The Bad Batch: Oneshots

Forgive Me

     Hunter's fist clenched into a tight ball, hard enough for him to feel his nails digging into his hand through the black glove that protected it from the unforgiving frosty, bitter air. Crosshair's words echoed loudly in his overwhelmed head.

You let Omega be taken to Tantiss

She went through what she did because you failed.

You're angry because she escaped with MY help, not yours

The sniper's attacks hurt him to his core. He wasn't sure if it was because he couldn't think of a better insult to recover from the hits, or if it was because what Crosshair said was true. He was angry. Angry at himself for not being there sooner. For leaving Omega alone all those months. Every day she remained missing he wondered if she thought he had given up on her. How many times had her brain tricked her into thinking she was being rescued every time the door to her cell slid open?

He couldn't save her.

He didn't save her.

Hunter stood at a still, only able to glare furiously into his brother's cold, icy stare as the sniper waited for the sergeant's reply to the harsh spoken truth of the matter, the crux of his internal struggle with Crosshair's return.

Hunter stepped forward, opening his mouth to reply with a childish remark when the ground from below shook. The conversation would have to end there. Crosshair won... like he usually did.

"Move!" Hunter shouted as he tackled the sniper to the ground before the ice broke from under both of them.

Later

Hunter scolded. He could hurt later. Distracting the worm was the priority, not his feelings.

~~~

     Hunter shrugged, a faint smile on his lips as he stepped onto the Marauder's ramp as he finished his sentence, "...There just might be hope for us yet."

He didn't wait for Crosshair's reply. Somehow, he knew there wouldn't be one. The two had come to a silent understanding. While they may not have agreed with each other's actions, what they made of their decisions now was more important than reminiscing on the broken past. They would learn to work together again in time.

Once aboard the ship, Hunter excused himself to his bunk; the events of the mission finally caught up to him. From falling through a weak spot in the ground to barely making the jump onto the protected land had him tuckered out. The sergeant removed his helmet, setting it aside as he laid down and closed his eyes.

"Hunter?"

Omega's sweet, concerned voice infiltrated his ear. Reopening his tired eyes, his body immediately froze with a response caught in his throat. Omega was dressed in a bland grey uniform, the imperial insignia patched onto her right arm. She was sitting on an examination table adjacent to him, looking at him with knitted brows.

"Omega...?" Hunter sat himself up. "What's happening?" Hands rushed to his face to feel for reality. How was he here? Wasn't he just on the Marauder?

"You finally came." Omega hopped off the table. "I thought you forgot about me." Her eyes held a look of a heavy sadness as she took a step toward him.

Hunter watched carefully as Omega approached She looked the same aside from her new imperial attire.

"Kid, what is this place?"

Omega gave him a perplexed expression as if he had just asked the stupidest question.

"Tantiss," she said casually.