Gone

Hello, everyone. This prompt was also suggested by Celtic maiden14.

They didn't know what happened. Hunter had told Omega to guard the ship. They were on a planet stopping a warlord from enslaving the village. The batch had completed their mission when all of a sudden, they heard a bomb go off near the Marauder. The brothers looked at each other and ran back to the ship and saw that it was safe.

"Omega!" Hunter exclaimed as he looked around. "Omega!" Hunter looked to his brothers who were standing outside the ship. "Where's Omega? She's supposed to be here."

"She might have heard the explosion and went to investigate." Echo replied.

The brothers ran towards where the explosion was and they saw Omega's comm lying beside a completely burned body.

"No!" HUnter exclaimed as he fell to his knees beside the body. "No," Hunter whispered in disbelief.

The last thing Echo ever wanted to see was the body of their sister lying burned in the dirt. He had watched so many of his brothers die, but that was nothing compared to this. Echo knelt beside HUnter and placed a hand on Hunter's shoulder and he allowed a tear to fall. Omega was gone and it was their fault as always. They failed her. What would they do now?

Wrecker was shocked to see Omega's body and he fell to his knees and cried big tears of grief and anger. He wanted to find out who did this and put an end to them. His sister was gone. She was never coming back.

Tech dropped his datapad in shock. He couldn't even comprehend what was happening. IT had taken a while to get used to her being around, but now... How would they live without her? She brought out the humans inside of them. They were raised to be soldiers. To have no emotions and no weakness. Omega had shown them that everyone has weaknesses and that's ok. It's ok to have emotions. It helps make it through the day. Tech couldn't even cry. It was too much.

Crosshair couldn't believe how much it hurt. He wasn't close to Omega like his brothers were, but she still made an impression. One that made him see things differently. She was curious and it should have irritated Crosshair, but he couldn't be annoyed with her. Her eyes and her smile soften him within a moment. Crosshair snapped the toothpick in his hand and he clenched his fists in anger. It should have been them, not her. They were men and soldiers. She was a child with her whole life ahead of her. Whoever set off this bomb would surely die.

Hunter looked down at Omega's body and he felt Echo place his hand on his shoulder. Hunter began to cry and he looked away from Omega's body. Why her? She had been through so much. She deserved better than this. Now, she's gone. Hunter hoped that her death was instant and painless and he thought about how it had happened. It shattered him to the core to see Omega like this. He had lost his sister and his little girl. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't be strong for his brothers. This had crippled him. It had crippled all of them.

Echo looked to Crosshair and they grabbed a shovel and they buried Omega's body. Tech grabbed a stone and fused Omega's name into it. Hunter and Wrecker just sat in complete shock and grief. Soon, Omega's body was buried and it was growing dark. Echo helped HUnter up and Hunter let go of him.

"We should stay here a day or two till... We can't leave like this." Hunter croaked.

"Yeah. The villagers offered us a room. We should take them up on it. The ship isn't the place for us to be right now." Echo replied. Hunter nodded and patted Echo on the back. He walked over to Tech who was wiping tears from his eyes in shame.

"DOn't be ashamed, Tech. It's ok to cry." Hunter whispered. Tech nodded and hugged his brother. The two stood there hugging and crying as the grief took over. They could feel Wrecker, Crosshair, and Echo join them. The brothers cried and grieved for Omega till they couldn't anymore. They walked into town and silently went to their room.

They sat around the room on the floor silently. They heard a knock on the door and watched as a villager walked in and set the tray of food down on the table. She silently and sadly walked out of the room and closed the door.

Many hours later, the brothers had stayed put. They didn't move, eat, drink, or sleep. They couldn't. It was as if they didn't know how to. HUnter looked up as he watched the village's elder walk in sadly.

"You have saved our people from slavery. We owe you our lives." The elder said.

"We know," Hunter replied.

"SO why are you so sad?"

"We... Our sister's dead. We found her body burned from the explosion near our ship."

"Oh, I see. I lost my sister many years ago the same way. I remember the shock and grief I felt. If there's anything I can do, let me know."

Hunter nodded and the elder left the room.

Omega woke up in a small cave and saw that it was dark and quiet. She had been attacked by the warlord's daughter who was about her age. The two fought and the girl managed to steal Omega's comm. The warlord's daughter activated a bomb and Omega ran as fast as he could away from the ship and her brothers. When she had finally stopped running, it was dark. She decided to find shelter and sleep and then the next morning, she would figure out what to do. She looked outside and realized that she had slept the whole day away. She knew she couldn't do anything so she decided to go to sleep again.

A whole day had gone by for the depressed Bad Batch. They were now sitting on the largest couch together. It was cramp, but they felt better together. They still weren't eating or sleeping, but the elder had managed to convince them to drink some tea and water. He hoped that the tea would lift their spirits, but it failed. Hunter laid his head on Crosshair's shoulder and hugged Tech close. Echo placed his hand on Tech's right knee and Wrecker had his arms wrapped around Crosshair.

The elder walked in and sighed. He walked over to the couch with a tray of food.

"You must eat." He stated. The brothers shook their heads. Hunter looked at Tech and Wrecker and sighed.

"He's right. We... we should eat." Hunter croaked. The brothers looked at Hunter and the Elder handed each of them a fruit.

"This fruit is full of juice known to lift depression and sorrow. I hope it helps."

The brothers took a bite, and Wrecker and Echo managed to finish. Tech and Hunter were only able to have one bite while Crosshair was able to handle two bites. The elder sighed sadly and patted Hunter's shoulder.

"One more bite." He said. Hunter shook his head and sighed. "Please. Your body is growing weaker and if you don't eat, you will only grow worse."

Hunter looked at Tech and patted his shoulder.

"One more bite, Tech," Hunter suggested. He looked at Crosshair who was looking away. "You too."

"Only if you will." Crosshair murmured. Hunter sighed and nodded. The three ate one more bite and then placed the fruit back on the tray. The elder sighed and put the try on the table. He grabbed the pot of hot water and poured it into five cups which had a pod of leaves, seeds, and flowers. He handed a cup to each brother and they took a sip.

The elder smiled as he watched the brothers drink all of the tea. He took the empty cups and left the room. They heard children laughing outside and they looked down.

"IF she was... here, she'd be right out there with those kids." Echo said.

Crosshair stood up and walked over to his rifle and started to clean it. He remembered the first time he cleaned it after returning to his brothers. Omega sat beside him and watched him clean his rifle. when he was done, she started asking him questions and he answered them. The next day, he started training her. Within a month, he saw her as his little sidekick. Crosshair knew that all of them saw her that way, but it was different for each of them. Crosshair couldn't imagine target practice without her. He looked down at his hands and he looked at the tools. He threw them against the wall and saw his brothers jump.

"We should have been watching her. We shouldn't have left her alone. We all knew that she would do something like this. Why didn't we protect her? What were we thinking?" Crosshair yelled.

"We thought we were protecting her. We thought the ship was the safest place for her." HUnter mumbled.

"Well, we were wrong! Now, she's... she's gone and we only have ourselves to blame."

"You're right."

Hunter walked over and place a hand on Crosshair's shoulder. Crosshair looked down at the floor tearfully and Hunter stood there quietly.

A few minutes later, Crosshair looked at Hunter and the two hugged.

"I miss her." Crosshair whispered.

"We all do. All we can do now is hold onto each other and try to move on." Hunter answered.

"How?"

"I... don't know."

Wrecker watched his brothers and he sighed. Echo looked at Wrecker and moved beside him. He put his hand on Wrecker's back and Wrecker began to cry.

"I miss her." Wrecker cried.

"We all do." Echo answered.

"I would do anything to get her back."

"We all would."

Crosshair and Hunter walked over to the others and they sat together.

Omega had been awake for a few hours. She managed to find water and food safety and she checked her surrounding... She didn't know how far she'd have to go, but she knew she had to start walking to the village. She had checked herself and found that she was not injured, but she wondered why her brothers had yet to find her. Near the evening, she heard thunder and she looked up at the sky and sighed as it began to rain. She found shelter and waited out the storm but it lasted all through the night.

The brothers sat on the couch as the storm raged outside. HUnter felt Wrecker jump and he looked up towards him. After a few minutes, Wrecker stood up and walked around. Hunter walked over to him and placed his hand on Wrecker's arm.

"I'll go get Lula for you if you need her," Hunter suggested.

"No, I'll be fine." Wrecker sighed.

"Come here."

Hunter sat down and Wrecker sat beside him. Hunter wrapped an arm around Wrecker and Wrecker wrapped an arm around Hunter.

"Is any of this worth it?" Wrecker wondered. He looked at Hunter who had raised an eyebrow. "The war.. the fighting... Is it worth it?"

"Some of it is. We've saved lives and we've helped a lot of people." Hunter replied.

"But at what cost? Omega's gone."

"You have a point."

Wrecker let a tear fall and he hugged Hunter gently. Hunter hugged him back and soon, they felt the others join them

Morning came and Omega yawned and looked outside. The sun was shining, but the ground was muddy from the rain. Omega prepared herself and began walking to town. As the day went on, it quickly grew hot and Omega could feel the heat, but she had to get to her brothers. AT midday, she stopped to eat and drink. Then she continued. When she heard the voices of the villagers, she smiled and ran to the edge of the village. She saw a hill and she ran to the top and looked around. In the distance, she could see the Havoc Marauder and she smiled. She ran into the village and saw an older man.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for my brothers. They helped save your village from the warlord." Omega explained.

The brothers sat drinking some tea. Their mood was better, but not by much. There was a knock on the door and the elder came in smiling.

"I have someone who will cheer you up. CHild, you may come in." The Elder said.

Omega walked in smiling and covered in dirt. The brothers looked at her in shock. Omega looked up at them nervously and walked up to them.

"The Elder told me what happened. I'm sorry. When you guys left, the Warlord's daughter came after me. We fought and she ripped off my comm. Then she activated the bomb and I ran as fast and far as I could. I didn't even hear it go off. I didn't stop running and when I did, it was dark and I was exhausted. I slept the next day away and then it rained half of yesterday. I spent all day walking here." Omega explained.

Hunter fell to his knees and hugged Omega as tight as he could. Omega could hear his breath hitch and she knew he was crying.

"You're alright. You're safe now." HUnter gasped. "You're never leaving my sight again. Not for a very long time."

"I know," Omega replied. She looked up at her other brothers were also crying. Omega let go of Hunter but only held on tighter. "Hunter, let your brothers have a chance to hug me."

Hunter nodded and let go of Omega. Omega walked over to Crosshair and they hugged. Omega could feel Crosshair relax and she smiled.

"I'm alright, Crosshair," Omega whispered.

"I missed ya, kid." Crosshair whispered only loud enough for her to hear. Omega smiled and looked Crosshair in the eyes. She could see the worry and sadness in his eyes. Omega squeezed his hands and then walked over to Tech and the two hugged. Tech felt rubbed Omega's back and Omega smiled.

"I'm not hurt, Tech," Omega assured. "You don't have to worry."

"We thought you were dead," Tech answered.

"I know. I'm sorry. But I'm here now."

Tech began to cry and he held Omega closer. Omega rested her head on Tech's shoulder and let him cry. When Tech was done, Omega walked over to Echo who looked over her before pulling her into a hug.

"You're home. You're safe and alive." Echo said. "We all missed you. I don't know what we would have done without you. You're very special to us, Omega. We all love you very much."

"I love you guys too and you're special to me too," Omega replied tearfully. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Go see Wrecker."

Omega walked over to Wrecker who pulled her into a big hug and sobbed.

"I missed you, kid. I don't know what I would have done without you. I don't want to lose you ever again." Wrecker blurted.

"I missed you too, Wrecker," Omega answered.

The other brothers walked over and they all hugged Omega.

After what seemed like a day, the batch walked over to the couch and sat together content in knowing that their family was together and safe. Omega curled up on Hunter's lap and yawned. Hunter caressed Omega and smiled.

"Sleep, Ad'ika," Hunter whispered. Omega nodded and wrapped her arms around Hunter's neck. Hunter kissed her cheek and listened to her heartbeat. The brothers sat as close as possible and kept their eyes on their sister as she slept. None of them wanted to sleep for fear that they'd wake up and this all be a dream, but one by one, they all fell asleep.

After those few days, the Batch was closer than ever before. They took special care to watch over each other and they held each other closer. Nearly losing Omega taught them just how easy it was to lose the people they love most. It was something none of them wanted to feel ever again.

THE END