Chapter 14 - Endings

Author's Note: Crosshair is ridiculously stubborn about refusing to admit he just wants a hug. ;_; xD Also, for all that I'm pretty sure Omega went up alone in Canon because Crosshair was bullying her and Echo just needed a snuggle-companion and for that matter, so did Crosshair, it'll happen here too because... because. I'm the author, and I said so. :') Besides, the soon-to-ensue snuggle-scene was too cute to pass on.

Also, I thought about Crosshair being captured on Daro, but I decided to go with Echo instead, because I didn't think Crosshair could survive that fall with nothing to slow him down. And, I figured Crosshair would have a really hard time resisting rejoining the Empire if he was there alone with Hunter – he might know it's wrong, but it's still Hunter who's asking, and they've done everything together their whole lives.

~ Rivana Rita

The white halls are empty as they work their way through the facility. It's... almost too empty, Omega can't help thinking. And she can't shake this strange, unnerving feeling of finality.

And, of course, that's when it happens.

There's a loud crashing sound, and the building trembles. Omega stumbles, and Echo reaches out to steady her almost as a second nature.

The lights flicker out altogether. For a split second, she thinks they'll come back, but they don't, plunging them all into darkness.

"Hurry," Hunter orders, whirling around, "Get to the lift!"

She follows, as do the others, without even thinking. They're together again, for the very first time, and Omega will take the time to think about it later. This is everything she wanted, except that their home is being attacked.

This is Kamino.

The ride feels like it takes way too long. No one talks, and the rumbling in the distance and the way the floor keeps trembling only adds to the tension.

It's not until they make it outside that Omega finally realizes exactly what's happening. It's not until she sees the laser fire raining from the sky when they get outside onto the platform connecting the facilities that it finally dawns on her that they're... they're blowing up these cities. Shooting at them. Destroying them. The Empire is destroying Kamino. Her home. Their home.

And everything is burning.

Someone is yelling in the background – she thinks it might be Hunter, but she couldn't be sure, because all she can do is stand and watch with a mind-numbing horror as their home goes up in flames.

It's not until a small metal hand grabs Omega's wrist and drags her back inside that she's finally spurred into motion again.

"We need to find cover," Hunter says, a bit breathlessly, as they run down the halls.

Any other time, she'd be thinking far more about how he's here and how she can see his face again. But that's for later.

And now that they're back inside, the damage somehow seems worse. They can only move so fast when everything is shaking so much, and then, a shot tears straight through the ceiling right next to them, throwing everyone to the floor.

Omega falls with a yelp but pushes herself back up. Another shot tears through right nearby when the others are still halfway standing, and this time, she gets the sudden, sinking feeling that they're falling. Even if the floor itself isn't moving – until it is. It's tilting, and then, they're slowly sliding sideways. The city is falling into the ocean below.

The building shudders again, and Omega scrambles aside as a piece of debris falls from the ceiling. It's happening so fast, and she's never dealt with anything like that before.

Debris is falling, and actually, the entire building is quite clearly falling apart. She tries to push herself up and move closer to her brothers, but they're sliding down across the rapidly tilting floor.

She calls Echo's name, but her voice is cut off as something else shatters, crashes, and a door slams shut, separating them.

It's dark, too dark.

That's the last thing she remembers thinking before losing consciousness. She awakens to a familiar hand shaking her shoulder. "Omega, wake up!"

"AZI?" she mumbles, twisting, blinking up at the droid hovering over her. AZI's eyes glow in the dark, the only light in the room.

"I do not wish to alarm you, but if you do not vacate this compartment, you will soon perish, and I will be left here on my own!"

Omega pushes herself to her feet, pulling out her flashlight and shining it around. The door is closed, and the room is flooding, fast. She must've only been out for a couple minutes. Wrecker or Tech could figure out how to get it open, but she has no idea what to do.

She turns around, scanning the rest of the room. And – oh no.

"Crosshair!" she cries, scrambling over the debris to his side. He's pinned beneath some of it, and with as fast as the room is flooding... Focus. She needs to focus. Not panic, even if she can't help it.

Omega sets her flashlight down and works her fingers beneath the beam, pulling. It doesn't even budge. She needs – Wrecker. He could move this easily. But they're outside, and she doesn't even know if they're alright.

"Wrecker?" she calls into her comm, knowing how audible her fear is. She's gotten used to being afraid after the month she's spent with them, and it's not nearly as bad as it used to be, but right now? Right now, she can't help it. Crosshair could die. And there's nothing she can do. "Tech? Echo? Is anyone there?"

"We're here, kid," Wrecker replies. She could almost cry at hearing him.

"Are you alright?" Echo asks.

"Not really," Omega answers. "The room is flooding. And Crosshair's stuck."

"Hang on," Echo says, "We're coming. Try to stay over the waterline."

AZI hovers uselessly while Omega tries again and fails to move the debris. On the other side, she thinks she can see Wrecker's vibroblade cutting through the door, but it's not fast enough. It's not going to be fast enough.

Crosshair twitches finally, his helmet turning slightly.

"Greetings, CT-9904," AZI says, hovering closer. "You survived the aerial bombardment but are now moments away from drowning."

"AZI," Omega interjects desperately, "Help!" The droid isn't much stronger than her, but they have to –

"Your bow," Crosshair says suddenly, "Try to shoot it free."

She scrambles higher up herself, drawing her bow and firing. There's an explosion of glowing pink steam as the shot strikes the water, but it goes through. She fires once, twice, then again before the debris finally breaks free. AZI shoves it out of the way with help of his boosters and Omega tosses her bow down, jumping down back into the water to pull Crosshair out.

They crawl away from the waterline as best they can, Omega half-dragging him, before they finally collapse together, her still clinging to him.

Crosshair pushes himself up and pulls off his helmet, coughing – he was going under, just briefly, before Omega pulled him out.

"Come on," Omega says finally, pushing herself up and picking up her bow, reattaching it to her back. "We have to get the door open."

She jumps back into the water, swimming to the door. Wrecker's vibroblade is a good distance through now, and the water is draining out a little, but the room is still flooding far too fast for it to matter. The gap in the door is enough for Omega to latch onto it and pull, but she resurfaces moments later, gasping for air.

She ducks back under again, and that's when the door finally opens.

Wrecker catches her amidst the rush of water, shoving her into Echo's arms before turning to help Tech reseal the door.

AZI hits the floor with a faint thud, mostly drowned out by the rush and splashing of water across the floor. Crosshair comes through last, and Hunter steps forwards to steady him, pulling him to his feet.

"Is everyone alright?" Hunter inquires, warily, almost uncertainly. Like he's been gone long enough that he's not sure how to fit in.

Echo sets Omega down, and she looks up at the others, biting her lip. She doesn't know Hunter, but still, it feels like she should... say something to him. Just... not right now.

"If your standards define nearly drowning as alright, yes," Crosshair tells him flatly, shaking himself off a bit.

"We need to get topside before this entire structure submerges," Tech says, stepping forwards, finally spurring everyone into motion.

**w**

The remnants of the facility are settling. Tech suspects they've finally reached the ocean floor, which means at least they have some reassurance that there won't be any more falling involved – which is nice for Wrecker, anyway. It also means that they have a very long supply of other problems, starting with not having a way back to the surface.

Tech takes them to their barracks again – it's one of the only safe places left.

After they left Kamino, Crosshair was certain he'd never see it again. He never really stopped to think about it, no matter how much he sometimes missed it, because it was pointless and a part of the past, just like... they feared Hunter was. But being here again, seeing it so empty, hurts.

Hunter is being oddly quiet and distant. That's not something any of them have dared to address yet. It's... easier not to talk about it.

"This is our room?" Wrecker groans, "What happened to it?"

"At least the smell's gone," Echo offers as the others spread out.

"Check it out," Wrecker calls gleefully, "Our board's still here!"

He's probably the only one cheerful about that. If it wasn't, it wouldn't feel quite so much like they lost something, something they'll never get back. And Crosshair is... angry. This was their home. Even if none of them liked Kamino, the way they lived there outcast from everyone else.

But right now, more than anything, they have to focus on getting out of here in one piece.

Omega's slightly excited gasp draws everyone's attention instantly. "Look, we landed on the underwater tunnel. If we use it to reach the base post, we could get back to the Marauder."

"Accessing the tube will be... challenging," Tech warns.

"Better than staying here," Echo replies.

Cutting through the floor takes a while, and they can only hope there won't be a leakage somewhere, else the room will flood. The droid goes down first to scout out the tunnel and returns a moment later with a much too cheerful "the tunnel is clear!"

Hunter climbs down first, and the rest follow. That, at least, is familiar, though Crosshair can't help constantly watching him. They don't... have to worry anymore, but he's still being careful. And right as they enter, he sees some very, very large cracks in the glass of the tunnel. They're... in more than one place. The droid might not have been able to see exactly how precarious this is, but Crosshair certainly can.

"We need to go back," he warns. "There must be another way."

"Why?" Hunter asks, pausing, turning around.

Omega turns around, following his gaze, and shines her flashlight at the wall. "AZI, this doesn't look very safe," she says worriedly.

"I'm afraid this is our best option," Tech replies.

Crosshair huffs. "If I die, I'm haunting you first."

Aside from the breaking glass problem, they have a more concerning giant fish problem. The roaring sounds distant in the water, echoing from far away, but it's still close.

"AZI, these tunnels are protected, right?" Omega asks nervously, her flashlight shining into the darkness of the ocean on the outline of an approaching sea creature.

"Only when the power is operational, which it is not," the droid replies.

"Run!" Hunter yells, and everyone takes off. They don't need to be told twice, and somehow, with his older brother present, even if only for the moment, it feels like nothing ever changed.

The sea creature strikes the wall of the tunnel hard enough for the glass to fracture, but it doesn't instantly shatter. They push themselves up and keep running, anyway. AZI moves to the front to try restoring the power.

Which works, at least momentarily.

Omega is the first to climb out of the tunnel into the safety of Nala Se's lab. Wrecker is next, and Crosshair comes through fourth, shadowing Hunter the way he always once did.

That was always where he used to be, once. Always in Hunter's shadow, watching, lashing out at anyone who dared threaten his brother.

And that's how it was, back before the Empire, back during the Clone Wars, back when... they were still family. But they still are, aren't they? Even if it's... been a long time. But they've never once faced being away from each other before.

Even looking at Hunter hurts. He looks... like a shadow of what he once was. He is.

It's been a month since Order 66, since they found out about the inhibitor chips, and yet, their existence still feels... unreal. Omega may have grown up with the knowledge of them, but Crosshair didn't. None of his brothers did, either, except Tech, apparently.

None of what Hunter did was his choice. That doesn't mean it didn't hurt, or that Crosshair can stop watching him, expecting him to lash out. Even if Bracca didn't happen, even if he hadn't seen for himself what the inhibitor chips can do – both on himself and on Wrecker – he would... still believe it, for Hunter, because their leader would never hurt them.

Never.

But still, seeing him again... reminds him of times long gone. Of things that... will never come back, and thinking about it just makes it worse.

"Where is this place?" Hunter inquires, looking around.

"Nala Se's private lab. Omega says this is where our mutations were manipulated and enhanced," Tech answers, turning around.

"How does she know?" Hunter asks, slightly surprised, but mostly, just curious.

"Because she was there," Tech answers, "Omega was created before us. Technically, she is older than we are."

Across from them, Wrecker and Omega are already at the window.

"That's gonna be a problem," he groans.

The others gather around them. The tunnel can be seen clearly through the window, or rather, what's left of it. It's been destroyed.

"That tunnel was the only way to the Marauder," Omega says quietly, shoulders slumping.

"It would seem that, once again, we are trapped," AZI supplies.

That can't be true, though. There must be some other way out. They're not going to stop trying, but short of backtracking, Crosshair has no ideas to offer. Instinctively, he turns to Hunter, who's still staring out the window, jaw clenched. There's something dark in his expression that Crosshair can't read. It looks entirely foreign, and he doesn't like it.

"What do you suggest?" Hunter inquires finally.

"I'm working on it," Tech replies, turning to look around the room.

It's not... unusual for him to ask their opinion, but something about the way he said it was... wrong. Off. It's... almost like there's something about him that's given up.

They spread out, Echo and Tech scanning the room, Wrecker hovering uselessly, and Omega sticks beside AZI.

"What?" Hunter asks finally, obviously sensing Crosshair's eyes on him.

"Are you alright?" he inquires – he has rarely asked this, has rarely had to, but now, he can't ignore it.

"I'm the one who brought you here," he answers, spinning around and walking off towards the others, but he hovers uselessly in the background, arms crossed. Hunter never asks for comfort. Crosshair has always known that about him – even if he wants it, he'll never ask. And until Echo joined them, Crosshair is the only one who knew when he needed it. Tech is terrible at anything emotional and rarely does anything more than holding hands, even that of which is rare and he only does it if someone else starts it. And Wrecker is... Wrecker. He's half blind, to literally anything.

"We'll find a way," Crosshair tells him, following him and touching his shoulder, even if it's hard to be so close to him.

Hunter twitches, sharply enough that Crosshair's mildly surprised he doesn't outright pull away. From how he leans slightly closer, Crosshair can't help wondering if it's the first time he's been touched in... a long time. It probably is. That must be... lonely. How did he survive like that?

"Long-range comms are down, and our oxygen levels will be critical in a few hours," Echo reports, returning.

"There must be another viable means of transport to the surface," Tech replies.

Hunter is quiet. He has been abnormally so.

"These medical capsules are our way out of here," Echo says some minutes later.

"If our mass is evenly distributed, the buoyancy of these watertight chambers will bring us to the surface," Tech explains as the others gather around.

"Medical capsules have not been tested for such capabilities," AZI protests, floating between them.

"How would we avoid the debris field?" Hunter interjects finally. Somehow, he always manages to be the first to ask level-headed questions.

"The droid can do it," Crosshair replies.

"Barring any extraneous complications, I should be able to complete the task," AZI offers.

"Won't that be dangerous?" Omega inquires.

"Your safety and well-being is my primary mission objective," AZI answers, turning to face her.

They have to drag the capsules into position, per Tech's rambles, but there's only four of them. Which is... problematic.

Hunter, of course, is the first to point it out. "There aren't enough for each of us."

"Simple," Tech replies calmly. "We will double up."

Wrecker will be alone. No one even needs to ask to know that.

And Hunter, no doubt, will want to go alone. Even if he hasn't been with them for a month. Even if he's been alone for long enough that it must be driving him crazy, because he will never ask for it. Omega is much the same way.

"I'll go with Hunter," Crosshair says, and everyone turns to him.

"You sure?" Hunter inquires.

Maybe it's just as much to test himself. They can trust Hunter, and even if it's hard, he needs to remember that. They all do. Considering everything Echo just went through – and no doubt is struggling with right now – he would never willingly double with Hunter.

They can talk about that later, too. It hurts to see how tense Echo is, even now.

Wrecker squeezes into his own, grumbling loudly.

"Can't you share with Omega?" Echo grumbles when Tech approaches him.

"Consider it an apology for throwing you off the Marauder," Crosshair offers, and his eldest brother throws him a dirty look.

Or maybe it's that Tech has the same idea Crosshair does and doesn't want Echo to be alone. He doesn't know. It's not like it's something they'd talk about.

"Well, if there were complications, you are mostly unable to swim," Tech replies, squeezing in anyway.

Being this close to Hunter again is... somehow less uncomfortable than he thought it would be.

They close up, and Omega sets off the explosives. The room floods with water instantly, and they start moving upward. He can see AZI moving in the darkness, thanks to the light the droid's eyes provide.

Hunter's still tense, though now that they're here together, some of it melts away and one of his hands reaches out, touching Crosshair's left arm. It takes him a moment to remember why. "I'm sorry," Hunter murmurs finally, quietly.

There are many things he could say to that. Instead, he just nods. The proximity somehow doesn't bother him anymore, no matter how there's still a part of his mind which is terrified that Hunter still isn't fully himself.

Hunter's hand trails across his arm, almost idly, gently, even if it's over the armor and he can't feel it.

The trip up isn't that long, all things considered. It's uneventful until the end, when they all make it to the surface, only to realize that... Omega isn't there yet.

"Omega?" Echo calls into his comm.

"I'm fine," she replies, even though there's a distant crash from the other end. "I got caught on the debris, but AZI's got me."

The droid was literally in the water to keep them out of it. What's happening to it, that it can't do its job? Is it running out of power? Is that why it was occasionally whirring?

"Don't give up," Omega's voice says faintly from the other end, laced with an unfamiliar hint of desperation. "We're nearly there."

"Your path is clear," AZI's even more distant voice says, followed by another distant whirring as the droid powers down.

"No!" Omega cries. There's a heartbeat of nothing, before – "I'm going after AZI!"

"Omega, don't," Echo orders sharply, firmly.

She's going to sacrifice herself. For a droid. Crosshair shouldn't even be surprised – he's not, really, because that's simply who Omega is. She cares so much for so many others but has so little regard for her own wellbeing.

And she's too far down to make it up alone.

Crosshair draws his rifle, dropping the end of it onto Hunter's shoulder – they used to do it all the time before, and it's almost out of habit, even if he can hold it fine himself – and fires a cable down into the water, the end of it latching onto AZI. It only takes seconds for it to pull her up – she wasn't very far down – but it still feels long.

He sets his rifle down, reaching down to lift Omega out of the water. She's coughing, panting, leaning against him.

Hunter reaches in to pull out AZI.

"Thank you," she says shakily.

Crosshair reaches out to replace his rifle, then pulls her – slightly awkwardly, but still – into his lap, one arm wrapped around her. "Consider us even," he offers dryly.

"Yeah," she mutters, head resting on his chest plate. She feels so... small. To remember them, she must be about twelve, but she's tiny for her age. Right now, even not fully certain what this is or means, he's content to just hold her close.

Across from them, Hunter is watching wordlessly again. There's an aching longing in his eyes, but it closes off the moment he catches Crosshair looking at him.

"I have a visual on the Marauder," Tech speaks up, "I suggest we start paddling."

**w**

It's daylight by the time they finally reach the Marauder. They spent the entire night there, under water, trying to survive. The Empire destroyed Kamino. And... they left Hunter here for dead. Not that he's even surprised about that – of course, they consider him expendable. It almost surprises him how little he cares.

Which is to say, not really at all. He just... doesn't. Mostly? He's just numb.

They all could have died there. Because of him. Because Hunter brought them there, and... he thought he knew what he was doing, but he didn't. They made it out, but they very easily couldn't have. It's not like the normal perilous situations they're in.

"It's... all gone," Omega murmurs finally, breaking the silence, tears glistening in her eyes as she stands at the edge of the platform, overlooking what's left of Kamino. The debris may have settled but everything is still smoking. Smoldering.

"Thank you for coming after me," Echo says, glancing from her to the others. Of everyone, he seems... the most collected. He usually is.

"You needed our help," Omega tells him, finally tearing her gaze off the horizon and looking up at him. "You'd do the same for me. That's what family does."

Family. He... likes the sound of that, but Hunter isn't fully certain it's what he could have, or what he is. Not... anymore. Not after everything he's done. And he did... many things.

"Where are you going?" he asks finally.

"We have been staying on Ord Mantell," Tech replies, and that he trusts him enough to say it is... Hunter doesn't know how to feel about it. "Presumably, we will return there."

"I suggest we take a few days to think it through," Echo says, "But now that Kamino is gone, we shouldn't have to worry about bounty hunters anymore, which means Omega is, at least temporarily, safe. If we're going to step up in fighting the Empire, we have our chance."

Now, after so long, he... is no longer certain that he can make the right choices. "You've seen how the Empire operates," Hunter objects, "Fighting is suicide."

"There are people who need our help," Echo replies firmly. "People that we can help, like you."

What about Omega, he wants to ask, but that's the same thing he was asking earlier. He doesn't... want to do that again. But still, it's a legitimate question that needs to be addressed.

"We wanted to come back earlier," Echo adds, hesitantly, almost uncertainly. Hunter can't blame him for being wary – he is, too. "But we didn't know where to look."

"You had no reason to," Hunter interrupts, "You'd have gotten yourselves killed. You still could have."

"Considering that Echo was captured by the Empire, there was little choice but to retrieve him," Tech interjects, "And we should leave before the Empire's scouts show up."

It's blunt, and it hurts, but it's the truth. If they hadn't come... he doesn't want to know what would've happened.

He is... wary about going with them. Hunter cannot deny that, won't even try to. They think it wasn't him. He's not entirely sure that it was, either, but he can't... process and accept it all so fast. Still, they're a team. He was their sergeant, once. They were a family, even if no one said it in such blunt terms before. And they have always complimented each other. They can't live without each other.

"How can you know?" Hunter asks finally, as the others start moving for the ship. "That everything I did was the chip?" And not me?

"Wrecker's and Crosshair's activated as well," Tech replies, "Though Wrecker was significantly worse, due to his complete lack of impulse control."

They play off emotions, don't they? That's why Hunter felt so uncharacteristically angry. "What happened?" he inquires, following the others inside.

It smells different. Less of him, a lot more of Omega, and... just different. Time has passed, and everything continued without him. He's... glad they were able to survive, at least.

"Not much," he answers, "Wrecker reacted violently, but Crosshair still had enough self-control to distract him until Echo and Rex could stun them. That is why we were on Bracca."

Maybe he should ask more. He will, later. Right now, he just settles into the seat he normally sits in, across from Crosshair, and watches as Tech flies them out. It's... good to be home.

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