A Visit to Salucami Pt. 2

A/N: Ok this is a really SHORT chapter, but the ending is super funny, so I hope that makes up for it.

The male members of Clone Force 99 were now all watching Calli carefully, wondering what her next move would be.

Cut looked at everyone with confusion, at first not knowing why his wife and friends were so tense at his arrival. Then he spotted Calli in the corner, yet before he could ask who she was, two little twi'leks ran up to him.

"Dad!" They both exclaimed happily, making the man chuckle and he knelt down to engulf them both in a hug.

"Hey you two! I hope you were good for mom while I was gone." The two kids assured him they were and then their focus was back to Wrecker. Each took ahold of one of his large hands and started to drag him to the door, wanting to go play outside with their favorite uncle.

"Good to see you Cut!" Wrecker said over his shoulder before he disappeared outside and the reg chuckled and waved to him before turning back to the others in the room, specifically Calli. Instead of looking at her skeptically like Suu had, the reg had an air of confidence and trust as he walked up to the teen and held his hand out.

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Cut. Cut Lawquane." Calli looked at his hand with confusion, then it hit her that he wanted to shake hands. After an embarrassing five seconds that it took her to process this, she met his hand with hers and gave it a firm shake to mask her uneasiness about the whole situation. Cut is a clone, there's no question about it. He had the same voice, same tan skin, light brown eyes, and a muscular build, but that was where the similarities ended. Instead of his hair being brown it was a coppery red and pulled back into a low ponytail. He wore no armor and his demeanor, well, was more laid back. He seemed… normal? Like he was his own unique person and not a soldier. There was only one term for who this guy really was.

"You're a deserter." It was out of Calli's mouth before she even had time to process that it might sound blunt and rude and set him or Suu on edge, especially in the accusatory tone of her voice. Yet she was surprised again when Cut just simply laughed at her words, as if she'd told a joke.

"I'm an individual, just like you and I exercised my freedom to live my own life." Calli blinked, not expecting such a calm response. She thought he'd get all defensive, yet he was completely relaxed. And she couldn't formulate a reply.

"I uh…" Calli pointed to the door as she sputtered out her next words, "I'm just gonna go and - yeah." She sidestepped around Cut and made a beeline for the door, not even sparing a glance at any of her squadmates who looked at her with concern and Hunter called out to her but he was ignored.

"Be sure to stay inside the fences if you don't want to be attacked by a Nexu." Tech advised when Calli reached the door, knowing she was probably going to go for a walk to clear her mind. "But keep a blaster on you, just in case." Calli waved a dismissive hand.

"Yeah yeah, step outside the perimeter and I'll become an appetizer for the predators, got it." Calli said distractedly, exiting the main room.

"Will she contact the Republic and turn Cut in?" Suu asked the group, specifically Hunter, who right about now was regretting bringing Calli here. But he didn't believe she would turn Cut in, after all she'd been a deserter herself once and the Sergeant explained this to the couple. Cut was reassured by this, Suu less so but she trusted her husband's judgment so she went along with it and chose to distract herself by making a nice dinner for everyone as the Bad Batch only planned to stay one night and they deserved to eat real food instead of war rations. "I don't suppose one of you boys would like to help me?" she asked and right away they began making excuses.

"I'm going to head into town." Tech declared, getting up from his seat and immediately both Hunter and Crosshair volunteered to go with him. "I'll only need one of you as the speeder only holds two people."

"I'll go." Hunter and Crosshair said at the same time, and after glaring at each other Hunter pointed to himself then Crosshair while saying, "I'm going and you're staying."

"Why do you get to decide?" Crosshair asked, and Hunter paused for a second before pulling out the one card that always worked.

"Because I'm the Sergeant, that's why." Hunter said and he dragged Tech out of the door before they could argue any further on the subject, which of course pissed off Crosshair. He grumbled under his breath while sitting back in his seat, crossing his arms and looking like a pouting child. Suu had been amused by the exchange and it helped melt away some of her anxiety. She went up to Crosshair's side and looked down at him expectantly.

"You'll be in charge of cutting the vegetables, think you can handle that?" Crosshair scoffed.

"I'm not doing that." He stated with an air of defiance and Suu rolled her eyes before pointing to the kitchen counter where there was a basket of vegetables that had been picked from the garden earlier.

"Oh quit pouting and get to it. Remember to wash your hands first."

"I said I'm not helping." Crosshair asserted, making Suu frown in annoyance, "Deal with it." This was the wrong thing to say to Suu, and she reached down, to clamp her thumb and pointer finger down on Crosshair's earlobe and he let out an involuntary yelp as he was not so gently pulled up from the chair with surprising strength and the twi'lek pulled him down to her level (He was a good five inches taller than her) so she'd be face to face with the clone.

"You're either going to help me or I'll feed you to the Nexu.'' She threatened in a dangerously low voice, and when the sniper attempted to say again that he wouldn't she tightened her grip on his ear and he groaned in pain, reluctantly surrendering to Suu's demands.

"Alright alright woman, I'll help!" He exclaimed angrily and to his relief Suu let his ear go. He rubbed it while grumbling to himself as he made his way over to the counter where vegetables were already set out. Stopping in front of the counter, Crosshair reached for the knife only to be stopped by Suu.

"Hands. Wash." She reminded and Crosshair's jaw clenched yet he moved to the sink to do as told.