Chapter 4 - We'll Never Walk Alone (1:2)

Author's Note: Everyone wish Hunter luck for trying to convince a six-year-old that decorating a ship with battle droid heads will make the Bad Batch a horror show. :)

And I have so many feels about Hunter just flipping and yelling at Omega like that. Like. Sir. Is this normal? Did people do that to you when you were five?

~ Rivana Rita

This is for the Clone OC Bingo square of "first experiences". :)

~ Amina Gila

I can feel it more than I see it. Something is wrong. There's a danger here, somewhere amidst the city's walls and bright lights and towering buildings. Someone is watching us. 'mega is sticking next to Hunter and I, but something... The image flickers and flashes at the edges, rewritten by something else. I hear Omega's voice, muffled but panicked, and I see someone – someone grabbing her.

Someone – I don't know them, but they're masked, and dressed in black and orange, and she's scary.

"Vision, Omega, wake up." I shift a little at the sound of Echo's voice, twisting over a bit, nearly smacking my head into my sister's arm. Omega pushes himself up first, and I swing upwards out of her lap, rubbing my eyes. "We're approaching Saleucami. We'll be landing in a few minutes."

"Saleucami," I repeat, testing the word, "Never heard of it before."

"I haven't been here before," he replies, "The others were, before I joined."

I glance around to see Wrecker slowly dragging himself up, still cradling Lula like she's his most prized possession, which really, she is. Crosshair made her. I... want to remember him, too. I want to know why he isn't with us. "Is it... a safe place?" I inquire, my dream still lingers in the forefront of my mind.

"Hunter wouldn't be taking us somewhere that wasn't safe," Echo replies.

"I had a dream," I say, rubbing my eyes, trying to blink it from mind but not quite managing. It was scary, and now that we're moving in the outside world, I know we're going to encounter things that we... didn't expect. "I think someone's after 'mega. I didn't get a clear look, though."

Echo looks at me, brow furrowed with worry. "We'll be careful," he promises, and we move for the ramp.

This is the first time in my life I've been off Kamino, and we're going to a different planet. I've wanted this my whole life.

Omega and I are the last to the exit, pausing at the top when the light blinds our vision. I've never been outside in sunlight before. It... it's amazing. It's beautiful, and the air smells so... different than Kamino. It smells like... outside. Saleucami, I guess – that's what the planet's called.

There are plants everywhere. And it feels so alive.

I trot down the ramp behind Omega, who drops to her knees the moment she reaches the bottom, running her hands across the ground. "Whoa," she breathes, awed, "What is this?"

"That would be dirt," Tech informs immediately, bluntly, and I drop into a crouch to jab at it, just to see what happens. It's soft and... sort of sticky and grainy and weird, but by the stars, it is so cool.

"It's amazing!" Omega giggles, standing and jumping in it. It whips up in a sort of cloud when she kicks it.

I dig my fingers into it, feeling the soft wetness beneath my hand and scoop up a handful, just to smell it. Pretty sure it's inedible, anyway. "It's cool," I say finally, shaking my hand off and standing again, "Do plants eat it?"

"Considering that they draw nutrients from the soil to grow, in a sense, yes," Tech replies.

Hunter's watching us with a fond smile. Has been the whole time, I think, and I smile back, even if I don't fully feel it. "Come on. Let's get moving," he says.

Now, if I can convince my mind to stop making me feel like a mindless zombie following everyone, that'd be much appreciated.

"So, this friend of yours, what's he doing all the way out here?" Echo asks, and I'm grateful for the talking, because I could use a distraction from how my mind is ringing on repeat of how Crosshair isn't with us, he's gone and that doesn't make any sense.

"Hiding," Tech answers, "That's what deserters do."

"Staying off the radar's not our specialty, but he's been doing it for years," Hunter says from up in front.

"And you trust a deserter?" Echo asks. Why does he sound so disbelieving?

"Why not?" Tech asks with a much-too-gleeful smirk at the chance of getting to destroy his ori'vod. "We're all deserters now."

**w**

"Can I keep it?" I ask, poking at the droid head. I've never seen a whole droid before, and it's a bit mind blowing that I finally got to see one. Even if it wasn't functioning anymore. What? I've wanted to see droids for years. Not the droid head they keep in their barracks. That was Wrecker's doing, just like destroying the poor, already dead creatures here was. For literally no reason. To be fair, it freaked me out, too.

"The Marauder isn't exactly big enough to contain an endless supply of trinkets," Tech supplies.

"We can... hang them from the ceiling!" I suggest brightly. I'm sure Crosshair would like to target practice at them, or at least show me how, I want to say, and barely stop myself.

"No," Echo says fiercely. He looks least enthralled with my ingenious idea.

I pout. "Just one? Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?"

Hunter deflates like a popped balloon – literally – and looks at the... other clone? Is that a clone? He looks like the regs, which is weird.

"Let her have it," he says, and yeah, he's a reg. He sounds like them.

"Alright," Hunter agrees, "Just one."

I squeal gleefully, half at the prospect of getting to behead something. What? Hunter does it all the time, and it's cool. "This is my new best friend," I announce, lopping the droid's head off and picking it up. Yes, I hold Lula like this, and the droid is all hard and sharp, what of it?

The plants are towering, and there's so much life, and somehow, it feels like the more I'm here, the more I'm able to... feel again. I don't know what's wrong, but I have so many things to ask the others about. I need to ask Omega what she meant when she told Crosshair that... it wasn't his fault. And what's even happening to him.

The reg – Cut, his name is – invites us inside for a drink. Well, Hunter, anyway, because the rest of us are just standing, except Wrecker who starts eating the nearest thing possible. Predictably. I just stand there, awkwardly trailing 'mega, feeling horribly out of place, until Cut finally asks the question I don't want to think about.

"Where's Crosshair?"

"It's complicated," Hunter answers, a veiled pain in his voice, one that's so much an echo of... all of ours.

"Sounds familiar," Cut muses, "Rex told us about the clone troopers turning against the Jedi."

Echo perks up instantly, jolting forwards. "You talked to Rex? When?" Rex? As in that Rex? I saw him once. I heard a lot about him.

"Well, he passed through yesterday."

"Where'd he go?"

"Didn't ask. He was going on about some behavioral implant." A what?

"He must mean the inhibitor chips," Omega pipes up, moving to Hunter's side.

"The what?" Hunter asks, looking down at her, as confused as I am. That term sounds familiar, and I could swear I've heard it before. Omega's told me about them, but I clearly didn't deem it important enough to remember.

"Inhibitor chips," she repeats, "The Kaminoans implanted them in the clones to modify their behavior."

"Tech, you said the regs were programmed, but you never mentioned a chip," Hunter says, looking up at him.

"How else did you think it worked?" Tech asks.

"Wait, is that why all the regs are nasty?" I inquire, mildly mind blown, "Or did we just get lucky?" I do not follow what these things are, mean, or how they work. I need to ask Omega because if Crosshair is – if this isn't him then that explains a lot. It explains everything, because he'd do anything for us. He's our brother. He sacrificed himself for us, and that means something.

Omega is about to answer, but she's interrupted when two children run inside. They're not human, and their colorations are weird. It's cool, though. Not that I'm up to meeting new people though.

"Mom, Dad!" the girl yells. "There's a ship outside!"

"Shaeeah, Jek!" Wrecker exclaims, jumping up, "Remember me?" They run to him, squealing – apparently, they consider him their uncle? – and he picks up the girl.

Tech is ignoring everyone, lost on his datapad, and I can so relate to that right now, because I'd give anything to pretend I was busy doing something so everyone would leave me alone. I don't want to talk. Which is very weird, considering I'm me. When do I ever not want to talk?

"Who are you?" the girl asks, turning to Omega and me when Wrecker puts her down.

"I'm Omega," my sister answers immediately, "This is Vision."

"We never see kids around here," Shaeeah says, grabbing Omega's hand. She looks so excited. I wish I shared that. "Come with us."

She pulls Omega to the door, and Jek grabs my hand after a moment. Omega looks back at Hunter, and I follow her gaze longingly because I do not want to go, but he nods to us anyway, and we step out into the yard.

"Mm... what's the purpose of this?" Omega asks as the others start throwing a ball back and forth.

"To have fun," Shaeeah says, smiling. "Here, you try." She tosses it towards Omega, who awkwardly side-steps, and it bounces off.

"You're supposed to catch it," Jek explains awkwardly.

... Oh. I sort of get that, and we spend a little while tossing the ball back and forth before I back off to sit down and just rest. I'm still exhausted, and it's ridiculous.

"I don't wanna lose you."

"You won't. I'm not going anywhere."

"He turned on us."

"But he's – he's our brother!"

"I know."

I sigh, settling back, digging my hands through the dirt. I don't wanna move.

I just want Crosshair back. I don't understand why that's altogether too much to ask for. I don't understand why he left. Why...

"Vision?" Hunter asks, crouching next to me.

I startle, twisting to look at him. I didn't even hear his approach. His armor is gone, and it looks weird. He's dressed in the same green farmer's clothes that Cut wears. The sleeves are short. His hands are covered with an array of small, mostly faded scars, though some are more prominent than others. And yeah, there's the one on his arm I noticed once. It's not very visible, but still present, and the thought of him being hurt, even minorly, makes me sick. "I didn't hear you," I mutter finally.

"Are you okay?" There's genuine concern in his eyes, and I'm not sure what to think about that.

"Just tired."

"I've never seen you this still before."

I bite my lip as a new wave of pain shoots through my heart. Reaching out, I grab his hand. He looks slightly startled, but doesn't outright pull away, which I take as a plus. "I – I miss him," I mumble.

Hunter reaches up with his other hand, squeezing my shoulder. I don't miss the look of raw pain in his eyes. "Yeah," he says quietly, "We'll get used to it."

My expression scrunches. I blink back at the tears burning my eyes. "I don't wanna."

He doesn't say anything, and I don't think there's anything he could say, anyway. Instead, I ask. "What's with the clothes?"

"I'm going to town with Cut," Hunter says, "I thought I'd come tell you I was going. It won't be long."

I nod to him, watching as he disappears back inside.

I am so tired.

**w**

"You want to know why they put me in charge?" a far too familiar voice says, and I suppress a shudder at the sight of his mask – it's black and cold and lifeless, and entirely unlike the brother I know so well. "It's because I'm willing to do what needs to be done."

I push myself up with a groan, all but forcing myself out of the dream. I do not want to see it. That. Not Crosshair, not now. I don't want to think about him. It's too soon, too sudden. Hearing that dead, coldness in his voice is terrifying. How can he be so emotionless about all this? How can he be so – so – He was kind. He was always nice. Or not-nice in a nice way. He didn't hurt people. It isn't who he was. I don't want to think about what Crosshair is doing now that we're not there.

Omega and the others are still playing, though she must've seen me awaken, because she pauses, hurrying over to check on me. "I'm fine," I say, but let her pull me up, anyway.

"You're upset," she argues.

"I don't want to talk about it right now. When we're alone, I... want to ask you. About the inhibitor chip stuff. Thingy. Whatever."

"Oh." She squeezes my hand, and I do it back, finally tagging after her to join.

Jek misses my first very wild throw, and the ball bounces past, rolling way past the fence line into the plants.

"I'll get it," Omega offers, taking off forwards.

"It's past the fence," Jek replies, "We'll get it later."

"Jek!" Shaeeah yells from the doorway of the house. He pauses, running to her.

I look at Omega, who's already eyeing where the ball disappeared to. "Come on," she says, "We'll go get it."

"After you," I agree cheerfully, and we take off for the fence. Ducking through it is cool, but I still don't fully see the point of it. The wires look pokey, and well, not fun.

We pause farther down the path, looking around. "There," I say, pointing. My senses are picking up, and I See something dangerous. Something's coming.

"Omega, Vision!" Shaeeah yells distantly.

"Got it!" Omega calls back, holding up the ball.

"Don't move!" she shouts, and that's when I realize that she's scared. Of something.

There's a quiet snarling, and I twist around slowly, eyes widening at the sight of a giant creature prowling, slowly moving towards us. The thing... has four eyes. Red eyes.

Shaeeah told us not to move, but I have a blaster, and I can use it, even if I've never been in a life and death situation before. Still, I reach for it slowly, hand inching towards it as my eyes narrow on the creature.

My fingers wrap around the end of my blaster. I can't move to stand in front of Omega without the creature charging me, but I still wish I could. The metal is cold under my hands, and the predator is moving closer, hissing, snarling, clawing.

I whip out my blaster and fire. I didn't have time to take proper aim, so the shot glances off its front, left leg, and the creature lunges. It's fast, and I dive aside with a yelp, rolling sideways across the dirt and grabbing my knife. It's close. Knives are close contact.

It's on me, jaws snapping, and I lash out, stabbing my blade upwards into its mouth.

A blaster shot rings out from above, scorching the ground near it, and between the two, it pulls back, howling.

There's a flash of something green – Hunter's in front of me, vibroblade out, and for the record Hunter, green looks terrible with red. Someone should tell him that.

I grab at my blaster, panting, watching as he and Suu – shooting from above, like Crosshair should've been if he was here – chase it off.

I roll over, standing, snatching my blaster and slipping it back into its holster. "For being named after sight, mine's not so good, I know."

I'm about to add that all things considered, I think it was actually fun when Hunter whirls on us. "What were you doing out there?" he demands sharply, not quite yelling, but it's close enough, and Omega flinches a bit, turning away. It's not until then that I realize how terrified she looks, and I teleport to her instantly, grabbing her hand, even if she's still clinging to the ball. "Do you realize you could've been killed?!"

"Actually, no," I snap back, suddenly angry. I don't know why – I've never been angry at Hunter before. I didn't even know I could be. "It's not like anyone told us about those things! And I had it perfectly handled." I glare up at him, half angry, half sullen. My hands are cold, shaking. They're sweating. Maybe I am – was – a bit scared, but it didn't really feel like it. And I'm not supposed to get scared. I'm a soldier.

I think he's about to say something, but Cut puts a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. "Easy," he says soothingly, "They're not soldiers." Hunter backs up, expression fading a bit from anger to worry.

Cut crouches in front of us, and I press closer to Omega, swallowing back the sudden, inexplicably stupid urge to cry. "Are you hurt?" he asks. He's touching my shoulder, and it's so weirdly gentle. 'mega touches me like that, but it's different. I just shake my head in the negative. Omega doesn't even respond. "Now let's take a look here."

"I'm sorry," Omega blurts out finally, "We – we were trying to get the ball. I didn't know."

"You're safe," he assures, "That's all that matters." Cut picks Omega up, shifting her to one arm, and reaches for me.

I back away, shaking my head. "I can walk." I don't want to, but maybe – maybe it's just that I should have been able to kill that thing, because that's what I've been trained for. It's stupid that I didn't, and I want to – to be more than what I am.

Whatever I am.

He takes my hand instead – it's similar to Hunter's, just different and unfamiliar and callused in all different ways. Maybe it's just that it's Hunter I want right now. I only held his hand once. Or twice.

"Hey, kids," Wrecker asks, jolting forwards, concern audible, "You alright?"

"They'll be fine," Cut reassures, taking us back towards the house.

I want to talk to Omega alone, and I've wanted that for a while, even if asking her about the chips right now isn't the best option. "Can we go to the Marauder?" I ask quietly, looking up at him.

"Of course," he agrees, rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand. It's strangely soothing. 'mega and I do that to each other all the time.

Cut takes the ball from us and leaves us alone inside. Omega climbs into the gunner's mount, and I follow, though I'm shaking badly enough that my hands slip, and I nearly fall flat on my face. I shoved myself back up, and try again, stubbornly, because that's what I do.

We squeeze in side by side, and I drop my head on her shoulder, blinking a few times. Tears are coming too fast, and I don't want to cry because I'm supposed to be strong and...

Omega hooks an arm around me, and I curl up against her side, grabbing her hand.

She pulls off her forehead pendant, and I lift my head a bit.

She looks different without it, blonde curls falling into her face and all – more like me. It's weird, but I like it. I reach up, brushing a few strands of hair behind her ear. Omega leans into my hand, sniffling slightly, hand gripping her pendant.

I want to ask something, if she's okay, but I don't know how.

What's with me not knowing how to talk to people these days?

"I wanna be more than a medical assistant," she murmurs finally, sniffling, wiping her eyes.

"You are," I whisper back. "You're my sister."

"I want to be stronger, like they are," she argues, "Like you are."

I twitch, letting out an indignant squeak. "You're amazing because you're nice," I tell her flatly, "I'm mean. I like being mean. And everyone knows I can think better when I'm scared or being stupid. You're lucky you're normal." I duck forwards, briefly kissing her cheek and just curl up against her. It isn't much, but it's something. "Oh, and by the way, I didn't ask, but are you okay?"

She breathes in a bit shakily. "Yeah. Are you? I thought the thing was going to – I was so scared."

"I'll be okay," I promise, head on her shoulder. She lays her pendant on her knee and reaches up, touching my face. "I learned, and you will, too." I just let myself feel for a few moments, her warmth and comfort and touch. This, amidst everything that's changing, is familiar. "I miss when I was little," I mutter, a strange yearning twisting in my chest, "And I could still sit in your lap and – I miss Crosshair."

I don't even know why I say it. He tried to kill us, apparently.

"Me too," she confesses quietly. The conversation is broken up at distant footsteps – Echo and Tech are coming. We fall silent, curled up together and just listen.

**w**

Tech has the ingenious idea of having the Marauder impounded or whatever – genius indeed. Take us right to the Empire, and... but Hunter doesn't appreciate it, either, so I don't voice my objections.

What?

I'm still annoyed.

"There's one big problem," Hunter says over the comm, sounding totally completely 100% done. "Vision and Omega are on the ship!"

"Thanks for asking," I yell back, though I doubt he can hear, "I'm perfectly capable of being useful."

Omega pokes her head around the chair and waves. "I think it's a good plan, Tech," she offers.

"So much for simple," Echo sighs, standing. Tech is just staring at us, mildly startled.

"So," I ask, hoping off the seat, "What'd we do?"

"If we stay out of sight when they board the ship, we will be fine," Tech assures, "So long as we make it inside the facility, we will be fine."

My hand ghosts across the wall of the gunner's mount, and something shifts. It looks brighter, gold, and the walls are yellow, and there's a curtain hanging over the doorway, but it's gone the moment I blink. That was weird. The fastest vision flash I've ever had.

"Okay," I chirp anyway, opting to ignore it, "Do I get to jump off something?" I miss that.

"Yes," Tech replies, standing, "I recommend we conceal ourselves before they board."

Yay. Hiding is fun.

Our brothers put their helmets on, and this isn't the first time I've seen them in person, but it's still the first time I realize how utterly ridiculous they look, and I can't help laughing.

"What?" Echo asks, confused, and maybe a bit curious.

"You look like you're trying to wear a blindfold," I tell him cheerfully, "And Tech just looks like a big bug." I do not care that's going to annoy him. It's true. And it's adorable. At least with his helmet on, he just looks comical instead of creepy.

We climb up above, squeezing into the small space.

The wait is maddening, but I sit it out, trying to keep my whining quiet.

The hatch opens and Echo pokes his head down, literally, upside down. 'mega and I used to dangle upside down to look at the world from a new perspective. It was fun. Until that once I fell off the table on my head, and Omega panicked and had AZI scan me like, three times. Yeah. That hurt a bit.

Echo jumps down after the regs leave, and Tech looks down before way too dramatically flipping himself down. I nearly snort. Echo's moving towards the front, and Tech motions for Omega and I to come down. She goes first, and he catches her, setting her down. I jump after.

Tech catches me smoothly, setting me down. He doesn't linger, but it's still somehow touching. It's the first time he's ever held me.

"So far, so good," Omega offers, looking up at him. "How can we help?"

Tech's already tapping at his datapad, and Echo's the one who pauses, turning back to answer. "You two have had enough action for the day. We'll handle this."

I could swear, though, the wait is about enough to drive a human being insane. Echo leaves, and Omega and I stand by, itching and waiting as the boys work on getting the disks ready. They want to go themselves, but personally? I think that's stupid. We need someone who can slip past lines undetected, and in their armor and all, they'll definitely be noticed.

And that, of course, is when an alarm starts blaring.

Echo and Tech instantly move to the front, and Omega's gaze zeroes in on the chain codes. "They're not gonna be able to make it though," she whispers.

"Nope," I agree, swinging an arm up to swipe them, "Let's move."

We grab hands and run.

We pause between small crates and whatnot littering the area, because no one is looking out for something small, and it works – until it doesn't. I'm mid turning and nearly small face first into a droid. I stumble back with a startled yelp, falling to the ground, and thank the stars I don't murder my tailbone again but that was painful. Omega smacks right into it, and lands beside me with a squeak.

The droid whistles with alarm, shaking its dome in panic.

"No, don't do that!" Omega protests desperately, trying to calm the thing.

"Hush!" I hiss at it. I don't want to stab the thing. It's not a battle droid. That would be mean.

Wrecker saves the day by punching the poor thing on the dome hard enough to dent in, but I'm happy enough to see him that it doesn't even bother me. "That hit the spot!" he cheers, extending a hand to help us to our feet.

His comm beeps, and he pulls it off his belt.

"Wrecker, we could use some help over here," Echo says.

Sweet. Not.

"On my way," Wrecker replies, putting it away and looking at us. "They're waiting for you at the dock. Better get going."

Omega nods, and I dramatically salute with a grin. "On it," I say, and we take off, swinging ourselves over the small wall. Regs are talking to Wrecker behind us, and I want to stop just to watch him punch them, but well, mission first.

Sadly.

"We're here," Omega calls, panting a little as we finally make it to the line,"And I have the chain codes." She holds them out, grinning.

"Yeah!" cheers Shaeeah happily.

"I thought Tech was supposed to make four," I add, "Why are there six? Did he screw up or am I missing something?" Something stupidly obvious, per usual. And what? Tech's impossibly enormous ego makes it exceedingly comical to annoy him.

"You didn't tell them?" Cut asks, turning to Hunter.

"Tell us what?" Omega queries, looking between them.

Hunter just looks away, briefly, and I... suddenly have a bad feeling.

"Keep moving," a reg snaps in the background.

Cut motions to his family to keep moving, and Hunter passes the bag he was carrying to Suu, and the other four move away from us. I watch, confusion and uncertainty flipping inside me. Hunter crouches down in front of us, his hands coming up to touch our shoulders.

Something about the seriousness on his face makes my skin crawl. He – whatever he's about to say, he's not happy with, and I don't like it.

"The chain codes are for you, so you can leave with Cut and Suu," Hunter says, and my world screeches to a dead halt.

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