The Bad Batch Fan Fiction - Tumblr Posts
Week 2: Injured
Summer of Bad Batch | Crosshair x Hunter | Post-Tantis Rescue on Pabu | One Shot | 349 words
Hunter slides the patio door open and steps out, “You’re still up?”
Crosshair gave a silent hello with a gentle nod as he briefly removed his toothpick. He kicks back and sinks more into his chair with an audible exhale.
“Did Omega get to sleep?” Crosshair asks Hunter without taking his gaze from the star-speckled horizon.
“Yeah,” Hunter chuckles as he sits down next to Crosshair. “She took quite the spill today, didn’t she?”
Remaining silent, Crosshair looks off to the side away from Hunter.
“She’s okay, Crosshair. AZ is looking after her. She’ll be fine,” Hunter assures.
Crosshair nods and meets Hunter’s gaze, “I know.” He looks back to the horizon and continues to fidget with his toothpick.
“Then what is it?” Hunter furrows his eyebrows.
Feeling pressed, Crosshair sighs and gathers his thoughts.
“I didn’t realize this… desire to protect her would last after rescuing her from Tantis,” he confesses. “I didn’t know I would continue to worry.”
“I understand,” Hunter nods. “We’re clones, but I never know what she’ll do next. I’d do anything for that kid. ”
“It’s exhausting,” Crosshair shakes his head and chuckles, “But I’d also do anything for her.”
Hunter smiles and chuckles with Crosshair in agreement. Hunter continued to look at his brother and smiled in contentment.
“What?” Crosshair snarks, feeling Hunter’s eyes.
“There was a while where I never thought we’d get you back,” Hunter reveals.
“How touching,” Crosshair snakes expressionless without taking his attention off the horizon and his toothpick. He side-eyes Hunter, who still had his eyes locked on him; Crosshair then clears his throat, “I mean…” He hesitates and removes his toothpick from his lips.
“What?” Hunter raises an eyebrow, amazed that Crosshair may say more than his conversation-ending catch phrase.
“I once mentioned to you that kids weren’t your area of expertise,” Crosshair looks at Hunter.
“Uh-huh?” Hunter nodded, remembering the exchange in the Kamino spaceport years ago.
“I was right,” Crosshair sighs and returns to looking out over the Pabu coastline.
Hunter’s lips turn upward into a sly smile, “It’s good to have you back, Crosshair.”
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Taglist: @heidnspeak @cloneflo99 @megmegalodondon @tentakelspektakel
Week 6 - Battle Scars
Summer of Bad Batch | Crosshair x Omega x Hunter | Post-Tantiss Rescue on Pabu | SFW/Emotional One Shot | Warnings: PTSD, Nightmares, Flashbacks | 1159 words
Song inspiration - Midnight - Coldplay
“Omega,” Crosshair sits down on her bed. The moonlight poured through the window onto the bedspread she had kicked off. She lay asleep, but caught in a vivid nightmare.
“No!” She screams in her sleep as her legs kick and her arms flail, “ Hunter!”
Crosshair waits until she stops moving, then brushes her hair off her face and tucks it behind her ear.
“Omega,” he tries again.
She opened her eyes slowly and props herself up on her elbow.
“Crosshair?” She rubs her eyes.
“I’m here,” Crosshair began, but wasn’t sure what else to say.
“I was having a nightmare again, wasn’t I?” Omega sits up fully and buries her head into her hands.
“Mmhmm,” Crosshair nods.
“Sometimes I just feel like the Empire is still after me. Or the Kaminoans.” She looks up from her hands and meets Crosshair’s eyes. His expression bore concern and worry for his sister. He looks off to the side and prepares his words.
“You’re safe now,” he states after much thought.
“But why don’t I feel safe?” Omega asks.
The question catches Crosshair off-guard. He returns to look into Omega’s eyes as she searches for answers in his.
“You usually have better answers than I do,” Crosshair shrugs, but Omega’s look of desperation endures. Crosshair sighs and begins rubbing his right forearm up to where his hand once was.
“Omega,” he exhales, “I also experience… nightmares,” he says like he didn’t want to admit it.
“You?” Omega was floored that one of her brothers also had fears that crept up at night.
“Mmhmm,” Crosshair grunts. “I’ll wake quickly, but the feelings linger. I remember the pain of torture, the feelings of failure, the fear of losing…” He went silent. Omega reaches out to comfort him. Her hand slides down his arm as she offers reassurance.
“I still fear losing you and the others.” Crosshair looks out the window to partially escape the conversation, “I’ll remember the way my heart sank when I missed shooting the tracker onto that ship that took you away from Pabu. Or turning around and watching the Marauder leave me on the platform on Kamino,” Crosshair continued. “But, I’ll wake up and remember you’re here, safe. Our brothers are here too. The nightmares aren’t real anymore… But the feelings are. It’s like what we experienced was too much to feel in the moment, so we keep feeling it until it fades.”
The Pabu wind enters the room and fills the air with a gentle ocean breeze. Crosshair inhales and sighs, relaxing into the moment a little more.
“These dreams serve as a reminder of how far we’ve come. What we’ve experienced is real, but our lives are different now. You’re safe now, Omega.” Crosshair continues and looks back up to Omega, finding her wiping a tear from her eye. Crosshair felt the inclination to pull her closer, but was hesitant.
“You have battle scars too, little soldier,” he chuckles to deflect instead.
Omega wipes another tear, “You’re safe now too, Crosshair,” her voice breaks.
She pulls his arm closer and wraps her arms around it, leaning her head on his shoulder. Crosshair looks surprised, but then pushes himself onto the bed with his back against the wall, accepting her affection. He tucks her hair behind her ear once more with his left hand then rests it on his leg while Omega softly relaxes into his presence.
Crosshair looks out the window to the stars and gazes upward. He thinks about all the nights he had spent alone in a cell without windows in contrast to all the lively nights aboard the Marauder as a young soldier. He recalls Wrecker’s enormous laugh, Tech’s intellectual jabs, Echo’s swearing, and Hunter’s stubborn attitude.
He smiles, remembering all of the good times they had. Like a bolt of lightning, the memory of Order 66 crushed the moment and his remembered joys scream to a wild halt: the flashbacks rush in. He remembers lining his scope up to shoot Hunter; shooting Wrecker; demanding the order to burn his brothers in a ship engine; Mayday’s pulse leaving his body; waking up on Tantiss; losing Omega.
Crosshair shakes his head as he feels his memories split his soul. His heart races. He feels the dissociation grip his consciousness and looks back at Omega for protection; her presence grounds him.
I didn’t lose her, Crosshair thinks to himself as his hand jumps to find Omega’s hand wrapped around his arm. He lets the tension in his shoulders fall and breathes in and out deeply. He sits for a few moments more, letting his breath wash over him and holding Omega’s hand like a lifeline.
Omega’s grip around Crosshair’s arm loosens as she falls into a deeper sleep. She begins to drool on his arm. The unwanted sensation of her spit throws Crosshair back to the present.
He felt a little grossed out, but felt relieved to be pulled back into the moment so violently.
Crosshair’s lips turn upward into a soft smile as he watches Omega sleep so comfortably next to him. He never would have guessed he could comfort anyone, much less a child.
This is who I am, he thinks to himself.
Crosshair quietly stands and gently lays her head down onto her pillow. He tucks the blanket around her and closes the curtain to block the coming sun in hopes she could sleep in after a restless night. He slips out of her room and closes the door softly.
“I thought I felt your eyes,” Crosshair whispers to Hunter once the door is sealed. Hunter leans against the wall just outside of Omega’s room.
“Is she all right?” Hunter inquires.
“She just had a nightmare,” Crosshair relayed.
“I’m surprised you picked up on that before I did,” Hunter sighed, surprised that his instincts hadn’t brought him out of his deep sleep sooner to comfort Omega.
“I was already awake,” Crosshair shrugs.
Hunter raised an eyebrow as he knew Crosshair could fall and stay asleep anywhere, even the battlefield. Hunter stayed silent, but continued to stare at Crosshair in disbelief.
“I had a nightmare too,” Crosshair embarrassedly admits.
Hunter’s face relaxes and he places his hand on Crosshair’s shoulder. Crosshair looks down at Hunter’s hand.
“Well, Omega’s right. You’re safe now too,” Hunter echos.
“Hmm,” Crosshair grunts a little in slight agreement. Hunter tightens his grip a little on Crosshair’s shoulder to gain his attention back. Crosshair looks up into Hunter’s eyes.
“I’m sorry I left you behind,” Hunter admits.
Crosshair’s eyes widen as he never expected to get an apology from his brother. He quickly darts his gaze away to process.
“Well, I did try to kill you,” Crosshair dryly jokes back.
“But you didn’t when you could have,” Hunter surmised.
“Hmm,” Crosshair grunts again. Hunter takes his hand off Crosshair’s shoulder and folds his arms.
“Get some sleep, Hunter,” Crosshair begins to walk to his room, but turns halfway around in the hallway, “But, keep one eye open,” Crosshair chuckles.
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@summer-of-bad-batch @heidnspeak @cloneflo99 @megmegalodondon @tentakelspektakel
Crosshair: I’ll have a frozen lemon blueberry daiquiris topped with raspberries.
Howzer: *Lifts eyebrow and stares*
Crosshair: Make that two.
Howzer: No, I don’t want one.
Crosshair: I’m going to bury you alive.
Howzer: What?
Crosshair: What?
Crosshair is a fruity drink enjoyer
Week 2 - Comfort Zone
Summer of Bad Batch | Crosshair x Phee x Hunter x Omega | Post-Tantiss Rescue on Pabu | One Shot | 262 words
“I didn’t forget about you,” Phee smirked and slid a small package across the table to Crosshair. His right mechanical hand lifted a finger to stop it from falling into his lap.
“What’s this?” Crosshair slithered.
“Open it!” Phee instructed.
Crosshair sighed, picking up the small box with his mechanical hand.
“Knife?” He motioned towards Hunter without taking his eyes off the mysterious package. Hunter tossed him the knife and Crosshair caught it by the handle using his peripheral vision. He gently sliced through the brown paper to find a leather-bound box. Crosshair studied the box, then found it to slide open like a matchbox, exposing a few hundred dark and smooth toothpicks. Crosshair’s expression shifted from guarded and confused to grateful.
“How did you know?” Crosshair asked Phee as he put one of the luxury toothpicks between his lips.
“Guess,” Phee winked.
“Tech?” Crosshair shifted the toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other.
Phee returned a soft nod to confirm.
“What’s special about them?” Omega asked the room.
“These are from the trees in Kashyyyk. The wookies do not cut down trees, but when the trees have died from natural causes, they use the wood for creating items and luxuries. Tech had mentioned that these were Crosshair’s favorite, but it’s well-known to be a rare commodity,” Phee explained.
Crosshair studied the package again and inspected a few toothpicks, looking at the fine grain and dark brown coloring of the wood.
“I guess you are a liberator of… wonders,” he remarked. “Thank you,” Crosshair nodded towards Phee in gratitude.
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Taglist:
@heidnspeak @cloneflo99 @megmegalodondon @tentakelspektakel
@summer-of-bad-batch