Chapter 1 - The Air is Cold
Plot: It's been a week since the destruction of Kamino. A week since everything fell, or came together. On a mission gone awry, Omega opens a portal and steps into another dimension with her brothers. And what do their... alternate-selves mean it was Crosshair they lost first, not Hunter? (Sequel to Doomsday, can be read separately)
Author's Note: This fic isn't exactly a sequel to Doomsday, but it also is? It's not part of the Dooms series. It's more of a what-if-they-met-their-canon-selves? :)
There are four chapters, and it'll be updated weekly. :D
PS. This is for the square "Dimension swap" on the Bad Batch bingo. ^-^
~ Amina Gila
Something is pulsing, calling to her. It's important. Omega moves farther down the dark halls, shining her flashlight at the wall. The spot in front of her looks different, and somehow, she thinks it's a doorway.
She steps closer, reaching towards it, because it looks... different. It's shiny and dark, a square area in the rocks of the tunnel they're walking through. Omega reaches towards it, to where she almost expects a sort of film to be.
That's when she sees something on the other side. She hears something too – muffled sounds, whispers.
And she sees... a reflection. It's her.
"Omega," a voice calls from the other end – that's Hunter. She moves forwards instinctively, hand pressing to where the energy feels strongest.
It goes right through, and the next thing she knows – aside from the distant echo of Crosshair calling her name – she's falling.
It's a strange feeling, like something is being rewritten inside of her, and she's falling, even though she's still standing when she jolts back to herself.
The reflection thing is behind her now, like she stepped through it into something on the other side. What she sees is... is that herself? And behind her are Hunter and Echo, side by side, who have frozen and turned back from heading down the way Omega herself would've gone if not for the strange pull. They've turned back to look at her.
Tech and Wrecker are here, too, and... And.
Where's Crosshair? Why isn't he here? Why is she looking at herself? Omega looks exactly the same, but this isn't a mirror reflection. It's – what is it?!
**w**
Crosshair had just rounded the corner when Omega disappeared. He should've been keeping closer watch on her, but being in a place this dark, this closed, with Hunter is... not somewhere he wants to be. It's like when they fought on Kamino and Bracca – the lighting is similar, and the surroundings are similar, and it's putting him on edge.
Even if that's entirely unfair because Hunter is their brother and leader and none of what he did was by choice.
He did everything to protect them, and he kept trying, even when he wasn't himself.
But the kid – Omega just... vanished.
That doesn't happen.
Crosshair moves closer, slowly. Carefully, just in case. He shines his flashlight towards the area where Omega disappeared. That part of the rocks look wrong. Not even durasteel is that straight and smooth. It's slightly shiny, too. It's almost like a ray shield, except it's black.
He doesn't really know what it is, but he doesn't like it.
He's the one who was supposed to be watching the kid, though, and if something happens to her... well. He doesn't very much like the thought of being gutted with a scomp, or at all really, so he better find a way to fix this before Echo finds out.
"Omega!" he calls again, because she must still be here somewhere, must still be able to hear him. He moves closer when he doesn't hear an answer, touching the strange energy barrier, then throwing all caution into the wind and stepping through it.
Crosshair cannot say what it is, but something... changed. Shifted. Something about the energy around him is just different somehow. He feels different.
But what matters is that Omega is here again. "Kid," he calls, fear veiled by frustration in his voice, "I told you to stay close."
Omega doesn't answer. She doesn't even twitch – actually, neither of them do.
Wait.
Neither?
He freezes when he sees his brothers standing across from him, weapons at least halfway raised in his direction. Considering how everything about this mission has been... strange, he can't blame them.
But why are there two Omegas?
It doesn't make sense. The only difference is that the one he was following – he thinks has a tiny scratch on her arm from when she tripped onto a rock earlier. To be fair, that's partly because Crosshair took off even though Hunter told him to wait. And he did it, anyway, mostly just to be contrary.
And then the rockslide happened, and the opening sealed off.
He's not trying to be difficult, but... listening to Hunter without reservation like before is impossible.
But what – why –
"Crosshair?" Hunter asks disbelievingly, though his blaster doesn't waver. Considering the oddity of everything else that happened, he has to forgive them for that. But having Hunter standing across from him like that, weapon drawn and all, is making his skin crawl.
"Uh," says his-Omega, backing up towards Crosshair though she doesn't break her gaze from the other Omega – the one who Crosshair is quite certain doesn't belong here. "What's happening?" She's even more freaked out than he is.
"You got here first, kid," he reminds, instinctively reaching to touch her shoulder comfortingly.
Tech lowers his blaster, holstering it after a moment of hesitation and starts tapping on his datapad.
Hunter lowers his, even more hesitantly, though his hand is too tight over it for comfort. "How did you get here?" he demands. His voice is flat, assessing, like he thinks he's gauging a threat. It reminds Crosshair too much of Kamino and Bracca.
"The wall," other-Omega realizes. She's holding her bow loosely, not raised, but still there. "They came through the wall."
The wall? Crosshair throws a backwards glance, and yeah, they're standing right in front of that thing. This place is... different. Strange. It – something isn't adding up, and he doesn't like it.
"What are you doing here?" Hunter asks him, and Crosshair just... stares.
They came in together.
"Evidently, taking a wrong turn," Crosshair throws back, grip on Omega's shoulder tightening just a fraction. He hates himself for being so tense. Hunter's his brother, and that matters more than anything. It doesn't matter how jittery Crosshair is about... literally nothing. Hunter hurt him, but it doesn't matter, because it wasn't his fault anyway. But Hunter actually hurt him, unlike Wrecker when his chip activated on Bracca.
He feels a strange... ripple almost and steps out of the way as Tech steps through behind them. And yes, he did come through the wall. Which doesn't make any sense either, because why are they two of them?
Other-Tech glances at him, then back at his datapad. The other four twitch before visibly relaxing. He can see the tension draining from Hunter and Wrecker. Their helmets are on and all, so it's hard to read their faces, but he still knows.
The wall ripples again as Wrecker arrives. "There you are," he says, grabbing at Crosshair's shoulder who instinctively slaps his hand away.
"I was following Omega," he grumbles.
His-Tech is tapping on his datapad, too, now. As if that can answer why there's a double of him standing in front of himself.
"– don't think that's a good idea," Echo is insisting as he and Hunter materialize beside each other.
New-Hunter has his blaster out and raised in half a second, and Crosshair suspects it has something to do with... well, him. "Tech," he asks, "What's happening?"
"I am uncertain," the wrong one answers – the one who was already there when Crosshair got here, "But there is an anomaly in your energy signatures. I theorize that Omega unintentionally opened a wormhole that warped spacetime, thereby bringing you here from your own... energy field."
"I was about to say the same thing," the other Tech agrees, flipping down the visor part of his helmet and scanning something.
Crosshair honestly has no idea what any of this means.
"W – what does that mean?" stammers other-Wrecker. At least the one Crosshair thinks isn't his, though he's only half sure of any of this.
"He's saying they're from another place," other-Echo replies, "Which makes sense."
"Your electric fields are a little different," other-Hunter admits. "Though I can't say how."
Crosshair's Hunter still hasn't lowered his blaster. "Yes," he agrees shortly, sharply.
Something uncomfortable twists inside him, because seeing Hunter interacting with another version of him says everything about how he sees himself. And he loathes watching it.
"Where's your Crosshair?" Echo asks, coming to stand beside Crosshair and Omega – the latter of whom still hasn't stopped staring at herself.
"We cannot expect our times to be precisely the same," other Tech interjects immediately, as all the others tense. He sees the grief on Omega's face. What. Happened?
"What does that mean?" Omega inquires, pressing slightly closer to Crosshair. She sounds as cautious as he feels.
"Yeah," Echo agrees, "What does that mean? I understand we somehow made it through some kind of... portal into another time, but what's different here?"
"Evidently," other-Tech responds shortly, "It is that Crosshair is not with us." He turns away, moving farther down the tunnel system, scanning something. Probably, searching for a way out. There's so much hurt in his tone. It's – the last time Tech sounded that hurt was on Bracca when Wrecker attacked him, and that was more scared than anything else.
And... why? Why would alternate-him not be with them? That doesn't make any sense.
"Well," his-Tech offers, "I suggest we use this to our advantage to search this tunnel complex faster."
"Wait," Omega objects, "If this... portal is open, don't we have to go back before it closes?" Everyone pauses to look at her, even the Tech that's nearly out of sight.
"I do not believe that is a concern," her Tech replies, while the other keeps moving off down the tunnel. "The energy readings appear to be stable. Energy here is at a lower frequency than where we are from, and until we return to our own dimension, there will be anomalies in both timelines."
...
How does Tech know so much about this?
...
Not that Crosshair even cares to know.
"Then let's get moving," Echo says, and they move forwards.
**w**
Dimension-jumping isn't quite the strangest thing they've done, Hunter decides. Probably, the entire inhibitor chip thing takes that role far better than anything else ever could.
He is a bit lost as to what happened in this universe, though it's not like that... matters? He wants to know, anyway, though. He needs to know how this alternate version of himself failed to protect Crosshair or what happened to him, because something definitely has. Their Tech is angry at Crosshair, though he's hiding it well.
Hunter doesn't know why that would've happened.
Did they lose him on Bracca when his chip activated here? He wasn't there to see exactly what happened when his brothers went there to get their chips removed. All he knew was that they and Rex were seen outside, and Hunter had come there right after. They fought.
After Kamino, when his brothers rescued him – and he's the one who should have protected them, have taken care of them, but he didn't – Tech explained that Wrecker and Crosshair's chips had activated, briefly, on Bracca. Hunter doesn't even know how it happened. Crosshair sounded flippant about it when he talked about it, but that doesn't mean much. It doesn't mean anything, really.
Both versions of them look the same, in their repainted armor and all – minus Crosshair's absence, obviously. Hunter can still tell the difference though. He can't quite say what it is, but something is different. The frequency here feels a bit too dull, too monotonous. There's nothing wrong with it – it's just not where he belongs. It's not going to feel right, and they should get back to their universe before something goes downhill.
Hunter knows nothing about multiversal travel, and he doesn't want to either.
(All he really wants is to stop feeling so lost. So useless. Like he has no idea what he's doing, which really, he doesn't. He hurt them, even if he didn't mean to, wasn't trying to. Probably, it'd be easier if he was. But he isn't – except for when he fought them in the hangar on Kamino. He was told to kill them on Bracca, but he wasn't really trying to.)
The Techs are up in the front, talking non-stop with each other, and the Omegas are tagging along after, asking an endless supply of questions. The other Omega – he can tell them apart, because the specific pulse of their electric fields is a little different – keeps circling back to her Hunter's side, and sometimes Wrecker. It's... unusual, because he can't imagine why she'd be going to him when they hardly even know each other. His own Omega is a lot looser, much more comfortable. She doesn't have the same odd sense of loss.
Echo seems more or less the same.
Wrecker is... hard to read, but he seems upset.
His own Wrecker is practically glued to Crosshair's side, and Hunter feels the same way, just seeing another version of them that apparently... lost him?
He wants to ask about that, and it's, strangely enough, the other Hunter who approaches him first.
Every time he sees him, his mind screams threatdangereliminate, and it's distracting. "How'd you keep him?" he asks quietly.
Hunter throws a glance towards where Wrecker and Crosshair are squabbling about Force-knows-what. "We never lost him," he replies, unsure how else to say it, and moves forwards.
His alternate self freezes, and it's a couple moments before Hunter hears him following.
They make it out of the tunnel complex roughly half an hour later – Tech was right that it would go faster with two of them.
He pulls off his helmet for the first time since coming here once they step out into the sunlight, and the others follow suit. He blinks at the brightness for a few moments, scanning the landscape. "How far is it to the Marauder?" he asks, turning back when there's no answer.
This universe's them are staring at Crosshair like they've never seen him before.
"What?" he asks, scowling, none too appreciative of their looks.
"In our reality," Tech explains hesitantly, "You were injured."
Hunter tenses. "Injured how?" he asks, raw fear rippling through him. Whatdidhedowhatdid –
"I can only speculate," Tech replies, "I would have no way to confirm, but the scarring was... severe."
What does that mean? "Did... I do it?" Hunter inquires weakly, because he needs to know. Even if there's a terrified part of him that doesn't want to, he needs to, because if he hurt Crosshair even worse here...
Crosshair's eyes flicker to him, then away like he can't bear to look at him, and Hunter entirely understands that, because he... he hurt him. He shot him when they first left Kamino. He doesn't know how bad it was. All he knows is that he did hit him, because Crosshair wasn't using his left arm the rest of the time there.
He is, very understandably, scared of him. Sometimes, at least. It's not a conscious thing, and Hunter knows that, which is the only reason he can somewhat live with himself now.
Other-Hunter and Tech exchange glances.
"We don't know," their Echo replies instead, stepping forwards, "We weren't there when it happened."
"How couldn't you know?" his-Wrecker asks, sounding part desperate, part freaked out, moving closer to Crosshair.
"In... our reality," other-Hunter explains at last, turning away, "He chose the Empire."
Hunter's mind screeches to a halt at that. Crosshair – what?! "What? Why?" he demands, jerking back. He doesn't know how to respond to that, what it even means. He looks almost helplessly at Crosshair, as if he would somehow understand, who looks just as confused.
"What?" their Echo echoes, stunned, "Didn't you get his inhibitor chip out?"
For some reason, everyone just freezes when he asks that. "We didn't," other-Hunter responds finally, "But... he did."
It's strange to think of their lives like this. It's not something he's ever really thought about before, and nor did he have a reason to. But it's obvious enough there's something else distinctly different about their universes, something from farther back. "We need to start at the beginning," he requests. "What happened with you, in Order 66?"
**w**
"We were on Kaller when it happened," the other Hunter begins, and Omega is admittedly losing track of who's who. She can only tell by what they're saying. Mostly, she really, really wants to know what happened to Crosshair here, and he's still her brother, even if he's not her version of him. "When the war ended and the regs turned on the Jedi."
Omega looks between them, just watching. This doesn't make sense to her, either. Crosshair wouldn't... leave them. He's their brother.
"It was the same here," Tech replies.
"And... when the regs turned on the Jedi we were with, Crosshair and I went to help the kid escape."
"It was me you lost," Crosshair deduces. "Wasn't it?"
Hunter glances at him, then looks away, like he can't even handle seeing him. "Yeah," he murmurs, "It... was. Wasn't it with you?"
"No," Omega pipes up, "Hunter's inhibitor chip activated first. I didn't realize anything was wrong until I saw him in the cell on Kamino."
Her alternate self instinctively shifts closer to Hunter, and Omega finds herself doing the same to Crosshair. She can't imagine losing him, what that would do to her or any of them. It – he – he's Crosshair, and she can't imagine living without him again.
"Whoa," other-Wrecker says, wide-eyed, "You mean you lost Hunter? But – but how's he here?"
"They got me out," Hunter explains, with no small measure of pride. There are a million other notes in his voice she doesn't understand.
For some reason, other-Wrecker looks no less hurt by that. He turns to Crosshair, hurt and confusion warring on his face, mixed with a heavy amount of distrust. "Why'd you leave the Empire?" he queries.
Crosshair studies him, expression tight and closed off. "Why wouldn't I?" he responds. "They were trying to kill us."
"They sent us to Onderon to destroy a group of insurgents," Tech interjects, darting forwards and pushing past Wrecker and Crosshair, who are now standing side-by-side. "We assumed their intel was incorrect, and returned to Kamino, where we were arrested for treason."
The others exchange glances. "We went back for Omega," other-Hunter replies, and Omega's eyes widen. They – what?!
"You came back... for me?" she asks, confused. They didn't even know her back then.
"You warned us," he explains, "We didn't understand it until after Onderon, but when I saw what happened there, I knew we needed to leave."
She feels a flicker of... something she can't quite place. They didn't do that for her here. That's not what happened here, and Omega isn't angry by that – why would she be? – but she's still... strangely hurt? Or something? And touched that another version of Hunter would have done that, risked himself and everything just for her.
"We hadn't intended to leave," her-Hunter says, "It... they took me after we were taken to the brig."
Other-Tech twitches, tensing.
"That's when they took Crosshair," other-Omega pipes up. "It was right after he was arguing with Hunter in the cell, and I knew it was his inhibitor chip. I tried to tell him, but I don't think he understood me. I... don't know." She's hurting, too, and it's strange to see that on her own face.
"What did they do to you?" other-Hunter queries. He sounds almost worried. "Did you..."
"He couldn't help it," Omega interrupts, unable to suppress the need to instantly jump to her brother's defense. It wasn't something he could help, and she knows how much it's tearing him apart, anyway.
"I don't know," her-Hunter admits, "They did something to me. I don't know what, but I felt... different afterwards. They changed something. I was told my squad were traitors, that I had to... neutralize them."
"We fought," her-Echo interrupts, picking up the story. "In the hangar bay when we were trying to leave. Crosshair was injured, but we made it out."
Both Hunters flinch at that.
"We fought Crosshair in the hangar," other-Echo supplies, and Omega steps closer to Crosshair instinctively, grabbing his hand. She can't imagine being without him, not having had him here. "He hit Wrecker, nearly killed all of us, but we made it out." There's a veiled hurt and anger in his voice.
That somehow makes other-Wrecker's attitude make sense. He's being distant around Crosshair because his-him hurt him, and Omega can't imagine that. They're so close.
"We were planning to lay low," other-Hunter continues, "Until a bounty hunter came after the kid."
"When did you see me again?" Crosshair inquires finally, and there's something about his voice that's just... different now. Echo steps forwards, offering silent comfort with his presence.
"Bracca," other-Hunter replies, "We went there to get our chips out. The scrappers must've seen us and called it in to the Empire."
"It was a close call, but we got them out before anyone was hurt," her-Echo continues. "We were on the way out when the Empire showed up."
"It was the same here," other-Hunter tells them. "We... fought Crosshair again. We made it out, but it was close."
Crosshair's grip on her hand tightens a fraction. Wrecker squeezes his shoulder, and he practically melts into it.
"It was a month later, on Kamino, where we talked to Crosshair again," other-Tech says, "Hunter was captured when we were on Daro."
"Did he fall, too?" her-Echo grumbles.
"Was that you there?" other-Omega inquires, and he huffs, rolling his shoulder.
"Yeah."
"We... talked," other-Hunter continues, "I tried to convince him to leave, that we could help him. He turned it down, told us that it was him all along, and then... the Empire destroyed Kamino. He stayed, and we left."
"And you believe it?" Crosshair asks, stung. "That it was him, that I..." He trails off, but the hurt burning in his eyes is unmistakable.
"Well, what else would we believe?" other-Tech throws back sharply. He's hurting, too, and it makes Omega feel horrible for them both. "Why would he have lied to us?"
"I can talk to him," her-Hunter interests suddenly, entirely unexpectedly. "I understand how that feels. I don't know why he would have left us, but I... I wasn't entirely certain about coming back, either." Omega freezes, looking up at him. Everyone has, actually. "I could never leave," he continues, "We're a squad, and we stay together, but I know why he would be... afraid to."
"I'll go with you," Crosshair offers immediately, and Omega is entirely certain he'd fight anyone who dared object.
"We'll go in together," her Echo agrees, because they always do.
"It's dangerous," other-Hunter objects instantly, and Omega can see the flare of fear and pain on his face. They're talking about getting Crosshair back, about trying to get their squad and family back together, and it's so... wrong to see him react like that. "He'll see you as the enemy."
"We've dealt with that before. But considering the circumstances, I think I should go alone."
"No," Crosshair interrupts fiercely, glaring. Other-Hunter twitches slightly, either from the look or tone. "We're going together."
Hunter looks at him, appreciation mingled with concern shining in his eyes. "Alright," he sighs, "Where's the last place you saw him?"
Final Notes: Reviews are always appreciated! ^-^
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