Part 1
Plot: After losing Crosshair and Wrecker on Kamino. Hunter attempts to take care of what's left of his squad. He wants them back, but they don't have a way to get to them. Until he unexpectedly runs into them both when he's on a delivery for Cid. The only problem? They want to take him back to the Empire with them.
Author's Note: I had the most nonsensical dream about Hunter getting stuck in a malfunctioning elevator and this fic was born. xD Enjoy :D
~ Tirana Sorki
PS. This is for the square "parenting" on the Bad Batch Bingo. ^-^
~ Amina Gila
It was supposed to be a normal mission for Cid. Hunter didn't have any reason to think otherwise, when he stopped by at the town center building in the middle of the town where she asked them to drop off a shipment. It's supposedly some type of food, but he has his doubts about that, not that it matters so long as they get paid.
At least it's not a dangerous mission, because Omega needs a break from that. Bane almost got as far as taking her back to the Kaminoans, and he won't let anything happen to her. That's why he opted for leaving Echo and Tech at the ship with her, while he went to deliver the shipment alone.
Though, having Tech here probably would have been helpful. The populace of the village hardly speak Basic, and from how ancient the buildings look, they appear to have been cut off from the advanced technology of the rest of the galaxy for decades, at least.
More like centuries. He's never seen anyone with technology this backwards before, and he can somewhat work around it, but it's confusing. Mostly because he keeps overthinking it and expecting things to be far more complicated than they are.
Hunter's stepping back into the main room on the ground floor of the building when he hears talking right near the entrance.
He doesn't have long enough for the voices to register, before he rounds the corner.
And freezes.
Several of the natives are standing near the doorway, but standing right in front of them are...
Crosshair and Wrecker?!
He'd recognize their black, lifeless armor anywhere, just as much as he would the familiar feel of their heartbeats.
What –
What are they doing here?!
Everyone glances up distractedly at the noise of him entering the room, and Hunter backs out three times faster than he came in, heart pounding as the door clicks closed behind him.
He just... what?!
Since when was the Empire here?! They never saw any traces of them on the planet, when they were landing, so how did they get here? How would they even know to come here, unless it happened purely by chance?
He can't imagine that, though. Probably, it was intentional, though he doesn't know how prominent the Imperial forces here are.
And he has no idea if they saw him or not, but they probably did. Crosshair, at least.
There's no way his littlest brother missed spotting him standing right there, especially if he's on-planet looking for them. Wrecker probably didn't see, but they're undoubtedly both coming now.
And he's not ready.
They're his little brothers, and he's missed both of them agonizingly every second the past several weeks since he and the rest of his squad had to flee Kamino. Everywhere he looks, he's expecting to see them, but they're gone. It's hard to believe it has only been weeks. It feels more like a lifetime ago, for how different everything is now.
Everything started on Kaller, when Wrecker and Crosshair were stubbornly insisting that they go through with the orders to kill the padawan. Hunter had Echo and Tech keep them distracted, while he made sure the boy got away, but then...
Tarkin had tested them, sending them to Onderon. Wrecker wanted to blow everything up, and Crosshair was angry that Hunter wouldn't give them the order to go through with it, and everything had fallen apart from there.
They were arrested for treason, and thrown in the brig where they found Omega. Tech thought of a way they could break out, if Wrecker would punch a hole through the wall, but he'd stubbornly refused. He'd refused to try, because that was against their orders, and it hadn't made sense until Rex explained about the inhibitor chips. Technically, it was Tech who told them first, but Hunter hadn't really understood it until they heard it from Rex.
The regs came back to get Crosshair first, and then Wrecker. Neither of them came back, but they were planning to take Tech next, and Hunter wasn't going to let them touch the last of the three brothers he grew up with. It was the only chance they had, so they all jumped the regs. It was a hard fight, but they made it out.
They were getting their armor on in the hangar, preparing to search for the youngest two, when Wrecker and Crosshair found them.
But they fought.
Crosshair nearly shot Hunter, and Wrecker wasn't even bothered by it. He was just angry that Hunter still wasn't standing down, and he'd charged him. Hunter stunned him before he got across the hangar – he doesn't want to know what would have happened if he hadn't, but the last moments of Wrecker about to jump him, Crosshair trying to shoot him are haunting him ceaselessly.
It took about three stun shots to take Wrecker down, and Hunter still hates himself a little for being willing to fire at him, no matter how he didn't have a choice.
They were the youngest, the ones he always had to look out for the most. Not that he didn't look out for Tech just as much, but Tech is directly younger than him, and it's different.
And now, Tech is the only one he has left. Of course, Echo is here too, but it's different because Echo chose them later. Hunter didn't grow up with him. Omega gives him, all three of them actually, something to focus on, someone to take care of.
But that doesn't mean there's ever a moment he stops wanting the other two back. They were together every moment of their lives – well, aside from special training classes but that's different – and now they're not and –
And they're here now, probably hunting him and the others down. On Kamino, Crosshair and Wrecker nearly killed them. He knows it's the chips controlling them, but if the two are willing to go far enough to hurt them, he doesn't know what they can do to stop it, to get them back. There's nothing they can do that wouldn't risk getting Omega or Tech or Echo killed in the process. And even if they got them, what would they do?
Take them back to Bracca? He, Tech, and Echo were able to get their chips out there because of Rex's warning, but they'd barely escaped in time before the Empire had shown up. He doesn't know that they could risk going back there.
Which means he needs to focus on getting off-planet right now.
"Tech? Echo?" Hunter calls into his comm, as he sprints down the hall of the building, away from the entrance. The walls are white, pale in color, and look like they haven't been painted in ages. He'll have to find a different way out. Somehow.
They probably have the building surrounded, so he'll need a pickup when he gets out, but the trick is finding an exit that isn't blocked off. He's alone, which makes it significantly harder.
Neither Echo or Tech are answering their comms, which means they must be jammed. Yeah, this wasn't a coincidence, just as he was afraid of. Whether Cid turned them in – possible, but unlikely – or they somehow heard word from somewhere else, he doesn't know.
Finally, he reaches the elevator and since he can already sense people moving closer, this is probably the fastest route out. The door opens with a much too loud screech, like its gears have scarcely turned in years.
The inside walls are wood, still rough and unfinished, not that that's important right now. He turns to where the buttons ought to be, to see the strangest set of controls he's ever seen.
The setup looks more like something for ancient datapads. Not as if Hunter's ever seen such a thing, but he can still guess.
And he has absolutely no idea how he's supposed to operate this thing. There's some numbers which maybe mean the floor numbers, so he tries pushing one for the ground floor, but it just beeps, and does nothing.
Is there some other way he's supposed to get between floors?
Scanning the controls, he spots two other buttons that... might be helpful. The writing on most of them is in strange symbols he can't understand, but beneath two of them, there's small scribbles in Basic.
Page down, and page up.
Maybe those are the ones he's supposed to be pushing?
He pushes "page down" and with a loud, noisy groan, the elevator activates. It starts moving down, almost agonizingly slowly, before whirring loudly and just as quickly shutting down.
What?
Did someone manually shut down the controls from elsewhere to trap him inside, or did this thing just break?
He pushes "page down" again anyway, but nothing happens.
Also? This is the last time Hunter is going anywhere in a place that's millennia behind in technology. It'd almost be amusing if it weren't so annoying. The last thing he needs is to get stuck in a lift.
He needs to get out, but he doesn't know how to... know where to go. If Tech were here, he could tap into their comms, but he's not, and Hunter tries contacting them again, though there's nothing.
He's stuck in here, unless he cuts his way out, it starts working again, or they find him first. None of them are ideal options. He could... probably damage the controls, and get down to the ground-floor, but that's the most likely place that Wrecker and Crosshair will be waiting for him. Wrecker at least.
It's only going to be a matter of time before someone finds him here.
Hunter hears footsteps suddenly, rapidly approaching the door, and a chilling fear snakes through him. He's already out of time. He can tell from the heavy footsteps it must be Wrecker. There's someone else out there too: probably Crosshair.
His little brothers are here, and he – he shouldn't be so afraid to face them, afraid of them,but he is. They tried to kill him before, and all he wants is to bring them back, but he doesn't have a way to do that, and –
The best chance of escape with so many people is by surrendering, and he doesn't want to do that. Hunter doesn't really think he'll have a choice, either, though. It's not – not what he wants to do, because he knows it'll guarantee having to face them again, and that they might hurt him, but it's probably better than getting himself killed.
The door dents when Wrecker punches it, and Hunter hears muffled talking from the other side. It's Crosshair, and he sounds annoyed. Probably telling him to just cut through the lock, which he does a second later. Hunter backs up, hand tightening over his blaster. He doesn't know if it's worth the risk, but he doesn't sense many people out there. No one is close, other than Wrecker and Crosshair, and over the buzz of other electronics, he can't sense many others.
But he could recognize them anywhere.
He can't just let himself get captured, either, and that's under the assumption that they're opting for that over outright killing him.
And if Hunter's gone too long, Echo or Tech will come back in, assuming all three of them don't, and he can't let that happen.
Wrecker pries the door open, and Hunter fires a stun bolt at them. Crosshair ducks out of sight, and Wrecker jerks to the side to avoid it. Wrecker bats his arm aside, knocking the blaster from his hand at the force of it, and yanks him out. "Found him," he says gleefully, hooking his arms around Hunter and pinning his arms to his sides.
It feels far more like one of his overly aggressive hugs than anything else, and that coupled with hearing him again rips at the already gaping hole in Hunter's heart.
Crosshair steps up to them, pulling his helmet off.
It's the first time Hunter's seen his face in weeks, since they left Kamino. They've never been apart for so long before. The longest Hunter has been away from any of them was a few days, and that was when Wrecker was in the medbay after getting blown up. He was unconscious throughout most of it, and they weren't allowed to see him in that time. It had driven all of them crazy, and Crosshair had been so afraid that they'd lose him.
Hunter was, too, but it was Crosshair there when it happened. Crosshair... blamed himself for it, though it hadn't been something anyone could predict.
Crosshair's expression is tight, cold, angry, and it chills him. Crosshair may have a temper, but he never turns it on Hunter. Never has. Hunter never thought he ever would, either.
Hunter's admittedly glad he can't see Wrecker's face, because that would make this even harder.
These are the youngest, the two who were... always the most childish and who he tried hardest to protect.
"I was hoping for the whole squad, but you'll do," he says, something dark in his eyes.
Hunter stands unmoving, trying not to think too hard about the million ways this could go down. He remembers a time when it was always him who protected them, where they did everything together. It feels so, so wrong to be afraid of being hurt by them. If they're not going to kill him right off, then...
Crosshair glances past him at Wrecker, then turns to set his helmet down on the floor before stepping up to Hunter again. He twitches back from it a bit instinctively, half expecting something violent, and he hates himself for it. Crosshair reaches up to pull Hunter's helmet off, and he feels the loss of it instantly, though there's nothing he can do about it, anyway.
He feels... safer when he can hide, though it doesn't matter anyway.
It somehow hurts even more to see Crosshair without his helmet on.
The silence is tight, awkward, tense.
He needs to figure out what they're planning. "What are you here for?" Hunter asks them.
"Came here to get you," Wrecker says, voice betraying every bit of the hurt and anger he feels. It wasn't so obvious a moment ago, but it's there now, and it feels like Hunter failed them, let them down somehow, even if there was nothing he could've done.
Getting distracted with his mess of emotions won't help any of them, but they're crashing over him full force, threatening to drown him.
"Wasn't it obvious?" Crosshair asks him dryly.
There's a certain vulnerability to it, that Hunter loathes, and he hates that he does, because both of them are here, and they're together again. Once, that would've been more important than anything else. Hunter doesn't have a way to get them back. It – it would be wrong to take their chips out by force, to change who and what they are, even if Hunter knows they'd consent to it if they could.
He doesn't know how easy it would be to get them out anyway, after they've already activated. It's risky, and a brain surgery like that could hurt them permanently, or worse – He doesn't want to think about the or worse part.
"How did you know I was here?" Hunter glances down the halls, but there's... not anyone here right now. Probably, the rest of the troops here are blocking off the exits. That would be the strategical thing to do.
"Hm," is Crosshair's only response.
Hunter tugs lightly against Wrecker's grip, not outright fighting, but still hard enough that it usually makes him let up if he's being aggressive. He doesn't let go, though he loosens his grip enough that Hunter can somewhat move if he tries.
"Where are the others?" Crosshair queries.
Hunter just looks at him, refusing to answer. It's best not to say anything either way right now. The last thing he needs to do is give Crosshair something that would endanger the others. He has to protect Echo and Tech and the kid, no matter how difficult it is to do anything against Wrecker and Crosshair.
Crosshair's gaze darkens a little. "Tell us where they are, Hunter."
So they can kill them, too? He doesn't answer.
He can't afford to fail them – Omega is counting on him, and all three of them are – but he has no idea what to do. It's hard to... face them down, to look Crosshair in the eye right now. They shot at him on Kamino, tried to kill him, and he's... afraid of what it'll mean for now.
He pulls back from Hunter with a frustrated hiss. "We're here to take you back, not kill you, even if that would be justified."
... Take him back?
He twitches, twisting a little, trying and failing to look up at Wrecker. He couldn't see more than his helmet anyway, though.
"Yeah," Wrecker agrees, obviously catching his look, "We're here to take ya home."
His heart skips a beat. "I'm not going back to Kamino, Wrecker."
Crosshair glares at him again. It's sharp, icy, and it makes his skin crawl. "That's where you belong."
He doesn't have his chip in anymore, so they can't turn him on his brothers, though Hunter is still terrified they'll find another way of doing it. If he didn't have Omega to worry about, Hunter would be genuinely terrified that it'd succeed. But it's about what's right and about what Omega needs, and Hunter can't give in on either.
"I'm giving you a chance, Hunter. One you never gave us. We were brothers once," Crosshair says, and there's something faintly pleading in his voice. He's angry, but Hunter can see through that, see the distant, lost, desperate part of his little brother that needs help. "We can be again. You might have forgotten, but we haven't."
"Crosshair," Hunter says, trying for something gentle, emotional – it's his best gamble at fixing this. "You know what the Empire is doing is wrong. This isn't you. It's your inhibitor chip. It's making you follow orders. You can't help it."
Crosshair glares at him again, and the look in his eyes usually promises violence, at least it used to before he got a little older and gained more self-control. Still, Hunter doesn't exactly think Crosshair's going to hit him, even if he visibly wants to. That'd be a bit too petty, even for him.
"I can help you," Hunter continues, anyway, "But you'll have to trust me."
"We did," Wrecker replies, and he sounds so bitter and hurt and angry, "But you left us." He's not himself, but it's still Wrecker and the lost confusion in his voice is gutting. Hunter reaches up, twisting a little to lay a hand over his brother's, squeezing it gently. It's hard to reach out to them, but he has to try, because he's here right now, and Hunter can't ignore their pain even if it's not fully their own.
"You didn't give us much choice," Hunter replies quietly, carefully, trying not to antagonize them. He doesn't need to make them angry, but facts are facts, even if they don't want to hear them.
"None of it would have happened if you listened to me," Crosshair snarls.
"I couldn't do something if I knew it was wrong," Hunter objects, hands dropping. Wrecker's grip on him tightens marginally.
"You're meant for more than drifting through the galaxy," Crosshair insists stubbornly, "It's time to stop running. Join the Empire, and you will have purpose again."
"We already have everything we need," Hunter argues, shaking his head. "We're a squad. A family. We don't need the Empire." It's not even thinkable, really. He's seen how far the Empire has fallen, what they're willing to do, and Hunter won't have a part in it. None of them will. He won't take them somewhere they'll be considered expendable, where they'll be treated as nothing.
"And you still left us," Crosshair snarls. He shoves Hunter's helmet at him, and Hunter catches it instinctively, stumbling back into Wrecker from the force of it.
Hunter doesn't know what to say to them. They're angry, and hurt, and there wasn't anything else he could do, but it still feels like he failed.
Like he should've done something different, something to protect them. There was nothing, but he's supposed to protect them, and he didn't. Mostly? He really wants to cry right now, but he won't do that in front of them.
Hunter's supposed to be their leader, and they don't need to know how weak he really is.
"Wrecker," Crosshair says, looking at him, "Take him to the ship." He turns away to collect his helmet. Wrecker lets go of Hunter, shoving him away a bit. Normally, Hunter would brush it off as Wrecker being Wrecker, but he's angry, so it hurts more than it does anything else.
Crosshair pulls his blaster when Wrecker moves off to collect Hunter's, and that's the moment he's been waiting for.
He feels bad about this, about leaving them again, but Hunter doesn't have a choice. He needs to warn Echo and Tech to get out of here with Omega at least, so he has to do this. He twists aside, tackling Crosshair and ripping his blaster away. Wrecker turns around again, and Hunter spins around somewhat behind Crosshair, hoping that Wrecker's still himself enough not to shoot at Hunter when he could hit Crosshair instead.
He's their youngest, was their youngest, and it's always been instinctive for them all to keep him safe, first and foremost. Helped that he was often a distance away, because Crosshair always had the least dangerous role.
Wrecker snarls, lunging at him, and Hunter flips the setting to stun, firing at Crosshair, then Wrecker. Crosshair drops, and Wrecker stumbles – the shot only partly hit him – ducking against the wall for cover.
And Hunter runs.
**w**
Crosshair's the more dangerous of the two, for all of Wrecker's strength. Hunter feels a bit bad about it, but going up was the one way of delaying Wrecker. Hunter still has his grappling hook, and he goes to the top floor.
He makes it out the roof, and a distance away before comming them again.
Wrecker's still chasing, as are a group of other Imperials.
"Echo, Tech, come in," he calls, panting, ducking up against the wall of a building. He still hates this planet.
"Hunter?" It's Omega who answers first, echoed moments later by the others.
"You need to leave. Now," he orders between Echo's worried series of questions. "The Empire's here. I'll find another way off."
"Negative," Tech responds immediately, "The odds are not in your favor, and we do not leave our own behind."
"That's an order," Hunter says firmly. He has to make it back, somehow, for Tech if nothing else. He already lost Wrecker and Crosshair, and he's – he's the only one Hunter's had through all of this. Hunter is all Tech has had throughout this, and Omega needs him, too.
But, in the end, it isn't as though there's much Hunter can do.
He shuts off the comm before any of them can argue, and he can already hear Omega's frantic protests, but he doesn't – can't worry about that right now. He needs to focus on getting away, now that he can hope the rest of his squad are leaving.
And that, predictably, is the moment Wrecker catches up to him.
Wrecker jumps him outright, ripping his comm away and crushing it. Hunter doesn't need it anymore, anyway, and they can think about getting a new one if he makes it out.
He doesn't have time to think of anything past that before Wrecker's hand wraps around his neck, yanking him upright and slamming him against the wall. It's hard and darkness swims in his vision from the force of the impact. Hunter struggles against it, clawing at his hand in a fruitless effort to get it off. It's not tight enough that he can't breathe at all, but it's enough to severely restrict airflow, and he's not fully sure Wrecker entirely realizes what he's doing.
"Wrecker," he gasps, struggling, but he doesn't let up.
Not until Hunter senses Crosshair's approach, hears a much too far away "let him go, Wrecker".
The pressure finally lets up, and he falls awkwardly to his knees, panting. Crosshair's hand lightly touches his shoulder – he feels the weight, the proximity, and glances over in his direction. He's wearing his helmet again, so Hunter can't see his face, but considering the circumstances, he's admittedly glad about that.
Doesn't think he'd be able to handle Crosshair's anger again right now.
He'll do it for them, if he has to, but that doesn't mean it'll be easy.
"Thought you weren't tryna kill me," he rasps a few moments later, when he has enough air to talk again.
"If you don't come back, you won't give us a choice," Crosshair informs him flatly, reaching for Hunter's other wrist. Hunter watches him, unfeeling, as Crosshair puts binders on him and tugs him to his feet. He stumbles a little, but stands and glances towards Wrecker. He's dressed in all black, and it looks so wrong, so dead and unfeeling.
Not entirely unlike how he's acting. Most of the time.
Wrecker catches Hunter's gaze and looks away.
"Where's his comm?" Crosshair asks, and they both look at the now-crushed metal on the ground. "You destroyed it?!" Why's he so upset about that? Crosshair stalks up to him, and Wrecker takes a half-step back. "How are we supposed to contact Echo and Tech without it?!"
... That was the plan?
"How was I supposed to know?" Wrecker whines.
"How else would we get them to come here? How stupid are –"
"You never told me!" Wrecker yells, shoving him a step back.
Hunter twitches back from the volume, half questioning his odds of attempting to escape again – neither of them are watching him – but he doesn't really want to just leave them. Wrecker could've killed him earlier, probably accidentally, and Hunter has no idea what it would do to any of them if that happened.
"We went over the plan," Crosshair hisses, tensed.
Hunter hasn't seen the two of them outright arguing in years. They bicker a lot, but it's always playful. It's never outright hostile like right now. Crosshair has a temper, but he loves his brothers enough that it's never directed at them. Wrecker is very, very rarely angry, and when he is, it's more in a quiet, broody manner than outright hostility.
They're not themselves, and Hunter doesn't really understand how the inhibition chips work, but it's obvious it makes them uncharacteristically aggressive.
"Maybe you shouldn't have lost Hunter in the first place!"
"That has nothing to do with this!" Crosshair yells back, shoving him.
Wrecker twitches back, hands clenching, and Hunter steps forwards, unwilling to just watch if they start hitting each other. "Stop it!" Hunter yells. "Both of you."
They freeze, turning to look at him like they just remember he's watching.
Force, is this normal for them now?
His head is throbbing still, and the noise isn't helping.
Crosshair spins around and stalks towards him, slamming him against the wall again. "Do you know what will happen if you don't come back?"
"We've spent our whole lives fighting for what's right," Hunter reminds, as gently as he can manage. "I'm not going to stop, just because I'm afraid of what will happen if I don't."
Crosshair shoves him again, and his armor thumps against the wall, taking the worst of the blow, before he spins around and stalks off. Hunter hears him comming someone, ordering a shuttle to be brought over to where they are.
So Hunter can't try escaping again, probably.
They're going to kill him, or worse. That's what Hunter's most afraid of – that they'll... hurt him. That they'll have to deal with having done it. They're brothers. They shouldn't have to be afraid of hurting each other.
Wrecker's shoulders slump a bit, and he's avoiding everyone's gaze. After what happened, Hutner can't blame him for it, either.
They wait until the shuttle lands, and Wrecker nudges Hunter forwards, taking up the rear.
Probably, he should've tried escaping again anyway, because this will just... make it worse. Risk them all more, but both Wrecker and Crosshair are here, and he can't just leave. He can't imagine just walking away from them both again, not when they're here.
They need him, too. Just as much as Tech and Echo and Omega.
They take him to the back, and Hunter slides onto the floor, somewhat curling in on himself while trying actively not to make it look like he is. He doesn't know what'll happen from here, but he can only hope the others left and aren't going to come back and try anything.
They'll get themselves killed, too.
It's bad enough that Crosshair and Wrecker will have to hurt Hunter, no doubt some way or another. He's the only way they have to find Echo and Tech, and Hunter doesn't want to think about what that'll probably mean.
Doesn't want to think about it at all.
Wrecker lingers longer, before he follows Crosshair back up to the cockpit, leaving him alone with two guards.
And Hunter isn't going to take risks of trying to escape right now. He knows he won't make it out, and it's not worth the risk.
For now, he just waits. And waits.
When they come back a while later, their helmets are off, and it's the first time Hunter's seen Wrecker since... this started. They're shadowing each other everywhere, not unlike how Hunter has been finding himself and Tech doing.
It hurts to see what this is doing to them, to see the people who used to be his little brothers, to know what they've become.
Crosshair gestures to the guards, and they hesitate, but leave.
Hunter straightens a little when he feels Crosshair looking at him, though he's fixedly watching as the doors slide shut again. Wrecker is lingering to the side, looking miserable, and Hunter hopes they weren't gone so long because Crosshair went to finish yelling at him.
He shifts back when Crosshair approaches him. They look at each other for a moment before Crosshair crouches beside him. He reaches out, a bit hesitantly, tugging Hunter's bodyglove down a bit. The closeness would've been comforting once, and he wishes it still were.
"It's already bruising," Crosshair says quietly, pulling back.
Wrecker's moving somewhat, but Hunter's attention is focused on Crosshair right now – he's the one who's close, the one he needs to be worried about. Wrecker is still, well, Wrecker, and he still has a certain note of childishness to him. Crosshair has a sharpness and brilliance that can be very, very dangerous when against them.
Crosshair holds his gaze, and the burning anger is still there, masking a much fainter but very prominent fear. "Hunter," he says seriously, "You need to come back."
"I can't," he says quietly.
Crosshair looks as close to tears as Hunter himself feels. "Then what happens next won't be on us."
"Where are we going?" he asks, instead of responding to Crosshair's clear threat. They're going to hurt him, that much is obvious, though that's still something Hunter prefers not to think about right now.
"You'll find out soon enough," Crosshair replies.
A tense silence settles over them.
Wrecker is looking at Crosshair with something nearly desperate in his expression. He turns away again the moment he catches Hunter watching.
"It's not your fault," Hunter tells him. He can still feel Wrecker's grip on his neck, crushing, feel the heat and pressure of it, and he's as desperate to believe that as he needs to reassure Wrecker of it. It still hurts to talk. "It's not something you can control." That's what Rex told him, and he can understand that, to a point, because Wrecker would never hurt any of them. He can get overly aggressively playful, but not – not like that.
Not for anything.
Crosshair glances up at Wrecker. "I know you want to believe that, but you're wrong."
They don't know. They wouldn't understand, and Hunter didn't believe it, either, until they talked to Rex. He's still not fully sure he does. "They do," Hunter retaliates, "We know they do. This – this isn't you." He can't explain how they know it so well, not without telling them about Rex, and that's not something he'll do. Can't afford to mention him, either, because he knows where this could go already.
"Hunter," Crosshair repeats, eyes narrowing on him a little, "Don't do this." It's worded as an order, said as one, but Hunter can still hear the underlying pleading note in it, and he doesn't know what to do. He can't – can't just turn his back on them when they need his help.
"I can't," he says quietly. "I have to do what's best for all of us, and that's not staying with the Empire."
"What do you know about what's best?" Crosshair snarls. Every bit of his anger's back now. "You left us!"
That's what it keeps coming back to, no doubt will always come back to. And Hunter has no idea what to say about it, because it's the truth, even if he didn't have any other choice. Maybe he did what was best, but it doesn't change that he still... did it. They didn't have very much choice – they had to leave – but they still did it.
And it's something they promised they'd never do. They have never been apart from each other, and it was because of the Empire that it happened, though Hunter still feels stupidly responsible for it. He shouldn't. It's wrong, but it's there, and he can't stop fearing that he'll – he'll mess up again somehow.
He can't fail them, but there is no way out of this that's... right.
"I know," he replies finally, knowing how stupidly inconsequential and useless his words are. "And... I'm sorry. I know it doesn't change anything, but still."
"Then fix this," Crosshair tells him. "We don't want to hurt you."
Hunter catches Wrecker's flinch the same time he vividly remembers his brother's hands on his neck. Yeah, that's clearly not entirely true. He keeps the comment to himself.
Wrecker hesitantly walks over to him, crouching. "About earlier," he offers hesitantly.
"I know," Hunter interrupts, "It's not – it wasn't you. It's alright." It still hurts though, and he doesn't think the memory will fade any time soon, though.
Wrecker whines faintly, leaning closer to him. It makes some long-buried instinct rise up, demanding that he try comforting them, but he doesn't know how. There's nothing he can do. He's in way over his head, and this – this isn't something they prepared for.
"We can leave," he offers tentatively, "We know what's going to happen, and I know you don't want it to." Whether they'll kill him, or – or worse, Hunter doesn't know, but considering how intent they were on getting Echo and Tech, he can guess. Probably, the orders were to eliminate the threat they posed, which means either making them rejoin the Empire, or killing them.
And Hunter is ready to sacrifice himself for his brothers and the kid, even if he certainly doesn't want it to happen. What he's not ready for, is it being Wrecker and Crosshair who hurt him, who kill him, and that he'll die knowing it'll haunt them forever.
He can handle pain – all of them have, and they've been trained for it – but he can't handle knowing that it's his brothers doing it, that they'll have to remember doing it, and...
His only option right now is convincing them to leave, but getting through to them is... nigh impossible.
"We don't have to run," Crosshair snaps. "There's no reason to. You're supposed to protect us. You're hurting us all even more." He hisses frustratedly. "You have a chance to fix this. Why aren't you taking it?"
"Hunter," Wrecker adds, desperately, "I don't wanna hurt you."
Again, a snarky voice in his mind whispers. If Hunter didn't feel so guilty for letting this happen in the first place, if he didn't have the sense of mind to see how much his brother is hurting, he probably would've.
He sighs, leaning back against the wall. He's exhausted. "We've never been good with orders."
"You never have been," Crosshair hisses, standing and turning away. Wrecker looks up at him worriedly, standing with a final glare in Hunter's direction that hurts more than it ought to. He can feel the fluxing of their heart rates, the way Crosshair's is temporarily rising, can hear the shaky way he's breathing.
Wrecker touches his shoulder lightly, and Crosshair glances over at him, though he doesn't turn, still facing his back to Hunter. Wrecker tugs him into a hug, and Crosshair leans into it, reaching back to wrap his arms around Wrecker's waist, clinging to him. That's familiar, the first real sign of who they used to be, and it – it hurts.
Hunter wishes he could hold them both, but he – he doesn't know. He's afraid to reach out to them more than he already has. He doesn't know what it'll lead to, and he can't do that right now, anyway.
He misses what they used to be when they were younger, before everything changed. He loves Echo and Omega just as much as them, but it was still simpler when they were young, back before.
Crosshair's shaking slightly, and he's – he's crying.
Hunter pushes himself to his feet, hesitantly approaching them. He needs to do something, to help, but he doesn't know how or if it'll be welcome. Wrecker glances at him, expression unreadable.
He lays his hands on Crosshair's shoulder, lingering. He hasn't touched him in... a long time. Too long. They used to do it all the time, but it's been – been so long.
Crosshair glances at him, and his face is too shadowed for Hunter to see it properly, but it's obvious he's crying.
It's gutting to see, and there's nothing he can do to fix this. Hunter shifts closer to him, and he can't hug him, because his hands are cuffed, but he steps close enough that Crosshair can feel his presence.
"I'm sorry," Hunter says again, quietly, and Crosshair presses his face to Wrecker's chest again. It's Wrecker who reaches back for him first, hooking an arm around him and tugging him into a hug. Crosshair still doesn't move, but Hunter presses up against them both.
"You just need to make this right," Crosshair hisses at him.
It hurts, and everything about this hurts. Something in him just shatters. Hunter inhales shakily, biting his lip, struggling to keep calm. He can't afford to break down right now. They're already hurting enough. They don't need to worry about hurting him, too.
It – Crosshair's right that he could, probably, technically fix this, but he can't do what they're asking.
He can't help thinking about it briefly, anyway – with how desperate he is to make this better. But that would guarantee giving up the others, and that's not something Hunter can do. He can't endanger them like this when it could just as well be a trap, not when it's more likely to guarantee they all get killed over anything else.
He's seen what the Empire's willing to do, and it's not worth the risk of trying.
Hunter feels lost, and he loathes feeling like this. He's supposed to know what to do. He shouldn't have time to get lost in his own emotions, but it's here, and there's no one to help him sort this out.
He hates himself for even thinking about taking up their offer, but he hates himself even more for turning it down. There's no way out, not for him, not right now. Maybe not ever.
He's supposed to know these things, to be strong for them, not to be this. But he can't agree with them, and he doesn't know how he can keep refusing either, and most of all, he has no idea how he could realistically get them out of here.
He could try to get their chips out, but it... wouldn't be easy to do that. He doesn't even know how he'd do that – still doesn't know where they're going. All he can do is desperately soak up their warmth and engrain this moment in his mind forever.
He doesn't know how much more time they'll have together, if any. Or if – if –
Hunter doesn't want them to be the last people he sees. He's afraid of this breaking them entirely, afraid of what'll happen to all of them now.
He hates himself a bit for wishing Echo or Tech were here, because he wouldn't be so lonely if they were. At least they'd have some way of... going forwards if they were. Tech is... younger than him, and he's responsible for Echo, but they're still more on equal level with Hunter, relationship-wise, even if rank says otherwise.
Wrecker and Crosshair have always been the youngest, and he's always had to take care of them. He's had to watch over Tech, too, but it's just... different with him.
They're his kids, too, every bit as Omega is, even if they're only minutes younger than him.
He was supposed to take care of them, and he failed.
Wrecker squeezes him tighter when the tears start coming, and Crosshair shifts to loop an arm around his waist.
He hasn't cried in front of them in years, and it feels childish to change that now, but it's just too much.
Wrecker's hand strokes down his back, touch heavy but present and there, and he curls into it a little more. It's selfish, and he doesn't have time for it, but he needs this. Them. Some assurance that they're not totally gone, even if Hunter is still almost entirely certain it's true. He can't give up on them – they're still here, and they need him.
Still, there's no way this can end, short of very badly. Probably for everyone. The most he can do is keep looking for an escape route, because Hunter can't risk being recaptured again. After how close they've been, he doesn't think the others would handle it very well.
He's not afraid of them hurting him nearly as much as he is of how badly it'll hurt them.
Crosshair curls closer, head lowering to Hunter's shoulder. The light touch on his neck sends a sting of pain through it, but he leans closer, anyway.
He's missed being with them so much, and being here again... He can't handle losing them again. There has to be something he can do to get them back, even if he doesn't know what right now. Or maybe, he's not being realistic at all, but he doesn't want to leave them again.
And... he can hope Tech, Echo, or Omega don't concoct the brilliant idea of staging a rescue. Although, he has no doubt they would if they could find him, so it's probably for the best that they have no way to look. Even if he can only imagine what it's doing to all of them, fearing for what happened to him.
He has to find a way back to them, too.
But for now, there's nothing he can do... except stay snuggled up against Wrecker and Crosshair, wishing the moment wouldn't have to end.
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