's a little explorer. Echo has been showing her around and she seems to find more hiding spots each day that passes by. We found her in a small planet away from Coruscant. It seemed like this little Jedi flew on her own, but didn't know where she was going. We were meant to retrieve intel from that planet when we noticed that a small shuttle had crashed. We helped her out." Rex chimed. It had been a couple of years since Order 66, but this kid had gone through more than anyone could imagine.

Wrecker couldn't wait anymore, and ran where you and Fireball were.

You looked up, staring at the big man.

"Wrecker!" You yelled, hugging him with a big grin.

"Little devil...!"

The strong clone hugged you close.

"Ah! You don't know how much we've missed you!" He exclaimed, slightly messing the girl's hair.

Hunter knelt down, hugging the small body of the child.

"It's been a while, kiddo." He said, pulling away with a small smile.

Crosshair just ruffled the kid's hair, trying not to appeal too caring. Still, the marksman seemed relaxed that you were doing fine.

"Where's Tech?" The child asked, slightly moving her head to look where the smart clone was.

Silence filled the room, and Omega was the one to step up this time.

"He...left. During one of our missions." The blonde girl said to the young kid.

The young child pouted.

"But...he promised to stay together." She mumbled, tears slightly filling her eyes.

Omega stepped in again, placing an arm on the child's shoulder.

"He told me he'd come back." You said, between tears.

Crosshair remained stoic, yet a sad glimpse on his face appeared instead. Omega's expression saddened, too.

Crosshair ruffled the girl's hair again, trying to calm her down.

"Sometimes, people come into our lives. They stay for a bit, and then they have to go." The marksman started.

"But... isn't that sad?"

Crosshair huffed lightly.

"It is. But the moment you spent with him were heppy, weren't they?" He asked.

The child wiped her tears away, sobbing.

"Yeah. I listened to him explain the types of ships to Wrecker!"

Omega smiled.

"Then that makes it all worth it." She said, hugging the girl.

"I'm Omega, by the way."

The kid smiled, hugging Omega.

Meanwhile, Wrecker left to speak to Gregor. And Hunter, of course, stayed with Crosshair, Omega, and the child. When he came back, he kept teasing Crosshair and asking about where he had found that line. To this, the marksman snarled at him several times.

"We'll figure something out." Hunter said, ignoring his brothers' bickering and focused on the kid.

The little girl, that had slightly grown up, hugged Hunter's waist.

"Promise?"

"I promise, Adi'ka." He responded.

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I edited it, now it seems way better :p

I hope you liked it anon!

Reblogs and shares are highly appreciated <3

[holylulusworld]

Caged Alpha

Summary: The BMOL kidnapped Sam.

Pairing: Alpha!Sam Winchester x Omega!Reader

Warnings: angst, angry Sam, kidnapped Sam, mention of shot wounds, true mates, a/b/o, a/b/o dynamics

A/N: Inspired by Episode 1 of Season 12

“Again. Where is your brother?” Lady Bevell impatiently shifts on her seat. She watches the alpha she captured to not miss any microexpression. Your boss likes to think she’s in control. When the truth is, that the man she chained to a chair is the one in control.

“Bite me,” Sam retorts, and you bite your tongue to not chuckle. He glares at Lady Bevell and ignores your presence. He seems to believe you mean no harm, so he focuses on the enemy in front of him. “I won’t repeat myself. Let. Me. Go.”

“Why would we do such a thing, Samuel Winchester? You are a danger to the world,” she snaps at the tall hunter. “Y/N, take notes. I need you to send the report to the headquarter as soon as possible.”

“Lady Bevell,” you mumble, so the hunter doesn’t hear you. “Did you read my report? I did a lot of research and concluded, that the Winchesters and the American hunters could be a great addition. We should work with them, not kidnap them.”

“We didn’t send you here to tell us what to do. Your job was to do a background check and show us their weak spots.”

“What? I—but Mr. Davies said they want me to pave the way for effective cooperation. We wanted to work together, not bring them down.”

“One more word and you can join him,” she snaps at you. “Sit there, take notes, and shut your mouth.”

“Oh, I didn’t think you have it in you to curse,” Sam smirks darkly. His eyes drift toward you cowering in your seat.

“You will experience what I’m capable of soon enough. Now, where is your brother?” You dare not look at the alpha when he growls low in his throat. He dips his head and stares daggers into Lady Bevell’s face.

“Where are we?” Sam asks.

“Does it matter, Mr. Winchester? You won’t get out of here before you answered all of my questions. If you work with me, I’ll let you walk out of this door.”

“Not really. I only want to know how far I’m going to have to walk to reach the next town after I snapped your neck,” he casually says, as if it’s nothing to him to break out of the chains holding him to the chair.

You lift your gaze to watch Lady Bevell’s fingers tremble. She swallows thickly and you smirk as you see her scared for the first time since you met her.

“Maybe we should give him a break, ma’am,” you lean forward to whisper in her ear. “He doesn’t seem very cooperative at the moment. Let me give him some water.”

She gets up from the chair, ignoring you once again. “Stay here, and don’t talk to him. I’ll be back in half an hour. He won’t get water. This is not a wellness hotel.”

You watch her storm out of the room, holding your breath. The door slams shut, and you release a shuddery breath.

“Where am I?” Sam asks again, his eyes now focused on you. “I need to know.”

“She won’t let you go,” you whisper. “They came here to control the American hunters. I was sent to infiltrate your organization, only to realize there is no organization. You are all…” You dip your head to look at Sam. “Friends. You work together on free terms, and risk your lives for innocent people, even though you don’t get paid for it.”

You look at the hidden camera in the room. It doesn’t work. Lady Bevell must have stopped recording when she left the room. You smile and get up from your chair and grab your bottle of water.

“Who are you? Did you capture more of us? Did you kill one of them?”

Sam fights the chains holding him as you step closer to the chair.

You shush him. “You need to remain calm. I won’t harm you.” He sneers as you open the bottle to offer water to him. “It’s not poisoned. I drank from it too.”

He parts his lips and allows you to pour some of the water into his mouth. 

“You’re a strong hunter. Your brother too. They don’t understand how you think, and act.” You cock your head, and batt your eyelashes. “I do. My father was a hunter too. He died in London when one of these fine gentlemen let him down.”

“He was a hunter?” Sam licks his lips. “What was his name?”

“Y/F/N,” you whisper in his ear. “He knew Bobby Singer. Uncle Bobby taught me how to pick a lock.” You go down on your knees, fingertips sliding over Sam’s long legs. “I’ll try to remember what he taught me.”

Sam watches you get a bobby pin out of your pocket. He laughs as you start picking the lock of the cuffs around his ankles.

“Done,” you crawl toward the back of the chair to open the handcuffs holding his wrists. “Just one moment. Come on. Open…please.”

You whine when you hear Lady Bevell get closer. “She’s coming. You need to hurry, omega.”

Purring low in your throat at the mention of your presentation you work faster.

“Done.” You scramble to your feet to help Sam get up. “I put some painkillers into the water. I knew you’d be in pain. You need to let someone check on your shot wound.”

Sam furrows his brows when you run toward the door to use the key you stole from one of the guards, you push it into the lock, but it won’t budge. “No…no…”

“Wrong key?”

“I…can’t twist it. I think they locked it from the other side and left the key in the lock,” you sigh. “What now?”

While you search the shelves in the room for any kind of weapon, Sam watches you with darkened eyes. He feels a pull toward you he cannot explain.

“Do you know another way out of here?” Sam asks. “Omega?” You whip your head toward the alpha when he suddenly stands behind you to place his large hand on your shoulder.

You shudder. “The window maybe? I can distract them, and you can slip through the window and run.” Pointing at the small window you frown. “I think you’re too tall.”

“That’s the first time an omega complains that I’m too big,” he purrs in your ear. He grabs a hammer on one of the shelves. “Usually, they love that I’m big.”

“Oh, a hammer,” you nod eagerly. “What now? Do you want me to distract them now?” You glance up at the alpha.

“I won’t leave without you,” he says, not leaving room for arguing. Sam won’t leave you behind. He knows, if he does so, they will kill you. “You’ll come with me.”

“I need to—” You hold your breath when you hear a commotion outside the room. “No, we took too long.”

“SAMMY!” You hear someone call for Sam. “SAMMY!”

“Dean!” Sam replies. “In here.”

“Got it.” The door flings open, and you shriek when you look into the barrel of a shotgun. “Sammy, you okay?”

“I’ll live,” Sam answers. He points at his leg. “We should get out of here.”

“Uh-did you have time to find a girl?” Dean looks you up and down. “Sammy, did you let them kidnap you to find an omega?”

“She freed me,” Sam grunts. “We can’t leave her here. If they find out she tried to help me escape, they’ll kill her.”

“Here,” you shyly glance at Dean when you hand Sam the key to the bunker you stole from Lady Bevell. “You need to change a few security settings.”

“Who are they? Why did they kidnap my brother? Who are you?” Dean angrily grunts.

“Dean,” Sam stops his brother from scaring you even more. “She saved me. Whoever they are, we will decide what to do about them tomorrow.”

“The British Men of Letters,” you whisper. “But you should know who they are. You are the legacy of the American Men of Letters.”

“What?” Dean cocks his head. “There are more?” He questions. “Sonofabitch! If they know we are the legacy of the men of letters, why did they shoot my brother and kidnap him?”

“They ignored my report. I told them that the American hunters are a little…” you drop your gaze. “You know, unconventional. But you are strong-willed and save people all the time. You saved the world not days ago.” You sigh deeply. “They didn’t listen.”

“You are one of them?” Dean squares his jaw.

“She saved me,” Sam slowly gets up from his chair to wrap one arm around your shoulders. “I trust her.”

Sam’s closeness makes you feel warm. You lean in his touch and whine low in your throat.

“I can see why,” Dean grumbles. “I do not trust her…yet.” The elder brother points his index finger at you. “You better not mess with me and my brother.”

“Dean,” Sam warns. “We should check on the security and get some sleep. Tomorrow is still time to find out more about them.”

Dean nods. He still doesn’t like that you will stick around but will give you the chance to prove him wrong. For his brother’s sake.

“How about I give you a tour? You can tell me more about you and help me with the security.” Sam drops his arm from your shoulders to grab your hand.

“You let her escape with them?” Ketch growls. “What has gotten into you?”

“Maybe she will be useful after all,” Lady Bevell chuckles. “Did you ever hear about the Trojan horse?”

“What?”

“What’s better than a Troja horse not knowing she will be their downfall…”

Tags in reblog.

[do-not-resuscikate]

A long, slight critical, rant about The Bad Batch.

Let me preface this by saying, I love this show, I think it has been one of the best animated shows to ever come out of Disney or Star Wars. This rant comes from a place of love.

-------------------------------------------------------

I think it's pretty clear at this stage that The Bad Batch Season 3, while excellent in so many ways, is not quite sticking the landing when it comes to human moments.

There's a reason The Outpost is a fan favorite ep.

There's a reason a lot of people resonate with The Crossing.

And the reason is not action or setpieces, it's the human moments. The emotional moments.

The moments where characters stop and react.

I always thought it was an odd choice to bring back Echo but then have him not even mention Fives, nevermind not giving us any insight into Echos feelings about the circumstances surrounding his death. Rex even talks about how Fives tried to warn him about the chips, in front of Echo, and nothing!

Maybe it's a fluke, an oversight, I thought? Maybe, a story arc they had to trim so they could better explore the new characters!? 

And wow, did the writers do some amazing character work in season 2! I mean, chef's kiss, 10 outta 10. Gorgeous. Give me more of that.

But then, season 3 came.

Do we see proper conversation about the loss of Tech? No.

Do we see Crosshairs reaction to learning of his death? No.

Do we see Phees reaction to his death? No.

Do we see the groups immediate interaction after Crosshair returns. No.

Hells, Omega is taken AGAIN and Hunter doesn't even blink.

We maybe get a token mention here or there, and then on to the next copy/paste rescue/escape.

The writing team leave these beautiful breadcrumbs for us, we're dying to know how X will react to Y next week, and then they just never follow through.

I love this show, I really do, but I can only excuse this so many times.

With the series almost at its end, I think it's becoming increasingly clear that the writers think action setpieces, and escape plans, and heists are what the fans want. 

Don't get me wrong, the setpieces are great. But action is a dime a dozen these days. Plenty of shows and movies give us awesome explosions and shoot outs.

Far rarer are shows, and especially animated "childrens" shows, that give us genuine, gut-punching, emotional moments.

With so little time left, I'm doubtful of a truly satisfying finale to the Batches story. 

So many threads are still dangling, and we're all dying for answers. But we'll spend the next precious few episodes watch Omega break out of Tantiss AGAIN.

Whoever's under CX-2s mask might be significant, but will we see anyone's reaction to it? Will we have time to explore it's impact? Would they explore it even if they had the time?!

The thing many fans fell in love with about the clones is not that they're badass soldiers blowing up droids, it's how they behaved as people. 

How they interacted with each other, defined themselves, pushed their individuality, morality, and goodness to forefront despite being told they are only weapons.

 It's how they reacted to the world around them and their place in it.

The point of the clones stories is not action, it's reaction.

[lightwise]

Be There - Parts 1 & 2

Note: As I like to do (aka my brain holds me hostage until it is satisfied), I had to fill in a couple of moments that we didn’t get in S3 E4 - A Different Approach. I am approaching Tech and Echo’s absence as each character is aware of it so far—so whether he is dead or simply gone, mentions of Tech are not meant to imply that he is physically present in these scenes. 

Enjoy. 

Read both parts together here on AO3.

SPOILERS for season 3 of TBB ahead.

Part 1: Our mission isn’t over yet. 

Beep. Beep. Beep. 

Wrecker stared unblinking at the yellow transmission light as it lit up for the third time. Hunter had stepped away from the console for a brief minute to rest his eyes. This wasn’t standard procedure. When Echo or Rex or Phee needed to reach them, they usually used their wrist comms or the portable holo. The inbuilt console had been…Tech’s domain. 

“Uh, Hunter…you might wanna see this.”

A gruff sigh came from the pilot’s seat. “See what, Wreck?” 

The last beep finally entered Hunter’s consciousness as he tried to brush off the weariness that threatened to overtake him. So far they were only a third of the way around the sector found in the data from Setron. More time had been lost taking the cadets all the way out to Pabu too (not that he regretted the stop). His mind couldn’t shut off, wouldn’t stop thinking through the next place they could look every time a planet turned up empty, but he could feel his ligaments starting to fray at the edges in protest. 

Wrecker would have pointed out that he had been falling apart at more than the edges for awhile now. But it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered until they brought her home. He just needed to keep it together until then. 

“I…I don’t remember what the codes mean but…isn’t that…does this…”

Hunter rubbed his eyes wearily, trying to get them to focus enough to read the sharp white letters that had appeared on the dashboard. Two innocuous lines, in an old coding sequence that Tech had set up before…he blinked that thought away. 

OM.P53.NMR.2SR. BT.

Plan 53 (all comms silent for a stealth rendezvous). Nearest moon of Ryloth. 2 standard rotations. Be there. 

But it was the first letters in the sequence that caused his heart to stop in his chest. 

“I shall make it so that the first two letters of each of our names signify who is sending the message. They should always be the first letters in the sequence.” A tilt of the head and a push of the goggles up his nose had accompanied Tech giving a very pointed look in Wrecker’s direction. “That should be easier to remember than full code names, I hope.”

OM. Omega. It couldn’t be. It had to be. Nobody outside of the Batch knew this frequency—or code.

“It’s HER.” 

He gripped the edge of the console in a daze. How?? She had escaped? She had somehow found a way to contact them. She…she was alive.

“But…how do we know for sure?” Wrecker’s eyebrows pinched together in concern. “After all the luck we’ve been having…what if this is a trap, Hunter?”

The words Hunter had said before their failed mission to Eriadu haunted him now, thrown back in his face like a taunt. He knew Wrecker didn’t mean it that way, though.

“I don’t think it’s a trap. I really don’t think so. But either way…we have to try it.” He glanced at the chronometer on the dash and pulled up the coordinates to Ryloth. “Especially this location…only Omega would have picked here, where she met Hera for the first time. She knows it will be off the radar but easy to get to. We can just make it if we get going now.” He had barely swung the pilot’s seat back around before furiously punching in the coordinates. 

The Marauder’s engines picked up from their lull as they launched forward into hyperspace. Wrecker slumped into the seat beside him, staring out the flickering blue around them for a long moment. He had picked up Lula from her perch on Omega’s blanket at some point, and was passing her tenderly back and forth in his hands. 

“I really hope you’re right.”

They cautiously exchanged glances as the shock and adrenaline of the last few minutes wore off. For the first time in a very, very, long time, Hunter felt the faintest flicker of something he could call hope. But he didn’t dare let it burst into full flame. Not yet. 

Wrecker suddenly chuckled and clapped his hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “Ya know, we’re a mess. We really should clean up before we get there.” His voice lowered a bit as he added, “no reason making her worry any more than she probably already is at how rough we look.” 

Hunter scowled and pinched his brow. His brother was right. The lack of sleep and hygiene had caught up with them at this point, and they smelled worse than they looked. Omega would be able to see the wear and tear on their armor eventually, but at least they could be presentable to welcome her home. 

“Fine, I’ll go shower,” he huffed, giving Wrecker a strained grin that turned into a groan as he tore his limbs out of the seat. 

The view in the mirror only confirmed his disheveled state, and he groaned again as he tugged the bandana off his forehead and slumped against the fresher wall.

Please, please let this be real. I don’t know if I can bear another false lead.

They had crossed the galaxy five times at this point. He would a hundred more if that’s what it took. They didn’t leave their own behind.

Most of the time. 

His ears began ringing. The unbidden thought that had been slowly poking its way through his subconscious finally breached the surface. What if…what if Omega had been taken to the same facility as Crosshair. What if they had found each other? What if…she wasn’t alone?

Deke’s words had been painfully etching their way deeper and deeper into his heart since the boy had carelessly uttered them.

“At least you’re loyal.” 

If only he knew. Once Hunter had claimed those words proudly. It was the ethos he had lived by. Still wanted to live by. But…he wasn’t sure he deserved that label anymore. Too many mistakes had been made. He had failed too many times. 

Echo had told him once that their unbeatable streak on missions during the war wasn’t necessarily a good thing. And every time Hunter thought he was making the right decision, he ended up proving him right. He wasn’t prepared for the weight of failure. For the ways everything kept slipping through his clenched fists. For watching his brother point a rifle in his face and walk away. For not having the right words to bring him back. For all the ways he had to choose when there was no good choice to be had. For watching his entire world fall away. For picking shattered goggles up off the ground. For the dark and empty gunners mount that had been staring him in the face for five and a half months. 

Silver hair and a toothpick between thin lips suddenly floated in front of his eyes, sneering at him. Every choice you’ve made has been wrong. We’re all lost because of you. And then it shifted, the silver hair morphing into a scarred head and terrified, wide eyes that glistened with tears. Begging, pleading. Why weren’t you weren’t loyal to me?

No, no, no, NO. Hunter dug the heels of his palms into his eyes, trying desperately to stop the vortex spinning out of control inside his head. A sob escaped his lips as he collapsed onto the floor. He could never repair any of this. He didn’t know how. 

He sucked in a breath as he felt the faint pressure of a hand on his shoulder that couldn’t possibly be there. A clipped voice suddenly echoed through his mind. I have found that repairs, while daunting at first, simply take repeated effort and inclination in order to achieve them. It’s like a puzzle. The pieces are there, you just have to pay attention and take the time to put them back together. Steady hands. No Hunter, try moving it this way. See? I knew you could do it. 

If only he was here. Hunter wiped the traces of tears from his eyes as his hitched breathing slowly evened out. Whatever—whoever was waiting for them on that moon—he would have to face them. Whether it was a waking dream or another nightmare. He had crossed the galaxy five times in as many months. But he still hadn’t been able to outrun the pain. Hadn’t been able to outrun himself.  

It was time to try a different approach.   

Maybe not everything had to be lost. 

-----------

Part 2: You don’t know if they’re still alive.  

“They’ll be there.”

She had cut him off adamantly. The full force of her hope (her naïveté, he had called it just a few hours prior), pushing firmly against his gentle attempt at reason. 

Crosshair knew he wasn’t just trying to prepare Omega for the possibility that Hunter and Wrecker might not be waiting for them. For them? No, they would only be waiting for her. They had stopped waiting for him a long time ago.

No, his words were more an attempt at quelling his own twisted anxiety at the prospect of facing his brothers again. It had been…a year? More? Since he had stayed behind on that blasted platform. It felt like ten lifetimes ago now. So much had changed. He had changed. Or had he? 

 A staccato thud flung them out of hyperspace, the stolen freighter now drifting quietly past the two giant orange moons that guarded Omega’s choice of rendezvous. 

Still standing behind the copilot chair, his trained eye spotted the tiny speck of light coming from the open ramp of the Marauder. So they were alive. Of course. The tiniest twitch spasmed in Crosshair’s chest at the sight. 

That open door was for her, he reminded himself again. Not him. 

The girl stood unmoving as they touched down. Her spine straight, shoulders pulling down and back, and he could see the faintest reflection in the viewport of tears welling up in her eyes. 

The ramp began to lower and she suddenly came to life, arms and legs almost flailing in her haste to reach the ground. Though he could no longer see her face, as she paused at the last step Crosshair could tell that a weight had lifted from her shoulders. The weight of taking care of herself, taking care of him, getting them both to safety. 

She had accomplished her mission. 

He had to admit, he was impressed by her. Maybe he was starting to understand a little of how quickly Hunter’s loyalty had transferred to her, how she must have driven them all crazy at first with her bright-eyed optimism and inability to take no for an answer.

She really was the best of them. 

He sighed as her words echoed in his mind—“I’m not giving up, Crosshair! I won’t let you either.” Her stubbornness was certainly the family trait, and perhaps surpassed his own.  

Those words had somehow burrowed into his chest and wouldn’t leave. But they hadn’t shocked him. He expected her to say them to anyone. They fit perfectly within the love and loyalty she showed everyone around her.     

What had shocked him were the ones she said later, after he had tried every tactic he could think of to get her focus off of him and onto her own safety. He had long since accepted what the rest of his accelerated lifespan might be—serving as a test tube and punching bag for the Empire he had once sought glory from. How fitting, really. It was his penance, for everything he had done. Everything he had failed to do. 

Why should he have a chance to live when...he sighed again and pushed away the memories threatening to engulf him. Long brown hair and a beard blurred white with snow. Round, yellow-tinted lenses blinking pointedly in his direction. The remnants of a skull chalked onto the back wall of a bunk—just enough dust left to stain his fingers. 

“None of us belong here.”

The Empire changed people. For the worse. But after all those months of isolation, all his attempts to drive her away, to keep his distance so she would stay safe—he never expected for those wide eyes to practically beam sunlight at him in that force-forsaken, grey haze of a prison. She had seen him, then. Truly seen him for who he was—and still believed in him. In all of them.  

She had tried to give him the same outstretched hand many times before—during their desperate attempts to flee the sinking facilities of Kamino; on the sun-soaked platform after. In that makeshift holding cell after Kaller, where all of this had started. 

He wasn’t sure what surprised him more—that she had offered it one more time, or that he was finally willing to try and accept it. 

Batcher whined from her corner of the cockpit, tilting her head hesitantly at Crosshair as he remained fixated, unable to move from the viewport. His musings faded as he saw a shift in the light; Wrecker’s large form had suddenly darkened the doorway of the Marauder. 

Crosshair dug his spine into the door frame behind him, waiting. 

He didn’t have Hunter’s hearing, but he didn’t need it. He could imagine just how loud the shout of joy was that Wrecker let out as he ran to meet his little—their little sister. A faint smirk threatened to tilt his lips as the giant of a man lifted Omega high above his head and spun her around, wiping tears unashamedly from his eyes. Crosshair expected nothing less. He was sure there were matching tears streaming down Omega’s face as she clung desperately to her—their brother.

But where was…Crosshair’s eyes narrowed as they caught movement inside the Marauder. Was he truly prepared to see the etched face of his former leader, brother—friend—once again? A now familiar yet terrifyingly unwelcome spasm in his hand told him he was not.  

Hunter emerged from the shadows, stopping before the overhead light could illuminate his face. 

He must have said something, before practically leaping down the Marauder’s ramp as Omega catapulted herself forward again. Crosshair’s eyes softened as he watched his stoic, touch-averse brother cradle the girl in his arms, his eyes closed, his hands shifting over her back as though he would never let her go. 

Could he blame him?

But the atmosphere shifted abruptly as Hunter pulled back, his warm smile and affectionate gaze at Omega turning into a wide-eyed, disbelieving gape as he lifted his eyes toward the freighter behind her. There was no way he could see him through the tint of the cockpit, but his other senses were more than adequate at that distance. Hunter had finally realized that Omega had not escaped alone.

Crosshair felt panic wash over him. His gaze shifted to the pilot’s controls. It would be so easy to take the wheel and disappear, leave them all behind once again. Omega was safe. That was all that mattered, right? He could ditch the ship and find work on some backwater planet, do his best to keep off the Empire’s radar.

Batcher slowly shook herself and stood up from where she had been napping the last few hours, her eyes never leaving his. His lips tightened into a thin line as they stared each other down.  

He finally let out a disgruntled sigh, shaking his head and crouching down until he could rest his hand on the curve of her head. 

“I know, I know.”

She growled a little and then licked his hand, pointedly ignoring the scowl he gave in return. 

“I’m done running. Promise.” 

He achingly stood back to his full height and turned toward the back of the ship. He could almost feel Hunter’s shocked gaze still on him. Whatever message Omega had sent them, they clearly hadn’t been expecting him to walk down that ramp after her. After all the wrong choices—how could this one possibly go any better?

The tremor took over his hand again. But he suddenly, faintly, felt the pressure of a familiar, slender hand on his shoulder. And another, firmer grip cradling his trembling fingers, easing the shattered nerves. A pulse he thought he would never hear again thrummed next to his own for the briefest of seconds. 

He had nothing left to lose. 

It was time to try living again. 

Divider by the lovely @dystopicjumpsuit ✨

[adh-d2]

Ok. I'm going to need to wait for the next episode to truly decide how I feel about this, but right now I'm like, pretty pissed off at Hunter and Wrecker?

You'd go to the ends of the galaxy for your sister, spend the rest of your lives searching for her, stop at nothing to get her back...yet when she returns with your long-lost brother you look at him like this?

Look, you've been on thin fucking ice since he told you he'd had his chip removed and you just believed him. The guy that you know had a mind-control chip in his brain. The effects of which you've seen and felt and know for a fact are impossible to resist. And you just believed that the people who put it in him in the first place voluntarily took it out? No follow up questions? No doubt?

How little did you care about Crosshair to begin with that you'd so readily accept that he was of sound mind and acting of his own autonomy?

Just for fun, let's review what you know about Crosshair right now:

His chip activated. He was forced to say, think, and do horrific things; and these things were outside of his control.

Those horrific things included trying to kill you. He's shot at you multiple times. He's an unparalleled marksman. He's always missed.

You left him behind on Kamino. It was the right choice at the time. He was literally trying to kill you, you didn't know why, and you couldn't have safely extracted him. But he still got left behind.

He has expressed how painful this was for him every time you've interacted since ("we didn't have a choice" "and I did?" | "They don't leave their own behind...most of the time").

He also said some really mean things to you.

He was horribly injured while under the Empire's control.

He rescued Omega from drowning.

He maybe had his chip removed? No need to confirm, I guess.

You left him behind on Kamino. Again. But he asked for it this time, and he said he knew what he was doing, so...

He became a prisoner of the Empire. In the facility that houses dissenting, disloyal clones.

He managed to get a message out to you while imprisoned. That message wasn't a cry for help, but a warning. Go to ground. They're after Omega. Protect yourselves.

Omega just told you he helped her escape the Empire.

AND, I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH, YOU LOOK AT HIM LIKE THIS?!

I'd say I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed...except actually nah I'm pretty mad.

Episode 5 is going to have to do some serious work to salvage my opinion of these two. Or at the very least stop framing them as the moral centre of the show.

[dragonrider9905]

Hunter is not a villain for his caution….What did you take away from Ep 16?

A lot of people have been vilifying Hunter these past few episodes and while we love characters, they have flaws. I’m not saying he doesn’t. I can make fun of Hunter and will definitely call out his flaws but people are putting a lot on his shoulders. Do you not think he’s doing that as well?

“When will it be enough” when he’s talking to Echo. This statement seems cold but maybe he wasn’t talking snotty like us fans are doing so that’s why we took it that way? Fans are at each other’s throats. I saw disagreements but both loved and respected each other. Maybe he wasn’t saying “when will you have saved enough people” but rather “Echo when will you be at peace with all you’ve done?” Because Hunter knows this isn’t a winning fight. He knows the guilt Echo carries. Notice how it’s not a problem for Rex? He asked Rex once why fight and Rex has a totally different aura about it. He just knows it’s what he’s supposed to do. Echo is passionate and angsty. He’s driven by another force. Echo thinks about his time on Skako Minor a lot, as shown in S2 by his comments. How much has he shared with Hunter? Hunter still looking out for him?

I already shared a post about Hunter’s cautions about Crosshair’s warning here.

“I don’t know if it’s worth it” we literally watched Tech fall to his possible demise. THIS IS WHAT HE WAS AFRAID OF. The man wasn’t saying Crosshair wasn’t worth it, but maybe this chance was a foolhardy one to take and wait it out till they had a better one. He knew how sketchy it would be and it’s his call. He wasn’t going to take it lightly because the brothers and sister who are all he has left in the galaxy might be taken. The man is literally paralyzed in fear. We’ve seen him running and not facing problems. It’s not good but it is his coping mechanism. He’s not being mean, he’s choking up and dying inside. And he doesn’t argue when everyone of their own free will wants to go because he does want his brother safe.

“We’ve decided to settle on Pabu” he wasn’t giving up on Crosshair folks. Do you think Echo would drop the hunt not just for Crosshair but because there is a base full of clone prisoners somewhere? They thought Hemlock was killed in the explosion so there’d be time. He was a prisoner now not a lab rat. Once Echo had news, he’d probably share it and they’d bust their brother out. In the meantime….they are grieving Tech! Hunter literally shut down! His face when he told Omega he didn’t make it?! His eyes? And Omega didn’t handle it well when Tech fell OR when she woke up, adding to the fact SHE almost died. Think about someone you lost/almost lost. I know my thinking got emotional and protective when I was in that situation with people I knew.

Hunter is going after Omega, and is seemingly more determined to find her than Crosshair because he has nothing left to lose. Find Omega and find Crosshair. Omega was Hunter’s weakness in a way. If she wasn’t with them, he might have been more along Echo’s line of thinking earlier. Now that she’s taken, that last scene? Hunter’s face, man? That guy is out for blood. It is the first spark of determination and not tiredness in a long time. He’s getting his muster back. The baddassery is about to get real because he’s freakin sick of his family getting torn from him. Hunter needed to be pushed this way for the sake of his character writing. He needed to come to a breaking point. He lost so much when he was desperately trying to hold it together. That’s why he was so cautious. He didn’t want to see his brother fall. He’ll dream of this and blame himself because he sent Tech. He won’t sleep well because he’ll blame himself for Omega getting caught because he chose to go back to Cid’s right after her Almost dying. Sitting by her bed? That was one worried dad. So you expect him to want to keep fighting after she was hitting him because Tech didn’t make it?

We as fans need to stop thinking the worst right away. We need to be kinder and more cordial. We don’t have to agree because that’s the fun of it, to debate friendly certain ideas but the intense hatred for fictional characters who have real human flaws (which is what makes the writing intriguing) needs to end. You don’t have to like him, but please be fair, that’s all I ask. Crosshair has done plenty but it’s forgiven and overlooked (I love the man too guys, but let’s be honest, he’s morally grey.) we’re all grieving. I love Tech and that really hurt to see. Whether or not he’s really gone, I don’t know. But we’re all grieving so I understand being hurt.

I just needed to let it out.

[huntressdarkness]

Huntress' Fics

Note: All my fics are explicit and 18+ unless I say otherwise, and they are all private, so you will need an ao3 account to read them. :)

Anakin-centric

Covenant - Heir to the Empire under Emperor Kenobi, Anakin is instrumental in bringing peace to the galaxy. Though the clones have rights and a way out, Rex chooses to stay with Anakin, especially in the wake of his arranged marriage to end the budding rebellion. - (Anakin/Rex)

Her Majesty - Anakin is captured by the Zygerrian queen. - (Anakin/Miraj)

The Art of Seduction - Anakin struggles with his responsibilities to his men, and Hunter offers him a distraction. - (Anakin/Hunter)

Bad Batch-centric

Aloft - Echo rescues Crosshair on a prison transport to Tantiss, and the Batch join him on Rex’s Yavin IV hideout. Having Crosshair back doesn’t automatically erase what happened or mend the rifts that have been torn. - (Hunter/Crosshair)

Alight - Sequel to Aloft - (Hunter/Crosshair)

Deep In Their Bones - Post-E4 in S3 when Crosshair comes back. - (Hunter/Crosshair and Hunter/Crosshair/Wrecker)

Devotion - Hunter struggles with his jealousy over Phee and insecurities over Crosshair. Tech helps him. - (Hunter/Tech)

Fade Into the Dawn - Crosshair and Echo track down Hunter to bring him home. Imperial!Hunter - (Hunter/Crosshair/Echo)

Lead Me Unto Temptation - On their first mission for Cid, Hunter is captured by Zygerrians and sold off to be a sex slave before he and the Batch can escape. He contacts Crosshair for an extraction, even though that means calling the Empire. - (Hunter/Crosshair)

Lead Me Unto Freedom - Sequel to Lead Me Unto Temptation - (Hunter/Crosshair)

Of Feather and Bones - Hunter and Wrecker get captured and taken to Tantiss in a bid to rescue Omega. But with Crosshair as uncooperative as ever, Wrecker injured, and Tech alive, albeit now a brainwashed operative of Hemlock’s, Hunter’s plan of escape is not quite as clear or easy as he’d hoped. - (Hunter/Crosshair, Hunter/Wrecker, Hunter/Tech, and Hunter/Crosshair/Tech/Wrecker)

Poisoned Waters - The Batch rescue Crosshair from Tantiss, but that doesn’t automatically fix everything. A “treasure hunt” with Phee goes badly, exposing Crosshair to an aphrodisiac toxin… and leaving Hunter to “help” him through it. - (Hunter/Crosshair)

Rapture [Series; WIP] - When Crosshair discovers that Tech is behind the mask of CX-2 on Tantiss, he tries to reach out to him to see if something familiar might bring back the brother he knew. And he has to face the consequences of his failure alone. - (Polybatch)

Silhouette - Hunter is captured and taken to Tantiss instead of Omega... where he reunites with Crosshair. - (Hunter/Crosshair)

Stardust [Series; WIP] - Captured on Zygerria, Hunter and Crosshair become prisoners of Queen Miraj Scintel. She will try and break them, and their fellow captives, Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex, through every possible way, stopping at nothing, even rape. But when Hunter and Crosshair have yearned for each other, it may only bring them together the way they've always wanted - and maybe even win them other lovers on the way. - (Hunter/Crosshair to Hunter/Crosshair/Anakin/Rex)

This Is How We Rise Up [WIP] - A darker version of Hunter from the future shows up on Kamino when the Batch are having their standoff and drags Crosshair along with them when they leave. - (Hunter/Crosshair, Hunter/Echo, Hunter/Hunter, and Hunter/Hunter/Crosshair)

Worlds Apart [WIP] - Though the pregnancy was an accident, Hunter didn’t regret it. How could he? He can’t deny what Crosshair means to him. But the child doesn’t make it, or so Nala Se tells him. Forcibly transitioned from omega to alpha, Hunter has to cope with his new designation as well as grief for the child he never got to know. And then the Empire forms and all his attempts at rebuilding something come crumbling down. - (Hunter/Crosshair to Polybatch)

[fanfoolishness]

Hello lovely! Adoring your blog!

Can I request something for your drabble post?

Was thinking (in keeping with current events lol)

Crosshair and Omega and 'Eclipse, Goggles'.

Maybe some fluffy angst about trauma bonding by watching an eclipse through Tech's spare goggles? 😭😅

Thank you! X

thank you so much for the prompt! This ended up being quite a bit longer than a drabble - nearly 1K. Enjoy!

under sun and shade

Omega and Crosshair share memories of Tech on a sunny day.

-

He finds her under the shade of a vast spreading tree, sunlight streaming through gaps in the leaves and catching in her golden hair.  Batcher frisks beside him, then lets out a happy bark, charging to Omega’s side and rolling on the ground beside her.  Omega pats her absently, then squints up at him.

”Hi, Crosshair.”

”You weren’t at lunch.  I told Hunter I’d check on you.”

She gives him a wan smile.  “You both worry too much.”

He raises his eyebrows.  This from the kid who’d been kidnapped by bounty hunters and the Empire, who still had the Empire after her.  “I’m not sure we worry enough.”

She chuckles a little, but it’s nothing like the laugh he’s gotten used to.  Crosshair frowns, leaning against the trunk of the tree.  His shadow blocks the dappled sunlight playing over her hair and face.  A guilty look crosses her face, and then he realizes what she’s holding.

Tech’s broken goggles.

He goes cold, despite the sunny day.

“I just…” She hangs her head.  “I miss him, Crosshair.  I thought maybe I’d go and think about him for a while.”

Crosshair swallows.  He’s not sure what to do here.  She left them to go off by herself.  Is he supposed to let her be?  “I can… leave you alone.”

Her face twists to one side.  She’s crying silently, trying not to show it.  For a moment he almost does leave — he’d want to be alone, if it were him (wouldn’t he?).  But that doesn’t feel right.  He sinks down to the ground beside her and reaches out, stiffly patting her on the back.

She curls up under his arm so quickly he’s taken by surprise.  He shifts his arm, brings her a little closer.  It’s strange, feeling like a shelter, like he’s… safe, for  her.  The chill in his chest fades.

”Don’t you miss him, too?” she whispers.

”Yes,” says Crosshair.  “Of course.”  A muscle works in his throat.  He closes his eyes, blinking back a sudden sting.  “Did he like it here?”

Omega laughs, though she still sounds teary.  “I think so.  I was remembering how he recorded all the birds.  Not just their calls, but everything to do with them — how their wings sounded when they flew, the sounds of the bugs they liked to eat, the noises their babies made.  He used to sit right here recording sometimes.  Then he’d play them back for me, telling me all their names.”  She lets out a long breath.  “I think talking about him helps.”

Scenes flash before him.  Tech in their quarters back on Kamino, acting out every new plan that came into his brilliant mind. The confident little smile he’d get, pulling off something insanely clever.  His voice rising with excitement when figuring out the twists and turns of a new language.  Understanding you does not mean that I agree with you.

Crosshair opens his eyes, looking out at the distant sea, the sunlight shimmering on the waves.  “Did he ever tell you about the eclipse on Ryloth?”

”No,” she says, scooting closer to him.  He squeezes her shoulder.  

“I was on watch.  Hunter and Wrecker were laying low, resting up for a night mission.  Tech was supposed to be, but he joined me.  He wouldn’t stop talking about an eclipse by the largest moon.”

“An eclipse? During your mission?” 

“It was very rare.  He knew exactly how rare, of course.”  Crosshair smiles slightly at the memory, though he’d been irritated by Tech’s chatter about the stages of the eclipse and Ryloth’s five moons and the fact that only the largest moon could initiate a total eclipse.

“Of course.”  Omega looks up at him, curious, her eyes dry.  “What was it like?”

“Strange,” Crosshair admits.  “The light went wrong.  We’d been on Ryloth for two weeks.  I thought I knew the place.  Until totality approached, and everything fell dark.  And quiet.”  

His arms prickle with goosebumps.  It’s still such a powerful memory, the shift in the light’s register, the deep unreal shadows descending upon the world before them, the noises he’d gotten used to in the distance faltering into silence.  And then Tech beside him, voice hushed: “Totality.  It will last for six point two minutes, and this planet will not see such a spectacle again for thirty years.  We will have no other chance to see this event on this world in our lifetimes -- now, Crosshair!  Look!”

Crosshair shivers.  “We’d seen a lot of the galaxy by then.  But that stays with me.  It was… beautiful.  And Tech wanted me to see it with him.”  

He tries to describe it to Omega, though his halting words are nothing like as clear as the memory he still carries.  The image flares in his mind once more, the sun a black upon black disk, a white halo of hazy corona swirling and shifting around its borders, its light not moonlight or sunlight but something else entirely.  He’d drunk it in, goosebumps rippling on his arms.  And then he turned to Tech, whose brown eyes were wide and unblinking behind his goggles, his face shining, transported.  “It is…” Tech paused, then shook his head, gazing up at the corona.  “It is beyond my ability to describe.”

Crosshair had just nodded.  “I think I know what you mean.”

They didn’t get to talk much about it after; the mission had taken precedence, and then there was the next mission, and the mission after that.  But every time it came to mind, his arms prickled, and he remembered Tech, his face glowing.

Omega shifts beside him, and he’s back on Pabu, on a bright sunny day beneath the shade of a drowsing tree.  She pulls away from his embrace, looking down at the goggles in her hands.  

“I like that story, Crosshair.”

He takes a deep breath.  Perhaps talking does help.

“I do, too.”

[lost-in-fiction-like-ur-mom]

Confessions on the Marauder

Echo x Reader

Summary- You and Echo finally have a moment alone on the Marauder. Of course the pressure gets to one of you, and confesses.

A/N- This is my first time writing for this fandom :) ! Possible OOC Echo, feel free to let me know any way I can improve! Love you all!!!

Word Count- 1,108

Defective. That's what you were told your whole life. Actually, that's what you were literally labeled since day one. A defective clone.

Unlike the rest- you didn't get any cool advancement. No special abilities. The only thing wrong- you were born female. How could the Kaminoan's be so careless! Ha, a female!

The thought almost made you want to laugh, smiling from ear to ear.

"Whats so funny?" Echo asks, craning his head from the 'Pilot' seat. You glanced from your seat next to him.

"Nothing important." He eyed you a moment longer before focusing on leaving hyperspace. The ship jolted, signaling the completion.

While typically Tech would be flying with Echo as Co-Pilot, this mission was different. Cid had sent just you and Echo to retrieve a package for her. A simple mission that was successful.

"Echo?" You asked, keeping your gaze out the window on purpose. Eyeing the planet you were getting closer to.

"Hm?" He responded.

"Can we not land yet?" You said, hesitant.

He slowed down the craft significantly, though still moving. "What for, we've got the package?"

"Yeah, I know. I just... I'm not ready to go back yet." You faced your fears and turned to look his way. To your surprise you were met with his gentle eyes, no sign of judgment.

"Did something happen?" Echo worried himself.

"No, no." You fought to tell him the truth, wavering.

"Then whats wrong?" To anyone who didn't know him, he might have sounded blunt and rude. You knew it was his own way of showing how he cared.

"Its just, it seems like forever since we've gotten a break. Mission after mission after mission." He kept his hands on the controls of the ship, but eyes on you. He waited for you to continue.

"In here, just us two... It's really relaxing." You said, trying not to sound too cliche.

"I can ask Hunter for you to sit the next mission out, you can stay with Cid." He suggested, trying to find a solution.

"It's not that Echo, I'd just feel guilty that I wasn't helping out. Pulling my weight y'know?" You were slightly hurt, thinking he missed the comment about the two of you.

"Five minutes. Five minutes of sitting here, no one knowing. Not being on guard every second, please?" This wasn't like you, but the crumbling weight of work and stress had put you at rock bottom. Desperate for a break.

Echo looked at you, understanding flashing through his eyes. He didn't respond, instead picked up his comlink.

"Minor detour, the package was distributed to the wrong planet. We've located it and are heading that way." Responses were exchanged, but it seemed everyone bought the lie.

You thanked him as he let the Marauder hover.

A few moments of silence went by. At first it was comfortable, but then you started to feel nervous. The reality of you and Echo being alone in the ship sunk in.

The man you had a crush on since you could remember. You wouldn't dare tell him, worried that he wouldn't feel the same. How could you continue on the team with denial weighing in the air.

You tried your best to seem smooth as you looked over to him.He sat with his eyes closed. Not asleep, just basking in the moment.

Eventually the silence got to you. You had to say something.

"How long do you think we'll do this?"

He peaked open his eyes, an indescribable look on his face. "This?"

You grew hot in the face. "I mean, the missions, working for Cid, fighting. Do you have any plans... after?"

"Well, I haven't put much thought into it. Were clones, it's just what clones do. I assume things are bound to change when Omega is old enough to look after herself." You started to pick at your nails, nervously, but stopped yourself in embarrassment.

You took a breath in to respond, but he continued.

"I do know that, as long as you're here. Then i'm content." You had never perked up so fast in your life, heart beating rapidly. He looks over at you, seemingly calm.

You take another deep breath, "Me? What if there's someone else, someone you want to make a different life with."

He looked at you with seriousness in his eyes. Not a shred of doubt in his next words. "There is no one else. No one else I would want anything else with. There's only you." He said it as-a-matter-of-fact-ly.

"Why?" You immediately regretted your words. He just confessed and you froze up.

"Because I love you." He looked you dead in the eyes. You stood up from your seat, heart beating faster than any battle you'd been in.

He must have stood out of instinct, because he followed you up.

"Are you sure?" You asked, believing this was a dream.

"Yes."

It only took a single step to be as close as you could to him. Your breast pressed up against his chest. You tip-toed your way up to his face. Smashing your lips against his, dreadful in experience but just as lovely.

"I love you too, I have for years..." You claimed as you slightly pulled away, your foreheads touching.

You two simply breathed in each other for a moment, panting.

You pressed in for another kiss, just before your comlink went off. You heard Hunter calling your name and then- "...Echo! What's your current status?" Damn.

Echo responded before you could even get your thoughts straight. You mind hazy from the kiss. "Got the package, en-rout to Ord Mantell. Eta is still unknown." He lied, glancing at the said planet right in front of us.

You continued to stare up at him as he responded to Hunter, almost in a daze.

The second Hunter went out, Echo came down for another kiss, holding the small of your back.

After what felt like hours of kissing, you pulled away. The lack of oxygen dared you to take a step back, but you sharply breathed in through your nose.

Looking up at him, you realized he wasn't near as out-of-breath as you. He simply waited for your next move, patiently.

"What does this make us?" You asked, still pressed up against him.

"Whatever you want it to be..."

You smiled at this, responding with "I want it to be something. I want us to be something."

"Then we're something..." He leans down for one last kiss. Before the two of you have to break your pretty little bubble and return to reality. But for now, it was just you and Echo. Oh, and that secret something.

A/N- Thank you so much for reading! Tags (lmk if you want to be tagged as well!) @thethreeeyed-raven @knight-of-flowerss

[rebelwriter99]

Well those were some remarkably accurate predictions!

SPOILERS INCOMING! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Tantiss did get blown to bits. Everyone did escape. (Because they had to they hadn’t had a big win in more than an entire season to justify it!) And they DID make it an hour long episode! I was so relieved the second I saw the runtime.

But WOW were a lot of things a surprise. Nala Se doing what she did I feel like I should have seen coming. It was a fantastic character arc conclusion for her, especially that line about Kamino. Rampart being there I didn’t see coming, but also a very well earned conclusion for his character (if you’ll take my meaning).

Omega! Honestly the only predictable character on screen at this point. Except perhaps Echo. Of course she released the Zillo beast-that was set up really nicely. Everyone immediately knowing it was her was delightful and probably the only time I remember laughing all episode because boy was it heavy from there.

The Batch themselves and what happened to them were a huge shock all episode. Crosshair finally voicing what I’d known since S1 and became blindingly obvious post S2 was a fantastic moment. I’m so glad it got said out loud, and I’m so glad it was him that said it. They haven’t been Clone Force 99 since the end of S1 E1 and the loss of Crosshair to the Empire. Their success rate on missions has consistently dropped since then, even more so since the loss of Tech. They were a unit, and they’re missing pieces. They’ve never been whole since the fall of the republic, and then had to operate in a galaxy they weren’t trained for. They’re not the same anymore-they needed to own that.

The three heavy duty action scenes the batch were involved in were all callbacks to previous scenes. The hangar stand off-against what are essentially operatives designed to combat them specifically-is a call back to the first appearance of imperial cross. Crosshair sees the operatives and knows they can’t win. He’s unfortunately right. And wow I did not see Crosshair losing his shaking hand coming at all. I understand practically why the writers did it, and I know I’ll be thinking long and hard about it, but I literally screamed out loud when it happened.

I think all of the batch finally understanding and experiencing what Crosshair lived through was important. The batch met their match in Hemlock. Crosshair was never really an enemy in S1, and Rampart was too stupid. To Tarkin, they were a fly in the ointment of the bigger picture. It was nothing personal. He’s Echo and Rex and the rebellions problem-not theirs. But Hemlock? The experimental scientist who wants to own what they hold most dear. Yeah. They needed to really know him. I knew when Wrecker got injured last episode that if they won it would be by the skin of their teeth-and I don’t think a single character bar omega got out unscathed.

The batch’s rescue is perfect. Regs volunteering and going to rescue the defective clones? This really is a new galaxy. We’ve moved on from Cross and “he’s just another reg”. And it’s Omega and Echo returning the favour. The Batch have gone into a research facility to rescue their own and gotten captured for their trouble twice now. (Not including Echos rescue in clone wars-where they avoid capture but get a tad stuck). This was the third attempt in TBB. Still got captured. But it’s Echo and Omega together who get to rescue the people who got them out of their similarly horrible situations. The parallels abound and I loved it!

And that last confrontation. The rain? The shape of the buildings? That exposed platform? This was Kamino all over again. Except this time, however injured, however changed they are, Hunter and Crosshair are together. For Omega. They’ve both failed to stop her being taken by Hemlock before-they’ve both watched a ship fly away with her on board. This is another third attempt. They both get their do over. Except this time they’ve learned to trust eachother, and they’ve been forced to adapt. The clone’s humanity has always been their strength-and this is one of the most perfectly written, perfectly animated scenes in the series. I knew Cross was going to have to make a shot he didn’t want to take. And I knew he’d do it. But Omega telling him what to do, telling him she trusted him not to hurt her, broke me. It was all leading up to this. And that she hugged Cross first. I was crying before this scene. I will have to rewatch and hope I can actually see next time I was sobbing!

And Hemlock got his slightly gruesome end. Thank the FORCE.

And Pabu at the end. You can feel their disbelief that the trauma is over. That they can have peace. And the epilogue is perfect. I wish we’d got to see older cross and wrecker too-but their character arcs were already handled earlier. This is Hunters scene-it was always going to have to be. For him to truly be at peace, he has to feel OK watching her fly away. He’s spent three seasons clinging on-how he’s happy to let go. And Omega gets her choice. That precious thing all the clones are chasing. She got to have a childhood, grow up, and choose.

I’m so hopeful that Omega at least will reappear-especially if she’s hoping to join the rebellion! Maybe she’ll meet Hera again-that would be amazing. (I’m nothing if not a rebels fan)

I know Bad Batch is a series I’ll be coming back to again and again to rewatch, and I know I’ll see new things in it each and every time, but for now-Thank you Clone Force 99. You’ll always be our ‘dad batch’ of deviants. It was a wonderful wild ride.

[moonstrider9904]

Flyin' Ace

Chapter 4 of Moonwalker: The Flame

{series masterlist} {next chapter} {previous chapter}

{crossposted to Wattpad} {crossposted to AO3}

Summary: The crew are led to Safa Toma, where a deal struck with the gangster Millegi results in a stunt to protect Sarah's honor.

Tags/Warnings: Mature. Allusions to gangs, some foul language, smoking, alcohol.

Word count: 7.2k

Songs:dirtmouth

If Sarah had known what they were getting themselves into, she at least would have insisted on leaving Omega on Ord Mantell. Letting her be by herself for a while, even if it was enclosed in the Y-Wing with Rigel on standby, would have struck her as safer. Echo and Hunter were bound to return soon, anyway.

Instead, there they were, the entire rest of the squad walking the even seedier streets around the Safa Toma race dome. Sarah thought back to her days as a pirate chilling in Hondo’s lair, and that seemed like a high-end dive bar compared to where they were now. Cid led the way at the front and center, with Sarah at her right side. Sarah kept Omega to her left, behind Cid, figuring that would at least be where the smallest of the group would be most protected. And, bringing up the rear, Tech and Wrecker towered over the three ladies like two bodyguards, fully armored and unafraid of whoever may have so much as hinted at a dirty look their way.

Cid looked over her right shoulder at Sarah and made a brief gesture at her. Sarah picked up her pace and, mindful of still being Omega’s cover in some way, she evened her position with the Trandoshan and leaned in, prompting hushed voices. No one else needed to be listening in.

“Glad ya came,” Cid said. “This pit of filth and scum should be a piece of cake for a former pirate like you.”

Sarah took it as a compliment. “I did see some things over at Hondo’s. Never a riot racing dome.”

“Ya ain’t here for the racing,” Cid pulled to a stop. “I am.”

The multiple speeders tailgating after the other down at the track raced by their area, the revving of their engines rising and then falling. When they were out of sight, Cid faced the crew behind her. “My new racer’s gonna make us enough for two months, at least!”

“Aw, look at you being generous,” Sarah walked up next to Cid, overlooking the racing track with a confident, arrogant little smile. “We’re getting a two month vacation with this pay? I kinda like that.”

Cid chuckled. “Ya know what I mean, Strider, don’t push it.”

As Sarah enjoyed the view and the memories of her scrappy past, Cid looked around the crowd, wary, though it didn’t seem there was anyone targeting her or her companions. There may have just been one face among the crowd with particularly unfriendly eyes looking her way… or perhaps not?

At the possibility, Cid scrambled past the clones and led the way again. “We should head down to meet Tay-0. We’re not ‘ere to spectate.”

Sarah picked up on the sudden change of pace as well as the way Cid suddenly became more tense, and she walked up to Wrecker first, grasping his forearm lightly.

“Whatever happens, prioritize Omega, will you?” Sarah whispered.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Wrecker nodded.

Sarah smiled softly, appreciative of Wrecker’s reassurance—he was a pillar of strength, and not just physically. She then hurried to the front next to Cid, and she leaned in again, more secretive than before.

“If we’re to keep hell from breaking loose, you need to tell us who to look out for,” Sarah told Cid.

“You got good instinct,” Cid muttered. “You call the shots.”

Sarah couldn’t help but pull back at Cid’s words, her eyebrows raised and eyes widened.

“What?” Cid questioned.

Sarah chuckled. “Nothing. Just that… well, you’ve got a damn good right hand in me.”

Cid’s shoulders relaxed, and her lizard-like features seemed to adopt a hint of a smile. “Yeah, I don’t doubt that.”

Sarah smiled softly, oddly proud to be the one Cid recognized as in charge on the mission. But Sarah took such a responsibility seriously, and for the rest of the way, her gaze was ever-vigilant and aware of any pair of eyes that fell on them.

The squad made it down to the sidelines of the racing tracks without difficulty. The speeder that belonged to Cid’s infamous racer seemed prominent while it was parked on the sidelines, and Omega instantly ran towards it, eyes big with curiosity. Tech followed closely behind, already pulling out his datapad, no doubt wanting to check his own records to get a better grasp of what the vehicle was and, of course, how to improve it.

As Sarah watched Tech go about his business, she smiled softly at the sight of him so expertly making his way around the speeder.

“Many modifications have been made, that is for sure,” Tech was explaining. “A speeder of this caliber was not built for racing conditions, neither speed or weapon-wise.”

“Um, ahem!”

Every pair of eyes that had gathered around the speeder turned in the same direction when a male and slightly mechanized voice filled their ears. A tall, thin-looking droid was approaching them, its strut almost as confident as if it were human. When it was just in front of the crew, its hands flew to its metal hips and it leaned forward slightly, indignant.

“Who so disrespectfully criticizes my vehicle?” The droid bellowed.

“It is not criticism, it is an evaluation,” Tech said as he raised the visor of his helmet and looked at the droid, his expression clearly visible through his goggles. “Do you manage this vehicle for the racer?”

“I am the racer,” the droid said.

Everyone then looked at Cid, who walked up to the droid and slapped its back.

“This is Tay-0, my own little money-maker,” she introduced.

“At your service,” Tay-0 took a light bow.

Meanwhile, Tech looked over at Cid, skeptical. “Your runner is a droid?”

“Hey, human!” Tay-0 walked up to Tech and challenged him. “Do you think you have the mental capacity to make a split-second calculation required in the heat of a race?”

“He does, actually,” Sarah chimed in, smirking over at Tech.

Though his helmet covered most of his face, the way Tech’s eyes glistened as they hovered over to Sarah and lingered only for a second didn’t escape her. Regardless, his gaze was back on Tay-0, firm, yet sincere.

“I do not have the background or knowledge of the sport to provide an answer,” Tech said. “However, I have made split-second calculations in battle amidst blaster fire, which is not the same as racing, but similar in that there is an imminent threat that must be addressed swiftly to ensure victory. Perhaps my experience will enrich yours, and yours may enrich mine.”

“All I want to hear is praise, human boy,” Tay-0 dismissed. “So if it ain’t that, I don’t want to hear it.”

The droid waltzed off and retired into the garage, moving the speeder in towards it. Meanwhile, Sarah approached Tech from behind, her hand landing over his shoulder.

“Well, he seems delightful,” she scoffed.

“I am curious,” Tech said. “If machinery eliminates human error, does that mean the ideal racer is a droid? What is Tay-0’s margin of error, and how does it compare to that of the organic racers? If his win-rate is not 100%, does his droid nature influence who he loses to? In other words, does he only lose to droids who can perform similarly quick calculations? And this raises a different question—we are now adding a different factor to success in a race: the vehicle, the ability of the racer, their organic nature or lack thereof, and in the latter case, who has the better programming. This has potential to be truly fascinating to analyze.”

“Well, I don’t really like this place,” Sarah briefly squeezed the plastoid on Tech’s shoulder—she particularly enjoyed the sound of Tech’s voice modulated by his helmet and was grateful he’d given her such a speech in it, “but now I’m hoping we stick around long enough for you to answer all those questions.”

Tech faced her, his eyes softening over his goggles. “That was quite a compliment you gave me a moment ago.”

Sarah smiled at him. “And there’s plenty more where that came from.”

“Look alive,” Wrecker called from behind, instantly drawing Tech and Sarah’s attention to the group of people who were approaching them.

The group was led by a large Dowutin male and followed by three other figures, of whom one was a Gamorrean guard, and the other one had a recognizable face since it was plastered on multiple posters around the racing dome—it was Jet Venim, another one of the racers.

“Cid,” the Dowutin called out. “You didn’t tell me you were back around. I resent you for not telling me.”

“Millegi,” Cid acknowledged. “That’s ‘cuz I wasn’t really plannin’ on seein’ ya.”

“Well, that’s on you, since you know this is my turf,” Millegi said as he got a quick glance at Sarah and the others. “Got a new crew there. Aren’t you gonna introduce us?”

“Their names are non’ya business,” Cid crossed her arms.

Towering over everyone else, Millegi scanned the crew standing guard behind Cid, and his gaze landed on Sarah, who stared back at him, unwavering.

“Nice tattoos,” he said to her.

Sarah tilted her head slightly and opted to use her charisma rather than anger a prominent gambling figure of Safa Toma.

“Thanks,” she smirked. “Made ‘em myself.”

“I once heard an old friend talk about someone who looked like you,” Millegi paced closer towards her—it didn’t escape him the way the two clones tensed as he did. “A pirate who graced her gang with her presence, but then left too soon, and all to be a heroic soldier, only to never be heard of again. You’re her, aren’t you?”

Sarah scoffed ever so softly.

“Hondo’s Sarah Adhara,” Millegi concluded and brought the large cigar up to his mouth, taking in a large inhale before lowering it once more, exhaling. “You’re a legend. What will the Ohnaka gang think when they hear their prized jewel played a part in losing a bet against Millegi?”

Sarah knew a signal of deference was in order, one that was just daring enough to also establish a certain territory, a relationship of mutual respect rather than to let Millegi know he stood before a doormat. Sarah paced forward slowly with a subtle sway of her hips, her back straight and features calm as she reached her hand out and took the cigar from Millegi. Without breaking eye contact even to blink, Sarah took a long inhale from the cigar and removed it from her lips, blowing the smoke out through her nose and letting it flow up in front of her face, and at last, her lips curved slightly when faint expressions of satisfactions were heard coming from Millegi’s crew. Towering over her, Millegi smirked at Sarah’s gesture.

“If my reputation precedes me, then you know I don’t want trouble,” Sarah said, handing him the cigar back. “Surely, you have bigger fish to fry than a mercenary and her new crew. We don’t deserve such attention.”

“I beg to differ,” Millegi spoke. “Your racer’s going up against mine, and Cid and I have some unfinished business. That’s enough of a premise to strike a deal.”

Millegi then looked over Sarah’s shoulder at Cid with an aura of confidence. “I was thinking of giving you more of a run for your money, but I won’t ignore such a warm introduction,” he glanced at Sarah briefly, then back at Cid. “Let’s leave it at our usual wager, how’s that? For old times’ sake?”

Though she tried, Cid couldn’t mirror Millegi’s confidence, and her chest shrank as she crossed her arms.

“Alright, deal,” Cid spoke.

Sarah briefly glanced at Cid, painfully aware that the stakes had just been raised.

“Well, this will be fun,” Millegi said as he began to turn around, his gaze lingering on Sarah for a moment before he left.

Sarah followed him with her eyes as he and his crew left, and when they were out of sight, Sarah rushed over to her own team.

“Knew you’d be great here,” Cid placed her hands on her hips, smirking at Sarah. “You actually got Millegi to soften up.”

“The point was to be off the hook,” Sarah said. “But you still accepted the bet.”

“You know as well as I do you don’t just say no to a bet with someone like Millegi,” Cid countered.

“In case you haven’t noticed, you have muscle too,” Sarah gestured at Tech and Wrecker.

“Will ya ease up?” Cid grinned. “I know what I’m doin’. Tay-0’s gonna win, and Millegi’ll respect the wage. Win-win.”

“This droid better be the best damn racer in the galaxy for what I just did,” Sarah crooned.

“Which you pulled off great, kid,” Cid congratulated. “Now come on, when have you not been able to trust me? I always come through for ya.”

Sarah found it in herself to chuckle. Cid did have a point, and there had been multiple times where she’d indeed come through for them, for her, from the Y-Wing and Rigel to those nights spent talking over a glass of aged Corellian whisky.

“For now, enjoy the race,” Cid said. “We got some money to win.”

Cid went over to the speeder with Wrecker and Omega following after her, and Omega stopped briefly in front of Sarah, looking up at her with stars in her eyes.

“You were so cool just now!” Omega beamed.

Sarah chuckled. “Yeah…” she kneeled down and crouched slightly to be just below Omega’s eye level. “Listen, as long as we’re in Safa Toma, do as I say, not as I do. Got it?”

“Yes, mom,” Omega winked, then followed after Wrecker.

Sarah felt a tingling in her marks. She’d never heard Omega call her that… but the words rang sweetly in her mind, and teasing as it was, she’d accept it.

As Sarah was standing up, Tech walked up behind her. He’d removed his helmet and was hugging it beside him, and when he made eye contact with Sarah, his eyes were slightly widened in pleasant surprise.

“That was… unexpected,” Tech said.

“Yeah,” Sarah’s voice was soft. “Wait, what are you talking about?”

“Your cigar stunt,” Tech answered.

“Oh! Right, that…” She turned a right angle to face Tech, gazing up at his goggled eyes. “Well? What do you really think about that?”

Tech shrugged. “That was very…”

“Yes?” Sarah prompted, smirking at the plethora of ways in which Tech could possibly admit his feelings at that very moment.

“Unhealthy,” Tech spoke.

Sarah couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, fair. Yes, that’s why I don’t do it often. I picked up the habit for about a month while at Hondo’s, but that’s it.”

“Dangerous,” Tech added.

“I like to think of it as calculated,” Sarah challenged. “You have to take some sort of a risk to establish your presence in places like these, but it looks like it went well.”

Ignoring Sarah’s explanations, Tech finally looked her in the eyes, his lips parting just enough for his teeth to bare with silent hunger. “And… absolutely, exquisitely enticing.”

Sarah cooed with a little wiggle of her shoulders. “Well, well.”

“Yes, in fact,” Tech leaned in close and hushed his voice. “I’m beginning to think we should have brought your outfit from the Old Ord Mantell ruins.”

Sarah gasped in a fake scandal. “Egads, Tech!”

“The brasier and skirt perfectly accentuate your best assets,” Tech justified his thesis.

“Come now,” Sarah teased. “We both know that’s just for you and me.”

Time wore on and the racers made their way to their speeders, even the arrogant droid Tay-0, and while he was off racing, Sarah and the others gathered around to watch, and not an ounce of suspense was spared.

Why the sport's name included the word "riot" became obvious the moment the speeders dashed past the starting line. The revving of the engines piled, one after the other, until the speeders disappeared past the first curves and tunnels of the course, leaving only the roaring cheering from the stands going wild and the announcer narrating the juiciest highlights from the track. Cid held a datapad that projected Tay-0's speeder, and as much as it surprised Sarah, he seemed to be a decent racer and a decent pilot, unwaveringly moving his own speeder to the lead and having all the others tailgating him in a matter of seconds.

Cid's excitement for the race was contagious. The prospect of winning and earning a few easy credits wasn't lost on anyone, but the overall rush of racing was what felt more attractive to Sarah, so much that a part of her was curious what it would be like to be down there racing, moving as fast as the wind, pulling stunts in front of a crowd and being the first one at the finish line. Of course, a speeder that wasn't designed for such speeds paled in comparison to a starship, and Sarah'd had her fair share of excitement inside her own Y-Wing.

But the excitement felt towards that race was short-lived, and the team's hopes came crashing down when Tay-0's speeder barely made it to the finish line, and not in first place. The speeder tumbled and crashed loudly into the side of the track, prompting everyone to instantly head down there running as varied cheers were heard from the crowd, from painfully taunting "Ooooh!" cries to cheers rampaging with excitement and satisfaction, for the moment Tay-0 became the loser, it was Millegi's racer who had been declared winner.

When Wrecker and Tech pulled Tay-0 out of the wreckage, it seemed for a moment that hope was lost. Tech took a closer look at the droid and locked gazes with Cid, then with Sarah.

"There is a remedy for this," Tech affirmed. "However, I cannot change the already disfavorable result of the race."

"Are you sure you can fix him?" Sarah questioned. "He... he literally lost his legs."

"The core circuitry seems to have overloaded due to the impact, but judging by his current state, Tay-0 is on standby," Tech said. "He is not yet a lost cause, however much I may dislike him."

"You and me both," Sarah muttered, crossing her arms. She suddenly felt a warning rising inside her, and her instincts jumped to alert as she felt multiple people approaching them. Surely enough, they were already being hoarded by Millegi and his racing crew, who only had one thing on their mind after the result of the previous race.

"You lose, you pay," Millegi opened. "How about that, Cid? You sure your star racer's gonna be okay?"

"We have the best mechanic in the galaxy," Cid was nearly successful in hiding all of her nervousness. "Now, about the payment..."

"You do have it, do you not?" Millegi chuckled. "I just wish you were as quick to pay as you are to claim a payment."

Tech and Wrecker inevitably exchanged looks, and the multiple meanings behind that paired with Millegi's remark, but Sarah chose to ignore it for the time being. She instead focused on Cid and her lack of money to pay, which wouldn't foretell a happy ending.

"And if there isn't any money, we're gonna have to keep you," Millegi finished.

"Wait, keep Cid?" Omega spoke up, her tiny, childlike figure scattering in front of Cid. "But you can't do that!"

Millegi chuckled, amused at the rare sight of a child in such a cruel environment. "It's time you learn, kid. A deal is a deal, and when someone can't pay up, the stakes are higher. Either that or you make sure you actually have enough money."

"But you can't take Cid away from us, she's our friend," Omega's worry was evident in her voice, and her big, bright brown eyes looked over at Sarah, then at her two brothers, begging them to do something.

"The thing is," Sarah chose to intervene, "we aren't really counting on splitting up. It's not something we do well."

Millegi seemed to ease up the moment Sarah spoke up, and just as tensions were rising amongst his crewmates at Cid and her crew's resistance, Millegi gave one swat of his hand to calm it all down. He then looked at Sarah again, his gaze gleaming with intrigue.

"Alright then," Millegi looked straight at Sarah. "I'm giving you the chance to make a counter offer."

But Sarah was out of ideas, and normally when that happened, Omega was quick to intervene with a bright idea of her own.

"Let us fix Tay-0 and run the next race," Omega said. "Tomorrow morning."

"That's not a counter offer," Millegi said. "You need to offer up something that'll make this second round more intriguing, kid."

"We'll pay you double if you win," Omega said, decisive.

Sarah couldn't help the way her gaze shot over at Omega, but the child had a confident look in her eyes. Sarah felt a grim sense of foreboding flooding her body, its eerie cold spreading slowly through her marks.As much as Sarah had learned to trust Omega and her instincts, she couldn't find it in herself to feel at ease with the stakes being raised that drastically.

"But if we win, we leave here with Cid," Omega finished.

Millegi raised a brow. "You don't want money?"

Omega lightly shook her head. "We want our friend, and our freedom."

Millegi paused to ponder for a moment, but eventually, he nodded. "You got yourselves a deal. But for the night, we're keeping Cid as collateral. You understand - we have to make sure we're not sweet talked just to be fooled afterwards."

"Standard procedure, I suppose?" Tech inquired.

"Sure," Millegi agreed, and he gestured towards Cid to have her follow him and his crew.

Before Cid left, she took one last look at Sarah. Sarah gave a nod, appearing as confident as she could, but at the moment, Sarah wasn't sure how much that was. She then watched as Cid walked away with all the others, and when they were out of sight, Omega walked up next to Sarah, slightly hunched over her shoulders.

"Are you mad at me?" Omega asked her.

Sarah instantly looked at Omega, her facial features softening as she knelt down to be at Omega's height. "Darling, no."

"I know we're risking a lot," Omega said. "But I didn't want to leave Cid."

"And no one's holding that against you," Sarah said. "Yes, the deal is a little more risky than I would have made it, but you bought us time, and you bought us hope." Sarah then looked over at Wrecker and Tech as they held Tay-0's chassis, nodding briefly at them.

"We'll make do with what we have," Sarah finished.

"Yeah, we always do," Wrecker reassured.

"I will get to work on Tay-0 immediately," Tech said. "Wrecker, if you could bring the speeder into the shop, you'd be helping volumes."

"On it."

Cid

The night life outside was at its peak. Sitting on the couch and overlooking the elongated glass window before her, Cid could see the entire lowly festival that bloomed in the streets of Safa Toma. Laughter and racket could be heard coming from outside as the sun went down, and though those clones had proven to be resourceful before even in the worst of times, Cid couldn't shake the feeling she'd been pushed into a corner. She didn't have the credits to pay Millegi double - Tiny was adorable, but sometimes her bright ideas proved costly - and at that point, even Cid herself couldn't keep up blind hope that the heap of metal she'd chosen as her runner would succeed. It was up to Goggles to fix the droid, which Cid didn't doubt he could finish.

Winning the race was the problem.

Maybe if she sweet-talked Millegi into giving her some time after the loss to go and get the credits, Cid could head over to Ord Mantell and get some out of the reserves she had for herself and for the Batch. But wherever extra time was involved, so was collateral, and Cid couldn't stay as that and go to Ord Mantell for the credits. She also wasn't gonna ask one of the boys to go and empty the cases for her. The only one who Cid might have felt confident enough to ask for such a thing to was Strider, but Cid knew she wasn't gonna like the idea either.

Only a part of Cid felt guilty screwing over the batch, but it was either that or having Millegi come after them mercilessly, and that was assuming he even let them get off the planet, or that they were somehow able to get off planet without him noticing, which would open a whole other lot of gruesome possibilities waiting for each of the mercenaries.

"You look troubled," Millegi interrupted Cid's train of thought as he poured a glass of bourbon. "Ease up. Drink. Your loss will come until tomorrow anyway. For now, enjoy."

"I'd rather not," Cid dismissed.

"This is the most tense I've seen you since the last time you didn't have enough money to pay me," Millegi teased after downing his drink. "Surely that's not the case now, is it? 'Cause if it is, how are you gonna get out of that one?"

"You're gettin' ideas all up in your head," Cid challenged. "I won't lose."

"You're smarter than that," Millegi poured himself another glass and went to sit on the couch next to Cid. "You've said yourself, a blind confidence makes a dead fool. You'd be stupid not to consider all possibilities."

The feeling of being cornered returned to Cid.

"Better think fast," Millegi took a sip out of his drink, his tone friendly, even if the words were menacing.

With crossed arms and her body turned away from Millegi, Cid looked over her shoulder at him. "Whattaya mean, think fast? I'll get ya the money if it comes down to it."

"You'd be ruined after the wager the runt of your crew made," Millegi chuckled. "Double payment in exchange for you. It's so noble it almost has you believing you wouldn't turn your backs on each one of them in a second."

"I might surprise you," Cid crooned.

"No," Millegi said. "On the contrary, you're gonna pull a dirty stunt on them, and it'll be exactly what anyone expects."

"I've changed, Millegi."

"So you won't listen to my counteroffer?" Millegi prompted. "It'll be much easier than getting me all that money."

Cid angled her figure towards Millegi, intrigued.

"Adhara," Millegi finally stated.

"Strider?" Cid frowned. "What about 'er?"

"If your racer loses, you hand her over," Millegi proposed.

Cid's features crinkled in a grimace, but she didn't turn away from Millegi, nor did she dismiss his offer. She kept silent, and her eyes idly found different corners of the room as she examined the recently-raised stakes.

"Not a single ingot would wind up in my pocket," Millegi continued. "If you lose, give me Adhara and you're off the hook."

"Why do you even want her?" Cid asked.

"Have you seen the skillset she carries?" Millegi chuckled. "That woman is the deadly combination of a sorceress and a soldier, with enough of a gut to make it in this world. Ohnaka was a fool for letting her go."

Cid considered her options. She could blow a stream of hot air with reasons why Strider would never go with him, tell him she'd throw him off the nearest ledge using nothing but her hand and all his henchmen would follow, threaten with those two clones never being willing to let her go without a fight, convince Millegi he didn't know what he was getting into.

But Cid still didn't have the money, and if agreeing to the new terms would mean ending the conversation as well as not worrying about credits in either outcome, it became the safest of all options. It was a no-brainer. And with that, Cid made eye contact with Millegi, and she nodded.

"Deal," Cid concluded.

With a dark laugh, Millegi handed the spare glass of bourbon to Cid and sealed the offer. Cid took a sip of the bourbon and exhaled deeply as she forced away any remorse at the deal she'd just made.

Tay-0 was just gonna have to win.

Sarah

When the sun was out, Sarah found herself on the same chair she'd fallen asleep on in the middle of the trackside workshop with a makeshift blanket draped over her. She stood up and ignored the faint ache that plagued her neck, although she did resolve not to fall asleep on a chair again anytime soon. Instead of pondering on it, Sarah left the blanket over the chair and made her way towards the sunlight, and she took a deep breath in as she observed the scenery of the riot racing dome in front of her, its bleachers already filled with enthusiastic watchers and wagers.

That was one more thing amongst the many she hadn't thought she'd do since the war ended, but it wasn't the worst by any means.

Her gaze scanned the area and eventually found Wrecker and Omega overlooking the track with what appeared to be sticks of fried street food clenched in their hands, a breakfast worthy of the place they were in. When Sarah remembered the weight of their current situation, she lost all physical need to eat, and it was replaced by the plain longing for everything to be over. She'd learned not to be overly optimistic about anything a long time before that.

But the race was going to happen whether she wanted or not, and the moment she acknowledged that was also the moment her gaze landed on Tech in the distance. Also overlooking the racing track, his back was turned on her and he seemed to be holding his datapad in hand, and Sarah would have been far more pleased at the sight had it not been for Tay-0 hovering over Tech the entire time. Sarah could hear Tay-0 talking, unable to make out what exactly he was saying, though it wasn't necessary to. His circuits got to every last nerve of hers whether Tay-0 was near or far.

Sarah chuckled at a thought. With Tay-0 being so vocal that close to the start of his race, it was evident that Tech had fixed him up well. She never doubted Tech, of course. Tech could do anything, for better or for worse.

Sarah's mind pondered on Tech until the entire racing dome seemed to vanish around her, but her attention was robustly brought back to reality the moment a speeder flew past her eyesight, blocking her view of Tech for a split second only for her to realize that the vehicle had taken Tay-0 alongside it. The next thing she noticed was Tech beholding the crash site, astonished, and then he ran towards the scene of disaster where the racer walked out of his crashed vehicle without a scratch.

Tay-0 hadn't been as lucky.

Sarah, Wrecker, and Omega all ran after Tech towards the crash-site, and none of them were optimistic. It was Wrecker who reached into the ruined speeder and pulled Tay-0's limp chassis out, and they could all instantly realize this hit hadn't been like the one he'd suffered in his previous race. There was no light in Tay-0's specs, not even a flicker, and smoke was emerging from the inside of his head. The last sounds of his modulated voice could be heard as a drag of sound lowering in pitch, signaling the poor droid's futile end.

"What happened!?" Cid called as she approached the site.

But the others were still speechless and exchanging looks, as though doing that - or not doing something about what had just happened - would change the fact that they'd just lost their pilot. Cid finally caught up to them and reached towards Tay-0, and as she did, electricity crackled from the inside of Tay-0's metallic remains, which darkened the smoke that was already emerging from him. And, as if it wasn't bad enough already, the bewildered silence that clouded Sarah and the others was broken abruptly by a thunderous, mocking laughter.

"Looks like a forfeit," Millegi announced himself as he and his crew approached their opposing team.

His presence managed to put Sarah, Tech, and Wrecker on guard, while Cid walked up between the two teams holding her hands out.

"Now, now, this ain't a forfeit," Cid tried to persuade.

"You have no racer," Millegi gestured at Tay-0, limp and broken in Wrecker's grip. "No racer, no race, no victory. Those are the rules, and you know that better than anyone."

Cid's features hardened, and she didn't budge. The gesture of defiance riled Millegi, and suddenly he seemed to become taller as he glared down at Cid.

"I'm waiting for you to hold up your end of the deal," Millegi threatened.

"No," Sarah walked forward and positioned herself next to Cid. "Our deal stipulated a result after the race, not before it. We still have a right to run the race."

"That loophole never worked on me," Millegi told her. "Your buddy Cid here learned that the hard way. I'm surprised she was stupid enough to put her foot in her own grave a second time."

"Hey, there's no need for language like that," Sarah tried to moderate, but he was admittedly getting on her nerves. "We'll find a racer, we'll win, and then you'll let us be on our way."

Millegi chuckled. "You still have a lot to learn despite your reputation, little girl. You may as well just dump Cid now and make a better name for yourself, all of you," he gestured at the others behind her.

"Our loyalty is our business," Sarah replied.

“And where is your loyalty coming from?” Millegi turned to Sarah with a devious smile. “Even if I let Cid run free, you’re not going back to Ord Mantell, pretty girl.”

“What?” Sarah’s frown eased into concern.

“You’re coming with me,” Millegi looked her up and down. “Didn’t Cid tell you she offered you up instead of the money?”

Laughter emerged from Millegi’s henchmen, and Cid saw herself scrutinized by the batchers’ pairs of eyes. Omega looked at her in disbelief, Wrecker looked angry as he began stepping in front of Sarah, and Tech looked at Cid with disappointment.

Sarah’s gaze held sheer wrath.

“What the hell is he talking about?” Sarah pierced into Cid’s gaze.

“I knew what I was doin’!” Cid tried to persuade. “I knew Tay-0 was gonna win, I’d never make an offer to hurt ya, Strider.”

“Enough talk,” Millegi said, and one of his henchmen paced towards Sarah.

But Sarah intended to blast her way out of that one if that’s what it took, and she quickly unholstered her hand blaster, pointing it at the Gamorrean guard, and everyone around them pulled their weapons out in unison.

“Easy,” Millegi held his hands out, gesturing to his men to lower their weapons. “A deal is a deal, and as a former pirate, you should know it’s about the business. Your racer is down, and you cannot race, therefore you forfeit and the wage’s in our favor.”

“Oh, we are running that race,” Sarah nearly yelled. “I’m not going to give myself up just like that, you’d better be sure I’m—”

“I will be the racer,” Tech interrupted.

Sarah lowered her blaster as she turned to look at Tech, her nebulous eyes raided with fear and confusion.

“Well, this is interesting,” Millegi crooned.

“No way,” Sarah walked up to Tech. “No, I’m the one being offered, I’m—”

Tech looked directly at Millegi. “I will race.”

“Done,” Millegi accepted the wager.

Millegi left, followed by Cid and his henchmen, and Tech wasted no more time before the race. He directed himself towards the speeder, and once the confusion wore off, Wrecker went over to help him take it to the starting line. As much as Omega attempted to calm Sarah down, the latter felt she was incapable of such a thing. What the hell was Cid thinking, and why the hell would Tech make such a rash, uncalculated decision?!

Sarah ran after Tech when he was readying himself to get into the speeder, leaving Wrecker to look after Omega. Sarah ran as fast as she could, not giving a damn about the personnel repeating to her that she wasn’t allowed near the racers.

“Tech!” She yelled during those final steps, and when she reached him, Sarah clung to his forearm with desperation. “Tech, how could you do this to me?!”

“I am getting you out of harm’s way,” Tech faced Sarah, stern, yet comprehensive.

“By putting yourself in the line of fire!” Sarah was near crying. “Tech, this is my problem, my race to run!”

“I have analyzed the course and the mechanics of the sport,” Tech said. “You, on the other hand, are not thinking straight. Finding out that Cid would bring you into the wager is a shock, and thus, you are in no condition to race.”

“I can’t let you do this,” Sarah’s voice quivered as she made her last attempts to hold back tears.

“You have trusted me on dangerous endeavors before, and I have emerged victorious,” Tech said. “By my calculations and analyses, this will be the case again. I have the correct strategy.”

“Tech—”

“This is the best way, Sarah—”

“I can’t lose you!”” Sarah finally cried, thundering across the entire starting line. “I… I lost Crosshair… I can’t lose you too, Tech.”

Upon noticing her distress, Tech set his helmet down on the ground next to him and when he faced her again, he took his goggles off and looked at Sarah with his own eyes. And when he did, Sarah stopped crying—it was almost as if she’d stopped breathing for a moment, and without blinking, Sarah stared into Tech’s eyes in awe.

“You have beautiful eyes,” she whispered.

Tech paced closer to her and gently brushed the back of her palm with his gloved fingers.

“Trust me,” Tech began. “You will not lose me. Not today, not ever. For all purposes, Sarah Adhara, I am yours, and I have now chosen the duty of making sure you do not end up in Millegi’s hands. And I will not fail.”

Sarah sniffled as a wave of emotions coursed through her. Feeling both hot and cold on her marks from the confession she’d just heard Tech speak, as well as the fear of him not making it out of the race, she felt she would break if she didn’t do anything at the moment. Without thinking of it any further, Sarah cupped Tech’s face with her hands and perked herself up on her toes, and she pressed her lips to his. The way she pressed herself towards him seemed desperate, but the way her breath slowed down as she was with him spoke of true adoration and gratitude, and when she parted from the kiss, her eyes had pooled with tears again.

“Come back to me,” Sarah uttered.

Tech gave her a hint of a smile as he replaced his goggles over his eyes. “Do not doubt.”

“Racers, to your speeders!”

At the final announcement, Sarah knew it was time for her to let Tech do what he did best. She returned to the sidelines next to Wrecker and Omega, who each held onto one of Sarah’s shoulders as the racers’ names were being called, partly out of comfort, but mostly out of mutual nervousness. The danger of Tech’s current situation didn’t escape them either.

But the moment the starting bell blared, Tech seemed like a natural, at least, that was until he fell into the last place among the racers. The pronounced curves of the track and the high speed weren’t his problem, as he was a fantastic pilot, but none of that would matter if he lost.

Sarah became filled with dread, and her mind began to wander with the possibilities of what would happen. She would set fire to the racing dome herself if it guaranteed her and her family’s freedom—perhaps if everything went wrong, she could finally find an excuse to hide in a remote planet, or declare war on Millegi and his gang, as well as Cid. The dread returned to Sarah as she remembered she was capable of offering her.

But then, Sarah felt a warmth scattering itself over the blue of her marks. Her familiar hunches were never wrong, and at that moment, she could hear what the Force was telling her to trust in, and her instincts all pointed in the same direction. Tech was the best pilot down there, and he was the smartest, too, far more capable than any machine programmed by a mind inferior to his, and far more reckless than the racers from the low worlds.

Trust.

“He’s climbing!” Omega cheered as the screens projecting the race around the dome showed Tech’s speeder passing one racer after another.

The final lap was upon them, and he was already in third place, but that also attracted the attention of Jet Venim, who didn’t intend to go easy on Tech. The tunnels were approaching for the last time in the race, and through the comms, Tech announced his intent to cross the left tunnel, the one revered as a death trap.

And though none of the stunts were easy to watch, Tech was successful in all of them, just as Sarah’s instincts had told her. Finally, Tech was at the last leg of the race, and this was it. The three speeders in the lead were close together, two of them very clearly harassing Tech’s vehicle, and at times it really seemed Tech would end up in a crash and a subsequent loss. In the last tunnel, it became difficult to keep track of the speeders given how close they were, and emerging from the tunnel, everything seemed to collapse. Blasts were fired, metal could be heard crashing, and a large cloud of dust hid the speeders from view at the very moment when the tension was at such a high point that the dome fell silent in expectation.

From the cloud of dust, the small blue speeder sped through the finish line, and the announcer called Tech’s name, declaring him the winner.

Sarah let out a scream that blended surprise, relief, and admiration, and alongside her, Wrecker and Omega cheered like they hadn’t done in far too long. Around them, the crowd gathered in the racing dome went wild, with their cheers albeit carrying surprise, but an undeniable satisfaction at the result of the race they’d just witnessed.

Sarah ran down to the track with Wrecker and Omega following closely after her. As Tech got down from the speeder and removed his helmet, he seemed as neutral as he always was about anything, and it didn’t seem like he cared if there was an entire crowd around him chanting his name. His expression only shifted to astonishment when Sarah threw her arms around him and leapt into his arms, causing Tech to spin as he held her, feeling her fingertips tracing soft patterns around the back of his head.

“You did it!” Sarah panted as relief and adoration finally showered upon her. Tech had single handedly pulled her and the rest of the squad out of any trouble. He’d made sure she would be safe, that she would return home without anyone following her. He had raced for her, and he’d succeeded.

“Yes,” Tech answered matter-of-factly. “I told you I would.”

Sarah chuckled, and she didn’t undo the embrace even as Wrecker and Omega caught up to them. Despite not reveling in his own success even when his siblings brought it up, Tech then looked up at the racing dome filled with his newly acquired fans, all of them chanting and repeating his name in unison, their hands flailing in the air as they celebrated his victory.

Tech watched them and approached the scene with the same curiosity with which he approached anything that was new to him, and with one hand still holding Sarah’s silhouette to his side, the other one went up to his temple, and he offered the crowd a brief salute that made the cheering thunder around them.

Sarah grinned at the sight of him acknowledging his crowd, and the way his lips curved softly into a tiny smile didn’t escape her. She felt like she could have kissed him again, but she let him enjoy his glory undistracted for a few more moments.

He truly deserved that.

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NEXT CHAPTER -> 

[holylulusworld]

Wrong scent

Summary: You’re beta and Dean is scared of hurting you. Right?

Pairing: Alpha!Dean Winchester x Beta!Reader

Characters: Sam Winchester

Warnings: angst, mentions of rejection, a/b/o, Sam being a good friend

Divider by @firefly-graphics​

“You okay?” Sam softly asks. “Do you want to go back home? I’m a little tired from the last hunt.”

“This is all wrong,” you huff, and shake your head. “Why can’t I be omega? Why, Sammy? I feel drawn to him, and all.” Dean’s rejection is stabbing you like a knife once again. You can barely hold yourself together watching the alpha you love flirt with yet another omega. “Biology sucks.”

“Let’s go home,” wrapping his arm around your shoulders is all Sam can do to offer comfort. “You shouldn’t torture yourself watching him leave with her.”

“You’re right. I should stop hurting myself,” sniffling you glance at your shoes. Simple boots, nothing special. So, unlike the heels, the omega he chose over you wears. “

“It’s unhealthy,” Sam points out. “You are already coming down at the seams, Y/N. Sometimes I got the feeling you are so reckless on hunts to replace the pain in your heart with a different kind of pain.”

“Maybe I do,” you sheepishly admit. “When it gets too much, I need something to distract myself. It’s stupid, I know.”

“No, no…I get it, Y/N. After Jess died I threw myself into every hunt I found. And when I lost Dean for the first time, I went rampant. I killed monster after monster, always looking for the chance to get killed to end my pain.”

“Sammy…I,” you take a deep breath and close your eyes for a moment. “We should go home now. I need to lick another wound.”

“Better?” Sam asks as he watches you snuggle into his pillow. He didn’t want to leave you alone tonight, so he brought you to his room and offered comfort in a comfortless world once again. “Do you need anything else? Maybe you want another blanket.”

“I’m good,” you sigh deeply. The last thing you wanted to do was worry your friend. Now you feel guilty for occupying half of his bed. “Thank you for being such a good friend.”

“We are having a sleepover, is all,” the tall hunter shrugs. “Not a big deal. I would’ve spent my night watching another show or movie. We can just do it together.”

“What do we want to watch?” you watch Sam sit on the bed next to you. He leans his back against the headboard and stretches his long legs out.

“You can choose,” Sam offers the remote control to you. “You’re in control tonight, Y/N.”

“YAY!” You giggle. “Don’t worry, I won’t watch porn with you around, Sammy.”

He chuckles. “I know. You’re not my brother. He has no shame sometimes. What I heard and saw him watch…” Sam shudders.

“How about we watch my favorite movie and yours?”

“Good plan.”

“Morning Sammy,” Dean strolls into the kitchen. “Why did you leave the bar without me? I wanted to go home and you two were just gone.”

“I thought you were busy chatting that girl up,” Sam shrugs. “It was our cue to leave. We didn’t want to be in the way. Y/N didn’t want to be in the way.”

“Y/N?” Dean cocks his head as you walk inside the kitchen, wearing one of Sam’s flannels. It reaches your shin, and you look ridiculous in the too big shirt. “Why is she wearing your shirt?”

“She is here too,” you huff. “Sammy and I had a sleepover last night. We watched movies, ate junk food, and had fun. Anything else you want to talk about this morning, Dean?”

You grab a mug and pour yourself a cup of coffee. “I-no,” Dean watches you stand next to him as you try so hard to ignore his closeness. “What did you watch, sweetheart?”

“Sam’s favorite movie and mine,” you busy yourself with your cornflakes as Dean moves a little closer to glance at your breakfast. “Don’t worry, we didn’t do anything forbidden.”

“Forbidden?” he furrows his brows. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” you snip. “A beta and an alpha alone, on a bed. You never know what happens if we do not follow the rules biology forces on us.”

“Rules…bio—what?” Dean grumbles. He steps closer again to sniff at you. “You smell wrong…your scent is wrong. I don’t like it. You cannot smell like my brother.”

“OH, sweetheart,” you dip your head to look at Dean, “I can smell like I want to. If I want to rub your brother’s scent or any other guy’s scent into my skin I’m allowed to do so. As far as I remember,” you grab your bowl with cornflakes and your coffee, “you were the one rejecting me…”

“What? I—” the alpha follows you outside of the kitchen, muttering under his breath as you make your way toward the library to eat your breakfast. “Dean cave, right now!”

“Yeah…no. How about you take that pretty little omega you met last night to your Dean cave? I have better plans for today. Sammy and I will have another sleepover.”

“You and my brother want to have another sleepover?” his voice just got impossibly lower. “No—no! If you are having a sleepover it’s with me, at the Dean cave. I got the better snacks too.”

“Well, I prefer Sam’s company,” you snap at Dean. “He doesn’t judge me because of my presentation. Sam doesn’t care that I’m only a beta.”

“You’re not only a beta but…” Dean sighs deeply. “I don’t want to hurt you, sweetheart. You and I, this would never work out. You know that.”

“Rowena said she can help me,” you rather glance at the bowl in your hand but Dean. “You know…with my presentation.”

“What are you talking about, Y/N?”

“I always wanted to know how it feels to be omega. She knows a spell to turn me into an omega. A pity you won’t be the alpha I’ll choose…”

>> Part 2

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[gilded-moon]

flown the coop (but the birds fly home)

Summary: Omega has been gone with the Rebellion, and now she returns with news. Luckily for her dads, it's good news. They aren't sure they could take much else.

A/N: Hi! This is the first Bad Batch fic I've ever written, so I hope you guys like it! Adult Omega has my heart. Anyway, enjoy! (word count: 977)

Warnings: none!

It had been four months since Omega had left to join the Rebellion. Four months since Hunter had let his little girl fly away without him. It had hurt, deeply, but he was used to the pain now.

She’d kept up contact very well. They know Omega was safe and happy in the Rebellion. Well as safe as someone who fought the Empire could be. In her last call, Omega had told them that she was coming back for a few weeks before leaving again.

Nothing could quite describe how happy they were to see her again. Even Crosshair had managed a rare smile when Omega had announced her return. In fact, Wrecker had been so excited about her return that he had woken them all up at the crack of dawn to get ready for the small party they’d arranged.

It made Hunter laugh.

They were all currently waiting at the cave dock for Omega. She’d said that she would arrive in the afternoon, and it was currently two.

“Is she gonna get here soon?” Wrecker asked, straining his neck to look for approaching ships. “She said the afternoon!”

Hunter slapped his shoulder. “She’ll be here soon, Wrecker. Just give her a little bit of time.”

“Well I miss her! And I bought a lotta Mantell Mix for her.”

“I’m sure she’ll love it.” The faint humming of a ship made him turn. “I think I hear her. That sounds like the Mini Marauder.”

Crosshair squinted at the horizon, toothpick rolling in his mouth. “It is. I see her.”

The ship circled around the bay a few times before slowly flying into the cave and landing. Omega waved from the cockpit as the ramp lowered. Hunter waved back. When Omega finally exited the ship however, she wasn’t alone.

A Togruta woman who was nearly the same height as Wrecker walked off with her. The Togruta had pinkish-red skin and headtails striped with gray and white. Her eyes were a bright green, and she smiled at them as she stopped at the bottom of the ramp.

Omega ran over to Hunter and squeezed him tightly. “I’m back! I missed you so much.”

He returned the hug. “Hey kid. I missed you too. Who’s this?”

She smiled a little awkwardly and grabbed the Togruta’s hand. “This is Caisin Monki’li. She works for the rebellion too. We met when I went for my first mission, and now um…she’s my copilot. And my girlfriend.”

Caisin waved. “Hello,” she said in an accented voice. “Omega talk about you much. It nice to meet you.”

Wrecker scratched his head. “Girls can date girls? I never thought of that.”

Omega rolled her eyes. “Yes Wrecker.”

“Oh. Congratulations!"

Caisin winced at his loud voice.

“Oh sorry,” he said at a quieter volume. “I didn’t mean to be loud.”

“It okay. You seem much nice. Sorry my Basic not so good.”

“Mine ain’t great neither. Nice to meet ya!”

“Nice to meet you too.”

Crosshair inclined his head. “Hello.”

Caisin inclined her head in return. “Hello…Crosshair I t’ink?”

“Yeah. That’s me. So you want to date Omega then?”

“I do.”

“What do you do for the Rebellion?”

“I spied for a long time. My aunt used to be Jedi. I follow her path. Now I help Omega.”

“You can protect her?”

“Very well.”

“Provide for her?”

“I can.”

“You won’t ditch if things go wrong?”

“No. Honor is very important. That great dishonor. I will stay.”

Crosshair hummed and shrugged, the closest thing to a verbal approval he would ever give.

Omega and Caisin looked to Hunter next. He thought back to all the times he might have lost Omega, all the times that she might have lost him. The time when she had asked what dirt and grass and trees were. For so long, he’d seen her as a child that needed protecting. For so long, she’d been a little girl that needed her family.

But she wasn’t that little girl anymore. She knew so much about the world now, and she was more well traveled than even he was. Omega might have been that little girl once, but she had grown up a long time ago.

Hunter smiled and clasped hands with Caisin. “Welcome to Pabu.”

*

“Hi Hunter,” Omega said as she sat down next to him with an ice cream in both hands. “I brought you one.”

He chuckled and took it. “Thanks kid. So how has the Rebellion been treating you?”

“Pretty good. I’ve been flying supply missions and even got in a few scrapes. They love the Tech Turn.”

“I’m glad. He’d be proud of you, you know. You’ve come a long way since Kamino.”

“That’s all because of you. I couldn’t have done any of that without you. All of you.”

“We didn’t do any of this Rebellion stuff for you.” He gestured to Caisin who was arm wrestling with Wrecker. “Are you happy with her?”

Omega smiled though her cheeks flushed pink. “Yeah. I think I love her.”

Hunter ruffled her hair and returned the smile. “Good. That’s all we ever wanted for you. To be happy and choose how you want to do that. If that’s with her, we’re with you all the way.”

“It is. I…I want to marry her someday. Not yet! We both need more time. But someday.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I’m glad I sat with you guys at lunch that day.”

Hunter watched as Caisin cheered, having won her arm wrestling match with Wrecker. Crosshair even clapped her on the back with his flesh hand instead of his metal one. Echo had also sent along his congratulations and promises to visit when Hunter had messaged him about Omega’s news. Even if it was unexpected, it was good for everyone.

“Me too, kid. Me too.”