BBAW Day Three
Author's Note: I hate how awkward this came out. Ik Hunter and Omega are gonna be having issues after being apart for so long, but this just came out cringey. T_T
Warning: Suicidal thoughts. Just a brief mention, but still there.
PS. This is a gift for SnipsSkywalker on Wattpad.
~ Rivana Rita
An icy, raw fury curls inside him, licking and nipping, tearing him apart.
Omega's gone.
Again.
He doesn't know how he keeps failing her. Hunter just wants to make sure all his kids are safe, but he has no idea how to. He failed Crosshair. Tech. Omega. Again. And again.
"If you can't pay the bounty, I'm sure the Empire will," Bane finishes, smiling smugly. Omega's lying beside him, still and unmoving. The hologram warps what she looks like, but there's soot smeared on her face, and she looks hurt. She's too still.
He hurt her.
Bane cuts off the connection before Hunter can formulate anything, not that he hasn't already gotten a signal trace, anyway.
"We don't even have half those credits!" Wrecker whines.
The deal is insane. Bane's demanding twice the bounty the Empire placed on the kid, and Wrecker's right. They don't have half that amount. Hunter and Wrecker scrapped by the entire time Omega was on Tantiss. There were many days they never even got to eat. It hadn't mattered. They could recover later. Protecting Omega was all that did. But – Omega's gone, again, and Hunter doesn't know how Bane snatched her out from right under their noses.
"It's too risky," Crosshair says quietly – it's still so strange for him to be here. "We can't let the Empire get her again."
Hunter wholeheartedly seconds that. They can deal with a bounty hunter. Not – the last time they fought the Empire, it cost them Tech. They can't – go through that again. "We have the coordinates. We'll have to go there and scout out."
He doesn't mention how he failed to fight Bane the last time they saw him. Hunter lost. He was too slow, and the kid was taken. She was so scared, and he'd vowed with everything he had not to be too slow again.
But he failed.
Again.
Wrecker sighs. "The last time we fought Bane, it didn't go so well."
"What happened?" Crosshair queries.
"He got the kid, an' shot Hunter."
Crosshair's head swivels towards Hunter, and he opts to ignore it. He wants to call Echo, but asking him for help isn't what they need. Hunter's gotta figure this out. He's the one who failed. Not Echo. Echo's busy. He has his brothers to worry about. Omega is Hunter's responsibility, and he can't go to his older brother every time he can't do his own job.
"Where were you?" Crosshair asks.
"We – uh – got separated."
He doesn't know how he keeps failing.
"Every choice you have made since Kallar has been wrong."
"They're all going to die here because of your failed leadership."
"We have to get ready," Hunter interjects, "I'll leave word with Phee."
Wrecker and Crosshair look at each other in true twin fashion, unspeaking but worried.
He's so scared.
"We should tell Echo," Crosshair speaks up, "He should know."
They don't need his help, but mostly, Hunter's just ashamed. He doesn't know how to explain that he lost the kid he's supposed to be protecting again.
He does it, anyway, because Crosshair asked, and that doesn't stop the aching numbness inside him. He's so angry and desperate and empty.
Tech used to be here. He should be here to help them strategize and find whatever information they need to pull this off.
"I'd come to help," Echo tells them, "But I'm tied up on another mission right now. But good luck. I'm sure you can pull it off."
Echo had been the one to carry him into the ship. Hunter remembers it vividly. Remembers slumping against his brother's shoulder, panting and exhausted with his chest burning inside out. He'd been in so much pain. Remembers it like yesterday. The pain. The panic. Had been half terrified Crosshair would find him before the others. That he'd die and never see them again.
He failed to protect her from Bane once. And from the Empire. So many times.
"I'm not sure how easy it will be to break in," Hunter says.
"You'll find a way," Echo promises him, "You always do."
Hunter's just gonna hope that faith isn't misplaced.
His kid is in danger. She's hurt and Hunter has no idea how to help her. He's going to fail again. He already failed Crosshair. Wrecker, too.
Tech.
Can't start thinking about Tech.
"Yeah," Wrecker agrees, though he doesn't sound half as exuberant about it as he once would've.
Echo nods to Hunter and he wishes he felt something other than numb, desperate, emptiness.
This feels like déjà vu. The same as before, but Crosshair's here instead of Echo and all that's here of Tech is the pair of broken goggles staring up at him accusingly from the stand he and Wrecker made for him. That's all that's left of Tech and all that ever will be, because he's gone when he should be here, and Hunter would do anything to get to see him one last time, to feel the warmth of his hand on his shoulder like he always used to.
Like he should've forever.
He tries to settle in the back and pull up what he can find on the planet. Tries. All he ends up doing is staring blankly at the stand in front of him, thinking of his little brother. Tech would have known, but Tech is something out of dreams now, a shattered memory that they'll never get back and it's so wrong.
He was always supposed to be one of them.
Tech wouldn't have failed the kid again. He would've figured it out the first time. He'd –
A large, heavy hand settles on his shoulder, and Wrecker appears beside him. Hunter feels the flickering of his electric field, clashing gently and familiar with the ship's walls the way only his could and that he's become so singularly familiar with.
Tech's gone and centering on that won't help them, but sometimes Hunter can't think about anything other than that he's not here, and he'll never get to hear his voice or feel his heartbeat ever again.
Just like the kid if he doesn't figure out how to protect her. He's tried, but it's never been enough to keep her out of danger.
He doesn't know what Wrecker's going to say, but he's glad it's not some lame it's okay, because it's not, and that would be a blatant lie. One Hunter can definitely go without hearing right now.
"We'll figure it out," Wrecker promises.
Like I did with Tech? he wants to say, but holds it back because that isn't something they ever talk about.
Hunter sighs instead. "Bane's a hard score. He's got a record for it." And the kid's already hurt. She's good. She would've tried to escape. They've taught her well.
"Assuming she doesn't escape again," Crosshair interjects. He's standing a short distance away, arms crossed, watching. He's so quiet now. Withdrawn. That wasn't fully Hunter's fault. It still feels like it was. "She did before. Tantiss would be harder to escape than a bounty hunter."
"Bane's not to be underestimated."
"So, we won't underestimate him," Crosshair says, "What do we do?" He looks scared. Hunter's certain he is, but he doesn't know what to say, so he says nothing at all.
They're counting on him. Omega's counting on him, and Hunter keeps telling himself this is the last time, but it never is, and he's so – tired. Cut did warn him. He should've listened.
"Let's get there and check it out."
**w**
Hunter infiltrated the warehouse where Omega's being held himself – or at least this is where the transmission came from. The twins stay on guard outside, and he climbs through a window he pries open and carefully slips inside. This is Bane, so he knows there are things he missed, but there's no time to hold back. Omega needs him. He already failed her before. It should've been him who figure out how to get to Tantiss and free her, but he failed that.
He doesn't see Bane inside, so he moves for the stairs and into what he thinks was once some sort of office.
Omega's in there, lying in the shadows on the floor. She's gagged, hands bound behind her back. Something's bleeding on her upper arm. It's red. He wishes he could think it wasn't hers, but Bane's species has green blood, not red.
Her eyes open when she sees him, wide and scared, and he can feel how fast her heartrate is, but she can't talk. Hunter thinks she's trying to move.
His gut plummets and he feels lightheaded, a wild mix of panicked and relieved in perfect unison. He's terrified to see her like this but at least he's seeing her at all, and it's right that very moment that he steps on something that very unceremoniously yanks him up to the ceiling.
It would've been funny if it were one of his brothers pranking him. He could see the twins doing it. Tech, too, on accident.
He yanks out his knife, slashing the stupid rope off his leg and dropping back to the ground.
He feels the charge of a blaster.
Bane's here.
Remembers the shot of the blaster bolt burning through his chest. Hitting the ground on Bracca, nothing but raw, burning pain whiting out his senses.
And then he remembers Omega, and Hunter whips out his blaster, firing. Bane ducks and fires a cable at him. It wraps around Hunter, pinning his arms to his sides. He tries to fire again, but the shot goes wild. Bane slaps a pair of stuncuffs on his wrists, and Hunter kicks him. The force yanks them both to the floor, but Hunter rolls over, twisting the wrist with his knife and slicing himself free.
Bane ignites a flamethrower at him. Hunter ducks backwards, rolling for cover. The fire shuts off, and he feels an electric charge on the ceiling barely a moment before a ray shield drops down around him, trapping him out of reach of Omega.
Blaster bolts can't go through these. He's dropped his blaster. Knife, too.
"Well, if this isn't predictable," Bane scoffs, boots clicking closer. Hunter pushes himself to his knees, glaring. "Coming to rescue one of your own. But we had a deal, clone."
This is going to end badly. He knows it will. Bane's angry, and they're both captured. He has no way of warning the twins. He doesn't have a weapon on him, and that's no doubt what the bounty hunter's point was. Either he'll ransom Hunter, too, or – worse.
He looks down at where Omega's watching, wide-eyed and scared. She's moving a little, trying to stand. She's showed well she's not an easy captive, but what Hunter's worried about is how much patience Bane will have in the meantime.
"You went back on the deal. I'm sure the Empire will be waiting for someone to call her in."
"Don't be so sure," Hunter hisses at him.
"You owe me a score," the bounty hunter goes on, "Maybe I'll sell you off to the Empire. There's plenty of slavers who might be interested in a clone."
Hunter's glaring at him, panting a little.
Bane is so lucky Hunter doesn't have his knife.
"In the meanwhile, well, we'll have some fun."
Hunter's gut drops. No. Stars. Please. "Don't," he hisses, panic swelling up. He can't remember the last time he wanted to cry so badly.
"You agreed to a deal," Bane retorts, "There's always a cost at ditching a deal." He hits the button on his arm band, and Hunter feels the charge in Omega's stuncuffs alight. She can't scream, but she makes a quiet, choked sound and he sees the wetness in her eyes.
He's electrocuting her.
If he calls the others, Bane will kill one of them. He probably has it accounted for. Hunter needs to get them both out and he can't think of anything other than Omega's body twitching in front of him and how his little sister is being tortured because he failed her twice in a row.
"Stop!" Hunter yells, panic and rage burning inside him, alighting his veins and burning to exploding. He could take it, but the kid – Omega –
Bane is smirking. Hunter wants to rip his face off.
The electric field shuts off, and Omega drops still. She's crying.
Hunter wants to cry.
The bounty hunter picks up his knife, studying it. "Well," he says, "Maybe I'll try something different."
W – oh no. No, no, no –
"Hurt her again, and you're dead," Hunter snarls. He means it, too. He's not letting Bane survive this unscathed.
"You're not in a position to argue, clone," Bane throws back at him, "Unless you're going to tell me where my credits are."
"Your credits are your life. Let her go and we'll let you live."
"That's not how this works, son."
He wants to slap him just for calling him that. Bane's just trying to work him up past rationality, though, and he needs to get out of here. Out of this ray shield.
Bane crouches by Omega. She twitches, trying to wriggle away. She's tied to what was probably once a desk, though it looks very rickety now. He's going to – no. No –
Hunter fumbles for one of the explosives on his belt, keeping it and his cuffed hands behind his leg just in case the bounty hunter looks back up at him, though he's focused on Omega. It's an explosive, and holding it so long is risky, but it's his only option. He hits the detonator. Hears it counting down. Feels the explosion shifting, beeping and the reaction running its course in his hand.
The blade touches his kid's arm. Slits through the fabric of her sleeve and down her skin.
Hunter's been cut by knives many times. Usually his own doing. It's not that bad, but this isn't an accident, and this is Omega.
He throws the explosive upwards, and it hits the ceiling, shorting out the ray shield source. Hutner dives forwards, rolling, standing behind Bane and hooking his hands over his neck. The bounty hunter kicks out at him and Hunter leverages him back, yanking, using the cuffs to strangle him. He wants to do much worse. He wants to gut him.
Graphically.
Bane stabs him. Hunter knows the blade slits into his side, somewhere just over his hip and below his ribs. It hurts, but he smashes his knee into Bane's, knocking him down, and throws him onto the floor. Hunter stomps on his armband, shorting it out and yanking the knife out of him.
The wound really does sting.
He cuts his hands free. It feels good to be free again – he's been cuffed only a couple times in his life. Ord Mantell, after Eriadu, when he was captured and Wrecker ripped his cuffs free before they went on a rampage, and – and Kamino, when Crosshair cuffed him and shoved him around for hours until he cut him free himself, but none of that is something he wants to think about.
He sprints to Omega and cuts her cuffs off, freeing her hands, and then sheathes his knife to yank the gag off.
Bane is still down.
Omega coughs a little once she can, blinking up at him. He thinks she's about to say something, but there's not time, so he scoops her up and makes for the door.
He throws another explosive at the door to cover, and they move.
**w**
It's good to be back in the Marauder. Wrecker yanks them both aboard, and Crosshair covers for them until the ramp is closed. Hunter flies them out after setting Omega down in one of the seats – his arms are a little sore from carrying her. She's gotten much heavier – and turns for the back the minute they're in hyperspace back to Pabu. Back home. (The home Tech wanted so badly and never got to live in.)
"You're bleeding," Omega says, eyeing him.
"It's fine." Hunter had hardly even thought about it.
"No, it's not," Crosshair argues, like he hadn't tried cutting Hunter's throat once. He lets that go, because the only thing about it that really upsets him is that it didn't work.
Gonky waddles up, and Wrecker spreads a medkit out atop him.
"How do you feel?" Hunter asks Omega quietly, passing her a water bottle. She's mostly laying across one of their seats where he set her until she wants to move, or has the energy to.
Her wrists are scratched and bleeding. She must've tried escaping. AZI could do better at patching her up, but if he's not here right now, well, they might as well do it themselves.
She sighs. "Okay, I guess. Still kind of sore."
Hutner sighs. "Electricity – does that."
She's not the same kid she was back then. She'd been terrified two years ago when this happened – was it two years? He doesn't know. She was twelve then. She's fourteen now, and so much bigger. Taller. Heavier. Braver. She's not the scrawny little kid who struggled to pull an energy bow handle and chased butterflies or stared in awe at dirt.
She's a kid who's fought in dozens of battles, was kidnapped four times over, a brilliant strategist who freed both herself and Crosshair from a massive Imperial prison not even born and trained soldiers have had a chance against, and – and the kid who saw her brother die. Who saw – Tech –
No.
Not right now.
But Omega then would've been scared, needing reassurance and promises of protection. Hunter hates he doesn't know what to give her, or how to give her either anymore. He was so confident back then.
He was nine.
He's ten now.
"I'm sorry I couldn't warn you," she says, "I knew what he was planning."
Hunter's gut flips. "Don't worry about it, kid. What's important is that we got you out of there." He squeezes her shoulder, and she leans into it, soaking in his warmth. She feels bigger, too.
That shouldn't hurt.
His side throbs a bit, but she's more important.
"I'm sorry I let him get the jump on you like that. I know I promised you'd always be safe with us." Just like Kamino.
Always failing.
"It's okay," she promises, laying her hand over his. "I know there was nothing you could do."
There should be. He wishes there could be.
He's their leader. He ought to know. He should be able to protect them. The kid, especially. That's all he wants, and he – he –
Keeps failing.
"It's... alright, if you're not okay," Hunter offers quietly. He doesn't know what to say to his kid anymore. They're so messed up. He's failed so bad.
Omega sighs, wrapping her arms around herself as he tries to bandage the part Bane cut open. He still feels sick at the memory. "I just don't know why this keeps happening," she mutters, "I don't know why the Empire's after me again, or why I keep getting taken. I just wanna stop worrying."
Hunter sighs. He feels way older than ten. "I know, kid."
Should be able to say something more.
"Echo will find Tantiss," he promises, "For now, we better keep low on Pabu."
"What if that's not enough? I don't want to keep putting everyone in danger."
"We'll all take danger for you, kid," Hunter promises her, "That's what we're here for."
"I don't want to lose you again." She looks like she wants to cry again, and Hunter wishes there was something, anything he could do. He hates how helpless he feels.
He wishes he could promise that she won't, and doesn't need to worry about that. He can't.
"We're gonna be alright, kid," is all he can say, even if it feels like a lie.
"You won't be alright," Crosshair grumbles, "If you bleed out all over the floor. Get to the back and let me look you over."
Oh, he's pulling the bossy tones now. Fine.
Hunter climbs onto the rack, prying his chest plate off and dropping it beside him. Crosshair climbs onto the rack beside him, balancing the medkit on his knee. Hunter rolls the edge of his shirt up and very, very uncomfortably lays down. One of the twins will have to stitch this, probably, and it'll need bacta. He shouldn't have lost enough blood to worry. He still feels fine. Just a bit thirsty, which could be from the action, too. No need to panic. Or fuss.
But hey, they do have a right too. After Tech.
"You're lucky this didn't hit anything fatal," Crosshair grumbles, "He could've hacked your intestines out."
"Unlikely," Hunter mutters, "I've got armor."
Crosshair makes an annoyed grumble, and Wrecker appears at his side, patting Hunter's shoulder. It feels – nice. He leans into it a bit, eyes shut. Crosshair's trying to stich it. He feels the pricking of the needle jabbing into his skin and tries not to wince.
It's just Crosshair.
It's –
Well, that's it.
It's Crosshair.
He tries to cycle his breathing, focus on Wrecker's hand on him and Crosshair's heartbeat. Something other than the needle poking its way through his skin. The gash itself is burning. Hunter's jaw clenches. Wrecker squeezes him a little tighter.
Crosshair's doing the stitching with his left hand. He tries it with his right, then gives up a few stiches in and switches to his left. Hunter tries not to think about it too hard, to wonder what the Empire did to his little brother and how they were able to take his shooting skills. His hand. He used to be unfailingly steady.
Bragged about how he could snipe a flea off Wrecker's back in the pouring rain.
Now...
He can hardly hit something directly in front of him.
They finish bandaging him, and Hunter pushes himself upright again, tugging his bodyglove down.
Ow.
Moving hurts.
Omega's standing again, though she looks exhausted. Hunter is, too. They're on the way back to Pabu. AZI can double-check them over there.
"Let's get some rest," Hunter requests, shifting over onto his still usable side. Omega climbs up next to him, and Hunter wraps an arm around her to pull her close.
She still looks upset.
Sleeping is going to be hard. It's usually more exhausting than fulfilling. Between Bracca, Kamino, Crosshair, and Tech, Hunter hardly sleeps anymore. There are always – things that make it hard.
Omega's usually fine, but there are some days, days scattered far between, where she's not. Tonight, no doubt, is going to be one of them, and they might as well prepare for that from the start.
Omega wraps her arms around his, clutching it to her chest. Wrecker gets Lula for her, leaving the two of them alone in the back together. Probably to snuggle themselves. Hopefully. It seems to help them. They're comfortable with each other. Hunter is – not comfortable with Crosshair. He can't help it. Can't relax near him.
"I – I'm tired of fighting," Omega whispers, "I don't wanna do this anymore."
Hunter sighs against her hair. "I – I know, kid. Neither do we. Hopefully, after this is over, we won't have to worry about anything anymore. Once Tantiss is gone, maybe we'll figure out why the Empire's after you, and find a way to... stop them." He really doesn't know.
"I hope so," Omega whispers, snuggling closer. "I – wanna just be a kid for a while." She used to want to be a soldier. Tech... changed everything. Hunter doesn't want to think about him.
"And we'll be with you," Hunter promises, "We'll keep you safe, kid." Or, so he can hope.
"I know," Omega promises, clinging to him. Hunter squeezes her gently. "It's just – we've – been through a lot."
No kidding. Tech had wanted to stay on Pabu, though, so that's where they'll stay.
That's the home he chose for them. It's – what they want. Because they finally get that choice, even with the Empire still breathing down their necks. Hunter's not letting his guard down again.
"Someday," Hunter promises her, "We won't have to worry about any of this."
It doesn't mean much, but the most he can offer that night as they sleep is being beside her, holding her in his arms and hoping they won't fail her again, even if it's so obvious there's a galaxy against them.
That doesn't mean he won't try.
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