#and Tech being the one to suggest they jump off that massive pipe onto those flying creatures

[alitherandom]

Just re-watched the bad batch arc in the clone wars and I'd actually forgotten how chaotic the original four batchers were back then

[teletraan-meets-jarvis]

What I Want - Part 2

AO3 Link

Chapter Title: What I Need

Pairing: Crosshair x fem!Jedi Reader

Summary: Following the awkwardness of the night before, you go to an old friend to try and process your feelings for Crosshair.

Click here for Part 1

Warnings: 18+, a bit more frisky business but not full on so rated 18 just to be safe. Swearing.

Word Count: 2.6k

Author’s Notes: You ask, you get!! Thanks so much for all the support and love for part 1 ❤️. As a thank you, I bring you part 2, I hope you enjoy! If this one takes off a bit as well, I do have an idea for a little bonus chapter around the Bad Batches' reaction. As always, feedback/comments are massively appreciated along with reblogs. Fic is below the cut off, thanks for reading!!

Taglist: @aerynwrites @shannon-lynn-21 @saltywintersoldat @tired-night-owl @wille-zarr

A comm alarm beeped softly, slowly pulling you out your slumber. Giving the device a sleepy glare, you shut it off and huffed back onto your bunk. Wrecker’s snores were echoing off the small ship barracks, you rolled your eyes at his sleeping form across the room as you swung your legs over the side of your top bunk. Below you, Tech slept soundly, he managed to fall asleep with his goggles on which were now sitting wonky on his relaxed face. He also had a datapad clutched to his chest, almost like a teddy bear, which made you chuckle to yourself.

You’d barely slept after getting back from the mission but being a General stopping over on Coruscant meant rest would be a pipe dream. Your alarm was set to get you out of bed and ready for the first of what you were sure would be a hundred and ten briefings today. You were always happy to shoulder the politics for the team, removing that burden from Hunter so they could keep to themselves. But today, you could really do without it.

You looked over at Hunter and Crosshair’s bunks, the former sleeping up top with an arm over his eyes. Probably to block out the few small coloured lights on the ship that shone from critical systems, preventing the room from being truly pitch black. You didn’t envy Hunter’s enhanced senses, they seemed to cause him quite a bit of discomfort when they weren’t on missions. You should probably pick him up an eye mask one of these days.

Below him, Crosshair slept with his back to the open room. One of the few times you ever saw his body relaxed was when he slept. You cringed as you remembered yesterday’s awkwardness with the sniper and mentally cursed at yourself for causing, what was, an easily avoidable situation.

Shaking your head you jumped silently off of your bunk, mindful to not wake any of the batch. You gently removed Tech’s goggles, placing them in their usual spot before moving over to grab some fresh robes and head for the fresher. Today was going to be a real drag.

—————————————————

“Hey! Look what the Lothcat dragged in” someone called after you as you trudged up the steps to the GAR Headquarters. You turned around to see none other than Anakin Skywalker jogging up behind you.

“Nice to see you too Skyguy” he chuckled at the nickname as he threw an arm around your shoulders.

You fell into companionable chatter as you made your way to your first meeting, the dark halls of the military headquarters looking indistinguishable as you attempted to find the correct room. Members of the Coruscant Guard patrolled the halls, nodding politely to you both as you strolled past.

Eventually you found the room where Mace, Plo and Luminara were waiting, along with some clone and human high command. You stood outside the door for a moment, readying yourself to seal your fate of being talked at for a solid eight standard hours.

Eventually you caved, mostly as you were on the verge of being late if you debated standing outside any longer. Begrudgingly, you sat through briefing after briefing. All the voices and different rooms blending into one grey blur as you tried to take in what information you could, but your tired and stressed mind was having none of it.

While it was nice to catch up with some of the other Jedi, you always felt a bit out of place among the perfect members of the council. More so now than ever.

You ended up wandering back to the temple with Anakin where you both retired to his room and you flopped down onto his simple bed with a whine.

“Okay, what’s going on? You’ve been off all day” Anakin was the closest thing you had to a brother, you trained as Padawans together and due to your similar age you became fast friends. You knew about his marriage to Padme and decided that if you could offload your dilemma on anyone, it’d be him.

“I fucked up” you groaned out from behind your hands.

“What’d you do?” Anakin replied in a playful tone.

“I might’ve got a bit hot and heavy with one of the clones in my squad, led him on and then cut it off” Anakin raised an eyebrow at your confession. “And now he’s pissed at me”

“Why?” You weren’t entirely sure which part of that entire thing he was questioning.

“Because I started the whole thing, I wanted it. Then all of a sudden I did that whole guilty Jedi, must follow every word of the order thing, gave him some pathetic look which said really sorry I can’t have attachments mate, hope you understand. He called me out on it before I could even utter the banthashit excuse and then he stomped off and hasn’t spoken to me since.”

“In his defence, seems like he was probably wound a little tight” Anakin replied with a chuckle which you just groaned at.

“He has every right to be pissed. Hells, I would be if the roles were reversed. Whats with this whole self-righteous act us Jedi have going on?”

“Look, it’s hard being a Jedi at the best of times. It takes an inhumane amount of self-control, which is why its not a path for the weak. But being a Jedi while at war… it’s a lot. You’re emotions are running high, you’re forming bonds with soldiers on the battlefield that you shouldn’t be, but none of us can help it because it’s uncharted territory. Maker knows I’d hunt down anyone who hurt Obi-Wan or my Captain. Yes, It’s not the Jedi way, but neither is fighting a grand-scale war.” Anakin’s eyes were alive with emotion as he spoke, be he quickly caught himself and then it was gone.

“My point is, don’t beat yourself up so much. No one is getting kicked out the order or in his case reconditioned if that’s what you’re worried about. Figure out what it is you want, and then just be discreet about it” you looked at Anakin like he’d grown two heads, he just winked at your confused stare.

“Okay let’s keep it simple. Are you attracted to him?” You thought back to the night before and firmly nodded in response.

“Do you like him as a person?” You pondered his question.

“Well, it’s Cross. I wasn’t sure if he even liked me for a long time. He’s closed off, anti-social, but he’s also a good guy, cares about his brothers, has saved my ass multiple times, and he is kinda funny in his own, snide way” you rattled off with fondness in your words.

“Well then I suggest you go and talk to him.” Anakin replied, giving you a knowing look when he spotted the small smile on your lips as you spoke about the sniper.

You took a deep breath, glad to have finally gotten that off your chest and feeling content that you now knew what to do next. “Thanks, Ani”

“Ugh please don’t call me that” he moaned back, apparently only Padme was allowed to get away with that one.

————————————————

Your walk back to the Marauder felt like it dragged on and on. Your brain ran over a thousand scenarios of what to say, how he’d react and you were about to short circuit. There was so much risk, so much possibility, that you did your best to shut your mind off and let yourself handle it in the moment. These things never went as planned anyway, it was best not to guess.

The large door to the ship hissed open, your boots clanking on the metal surface as you cautiously walked into your home. It didn’t take you long to find Crosshair, he was sat in the main hull methodically cleaning his hand blaster. Everyone else must’ve been asleep. He was just in his blacks, the material hugging him in the most wonderful way, it’s like whoever designed those things was trying to trip you up. The contours of his arm muscles flexing as he worked, his strong chest looked practically chiselled at the heart of his lean frame. You had to force yourself to calm down a little bit.

“Uh, hey” you greeted awkwardly. “Mind if I join you?”

You took his silence as a well he’s not saying no. He didn’t spare you a glance as you walked in and took a seat opposite him. As a General in the GAR, you rarely got nervous. War, as a concept, was simple. You knew your purpose, your objective, you had a job to get done and you’d do it. The risks never stopped you, rather they fuelled you. Probably why you’re such a good fit for the bad batch.

But this right now, personal feelings, not knowing where you stand with someone you care about. Because if you were honest, you really did care about Crosshair, the same as you did the rest of the team. You’d only been with the squad just under a year but you’d gladly lay down your life for any of them in a heartbeat. If you could at least get back to where you were before the other night, you’d be over the moon.

You weren’t used to being so nervous, you let your hands fiddle with you dark Jedi robes as you readied yourself to speak again.

“Look, I’m not here to throw some crap about being a Jedi at you, I promise. And I’m sorry for trying it before” he still didn’t look at you, finding his blaster much more interesting. But you could tell he was listening, you had his attention. Might as well keep babbling.

“In terms of an explanation for what happened yesterday, well I guess I panicked.” You sighed as you tried to find the next words “The way you made me feel that night, I… I’ve never felt like that before and everything i’d been taught over the years screamed at me that what I was doing was dangerous and wrong. I now realise that I’m just an idiot. I make my own decisions and I… uh -well, I stick by that one, starting something that is.” Still nothing.

“I know this is probably a long shot. But in the interest of being transparent” you rambled “uh… if you want to go down that road again, I’m up for seeing what happens, can be as casual as we like. I promise I won’t freak out on you again.” You chuckled and thought you almost spotted a slight pull in the corner of Crosshair’s lips “But if you want to go back to how we were before, I’d also really like that.” You watched him for a while as he gave no acknowledgement of your words, his cleaning finished as he now gave the weapon a once over in his hands. Having said everything you needed, you got up from your seat, looking away from him.

“Well, if I can do anything else, let me know” you turned on your heel to leave, feeling slightly defeated but glad you’d at least made the first step.

“I could think of a few things” he finally spoke as he leaned back into his seat and continued to stare at his blaster, still not meeting your gaze.

Well that caught your attention, you turned back around to face him as he carried on ignoring you. While his tone was unbothered as he spoke, you knew him just enough to know his words held a meaning. He was playing with you, back to his usual teasing and you could’ve laughed at the relief that washed over you. This you could work with. A cheeky idea popped into your head and you’d decided to run with it.

“Oh really?” Throwing caution to the wind, you strode over to the sniper slowly. His gaze finally meeting yours after all this time, watching you as you got closer and closer. Practically drawing you in with his amber eyes. You pushed him back by his chest, creating enough room so you could straddle his lap. “Care to elaborate?”

He huffed out a short laugh at your words, his face overall unbothered but his eyes, they were burning into you. “You’re a smart girl, I’m sure you’ll figure it out”.

You hummed in response, deciding to kick things up a notch you wrapped your arms around his neck, bringing your faces just breaths apart. “Something like this?” You asked, pausing for another second before bringing your lips to his in a surprisingly soft and gentle kiss. You felt his hands come up to rest on your back, pulling you closer as you continued your slow dance. This was so different from the other night, where before there was desperation and lust, now there was something more… tender, passionate. You were quite glad you weren’t standing as the way he moved against you would’ve definitely made your knees weak.

Dragging yourself away from his lips, you searched his face. His mouth pulled into a barely there smirk “That’s a start.”

“Who said I was finished?” And just like that, the last few strands of tension between you both snapped and you relaxed in his arms. You fisted your hands into the front of his blacks and pulled him back to you, his tongue slipped between your lips, curious and demanding. He was everywhere again, filling your nose with the scent of the standard cheap GAR soap but mixed with something earthy, something so distinctly Crosshair and you couldn’t get enough.

You could tell why the Jedi order frowned upon such activities, kissing Crosshair was intoxicating. You couldn’t think of anything else other than the handsome clone in front of you and just how much you wanted him in that moment.

His hands wandered lower and lower down you back until they rested comfortably on your backside, pulling you further up his lap. Feeling mischievous, you started trailing kisses along his jaw. Setting a teasing, languid pace as you mapped out the spots that made him squirm. Crosshair was never a man of many words, so you made it your mission to see just how vocal you could make him.

As your lips met his pulse point, he gave a loud exhale and you smirked in victory against his skin as you continued the onslaught on his senses. You definitely seemed to be doing something right as his hands found themselves in your hair, clutching slightly and you couldn’t help the soft moan that escaped you. Even while trying to gain the upper hand in the situation, he always had some control over you. It was maddening in the best way, setting your veins alight with desire.

Determined to get another victory you traced your tongue against the base of the side of his neck and trailed it all the way up to the bottom of his ear, which you teasingly took into your mouth, teeth grazing the soft skin. A strangled moan escaped the clone and that was the moment where you knew you were hopelessly and utterly gone. Your mind filled with nothing other than wanting to be closer to Crosshair.

“Not very Jedi of you” he commented, slightly breathless when you finally stopped teasing him and came back up to meet his eyes. Looking down at where your bodies were pressed against one another, you chuckled.

“What exactly about this situation led you to believe I was ever a model Jedi?” You smirked, though it was only visible for a second before his mouth was back on yours, devouring you as his hands greedily roamed your body.

You continued making out like teenagers for most of the evening, taking the time to explore each other, enjoying the closeness. Contentment settled over your body, almost as if this was were you were meant to be. If Crosshair’s arms were where you belonged, well, you could think of worse places to be.

Back to Part 1

Back to Masterlist

[snappedsky]

Fanatics Adventures in Space Part 25

The Resisty run into pirates. Previous! Next!

--

Space Pirates in Space

           On the way to Irk, the days were full of hectic training. The Battalion worked hard at readying themselves for the coming battle. Now that the battle has passed and they’re heading home, they’re not so worried. The Irken Armada is still a looming threat, of course, so they do train sometimes. But the days are a lot lazier.

           Zim and Dib spend most of their time in the hangar bay with Kio, working on the ship Rory gifted to them. Gaz, Pepito, and Squee mostly hang out in their bedroom, lazing about. Johnny, Devi, and Tenna are often there too, or wandering around the ship. Skoodge is usually with one group or the other, hanging around them like a younger sibling. Gir and Minimoose can be found anywhere at any given time.

           Today is no different. Squee is scribbling away in his notebook, Gaz is playing her Game Slave, and Pepito is aimlessly strumming his guitar. Johnny is with them, staring out the window, watching the stars and planets zip by. Everything’s peaceful and chill.

           Nobody could be ready for the sudden interruption, when the ship lurches to a stop and they tumble to the floor, exclaiming with surprise.

           “What the hell?” Johnny snaps as he gets up. Outside, the scenery has stopped moving.

            Together, they race out of the room and towards the bridge. Along the way they run into Zim, Dib, and Kio, Devi and Tenna, and Skoodge.

           “What’s going on?” Kio asks as they burst into the bridge.

           “We’ve been caught in another ship’s tractor beam!” Spleenk replies frantically. The Resisty are in a panic as they scramble at the controls.

           “The Massive?” Zim asks.

           “No,” Lard Nar replies darkly, “pirates.”

           “Pirates?” Pepito questions.

           “In space?” Devi asks.

           “Space pirates!” Dib exclaims excitedly.

           The ship outside looks junky and mismatched, like different pieces of various ships held together by metal plating; a space ship Frankenstein. A large pistol-like device extended from the bottom is firing a green beam at the Resisty ship, holding it still and covering it in a shimmery, green force field.

           “Hail them,” Kio orders.

           “I’ve tried,” Nar replies, “they won’t answer.”

           “Use hyper drive!”

           “It’s not fully charged!” Spleenk cries.

           Kio growls, vexed and out of options as the Resisty ship starts moving, getting pulled closer to the pirate’s ship.

           “What are they doing?” Squee asks.

           “They’re going to board us,” Zim replies.

           The Resisty ship stops, docked right next to the pirate ship. Kio spins and marches out of the bridge. Lard Nar jumps out of his seat and clambers after her, quickly followed by the Battalion.

           They hurry through the ship to one of the emergency exits, which has already opened. A group of five different aliens have entered, led by a lanky, almost skeletal being. All of them are armed and dressed in mismatched, raggy clothing.

           “Ah, the welcome committee,” the leader chimes as Kio and the others approach. His voice is being translated through a small speaker attached to his belt.

           “This is a refugee ship,” Kio snaps, “there is nothing for you here. Leave now!”

           The other aliens chitter with amusement while the captain scoffs. “Everyone knows Vortian tech is super rare nowadays. We can make some decent credits taking this ship apart for scrap.”

           “You will do no such thing!” Kio barks.

           “And what are you gonna do, stop us?”

           “That’s the plan,” Zim grunts as he draws his laser guns.

           “Wow, two Irkens and two Vortians,” the Captain remarks, “what an odd group. I bet you have some good tech to sell.”

           “You’ll have to pry it off my lifeless husk,” Zim snarls.

           “Sounds easy enough,” he comments and draws a laser rifle.

           Pepito transforms his guitar into his spear, Gaz lifts her Warhammer of Swine, and Dib activates his power glove. Johnny starts to grab his knives from his jacket, when Squee tugs him around the corner, pulling Devi and Tenna along with them.

           “Squee, what-?” Nny starts to ask.

           “We don’t have time to fight these guys,” Squee points out, “not with the Armada after us.”

           Tenna shrugs and nods agreeably.

           “You have an idea then?” Devi asks.

           Squee nods. “You guys sneak onto their ship and deactivate their tractor beam, then we’ll get the hell out of here.”            “Fine,” Nny grunts, “but how are we gonna get past them?”

           Before anyone can answer, a laser blasts the wall behind them.

           “I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” Squee comments as they peek around the corner. The fight has broken out; lasers and blasts burn the wall and floor of the corridor as everyone shouts angrily.

           “Just go,” Squee orders, pointing to the doorway. “We’ll keep them distracted.”           While the pirates are busy fighting the Battalion, Johnny, Devi, and Tenna slip by to the door. Along the way, Nny spots Lard Nar and Skoodge cowering on the floor and picks them up.

           “You two are coming with us,” he declares, tucking them under his arms. They go through the door into a glass duct extending from the pirate ship. The door is open on the other side.

           The pirate ship is dimly lit and quiet, a whir of machinery heard somewhere in the distance. There are no windows or doors nearby and the walls are just metal plating bolted together. The floor feels unstable, bending slightly beneath the weight of Nny, Devi, and Tenna.

           “Alright,” Johnny booms as he drops Lard Nar and Skoodge. “Figure out how we shut down that tractor beam.”

           “Uh, right,” Nar mumbles, “okay.”

           “We can find the ship’s power core,” Skoodge suggests, “if we shut that down, then we they won’t even be able to chase us.”

           “Good idea,” Nar nods and looks around. “Um…this way.”

           They head down the corridor, the metal floor creaking beneath their feet.

           “This place is kinda creepy,” Devi comments.

           “The only thing creepy about it is how archaic it is,” Nar grunts, “it’s a wonder how it flies at all.”

           “It can’t be that archaic,” Nny points out, “they got us trapped.”

           “Most pirates are like this,” Skoodge explains, “a mismatch of high tech and low tech, since it’s pretty much all stolen.”

           “How come it’s so quiet?” Tenna asks.

           “Could be a small crew,” Nar replies, “less for the captain to worry about.”

           “Less for us to worry about too, if there’re no guards,” Devi adds.

           “This way,” Nar orders as they take a left. They stop dead in their tracks at the sight of a large alien, almost seven feet with a bulbous belly, a big mouth, and four giant arms.

           It makes a bubbling noise when it notices the group and cracks its knuckles.

           “Uh they say ‘intruders’,” Skoodge says.

           “I don’t think we need the translation,” Johnny grunts as he draws his knives.

           “Fuck, so much for no guards,” Devi groans.

           “It’s fine, I got this,” he says and charges. But before he can attack, a long, slimy tongue shoots out of the alien’s mouth and sticks to his arm.

           “Wha-hey!” Johnny cries as the alien retracts their tongue, pulling him with it.

           “Johnny!” the others exclaim as his arm gets stuck in the alien’s mouth.

           “Leggo!” he barks and stabs the side of their head. They immediately let him go and he falls unceremoniously to the floor, one knife still in the alien’s head and the other lost in his mouth.

           “My knives-!” he exclaims when Skoodge’s spider legs scoop him up and carry him away. The alien bubbles angrily and gives chase, seemingly unbothered by the knife in their head.

           The alien shoots their tongue out of their mouth, narrowly missing Devi’s head and slamming into the wall. They retract it and try again, and again they miss by a couple inches.

           “Can’t you blast them with a laser or something?” Devi asks Skoodge as they race through the corridors.

           “I’ll destroy the ship if I do that!” Skoodge replies, “my lasers are way too powerful to use in such a cramped area.”

           “You can’t just like tone it down?” Tenna suggests.

           “Go big or go home.”

           “Jesus,” Devi groans, “so what do we do?”

           “Blow it up!” Johnny declares and pulls a Smiley Bomb out of his coat.

           He watches the alien for a second and waits until they’re about to shoot their tongue. Then he pulls the pin and holds out the bomb.

           The alien catches it and pulls the bomb back into their mouth. They don’t seem to notice anything at first, until they explode into chunks.

           The group skids to a stop as the alien’s blood and guts splatter the hallway, thankfully avoiding much of the viscera.

           “Haha, gross,” Tenna chuckles.

           “Shit, I really liked those knives,” Nny sighs.

           “Come on, let’s get to the power core,” Nar orders. They tiptoe through the gore and run back into the direction they came from.

           Fortunately, they don’t run into anymore guards before reaching a large door Lard Nar believes is the power room. They open it and inside is a large, clunky engine with pumping pistons, steaming pipes, and whirring dials. It’s almost like a giant train engine working about five times as hard.

           “Ugh, completely archaic,” Nar scoffs with disgust.

           “Look!” Tenna exclaims. On the other side of the room are two little aliens dressed in coveralls and goggles, clearly some form of engineers. They gurgle and point accusingly at the group.

           “It’s okay, this won’t take long,” Skoodge says as he extends his spider legs. They lash out, slicing the engine into four equal pieces. Immediately, the ship’s power dies; the lights go out, the mechanical whirring dies down, and the whole place seems to list over to the left.

           “Let’s go!” Lard Nar orders and races out of the room.

           “Wai-shouldn’t we kill them?” Johnny asks, pointing back at the aliens.

           “No time!” he replies, “with the tractor beam down, it won’t be long before this ship drifts too far from ours and if we don’t hurry, we may not make it back before the life support runs out!”

           “Well, fuck,” Devi comments and they quickly follow him.

           They hurry through the hall, back to the door they came through. They can feel the ship drifting, twisting slowly to the right.

           They make it back quickly and dive through the duct connecting the two ships just before it can disconnect. As they fall into the Resisty ship, Lard Nar closes the door and they look up at the result of the battle.

           All the pirates have been defeated. The Battalion stands over them, pinning them to the floor with Zim’s spider legs and Pepito’s spear. They all look at Nar and the others with surprise.

           “What happened?” the captain asks with shock.

           “Uh we destroyed your ship’s engine and any crew you left on board is probably gonna die or at least be stranded,” Lard Nar replies.

           The captain blinks a couple times, glances between his other crew members, and looks at Kio. “Uh I don’t suppose you’d be willing to allow a few more refugees on board, would ya?”

           Kio narrows her eyes, groaning with annoyance.

           A few moments later, the captain sighs as he rests his chin in his hand. “This isn’t entirely what I had in mind.”

           Kio looks at him through door of his prison cell. “Don’t care. You’re lucky I don’t shoot you into space for threatening to destroy my ship. Next time we make a stop, we’re dropping you and your crew off.”

           “Pirates,” she scoffs before walking away, leaving the captain and the remainder of his crew alone in their cells.