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theknightofivanhoe · 2 months

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Strange Sight - A Hiccelsa Story pt 1. - A Helping Hand

Some Hiccelsa goodness for anyone who wants. Title inspired by the song by KT Tunstall. Hiccup and Elsa belong to Dreamworks and Disney respectively.

Provence, south of France, was the perfect region to spend the summer. Trees and vegetation were as lush as any northern part of Europe could get, but complemented by the golden tan of rocky formations upon which villages and holiday homes were situated. Adding to the sights and smells were rows of lavender, as purple as amethyst bobbing in the gentle breeze.

The tall, brown-haired, freckle-faced young man, Harrison ‘Hiccup’ Haddock, had dressed for the weather in a green T-shirt, tan shorts and moccasins. ‘Hiccup.’ as he had eventually grown accustomed to being nicknamed, headed through the front door of his newly-rented holiday cottage to unload the last of some maintenance equipment from his black Land Rover. Even on vacation, it took a lot to separate Hiccup from his very own motorcycle machinery that he would tinker with in search of a new innovation that he could soon introduce to the gear-heads that made his target audience. Toothless, his well-built black labrador lay splayed across the cooling stone floor, so Hiccup had to take big steps over those legs and floppy ears of his. He trudged to the Rover and pulled open the boot, before hoisting the case of equipment up in both hands. He had been saving his strength for the heavier stuff, but he still staggered from the weight. Not even the flexible black rods of his prosthetic left leg helped much. “Woah…” the brunette went, clinging onto the heavy case and spreading his feet, his living one and his metal one, to try and balance himself. He had trained himself to cope with a prosthetic, even ride a bike with one, but it still surprised him just what types of situations an artificial limb could bring about. “Aw, no, don't do this - no!” Hiccup yelled, the case tipping out of his hands, landing onto the pebble-strewn ground. What didn’t help was the tools and engine components spilling out, the lid half-open from the impact at which it had fallen.

“Are you okay?” A female voice from behind caught Hiccup by slight surprise. “Wha - uh, sorry?” Frustrated by his situation, he turned to find the source of the voice; a blond young woman in an ankle-length royal blue gown standing behind him.

“I’m sorry, I’m - I’m sorry, can I help, ma’am?” Hiccup awkwardly asked, feeling as though this somewhat wraith-like girl must have materialised out of practically nowhere. All the girl did was stand where she was with her long wispy hands respectably folded in front of her the way someone would when attending a formal occasion. “Oh, don’t worry, I was just wondering if ‘you’ needed help.” she answered kindly, not moving from where she stood.

Despite his aggravating business with that case, Hiccup had to take a moment to notice how easily he could call this lovely-looking girl a queen. Curiosity twinkled in her ice blue eyes and her snowy blond hair was neatly tied in an immaculate Dutch-braided bun. Her thin, delicate nose and rouge lips wonderfully accentuated the light, mild-mannered expression on her heart-shaped face. Her blue summer gown flowed in the cooling air while highlighting the hour-glass hips and showing off slim arms as pale as her impressively pretty face, but not pale to the point of looking unhealthy. What completed this look was the set of flat-soled silvery-blue pumps.

Awakening from his stare, Hiccup lightly shook his head. “I’m sorry, don’t worry. I got this, I think -” And he quickly turned to pick up the case. “Would you like a hand with that” the woman asked. There was not a hint of insistence in her soft-spoken voice. If Hiccup asked, she would probably leave. Good-looking as she was, the brunette had felt more prepared for some alone time with his labrador, seeing as how he wasn’t the biggest people’s person. He wrestled to push the clips back in place, sealing the spilt equipment back into the case. “I - I don’t know, this thing’s ‘very’ heavy.” he grunted, yanking one of its handles. The thing barely even budged, crunching along the pebbles. “I could take one end.” The young woman’s voice left Hiccup simply torn between politely refusing her assistance, or getting this stupidly heavy case indoors with an extra pair of hands. “You sure?” he asked, hoping he didn’t come across as attempting to drive the girl away. “It’s got a lot of tools for, like, engineering.” he explained to the woman, though she seemed to be actually listening, not turning away in boredom like he had expected. “Wow, ‘that’ heavy.” she commented humorously. “Well, I’ve had to get ‘my’ stuff in myself too. One more can’t hurt.” She was standing in front of that bigger house facing the cottage Hiccup had rented. And behind her was a sleek, gleaming convertible as silver and spotless as a freshly forged sword blade.

Something then made Hiccup look behind and notice, to even greater annoyance, Toothless was standing outside the cottage in front of the girl.

The girl was a little surprised to find the pitch black labrador staring up at her with wide hazel eyes and swishing his tail side-to-side. Next she smiled in adoration. “Oh...hello there.” she greeted and Toothless sat himself down with his mouth stretched into what seemed like a smile of his own. “Is this your dog?” the girl asked Hiccup. “Mine, and outside the house where he belongs. Sorry about this.” Hiccup bluntly replied, getting up. “Alright, Toothless, nothing to - er - see here. Go on, boy! Back you go. Ah - don’t give me that look!” Toothless was indeed giving him a look that appeared to suggest an immature pout. “Back!” Hiccup ordered, thrusting a finger to the cottage doorway. “Back you go, you useless hound!” “Don’t worry. He’s not doing any harm.” the girl assured, raising a hand. “Could I stroke him?” she then requested, and Toothless opened his mouth wide with his tail wagging even faster at this prospect. “Well…” Before Hiccup could continue, Toothless started to show his gums to the girl in that bizarre smile that gave him his name. The girl’s eyes went round in bemusement at how well the dog hid his canines, just goofily staring up at her and beating his tail against the ground. “You sure you want to?” Hiccup asked the girl, as he rather wished Toothless hadn’t brought this about. “Well…sure.” the blond answered, reaching out a fair-skinned hand for the dog’s head. When her fingers caressed Toothless’ fur, he simply reared his head back in sheer happiness. Hiccup rolled his eyes, but the girl gave his pet such a charming smile, he felt he was in no position to send him back in the house. “He’s so sweet…” the girl complemented, trailing her hand along Toothless’ head and making him pant in joy. “Oh, don’t let his good looks and charm fool you.” Hiccup mock-warned, folding his arms. “When he gets an admirer, he’s got you wrapped round his - well - paw.” “So, Toothless is it?” the stranger inquired, the smile not even leaving her ever-pretty face as the labrador flicked his head between her and Hiccup. “That’s him.” Hiccup responded, smirking at his rascal of a dog and ruffling the fur of his head.

“So, shall I help you with this case?” the girl eventually asked when she remembered the help she had offered Hiccup in the first place. Hiccup considered for a moment, then breathed out. “Okay, sure thing. I’ll take the front end, yeah?” “Yeah, got it.” the blond agreed, striding gracefully round to the other side of the case. She closed her fingers around the handle, then pulled. What made Hiccup’s jaw drop a little and Toothless quirk his head sideways was how this porcelain doll of a girl got her end of the case a couple of inches off the ground! She did grit her pearly teeth a little from the effort, but she was still managing even with such thin arms. Instantly snapping out of his surprise, he snatched up the handle on his side. Aided by the girl’s unexpected strength, he managed to get the case level, hovering above the ground despite the sheer heaviness of its equipment. With Toothless waddling behind with his tail wagging, the two slowly walked it towards the cottage, into the doorway and lowered it onto the floor.

Hiccup and the blond panted a little from the exertion, but looked at one another faintly smiling. Toothless glanced down at the box, then up at his owner and the girl as he panted excitedly, his tongue hanging all the way out of his grinning mouth. “Wow, team effort.” Hiccup commented gladly. “You led the way. I just took some of the weight.” the girl replied benevolently, rubbing Toothless’ head. “I’m sure that doesn’t make you any less deserving of a little something…” Hiccup started, holding up a finger. Now truly enjoying this unknown girl’s company, he bent down and opened the small fridge. “White or red?” “Oh, I don’t know…” The blond looked away, clearly trying not to smile. “White?” “White it is.” His nervousness a distant memory, Hiccup straightened with a wine bottle in hand and a slightly goofy smile on his strong-chinned face, opening the overhead cupboard behind him. “Ow!” The cupboard door bonked the back of his head! “Ooh! Are you alright?” the girl asked with a pained expression. Toothless gave his master a look that said he was always doing this. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Hiccup grunted, rubbing the soreness away and getting two wine glasses. “They don’t call me Hiccup for nothing.” “I’m sorry?” the girl asked, a little befuddled. “Oh, that?” the young man replied and remembered. “My name’s Hiccup -” “Your actual name?” the blond inquired. “Ah, no, not my *name* name - it’s my nickname.” the brunette corrected her, pouring some wine. “If you want my full name, it's Harrison Hickory Haddock...the third. I run that motorcycle service down in Berk.” He offered a glass, the amber-coloured drink sloshing in the crystal clear glass. “Berk...I haven't been there but apparently it's quite nice there.” the girl commented with a light smile, accepting her drink and stroking Toothless some more. Hiccup still couldn’t fathom how such hands as delicate as hers could get a half-tonne case off the ground. “If you can get through nine months of snow and three months of hail that constitute a year there…” Hiccup replied, leaning up against the kitchen counter as he and the girl sipped their drinks, a happy Toothless sitting between them. “Oh, then I’ll make sure to check it out in the snowy months. I happen to like snow.” the girl smiled, her lip rouge succeeding in drawing Hiccup’s eye. Now it was her turn to be absorbed in just how handsome he looked.

She found herself enjoying the way his chocolate-brown hair flowed around his head with tufts at his ears and neck, how his nose was rounded at the end, but how well-defined and lightly stubbled his chin was. “But enough about me, I didn’t get ‘your’ name.” Hiccup told her. “My name’s Elsa.” the girl replied politely. “Elsa...cool name…” Hiccup murmured, taking another sip. Elsa grinned gently at his praise. “Thank you.” Then something about that name rang a bell in Hiccup. “Wait - aren't you Elsa from Arendelle? You run that big architecture firm?” Elsa took another sip of her wine. “The very same.” she chirped. “So what brings you out here to Provence, mon cherie?” Hiccup grinned as he asked this, exaggerating the French accent, which made Elsa smirk in amusement. “Oh, you know, an architecture company’s a huge responsibility. My family’s owned it for years.” she explained, pausing for a drink. “I’m lucky to ever go and get some time off.” “Guess you came to the right place.” Hiccup agreed. “You want to sit down?”

While Toothless lay half-asleep on his side like a sardine, Hiccup and Elsa sat at the small wooden table beside the cottage’s kitchen area, chatting and drinking. “ - Her name’s Anna. You’d love her. She’s dating this guy Kristoff; he’s employed at my firm. You’d get along with him too.” Elsa was telling Hiccup. “You do live in good company.” he said, already liking the idea of meeting the rich girl’s sister and the collection of colourful characters she had befriended. “But what about your friends?” Elsa asked with that same curiosity from when she had volunteered to help lift that case. “My friends? Well there’s Gobber, missing a right hand and left leg, helps me out at the motorcycle repairs. It’s thanks to him that I can even put in all those nuts and bolts.” Hiccup explained. “Fishlegs, that’s his nickname, he’s an old schoolmate, great at computers, helped me get set up with my tablet here.” He held up his iPad to demonstrate. “Snotlout, ah…” He bobbed his hand side-to-side. “Drives a monster truck and gets a bit egotistical when it comes to racing. Bit of a muttonhead, but means well.” Elsa just nodded. “Ruffnut and Tuffnut, they’re twins, can be a bit of a handful. Navy-trained like me, love their death metal. And their motorcycles. But you’d definitely love my mum.” “If she’s mother to someone as sweet as you, I think I would.” Elsa smiled over the rim of her glass. This complement sent butterflies fluttering in Hiccup’s stomach and his cheeks grew warmer than the French summer air could possibly be, even in the cooling shade of the rented cottage. He wanted the wine he drank to extinguish his blushing, his lips seeming to stick to the glass. “Hiccup, you okay?” Elsa was looking at him with those winter-blue eyes in which the brunette saw many things, such as fondness in finding companionship, but unusually, a bit of loneliness. “I’m fine, thanks, Elsa…” He had only just met this girl, himself a moody, gawky mechanic and a beautiful businesswoman, but rather than dwell on it, Hiccup went on drinking, Elsa doing the same.

“Well, thank you for - uh, thank you, Hiccup.” Elsa eventually said, getting up once her glass was finished. Toothless bolted to his feet and wagged his tail in the hopes of some more affection before she left. “Oh, don’t mention it. Thank ‘you’ for shifting that stupid case.” Hiccup replied, lightly kicking said case with a clunk. “Oh, it was nothing - ” “Seriously, you got some real push - ” They paused when noticing they were talking over one another and suddenly went silent, glancing away from one another sheepishly. Toothless darted his head between them waiting for whatever was going to happen next. “Well, I think I should be getting back…” Elsa suggested. Toothless’ eyes grew round at the very thought. “Sure, I’ve got to get Toothless and my supper on the go too…” Hiccup awkwardly agreed. “Same here.” Elsa remarked. “I know, Toothless…” she continued, getting to one knee and stroking the labrador who panted in his desire for her to keep going. “Hope you’re liking that place you rented. Sure looks fancy.” Hiccup smirked. “Well I’m starting to like yours really.” Elsa replied, appreciating the cottage’s more humble, rustic design. “It just looks so…cosy.” Now Hiccup was beginning to wonder if they were drawing out their goodbyes, but nonetheless he glanced around and murmured, “Sure does.” Giving him that mild, possibly bashful smile, Elsa finished stroking Toothless and moved for the door. She paused and turned back slightly. “Hiccup?”

Hiccup froze. Elsa’s tone sounded as though she was about to invite him for something. Toothless pricked his ears up. Elsa still had her back to Hiccup, but was glancing at him from the corner of those half-closed eyes. She seemed to be getting suspiciously coy. “Yeah?” Hiccup quietly responded. “The house I’m staying at has a pool.” Elsa told him. “If you want, you can use it too.” Hiccup’s heart rate accelerated a little. They had only just met, but now Elsa was permitting him to use a pool that belonged to the place she had rented! “But, Elsa - I don’t - what if you…you - wouldn’t you want to - ?” Facing him, Elsa lightly beamed. “Hiccup, you can swim any time you like. I won’t mind us sharing.” Even Toothless looked up and Hiccup and jerked his head in Elsa’s direction. He was obviously hinting for his owner to agree. “Well, thanks.” the young man replied, wondering where this whole invitation of Elsa’s was leading up to. Sometimes he hated how much of a stubborn animal Toothless could be. “Night, Elsa.” “Goodnight, Hiccup.” Elsa half-whispered with that faint grin. “See you soon…”

Stay tuned, Hiccelsa lovers...

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theknightofivanhoe · 2 months

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Thank heavens Kimber kissed (Hunter specifically) and made up with everyone. We can only wish she actually ‘could’ forget Crosshair, but worse is yet to come. And props to Wrecker for being the most understanding.

"Sun and Rain Part 2: Age of the Empire"

Chapter 30

"A Tense Rescue"

A "Bad Batch" fanfic!

Pairing: Hunter x fem OC, Echo (more best friend pairing)

A/N: Well, here we are again! Though after how things went last time, I'd imagine y'all aren't too thrilled with me 😅 Haha well, that might be the same this time...so strap in and enjoy the ride you're about to take through episode 9 of Bad Batch season 1 😜 Love you all!

Taglist: @the-sad-batch , @nimata-beroya , @intrepidmare , @cole-kenxbi , @tech-aficionado , @ladykatakuri , @d1n0-dan , @sammi9498 , @darthzero22 , @scarlettrose9901 , @thebadbatchscyare , @chxpsi , @ilikemymendarkandfictional , @4pplecider , @locitapurplepink , @l-lend , @nekotaetae , @eternalwaffle , @merkitty49 , @avathebestx , @idoubleswearimawriter , @techs-stitches , @fantasyproductions , @sverdgeir , @totallyunidentified

《 Chapter 29

》 Coming soon!

All chapters (Part 2) (Part 1)

Explanation: Tensions are high on the Marauder after Omega's capture and Kimber must answer to the Clones for her mistake. Will they forgive her easily or will their be division among them?

The Marauder zoomed through the sky, evading the gunfire of the Imperial shuttle tailing them. It didn’t take them long to realize that it was Crosshair’s shuttle chasing them and as predicted, he was not giving them an easy time.

Echo had taken care of Kimber’s wounded leg first--at Hunter’s surprising yet also not surprising insistence--and had carefully applied what bacta they had to the wound before bandaging it. Her whole armor set had been removed and she was just left in her blacks. Then Hunter was dealt with; Echo had him remove the top half of his armor and sit in one of the chairs so he could bandage Hunter’s chest where he’d been shot.

Just as Echo finished up with him, Hunter asked Tech, “Any sign of that bounty hunter?”

“The only vessel in our scanners is Crosshair’s and he’s right on top of us,” Tech replied as he continued to maneuver the ship.

“It’s getting hot back here!” Wrecker cried out from the tail gun.

Tech hit a couple of the buttons on the console and stated, “Prepping to jump.”

“Not without Omega,’ Hunter countered.

Echo turned back in his co-pilot’s chair and refuted, “The bounty hunter who took her is long gone. We’ll have no chance of finding them if Crosshair shoots us down.”

The Sergeant looked conflicted as to what to do. As Tech informed everyone that their rear deflector shields were failing, Kimber decided to speak up, even though she had a feeling her opinion wasn’t welcome at the moment.

“Hunter, we need to go,” she urged him. “If we're going to save Omega, then we need to save ourselves first.”

He heaved a heavy sigh in response before telling Tech, “Make the jump.”

Without hesitation, Tech pushed hard on the lever that made the ship jump into hyperspace. Seconds later, the familiar blue tunnel engulfed their ship and they were finally free from Crosshair’s pursuit.

Once they made the jump, Kimber sighed and let her head fall back against her chair, relieved that they had finally shaken off Crosshair. Her guilt at leading him to them was still eating away at her. Now that they were finally alone and away from the Empire’s sights for now, it was time to come clean about everything…if the boys even wanted to hear anything from her.

However, Tech beat her to it by saying as he turned his chair around, “Now, Kimber, I believe we are owed an explanation behind your actions regarding Crosshair.”

She let out a small scoff. “You waste no time, do you?” she asked back.

Hunter, however, wasn’t amused. “Tell us the truth,” he demanded. “Why would you tell Crosshair where we were? What possessed you to do such a thing?”

“More than that, why were you sending him secret transmissions in the first place?” then added Echo.

Her stomach churned nervously as she prepared herself to answer their questions. “Look, lads, I'm sorry--”

“Sorry isn't gonna cut it this time,” Hunter cut her off, his stern gaze never leaving hers. “You need to do better than that.”

“Did Crosshair reach out to you first?” asked Wrecker, though his tone wasn't nearly as hardened as the others’.

Kimber fiddled anxiously with her braid. “N--no,” she said. “I reached out on my own. But I never told him anything and I used the encrypted device Rina gave me so he couldn't trace the transmissions!”

“How many times did you do this?” inquired Echo.

For a second, she hesitated, looking down at the ground before answering, “Three times.”

“Three?” Hunter repeated, aghast.

“I cannot fathom as to why you would do this,” Tech stated.

“All I ever really said was I wanted him to come back; that I wanted to understand why he turned on us…and how much I missed him,” she told them, melancholy in her expression and voice. “Though, that was before we found out the truth about the inhibitor chips.”

Hunter heaved a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “What changed this time?”

Her grip on her braid tightened. “I had thought to reach out to him about getting his chip removed like you guys did…but he actually contacted me instead. I had no idea he would.” She paused for a moment and Hunter raised his eyebrows expectantly, indicating for her to continue. She went on, “It was just after Rex left that Crosshair reached out to me and given the timing of it, I just…got too eager.”

“Oh, Kim…,” Echo sighed, exasperated.

“So you revealed our mission and location to him,” Tech concluded.

“It's not that simple,” she said back.

Standing up from his chair, Hunter responded, looking down at her, “It seems simple to me. We tried so hard to stay under Crosshair's radar and the first chance you got, you told him everything we didn't want him to know.”

“It was only because of why we were on Bracca to begin with,” Kimber said. “I thought we could get his chip out, too, and then--”

“That's the point, Kimber: he still has the chip,” Hunter interrupted, his voice raised, “and he's still serving the Empire. He wouldn't jump at the chance to remove it if he's been led to believe otherwise. You left yourself open and he took advantage of that, which put all of us at risk. Do you even realize that? We trusted you! I can’t believe you would do something so selfish!”

Kimber turned away, ashamed.

Then she felt a large hand on her shoulder followed by Wrecker's voice saying, “Come on, guys, cut her some slack. She didn't know this would happen.”

“Wrecker, she endangered all of us by bringing the Empire right to us,” Hunter tried to argue.

Finally, Kimber snapped and yelled, “Do you think I wanted this to happen? Do you think I asked for this? Crosshair lied to me and he used me! I know now what I did was wrong, but I was only doing what I thought was right at the time!”

“A bit hypocritical of you to be angry that Crosshair lied to you when that's exactly what you did to us, too,” Hunter fired back.

“Hunter…!” Echo said cautiously.

By this point, Kimber was not about to take anymore comments lying down. She forced herself to stand up by pushing on the arms of the chair and leaning her hand on the navicomputer next to her, clenching her teeth together as she pushed through the still lingering pain in her leg.

Facing Hunter and the others with a hurt and mad look in her eyes, she cried back, her tone turning icy, “Well, maybe if I felt I could talk to you or any of you about Crosshair, I wouldn't have felt the need to keep this from you to begin with!” As all the Clones’ eyes went wide at her comment, she kept going, getting even more heated, “You guys won't talk about Crosshair! You know how many times we've talked about him in all the time he's been gone? Once! And even then it was a short conversation. How else was I supposed to cope with him leaving us when I felt I couldn't come to any of you about him? I miss him terribly and I have felt all alone in dealing with that since Kamino. I did what I felt was right for me and I know it was an error in judgment. I admit that. I don’t need you all berating me about it, especially you, Hunter!” Then she kept her focus on Hunter, who was staying silent, as she continued on, her voice rising, “I already feel guilty for leading Crosshair to us in my desperation! I know I betrayed your trust! I’m angry at him for lying to me and manipulating me! I failed to protect Omega from the bounty hunter and more than everything else, I nearly lost all hope because I thought you were dead!”

The way she nearly screamed the word “dead” made Hunter rear back and Echo, Wrecker and Tech were surprised to hear her raise her voice in a way they’d never heard before.

“I thought not only had I lost Omega, but that I’d lost you, too!” she said as began to cry, her emotions spilling through like a broken dam. “I thought I was about to lose everything because of my mistakes! I’m sorry for all that I’ve done. I know you have every right to be angry, but please…understand that I never meant any harm to this squad. Never! I’m sorry!”

Finally, she couldn’t bear it any longer and fell back into her chair, turned away from everyone and wept bitterly, her guilt, anger and sorrow tearing her apart. Even though she knew she deserved all of this, it still didn’t make it hurt any less. She wished to take back everything she had done. She should’ve known better than to reach out to Crosshair in the first place. Better yet, she should’ve known him suddenly showing interest in reuniting was too good to be true. Her foolishness and hubris had almost cost them so much so quickly.

A few seconds later, Kimber felt someone’s arms slide under her and carefully pick her up off the chair. When she lifted her head, she found herself looking up at Wrecker, who said nothing to either her or the others and he simply turned and walked towards the back of the ship towards the bunk area. He activated the door to Hunter’s bunk and walked inside, closing the door behind him and then setting Kimber down carefully onto the bed.

She sniffled and brushed away her tears. “Thank you, Wrecker,” she told him shakily.

He knelt down in front of her, a sorrowful look on his face. “I miss Crosshair, too, you know,” he told her. “I’m sorry I never really talked about him and made you feel lonely.”

“Wrecker…,” she said sadly, feeling even more guilty about Wrecker apologizing to her.

“I get why you did what you did and I’m sorry things went wrong. You didn’t deserve any of it,” he then added.

“Why…why are you apologizing? Why aren’t you mad at me?” she asked, puzzled.

The gentle giant of a Clone shook his head. “I was confused at first about why you contacted him, but I get it now. You didn’t know what was going to happen and you were only trying to help. You wanted Crosshair back…I know how that feels.” He then laid a consoling hand on her shoulder. “I think you need to take some time alone. It’ll give you and the others all time to cool down. We’ve been through a lot today.”

After smoothing away a couple more stray tears, she declared, “We need to focus on finding Omega.”

“We will,” he promised, “but I don’t want any of us to kill each other before we find her.”

She gave a nod, understanding his point.

“It’ll be okay. Hunter, Echo and Tech won’t be mad forever,” he reassured her.

“I would deserve it, though,” she replied, downtrodden.

Wrecker wasn’t going to accept that answer. “Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself,” he said. “We’ve gotten through worse before. We’ll get through this. I promise.”

With a gentle grasp of her shoulder, he stood back up and left Kimber alone in the room. After he left, she held her face in her hands, inhaling and exhaling deeply to keep herself from crying some more. Her guilt over her actions weighed heavily on her heart and her mind, wondering how she would ever be able to atone for what she’d done. On top of that, she kept wondering and asking so many questions in her mind. What had happened to Crosshair back on Bracca? Who was the bounty hunter that had kidnapped Omega? Where had they gone? How were they ever going to find him? Was Omega still okay? Would Hunter ever forgive her for losing the kid they all had grown attached to?

They had to find her. Somehow, they had to. If anything happened to Omega, Kimber would never forgive herself.

Around half an hour or so later, Kimber decided she wanted to go back out into the main cabin. Sitting in her room alone with her thoughts wasn't doing her much good. Though, the main area of the ship maybe wouldn't be much better, if the boys were still angry at her, but she'd take her chances. Either way, she just didn't want to be alone. Luckily, one of the boys had brought her armor and weapons back to the room when Echo had been tending to her leg, so she took up her sniper rifle at the end of the cot, stood it upright with the barrel on the floor and used it to brace herself as she stood up. She positioned the back end underneath her arm and made her rifle into a makeshift crutch. Even though any of the Clones could easily carry her around, she didn't want them doing that. Especially since some of them maybe wouldn't want to right now, so she thought of a way to take care of herself. After that, she took a step forward, testing it out. The rifle seemed to suffice enough for her to walk. The bacta, luckily, was working its magic as the pain in her leg was beginning to dull. Not fully, but enough to where walking would be just tolerable enough. She opened up the door and, with a deep breath, hobbled out into the ship.

As she came out, she heard Echo ask, “What did the bounty hunter look like?”

Then Hunter's voice answered, “He was a Duros.”

“There are a few different Duros bounty hunters. Anything that can narrow it down?” Echo replied.

Kimber clarified as she entered the cabin, “He had a wide-brimmed hat, if that helps.”

She noticed Wrecker and Hunter were gathered around the navicomputer with Echo sitting in the seat in front of it. They all turned to face her once they heard her voice, looks of sad uncertainty in their eyes.

“Look, it doesn't matter how you boys feel about me right now,” she told them as she slowly made her way over to them. “What matters is finding Omega and we're going to have to work together to do that.”

For a moment, Hunter still appeared unsure, but then he lightly sighed and shook his head. “You’re right,” he relented. “We can figure everything else out later.”

Kimber gave him a grateful nod.

A few seconds later, after typing out some things on the computer, Echo pulled up an image and stated, “Your description of the bounty hunter is a match to one from the Republic's files.”

Sure enough, the image he’d pulled up was the Duros bounty hunter that both Hunter and Kimber had gone up against. His outfit was a little different with a long, brown overcoat and his hat had a much wider brim, but they both recognized him right away and confirmed it.

“Cad Bane,” Echo told them. “He had multiple run-ins with the Jedi and was responsible for attempting to abduct Chancellor Palpatine.”

“Well, now we can add child kidnapping to that list,” Kimber added, glaring up at the image of Cad Bane as she made sure to lock that name away.

“First the bounty hunter on Pantora and now this guy? Why are they after the kid?” Wrecker demanded in irritation.

Then Tech emerged from the cockpit with his datapad like usual and answered Wrecker’s question, saying, “Because she is more valuable than we realized.”

“What do you mean?” asked Hunter.

Tech clarified, “I further analyzed Omega's genetic profile and discovered she has pure, first-generation DNA.”

Everyone’s eyes went wide with surprise.

“Whoa! Wait. W-W-What does that mean?” Wrecker asked, puzzled.

“First-generation? Like Rex? How is that possible?” Kimber then questioned, looking at Hunter and then back to Tech.

Tech then went on to explain, “All clones were created from a host named Jango Fett. While our genetic structure was modified for growth acceleration and obedience, Omega is a pure genetic replication.”

“How many Clones like that exist?” Hunter inquired.

The answer Tech gave him was a curious one: there was only one other Clone in existence like Omega. It was another male Clone with the code-name of Alpha, but was later called Boba. Then Tech mentioned that Boba had disappeared near the start of the Clone Wars and that left Omega as the sole living source of Jango Fett’s raw genetic material…which could only mean one thing.

“The Kaminoans…!” Kimber deduced aloud.

Echo seemed to have come to the same conclusion as he said right after her to Hunter, “If she's vital to the Kaminoans' cloning operation, they must have put the bounty on her.”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” said Kimber.

Then Wrecker posed the question, “So how do we find this bounty hunter?”

Hunter told Tech to check with Cid and see if she had any contacts that could help while the rest of them could keep monitoring comms for any incoming signals. With that, he retreated into the cockpit and went over to the communications panel.

“I would ask the girls to help, but Irys told me that getting information on bounty hunters is one of the few things she can’t do. Anything within the bounty hunter’s guild is locked pretty tight, even for her,” Kimber told the others.

“That and most likely, they’re busy helping Rina by this point,” added Echo. “She and Kida should’ve made it back to Ord Mantell by now.”

“I’m sure they did,” said Kimber back, hobbling over to the chair on the opposite side of the cabin.

Just as she turned around and leaned on her rifle to carefully lower herself down into the seat, Echo suddenly appeared in front of her and took her free hand in his, bracing under her arm with his scomp. He gave her a kind smile that surprised her and he helped her sit down, letting her use his arm to lean on more than her rifle.

“Thanks,” she said timidly.

He sat back down in the seat across the aisle and said to her calmly, “Listen, Kim…I know dealing with Crosshair’s absence has been hard for you…but you should’ve come to us. You shouldn’t have kept secrets from us. We’re a squad; we look out for each other.”

She hung her head. “I know,” she said softly.

Then Tech put in his two credits by saying, “Echo is right. If all of us were to act on our own accord in all we do, then the synergy of our squad would be imbalanced. We all rely on each other, both in battle and in other matters. While loss is not something most of us are, indeed, too familiar with, it is still something we must now all endure together…and that includes you, Kimber.”

Kimber lifted her head and looked up at him, her eyes glistening slightly.

“I suppose it was a slight on our part to not have suspected your pain would be different than ours when Crosshair joined the Empire, seeing as you had a close connection to him…but we will no longer let you suffer alone,” Tech vowed.

“The point is: we should’ve been there for you more, from the beginning of all this,” said Echo. “Had we done that, maybe you wouldn’t have felt the need to resort to desperate measures.”

However, she shook her head. “It’s not your fault. Like Tech said, we’ve been dealing with things you guys aren’t entirely familiar with and therefore, I shouldn’t expect you to know how to handle it any better than me.”

Echo stood up from his chair and knelt down on a knee in front of Kimber, grasping her hand and saying her name to prompt her to look at him. When she met his soft gaze, he assured her, “We’re a squad and we help each other. All of us. Even if we don’t fully understand how to cope with some things, we’ll figure it out. That’s what we do.” He tightened his hold on her hand just a bit. “Don’t isolate your feelings just because you don’t think we’d understand. We do, more than you know. Please, don’t keep us in the dark or keep secrets from us again, okay?”

She stole a look up at Tech, as well, and he gave her a sincere nod. It astonished her how quickly Echo and Tech were to forgive her for this. Though, she wasn’t going to take it for granted. In response, she simply nodded and replied, “I won’t. I promise.”

Satisfied with that, Tech then declared, “Echo and I shall reach out to Cid.” After that, the two of them proceeded to start typing things out on the computer as well as the datapad.

Wrecker came up beside Kimber and said, laying a hand on her upper back, “See? I told you they’d come around.”

“Yeah…but there’s still Hunter,” she responded.

“Don’t worry. He might be mad right now, but…he loves you more than anything,” Wrecker told her gently. “I know you guys will work through it. You always do.”

“I hope so…I feel like I’ve disappointed him more than the rest of you,” she admitted.

He rubbed her back. “Love is stronger than disappointment.”

She snickered lightly and turned her gaze up to him. “It would seem love has also made you wiser,” she observed.

The big guy said nothing, but smiled encouragingly.

Then Kimber stole a look down the way to where she could see Hunter sitting in the cockpit, continuously pushing buttons on the console to monitor their comm channels. She could tell he was already determined to work himself to the bone until they found Omega, despite his injury. She knew she was going to have to keep an eye on him. Hopefully, once Omega was found, she'd have a chance to talk things over with him and make amends for what she'd done.

If he'd let her.

Not long later, Kimber decided to join Hunter in the cockpit. Not to try and apologize just yet; he was too distracted for that, but to see if she could help and perhaps keep him company…and possibly help him stay sane.

When she limped into the front of the ship, Hunter was sitting there, his arm propped up against the side console and his hand resting against his forehead. Then he flinched a little and his other hand came up to his bandaged chest, sharply sucking in air through his teeth. Kimber’s heart ached at seeing him in pain, both physically and emotionally.

“I can take over if you need a break,” she spoke up.

He glanced up briefly over his shoulder upon hearing her voice, but then turned back to the console, stating through a grunt, “I’m fine.”

“Darling…you’re still in pain,” she told him.

“I’ll worry about that after we find Omega,” he simply replied, not even looking back at her as he resumed tapping keys on the console.

She hobbled up next to him and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, feeling his body instinctively relax a little at her touch. “Neglecting yourself isn’t going to help us find her any faster, Hunter, and we will find her… but you need to pace yourself. We still need you here, too, as much as she does.”

For a second, his head turned her way slightly and she thought he was going to try and argue some more, but instead, he let out a frustrated sigh, his head hanging low. Then he reached over and grasped her hand on his shoulder, his grip tight with need, and she curled her fingers around his. It seemed that, despite how angry he was at her, he still couldn’t deny the comfort she was offering him. Not when he desperately needed it in the moment.

Then he said, his voice low and despondent, “I just hope she’s okay.”

“I’m sure she is,” she responded. “If it’s the Kaminoans that want her, I have no doubt that they’ll want her unharmed. Besides, she’s a smart girl. I’m sure she’ll be able to look out for herself until we find her.” She wanted so much to lean down and kiss his brow, but decided against it as he might not welcome such a gesture just yet. Instead, she just tightened her grip on his hand, which he returned. Though, he still didn’t look back at her.

A few seconds later, Echo came into the room, declaring with irritation, “Yeah, Cid knows all about Bane, but not how to find him. She said we're on our own.”

“Of course,” replied Kimber, rolling her eyes. Cid was never useful when they needed her to be.

Just then, they heard a faint, tiny voice come in over their comm channel, “Come in. Come in. Anyone?”

Echo, Hunter and Kimber all exchanged looks of shock. It was Omega’s voice!

“Omega?” Wrecker cried out, running in from the back with Tech behind him.

“Omega, are you there? Omega!” Hunter cried out into the communication panel, but there was no reply.

“It’s long-range. I’ll try to boost the signal,” Echo declared, darting back to the front controls.

After putting in a few codes to boost the comm signal, they heard Omega’s voice come through, “Is anyone there?” Even though they could hear her, it was still staticy and hard to hear at first.

“Omega, do you copy?” Hunter asked.

They heard her gasp Hunter’s name with joy before saying, “I'm here. I got away, but you have to hurry!.”

“I knew you’d find a way! Where are you, Omega?” Kimber then asked.

There was a glitch in the signal for a second before they heard her answer, “I don’t know where I am.”

“Hang on, kid. We’re comin’ for ya!” Wrecker cried out.

Echo was trying to trace the signal, but he groaned aloud and stated, “The signal's too weak to establish a direct connection trace.”

Tech then came forward and began instructing Omega over the comm on how to give them a relay on her position, asking her to create a power surge where she was. They all waited in anticipation for Omega’s responses to Tech’s instructions and were relieved every time they could hear her voice. However, at one point, Tech gave her another set of instructions and there wasn’t a reply. Tech spoke her name to get her attention and there was nothing but static and the sounds of a struggle on the other end.

“What’s happening?” Kimber questioned.

“I still can’t get a good read,” Tech answered.

Then they all jumped slightly as they heard Omega’s fearful voice suddenly cry, “Hunter, I need you!”

Hunter shoved Tech aside to get to the comm panel, yelling Omega’s name in a panic. Then the signal was suddenly lost.

“No!” Kimber cried out, slamming a fist on the dash. “The bounty hunter must’ve found her and cut off her communications.”

“Can you find her signal again?” Hunter asked Tech, urgency in his voice.

Tech shook his head. “It was still too weak for me to pinpoint her exact location.”

“We need to get it back,” said Hunter.

“Calm down,” Kimber told him, grabbing his arm. When he looked at her, slightly irritated that she was stopping him, she continued, “Like I told you, she’s a smart girl. She already found a way to get a signal to us, she can do it again. All we can do for her right now is wait, continue monitoring our comm channels and be ready when we hear from her again.”

He clenched his teeth together impatiently. They had finally gotten word from Omega and just as soon as they’d heard from her, they lost her again. Where could she even be? But the steadfast look in Kimber’s eyes directed at him gave him pause. He knew Kimber was right and he had to remind himself that Omega was indeed an intelligent girl. She’d managed to get away from the bounty hunter long enough to get a message to them without their help. If she’d managed to do it once already, then she could surely do it again.

With a deep breath to calm his anxiety, Hunter gave her a nod of understanding.

Then, turning to Tech, Kimber inquired, “Were you able to get any sort of reading at all as to where she might possibly be?”

He turned to his datapad and answered, “There was nothing substantial, but it seemed as though it was coming from somewhere in a system not far from us.”

“Then why don’t we just head that way and get a headstart?” suggested Wrecker.

“There are still several planets in that part of the galaxy. If we bypass the correct one, that could prove detrimental to Omega’s rescue,” Tech pointed out.

The four of them continued to debate on different possible options they could do until a few minutes later, they heard beeping coming from the main computer and Echo declared from the co-pilot’s seat, “I think I've got her. She's in the Lido system.”

“Where in the Lido system?” Wrecker asked as they all rushed forward to the computer to see what it was displaying.

Echo pushed a few keys and stated, “I'm pinpointing the exact coordinates. Hang on!”

Within seconds, the Marauder was back in hyperspace, heading towards Omega’s location and all they could do was hope they’d be able to reach her in time. Not much time passed when they exited hyperspace and they soon ended up in an unknown planet’s red-orange and cloudy atmosphere. They were all searching out the viewport for any sign of Omega or any nearby civilization.

The ship’s proximity sensor began to chirp and Tech informed the others, “I’m picking up a nearby vessel, but it’s descending fast towards the surface.”

As they kept watch out the window, Kimber spotted what the proximity sensor had picked up: it was a round flight pod soaring downward through the sky.

“There!” she cried, pointing through the viewport. “It’s a flight pod. That must be her!”

“Tech, take over the controls,” said Echo. “I’ll prep the docking clamp.”

Echo and Tech seamlessly transitioned as Tech jumped into the pilot’s seat and took control of the ship, angling it down after the flight pod, while Echo ran to the back of the ship and started getting the docking clamp ready to catch the flight pod. Hunter and Wrecker ran after him with Kimber limping behind them on her rifle crutch. After a moment of quiet anticipation, they heard the clang on the underbelly of the ship as the flight pod was caught on the clamp and the Marauder docked on top of it. Echo opened the docking port, gas releasing from inside the pod as it opened, and Wrecker knelt down and peered inside.

“Omega! Are you in there?” he called down.

To everyone’s relief, they heard Omega’s small, trembling voice cry out Wrecker’s name from down below. They had found her!

Wrecker reached down and pulled her out of the pod, happy to have her back. Once she was safely inside the ship, Echo released the flight pod from the ship and Tech flew the ship back up into the sky, preparing to exit the planet’s atmosphere.

The poor girl had her hands in cuffs and she looked so scared, which made Kimber’s heart ache. She grew even sadder when Omega turned and leaned against Hunter, making him flinch in pain. Kimber knew Omega probably had shared the same fear as she did, thinking Hunter had died back on Bracca and now, she was relieved to see he was alive. Ignoring the pain from his injury, Hunter still smiled sweetly as he looked down at Omega, just happy to have her back.

He knelt down and asked her, taking her gently by the shoulders, “Are you okay, Omega? Are you hurt?”

She sniffled and asked tearfully, “Why is this happening? Why are the Kaminoans after me?”

With that one question, the squad’s suspicions were confirmed. It had been the Kaminoans who had sent Cad Bane after her and she’d found out about it.

“Hunter…you have to tell her,” Echo urged their Sergeant.

With a pained expression in his eyes and face, Hunter explained to Omega, “You're…valuable to them. More than all the other Clones, even more than us. You're…different.”

Apprehensively, she asked him, “Different? How?”

The conversation Hunter and the rest of the squad had with Omega following her rescue was not an easy one. Explaining to her that she was a vital key to the Cloning process wasn’t easy for her to hear, but she held herself together surprisingly well. For someone that had just been through a kidnapping, she was doing better than they expected. Hunter soon ordered that everyone get rest once Tech found a spot in space to just let the ship hover for a while.

However, as Kimber tried to rest, she found it hard to go to sleep. Hunter had elected to stay out in the cockpit for a while, saying he would keep watch. Though, Kimber wasn’t sure she bought that excuse. There really wasn’t any reason for him to keep watch for anything, especially now that their ship’s signature was scrambled and the Empire couldn’t track them. No…she had a feeling it was because he still wasn’t happy with her and didn’t want to share the room with her at the moment. Not having him beside her was making it hard for her to sleep, not to mention the dull aching in her injured leg. After determining she wasn’t going to get rest anytime soon, she decided she was going to go out and finally speak to Hunter. He would be alone and he was the last one she needed to make amends with. The others were quicker to forgive her for what she’d done, but she knew Hunter would need more convincing.

She took up her rifle again and made her way out of the bunk. Though, as she got to the cabin of the ship, she could hear voices from further in. She peeked around the corner and saw Hunter speaking to Omega in the cockpit.

“If I'm as valuable as you say, Lama Su will keep sending bounty hunters after me,” she heard Omega say.

Then Hunter responded with conviction, “He can send everyone in the galaxy. You have us.”

Kimber smiled to herself. Hunter’s determination to keep Omega safe honestly just made her fall even more in love with him. For someone who had never cared for a child before, he was doing rather well with Omega. Then she heard Omega tell him that he couldn’t fight everyone and she watched as Hunter got out of his chair, crouched in front of Omega, turned her chair to face him and lovingly told her she had nothing to worry about, vowing that she would never have to return to Kamino. Kimber could only pray deep down that he wasn’t making a promise he couldn’t keep. Of course, they all would do everything in their power to keep the kid safe…but would it prove to be enough?

Once Omega seemed calm enough, Hunter told her to go try and sleep, which she obeyed. As she walked towards the gunner’s mount, Omega caught sight of Kimber waiting near the back, jogged over to her and hugged her around the waist. Kimber lightly chuckled, touched by the young Clone’s affection, and softly smoothed her hair. When she pulled away, Omega simply smiled gratefully up at Kimber and then climbed up into her makeshift room in the gunner’s mount, pulling the curtain shut behind her.

When Kimber looked back towards the cockpit, Hunter was standing there staring at her. He looked a little startled to see her, but there was also still hurt in his eyes as well as yearning; yearning to just understand everything she had done.

“Hunter…,” she simply said, beginning her walk towards the front of the ship on her rifle.

Though, after she took a couple steps, he told her, “Put that down.” Then he walked towards her and said, holding out a hand to her, “Come here.”

Timidly, she listened and set her rifle against the wall, bracing herself on one of the chairs as she did so. Then she reached out and took Hunter’s hand and he proceeded to guide her arm over his head and across his shoulders, letting her put her weight on him as he walked her towards the cockpit. Once they got there, he carefully eased her down into the seat Omega had occupied not minutes prior before sitting back down in the other chair as she thanked him.

Still at least thinking he’d be cordial, he asked her, “How are you doing?”

Kimber wasn’t expecting him to be so at ease with her, but maybe getting Omega back had softened him up a bit, she supposed. With a light scoff, she replied, “Remember when we first met? I was so much worse than this. That and I’ve been shot and stabbed before, so this is nothing to me.” Then flashes of Hunter being shot by Cad Bane crossed her mind and tears began to fill her eyes at the memory.

Right away, Hunter noticed her tears and sensed her emotions were rising. “What's wrong?” he asked.

Her voice cracked as she answered tearfully, turning away from him, “The pain of my wound...and all other wounds I've suffered...was nothing compared to the pain that grew in my heart when I saw Bane shoot you.” She turned back to him. “I thought we'd lost you, Hunter...I thought I had lost you.”

He reassured her, “I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart.”

Even though hearing him call her “sweetheart” seemed like a good sign, her fears weren’t put at ease by his words. “ You can say that all you like...but think about it: we both got shot and Omega was taken from us in nothing flat,” she went on to tell him. “You may not go anywhere willingly, but that doesn't mean it won't happen in ways that we don't expect. We're not untouchable, Hunter, and it's unwise to think we are if we simply promise to be, not in the world we live in now. The galaxy is against us and we need to take better care. I know you were protecting Omega, as was I, and I would never tell you not to, but you were almost killed...and I couldn't bear it. It was my worst nightmares coming true. I can't watch that happen to you again. I can't lose you.” Then her head fell as she felt her tears threatening to seep out of her eyes, squeezing them shut tightly to keep herself from crying and remembering the devastation she’d felt momentarily at seeing Hunter being shot.

A few seconds passed and she suddenly felt Hunter take her hands in his. When she opened her eyes, he was kneeling in front of her, looking up at her with soft sympathy in his eyes. “Kimber, I'm here. Bane didn't kill me,” he consoled her. Then he brought her hand up to his chest and held her open palm over his heart. “Feel me...I'm here with you,” he said.

Kimber nearly cried some more at this gesture. Normally, that was her tactic to calm him down when anything had nearly happened to her. This was the first time he had used it to help her. Feeling his steady heartbeat thumping in his chest gave her the comforting reminder she needed. Her nightmares were still only dreams; they hadn’t come true and Hunter was still with her, alive and well. She let herself fall forward until her forehead gently made contact with his. There they stayed for a moment that she wished would last forever, relishing in each other’s presence, as if to remind themselves that neither of them were dead and that they were still together.

Then Kimber broke the silence by saying, “You’re here…and so is Omega. We got her back. All is well now.”

However, Hunter sighed quietly and responded, “Not quite.” Then he pulled away and sat himself back in the chair, a conflicted look on his face.

This was the moment Kimber had been dreading and she tensed up, anticipating whatever Hunter was about to throw at her.

He brought a hand up to his forehead and rubbed between his eyes in vexation. “Kimber…I just…I have so many questions,” he said with a sigh. Then he looked back at her and continued calmly yet still with a hint of disappointment, “Help me understand…why you reached out to Crosshair. Why did you do it?”

Ashamed, she turned away and hugged her arms tightly. “I…I missed him…and I didn’t know what else to do. It was the only thing I could think of doing to help cope with his absence,” she answered.

“Does anyone else know?” he then inquired.

“Only Irys,” she told him, “but it was only because she overheard me sending a message and quickly figured it out.”

There was silence briefly and then he asked next, “When did this start?”

She released a breath slowly, preparing her explanation and readying herself for however Hunter would react. “When we crashed on that moon some time ago…after the one singular time we talked about Crosshair. I was emotional thinking about him and when I went back to our bunk to be alone…I just acted impulsively and sent him a message, just pleading to understand why he left us and to come back. This was before we fully understood the significance of the inhibitor chips.” She paused for a moment, waiting for him to say anything, but he kept quiet, his sights focused outside the viewport. When he didn’t respond, she kept going, “Then I messaged him again when we were first going to Ord Mantell and then shortly before the Imperial gala. On that subject…he was there, Hunter.”

That was what made Hunter finally turn and look at her again. “What?”

Giving him an affirming nod, she said, “Crosshair was there at the gala. I saw him as we were escaping…and I found out he saw me when he contacted me on Bracca.”

Hunter ran his hand over his face, exasperated. He had no idea things with Kimber and Crosshair had gone so far. He was confused, trepidatious and concerned, unsure of just how to react to any of this information. Then he said, his tone still composed yet with no less bite to it, “Even though you knew he has the chip in his head, you still told him where we were. How could you do something so reckless?”

She rubbed her arms for self-comfort. “I was only trying to help him,” she said in a low voice. “I know now I wasn’t thinking clearly, I was just…desperate. I thought we could remove his chip and he would return to us. I was….” She was about to say something, but then a realization came to her mind and she stopped herself at first. Then, with a defeated sigh, she admitted, “I was thinking of the squad, at first…but now I see that I was only thinking of myself. In doing so, I put all of us at risk.”

“Why did you keep all this from me?”

“I just knew, after what he did, you wouldn’t react well to anything involving Crosshair. I felt alone and didn’t know what to do.”

“Kimber, you know you can talk to me about anything.”

“Not about this.” Kimber turned back to Hunter, melancholy written all over her face. “You shut down when Crosshair is brought up, which was what happened on that moon the first time.”

Somehow, Hunter hadn't fully recognized the way he'd handled Crosshair's absence and betrayal. Whenever he was reminded of it, he didn't want to think about it lest it make him more upset…but he never realized that avoiding that subject affected Kimber so much. A small wave of remorse washed over him as his gaze drifted away.

Kimber added, “Though…I can’t really blame you. This kind of loss is new for you; for all of us. He hurt you and he hurt me, too”

“Guess we both haven’t been coping with it very well…and all of us not talking about him didn’t help things,” he commented warily.

“Not really,” she affirmed.

There was another moment of awkward silence between the two of them. Both of them were experiencing guilt over the days’ circumstances and just weren’t sure of what to say to each other. The tension was heavy and uncomfortable, both of them waiting for the other to speak.

Then finally, Kimber said, her voice quiet yet resolute, “Listen…I’m sorry for what I did. I never should’ve reached out to Crosshair in the first place and I definitely shouldn’t have told him where we were. I only ever had good intentions…but I know that isn’t a good enough excuse. Even Omega getting captured was my fault because I failed to protect her. I put all of us in danger and I messed everything up. I broke the squad’s trust…I broke your trust. You have every right to not trust me right now, but please know I would never intentionally endanger this squad. I made a mistake, I know that. I’m so sorry and I hope you can forgive me eventually. I’ll do anything to earn your trust again.”

At first, Hunter didn’t reply. His head hung down and he appeared lost in thought. Kimber supposed he was probably thinking of how awful she was or maybe he didn’t fully believe her apology. So many worst-case scenarios ran through her head that filled her with fear; fear of how her actions were ultimately going to affect her greatest relationship. Then a few seconds later, he stood up from his seat, knelt down on one leg in front of her and grabbed hold of her hands again, running his thumbs over the back of her hands.

“Can you at least promise that you won’t do anything like that again?” he requested.

Immediately, she nodded. “I promise. Even though he still is being controlled by the chip…Crosshair still betrayed me a second time and I have no desire to try contacting him again. I've learned my lesson.”

The corners of his lips twitched up ever so slightly with satisfaction. His hand came up and cradled her cheek ever so gently, making her instinctively lean into his touch. “Then I forgive you,” he told her.

Her heart leapt for joy at hearing those words. Her hands came up and grasped his that held her face as she turned her head and pressed her lips gratefully into his palm. She’d believed it would’ve taken a lot to earn his trust again, but she was relieved that her Sergeant was quicker to forgive her this time.

Holding his hand against her cheek, she looked at him and said lastly, “I’m sorry I disappointed you.”

With a small shrug, he replied, “Well…love is stronger than disappointment.”

She blinked, taken aback at hearing those familiar words from earlier. “Wrecker said the exact same thing to me.”

“I know…I heard him,” he stated. Then he removed his hand and his expression turned sad and full of regret as he said, “And he was right. I reacted too harshly and in my anger, I said some hurtful things to you. What Wrecker said made me realize that that isn’t how I should treat the woman I love.”

“You had every right to be mad at me,” she said back.

Shaking his head, he countered, “But I accused you of being the reason Omega was kidnapped, even though Cad Bane being there had nothing to do with what you had done. That wasn’t fair to you and I shouldn’t have done that.” He heaved a loud sigh. “I hate it when we fight.”

She agreed, “So do I.”

He took hold of her hands again, brought them up to his lips and pressed a firm kiss to her knuckles on each hand. He then returned his apologetic gaze to her and said, “I’m sorry, Kimber. Can you forgive me?”

With a content smile of relief, she traced his cheek lightly and answered, “Of course, darling.”

Pleased that she too was willing to forgive him, he pressed a kiss to her palm. As her hand lowered back to her lap, he then said, “No more secrets?”

“No more secrets,” she repeated.

With that promise now between them, Hunter leaned forward until their foreheads met, his nose gently brushing hers. “I love you, sweetheart.”

Kimber smiled again, her gladness almost overpowering her now. “I love you, too.” After a short moment, she pulled back and went on to ask him, “Will you come to bed?”

He released a tiny scoff and relented, saying, “All right. I will…but you're not going back to the room using that.” Then he gestured with his head back to her rifle still propped against the wall.

“What? It was the best I could do, given the circumstances,” she replied with a grin.

“There's no need for a crutch when you have me,” he said back. Then without waiting for a response, he stood up and pulled her up with him, draping her arm over his shoulders and supporting her around the waist. “But hopefully, your leg will heal in no time.”

Nestling her head into his neck, she purred, “I'll still choose to lean on you even then, my darling.”

She felt him kiss her hair and with all being said and done, they retreated back to their bunk for some much-needed rest after a long and stressful day.

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theknightofivanhoe · 2 months

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That’s fine. Just saying; when Dr Hemlock made it to Ord Mantell and the battle through the streets erupted, Raney might have probably seen that as a ripe opportunity to ambush Kimber, which might have meant Hunter would be faced not just with Omega gone. But what the heck, we can just assume he went after Kimber between ‘Kamino Lost’ and ‘Spoils of War’ and she killed him then.

Hello, Morgan, got to the recent Sun and Rain chapter, it’ll be a miracle if the Batch can reconcile with Kimber after she gave them away to Crosshair. The fact that Cad Bane is in series 3 convinces me Kimber won’t forget how he shot her in the leg.

Because series 3 is the finale, slightly wondering if there might probably be a final one-on-one showdown between Kimber and the Zygerrian Raney, possibly with Koriena force at her back, but just curious is all.

Hey there, friend! Glad you enjoyed my latest chapter! Yeah...things are gonna be tense with the boys, that's for sure 😅

Oh no, she's not gonna forget Cad Bane...though, not because he shot her in the leg, but because he shot and nearly killed the love of her life in front of her. You don't forget that kind of thing ever.

Since Raney has yet to re-appear in the show and I don't necessarily see them bringing him back, I'm gonna say no. If they do bring him back in the show in season 3, then maybe, depending on what happens, but I'm not banking on it.

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theknightofivanhoe · 2 months

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Justice League: Question's Hard Drive Ch 5: Fine Dining and The Team Leader

Table of Contents

(Everyone brace yourselves)

A glass of red in her hand, Helena smiled and relaxed in her chair. The plinking piano tune still accompanied the chatter of other guests who had now resumed eating after that little incident at the balcony. Question, now with his fedora back on, stuck a lump of his zucchini and chorizo onto his fork and lifted it to his face as silently as a tombstone. Clearly he was going to make good on his promise to enjoy the date, so far at least.

Now that things had been settled between the two vigilantes, the atmosphere around the restaurant was more-or-less back to normal. The fact that Question was actually having his dinner was enough to pacify Helena who dined rather indulgently on her turkey meatballs and puttanesca spaghetti. Her date, however, had his head lowered so that no one could see him eating behind the brim of his fedora. Before they had started, Helena had only seen him take something that strangely looked like a can from his coat pocket before lifting it to his mask. From behind the shade of his hat’s brim, she had heard a hissing sound before Question started tucking in, she hoped. Twisting some of her spaghetti, Helena paused as a sliver of suspicion popped in her mind. As Question took another lump of zucchini, she peered below the table. “No, Helena, I’m not dropping my food under the table to avoid eating it.” his voice told her from under his hat. Raising an eyebrow, she returned her attention to her own meal. “You’d better not.” Deciding that this time Question had got the message for once, she continued eating. What she couldn’t help but notice was just how silent their dinner was, apart from the piano music. Just watching the conspiracy theorist cagily pick at his food without a sound was starting to annoy her.

After a few more seconds of him silently eating under the cover of his hat, Helena decided it was time to liven things up a little. “So, Q…” she piped up, putting on a smile with which she intended to channel some of that old Bertinelli charm, “How’s the food?” “It’s okay.” came Question’s voice, a morsel of chorizo disappearing behind his fedora’s brim. “Aw, come on…” Helena persuaded, “Anything you like about your dish…in particular? I mean, these…” She glanced down at her plate, pondering what to say next. In a second, Helena got an idea and put on a slightly husky voice. “These…balls…” Her rouged lips slid into a mischievous smirk and she stared at Question, waiting for a reaction. “Excuse me, wha -” “Well,” Helena purred, sticking her fork into a meatball and raising it. “Don’t these balls just look…delicious…?” Question didn’t even raise his head even as he awkwardly cut through some zucchini. “Aren’t they the most divine…scrumptious…” Helena torturously whispered, moving the meat on her fork towards him, “Succulent, moist, juicy balls ever…?” She spotted how Question was unable to bring the zucchini slice to his face. ‘Gotcha.’ she thought, her grin brimming with glee. “Right, my baby doll…? You just gotta give these delectable balls a good licking…” Keeping her dark eyes on him, Helena opened her mouth and her tongue lolled out towards the meatball on the tip of her fork. Her breathing grew slightly heavy, the grunts and inhaling growing quite audible. All this seemed to just paralyse Question. While she gauged him for any outward reaction, Helena edged her mouth nearer and nearer to the meatball in a rather drawn-out, leisurely fashion. Still, Question sat and stared down at his plate, almost as if looking up might be a deathwish. When Helena’s moist tongue made contact with the meat on her fork, she exhaled in sheer rapture at its taste. “Mmm - mmmmm…” she went, swallowing the meat in one go, grunting and breathing out through her munches. Difficult as it was to read Question under his hat, she watched as he snatched up his glass of wine and brought it to his hidden face. “Needing something stiff already?” Helena grinned, not willing to let up. There was a muted gulp, then a cough through the glass before Question smacked it back onto the table, having taken a great deal more than a sip. “And how’s the chorizo and zucchini?” Helena continued seductively, leaning her chin on her palm. “I mean, if I’d ordered it, I’d be sucking on it…” She proceeded to loop some strings of spaghetti around her fork, then lazily slurped them through her red-tinged lips. “And sucking on it…hard…” “So what’s all this clever wordplay in aid of…?” a possibly flustered Question demanded, though Helena felt sure she could detect a somewhat wry tone in his voice. It could be that he wasn’t so resistant to her after all. “So you’re having a great time already, Q?” she asked softly. “Well clearly I’ve got to.” he reminded her, considering she had dangled him out of the balcony a few minutes back. “Well just wait til you see the movie I picked for tonight.” Helena replied excitedly before sipping some red. “And what movie is that?” asked Question, putting his fork into some chorizo. “We’re going to see ‘1000 Bullets.’” Helena smiled in anticipation. Question just lowered his fork after popping in a lump of chorizo. “So you’ve confiscated my data and delayed the League’s investigation on CADMUS…purely for some mindlessly violent spy movie?” “Yep, and that hard drive will stay on me, til we’ve watched this kickass shoot-em-up, knockout spy movie.” Helena declared smugly with a wag of her fork in his direction. “So it didn’t occur to you that this movie’s director, Azzarello, may be a member of the - ” “Q, remember what we said…” Helena threatened, a frown on her face. “Oh, right.” Question backed off, not quite wanting to get dangled from a great height a second time. “1000 Bullets it is.” “Good answer.” Helena agreed as she resumed her meal.

After some more eating, Question only raised his head by a centimetre, still keeping his face obscured under his hat. “Helena, about the data…” he asked, “You wouldn’t care to tell me where it is at the moment, would you?” Right when she had popped some spaghetti into her mouth, Helena paused. Her eyes flashed over to Question, before she smirked back. “…Where indeed?” The response came out in a devious tone, only serving to rouse Question’s suspicions further. “Yes…where?” he insisted from behind his hat’s brim. Helena’s smirk just grew even wider. Her crossed legs squeezed tightly against one another from a certain tingling that danced across her skin. She put the hand with which she held her fork over her mouth in an attempt to hold in a giggle. “Oh, you’ll find out…” she assured Question. “Well I’d like to find out now, if you don’t mind.” the detective told her, not in a frame of mind to continue eating until he got a direct answer. “Trust me, Q…” Helena’s voice was all sweet and seductive as she lifted her wine glass to her ruby lips, “After we’ve been to the pictures…” She sipped, keeping her gleaming eyes on Question as her bare thighs rubbed together in pure eagerness. “It’ll be well worth the wait.” Question started to fidget as he tried to get his food onto his fork. “You do know I have plenty of ways to extract information from others…” For some reason, what he just said made Helena shiver and her cheeks heat up. It definitely seemed like Question was playing along. “Oh, you’re welcome to try, baby doll…” she playfully teased, letting go of her glass and reaching down under her end of the table. “First, we’ve gotta get through dessert, next, on to the theatre and then…” She paused as Question waited for what she was going to say next, partly in dread, “We’ll see what ways you can…extract your info off me.” Question just silently heaved in a deep breath and released. This lady was going to be the death of him.

Meanwhile, somewhere over an ocean of city lights, a black helicopter whirred through the night sky towards a landing pad set on top of an office building. Once it touched down, propellers still rotating, a side door slid open and Floyd Lawton, as Deadshot, stepped out wearing his red bodysuit, silver mesh chest armour and matching boots while his face was shielded by his mask fitted with its orange targeting lens over the right eyehole. Attached to each of his silver gauntlets was a rectangular gun, both his signature weapons. A man in a black suit, tie and tinted shades stood outside the helicopter as Deadshot marched up to him. “Deadshot, aka the guy who never misses, here to see Ms Waller. Unless she’s too swamped in paperwork.” the mercenary stated in that sardonic drawl of his. “Right this way, sir.” the man in shades responded, leading Deadshot down some steps that led into the building.

More men in suits and shades kept guard around low-lit corridors as Deadshot followed the one who was taking him to the mission briefing. The man headed up to a pair of silver double doors that parted to reveal a meeting room. Deadshot noticed a woman standing beside an oval table while other figures sat on either side. “Ah, Floyd, you’re right on time.” commented the tall, rather attractive lady who kept her black hair in a bun with dagger-sharp silver pins and wore dark semi-circular glasses along with winding blades on her earrings. “Roulette. Aren’t you a sight for a marksman’s sore eyes…” Deadshot replied smoothly, striding into the room and taking in the dark crimson dress that showed off her voluptuous right thigh tattooed with a slithering green serpent, one circular gap revealing her considerable cleavage and a wider one for her muscular back, fingerless gloves ending at her upper arms and high-heeled boots. “As far as tough guys’ efforts at flattery go, yours aren’t too shabby.” Roulette teased in her confident yet dangerous manner, her smirk further enhanced by dark lipstick. “Nice. Now name me another tough guy that can strike a beating heart at 300 klicks and I’ll buy you a bottle of your favourite red.” Deadshot challenged in slight jest, tilting his helmeted head at Roulette who casually leaned an elegant hand on the table. “If you’re quite finished trying to date a femme-fatale, we have some data to retrieve.” Shade, the white-skinned man in the top hat told Deadshot in his deep, slightly raspy voice, staring up at him through his dark glasses. He was sitting beside the grey-suited Firefly and Tsukuri the martial artist was at the opposite side with her katana strapped to her back. “Of course. Do take a seat, Mr Lawton. We’re just about to get started with the briefing.” Roulette told the assassin and gestured to the empty chair next to Tsukuri. Deadshot stepped over to the chair then hesitated. “Ma’am, about this mission -” Roulette turned to him just as she was about to call the meeting to order. “The good general mentioned some team leader you’d recommended, am I right?” “That is correct, Floyd…” Roulette told him with her typical air of arrogance. “I have eyes on folks from all corners of the underworld, particularly those who have past experience against the League and their allies. This one, I found in Gotham, before I arranged for Mr Luthor to call him in after learning about his little encounter with one of our targets. Let’s just say we’ve offered him a part in something more…ambitious.” Next she turned to the double doors that swished open as someone else came in.

“Deadshot…” the man remarked in a cool, haughty voice, striding past Roulette. While Shade, Tsukuri and Firefly were clearly expecting their new team leader, Deadshot just stood where he was in shock. He remembered seeing this man once on Gotham City news. “As I live and breathe; the guy who never misses, in the flesh. Really big fan. Love the mask, it’s so Terminator.” the familiar-looking man went on, hands idly resting in the pockets of his black trousers. Deadshot recognised that long, handsomely sinister face with the near-constant smirk and startlingly prominent cheekbones, that shiny, greasy pompadour and brown leather jacket worn over a purple polo shirt. “But what can I say? It’s a pleasure to welcome you to my new team.” As this lanky young man offered a well-manicured hand for him to shake, the mercenary glared back into eyes full of a certain malice and cockiness.

Under his mask, Deadshot muttered through clenched teeth, “Paris Franz.”

Chapter 4

Chapter 6 (TBC)

#dc comics #dcau #huntress x question #huntress #the question #justice league #bruce timm #justice league unlimited #fanfiction #deadshot #roulette #romance #timmverse #dc animated universe #helena bertinelli #vic sage

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theknightofivanhoe · 2 months

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Something a little unorthodox for Valentine’s Day, for those who both love unorthodox and have watched the Bruce Timm-animated Justice League, Question the kooky masked detective superhero and his vengeful, hot-tempered beau Huntress striking fear into the criminal underworld, kicking butts and spending some quality time together. While Huntress flattens bad guys with her raw, visceral fighting moves, even Question can get a little frightened by her, but also can’t help enjoying the way she looms menacingly over him. Even when surrounded by goons in an alley, they can fight back like cornered hounds. Huntress also makes the perfect brawler for Question when he has to access a computer room, laying into thugs with no-holds-barred ferocity. Of course sometimes she wants him to relax and join her for a few rooftop smooches over a view of the city. Even when captured and with her hands chained, Huntress is still a danger as she chokes her captor between her legs while Question lends a hand, or fist even. To cap it off, the detective and vigilante kiss in a moonlight cityscape, keeping thugs from interrupting their moment with two quick punches.

#dc #dc comics #dcau #justice league #justice league unlimited #bruce timm #timmverse #dc animated universe #huntress x question #huntress #the question #helena bertinelli #vic sage #valentines day #valentines day 2024 #fanart #superhero #romance

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theknightofivanhoe · 3 months

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Justice League: Question's Hard Drive

Chapter List

After raiding the office building for data on the organisation CADMUS and possible links to Lex Luthor, Question, the Justice League's top detective and resident conspiracy buff ends up having to sideline his investigation for a night out with his new beau, the brash and hot-tempered Huntress. As the two vigilantes share an awkward but romantic dinner and movie date, Question soon unearths a particularly dark chapter in Huntress' life. When a crime boss who has a history with her is recruited by CADMUS to steal back the data, Question finds not only his efforts to take down Luthor under serious threat, but also the beautiful woman who has become his partner. Bare knuckle brawling, playful banter, reckless highway pursuits and dirty secrets collide together to form a romantic outing like no other.

Chapter 1: Tantalysingly Free

Chapter 2: Table for Two

Chapter 3: Rage Issues

Chapter 4: Assembling the Team

Chapter 5: Fine Dining and The Team Leader

Chapter 6: TBC

#dc comics #dcau #justice league #justice league unlimited #huntress x question #huntress #the question #vic sage #helena bertinelli #bruce timm #dc animated universe #dc #fanfiction #romance

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theknightofivanhoe · 3 months

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Wrecker's Order 66 chip kicking in! Cue;

"Sun and Rain Part 2: Age of the Empire"

Chapter 27

"Bracca"

A "Bad Batch" fanfic!

Pairing: Hunter x fem OC, Echo (more best friend pairing)

A/N: Here I am again with another installment of this beloved fic of mine! Now, we're really getting back into the thick of the main story from the show. This is where things are really gonna get interesting...if you catch my meaning 😜😅😁 Enjoy this, why don't you?

《 Chapter 26

》 Coming soon!

All chapters (Part 2) (Part 1)

Explanation: Kimber, Rex and the Bad Batch venture to the junk planet of Bracca to get the Clones' chips removed...but their goal won't be so easily achieved.

Hunter ended the call with Kimber and Rex, standing now outside the Aurora. When he’d first answered the call, he was surprised to see Kimber looking calm and put together, thinking her time visiting the crash site would’ve been much more emotional. Before he could ask how she was, she’d informed him that Rex knew of a place they could go to in order to get the Bad Batch’s inhibitor chips removed: a junk planet called Bracca. The planet was almost clear across the galaxy from Ord Mantell, so it would take a few days for both parties to get there. Hunter was surprised to be hearing back from them on that front so quickly. He wasn’t entirely sure at first how that place held the answers they were looking for, but he trusted Rex. More than that, he trusted Kimber and she had stood by Rex’s decision during the transmission. That all was enough for him. It was decided that Rex and Kimber would head there together immediately instead of Rex bringing Kimber back to Ord Mantell. That had been at Kimber’s insistence, saying time was of the essence and they’d be able to solve the chip problem faster if she just stayed with Rex instead of having him bring her back. At first, Hunter didn’t feel sure, but that feeling was short-lived because, once again, he trusted the Captain. If there was anyone else outside his squad and the Koriena Force that he would trust to take care of his sweetheart, it was Rex. He’d get her to Bracca safely.

With a new course now in mind, Hunter retreated back into the Aurora to round up the rest of his squad. As he entered the main area of the ship, he called out, “That was Kimber and Rex. We’ve got our destination. Let’s move.”

“Where are we going?” asked Omega.

“I’ll tell you on the way,” said Hunter.

As the rest of the squad made their way over, Rina cried out, “I’m coming with you!”

“I will, as well,” added Kida.

However, Hunter looked back at them and told them, “Negative. This could potentially be dangerous. I won’t have you two be caught in the middle of it.”

Kida put her hands on her hips. “Isn’t that our choice to make, Sergeant?”

“What about your son?” Echo asked her.

Then Lex answered, “Irys and I will gladly watch him. Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve done that while Kida goes on a mission.”

With an almost uncharacteristic pleading look in her eyes, Rina spoke up, “Look, I’m worried about Wrecker. I need to make sure things go okay and Kida wants to be there for Rex, as well. Besides, you might need our help.”

Kida shot Rina a look and stated, “I'm also going so I can make sure you stay out of trouble, shortstacks.”

Rina glowered up at Kida. “Don't ever call me by the lizard lady's nickname,” she warned her.

When they both turned back to the boys, Hunter sighed and shook his head. “I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. If things go south with Wrecker's chip, I wouldn't be able to take it if something happened to you both. I need you to stay here where you're safe. Got it?”

Then without waiting for a response, Hunter turned and walked out of the room, the others following behind him. Wrecker, however, stopped for a moment and looked back at Rina, an apologetic look on his face.

“I'll be okay, babe. Don't worry,” he said to reassure her. Then he flipped around to follow his brothers, crying out over his shoulder as he ran off, “Love you!”

Rina stiffened up at hearing him say those words again and Kida just chuckled.

“You know…I get the feeling he still doesn't quite know the gravity behind those words,” said Kida.

“I overheard him telling Hunter once that he says it because Hunter and Kimber say it to each other all the time,” said Lex, who was carefully rocking Kori in her arms. “They're happy together and Wrecker is happy with Rina…so he's just following by example, even if he doesn't fully understand.”

“One day, he will,” Kida stated. Then she looked down at Rina and asked, “Well, what do we do now?”

Determination in her eyes, Rina answered, “Simple: while the guys are out resupplying and refueling the ship, we stow aboard the Marauder. There's no way the Sarge is making me stay behind, not with Wrecker's well-being on the line.”

Then Irys spoke up behind them, “How do you plan to do that? Hunter has enhanced senses and he'll pick up your scents easily, you with your sweetblossom and Kida's perfume.”

Rina, though, just turned around with a grin. “Oh, I've got a plan,” she said slyly.

Irys smirked and shook her head. “Of course, you do.”

A couple hours later, the Bad Batch were now soaring through the bright blue tunnel of hyperspace on their way to Bracca to meet up with Rex and Kimber. Wrecker was feeling nervous about the whole plan knowing Rex wanted to cut open his head--all their heads, as well, as Tech reminded him nonchalantly--but Hunter was doing his best to keep him calm. During their flight, Tech continued to work on his brain scanner with Omega’s help.

“Do we really have to do this?” Wrecker asked Hunter apprehensively.

“If Rex is sure, we should trust him,” Hunter responded. “I know it's not ideal, Wrecker, but this is our best course of action.”

Wrecker groaned in defeat. “If you say so,” he relented.

Just then, Hunter's senses picked up something unusual. It sounded like voices…voices that didn't belong to anyone that should be on the ship. They were quiet, but loud enough for his enhanced hearing to detect, and were coming from the back of the Marauder in the bunk area. They also sounded familiar.

He briskly made his way to the back area, earning curious looks from the others at his sudden movements before following him. He detected the voices coming from Wrecker’s bunk.

“I can't hear them anymore.”

“Get away from the door, then, before Sarge catches us.”

“Unbelievable…,” Hunter groaned quietly as he activated the door.

As the door slid open, two figures leaning against it yelped in surprise as they fell forward and hit the floor as Hunter stepped back. Dressed in large, black shirts over their regular clothes and lying prostrate on the ground were Rina and Kida.

Putting his hands on his hips, Hunter said aloud, “Are you two kidding me?”

As they both sat up and got up to their feet, the others realized the shirts the girls were wearing were the same as the tops of their blacks, but they were at least three sizes too big for the women, so the shirts looked like tents on them.

“Are those my black shirts?” asked Wrecker.

“Yeah. How else do you think we were able to sneak aboard?” Rina asked.

Then Kida added, “We figured Hunter would be able to pick up our scent, so we used these to hide them, knowing he wouldn't question anything with his brother's scent. However…we didn't account for his apparently enhanced hearing.”

“What are you doing here? I told you to stay on Ord Mantell,” Hunter chided them.

After pulling off Wrecker's shirt from over her clothes, Rina responded to him, “No offense, Sarge, but you're in charge of this squad…not us.”

He reared back, startled.

“Listen, if I stayed behind, I don't think I'd be able to sleep, not knowing if Wrecker was okay or if the rest of you were okay,” Rina admitted. “I sensed something really wrong with his chip and I can't shake the feeling I got. I have to be there.”

She stole a look at Wrecker and he was a bit surprised to see the evident worry in her eyes, something he wasn't accustomed to, seeing as she usually was more guarded about her emotions even with him. Whatever she'd sensed regarding his chip must've really shaken her up. That and it only made him more nervous about the whole situation on top of it all.

“Besides, if something does happen to either of us, then it'll be on us, not you. You told us to stay on Ord Mantell and we didn't listen, so it'll be our responsibility,” then said Kida.

For a moment, the Clones said nothing. Only exchanging looks with one another.

“Well, we're already in the middle of hyperspace. Can't turn back now,” stated Echo.

“Perhaps their company on this venture will prove most beneficial,” added Tech, mostly to Hunter.

While still displeased at the fact Rina and Kida had stowed aboard and disobeyed his orders, Hunter sighed in defeat. “Fine. Guess we have no choice.”

“Look, sorry we snuck onto the ship, but you also might need our help,” said Rina. “We won't get in the way.”

Kida stepped closer to Hunter and laid a hand on his arm. “I know you're not happy with us right now, but we're here because we care about all of you, Hunter. We just want to make sure you all get out of this safely.”

Then Omega, flashing her brown doe eyes up at Hunter, asked, “That's not so bad, isn't it, Hunter?”

He sighed again, this time a little softer. “I guess not.” Then he looked between the two ladies and said, “Well…looks like we're all going to Bracca then.”

“Well, I'm glad they came because now, my best girl is here!” Wrecker exclaimed, scooping up Rina into a big hug.

She groaned both shyly and gratefully at the same time. She didn't know why, but Wrecker calling her his “best girl” just really set her heart a flutter.

After planting a big kiss on her cheek, he stated, “With her around, I feel better already.”

A few days passed and Kimber and Rex reached Bracca, a planet completely filled with space garbage; transport scraps, decommissioned starships and more. After Rex landed the Y-wing inside the remains of a larger starship, he told Kimber they'd wait there until the Bad Batch arrived, activating his tracking beacon so they'd be able to find them when they got there. He urged her to stay put while he quickly scouted the area for the ship they'd come to find.

While she waited, Kimber sat back against a wall, waiting patiently for her squad to come. She could only hope the plan Rex had in mind for them would work. If it could get their chips out, then they'd be truly free from any possible Imperial influence, like Order 66.

Remembering Order 66 made her think of Crosshair. Now knowing the chips were really a threat and it was what made the Clones turn on the Jedi and serve the Empire, it explained everything about Crosshair's erratic behavior from Kaller as well as Kamino; why he suddenly seemed so keen on following orders and why he'd turned on the Bad Batch for the Empire. If only he were with them now, then he could get his chip removed, too. He could finally be back to normal and be one of them again. If only he were here….

That was it! Perhaps if she reached out and told him what they knew, then maybe he'd see reason and join them on Bracca. If he could get his chip out, then he'd leave the Empire and be part of their squad once more. They'd be partners again…the eyes in the sky…brother and sister….

Without a second thought, she fished into her pack and pulled out her encrypted comm. Even though he hadn't responded to any of her previous transmissions, maybe this one would finally get his attention. All she had to do was tell him about their plan and--

Kimber heard movement close by and it startled her that she nearly dropped her comm device before shoving it back into her pack. When she looked, she realized it was just Rex coming back. He was back from scouting quicker than she'd anticipated.

“Lucky for us, the cruiser we need is already nearby,” he informed her as he approached.

“That's good,” she said. “Then we can get right to it once the boys get here.”

“Exactly,” he replied.

About an hour passed before they heard the sound of engines overhead and when they peeked out from their hiding place, they saw the Marauder coming their way. Kimber couldn’t help but smile at seeing that junk of a shuttle she loved so much. Soon, the Marauder docked next to the Y-wing and Rex and Kimber made their way towards it to greet the others. Hunter came out first followed by Omega and the others.

“Right on time,” Rex greeted Hunter, the two of them grasping arms.

As Kimber was about to say something, she caught sight of two faces in the back of the group she wasn’t expecting to see. “Rina? Kida? What are you two doing here?” she asked.

Rex peered around the Clones to see the two women, as well, once Kimber called attention to them.

“They stowed away,” said Hunter, sounding slightly miffed still, giving the girls the side-eye.

“Hey, we said we’re sorry,” said Rina.

Then Kida added, “We just thought you all could use some extra help. Plus, someone was worried sick about her man and refused to stay behind.” Then she looked down at Rina, who blushed bright red.

Rex smiled to himself at seeing Kida. Something about her being here now made him feel less nervous about the whole ordeal. “Well, we’re glad you’re both here,” he said.

“So how’s a junk planet gonna help us?” Wrecker asked him.

After donning his helmet, Rex simply replied, “Follow me.”

After Kimber and the other Clones--sans Omega--put on their own helmets, they followed after Rex as he led them out of the scrapped ship they’d docked in.

Hunter leaned in and asked Kimber quietly, “How are you, my love? Are you doing okay?”

She nodded to him, knowing he was referring to her previous venture to say her final goodbyes to Jesse at his grave. “I am. I’m doing better,” she told him. “You were right. I really needed that closure. Now, I can move forward with peace and clarity.”

He grasped her hand tightly for a moment and he replied, “For that, I’m glad.”

“Thank you for having Rex take me there,” she said back.

He bowed his head in return.

The whole group walked up a slight incline of a toppled steel wall that overlooked much of the area. The entire landscape before them was just covered in ship junk for miles.

“Bracca may not be much to look at, but it has exactly what we need,” Rex told everyone as they came to the peak.

Before them just yards away was a huge decommissioned Venator cruiser set amongst much of the rubble, its engines facing them.

“I had my inhibitor chip taken out on a Jedi cruiser just like that,” stated the Captain, pointing to the ship.

“Then why’d we land all the way over here?” Wrecker inquired, puzzled.

Just then, Hunter spotted something in the sky and ordered everyone to get down. They obeyed and crouched down as low as they could as another smaller ship flew overhead.

“That’s why,” Rex answered Wrecker.

Behind him, Tech flipped down his visor to analyze the ship. “It’s the Scrapper Guild,” he said a few seconds later.

Rex then told everyone that the Scrappers controlled the entire planet and that they needed to keep out of sight from their different patrols. They waited a few more seconds for the patrol ship to pass before Rex told them to move. They took a turn to the left and made their way down into more ship wreckage to keep themselves hidden. The metal of the damaged walls and support beams groaned and creaked all around them, echoing almost ominously as they walked. They moved quickly yet stealthily so as to not catch any attention and also not disturb the rubble around them lest anything come loose and cause a ruckus or injure any of them. Caution was key in a place like this. They had to climb up onto platforms and carefully maneuver across support beams until they successfully made it inside the Venator. Once inside, Rex, Echo and Tech pulled out their torches so they could see through the dark corridors of the crashed ship.

“The last time I was aboard one of these, it didn’t end so well,” Rex commented as they went, stealing a quick glance at Kimber since she really was the only one who knew where he was coming from.

Then Echo asked him, “If the inhibitor chip isn’t something you can control, how’d you get yours out?”

“I…had help,” Rex answered.

He then halted abruptly and signaled for everyone else to stop as they came to a break in the path that fell into a chasm filled with water below.

“The medical bay is at the other end,” Rex stated.

“How are we going to get over there?” asked Kimber.

Rina cracked her knuckles and suggested, “I could Force-push everyone over there.”

Turning around to face her, Rex replied, “Firstly, I’ve been pushed around by the Force too many times for my liking. Second of all, the foundation of the ship could still be unstable and compromised on the other side. Using the Force to throw us all over there could cause things to give way if we’re not careful.”

Then Kida snapped her fingers and declared, “I’ve got an idea!” Then she gestured to something lying wrapped up on the floor next to Wrecker. “Wrecker, grab that cable,” she told him.

He knelt down and grabbed part of the cable, immediately getting anxious--more so than he had been a second ago at seeing the deep ravine--and stammering, “This? W-Why? W-W-What are you gonna do with it?”

“Hand me the end,” Kida told him, holding out her hand. Once she grabbed it, she said, “I’ll get to the other side and secure the end of this cable over there. Then the rest of you can use it to get across safely.”

“Then how are you getting over there?” inquired Kimber.

Kida just grinned deviously. “I’ve been known to be pretty light on my feet, so I shouldn’t cause any problems,” she simply said. Then she took a couple steps back, glanced at Rina and said, “Rina, Shooting Star.”

Rina gave her a nod and before anyone could ask what was going on, Kida grasped the cable tightly and bolted for the edge of the walkway.

“Kida, don’t!” Rex cried out, reaching out for her.

As she got to the edge, Kida leapt through the air towards the other side and Rina stepped out, pushing out her palms in front of her with a Force push. Then Kida suddenly jolted further and faster with that extra push, doing a graceful front flip all the way to the other side and landing softly in a three-point stance on the ground. She straightened up, looked back over her shoulder at the others on the opposite side and confidently blew them all a kiss before moving to tie the cable around a nearby beam.

“See, Cap? Your baby mama’s got this,” said Rina, elbowing him in the arm.

Rex was thankful his helmet was on so no one could see the bright shade of red he was sure his face was turning at Rina’s comment.

Kida finished wrapping the cable, made sure it was secure and then cried out, “You’re all good to go!”

Rina was the first to go, but instead of using the cable, she just took a big Force jump across the entire chasm all the way to the other side, landing effortlessly next to Kida. Then she turned around and called out, unable to hold back a smirk, “What’s the hold up? Hurry up, slowpokes!”

“Yes, very amusing, Rina,” Tech replied flatly.

Hunter stepped forward. “I’ll go first and help everyone get across on the other side,” he said. Then right away, he crouched down, wrapped his legs around the cable, grabbed on with both hands and proceeded to climb along the line to the other side of the chasm, joining Rina and Kida.

“Nice job, lover boy,” said Rina.

He just gave a small grunt in response before looking back and gesturing for the next person to follow. Rex motioned with his hand for Kimber to go next, so she obliged. Though, she had an easier idea. She took out her sniper rifle, laid it over and across the cable and held onto both ends of the rifle. Then she stepped off the edge and slid fast down the cable like a zip line. Hunter was nervous for a second seeing her dangling over the chasm, but he trusted her and trusted she knew what she was doing and braced himself near the edge on his side to catch her. She zipped down and as her feet touched the ground, his strong arm caught her around the waist to steady her landing.

“Well done,” said Hunter, impressed.

“Ha! Showoff,” commented Rina to Kimber, smirking in amusement.

Then followed Rex, Tech and then Echo. Kimber was worried at first for Echo, wondering how he’d get across with his scomp arm, but as always, he proved that there was nothing to worry about as he was able to shimmy across with no issue. However, when he dismounted the cable, his feet touched the very edge and slipped, but Kimber was quick to catch him.

“I got you,” Kimber told him as she pulled him back.

“Always there to catch me when I fall, right?” he asked.

“Always,” she said back.

Omega and Wrecker were the only ones left. It was clear Wrecker didn’t want to go due to his crippling fear of heights. He was standing behind Omega nervously rubbing his hands together. Omega went ahead and climbed across the cable. Rex stepped up and held his hands out to catch her when she got all the way across and she did so without any problems.

“Nicely done,” Rex complimented her as she let go of the line.

“You’re up, Wrecker!” called out Hunter.

“Uh…yeah, my head doesn’t hurt anymore. I’m fine,” Wrecker tried to lie to get out of going across. “You guys go without me.”

“You can do it! Just keep your eyes on the cable!” Omega encouraged him.

Then Rina cried out, “We believe in you, big guy! You’ve got this!”

Still feeling as anxious as ever yet willing to try, Wrecker gingerly knelt down and got himself on the cable. Due to his weight, the cable dropped a little, which made him even more nervous. He inched forward a bit and it dropped again, but he clung even tighter to it.

“That was close,” he commented.

Snap!

The line broke free on his end and Wrecker started plummeting down into the chasm on the cable.

“Wrecker!” yelled Kimber in alarm.

Rina immediately dashed to the front to look over the edge. She, Kimber, Rex, Hunter and Omega all watched as Wrecker swung back on the cable, hit the side of the wall and as he fell towards the water, he spun through the cable and it ended up wrapped around his ankle, halting his fall just inches above the waterline. Omega got down on her knees and shined the torch she’d been given just then from Rex down so they all could see Wrecker, now dangling above the murky green water.

“Are you all right?” Rex called down to him

From down below, they all heard him answer, “No! Smells awful down here!”

Right then, they could see a large dark shape move underneath the water and everyone’s anxiety spiked.

“What’s that?” Omega asked, concerned.

Hunter peered over and said over comms, “Wrecker, start climbing.”

“Why?!” Wrecker asked back, his voice cracking anxiously.

“Hurry!” yelled Kimber.

Suddenly, there was an echoing roar from below and then a giant tentacle sprung up from under the water, wrapping itself around Wrecker and tugging him under the water.

“Wrecker!” cried Omega.

Kimber stayed at the edge with Omega to watch for Wrecker while everyone else sprang into action, grabbing the cable and pulling together to get Wrecker out of the water. Kimber watched as Wrecker came up above the water, pulling his large vibroblade from his boot and slicing the tentacle off him. Then he pulled himself up and began climbing up the line himself. Kimber caught sight of the creature as it briefly emerged from the water, seeing more tentacles and a round mouth with several curved, razor teeth pointing inward. She recognized it from her studies of other galactic creatures.

“It’s a dianoga!” she shouted.

“Faster! Pull faster!” Wrecker shouted up to the others in alarm.

Then Kimber moved away and started helping pull the cable with the others, getting in front of Rina.

“Give…my big guy…back!” she heard Rina grunt out behind her.

They strained trying to pull the line, inching further and further forward. Even with all of them pulling except Omega, their strength was no match for the dianoga’s as it pulled Wrecker back down. Suddenly, the weight on the line disappeared, making it slacken and everyone fell onto their backs. That wasn’t a good sign. That meant Wrecker was no longer on the other end.

“No, no, no, no, no…!” Kimber cried, panicking, as she rushed back to the edge.

Rina was right on her heels, calling out Wrecker’s name as they both looked over to see if they could spot him.

There was no movement save for the waves of the water rushing back and forth. There was no sign of the dianoga nor Wrecker. The others began to fear the worst.

Just then, there was a splash and to their relief, Wrecker appeared again at the other end of the line, climbing his way up.

“Pull!” Omega called to everyone else.

However, the dianoga appeared again below him and all of its tentacles came out of the water, wrapping themselves around him. It was determined to drag him down below the depths.

“You will not have him,” Kimber stated out loud, pulling her sniper rifle off her back.

Echo had the same thought as she did, drawing his blaster, and together, they both began firing shots down at the creature in the attempt to wound it enough so it would release its hold on Wrecker. After a few shots made contact, one hit it straight in the mouth, it released a low groan of pain and the tentacles retreated, letting Wrecker go. Feeling the cable slacken again, the others resumed pulling it to get Wrecker to safety. A few seconds later, Wrecker reached the edge and both Kimber and Rina grabbed his arms to help pull him up. Once they got him, the others released the cables and collapsed onto the ground.

“What…was…that?” he asked, out of breath, as he came up over the edge.

“Something that’ll think twice before messing with us again,” Rina answered. Then her voice got softer as she laid a hand on the back of Wrecker’s shoulder and asked, “You okay, babe?”

Still breathing heavily, he answered, “Yeah…I’m okay.”

“Makes you miss battling clankers, doesn’t it?” Rex then asked him, trying to be optimistic.

“Yeah…,” Wrecker groaned, exhausted.

After taking a brief rest to catch their breath and letting the adrenaline from the situation die down, the group resumed moving again through the Venator towards where the medical bay should be. They maneuvered a few more corridors before reaching the right spot. The door to the med bay was open just a tiny sliver at the bottom, so Rex and Tech both pushed the door up so it was open completely. It was dark inside just like the rest of the ship, save for the lights from their torches, and in the center was a large surgical pod. There were squeaks coming from the room, meaning rats were scattering about inside.

“This will do nicely,” Rex stated, removing his helmet as he looked around.

Though, Tech had a rebuttal, saying, “I would no longer call this medical bay a sterile environment.”

“Do you prefer to use the facility on Kamino?” Rex asked back.

“This will do nicely,” Tech replied, changing his mind instantly and agreeing with the Captain.

Echo informed everyone that’d calibrate the surgical pod to get things going. He inserted his scomp into the appropriate socket, activated it and seconds later, the lights in the room came on along with the pod and the computer attached to it at the foot of it. The screens beeped as they came to life and electricity whirred and pulsated through the surgical pod as it slowly gained power.

Wrecker was holding his head, moaning in pain as he took his helmet off and sat on the edge of the surgical table, Rina guiding him by the arm. Everyone else started removing their helmets and setting their packs and weapons down against the walls.

Tech pulled out the brain scanner he’d made and declared, “Time to get scanned, Wrecker.”

“Let’s…get this over with,” Wrecker groaned out, ready for the whole ordeal to be over as the pain in his head was seemingly getting worse.

Kida gently pulled Rina away from Wrecker so Tech could put the scanner on his head. “Let Tech do his thing. It’ll be all right,” she soothed Rina as they stopped in the doorway of the med room.

Turning away, Rina said quietly, “He’s in more pain now. I can sense it getting worse and I don’t like it.”

Kimber moved next to the two of them, hearing Rina’s concerns, and said, “Stay calm as best you can, Rina. Tech knows what he’s doing. We’ll get Wrecker’s chip out and everything will be fine.”

“I can’t!” Rina almost snapped back in a hushed voice. “I can’t stay calm until that thing is out of his head.”

“You don’t think I’m worried, too?” Kimber asked in reply, a little frustrated. “Hunter’s going to get his head cut open, as well; all of my boys are. I’m scared to death right now…but panicking isn’t going to help things. The boys need our support right now because they’re all scared, too, even if they’re not outwardly showing it. Not just for Wrecker, but for themselves, also. For once, we need to be the strong ones for them. They're going to need us if they're gonna get through this, so straighten up, okay?”

This was the first time Kimber had ever gotten short like that with Rina and both she and Kida were taken aback at her abruptness. Though, it was understandable why Kimber was so upset. Her whole squad was about to have their brains operated on, which was incredibly risky in and of itself. If something went wrong, there could be dangerous consequences. Rina thought her own worry was bad, but it hadn't even occurred to her how much more afraid Kimber would be. Rina only had one person she feared for most. Kimber had four.

She heaved a shaky sigh. “You're right, boss lady,” she said. “We gotta be strong.”

“Wow, so authoritative,” Kida commented to Kimber. Then she smirked deviously. “I'm sure Hunter loves that…especially in bed.”

“Oh, shut up,” replied Kimber, lightly shoving her.

With a grin, Kida just said back, “I'm incorrigible, I know.”

In that moment, they heard Tech state aloud, “I think I found something.” When everyone gathered around him, he pointed out Wrecker's brain scan on his datapad, showing the chip was ninety degrees from his right orbital floor, below the parietal and temporal intersection.

However, Wrecker was getting more and more agitated and suddenly ripped off the brain scanner from his head, growling, “Get that away from me!” as he shoved it into Tech's chest. He grabbed at his head again, his groans of pain getting louder.

“Something's not right,” Omega pointed out.

“We need to speed this up,” Rex urged.

Echo pressed a few more buttons on the console controlling the surgical pod, hoping to get it to power up faster.

Then Rex spoke up, “You boys got lucky. Very few Clones were immune to the effects of Order 66. It's rare.”

“When the regs attacked the Jedi on Kaller, we didn't understand why,” Hunter responded.

“Uh, maybe we shouldn't talk about the thing that triggers the inhibitor chip around the person with a clearly malfunctioning chip,” Kimber said under her breath, gesturing subtly to Wrecker.

Seeing her point, Rex and Hunter stepped off to the side to continue talking. Kimber looked down to Omega beside her and ran her hand over Omega's hair comfortingly.

The young girl looked up at her. “I'm worried, Kimber. I don't like how much pain Wrecker's in.”

Kneeling down to Omega's level, Kimber told her, “I'm worried, too, but it'll be okay, Omega. He's strong and so are you. I'll be here with you every step of the way.”

Omega began to smile, but then they both heard the sound of a choked cry followed by Tech gasping Wrecker's name. Then Wrecker's voice spoke aloud in a deeper, darker tone no one had ever heard from him:

“You're in direct violation of Order 66.”

When everyone flipped around to see what was going on, they were aghast to see Wrecker holding Tech up by the throat and then, with a loud growl, throwing him into a nearby wall. Tech crashed into the cabinets and collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Wrecker then turned to face the rest of them, an angry and almost bloodthirsty look in his eyes. As he stood up, his tall, hulking form seemed to ominously tower even more over them all.

His chip had activated.

Immediately, Kimber pushed Omega behind her.

“Wrecker, stop!” Rina shouted, moving in front of everyone.

��Rina, don't!” Kimber warned.

The smaller woman looked back steadfastly over her shoulder and simply said with surety, “Don't worry. He would never hurt me.”

Kimber gulped nervously.

Then Rina turned back to face Wrecker, his anger-filled eyes trained solely on her. “Listen, babe, you gotta get your head back in the game,” she said firmly to him, carefully inching closer to him. “This isn't you. You'd never hurt anyone here. I know you…and you know me.”

The giant Clone leered down at her in a way that made the others almost afraid, something nobody had ever experienced with Wrecker. This was definitely not like him. He would never look at Rina in this way, not ever.

“Wrecker, I--”

He then replied in a voice devoid of all normal emotion except for contempt, “You're a Jedi, Rina Caska. By Order 66, all Jedi must be eliminated.”

In the dim, blue light of the surgical pod, she saw the glint of a single tear falling from his eye.

Wrecker moved faster than anyone could've anticipated. He lunged forward and his arm swung out, hitting Rina square in the stomach and sending her flying towards the doorway of the med room. There was a hollow thud and a sickening crack as her back made contact with the doorframe. Then her limp body landed on the floor, motionless, as Kimber and Kida screamed her name in horror.

#the bad batch #star wars the bad batch #sun and rain fanfic #tbb wrecker #hunter x oc fic #Spotify

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theknightofivanhoe · 4 months

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Justice League: Question’s Hard Drive Ch 4: Assembling the Team

Table of Contents

In a dark, dilapidated warehouse laden with dirty, rusted crates and oil drums, a tall, black-haired man with a thin moustache, wearing brown trousers and jacket over a black shirt was following another man whose jaw was as large as a brick, his hair neatly trimmed and chocolate brown.

“So Colonel…” the moustached man spoke up in a smooth, slightly deep voice as they walked on, “Been meaning to ask you something,” “What? Five years not looking attractive already, Lawton?” asked the brick-jawed colonel Rick Flagg, who did indeed wear the formal dark blue suit of a US army officer. “You ‘do’ remember the other option’s no years at all? I.E, years of having a head?” “Hey, I’m well aware five was the agreement.” the mercenary Floyd Lawton, codenamed Deadshot, clarified to him. “Just want to let you know,” he continued as Flagg led him on through the grimy building, “A little girl of mine’s just made it to eighth grade.” Flagg only inclined his head to the man, but turned back and kept walking. Floyd decided to prod a little further. “Surely it’d be possible to schedule a vi - ” “This is serious stuff we’re assigning you for, Lawton.” Colonel Flagg flatly interrupted him. “Missions for CADMUS leave no room for family reunions.” Halfway through walking, Floyd felt himself twitch in surprise and a certain amount of outrage. “Excuse me?” “You heard me, soldier.” Flagg stated, leading Floyd towards a table. “Just be glad your little tyke’s going places, while you stick to the task at hand.”

Despite the withering scowl on his moustached face, Floyd took a chair while his boss towered above him on the other side of the table. “So, what costumed chumps do I draw a bead on this time?” he asked, deciding to cut to the chase. “It seems our League friends have set out to hamstring CADMUS’ activities.” Flagg explained to him. “There has been a breach at one of our office buildings by two individuals connected to the League who have claimed valuable data.” “Any way we can track them?” Floyd questioned, deciding to push aside the whole daughter issue, for now at least. “We have already sent out recon units to pick up a trail just until a team can move in and recover this data.” Flagg told him. The convict/mercenary smirked up at the bulky, imposing colonel. “I was just gonna say, if they even get your info as far as the Watchtower, we’re basically asking to go through the last mission all over again.” “Glad you remember.” Flagg cut in with a growing frown. “And in case you forget, we’re one explosives specialist short thanks in no small part to your trigger-happy stunts.” “Okay, okay, I know, Plastique was a big loss. So any fresh recruits you’re calling in for this one?” Floyd asked, aware of Flagg’s rather low opinion towards him and others who operated outside the law. Flagg gave him an even darker look.

“Lucky for you, Lawton, CADMUS is sending you on this mission in good company, the sort that’s every bit the same lowlife criminal scum as you.” This idea of ‘good company’ got Floyd raising an eyebrow. “Once the data is tracked, you’ll be taking point while your mission leader handles everything else.” Flagg stated as he folded his powerful arms. “And this leader…” Floyd responded with a finger to his pointed chin, “Anything in particular I should know about him. Or her?” “Yeah, there is. That he’s had some previous…connection with one of our targets.” The colonel grimaced for a moment before continuing. “Also, I was against calling him up from the very start, but my superiors won the debate. *And* he’s someone I’m sure you’ll get along with. Famously…”

With a mind as sharp as his shooting, Floyd couldn’t help but catch something else in the colonel’s plan. “There’s something else too. Why does it somehow sound like you’re not gonna be on this one?” “You’re right actually.” Flagg grimly answered. “I won’t be joining you on this one. Getting this data back from these two Leaguers requires types that are too nasty even for them. And I don’t fancy mixing in with those who are nasty even by your…already low standards.” “Right. Don’t want the true American hero dirtying his patriotic pinkies with all the blood that comes with saving his great ol’ coun - ” Both hands smacking down hard on the tabletop, Flagg leaned towards the mercenary in aggravation. “Watch it, Lawton…” he snarled, the backchat grinding on his nerves. “I may be leaving you in this guy’s capable hands just in the hopes of wiping that stupid grin off your face.” “Boy, I can’t wait.” Floyd half-growled, sarcasm laced in his voice like poison in a dart. The colonel seemed to be restraining himself from physical violence, straightening and breathing in lightly. “Well, now that you’re filled in…” he said as his eyes darted past Floyd, “Your stuff is in that case.” The moustached assassin turned and saw a grey rectangular case on the floor. “The mission leader will debrief you on the data recovery, including what you’ll be up against. You’ll take a chopper and report to him at Miss Waller’s helipad. So get suited up, pronto.”

“So…heard you guys have had a little trouble with some data…” The tall, lanky-looking man, whose whole face was cloaked by the shadows of the half-lit office, threw himself back into a chair in front of a desk, behind which sat the short-haired, heavyset black woman smartly dressed in a blue jacket, Amanda Waller, one of the heads of the CADMUS organisation. The glow of her desk’s lamp reflected off the man’s hair, which was styled in a greased-up pompadour, while his eyes shone with a certain desire for some thrills and spills, possibly even for violence in the bargain. Behind him stood a tall, burly henchman.

“You heard correctly. This theft has been unlike any other mission the League has staged.” Amanda Waller informed the man sternly. “Previous activities have always ventured into reckless shows of force, teams of these abnormal beings and disguised vigilantes staging all-out assaults on whatever their enemies, including CADMUS, throw at them.” This man, who had been selected for this new mission, listened with merely a casual amount of interest, having heard news (particularly through the criminal underworld grapevine) about the Justice League’s attempts at heroics. “So what about this one? Please, indulge me” he persuaded with plenty of confidence and cunning in his smooth, charming voice, before the frowning, no-nonsense Waller set a folder onto the table.

“These two intruders left all of the building’s security personnel utterly incapacitated. Currently they are in traction.” she continued. “Did our gallant heroes attempt any negotiations before doing this?” the stranger inquired. “I have to admit, I’ve not known any of their type to get so down and dirty.” “Negotiations were never offered. Clearly the League has grown uncharacteristically desperate.” Waller explained as she looked from the man to the folder. “Those in condition to speak gave descriptions that match those of the individuals detailed in these profiles.”

She opened the folder and the pompadour-sporting figure turned his focus to the two sheets and photos of the perpetrators behind this theft. First was the man in the fedora and tie, his face completely blank, no eyes, nose or mouth anywhere. There seemed to be only skin where his face should be. The newly-recruited boss had heard of some guy like this snooping around a few streets and alleys before. What truly caught his eye, though, was the young woman in the other profile. Through that horned mask, her dark eyes held arrogant majesty and unbound ferocity in equal measure. Her proud, smooth face, around which silky black hair elegantly cascaded, was enough for him to simply lock his gaze upon her ravishing beauty, his eyes gleaming as thoughts started to pour into his mind.

“These two choices indicate how aggressive the League has become lately.” He glanced back at Amanda Waller upon hearing her further elaborate on the robbery. “Most dismiss Subject A himself as a crackpot, an eccentric digging into conspiracy theories that needn’t be dug into.” “And yet he has data too sensitive to your little operations.” the man reminded her, leaning back in his chair nonchalantly. “A colleague of ours, Roulette, recommended you for CADMUS because, young man, she has reason to believe that you have a past…” Waller went on, folding her hands together, “A past with Subject B; Subject A’s recent partner. She joined the League after your little encounter with her in Gotham City. Her days with the League ended when a vendetta of hers against another mobster turned her into a maverick, too unstable and rash, even for the worst of their circus freaks.” “I always liked that babe…” The lanky man’s voice grew silken with interest as he eyed the file on this ‘maverick’ his employer referred to. “I need you to be serious about this…” Waller warned him with a glare as the tall henchman’s eyes darted to his boss in the faintest hint of apprehension. “A pair of misfits not stifled by the League’s scruples makes the loss of this information all the worse. We are aware of what Roulette has said about you, but calling you up for this mission, mobster background or no, was not a decision taken lightly.” “Hey, don’t sweat it, your royal majesty…” the mysterious figure boasted with a raise of a hand. “You’re looking at the guy who offed his own outdated uncle and gave the Gotham syndicate a new face. The old timers have had their fun, now it’s time for us daredevils to step into the spotlight. Just give me any more tips, say, their whereabouts, and we’ll be onto the suckers, packin’ a lot of heat…” “Well, someone’s eager for some action.” Waller observed, placing the profiles back into the folder.

“CADMUS has assembled the strike team that will retrieve this data. With your rise through the ranks of the Gotham mob and previous experience against Subject B, you’ll be taking the lead.” She pressed the touchscreen computer on her desk and a screen on the wall behind her lit up all ghostly-blue.

The stranger glanced up at the five mugshots of this new team he would be in charge of. First was a man in a dark red bodysuit and silver mask, his left eye lens a white slit while the right was a circular orange targeting reticle. The second was a young Asian woman with short, neat black hair, a cold expression on her face and a crimson transparent visor over her eyes. Her shoulder armour, coloured the same as her visor, was segmented not unlike that of a Samurai warrior while a katana was slung on her back. The third was another man in a pale grey bodysuit, his whole face obscured by a mask sporting dark red, bug-eyed lenses and a pair of small antennae on either side. The next team member was stranger-looking; a slim, white-skinned man in a black top hat and dark grey jacket. The round black shades only added to his sinister appearance. Even more abnormal than him was the last member, who apparently had once been a human woman. Every inch of her skin was coated with golden fur, speckled with brown spots. The team leader noted the woman’s ears that took the form of a wild cat’s, her nose shaped into a snout and white eyes with pale green slits hungry for action.

“Well the pyromaniac hasn’t the best track record, but they’ll do.” he commented with folded arms. “Deadshot, Tsukuri, Firefly, Shade and Cheetah have been selected specially for the purpose of tracking this data, in addition to having prior engagements with the League.” Amanda Waller explained. “For a mission as sensitive as this, CADMUS has no room for small-time roughnecks.” “Trust me, lady,” her new employee promised with no small amount of pride. “With a rising star, that’s me, at the helm, these guys will really turn things around for your little operation.” “And remember, my friend…” Waller started methodically as a sliver of blue from the screen flickered across one side of the man’s face, “It’s not often we call on those from the criminal underworld to protect this country and its government…” “Well today we’re the lesser of the two evils, ma’am.” Waller just kept her stern face on this man despite his interruption and continued. “At this critical inflection point, money is no object for CADMUS. Whatever happens, this mission must, and ‘will’ end with us having that data right in front of us. You and your team shall obtain it from those two misfits…by ‘any’ means necessary.”

Chapter 3

Chapter 5

#dc comics #dcau #huntress x question #helena bertinelli #vic sage #amanda waller #floyd lawton #deadshot #the question #justice league #justice league unlimited #bruce timm #jlu #dc animated universe #fanfiction #fanfic #dcau fanfic

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theknightofivanhoe · 4 months

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Glad to know Kimber’s relationship with the clones will inspire her to fight for them after everything the Empire’s put them through. Of course it was going to be pretty painful for her but it was very touching as well.

I only wonder just what Kimber will go through once a certain chip takes hold…

"Sun and Rain Part 2: Age of the Empire"

Chapter 26

"One Last Day"

A "Bad Batch" fanfic!

Pairing: Hunter x fem OC, Echo (more best friend pairing)

A/N: Well, back again! Ending the new year on...well, not the happiest of notes, I'm sad to say 😅 But you all knew this was coming, as much as it pained me to write all this. Hang in there, lovelies! Love you all and a Happy New Year to each of you 💜

Also, this chapter/title of this chapter was inspired by the song "One Last Day" by Two Steps From Hell, which also is a great song embodying Jesse and Kimber's relationship, even more so at this point in time. Give it a listen 😊

《 Chapter 25

》 Coming soon!

All chapters (Part 2) (Part 1)

Explanation: Rex and Kimber travel to the moon where Jesse is buried so Kimber can say her final goodbye.

Kimber was a little surprised the next morning to find she was still alone in the Marauder. Though, there was a blanket on top of her, so someone definitely had come while she'd been asleep. She had a strong suspicion that it had been Hunter. He'd probably gotten concerned when she hadn't come back to the Aurora. She felt a bit guilty for having cried herself to sleep, but she also knew Hunter most likely understood, hence why he'd left her alone.

The holopad with Jesse's message laid still in her palm and she clutched it tightly. Her emotions were beginning to swell again, but she inhaled deep through her clenched teeth and then released her breath slowly. She had to stay calm. She had to talk to Rex and she didn't want to get overly emotional again.

She stowed the holopad safely away in one of her packs in the room and then made her way back to the Aurora. She found everyone lounging around in the main area of the ship except for Tech and Irys. Omega was sitting on the floor making silly faces and noises at Kori, who was lying on his back in front of her while giggling and kicking his feet. They all heard her walk in and all eyes were on her right away. Hunter said her name as he saw her and went over to her quickly.

Placing his hands gently on her biceps, he looked into her eyes and asked, “How are you feeling? Are you okay?”

Kimber nodded. “I'm all right,” she said, her voice still a bit hoarse from crying the night before.

Hunter searched her face for any signs of deception. He could still sense a hint of heartbreak from her, but it wasn't as strong as it had been before. She didn't seem to be lying to him, which was good, at least. She genuinely seemed to be okay for now.

He cupped the nape of her neck and guided her head forward, touching her forehead to his. “I really am sorry, sweetheart,” he whispered.

“I know,” she said back.

As Hunter stepped back, Kimber was suddenly engulfed in a big hug from Kida, who said in her ear, “Rex told us what happened. I'm so sorry, Kimber.”

She hugged her friend back and replied, “Thank you, Kida.”

Then Rina came up and said, her voice low, “I remembered Jesse from Jakku. He was one heck of a soldier and a good guy. I know he was your friend and meant a lot to you. I'm sorry he's gone, boss lady. You gonna be okay?”

“I think I will be,” Kimber said back.

It was then Tech and Irys came in from the direction of the cockpit, debating with each other once again.

“No, Irys, our ship's hyperdrive does not require upgrading,” said Tech.

“It's an out of date model and, after the last debacle you informed me of with retrieving the lizard, it'll come to a point where even Echo can't fix it anymore,” Irys replied.

With an adjustment of his goggles, he stated, “Despite that instance, it is still fully functional and therefore, I see no reason to--” He heard a light chuckle and spotted Kimber as well as everyone else watching him and Irys and he ceased his arguing. Clearing his throat, he then said, “Kimber, it's good to see you back and my sincerest apologies for your loss. Are you well?”

“As well as I can be, yes,” Kimber replied, mustering up a small, reassuring smile.

“Do you need anything?” then asked Echo, a look of sympathy on his face.

She shook her head. “Not right now, but thank you.”

“Well, we're all here for you if you do,” said Wrecker. However, a few seconds later, he started groaning in pain and clutching at his head.

Kimber noticed this and forgot about her own troubles for a moment. “Is your head bothering you again, Wrecker?” she inquired.

“Yeah,” he said through a groan.

Rina immediately grew concerned. Something didn't feel right. Normally, a headache was nothing to be concerned about, but her senses were telling her otherwise that something was wrong with Wrecker.

He turned to Tech and said, “Tech, I need one of those med patches.”

“You used the last one,” Tech pointed out.

Rex, too, immediately picked up on the fact that something was wrong. Something he was all too familiar with. “What's wrong?” he asked suspiciously.

“Nothing. It's just a headache,” Wrecker answered through another groan.

“Which are becoming more frequent,” Echo added.

“Is that so?” Rex questioned, his eyes narrowing.

Then Rina spoke up in a more serious tone than anyone had ever heard from her, “Guys, I don't think it's just a headache. I can sense something abnormal about all of this. Something is very wrong.”

As Kimber looked down at her worried friend, Tech stated, mainly to Rex, “If you're concerned about the so-called inhibitor chips, don't be. Our deviant nature appears to have impeded their functionality. Except in Crosshair.”

Kimber inhaled sharply, both at the mention of Crosshair and the inhibitor chips. After what she'd heard in Jesse's message, she had a greater hunch that they were real and there was more to them than they all realized.

Then Rex asked with an anticipatory tone, “You're telling me you haven't removed your chips?”

“No, not yet,” answered Tech.

To everyone's surprise, Rex moved himself in front of the two kids, pushed aside his poncho and held his hand defensively over his holstered blaster, protective determination in his eyes.

Hunter saw this and put himself in front of the rest of his squad. “Rex?” he asked, a hint of warning and confusion in his voice.

“Rex, what are you doing?” then inquired Lex.

“Those chips make you a threat to everyone around you. Even her,” Rex told them, gesturing to Omega behind him. “You're all ticking time bombs.”

“Take it easy, Captain,” Hunter said, holding up a hand in defense.

Sounding more serious, Rex informed them all, “What's in your head is more dangerous than you can imagine. I've seen what happens when the chip activates, and I don't want to bury any more of our brothers.” His gaze found Kimber as he said that, remembering Jesse. Then his expression turned sad. “Trust me. It is not something you can control. I couldn't. It's a risk you do not want to take.”

Hunter looked at Omega, who looked both concerned and afraid. If what Rex said was true and they were a danger to even Omega with their chips still in their heads, then that meant they'd be a danger to Kimber, too. And Rina and Lex; everyone they cared about. He hadn't given much thought to the chips before, but after hearing Rex, he had a strong feeling in his gut that he couldn't ignore. He couldn't put his squad or his friends at risk.

“How do you suggest we get them out?” he asked Rex.

Seeing the Sergeant was willing to cooperate, Rex moved his hand away from his blaster and replied, “Good question. I'll be in touch.” Then he looked at Kimber again. “For now, you and I have somewhere we need to be.”

“What do you mean?” she asked back.

“I'm taking you to the crash site. You deserve to say goodbye to Jesse,” he replied.

She gasped. How did he know that's what she wanted? “But Rex, we can't. We have the chips to worry about. We have to find a way to get them out of the boys’ heads.”

“I know and we will,” said Rex. “Lucky for us, the moon the cruiser crashed on is in a nearby system. We can spare a few hours to a day to go there and then I'll bring you back. After that, I'll figure out a way to deal with the chips.”

Kimber wanted to continue debating with him about going, now that the threat of the inhibitor chips was looming over them, but then she felt someone take her hand. She looked to see Omega holding her hand and smiling comfortingly up at her.

“Go with him, Kimber. You need to so you can be happy again,” she reassured her. “We'll watch Wrecker while you're gone and make sure nothing happens. Everything will be okay, I promise.”

“She's right, princess,” added Lex, who gave a flourish of her vibroblade. “If anything goes down, we'll take care of it.”

Rina saw that and shot back, “Come anywhere near the big guy with that knife and you'll find it in one of your kneecaps.”

“Relax, Rina. It's just a precaution. One I'm certain we won't need,” Lex told her, sheathing her blade.

There was a hand on Kimber's shoulder and she found Hunter's loving gaze upon her. “Go, my love. We'll be fine.”

Having reassurances from her friends made Kimber feel a bit better about going with Rex. While she still felt uneasy about leaving her boys right now, she now felt sure that if things were to happen while she was gone, they would still be okay.

“All right,” she accepted.

“Then we'll leave right away. I'll take you to my ship,” said Rex, already making his way to the Aurora's exit.

“Wait, Rex!” called Kida, running after him. When she caught up to him, she said quietly, “I…I don't know when I'll see you next, but…I'll be thinking of you while you're gone.”

He softly caressed her cheek and replied, “And I'll be thinking of you...like I always do. I'm sure I'll see you again soon.” Then he walked away.

Kimber faced Hunter and took his hands. “Promise me you'll all be safe,” she said.

“I promise,” he responded. “Wrecker will be fine and should anything go wrong, we'll handle it. Don't worry about us.” He kissed her brow and then said, “Let us know when you're coming back. I hope this brings you the peace you need.”

“Thank you again for your support,” she said gratefully. “I'll see you soon.” Then she gave him a kiss on the lips and afterwards, ran off to follow Rex.

Both Kimber and Rex ejected out of hyperspace in Rex's stolen BTL-B Y-wing fighter-bomber that he'd used to escape the cruiser crash. He was flying the ship while Kimber was seated in the gunner's bubble turret, where she could admire the wonders of traveling at lightspeed through the clear dome that covered her. They entered the atmosphere of the moon the crash site was on. As they passed through the clouds, they beheld a barren, desolate landscape and up ahead, they could see the wreckage of a Venator cruiser.

“There it is. The Tribunal,” said Rex over the ship's comms as they spotted the wreckage.

Kimber could feel a pit forming in her stomach. She dreaded what they would see when they landed. That and she'd also had time to think and wonder as they'd flown to the planet and now, she had a question she needed to know the answer to.

“Jesse told me in his message that something happened to the Clones that made them lose control; that he felt his body and mind were taken over by something he couldn't see,” she said. “He said he'd even turned his blasters on you and your Commander, labeling you both traitors. On top of that, I remember seeing the Imperial file with Tech on when this crash was reported…and it was around when Order 66 happened.” She took a deep breath and leaned a bit forward to get a better look at the back of Rex's head below her. “Rex…I need to know…was everything that happened here because of Order 66?”

She saw him lower his head and then heard him answer, “Yes.”

Even though it still hurt to hear the truth, she at least was glad to know the truth. “There was more to the story of this crash than just that Sith prisoner getting loose and destroying the hyperdrive. Please Rex…tell me what really happened,” she pleaded.

As they continued on towards the crash site, he explained to her, “What I did tell you was true…but yes, there was more to it. The order came through from the Emperor and I could suddenly feel my will slipping away from me. I managed to fight it for but a few seconds; enough time to warn my Commander, Ahsoka Tano, before my troops and I fired on her. She's a very skilled Jedi and was able to evade us. The next thing I knew, I was hunting her through the ship and I couldn't stop myself. I was conscious of everything I was doing and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I'm sure Jesse said about the same in his message, didn't he?”

“He did, yes,” she answered sadly.

“I thought as much,” he said back.

It was then Kimber realized that the ship was moving closer to the ground and that they had reached the crashed Venator cruiser. As it landed, the nervous feeling inside her grew even more. She wasn't sure if she had the strength to leave the Y-wing and face the reality of Jesse's death. At least, Rex was with her and would be there to help her through this.

The dome hatch opened above her and she climbed carefully out of the ship. As her feet met the ground and her eyes lifted to the sight before her, she felt her heart twist painfully and her balance faltered. Her legs buckled, but lucky for her, she was caught in Rex's arms.

“Whoa, easy there, soldier. I've got you,” he consoled her, holding her around the shoulders.

“Rex…I don't think I can do this,” she admitted anxiously.

“Hey, it's like what you told me with Kida: the longer you wait, the harder it'll be for you to face this,” he said. “Don't worry, I'll be with you as much as you need me.”

“Could you…could you at least walk over there with me?” she requested timidly.

Rex squeezed her shoulders comfortingly and said, “Let's go.”

A couple yards away, Kimber saw the burial site of the Clones: dozens of grave marker sticks spread across the ground in front of the demolished cruiser with helmets placed on top of them. Some of the helmets were white while others were painted orange with a white symbol she'd never seen before. The sight of all the Clone graves tore at her heart.

Solemnly, she said aloud as she scanned the line of grave markers, “The Clones didn’t die for the Republic…they died with it.”

Though, what broke her heart immediately was the blue Clone helmet with the Republic symbol drawn on that was front and center from the rest.

Jesse’s helmet.

With every step closer, she could feel her heart sinking lower and lower and the feeling in her body fading away to numbness. This couldn't be real, but she knew it was. She and Rex both stopped in front of Jesse's grave marker and finally, she couldn't hold herself up anymore. Rex carefully guided her down to the ground, keeping a strong hold on her arms, and knelt beside her. Tears sprang to her eyes and her quiet crying began.

“Do you want me to stay?” she heard Rex ask her in her sorrowful haze.

Her eyes closed and a few more tears fell down her cheeks. “No…I need to do this alone now,” she told him, a break in her voice. “Thank you for getting me this far, Rex.”

The Captain laid a hand on her shoulder and simply responded, “Take your time, however long you need. I'll wait for you at the Y-wing.” With that, he stood up and walked away, letting his hand linger on her shoulder until he could no longer reach.

There on the cold, dirt-covered ground with the wind gently caressing her face and hair, Kimber knelt in front of the grave of her dear friend, Lieutenant Jesse, her hands over her heart and her eyes gazing up at his helmet. She recalled the moment she met him at 79’s over a year ago.

His eyes found Kimber and they widened ever so slightly. “Well, I haven’t seen you around here before.”

Kimber realized when he turned his head to look at her that Jesse had the Republic symbol tattooed over most of his head, originating on the right side of his face…and her heart ached for a brief second as it reminded her of Hunter.

She introduced herself by name to him and he replied, “Oh, the Bad Batch girl!”

“Oh stars…!” Kimber groaned, through she still grinned. “Is that really what you guys know me as?”

“I mean, yeah, kinda,” he said with a shrug.

Then Kix told him, “Apparently, she’s here by herself and she’s looking for Rex.”

Removing his arm from Kix, Jesse then explained, “Oh, well we got back from a mission earlier today and so Rex is currently at a briefing, but he said he’ll meet up with us here later.” Then he flashed her a smile. “You’re welcome to stay with us until he gets here.”

Kimber smiled back a little shyly and simply said, “Sure, yeah.”

“Great! My name is Jesse, by the way, in case you missed Kix saying it,” he said.

She chuckled. “I didn’t, but it’s a pleasure to meet you all the same. I wouldn’t mind your guys’ company for a while.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Kix.

Jesse took the seat on her opposite side and declared gladly, “Well then, Kimber…how about we buy you a drink?”

It felt like so long ago now that she’d met him. That night, he’d told her “any friend of Rex’s is a friend of ours” and he further proved that by offering to train her for a few months because Rex couldn’t. At that time, she had no idea of the journey she was about to undertake. Not only just the intense training akin to ARC Trooper training, but the relationship and friendship she would build with Jesse over the three months she spent on Coruscant with him. Memories of their time together flashed across her mind.

Training in combat together.

Getting drinks at 79’s with him and Kix.

The nights they’d spend watching holoshows.

The one night he told her about Umbara and Fives.

The mission on Rhen Var when she, Rex and Kix rescued him after being injured…the same night he confessed his feelings and kissed her for the first time, but she had to reject him.

Their final mission on Zeffo when she returned to the Bad Batch and said goodbye to him…for what would be the very last time. She remembered their final words to each other:

Jesse then stepped back and pointed a finger at her, smirking as he then stated, “When this war is over, our holoshow nights need to be a thing again. You can bring the boys, it will be fun!”

She chuckled. “Oh, the thought of the Bad Batch having a holoshow night with a reg…,” she voiced aloud. “I think that would be marvelous. Though, you have to promise me that you’ll get out of this war alive first.”

“I will only if you do, too,” he countered. He extended a hand out for her to shake.

Kimber took Jesse’s hand and grasped it tightly, sealing their promise to one another that they would do everything they could to stay alive through to the end of the Clone Wars.

“I’m sure our paths will cross again someday, but until that time: take good care of yourself, Lieutenant Jesse,” she said with a grin.

Grinning at her in return, he replied, “Until we meet again, Kimber Sallaros. I’ve had many missions in my time…but training you has been the best one by far.”

Kimber finally broke out into sobs of heartbreaking pain, her hands coming up to her face. “Oh Jesse…why did it have to end like this?” she asked aloud. “We promised each other we would survive the war and we would see each other again. Why did it have to be like this?” After letting herself cry for a few more short moments, she calmed down just a little and then looked back up at his helmet through blurred, tear-filled vision. “I can’t fathom how terrified you must’ve been in your final moments on this cruiser…and yet you remained steadfast and brave so you could send a farewell message to me. You always were one of the bravest soldiers I’ve ever known. I wish I had your courage, especially now. Facing this…the cold reality of war and loss…is maybe the greatest challenge I’ve had to face so far in my new life. After my parents, I haven’t lost anyone else to death until you…and the pain I feel is so great, I don’t know how I’m able to bear it. I know you would tell me that I’m strong enough to handle anything, but I don’t feel strong.”

She was silent for a moment, trying to figure out what to say and how to say it. There was so much she wished she could say, but she would be there for eternity if she said it all. Would it even matter, though? Could Jesse even hear her, wherever he was? For now, she had to believe he could. It was the only way she would get through this.

Then she spoke, “You’re part of why I am who I am today, Jesse. I left my squad in an uncertain time so I could become better for them and you helped me achieve that. You shaped me into the better soldier I am now. You were a friend and confidant when I needed one. You truly were one of the greatest friends I have and ever will have. I just...can’t believe you’re really gone. We were both supposed to survive the war…but as Hunter told me, such promises like that never have any guarantees in times of war. I suppose we both should’ve known better.” Her eyes drifted down the ground in front of her; to the mound under which she knew Jesse’s body laid and she pressed her hand down on the earth, her tears sinking into it. “I can’t thank you enough for all you did for me. For your friendship and your love. I know I told you I loved you in a different way…but that was a lie. The truth is…I did love you, Jesse.” Her tears started falling faster as she wept once more. “I loved you…I loved you more than I ever should have. I still wanted to be with Hunter and yet, I fell in love with you anyway. I’m sorry…I’m sorry I lied, but I knew it wouldn’t have benefited either of us if I admitted the truth. I couldn’t give you false hope and I couldn’t betray Hunter like that. I know you hoped things between him and I would eventually work out and well…I’m pleased to say that they have. We’re back together and we hope to get married one day. I’m happy, just like you wanted me to be.” Then her eyes lifted back to his helmet and she reached up, softly laying her hand upon the cold, plastoid surface. “Even so, you will always hold a special place in my heart and in my memories for the rest of my life. In the months I spent with you, you and I lived in a world that was all our own. That’s something I’ll never forget. You gave it your all and in the end, it still cost you your life. I thought it was hard enough to let you go on Zeffo, thinking I’d still see you again one day. Now…I have to let you go for good. I won’t forget everything you taught me. I’ll keep you close in my heart…and you’ll never be far from me, just like you said.”

Kimber’s hand left his helmet and came to her chest just above her heart as she closed her eyes, pushing out a couple more stray tears. The wind seemingly died down in the moment and she focused on the silence, hoping to quell her sorrow enough to move on. However, there was something in the wind she could hear…it sounded almost like a voice.

A voice whispering…her name.

Her head shook, brushing that off as just her imagining things in her grief. The only other person on this moon was Rex and he was back at his Y-wing. They were alone. There was no one else on this moon alive.

Then she felt a warm sensation on her face…like a hand softly caressing her cheek. It was a touch she recognized.

She gasped and her eyes flew open.

There was no one in front of her, but the feeling was unmistakable. For but a second, she almost swore she could see his face as if through a veil, but when she blinked, there was nothing there. Yet the warmth she felt on her cheek remained.

“Jesse?” she whispered, reaching up to her cheek and lightly touching her skin.

She didn’t know how it was possible, but she was certain Jesse was there with her. She could feel his presence near her. More than that, she could feel his love, his sorrow and his comfort. There was no longer a voice in the wind, yet she knew in her mind and in her heart what he was wanting to convey to her.

He was at peace…and she would be all right.

Another tear fell from her eye, but this was time, it wasn’t a tear of grief. It was a tear of joy and gratitude.

“I’ll miss you so much,” she then said, “but at least now, I know you’re at peace. I can set you free now so I can strive to find my own peace, as well. I’ll continue to make you proud.”

Right then, she could feel a reassuring hand on her shoulder…but she knew immediately it wasn’t Rex’s. It felt similar to the hand she’d felt on her cheek yet it wasn’t from Jesse’s spirit. It was someone else’s; another familiar friendly presence she’d only encountered once before in a dream.

“Fives?”

Even though there was no audible reply, she could feel deep down that she had supposed right. Not only was Jesse there with her, but so was Fives. In her heart, she could feel the message that he also was trying to give her from the other side: that he would take care of Jesse for her and they both would continue to watch over her.

It didn’t make sense how she was experiencing any of this, but Kimber wasn’t going to push any of it aside. She could palpably feel the presence of two deceased Clones with her, even though she couldn’t see them. They were there to comfort her in her time of grief to let her know they were all right and she would be, too. Perhaps this was the work of the Force, she wondered, even though she didn’t believe much in the Force. It was the only possible explanation that she could think of.

Feeling the omnipresence of her Clone friends, Kimber inhaled deeply, letting their comfort and strength empower her. Everything was going to be okay. She was going to be okay. Their reassurance was enough to give her the bravery to move on; to face everything else that awaited her future with courage unparalleled.

With newfound conviction, she stated out loud, “I promise you, Jesse and Fives: I will finish what you both started. I will do whatever it takes to bring the Empire down so I can avenge both your deaths. I won’t let your sacrifices be in vain. The Empire will pay for what they’ve done to the Clones. I will continue fighting. For my squad, for Hunter, for all the Clones and for you two, even if I have to give my own life.” She looked up to the blue sky above her and a small smile curled up on her lips. “I won’t let you down. I’ll keep going and do whatever it takes. I swear it.”

Then she stood up and took one last look at Jesse’s helmet, placing both hands on either side of it as if she were cupping his face and lifting it from the wood it sat upon. She looked over the helmet carefully, taking in all the details she could before leaving it here forever, for she had a feeling she wouldn’t see it again. At least, not for a long time, if anything.

“Thank you, Jesse…for everything,” she said softly. “At least we got to share this one last day, my friend, even if I couldn’t see you.” She leaned down, placed a kiss upon the brow of the helmet and then brought it up to her forehead in reverence as she whispered, almost like a prayer, “I love you…and I’ll miss you. Goodbye, Jesse.”

Having felt as though she said all that needed to be said, Kimber returned Jesse’s helmet to its place and turned away. Even though her heart still felt heavy, it did feel as though a large part of her burden had been lifted. It was enough for her to feel as though she could take the next step forward in healing from this loss. It still would take time, but this was just the beginning.

As she took a step forward, her foot nudged something she hadn’t noticed before. When she looked down, she found there was a lightsaber on the ground. She thought it was curious for a second that there was a lightsaber there, but then she remembered Rex had said both he and his Jedi Commander, Ahsoka Tano, had buried all the Clones. Had she dropped it on accident…or had it been left here on purpose? After Order 66, the Jedi were all being hunted across the galaxy. Maybe she’d left it on this moon to keep herself safe. There were probably various reasons as to why it had been left that Kimber knew she’d most likely never learn the answer to. For a brief moment, she considered picking it up and taking it with her, but right away, she realized that would be a mistake. If anyone were to spot her with a lightsaber, she would automatically be labeled a Jedi and hunted down. As if being labeled a deserter to the Empire and already being hunted wasn’t bad enough. No, it was best to leave the Jedi relic there and she decided to meet back with Rex.

Rex saw her coming and climbed out of the cockpit to greet her. “You okay?” he asked her.

She nodded. “I am now,” she said. “I don’t know how, but somehow...I just know everything’s going to be all right. Thank you again for bringing me here.”

He bowed his head in respect.

It was then she noticed that there was a scar on his head that she somehow hadn’t noticed before. It was on his right side; the same side she recalled Wrecker saying would hurt when his headaches would hit.

“Rex…did you get your chip removed?” she inquired, pointing to the scar.

His hand came up to trace over the scar for a second and he answered, “I did.”

“How?” she asked.

He gestured to the wreckage behind her. “It was on that cruiser, not long before it was kicked out of hyperspace.”

“Tell me the rest of what happened before the ship crashed,” she said.

Then he explained, “Before I lost all control, I gave Commander Tano a message that I knew she’d understand. I told her to find Fives; to find the files on him and everything that had happened with him before he was killed.”

Hearing Fives being mentioned suddenly made his presence from earlier make sense. Then she remembered the vague things he had told her in her dream from a long time ago, how he’d warned her that something was coming that she’d need to be prepared for. Something he couldn’t stop.

Then it all pieced together in her mind. “Fives had discovered the existence of the chips, hadn’t he?”

Rex nodded. “He did. I didn’t believe him at the time, but I still made a report about it just in case. Turns out, I had been right to do so. As I felt my mind slipping away after Order 66 had been given, I knew immediately Fives had been right and knew I could count on Ahsoka to figure out what to do. She found my report and learned about the chips.”

He then went on to tell Kimber how Ahsoka had actually set their Sith prisoner free herself to distract the Clone soldiers hunting her while she subdued Rex and had taken him to the med bay on the cruiser, where she found the chip and surgically removed it. Shortly after that was when they tried to escape, and had been cornered in the hangar by Jesse and his troops before the hyperdrive got destroyed and the ship crashed.

“That’s the whole story,” he then said to finish it off.

“I see,” she said, taking it all in as she looked back at the destroyed Venator behind her.

“In order to remove your squad’s chips, we’d need some higher-grade medical equipment. Only bigger medical facilities would have those and most of those, I’m sure are under Imperial command now. And Kamino is definitely not an option either,” he told her.

Then she commented, “It’s too bad we can’t get onto just another Venator like this one. If you were able to get yours out on one, then I’m sure others would have the same medical equipment, too. Unfortunately for us, I’m sure all of the other Venators left are also under Imperial control.”

As she looked back, she saw his eyes gradually grow larger, like he’d just thought of something. “Maybe not all of them,” he said. Then he took her by the shoulders and declared, “Kimber, you’re a genius!”

“Uh…thank you?” she said, confused. “What are you thinking, Rex?”

As he got ready to climb back into the Y-wing fighter, he responded to her, “We can't use a Venator cruiser that's still in commission…but we can use a decommissioned one that isn't being used by the Empire. Call your boys. I know exactly where we need to go to get their chips removed.”

#the bad batch #sun and rain fanfic #star wars tbb #star wars

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theknightofivanhoe · 4 months

Text

Hello Morgan, hope your Christmas was a happy one and all your family enjoyed the holiday season.

Must give Rex a plus for telling Kimber what happened to Jesse but very sorry that he had to in the first place. And what Jesse told Kimber about what happened to him and all the clones makes me wonder just how she will feel when she sees what happens to Wrecker very soon. Have a happy new year, Morgan. Xxx

"Sun and Rain Part 2: Age of the Empire"

Chapter 25

"Final Moments"

A "Bad Batch" fanfic!

Pairing: Hunter x fem OC, Echo (more best friend pairing)

A/N: I hope everyone had a great Christmas! It's good to be back again 😊 Last year on Christmas, I posted the chapter where the Koriena Force returned, which was happy news for many readers! This year...well this chapter is a lot different from that 😅 I hope you all will still like it nonetheless!

Love you all! 💜

Taglist: @the-sad-batch , @nimata-beroya , @intrepidmare , @cole-kenxbi , @tech-aficionado , @ladykatakuri , @d1n0-dan , @sammi9498 , @darthzero22 , @scarlettrose9901 , @tech-deck , @thebadbatchscyare , @chxpsi , @ilikemymendarkandfictional , @4pplecider , @locitapurplepink , @l-lend , @nekotaetae , @eternalwaffle , @merkitty49 , @avathebestx , @idoubleswearimawriter , @techs-stitches , @fantasyproductions

《 Chapter 24

》 Coming soon!

All chapters (Part 2) (Part 1)

Explanation: Despite the gladness of the Bad Batch and the Koriena Force reuniting with Rex, the Captain has some unfortunate news and a message to deliver...specifically to Kimber.

“How do you think it’s going in there?” Kimber asked the others. The rest of the Koriena Force and the Bad Batch had returned to the Aurora once Rina and Lex finished reporting to Cid. Now, they were waiting anxiously to see what was happening with Rex and Kida. The couple had been in Kida’s room for a little while now.

“Well, considering I don’t hear yelling or any sort of obscenities being thrown out…I’d imagine it’s going well,” Rina answered.

“Obscenities?” asked Omega.

“Fighting or cursing,” Rina informed her.

“And we’re not hearing any moaning either,” Lex added quietly in Kimber’s ear, remembering the last time the couple had been together and the girls had all walked in on them, to which Kimber grunted in agreement.

Hunter turned to Kimber and asked her, “How did Rex take the news about the kid?”

“He was shocked, at first, as is to be expected,” she said, “but he didn’t seem mad or put off by it. I think he was just more anxious about seeing Kida again.”

“I don’t blame him,” said Echo.

A few seconds later, the door to the room slid open and Kida and Rex came out together hand in hand and with Kori nestled in Rex’s other arm. They saw their friends all waiting for them and Kida smiled, tightening her grip on Rex’s hand, which made him turn and smile at her in return with a rare smile none of the others had really seen: a smile of genuine joy.

Hunter then spoke up first and asked, even though he pretty much already knew the answer, “I take it all is well, Captain?”

Rex bowed his head. “All’s well, Sergeant,” he replied, then looking down at his son.

Then Rina let out a loud sigh and declared, “I am so glad that’s over with. No offense, Kida, but you’ve really been needing your man.”

“No, you’re right,” said Kida, standing on her tip-toes to give Rex a kiss on the cheek.

“And Kori most certainly needed to meet his father,” added Tech.

“Oh, he knew who Rex was immediately,” she replied, reaching over and lightly tapping Kori’s tiny nose.

“Well, we're all together again. Nothing can ruin this day!” exclaimed Kimber.

Rex grinned in response…but once everyone's attention turned away to other discussions, his glad demeanor quickly disappeared. It was all because of what Kimber had said because, despite the merriment of the situation, he had some unfortunate news to deliver. Specifically, for Kimber. However, he didn't want to bring down the moment when everyone was enjoying each other's company, especially with him there, so he knew he couldn't say anything. Not yet, anyway. He would wait until a little later. He didn't want to tell her what he had to say, but he knew he had to. Knowing the truth would crush her, but he also knew that keeping it from her would hurt her even more.

Even though he dreaded what was to come, it had to be done.

He pushed the thought aside for the time being and then stated, “I need to know something.”

“What is it, Rex?” asked Echo.

The Captain gestured to Wrecker and Rina and then Echo and Lex. “When and how did all this happen? The four of you?” he inquired.

Both couples looked at each other and timidly grinned.

“Well, things with the big guy and I started on Toydaria after the Eradicator debacle,” answered Rina.

“Then we became an item only recently,” said Lex, motioning between her and Echo.

“Those certainly weren't developments I was entirely expecting,” said Rex.

Rina chuckled. “What can we say? We really know how to pick ‘em. Don't we, boss lady?” she asked, looking at Kimber.

“Absolutely,” she replied.

That statement from Rina warmed Wrecker's heart and he cried out, pulling her into his arms and squeezing her tight, “Aw, Rina! I love you, you're the best!”

All heads turned to look at the two of them upon realizing what he'd said. Rina's eyes were the widest and her face had turned a deep crimson. However, Wrecker just seemed like normal and was grinning from ear to ear. Judging by his lack of attention to Rina or anybody else’s reactions in the moment, it seemed like Wrecker didn't fully understand the weight of what he'd just said. Poor Rina looked like she wanted to respond, but her voice failed her.

To quickly move on from the awkward moment, Rex cleared his throat and stated, “Well, I'm glad the four of you are happy.”

“As are we,” replied Echo, “and now, you can know the same happiness we do.”

Kimber then looked to both Tech and Irys--the only ones not in a relationship--and said apologetically, “I hope this isn't making the two of you feel left out.”

Without missing a beat, Tech responded, “Not at all. I am perfectly content with the way things are already.”

“As am I,” added Irys.

“I still think the two of you should get together,” stated Kida with a teasing grin.

Irys chuckled and replied to her, “I’m aware of your thoughts regarding me and Tech, but I think our friendly rivalry is sufficient enough.” Then she looked at Tech, directing a sly grin at him.

The corner of his mouth twitched up a little. “I concur with that statement, Irys,” he said back. “Why should we romance each other when we can cordially antagonize each other instead?”

“It’s much more fun,” she said.

As they gave their answers, Kimber had watched both Tech and Irys to gauge if they were being honest. Tech, she figured right away was being honest. He wasn’t one to shy away from sharing his truths or his thoughts. Though, she wondered if maybe when it came to matters of the heart, it would be different, but it didn’t seem that way. Then Irys, she knew, was a different story. Irys wouldn't have any interest in Tech because she secretly had unrequited feelings for Lex. Even so, she seemed similar to Tech in the fact that she didn't seem particularly interested in anything regarding romance.

At that moment, Rina, who had been strangely quiet, declared she was going to go get things ready for dinner and quickly ran off to the ship's kitchen. After that, everyone either stayed to chat or dispersed to other rooms. It was then that Rex decided he had to take the plunge and deliver the news he had to Kimber.

After handing the baby off to his mother, he approached Kimber and addressed her by name, catching her attention. When she faced him, he said to her, “We need to talk.” Then he looked at Hunter standing beside her and added, “You might want to come, too, Hunter.”

Now a tad concerned at the seriousness of Rex’s tone, Kimber exchanged a curious glance with Hunter before responding, “All right. Let’s go into Kida’s room.”

The three of them were quick to duck into Kida’s room and Hunter closed the door behind them. Once they were inside, Kimber questioned, “Rex, what's going on?”

The expression on his face was a grim one; a very sudden switch from the happy and content one he’d had not moments ago. There was a sense of distress in his eyes, which only made Kimber even more nervous. Something was wrong and her stomach began to churn anxiously as she awaited his explanation.

With a heavy sigh, he said, “There's something you need to know, Kimber…and I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this.”

His head fell briefly and she kept her eyes on him. He was struggling to get out whatever it was he wanted to say, which only made her wonder even more what was going on. What was it he wanted to tell her that was so hard to say? A light sense of dread welled up inside her.

When he found his voice again, he spoke, “The crash the Empire believes I died in: my Commander and I were the only ones who survived. There were a lot of Clones on that cruiser and we buried all of them.”

His hands clenched tightly into fists as he fought his emotions. The Captain wished he didn’t have to do this. What he was about to say was going to break her, he just knew it.

“Rex?” Hunter asked apprehensively.

Rex didn’t acknowledge him and instead, kept his unwavering melancholic gaze on Kimber as he painfully released the words he didn’t want to say:

“One of the Clones…that also died in the crash…was Jesse.”

A sharp gasp escaped Kimber’s lips and her hands flew up to her mouth in complete and utter shock.

Beside her, Hunter’s eyes widened. His gaze immediately turned to Kimber as he then realized why Rex wanted him there. He knew this upsetting news would greatly affect her and she was going to need his comfort and support.

Kimber’s entire body went numb as she processed what Rex had just told her. No, surely she didn’t hear him right. There was no way he’d told her Jesse was gone. “No…no, no, no, no, no, no, it can't be true. Please, Rex, tell me you're lying! Tell me it isn't true!” she cried out, her head shaking and her voice breaking.

However, the pain now growing in her chest only increased as Rex sorrowfully shook his head and told her plainly, “I wish I could…but I buried him myself. I placed his helmet on his grave marker with my own hands. I'm sorry, Kimber…Jesse's gone.”

Her breathing went shallow and her hands clutched at her chest. “No! It can't be! He can’t be gone! Jesse…no!”

Her heart finally broke and her strength failed her as her legs gave way beneath her. Her body fell limp and she started to collapse, but Hunter was swift and caught her in his arms, carefully guiding her to the floor. Her body trembled against his as she became wracked with grief, heart wrenching sobs tearing from her throat. Hunter held her close, not saying a word to her. He’d anticipated such a reaction from her, knowing this would be hard for her to take. He locked eyes with Rex, who appeared immensely apologetic. The Sergeant could tell this was the last thing Rex wanted to do, but he understood why he had to.

Rex took a step closer and said softly to Hunter, “I hate to only add on to this…but he also sent me a transmission he recorded in his final moments…to pass on to Kimber.” He fished out a holopad and handed it to Hunter. “I only saw the beginning where Jesse requested I give this to her,” he said. Then he laid a gentle hand on Kimber’s shaking shoulder. “I really am so sorry, Kimber. I wish more than anything that I didn’t have to give you this news. I’ll leave you two alone.” Then he quickly left the room, knowing Kimber and Hunter were going to need some time.

As he moved out to the main area of the ship, the rest of the others had gathered and all turned their attention to him as he came in.

“We heard crying. Was that Kimber?” asked Lex.

“What’s wrong?” Wrecker also asked, immediately worried.

Rex informed them, “I had to give her some unfortunate news. Jesse, one of my brothers who was close to her, was killed in the cruiser crash that I escaped.”

Hearing that, Rina exclaimed, “Wait…Face is dead?”

Everyone gave her confused looks, not expecting what just came out of her mouth, as Echo questioned, “Why did you just call him ‘Face’?”

“Well…because of his face tattoo. Duh,” she replied. “I briefly met him when I met Kimber on Jakku. It seemed like the two of them were pretty tight. I can feel her grief and pain even from here. Poor Kimber.”

“And poor Jesse,” said Echo, hanging his head, and Lex laid a hand on his arm. “Another good soldier lost.”

Omega looked up at Rex and asked him, her big brown eyes full of worry, “Is she gonna be okay?”

He heaved a heavy sigh. “I…don’t know, kid. She’s going to need time. I hope she will be eventually.”

Back in Kida’s room, Kimber was still weeping in Hunter’s arms, still unable to believe that what Rex had told her was true. She couldn’t fathom the fact that she was never going to see Jesse again; that they’d never have holoshow nights again someday or that he’d never get to know the Bad Batch better. The last time she’d seen him was back on Zeffo when she was returning to her boys and she had to tell him goodbye. At the time, she didn’t believe it would be goodbye forever because they had promised each other that they would see one another again at the end of the war.

Now, that would never happen.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” she wept to Hunter. “He and I were both supposed to survive the war. We were supposed to see each other again and I had wanted all of you to get to know him so that you would be friends. He promised me he’d survive the war! He promised me…he promised…!”

Even though he wasn’t sure if it was what she wanted to hear at the moment, he smoothed her hair and told her softly, “Such promises like that never have any guarantees in times of war, sweetheart.”

All she could do was choke on another sob.

Hunter could tell that Jesse’s death was taking a tremendous toll on her, more so than he’d imagined. He knew they were friends and that Jesse meant a lot to Kimber after the time they’d spent together on Coruscant a while back, but with how intense her grief was, he began to wonder if there was more to their relationship than he supposed. She’d told him a long time ago that Jesse had developed feelings for her, but she had told him she was still loyal to Hunter. However, she had also admitted that she’d felt a bit attracted to Jesse, as well, in some moments of vulnerability. Remembering that and judging from her reaction to hearing about Jesse’s death, Hunter had a strong suspicion of how deep Kimber’s feelings actually went, even though she’d never told him as much. More than likely, she’d probably kept the truth to herself so as to not hurt or offend him, even though she’d still chosen him in the long run. It was a solid hunch, but he had to know for himself. Not only for his own sake, but for hers, as well. If what he thought was true, she couldn’t bury the truth anymore. Not if she wanted to eventually find closure dealing with this tragic loss.

He said to her, keeping his voice low and calm, “I need to ask you something…and I want the truth.”

She let out another choked cry, but then sat back, wiping away her tears as she looked at him and calmed down a little, waiting for him to continue.

Then he asked the question that was on his mind: “You loved him, didn't you?”

She answered, her voice cracking still, “Jesse was my friend. Of course, I did.”

“Kimber, you know that's not what I meant,” he replied. He gently brushed away a couple stray tears from her cheeks, looking intently into her eyes as he repeated his question with more emphasis, “You loved him…didn't you?”

In truth, Kimber knew what he had really been asking immediately, but she tried to pass off her answer more casually, thinking she still needed to deny the truth. Unfortunately, though, he knew her well and saw right through her facade. He could tell she was lying and she knew it. She'd done so well for a long time keeping her real feelings for Jesse buried and concealed from Hunter, but she realized she couldn't anymore. She didn't want to admit it out loud, but it was clear it wouldn't matter even if she didn't. Hunter already knew.

Another tear escaped her eye as her head fell forward in shame. “I…I did.”

It was just as Hunter thought. All this time, she'd hidden her secret love for Jesse while she'd been with him, even though she’d chosen to stay with him. “From how you’ve talked about him and your reaction just now, I kind of had a hunch that's how you felt,” he told her.

She began to cry again, this time out of guilt and fear of how he'd continue to react. “I'm sorry, Hunter. I never meant to--”

“Sweetheart, you don't need to keep proving your loyalty to me,” he said, cutting her off, as he cupped her cheek with his hand. His gaze softened in understanding as he went on to tell her, “Sometimes, we can't help who we love, even if we already love someone else. You were lonely when you went to Coruscant; your heart was vulnerable and he was the one who was there for you when I couldn't be.”

Kimber almost couldn't believe how calmly Hunter was taking this. “You…you’re not angry?” she asked, bewildered.

With a shake of his head, he replied, “Why would I be angry? Despite it all, you still chose to be with me, even though our relationship was at a standstill. I'd feel differently if you'd chosen otherwise, but you didn't. Even so, I've accepted that Jesse was special to you.”

For a moment, she remained astonished at his empathy, but was nevertheless grateful for it. Her eyes welled up with tears again and she sighed heavily. “I knew I could never tell him how I truly felt,” she said. “I didn't want to give him any false hopes of anything happening between us. It wouldn't have been fair to him.” More tears fell and she let out a small cry as her grief began to build again. “We were both supposed to live through the war so we could see each other again. There's so much we wanted to do once there was peace in the galaxy…and there's so much I wanted to tell him that I'll never get to. One day, when I get the chance, I want to visit the place where he's buried and say goodbye.”

“No,” Hunter said abruptly. When she gave him an almost offended glance, he went on to say, “I want you to talk to Rex in the morning and have him take you there as soon as possible. Or, if he can't, maybe the girls can.”

Now, she was even more caught off guard. “What? But…I can't. I promised I would never leave you again,” she said back.

“You're not leaving me. This is different and I know you'll come back,” he responded.

“But Hunter--”

“Jesse's death has been a huge blow to you. You need that closure or else you'll carry the burden of his loss with you wherever you go moving forward. I want you to take whatever time you need to mourn him and say your goodbyes.”

“You…you mean it?” she asked in disbelief.

Hunter gave her a sincere, comforting smile and pulled Kimber back into his arms, cradling her head against his chest and pressing a kiss into her hair. “I mean every word. I know he meant a lot to you,” he assured her. “Besides, I owe him, too, for looking after you so you could return to me and to our squad.”

Gratefully, she hugged him back. There they stayed for a moment as she let a few more tears fall from her eyes. How was she so lucky to have someone as understanding and supportive as him? There were so many times she believed she didn’t deserve his love and kindness and yet he had deemed her worthy of it countless times.

While he continued to hold her, he said, “Talk to Rex in the morning. Go visit Jesse's grave. This is what you need and I always want what's best for you.”

Her arms tightened even more around him. “I love you, Hunter. Thank you,” she said through another small cry.

“I love you, too,” he replied before kissing her brow. Seeing her in so much pain was nearly killing him inside, but he knew there wasn’t much he could do about it entirely. Overcoming her grief would be something only she could do on her own, but he thought that telling her to go visit Jesse’s grave so she could say her final farewells was the best he could do to help support his dearest love. He hated seeing her suffer. First, the Empire took Crosshair away and now, she’d lost Jesse; two people she held dear in her heart. When would fate ever be kinder to her?

After a few more moments of just staying in each other’s comforting arms, Hunter finally guided Kimber back and then held up the holopad Rex had left with him. “Rex said Jesse had sent him a message to pass onto you, one he recorded in his last moments. I know it might be a lot for you right now, so you don’t have to listen to it now if you’re not ready.”

Kimber looked down at the holopad, simultaneously wanting to see the message and dreading to see it all at once. Seeing Jesse’s face and hearing his voice right now felt like it would be too much for her to bear…but she also knew if she didn’t play the message now, then she never would.

“No…I’ll listen to it,” she said, taking the holopad from his hand. “If I don’t do it now, then I’ll never be ready.”

“I’ll leave you alone then,” he said back.

“If you don’t mind…I’m going to take this back to the Marauder,” she told him.

He leaned forward until his forehead met hers gently. “Go ahead. I’ll make sure you can leave without anyone noticing. Take your time, my love.” Then he kissed her forehead once more, kissed her tear-stained cheeks and then left her alone in the bedroom.

Kimber waited a few moments before peeking outside the room. Luckily, Hunter had managed to get everyone out of the room so she could leave the ship without anyone stopping to talk to her. While she would appreciate their support, she just didn’t want to speak to anyone else at the moment. She just needed to be alone. Swiftly and stealthily, she ran from the Aurora and went inside the Marauder nearby, making her way to her and Hunter’s bunk.

After sitting down on the cot, she held up the holopad once more, staring at it for a moment. Everything inside her was crying not to watch the message; that she couldn’t bear to see Jesse right now. She wanted to just hide the holopad away and never think about it again, leaving her memories of him on Zeffo to be her last. However, she knew there was no way she would forget about the hidden holopad and it would eat away at her, wondering what the message said. She just didn’t want her final memory of him being this recording he’d made moments before his death. She wasn’t ready...but she knew she had to be.

She activated the holopad and then there he was, a smaller holographic projection of Jesse. He was seated up against a wall, his armor scuffed up and his helmet on the ground beside him. She could see his handsome face with the Republic symbol tattoo. He looked exhausted and scared, which already tugged at her heartstrings. Then he looked up and it almost felt as though he was looking right at her; like he knew she was there.

“Hey Kimber. I don’t have much time. The cruiser I’m on is about to crash. I know Rex got off the ship, so I hope he sees this message and that it reaches you,” he began. “First, you need to know: somehow, all of us Clones had something happen to us. It was as if something or someone took over my mind and my body and was making me do things while I was conscious of it the whole time. I tried to fight it, but I wasn’t strong enough.” He turned away, his face ridden with guilt. “We opened fire on our Commander. I aimed my weapons at Rex…my Captain and my brother…and called him a traitor to the Republic. It was only moments ago that I felt my mind and my will become mine again.”

Her tears returned, cascading down her cheeks, and her hand came up over her mouth to stifle her crying. He had sounded so terrified talking about what had happened. This had to be further proof about the inhibitor chips Omega had once mentioned. She said the Kaminoans made them to modify the behavior of the Clones. From what Jesse had described in feeling like he no longer had any control over his actions, that definitely sounded like modified behavior for sure. The chips had to be real, even though the others didn’t seem too sure on it. She felt so sorry for Jesse that he had to endure such a thing.

Then his eyes lifted again to look at her. “I’m sorry, Kimber…but I don’t think I’ll be coming back from this…which means I can’t keep the promise I made you.”

Another sob broke through and her eyes squeezed tightly shut as he went on, “It hurts my heart knowing I’ll never see your beautiful face again. I know I told you after the war, I would be able to move on from you…but the truth is, I don’t think I ever could.” Her eyes opened and, through her tears, she saw the content and loving look on his face, which only made her want to weep even more. “No other woman in this world could ever compare to you and the place you have in my heart. However, despite how I feel about you…I always knew you’d never be mine, even before you told me your heart still belonged to Hunter. I could see you were happy being around me, but there was always a light that seemed to be missing from your eyes. Then I saw that light return when we were on Zeffo and you had been reunited with Hunter and your boys. I knew your place would always be with them, no matter what and I fully accepted that. I sincerely hope things between you and Hunter are back to the way they should be and that you’re truly happy.” Then he shook his head and chuckled. “I’m only moments away from the end and I’m not even thinking of myself. I can only think of you and hope that you’re well and happy wherever you are.”

Kimber’s fingers clenched even tighter around the edges of the holopad. She almost felt guilty that Jesse had only thought about her in his last moments, but she knew that wasn’t her fault. She didn’t want to keep listening, but she couldn’t bring herself to deactivate the message. She had to see it through to the end.

Jesse continued, a sad smile now on his face, “You are an amazing woman that I am grateful to have met and spent time with. I’m thankful for our friendship and I know it will transcend even death. Don’t let my death affect your happiness. Live for me. Live enough for both of us.”

The recording shook for a moment, causing Jesse to falter, and Kimber gasped in fright. The moment she dreaded was coming.

Looking back, he spoke urgently, but with no less emotion than before, “My time might be ending, but you still have so much ahead of you. You’re strong, courageous and capable and I will always believe in you. Remember everything I taught you and the memories we shared together…and I won’t ever be far from you.” A look of peace came over his face. “I love you, Kimber, always. Goodbye.”

The projection suddenly jerked, there was a brief glimpse of an explosion and then, it cut out.

“Jesse!” Kimber cried out with terror, the holopad falling from her hand.

Despite knowing it was coming, she hadn’t expected to see Jesse’s death and had hoped the message would end before it got to that point. It took her a minute to process the conclusion of the transmission before thinking back over everything he’d said. Even in the end, he still loved her and admitted he most likely would’ve never been able to move on from her. Her guilt from before grew even stronger knowing that. She’d never meant to make him fall for her and it still hurt tremendously knowing she’d never truly be able to return the affections he’d had for her. She’d wanted him to find happiness elsewhere…and now, he never would. Even in his last moments, he’d still thought of her. Enough to think of sending one final message to her before it all came to an end.

“I’m so sorry, Jesse…! I'm so sorry!” she cried before breaking down again in awful sobs of grief.

That was it. That was the last time she would ever see her dear friend, Jesse, alive.

A few hours passed and Kimber had yet to return to the Aurora. At first, no one really said anything, but after a while longer; after both Kori and Omega had been put to bed, some of the others began to get concerned.

“I hope Kimber’s all right,” said Wrecker, clear worry written all over his face.

“I’m sure she is. She just needs to be alone,” Hunter told him.

Then Rex spoke up, “Jesse was a good friend of hers. He trained her during her time on Coruscant and they became close. I’m sure his death was a lot for her to take.”

“Dealing with death is never easy,” said Lex.

While drumming her fingers on her knee, Rina added, “I know it might not mean a lot to most of you, but through the Force, no one’s ever really gone. The Force is what binds everything and everyone in the galaxy together. Fa--Jesse will still be with her.” She decided at the last second to call him by name out of respect instead of her nickname.

“Even if that is true, it will not fully dilute her grief,” said Tech.

“I know, but it might help somewhat,” Rina said back.

Hunter stood up from where he sat, declaring, “I’m going to go check on her.”

“I’ll come with you,” said Rex.

“So will I,” added Echo.

The three Clones then made their way from the Aurora to the Marauder. When they got inside, they didn’t see Kimber in the cockpit or the main cabin. It was eerily silent, as if there was no one on the ship at all. There were no sounds of crying or anything. Hunter and Echo exchanged apprehensive looks. This situation was reminiscent of the time they came back to find Kimber had left them. Surely, it couldn’t have happened again.

“No, this can’t be happening again. She promised she wouldn’t,” Hunter thought despairingly in his head.

He moved quickly to the back of the ship where the bunks were and activated the door to his bunk. After stepping inside, he let out an audible sigh of relief.

“She’s here,” he informed Echo and Rex behind him before moving further into the room.

Kimber was lying sound asleep on the bed, the holopad resting in one of her hands. As Hunter got closer, he could see dry remnants of tears on her cheeks and her eyes were still slightly red. Her breathing was soft and she looked peaceful for a moment, temporarily free from her pain from earlier. Hunter took the blanket on the bed and pulled it up over her to keep her warm. She slightly stirred, but didn’t wake. He ran a hand over her face and brushed a couple stray strands of her hair away, tucking them behind her ear. He at least was glad that she was still there. For a small moment, he feared she’d run away again in her grief, but he knew he should’ve known better. She had promised to never leave him again and he knew she’d keep that promise. He felt like a fool for doubting her for even a second. Then he tenderly kissed her forehead before quietly making his way back to the doorway.

“Our poor girl must’ve cried herself to sleep,” said Echo quietly.

“She deserves some rest,” added Rex.

After Hunter exited the room and closed the door, he had the thought to ask Rex on Kimber’s behalf about taking her to the crash site. He knew he’d told her to talk to Rex, but now, it just seemed like something he should do so she wouldn’t have to. She was having a hard enough time as it was.

He turned to Rex and said, “Captain, I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?” Rex asked.

“Tomorrow, would you be able to take Kimber to the crash site so she can say goodbye to Jesse?” Hunter inquired. “I know it may be a lot to ask you to go back there after everything you also had to go through and I would understand if you choose not to. It’s just...Kimber told me there are things she wished she could’ve told him and wants to say her goodbyes. I’m hoping if she goes, she’ll get the closure she needs and it can help her find peace going forward.”

Echo turned to Rex, as well. “Will you be all right with that, Rex?” he asked with concern.

Deep down, Rex already had an idea of what Kimber wanted to say to Jesse. He remembered long ago when he and Kimber had rescued Jesse on Rhen Var and he’d overheard Kimber and Jesse discuss their feelings and their relationship. He’d known about Jesse’s feelings for her and, after watching the two of them more since that time, he’d had a feeling Kimber felt more than she let on, despite telling Jesse her heart still belonged to Hunter. The poor woman probably felt a myriad of emotions over Jesse’s death and he sympathized with her greatly. She deserved the chance to say her proper farewells.

In response, he said to the Sergeant, “I’ve learned not to hold onto the grief over the losses of my brothers for too long. I’ve had my time to mourn them. Returning to the crash site won’t be a problem, so I’ll gladly take Kimber there so she too can properly mourn who she has lost.”

That response put Hunter’s mind at ease. For a minute, he thought Rex wouldn’t want to go back, but he was glad that wasn’t the case. Rex was a true friend willing to help someone in need.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Echo asked once again to be sure.

Rex nodded. “I’m sure, brother. Don’t worry about me.”

Echo laid his hand on Rex’s shoulder. “Thank you, Rex,” he said. “I know that will mean a lot to Kim and it certainly means a lot to us, too.”

“She’s important to me, too, so I want to help as much as I can, especially since I had to be the one to tell her what happened,” Rex said solemnly.

“It was better that it came from you instead of someone else…and better that she knows instead of never finding out,” Hunter assured him.

“You’re right,” Rex agreed.

Hunter glanced back at the closed door for a few seconds and then stated, “I’m going to leave her here tonight and give her some space. As much as I want to go back in there and be there for her, I get the feeling she’d rather be alone when she wakes up in the morning.”

“She’ll seek you out once she’s ready,” Echo said to him.

With a nod, Hunter then said, “Come on, let’s go back to the Aurora. We need to put the others’ worries at ease about Kimber. Then we all need some rest. Tomorrow will be a much different day than today.”

Both Echo and Rex turned to leave the ship, but Hunter lingered for a moment longer, resting a hand against the door to his room. Her presence and her lingering sorrow flooded his senses and he wished more than anything that he could take her grief away. At least, she was content for now as she slept. Tomorrow, he knew, would be different.

“Rest well, my love,” he thought in his mind before lowering his hand and following after his brothers.

#star wars the bad batch #sun and rain fanfic #Star Wars #the bad batch #hunter x oc fic

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theknightofivanhoe · 4 months

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(Today's 16th December, happy birthday to me)

One perfectly normal day in a New Republic hangar buzzing with activity, Ahsoka Tano and Hera Syndulla are walking past workers and pilots, neither able to resist exchanging flirtatious glances and mischievous smirks like broadsides between two star cruisers.

The temptation to perform some act of affection is just pulling at the two heroines, their inhibitions leaving them itching for contact.

As soon as she checks for anyone watching and gets within range, Ahsoka gives Hera a quick sharp smack on her round, plump bottom!

Hera starts in slight shock, before she and Ahsoka both break into barely-suppressed giggling. It looks like they've just about got away with it, with (hopefully) no one noticing.

Later onboard the Ghost, Hera is doing maintenance with the controls, when little Jacen comes in.

J: Hey, mom.

H: Hello, Jacen. You doing okay?

J: Fine. Fine. Can I ask something, mom?

H: Sure, shoot, li'l guy.

J: (all wide-eyed and curious) Why did Master Ahsoka smack you on the bottom?

#star wars #ahsoka #star wars ahsoka #hera syndulla #jacen syndulla #herasoka #lightpilot #lgbt #lesbian #lesbian romance #hera x ahsoka

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theknightofivanhoe · 5 months

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Okay, so I absolutely needed to play this when Rex revealed himself

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and when Kida shows him baby Kori

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Now I'm getting so excited for when Rex tells Kimber and the Batch about the Order 66 chips, then Crosshair chasing them and then a certain bounty hunter with his nice hat. Also, loved how Rex pointed out just how feisty Kimber still is.

"Sun and Rain Part 2: Age of the Empire"

Chapter 24

"A Captain's Return"

A "Bad Batch" fanfic!

Pairing: Hunter x fem OC, Echo (more best friend pairing)

A/N: Ahhhh man, we're back to the show!! This is getting exciting! And this is a chapter I've been looking forward to for a long time cuz well...the title and the picture says it all 😊 This is gonna be a good one!

Happy reading, my dears!! 💜

Taglist: @the-sad-batch , @nimata-beroya , @intrepidmare , @cole-kenxbi , @tech-aficionado , @ladykatakuri , @d1n0-dan , @sammi9498 , @darthzero22 , @scarlettrose9901 , @tech-deck , @thebadbatchscyare , @chxpsi , @ilikemymendarkandfictional , @4pplecider , @locitapurplepink , @l-lend , @nekotaetae , @eternalwaffle , @merkitty49 , @avathebestx , @idoubleswearimawriter , @techs-stitches , @fantasyproductions

《 Chapter 23

》 Coming soon!

All chapters (Part 2) (Part 1)

Explanation: Some time has passed and a familiar face reenters the lives of the Bad Batch and the Koriena Force.

About a month or so after the events of the Imperial gala, the Bad Batch found themselves in a chase, fleeing the planet they’d been sent to with special cargo they’d acquired. The gang of thieves they’d just stolen the cargo from had sent three of their vessels after them, chasing them out of the planet’s atmosphere and into space.

Hunter, who was on the tailgun of the Marauder firing at the ships, asked aloud both with urgency and irritation, “How much longer until we’re in hyperspace, Tech?”

“That depends on when Echo plans on getting the drive back online,” Tech fired back, casting an accusatory look at Echo, who was trying to fix the hyperdrive and was clearly not doing it at a pace Tech preferred.

“I’m working on it!” Echo replied, frustrated.

In the back, Kimber had helped Omega get into her seat and pulled her emergency bar over her head. Wrecker placed their cargo in the seat next to Omega, which was a medium-sized cage with a green and blue lizard.

“I don’t think Ruby likes this very much,” Omega commented.

“You named that thing?” Wrecker asked in disbelief as he sat down in the seat across from her and pulled his bar down.

“At least it’s a cute name,” said Kimber with a small shrug as she pulled the bar of the seat over the lizard’s cage.

Their pursuers continued shooting at their ship and Tech was doing his best to dodge and evade their attacks, but they were being relentless. The ship rocked a little as Tech took a sharp turn, causing Kimber to falter a little.

“What’s with these guys?” Wrecker questioned.

“Well, we did steal from them,” Omega pointed out.

From the cockpit, Tech replied, “Technically, the Rhokai stole the lizard first. We are merely intercepting it.”

“They don’t see it that way,” said Hunter as he continued shooting.

The ship took another turn, which caused Ruby’s cage to fall out from under the bar and onto the floor. The door to the cage swung open and Ruby skittered out, going for Wrecker’s leg and starting to climb him.

“It’s loose! It’s loose! Get it off!” he cried out in a panic, throwing up the bar from in front of him and jumping to his feet, trying to wrestle the lizard off of him and running around the back cabin.

“Wrecker, calm down! Stop moving!” cried Kimber, trying to help him, but she was unable to get a good look because he kept running around, yelling to get it off.

“Stay calm, you’re scaring her!” added Omega, who’d gotten out of her seat.

Ruby had climbed her way up to Wrecker’s head, obstructing his sight, which caused him to run into the back of one of the seats in the cockpit and he fell backwards to the floor. The lizard flew off his head and started to roll back down the aisle towards Omega.

“Hyperdrive’s online!” Echo called out.

Kimber called Omega’s name and tossed the lizard’s cage up to her. Omega caught the cage and trapped the lizard on the floor with it, alerting the others that she got her, and that gave Tech the go-ahead to make the jump to hyperspace. Seconds later, they entered the blue tunnel of hyperspace and escaped their Rhokai pursuers.

Once they knew they were safe, Kimber went up to Omega and commented, ruffling her hair, “Great catch, dear.”

“Thanks, Kimber,” said Omega, grinning, as she ushered Ruby into the cage and locked it.

Then Kimber went over to Wrecker and crouched next to him as he groaned, rubbing his head. “Are you okay, Wrecker?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he answered.

Echo came over and both he and Kimber took each of Wrecker’s arms, pulling him back up to his feet. “Don’t worry, the lizard’s back in its cage,” Echo reassured the larger Clone.

“Good. I didn’t like that thing crawling all over me,” said Wrecker, shuddering slightly.

“She was scared, that’s all,” Omega tried to justify.

Hunter stated as he climbed down from the gunner’s mount, “It doesn’t matter. We got away and the lizard is back in the cage. Now, we can just focus on getting back to Ord Mantell.”

Tech turned in his pilot’s chair. “If I recall correctly, the Koriena Force should also be returning to Ord Mantell from a mission as we speak,” he spoke. “They should be arriving shortly after us.”

“Oh good,” said Kimber. Then she stole a glance over at Wrecker and Echo, knowing they both were thinking of their sweethearts in the other squad. Sure enough, both of their faces lit up just a little at hearing they’d be seeing the Koriena Force soon. Seeing that and how happy they were made Kimber smile.

This seemed to be their lives now: both squads would be sent out on jobs and sometimes it would be a few days when they’d all see each other again. They hadn’t been on another joint mission since the Imperial gala. Any time they all had to spend together were moments they treasured when they had them. This was the first time in a while that both squads would be coming back around the same time.

It was going to be an exciting time when they got back to Ord Mantell.

Now at Cid’s bar, Cid peered curiously into Ruby’s cage for a minute, examining the cargo she’d hired the Bad Batch to retrieve, and then commented, “That is one strange-looking lizard.”

“Says the other strange-looking lizard,” Kimber whispered to Tech beside her, who grinned in amusement.

“What’s your client want it for?” Echo asked Cid.

She just answered, “Maybe it’s a pet. Maybe he wants to turn it into a stew. Don’t know, don’t care.”

“As long as you get paid,” Hunter flatly stated.

“Now you’re catching on,” replied Cid. "And guess what? That means you get paid, too. Bring the lizard in the back." Then she started walking in the direction of her back office.

Kimber moved to grab Ruby's cage, but Echo beat her to it. "Don't worry, Kim. I've got this," he assured her.

"Well, what if I wanted to carry it?" she playfully whined, smirking, as Echo and Tech followed Cid.

Then Cid blurted out back over her shoulder, "Somebody better get it before my stick meets your backside!"

“Try it and you’ll find my blaster between your eyes,” Kimber muttered, irritated, under her breath. She'd been getting real tired of Cid's abrasive behavior towards them lately.

Hunter heard her and said to her quietly, placing a hand on her shoulder, “Easy, my love. Don’t let her get to you.”

She groaned. “She just always has to make some sort of comment towards us. It annoys me,” she said.

“I know, but you’re better than her. Don’t stoop to her level,” he told her.

“No promises,” she replied.

Hunter opened his mouth to say something back, but then he heard Omega say his name. When both he and Kimber turned around, they noticed both Omega and Wrecker standing behind them with expectant looks on their faces. Coming from both of them, that was never a great sign.

“What are you two up to?” Hunter asked them suspiciously.

“The mission’s over. Can we go?” Wrecker asked him, pointing back over his shoulder.

“Again?” Hunter questioned, exasperated.

“It’s a tradition,” said Wrecker with Omega smiling widely and nodding along with him.

Kimber couldn’t help but grin and shake her head, knowing exactly what Wrecker was referring to. In the last month, Wrecker and Omega had taken to going and getting Mantell Mix after every mission as a way to celebrate their success. Hunter seemed to not be entirely on board with the idea, hence why Wrecker was being so shy about it. She didn’t know if he just found it childish or if it was something else, but she didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. It was something fun and enjoyable they liked to do together.

“It makes the kid happy,” Wrecker added in a quiet voice to Hunter, though going by the judging look Omega was casting up at him, both Kimber and Hunter figured he wasn’t talking just about her.

“Uh-huh…the kid,” Hunter repeated sarcastically.

Kimber stepped up beside him and said to him, “Come on, Hunter, they’re just getting treats they love to celebrate; it’s a simple, innocent tradition they enjoy. Where’s the harm in letting them go again?” She put a hand on his arm, hoping that would help convince him.

Hunter groaned in defeat. He somehow knew that if Kimber stepped in, he was done for. She was a bit of an enabler when it came to Wrecker and Omega together. That and it was sometimes hard for him to say “no” to his beloved.

He heaved a sigh and relented by saying, “Don’t take long.”

With a triumphant laugh, Wrecker and Omega excitedly ran out of the building.

Once they were gone, Hunter looked to Kimber and told her, “Sometimes, I think you enable those two a little too much, sweetheart.”

“I do it because getting Mantell Mix with Wrecker gives Omega a chance to really be a kid and you know Wrecker encourages that, too. She doesn’t get many chances like that,” she explained as they both started walking towards Cid’s office.

“Well, if this habit of theirs comes back to bite us, you are responsible for them.” he stated.

“That’s fine,” she replied with a shrug, clearly not very worried about it.

They joined up with Tech and Echo in Cid’s office, who was sitting at her desk with an open case of credits. The lizard cage was on the desk and Ruby was clattering around inside. Echo and Tech both stepped aside and let Hunter and Kimber move in between them.

“All right, fellas, here’s your cut,” Cid spoke up, handing Hunter only three credits from the entire case.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You said the job paid three times this," he pointed out.

Slamming the case shut, she spat, "For me. Not for you."

This got on everyone's nerves immediately as Echo went on to ask, glaring at Cid, "And just how is this a mutually beneficial arrangement?"

"You're breathing, aren't ya?" was what Cid asked in response.

That answer rubbed Kimber the wrong way and she was not having it. "So you get all the money and we only get to keep on living with no way to provide for ourselves? Yeah, that seems very fair," she responded, her voice laced with both sarcasm and irritation. "How about next time, we keep all the money and you just get to keep breathing? That seems more mutually beneficial to me."

Cid shot her an unamused look. "You’re pushing your luck, Dollface."

"And you’re pushing my buttons, Cid," Kimber said back, her voice raising.

"I would advise you to keep calm, Kimber," Tech suggested.

The Trandoshan looked at Hunter and made the snide remark, “Yeah, keep your missus under control, Bandana.”

Those words set Kimber off and she took a step forward, an undeniable fire of rage in her eyes and her face. Hunter reached his arm out in front of her to stop her while Echo and Tech grabbed her arms.

“Kim, don’t,” Echo said in her ear.

Begrudgingly, she took a step back and the boys all released her. Though, they kept her in their peripherals in case Cid made another comment that would make Kimber angry again.

Cid sat back in her chair, picking up a datapad from her desk, and said, "Besides, I think I'm being rather generous to you guys considering the debt you owe me."

"What debt?" Hunter questioned. When she tossed the datapad to him, he picked it up and read aloud, "Docking fees, port charges, gear, fuel, rations…and twenty cartons of Mantell Mix?" Right away, he cast a look at Kimber. "What was that about it being a harmless tradition?" he asked almost in an "I told you so" kind of tone.

"I thought they'd be using their own money for that," she stated defensively. "I don't know why they've--"

She cut herself off as a distant memory returned to her mind of a certain short Force user giving Wrecker some advice a while back, her raspy voice echoing loud and clear in Kimber’s head.

"Save your credits, big guy. Tell the vendor to put the money on Cid's tab. If she's gonna be snippy, make her pay for it."

“Rina…,” she sighed, realizing that Wrecker must’ve taken her seriously.

“You need to find them and tell them that using Cid to pay for the mix has gotten way out of hand and they need to stop now,” Hunter told her.

She rolled her eyes. “All right, fine,” she droned as she turned on her heel to head out of the office. “Anything to get away from Cid,” she then muttered.

After she left, Cid asked, primarily focusing on Hunter, “What’s the deal with your Missus, huh?”

Glowering down at the lizard lady, he firmly stated in annoyance, “Don’t call her that.”

“Why not? You two are married, aren’t ya?” she questioned.

Before Hunter could answer, Tech clarified for him, adjusting his goggles, “That would be an incorrect assumption. Hunter and Kimber are indeed a couple, but they are not yet wed.”

Cid’s eyes widened just a little, to their surprise. “You’re kidding me,” she said flatly. “You two act like a married couple as it is, so when are you gonna get hitched already?”

The Sergeant sighed and rolled his eyes. This was definitely not the time and place to discuss such things. “That’s not important right now nor is it any of your business,” he said back. “Now, can we get back to what we were discussing before?”

Out in the parlor, Kimber was nearly stomping out of the hallway from Cid’s office. She practically despised Cid, so that already put her in a sour mood, and then finding out Wrecker and Omega were contributing to whatever debt they now owed Cid only irritated her more. She wasn’t looking forward to the conversation she was going to have to have with those two.

She heard a gruff voice off to the side of the empty parlor suddenly say, “You’re in my seat. Move it!” When she stopped to look, she saw Bolo and Ketch, the two regulars of the bar, ganging up on a hooded figure wearing a poncho sitting at a corner booth. When the stranger, who appeared male in stature, didn’t move, Bolo urged him rudely to move again.

“Hey! Bolo, Ketch! Why are you harassing that man?” she asked, moving over their way.

The two friends turned around to see her and Bolo answered, “He’s in my seat!”

Kimber looked around the parlor and gestured to the room with her hand. “The entire parlor is empty right now. Just find a new place to sit. It’s not that hard,” she chided him.

“Hey, this is Cid’s place. You can’t tell us what to do,” Ketch sneered.

Annoyed and just done with everything, Kimber rolled her eyes and withdrew her blaster, aiming it at the two aliens and making them yelp in fear. “I’m already in a bad mood because of Cid,” she said, not even hiding her irritation, “so at this point, I suggest you both leave. You have three seconds before this trigger gets pulled.”

They both cried out again in fright before Bolo started pushing Ketch towards the door, yelling at him to get out of the way.

“You’re crazy, lady!” Ketch yelled over his shoulder as he ran out.

“Don’t I know it,” she said to herself as she put her blaster back in its holster. Then she moved over to the hooded figure still sitting at the table. “Sorry about all that, sir. I hope they didn’t bother you too much.”

The man spoke without lifting his head, “Still as feisty as ever, aren’t you, Kimber?”

Kimber froze. His voice…she knew it.

He then stood up, moved out from behind the table and reached up to his hood, showing the white vambraces with blue stripes he wore. A small gasp escaped Kimber’s mouth, recognizing that armor. Then he pulled back his hood, revealing a head of short blonde hair and a kind, familiar face she was not expecting to see.

It was her dear friend, Captain Rex.

“Rex!” she exclaimed.

With a high-pitched cry of delight, she then practically leapt onto him and hugged him tightly around his neck. He grunted slightly at the impact of her armored body slamming into his, but then he snickered softly as he hugged her back.

“Oh my stars, I’ve missed you!” she said.

“Likewise,” he said back.

Then behind Kimber, she heard multiple running footsteps, followed by Cid's voice crying out, "Hey, what's going on in here?"

Kimber let go of Rex and flipped around to see Hunter, Tech and Echo had come running out along with Cid. Hunter had his blaster drawn.

"Look who's here!" she said with excitement.

"Rex?" asked Echo in shock.

Before Rex had a chance to respond, Cid started ranting in disgust, "Oh, great. Another clone. Just what I needed. Well, don't get comfy. I'm done taking in strays." Then she shoved Hunter in the arm. "This ain't a clone clubhouse, ya know."

"Oh, go complain in your office and leave us alone, will you?" Kimber spat at her. She was so happy to see Rex and was not about to let Cid ruin this moment.

The Trandoshan then turned abruptly, muttering under her breath as she left the room.

"Captain," Hunter greeted Rex, holstering his blaster.

"It's been a while, boys," said Rex in return.

"Where have you been, Rex?" Echo inquired.

Rex shrugged and said, "That's a long story."

"One you absolutely need to tell us," said Kimber, giving him a pat on the shoulder before gesturing with her head to the bar. "Come on, let's all sit down and catch up. I'll grab us all some drinks."

Tech then said, "I shall assist you."

Though, as Kimber started heading for the bar, Hunter said quietly to her, “Weren’t you supposed to be out finding Wrecker and Omega?”

She waved a hand and replied, “Oh, they’ll be fine. I’ll talk to them about the Mantell Mix later. I’m not going to leave now that Rex is here.” Then she quickly moved away to go behind the bar and Hunter just left the matter alone.

As Kimber and Tech prepared drinks for everyone, Rex regaled them with the story of what had happened to him in recent months. He had been assisting with a mission on Mandalore, freeing it from the rule of a former Sith, and the mission had proven successful. They had captured the Sith and were heading back to Coruscant on a Republic cruiser when the Sith got loose and completely destroyed the hyperdrive, which caused the cruiser to eject out of hyperspace and crash, but Rex and his Commander were able to escape.

Tech and Kimber brought the other Clones their drinks and then took their own seats at the bar, Tech next to Hunter on one end and Kimber next to Echo on the other, as Rex then told them all, “And when the war ended, I guess you could say I’ve been…keeping a low profile.”

“Very low. Imperial files have you listed as killed in action,” Tech informed him.

“Being dead in the Empire’s eyes has its advantages,” Rex said.

“Which is good. It’s what’s kept you alive and safe,” said Kimber. In the back of her mind, however, all she could think about was Kida and Kori. Now that Rex was here, she knew somehow she’d have to tell him that the Koriena Force was also going to be on Ord Mantell and that he had a son. Despite knowing that maybe the news about the baby should come from Kida, she just had a feeling that it might already be awkward for Rex just seeing Kida again after so long. She supposed it might be better for him to know before reuniting with her so he’d know what he was getting into, but first and foremost, he had to go see her when the girls arrived planetside. She just had to find the right moment to tell him everything.

Then Echo asked Rex, “Well, how’d you track us down?”

“Trace and Rafa Martez,” Rex answered.

Echo then leaned over to Kimber and told her, “The sisters we ran into on Corellia.”

“Oh, the ones that Hunter couldn’t stand?” she asked back, to which Echo just nodded.

Rex went on, “They said a squad of rogue Clones helped them on Corellia. They told me I could find you here and that you were traveling with a kid. Who is she?”

After taking a sip of his drink, Hunter responded, “Omega. She’s a Clone like us.”

As Rex looked shocked at hearing that bit of information, they all suddenly heard Wrecker’s voice coming from the doorway, declaring with a boisterous laugh, “Well, look who it is!” He then bounded over to them, still laughing joyfully, as he cried out, “Come here, Rex!” and pulled the Captain into a big Wookie hug, picking him up off his stool.

With a grunt from being squished in Wrecker’s hug, Rex just said back, “Yeah. Good to see you, too, Wrecker.”

Noticing this behavior, Omega, who was standing behind Wrecker, asked, confused, “I thought you didn’t like the regs?”

“This one, we like,” Wrecker told her, setting Rex back down, who then gave him a light shove in the chest.

“Omega…this is Rex,” said Hunter.

Rex got down onto a knee in front of Omega so they were both at eye level, a warm and kind smile on his face at seeing the young Clone girl. “I’ve met many Clones in my time…but never one like you,” he said to her.

Kimber and the other boys all exchanged smiles and pleasant glances at seeing one of their close friends now getting to meet Omega. It was a sweet sight to see. Omega approached Rex without saying anything and was carefully examining his face, making Rex look a little uncertain.

Then she declared, “You’re a generation one.”

“Now how’d you know that?” he asked, impressed.

“From the lines on your face,” she explained.

He let out an amused chuckle. “Yeah, I guess I’ve been around.”

Wrecker laughed again and said, “You got that right!”

At that moment, Kimber’s comm chirped and Rina’s voice came through saying, “We just entered Ord Mantell’s atmosphere, boss lady. If you guys are already back like you said you’d be, then we’ll see soon. Lex and I will hit the bar first to give the old lizard our report and then we’ll meet you back at our ship.”

“Copy that,” replied Kimber and then she looked to Rex right away.

Sure enough, he’d heard the message and stood up from his crouched position. “Was that Rina?” he inquired.

All she did was nod.

“So…the Koriena Force are here, too?” he asked, now a tiny bit timid.

“Yeah, they are, and good thing they’re here,” then said Wrecker, “because now, you can find out about Ko--”

Immediately, the others all shushed him and cut him off before he could reveal the truth to a now very puzzled Clone Captain. Seeing the confused expression on his face, Kimber slipped off her stool and motioned with her head for Rex to come with her, gently taking his arm and pulling him with her over to the other side of the bar.

“Kimber, what’s going on?” he asked, now concerned.

“First of all…yes, the girls are here,” she started. “They’ve been on the run, too, and over the last month have been laying low here with us as well as working mercenary jobs like we are.”

“Is…Kida still with them?” he inquired, going back to his slightly nervous demeanor.

That question alone was reassuring that Rex still thought about Kida. Kimber told him, “Yes, she is.”

“How is she?” he asked.

She smiled. “She’s doing very well.” Then she let out a heavy breath. Guess now she had no choice but to tell him about the baby since Wrecker almost spilled the secret. “Though, Rex…what I’m about to tell you might be a shock to hear, so…just bear with me, okay?”

He nodded.

Taking another deep breath and preparing herself, she said, “Kida…has a baby…a son.”

Rex’s eyes widened with shock for a moment and then his face fell not long after as he turned his gaze away. “I…I see,” he simply replied, looking and sounding almost disappointed, which wasn’t entirely what Kimber was expecting. However, his next question then was, “Does the father of her child make her happy?”

Kimber had to try hard right then to not snicker out loud. He had assumed Kida had borne a child with another man, hence why he’d seemed sad to hear the news. He didn’t figure immediately that it was his child and that thought amused her.

With another smile, she answered him, “He does…and I think he would make her even more happy if he went to see her when she lands.”

His head snapped back up and, for a split second, he gave her a puzzled look, but then seeing the smile she had on her face, he pieced it all together and his expression turned back to astonishment. Was she serious?

“Wait…are you saying…?” he asked, unable to finish the question.

She gave him a nod. “Her child is yours, Rex. He’s your son.”

His gaze once again drifted, completely overwhelmed by this bombshell news as he sat himself down on a nearby chair. He already had been feeling nervous at the thought of seeing Kida again, but now finding out that she had a child that was his was the last thing he expected to hear.

“I…have a son…,” he gasped aloud in astonishment, which then led him to a realization and he let his head fall into his hands. “Then that means…I got her pregnant and then left her…,” he moaned with guilt.

Kimber sat beside him and laid a hand on his shoulder. “You both were swept up in a passionate moment that you both wanted. Neither of you could’ve known this would happen. But I promise you, she’s never been angry at you for that,” she reassured him. “Becoming a mother has changed her life in good ways and she’s grown so much. Her baby is her world now and she’s a wonderful mother to him. That and she’s had the Koriena Force with her. They all helped her through her pregnancy and now, they all help raise him. He is well taken care of, as is she. I know it would mean a lot to her if you’d see her.”

He glanced back up at her, a hint of lingering uncertainty still in his eyes. “Kimber, I…I don’t know if I can.”

“Yes, you can,” she encouraged him. “I know she still thinks about you often.”

“She does?” he asked.

She nodded again. “For a long time, she thought you were dead and she was devastated. It wasn’t until they met back up with us that she learned the truth and she was so relieved. She misses you.”

“I can’t be a father to her child,” he admitted sadly. “It would put them both in danger.”

“Kida knows that already,” she told him. When he gave her a perplexed look, she went on to say, “All she wants is to see you again and for you to meet your baby boy. She expects nothing else from you…but these are all things you need to hear from her. Please, Rex...go to Kida once the girls get here.”

Rex’s head was swimming with all sorts of thoughts at everything he was hearing: shock, disbelief, guilt, melancholy, doubt and even a small touch of joy. He was at a loss at what to really think, feel or do. If it were any other time, he would’ve immediately thought to do the honorable thing and help Kida raise her baby, but he was wanted by the Empire. Staying with her would endanger both her and the child and he would never do that to them. For a second, he almost believed it would be better if he just stayed away…but there was the part of him deep down that also missed her and yearned to see her again. Knowing she was now on Ord Mantell where he was, too, was only making that longing grow even more. His mind and his heart were at war within him.

What was he going to do?

As he was lost in thought, the doors to the parlor opened up and they saw both Rina and Lex come walking in.

“Aren’t you guys a sight for sore eyes?” Rina asked before Wrecker scooped her up into his arms.

Seeing Wrecker hug Rina and then Echo kissing Lex made Rex’s eyes nearly pop out of his head and Kimber had to stifle a laugh. “Yeah, um…Wrecker and Rina are together now as are Echo and Lex,” she told the stunned Captain.

"And I thought finding out I was a father was shocking enough," he stated.

"Hey, where's Kimber?" they heard Lex ask.

"Over here," Kimber called out, standing up and making her way over to them.

The two ladies turned around and were about to greet her when their eyes caught Rex now walking beside her. Both of them were highly surprised to see him.

"Well, Force alive…the stiff has returned," said Rina, putting a hand on her hip.

"It's good to see you again, Captain," then said Lex.

He gave them a nod and responded as he and Kimber halted in front of them, "It's good to see both of you."

Rina took a couple steps closer to him and then proceeded to punch him hard in the arm, eliciting a startled grunt from him. "That's for being off comms for so long," she said gruffly. "And--does he know about Kida?" she then asked Kimber.

"Yes," she said.

With that confirmation, Rina then punched Rex in his other arm and he grunted in pain again. "That's for knocking up Kida and never bothering to check in with her."

"I apologize," said Rex, rubbing his arm, "but there was still a war going on and then I've been on the run from the Empire, so I couldn't keep up communications."

Rina pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him. "I just hear excuses," she said in return, but then she couldn't hold back a small smirk on her face.

Lex gave her a light shove and playfully chided her, "Oh, cut him some slack, Rina. He's been through enough already." Then she returned her attention to the Clone Captain. "Are you here to see Kida?"

He bashfully answered, "No, I…I didn't even know you girls were here. I'd learned the Bad Batch were here and came looking for them."

"Well then, you'd better go to her," Rina proclaimed. "She needs to see you and you need to meet your kid."

"I hear you and I want to, but Kida and I…I don't know where we stand or even what we are," he said to her. "We were barely together the last time I saw her and--"

"It doesn't matter what you are," she interrupted. "What matters is that you're important to her, you're the reason her life is the way it is now and you've gotta own up to it. The woman cries herself to sleep every other night missing you and just hoping you're okay."

That last sentence hit Kimber hard as she remembered a day some time ago when she'd heard Kida crying in one of the rooms. Rina and Irys had the baby and were told Kida just needed rest, but when she'd come out of the room, Kimber could tell she was hiding something. Now it all made sense to her.

Rina kept going, "She deserves a visit from you; it's the least you can do after what you've already done. Now go see her before I drag you over to our ship myself and you know I'm capable of doing so."

The Bad Batch all exchanged looks, feeling a tad awkward watching this situation and also wondering what Rex was going to do.

The Captain too seemed taken aback at Rina's straightforwardness. Her words struck something in him to where he almost couldn't speak for a moment. He sighed heavily, weighing his options for a moment. Then he turned to Kimber and asked her, "Will you come with me?"

Kimber couldn't hold back a proud grin at the fact Rex was going to see Kida after all. Then she replied, "Of course."

"We'll catch up later. We need to give our mission report to Cid," said Lex.

"Go get her, Cap," added Rina, satisfied, as she and Lex walked away towards Cid's office.

Hunter and Echo both saluted Rex, Tech bowed his head and Wrecker and Omega waved to him as he and Kimber exited Cid's parlor together to head to the Aurora.

"I don't know if I can do this," Rex told Kimber apprehensively as the ramp to the Aurora came down in front of them.

She snickered at him. "What? The brave Clone Captain who's fought Separatists, terrorists, armies of battle Droids and even Sith is afraid of simply talking to an old flame?"

"I've been trained for all of that…not this," he said back.

"You'll be okay, Rex. Just be honest with her and with yourself." She took his arm and gently pulled him forward with her. "Come on. The longer you wait, the harder it'll be for you to face her. You've got this."

Rex swallowed hard. It wasn't like him to be this nervous about anything, but the thought of facing Kida, who he'd learned he'd gotten pregnant and left alone, terrified him. Even though Kimber and Rina had assured him that she would be happy to see him again, there was the fact that he couldn't stay with her and having to tell her that was what scared him the most. He feared she'd resent him for it…and he didn't know if he'd be able to bear that.

As they walked into the ship, Kimber called out for Irys, who soon walked into the main area of the ship where they were.

"Oh my--Captain!" she exclaimed, startled at seeing Rex.

"Where's Kida?" Kimber asked.

"She's in her room," Irys told her.

With another deep breath, Rex then stepped forward. "Will you show me which room?"

Irys nodded.

"Good luck, Captain," said Kimber as he followed after Irys.

The Togruta woman led Rex down a hall and stopped in front of one of the doors. She knocked and said loud enough for Kida to hear, "Kida, there's someone here to see you."

"Send them in," they heard Kida call back.

Irys opened the door and gave Rex another encouraging nod. Then he stepped through the door, knowing it was now or never.

The door closed behind him and he waited for only a few seconds before Kida emerged from an adjoining room and she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes growing wide in shock at seeing him before her. He noticed her hair was a bit longer than before and she wore a simple, pale lavender dress; different from the lavish style he recalled her liking, but apart from that, she was still as beautiful as he remembered. Flashes of their passionate encounter over a year prior circled his mind, remembering how her body felt against his, how their lips fit together perfectly, how her touch sent a fire through him he'd never felt before and how right and perfect it felt being with her; to give in to his own desires for once. Seeing her now really made him realize how much he'd truly missed her.

On the other side of the room, Kida found herself speechless, for once. She had practically accepted that she would never see Rex again and yet, here he was in her room, standing in front of her. She blinked a couple times, believing she had to be imagining things.

"Rex…?" she asked aloud.

Then he only spoke two words:

"Hey, Kida."

A small gasp escaped her and her hand shot up to her mouth. It really was him. Her Clone Captain she longed for every day; the father of her child was actually here! She couldn't believe it. She looked him over for a moment and he seemed to be about the same as he was when she last saw him. Still as handsome and dashing as ever.

She was a tad embarrassed about her excitement at seeing him, so she said something that was more like the old her that he was familiar with. Though, her voice still choked slightly with emotion as she said, "Is that a blaster under your poncho…or are you just happy to see me?"

Rex couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head in response. "Nice to see you haven't changed," he said.

"Never," she stated, unable to hold back her smile.

There was a brief moment of silence between them as they both just stared at each other, taking in that they were now unexpectedly reunited after over a year after they both believed they’d never be together again. A light, uneasy tension hung in the air as they both debated on what to say to each other.

Finally, Rex broke the silence and said, “You look good.”

“Thanks. So do you,” she replied. “How…how did you know I was here?”

“I actually didn’t. I found out the Bad Batch were on Ord Mantell and came to find them. Then Kimber told me you and the girls had come here, too,” he explained. He took a small step forward and then added, with a hint of sympathy in his tone, “She also told me…about how I left you…and about the baby.”

For a second, Kida was stunned to hear he already knew about that, but then supposed she couldn’t be mad at Kimber for spilling the secret. It was probably better that he knew about that before seeing her. Even so, that eased things on her own mind, not having to worry about telling him that herself.

“I see,” she simply said, wringing her hands together. “I know that was probably quite a shock to hear.”

“Yeah, it was,” he admitted. He took another step further into the room. “Kida, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Don’t apologize,” she said sweetly. “It wasn’t like you got me pregnant intentionally and honestly, it’s okay. The girls have been an amazing support system for me through all of this. I was never alone. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

Rex just remained silent, uncertain as to how or why she wasn’t mad at him in any way.

Then she smiled again and asked him, “Would you like to meet your son?”

He could feel his stomach twist and his chest tighten anxiously. He wanted to see the baby, but then it still frightened him knowing that it would all bring reality crashing down on him that he was now a father. Was he ready for such a thing to truly be made real for him? However, then he saw the beautiful Pantoran who mothered that child, holding out a hand to him, inviting him now into her world that had just been her and her son. In any other situation, a woman who had been made pregnant and the father just up and left her would’ve been resentful and more than likely wouldn’t want the man to be involved in her child’s life after that…but not Kida. She was different…and Rex always knew that. Hence why had ended up falling for her in the first place and why she clearly still held feelings for him, too. Feeling comforted by her simple gesture, he took hold of her hand and allowed her to lead him into the next door room she had just come out of.

First, he saw the bassinet…and then the blue-skinned baby boy came into view.

The child was asleep, swaddled in a light gray blanket and Rex immediately noticed the now fluffy blonde hair he had and knew right away that made the baby his. There were small yellow dots that were starting to form into markings on the boy’s cheeks. Even with the baby's eyes closed, Rex could see faint similarities to his own face in the boy’s features. He had seen babies and small children before, but seeing this one and knowing this was his own child; his flesh and blood felt so different. His heart was swelling with awe at seeing the life he had unknowingly created.

Kida noticed pretty quickly that Rex was almost unable to take his eyes off the baby and she grinned to herself. He was reacting better than she’d thought. “This is Kori,” she told him. “I gave him that name from ‘Koriena’ since it’s because of the Koriena Force that both you and him were brought into my life.”

“I think you named him well,” he said, turning to face her.

“Thank you,” she said in return. Then she looked down lovingly at her baby. “Having him truly turned my life around and he’s everything to me now. I never thought I’d ever be a mother…but now I can’t imagine a life without our son.” She returned her gaze to Rex and inquired, “Would you like to hold him?”

His eyes flashed nervously for a second. “I…I don’t really know how…,” he hesitantly admitted.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you,” she told him as she was already reaching into the bassinet and carefully picking Kori up out of it. She cradled him in her own arms and said, “You just hold him like this.”

She repositioned the baby out of her arms and held him gently as she transferred him over to Rex, who was doing his best to imitate what Kida had shown him. She placed the baby, who was now squirming a little from the movement, into his arms and tenderly shifted his arms just a little so he was holding Kori properly. Briefly, Rex was stiff at this new position he found himself in, but then he looked down at the baby; his baby he now held just as the little one wiggled a little more, a tiny squeak emitting from his mouth, and then he opened his eyes. A tiny pair of golden brown eyes met a similar set of eyes of the same color and Rex found himself lost in the pure, innocent gaze of his son.

“Look at that…he knew he was with his father and wanted to see you,” Kida commented, a hand over her heart.

He couldn’t suppress a grin at that thought and at seeing Kori’s eyes that were just like his for the first time. “Hello, Kori,” he whispered, leaning down closer to him.

Kori let out a small coo and then did something Rex wasn’t anticipating: the child raised one of his arms, which had come out of the swaddle, and placed his tiny hand on Rex’s chin. Feeling his delicate touch made Rex’s heart melt immediately. Somehow, with that single action from the baby, he just knew in his heart that Kori recognized him as his father, just as Kida suspected. With that one gesture, he knew he was undone. With a happy chuckle, he tilted his head down and touched his forehead ever so gently to Kori’s.

With great pride and an overpowering feeling of paternal love he’d never experienced before in his life, he declared, “My son.”

Kida nearly wanted to burst into tears at seeing Rex like this. The image before her of him holding their son and being so tender and loving with him was just the perfect dream. If fate had been kinder to them both, she could clearly envision the two of them settling down and raising their son together. She believed he would be a wonderful father. She was very fond of Rex already, but now, seeing him with their child and already doting on him…she knew deep down that she could easily fall in love with the Clone Captain. If she honestly hadn’t already. More than anything, she was just happy to see that he adored Kori just as much as she did.

Rex then stepped closer to Kida and looked up finally from the baby to her. “He really is perfect,” he told her.

“He certainly is,” she agreed, smoothing her hand over Kori’s head.

Then, to her slight surprise, she saw Rex’s happy expression begin to falter and just as she was about to ask what was wrong, he said, “Kida…as much as I want to…I can’t help you raise him.” His sorrowful gaze met hers. “I have to keep myself hidden from the Empire and if I stayed, it would put you both in danger. That’s a risk I can’t take.”

She nodded to him and mustered a smile, though there was an unmistakable look of sadness behind it. “I understand,” she said. “I honestly expected as much. As wonderful as it would be for you to be an active part of Kori’s life, I wouldn’t want you to risk your safety like that for us.”

After he set Kori back down into his bassinet, he came back up and faced her directly. “I can’t promise you anything,” he stated.

“Rex, it’s okay,” she assured him. “I know the position you’re in and I’ve never expected anything from you because of it. Honestly, this visit right now was more than I ever thought I’d get…and it’s been more than enough.”

That seemed to ease the guilt Rex carried and he could feel the burden on his shoulders growing lighter now. He moved right in front of Kida and gently grasped her arms as he stated, “I can promise you this: I will continue to do all I can to make this galaxy a safer place for our son. I will never stop fighting to protect him…and to protect you.”

She inhaled sharply and her heart skipped a beat inside her at him including her in his promise. There was a sincere look in his eyes that showed her that he meant it. Did this mean he still cared about her?

Before she could stop herself, she half-blurted out, “I’ve missed you so much, Rex.” His handsome face softened at hearing this and she went on, the words she’d wanted to say for so long just spilling from her mouth, “I’ve never forgotten our time together on Balmorra, no matter how short it was, and the moment we shared in that cruiser med bay. I know we didn’t have a lot of time for any sort of relationship to really develop between us before we went our separate ways, but you were constantly in my thoughts, even before you left. You became more important to me than I imagined you would…and when I found out I was carrying your child…I was actually happy. I was going to have a child whose father actually meant something to me and I would always have a part of you with me, even if I never saw you again.” Her golden eyes were beginning to fill with tears and she stopped to quickly brush them away. “I’m sorry, that was probably more than what you wanted to hear. I just had to be honest with you.”

Then she felt his hand slip into hers and he said as she looked at him, “No…that was everything I wanted to hear.” He took her other hand and caressed the back of it with his thumb. “I know I came to realize how I felt just before we parted ways, but that moment we shared in the med bay has never left my mind either. You have never left my mind. Many times, I would wonder if you were well and hoped maybe someday, I’d get the chance to see you again and…see if that spark was still there.”

She looked hopefully into his eyes. “Well, we’re here now…do you still think it is?”

In response to that question, he decided to take the chance he’d been wanting to since he’d stepped foot in her room. He gently cradled her face in his hand, leaned forward and gave her a tender kiss, letting it linger as he relished in the feeling of her lips kissing him back. The familiar surge of warmth he remembered from a long time ago returned to his chest and his arms made their way around her waist, pulling her closer as their kiss deepened.

After a moment, he broke the kiss and pulled back to look into her lovely face again. “Yeah…I’d say there’s still a spark there,” he said with a pleased grin.

“I wholeheartedly agree,” she replied, smiling back at him.

“Listen…I don’t know what I’m doing or what this means for us,” he confided in her, “but I do know that I care about you and I want you and our son to be safe. If anything happened to either of you…I don’t know what I’d do.”

“Lucky for you, I’ve got the Koriena Force and the Bad Batch to help with that in your absence,” she said.

Then he asked her, a little timidly as he gestured between the two of them, “Kida…what do you want this to mean? Where do we stand?”

She was touched that he legitimately wanted to know her opinion on their relationship. She thought for a brief moment before telling him, “Well…we may not be a traditional couple nor were we ever, but we are lovers and you’re the father of my child. On top of that, we genuinely care about each other. Do we really need much more than that to be happy with where we are now?”

That explanation seemed to be enough for Rex. Now more content with the situation, being there with the woman he cared about most and their baby son, he simply replied, “You’re right…I suppose we don’t.”

#Youtube

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theknightofivanhoe · 6 months

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https://www.deviantart.com/ravenevert/art/Starfire-s-shakin-it-883188043

Another commission I got from Ravenevert (aka Elsa López) that I thought I’d share involving Robin and Starfire’s little antics/dating.

So apparently as Nightwing, Dick will have the most amazing derrière in DC. Well til then, Starfire is clearly feeling competitive, gracefully dancing to rock music at a disco and making sure Robin gets a good look at her plump bum jiggling under her skimpy bikini panties.

Of course Robin, grooving to the music, is pretty much enjoying the way his beau can shake her squeezable, pinchable buttocks stretching her purple spandex, but the million dollar question bouncing about in his head is just where does Star stick her Titans communicator. And yes, Starfire is still curious if Robin will ever find out where she keeps it.

There may be a follow up to this that I could commission from Ravenevert, so let’s wait and see. Until then, keep guessing where Star’s communicator is kept, before Robin gets there first…

By the way, ‘Take it Off, the song by the girl band The Donnas, Robin and Starfire are dancing to is linked below.

#robstar #starfire #teen titans #dc comics #robin dc #dickory #dick grayson #dick x kory #the donnas #bikini #bikini panties #Spotify

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theknightofivanhoe · 6 months

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Justice League: Question’s Hard Drive Ch 3: Rage Issues

Table of Contents

Helena sat with her long legs crossed, gazing out fondly at the view of the cityscape that illuminated the night sky, its lights like crystals in an underwater cavern. She silently sipped champagne from her delicate flute and turned to Question who sat at the opposite side of their table. Arms folded and facing the floor, Question had not said a word.

“Come on, Q,” It annoyed Helena how uninvolved he was being on this date. “At least open a flap in that stupid mask and have a drop.” she urged, gesturing to the full glass sitting in front of him, but the man in blue neither looked up, nor did he touch it. “I need my brain for putting the pieces of this case together, thank you.” he grunted. “Your conspiracy-addled, ersatz-Sherlock brain?” Helena asked sarcastically as ever. “I know you’re driving, but I’m sure a few drops won’t do any harm.” “I’ll just wait till you’ve eaten, seen your movie and we get back to the flat.” Question declared, only sparing Helena a glance before returning his gaze to the spotless floor tiles. “Nice. Now here’s *my* plan.” Helena countered simply with a granite-hard stare. “You have your meal when they serve us, you enjoy it, you enjoy the movie with me,” What she was about to say next made her smirk wickedly, her ruby lips stretching nearly ear-to-ear and her eyes glinting. “And we call it a night…” Her hints were growing somewhat less subtle, but judging by the shifting of Question’s posture in his seat, along with how he turned his head further from her, it appeared to be working. Yet he didn’t send another retort her way, the woman waiting for him to say something, anything from a grunt of half-hearted agreement to some laughable conspiracy theory that she’d brush off. Next thing, a lightbulb flicked on in her head.

“How about a little heart-to-heart while we wait for dinner?” Helena proposed, leaning back in her seat with a tender smile. Question could only wonder, why did she have to do this, sitting in that position, looking at him the way she was, her legs crossing tightly together, tipping back her glass so she submerged her red lips into the cool, bubbly champagne, her other hand gliding up her smooth, toned thigh?

Question considered himself lucky Helena’s leotard was hidden under her dress, so he’d be spared the sight of that stomach window exposing abs that would ripple across her tummy, but the sensuality at which she took her drink made Question’s face moisten with sweat under his mask. “You got that my dad was a crime boss…” Helena reminded him in an attempt to get his mind off the mission. “I did…” Question replied, sounding as though he was being interrogated in court. “Well…” Helena smiled even wider, her stare latching on him with no intention of letting go. “I’m curious; what other closely-guarded secrets can you dig up on me?” So she was challenging his knowledge of her even further. Well, dishes would only be in a few minutes, so why not just kill a bit of time?

“Dallas, Texas, the top floor of the Stillwell steakhouse…” Question started plainly, keeping his arms folded.

“Your father was discussing an overseas deal with a fellow mobster over steak and red, when another gang competing for power made their move.” Helena propped her chin on her hand, listening to Question’s voice like a child being told a bedtime story. Her dark eyes were half-closed in pure affection. “Bullets sprayed the restaurant, waiters and customers fleeing for their lives.” Question continued to narrate. “Your father’s men went down protecting him, but mobster or not, Franco Bertinelli wouldn’t shy away from a good fight. He held his own, taking on the hitmen tooth and nail with a submachine gun. Of course it only got tougher when his prospective business partner decided to change sides and scored a hit on him. It seemed all was up for Franco Bertinelli, and that was when he saw her…” Helena knew just who Question was referring to, excitement faintly sizzling through her. “María Casamento, a waitress who had watched him fight off those attackers, came charging to his rescue. Before your father’s former friend could deliver the shot that would have ended his life, this waitress put a steak knife through his heart.” Helena smiled with a certain amount of satisfaction at how someone who could possibly betray her father met his own end instead, and at the hands of her mother with such a mundane eating utensil no less. “Once he was back on his feet mopping up the last of his rivals and his former friend’s cronies, Franco Bertinelli took one look at María, his saviour…” Question resumed the account, his gaze locking onto Helena’s under his flesh-coloured mask, “He swept her up in his arms, hers weaved around his broad shoulders, his shirt in tatters, portions of her minidress ripped away, both of their eyes peering deep into one another’s souls. María had always dreamed of a chance to leave behind the job she found herself tethered to, and now she saw that chance in the handsome, battle-scarred crime boss who held her close, in her debt to the very end.” Remembering that it had indeed been ‘to the very end,’ Helena couldn’t help but feel the tragedy of her past stab at her heart. “After whisking her away in his limousine, then a jet back to Sicily, Franco Bertinelli and María Casamento gave their marriage vows before the altar in Syracuse cathedral, and as they luxuriated in affluence and the power they held over the criminal underworld, a hot-headed, stubborn, passionate, beautiful girl, Helena Rosa Bertinelli, came into their world…”

Even with the tranquil piano tune drifting through the restaurant and the view of the city lights glinting outside, Helena gazed at the detective in blue, everywhere inside her brimming with adoration. “Beautiful…?” The word came out in a husky tone sweetened with honey, her ruby lips gently stretching into a soft grin that made Question freeze up. “Wha - what - ah - what?” “Don’t stop now…” Helena silkily encouraged, sipping her champagne languidly. “Don’t stop…what?” Question tried not to sound as though he was cornered, but the woman’s eyes were magnetised to the blankness that was his face. “C’mon, hot-headed, stubborn, beautiful…” she reminded him, waiting for more, her grin seeming to widen by mere millimetres. “Ah - did I ever tell you Glorious Gordon Godfrey was found in Area 51 one time?” A second passed before the grin evaporated from Helena’s face. “...I’m sorry?” she demanded. “I…” he uttered, but found himself unable to finish. He seemed to have realised what he had just blurted out and wondered if it had been a bad move. “Q…” Helena put a hand to her temples in sheer exasperation. “We’ve been through this, like, how many times?” she reminded her lover who just sat where he was, not once uncrossing his arms. “One more conspiracy fairy-tale from you and I swear…” Her words made some guests at a nearby table throw nervous looks their way. The atmosphere between the man in the blue hat and his dark-haired lover grew thick with unease, the sounds of the piano adding to the awkwardness.

A waiter cleared his throat, cutting through the tension as he held up a dish in each hand. Question immediately lowered his head so his hat’s brim kept the waiter from seeing his face. “One turkey meatballs with puttanesca, one zucchini stuffed with chorizo.” the waiter announced, doing his best to hide his apprehension as he served the former to Helena and Question the latter. “Thank you, kind sir…” Helena’s previously foul mood softened to a gratified smile as she took in the rich, enticing dish placed in front of her. Another waiter poured some fine-looking red wine into glasses and set them on the table before disappearing with his colleague. Helena sniffed the mouth-watering scent of meaty sauce and herbs, but Question wouldn’t move a muscle, neither looking at the substantial slices of chorizo stuffed in three zucchinis, nor reaching for his fork.

“Saved by the dinner bell…” Helena snarked in slight amusement. She scooped a forkful of some of her puttanesca spaghetti, only to notice Question not touching his dish. “Q…” Her voice carried a certain amount of warning. “Go ahead.” Question murmured, facing away from his dish like a kid who wouldn’t eat his greens. “I’m not hungr - ” The fork was slammed onto the table at a volume that made some staff and guests jump. “Q, this is getting ridiculous!” Helena snapped, scowling at him. She could only take so much more of his stonewalling. “Just grow up!” “Anything can happen when you’re being served food.” Question responded, “And it just so happens we are carrying vital information that if -” “Q, you’re offending the staff and you’re embarrassing me!” Helena was only slightly raising her voice, but even the man at the piano grew nervous. “Well at least there’s another thing we’re agreed on…” Question started with a hint of slyness. “What other thing?” Helena demanded, feeling some witty comeback headed her way. “Hot-headed, stubborn, passionate, beautiful…” Question listed off, which got the young woman raising a suspicious eyebrow. “Possessed of rage issues.” This sent a twitch in Helena’s eye, her body going all stiff at two very specific words. The glare she made at Question was even more ferocious than the one she had made when she had snatched that hard drive off him, possibly enough to rival even the ones Batman made when striking terror into the hearts of criminals. A deathly silence pervaded the restaurant, like the buildup to a gun battle in a western saloon.

“...I don’t have rage issues.” It came out as a dangerous whisper that promised fatal consequences for anyone in arm’s reach of Helena who still sat at her end of the table, but seemed quite ready to punch Question in his hidden face. “Well how many times have you been ready to kick me all the way to Eastern Zandia again?” the detective asked her rhetorically, looking away and putting a finger to his chin. “Oh, that’s right, hundreds of -” “I *don’t* have *rage issues!*” Helena’s anger caused some people to consider evacuating. “And now you’re scaring the guests.” Question countered calmly as if he wasn’t about to suffer the wrath of his girlfriend. After breathing in lightly and exhaling, Helena didn’t seem finished with him yet. “You know, I’ll be happy to let what you just said slide.” she offered somewhat cordially. Question turned to her. “You are?” “*If* you start enjoying our dinner date for once.” Helena stated, obviously leaving no room for debate. Question kept his focus on her, not sparing a glance at his chorizo-stuffed zucchini still waiting to be eaten. “You know zucchini may have been grown by the Illuminati for campaigns in eco-warfare on the world governme - ” “Alright…” Helena huffed, and slowly but surely rose from her chair. Question wanted to speak up in defence, but the way she strode around the table, simply bearing down upon him, left him unable to do anything but stare up at how the minidress accentuated her athletic figure. Certain sensations coursed through him at the amount of control Helena oozed, but part of him also grew afraid of how those ‘rage issues’ would be confirmed any second. Even out of her purple mask, her aloof expression only served to freeze him to his chair. Her eyes drilled deep into the ones underneath Question’s mask, deep enough to pierce his soul in the most painful way possible. Though they were too far away to get a proper look at Question’s face, staff and guests were frozen in terror at this woman standing above the secret agent, possibly about to beat him to a bloody pulp. Some wondered if they should just dive for cover under their tables. At last Helena smirked as an idea popped into her head.

“Looks like we’re doing this the hard way.”

Question could feel the cool night breeze nipping at his lightly tousled black hair. Despite the position he now found himself in, he kept his composure as calm and stoic as ever. It seemed his study of that stolen data depended on it.

“Alright…I promise.” he stated somewhat awkwardly. “You swear?” Helena’s voice demanded from up above. “I swear, on my life, my soul and my whole investigative career.” Question listed off, trying to conjure up any more words that could get him out of his current predicament. “I absolutely give you my word.” “You *will* enjoy our date?” Helena suspiciously asked the detective, who happened to be dangling upside-down, his fedora off and his coat flapping behind him. The vigilante herself was clutching Question’s ankles in each hand, standing on the restaurant’s balcony as horrified guests watched this rather elaborate form of torture.

Frowning down at him, Helena was quite literally keeping her date suspended a fair amount of metres above the street below as if he weighed the same as a feather. Would she really let go of his ankles and let him splatter on the road? Either way, Question went on with his vow even as the blood rushed to his head. “I will. I will commit tonight completely and utterly to our dinner date,” he continued to the woman hanging him from the balustrade. “I confess, I obsessed over my mission that I could always resume later, becoming too invested to spare a thought for our relationship, relax, and spend any time together,” Helena warily eyed Question’s dangling form, listening to what sounded like a rather urgently-spoken confession. “I therefore solemnly swear, with absolutely no crossed-fingers to show, that I will, compliantly, and without questi - I - I mean, hesitation, have dinner with you, I will enjoy it with you, then take you to the pictures, that I will let you pick whichever movie you wish,” By now, Question could feel his own brain go numb from the redness caused from being upside-down, but gathered as much breath as he could to finish his words. “...and that I will never let my investigations or conspiracy theories get in the way of our dating again.” Helena’s eyes darted to the side as she took in every word Question had said. There was no telling if he would be true to his word. Obsessions were all someone needed to go back on a promise, no matter how forthright it sounded. Then again, if Question did ever think about breaking this one, at least she could remind him that she might just find a higher building to dangle him from. Her sceptical gaze landed onto her helpless lover, her fingers curled around his ankles like iron cuffs. Seconds went by as she considered what to do next.

Chapter 2

Chapter 4

#dc comics #huntress x question #huntress #the question #helena bertinelli #vic sage #justice league #dcau fanfic #dcau #justice leauge unlimited #bruce timm

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theknightofivanhoe · 6 months

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What a twist with Crosshair! So exciting that Kimber will encounter him once again on Bracca.

Don't mind telling you this but I had to play John Williams' track that plays during the ROTJ sail barge/sarlacc fight when it got to the ballroom battle.

"Sun and Rain Part 2: Age of the Empire"

Chapter 23

"Mob Funnel"

A "Bad Batch" fanfic!

Pairing: Hunter x fem OC, Echo (more best friend pairing)

A/N: Wow, when inspiration hits, it hits! Cuz here I am with another chapter a couple days after the last one when I had insane writer's block for months! This is nuts!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter because I know I certainly did 😊 There is a scene later between Echo and Lex and, once again, I have more songs for them for my "Sun and Rain" playlist. Parts of the scene were inspired by "I See You" from the movie "Avatar" as well as "Angel Cry" by Corbin Bleu, both songs I enjoy a lot! (Also, if you play Baldur's Gate 3 and know a bit about Astarion's romance storyline, there's a small reference to that in here, as well 😉)

And good news: after this chapter, we'll be getting back to the canon storyline of the Bad Batch show, picking up with episode 7, "Battle Scars"! 😁

Happy reading, my lovelies!! 💜

Taglist: @the-sad-batch , @nimata-beroya , @intrepidmare , @cole-kenxbi , @tech-aficionado , @ladykatakuri , @d1n0-dan , @sammi9498 , @darthzero22 , @scarlettrose9901 , @tech-deck , @thebadbatchscyare , @chxpsi , @ilikemymendarkandfictional , @4pplecider , @locitapurplepink , @l-lend , @nekotaetae , @eternalwaffle , @merkitty49 , @avathebestx , @idoubleswearimawriter , @techs-stitches , @fantasyproductions

《 Chapter 22

》 Coming soon!

All chapters (Part 2) (Part 1)

Explanation: The Bad Batch and Koriena Force work out their escape from the gala and particular members from both squads deal with the aftermath of certain decisions that were made during the mission.

The position Echo found himself in was the last thing he'd ever expected.

He and Lex had heard the security guards were close, Lex had pushed him up against the wall, saying she was going to take a risk...and now, suddenly, she was...passionately kissing him!

He had expected her to charge and start fighting the security guards on her own. How had it come to this?

His whole body locked up in complete and utter shock, yet his lips didn't fail to respond in kind and kiss her back. Then one of her hands came up to his face while the other pulled his arm around her waist as she kept going, deepening the kiss even more.

She broke away for a split second to whisper, "Go with me here," and then her mouth returned to his with just as much vigor as before.

With all logical thought having disappeared from his mind--even though he still didn't fully understand how they'd gotten to this point--Echo obeyed without hesitation and pulled her flush against him in his arms. His good hand moved up her back as his lips danced in perfect tandem with hers, losing himself in the kiss. Her arms came up about his neck and pulled him even closer. Kissing her felt as amazing as he dreamed it would be; his heart was about to burst inside him and for but a moment, he forgot why they were even there. There was only him and his Zabrak beauty.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be down here!"

The voice of a guard calling out to them and Lex abruptly breaking the kiss pulled Echo back to reality, much to his dismay.

She turned to face the four guards that were approaching them, but she kept her hands on Echo's chest. Then she feigned embarrassment and cried out, "Oh, we are so sorry, sir. We just...snuck away to be...alone for a few minutes." She snuggled up a little closer to him, which prompted him to bring a hand up around her shoulders. "I'm sure you understand," she added to the guard.

The guard, however, stated in return, "Even still, this is restricted to guests. Please return to the main area or, if you wish to be alone, you are free to leave and go elsewhere."

"Of course, sir. Our apologies. We'll head back right away," Lex complied.

She took Echo by the hand and pulled him along behind her. Once the security was behind them and they moved into another hallway, they both heaved sighs of relief at the fact they managed to get out of that situation without having to fight. It was a miracle.

"I…I can't believe that actually worked," Echo commented, still slightly in a daze as they kept going.

"Honestly...I wasn't sure if it would either," Lex said back. "I'm as surprised as you are. Come on, let's hurry back!"

They both picked up the pace to get themselves back to the main ballroom. Lex informed everyone over comms that they managed to get away and were going to rendezvous back with the group in the ballroom.

As Echo ran, a single thought ran through his mind: "She's crazy...she really is a lot like Fives."

Having this thought a second time about her since after Balmorra made it dawn on him that maybe that was why he was so drawn to her; why he felt a deep connection with her. She was just like Fives, someone that meant a lot to him and whom he connected with deeply before. Now, he was seeing a kindred spirit of Fives in Lex. It all made sense to him now.

He'd been doomed to fall for her from the start.

He also didn't fail to notice that as they were running…her hand was still holding his.

"Omega, ensure the child is secure. We're heading to engage a cargo ship," Tech informed Omega over the Aurora's comm system as he and Irys reached the cockpit of the ship and took their seats.

She responded back through the speaker, “Kida told me the sound of the ship flying lulls Kori to sleep, so he’s sleeping now. Try not to wake him!”

Irys snickered and Tech replied, “Duly noted.”

As Irys continued to fly their ship upward into the sky in the direction they’d scanned the incoming ships, Tech started running an additional scan of the cargo ship’s systems, now that they were getting closer. He needed to know if they had any weapons or additional features on the ship they needed to watch out for when taking it down.

“Anything coming up on the scan?” Irys asked him.

“It’s running now,” he answered. He waited a few more seconds before the full scan report appeared on the screen. Adjusting his goggles, he quickly looked it over before declaring, “Irys, we need to deviate our course.”

“What? Why?” she questioned.

“The cargo ship has its shields up and they’re too powerful for our guns. Veer off now!” he cried.

Irys jerked the controls, steering the ship hard to the right, and removed themselves out of the way of the cargo ship’s course. Once they were secure, she exclaimed, “Well, great! What are we supposed to do then? Those shields will be up until the ship lands. By then, it might be too late. We risk the ship landing too close to the mansion and, if we destroy it on the ground, that could put our friends’ lives in danger.”

“Indeed. That would be too great a chance to take,” he replied, putting a hand to his chin in thought.

They heard the doors to the cockpit slide open and Omega came running in, her eyes wide with concern. “What’s going on? Why did we suddenly pull away?”

“The cargo ship has its shields up. Our guns will be useless against it,” Irys explained.

“What’s the plan, then?” Omega asked.

“Uncertain,” answered Tech. “We can’t destroy it here and if we let the ship land before taking it out, we risk either the destruction harming the teams on the ground or the weapons getting into the Empire’s hands.”

“That and there’s no way any of our teammates will be able to get to the weapons without being discovered,” added Irys.

Omega, who had been listening closely to the other two, was thinking hard of another solution that could possibly work in their favor. Then an idea came to her. “Tech, would you be able to hack into the cargo ship?”

“If we were to get closer to it, I could. What are you thinking, Omega?” Tech inquired curiously.

"Why not just crash the ship?" she suggested.

"Crash it?" Irys repeated.

Omega then explained her plan to them: “It's simple. What if you override the cargo ship’s flight control system and steer the ship remotely from here? You could just crash the ship, both destroying the weapons and controlling where it lands, making sure the explosion isn’t near the mansion so it doesn’t put our friends in danger.”

Both Tech and Irys shared impressed looks.

“That…actually might work,” commented Irys.

“I agree. If we can make the ship crash a distance away from the mansion, it won’t put our squads at risk, but can still cause enough of a disturbance for them to make their exit from the gala. Remarkable thinking, Omega,” Tech complimented the young Clone, who beamed brightly with delight. “Irys, take us back closer to the cargo ship. Once I’ve hacked into the system, avert our course away from it so we can’t be followed by the escort shuttle.”

As Irys redirected the Aurora, she mentioned, “They’ll be too focused on the cargo ship to worry about where we’re going, anyway.” Then she opened back up the comm frequency with the others and informed them, “Aurora to ground teams: the cargo ship is shielded and we can’t take it out in the air, but we have another solution. Tech’s going to hack into their flight system and orchestrate a controlled crash away from the mansion. It should still cause enough of a scene that hopefully, it can help you guys make your escape.”

They heard Echo respond first, “Copy that. Good plan, Tech.”

Tech replied, “I cannot take the credit for this plan. That belongs solely to Omega.”

Hunter’s voice came through, “Impressive. Great work, kid.”

“Thanks, Hunter,” Omega said, smiling to herself proudly.

With a new plan in motion, Irys kept the Aurora on a steady course back in the direction of the cargo ship, keeping a fair speed to make it seem like they weren't pursuing it, lest the escort shuttle come after them. Tech kept a close eye on the screens in front of him waiting for the opportune moment to slice into the ship's flight system.

"Just a little closer," he said.

"I'm doing my best," replied Irys.

A brief moment later, there was a beep on the screen and Tech stated, "The process is complete."

Irys cast him a cunning grin and said in return, "Then bring her down, hotshot."

Back in the mansion in the midst of the gala, Kimber was finishing up another song and had requested a quick respite from performing, ducking behind the stage for a short time. She passed it off as just needing a moment to recoup her voice while in reality, she had heard about Tech's plan to crash the cargo ship and was hoping to stall long enough so that, once it happened, she could make an easier break for it with the others.

She ducked behind a wall where no one else could see her, activated her ear comm and whispered, “Guys, I’m running out of songs here. Do we have what we need?”

“Lex and I acquired the files on the weapons being brought in. That should be about what we need,” answered Echo.

Then she heard Hunter’s voice, “Kida and I have the information about Crassus, as well.”

“The big guy and I caught a snippet of info you’ll want to hear, too,” also added Rina. "Mak Plain, the Banking Clan guy, is the one funding the weapons the Senator is expecting."

"Sounds about right," said Kimber.

“Speaking of which, sounds like we should be expecting a commotion here soon once that cargo ship goes down,” Rina pointed out.

“I’m not certain the ship crash will be enough to deter anyone here at the gala,” said Kida. “If I were a party guest and heard a crash like that outside, I wouldn’t want to go anywhere near it.”

Then Wrecker’s voice came through, “She’s got a point. We need something to happen inside that’ll make everyone go running.”

“I placed some detonators in the Senator’s office,” said Lex. “That should definitely freak anyone out. Plus, I’ve got smoke bombs we can use, if needed, to give us some cover.”

"I brought some, too!" added Wrecker.

Rina then said in addition, “If we really wanna add to the panic, everyone just pull out your blasters and we’ll start a firefight. I doubt any of these Empire snobs even bothered to come with weapons, so no one’s gonna want to stick around if they’re not armed. Then we’ll only have to deal with the security guards, which should be a cinch.”

There was a small moment of silence before Hunter finally spoke, “That may be our only chance at getting out of here. Just everyone be careful and focus on escaping more than fighting.”

“So what’s our escape plan once that happens?” inquired Kimber.

Then Irys chimed in, “There’s a back entrance to the mansion out on a terrace where the Senator keeps his personal shuttle. You can head that way.”

“We’ll want to make sure the rest of the guests don’t go that way, too, though,” Kida put in.

“What should we do then?” asked Lex.

Kimber came up with an idea right away and suggested, “We go for Mob Funnel.”

“Ah, I was hoping you’d say that, boss lady!” Rina quietly cheered.

“What’s Mob Funnel?” asked Wrecker’s voice.

Kimber explained, “It's a plan the girls and I came up with a while ago. We cut off all the other exits to the mansion except for one, which can be the main entrance at the front. That way, everyone will be focused on finding the right way out of here instead of worrying about anything else. Once all the guests head that way, we’ll all sneak out the back.”

“I can lock all the doors from here,” stated Irys. “The rest of you focus on the rest.”

“Ooh, I do love causing drama,” everyone heard Kida say with glee.

Now with a plan in place, Kimber told everyone, “I’ll make my way out somehow. I’ll join in the chaos once it begins.”

Then she heard Tech’s voice: “Prepare yourselves, everyone. The cargo ship will be making its crash landing shortly.”

“Copy that, Tech. Everyone, get into position,” Kimber ordered. She then went back over by the backstage door and peeked back out at the party, looking for her friends. She spotted everyone where they should be: Rina and Wrecker near the back, Hunter and Kida by the East wall and Echo and Lex, now back in the ballroom, by the West. Seeing they were all ready, she casually strolled back out onto the stage, where a few nearby Imperials began to cheer for her arrival.

Right then, they heard the distant boom of a crash outside just a few clicks away. Many of the partygoers all gasped and cried aloud as they heard the sound and some could see out some windows the explosion nearby. There were a few groups already crowding by the windows to see what was going on.

The Bad Batch and Koriena Force then heard Tech inform them, “The ship is down and the escort shuttle just landed. I would expect extra company once you all begin your escape.”

“We can take them,” answered Lex. “Ready on your signal, Hunter.”

“All right, go, Lex,” they heard Hunter say.

Immediately, there was another loud explosion from down the Western corridor that echoed through the ballroom, causing many of the Imperial guests to scream out in alarm. The security guards throughout the room all raised their weapons, now on high alert.

"We're under attack!" cried out someone in the crowd.

Kimber relished in being able to finally fight instead of entertaining the enemy, so she dropped her act, ripped off her heavy sun crown and yelled out, "Party's over, Imperials!" Then she thrust out her arm and threw her crown with great pleasure at the nearest Imperial trooper, hitting him right in the head and sending him toppling to the ground. Then she pulled out her blaster from one of the folds of her dress and fired a couple shots at the ceiling, the sounds of the blaster bolts causing even more of an uproar as people began to scatter and cry out.

"Rebels! They're here!" screamed a feminine voice.

Arsin Crassus, who was still close to where Hunter and Kida were, exclaimed in astonishment, "That's impossible! How did the rebels possibly get in?"

Kida came up beside him and stated, "Simple…they got their hands on an invitation." When he turned to face, she grinned proudly at him and then proceeded to punch him right in the throat with her left hand and then, when he was gasping for air, threw another punch with her right square between the eyes. He slumped to the ground right after that.

"You certainly don't pull your punches," commented Hunter.

Kida crouched down and answered as she pulled a code cylinder from Crassus' pocket, "Nope. Besides…he was incredibly annoying."

Hunter snickered as the two of them pulled out their own weapons and ducked behind a nearby pillar to escape incoming fire from the guards.

Outside, the team on the escort shuttle, now with the wreckage of the cargo ship behind them, approached the outside security.

One of the guards cried out to them, "We've had reports of an explosion inside! Rebels have infiltrated the gala."

The commander, clad in black armor and carrying a sniper rifle, responded in a snide voice, "Secure the outer perimeter and evacuate the mansion."

"Yes, sir!" replied the guard before they all ran off.

The commander turned to his squad. "The cargo ship is lost. Move inside and take out the rebels."

"Understood, Commander," responded one of his soldiers. Then they ran off towards the mansion, their commander in tow.

In the ballroom, it was absolute chaos. The guests were running for any door or egress they could find, only to discover they were locked and panic ensued. Wrecker was punching and throwing Imperial troopers left and right while Rina was taking out their kneecaps with her rope dart. Hunter and Kida were still shielded behind a pillar, jumping out from behind every few seconds to blast at the security. Kimber had jumped from the stage and had knocked over a table for cover.

Echo and Lex found themselves back to back, blasting at the guards that were trying to surround them.

“Looks like we ended up having to fight to escape after all,” Lex pointed out over her shoulder.

“Yeah, not sure we can kiss our way out of this one,” Echo teased, grinning to himself in amusement.

She shrugged. “I mean…we could try, but I’m pretty sure we’d get shot,” she replied.

Her response surprised the both of them and after taking a couple more blaster shots, they glanced over their shoulders at each other, a sheepish look on their faces as the memory of what happened earlier in the corridor came back to them.

They heard a grunt and then a thud right behind them as they noticed Rina taking out two more troopers that had almost gotten the jump on them.

“Hey, keep your head in the game, guys!” she chided them.

With her focus back on the mission, Lex withdrew a smoke bomb, activated it and lobbed it across the room, setting off a cloud of smoke that only made the rest of the guests panic even more. She activated a second one and threw it to the other side, creating a second smoke cloud.

Wrecker saw Lex throwing her own bombs and decided to follow suit. He took out a couple of his own smoke bombs and tossed them randomly through the room, creating even more chaos. Though, as the crowd of partygoers were clamoring to get out of the room, pushing and shoving their way through the crowd, he got caught in the middle of the sea of people. In the midst of the craziness, he then got hit over the head by a trooper’s gun and his mask was knocked off. Lucky for him, before the trooper could see him, Kida saw what happened and shot the guard.

However, the commander of the escort squad managed to push his way through to the entryway of the ballroom and he saw the larger guest lose his mask. It was a face familiar to him and one he didn’t expect to see.

“Wrecker.”

His keen eyes scanned the rest of the room to try and see where the others he knew would be there were, but the crowd of panicked people pushing and shoving him made it hard for him to focus.

Over their comms, the teams heard Irys tell them, “Make your way to the back entrance now while the crowds are running out. Now’s your chance.”

“Everyone, move!” called Hunter, signaling the others to follow him and head for the other way.

With Kida’s help, Wrecker had gotten his mask back on and the two of them ran the opposite direction of the crowd. Lex and Echo had immediately followed orders and ran after Hunter, making sure to blast any troopers that tried to follow them. Rina joined up with Kida and Wrecker, as well.

Kimber went to follow her friends when something suddenly caught her eye and she found herself unable to move for a moment. In the middle of the crowd of people, she spotted a set of black armor and a helmet with a green visor, even through a faint cloud of smoke. She knew that armor…all too well.

"No…it can't be!"

Echo’s voice crying out, “Kim, let’s go!” broke her out of her brief stupor. She kept her eyes on the other figure for a moment longer as she made her way after her friends, who still was trying to get past the crowd. Finally, she turned away and ran the way her friends were going, her heart aching deep on the inside despite the success of the mission.

He thought his eyes had been playing tricks on him. Surely, the woman in gold couldn't have been her…but then he'd heard another voice he knew yell for her and he knew right away that he had been right.

"Kimber."

So Clone Force 99 really had been there at the gala…which would then explain the sudden loss of control on the cargo ship that led to the crash. That had to have been Tech's doing. They had been there and had managed to escape. How had that been possible? He hadn't seen the Marauder anywhere or picked up its ship signature close by.

He had barely missed them…but Crosshair knew of a way he could potentially find them and was determined to use it eventually.

The infiltration of the Imperial masquerade gala by the Bad Batch and the Koriena Force proved to be an overall success. Despite the obstacles, they'd come away with valuable information they could pass on to Cid. Once they were back on the Aurora, they all immediately started getting out of their outfits, wanting to be back in either their armor or just regular clothes. For Hunter and the ladies, they also didn't want to have their faces caked in makeup anymore either.

In one of the refreshers on the ship, Kimber was helping Hunter wash off the makeup on his face.

"You did amazing tonight, just like I knew you would," he told her as she ran the damp cloth over his cheek, the darkness of his tattooed skin beginning to emerge.

She chuckled. "Thank you, darling. Though, I'm going to say this: after tonight, I don't ever want to wear a dress again!"

"I don't blame you," he said back.

Then she changed her mind. "Well, actually, that's a lie. I do want to wear a dress for one occasion eventually," she said.

His eyes narrowed curiously. "What would that be?"

She smiled up at him. "Our future wedding."

Hearing that answer nearly made his heart leap right out of him and all he could do in response was kiss her firmly and with devotion.

"I greatly look forward to that day," he said quietly against her lips.

Kimber chuckled gladly again and then continued getting the rest of the makeup off his face. Before long, she could fully see his tattoo that she adored on his face. Then she took his bandana that she'd grabbed and wrapped it carefully around his head. The undercover Hunter was now gone and her beloved Sergeant was back.

"Now there's the Hunter I know and love," she said.

With that done, he left the refresher so she could finish getting all off of her makeup. However, it took her a moment to get started as her mind was distracted, remembering the figure she'd seen at the last moment of the gala.

“Crosshair.”

He had been there. Her brother had only been yards away from her on the other side of the ballroom, fighting to get inside. As far as she knew, he didn’t seem to notice she was there. All the weeks she’d spent missing him, sending him secret messages and desperately wanting to see him again and then suddenly, he'd been there in the same place as her and her squad. She could've called out to him at that moment, had she chosen to. It was what she wanted to do more than anything, but she'd found herself incapable of using her voice for it had gotten caught in her throat. She knew him being there was dangerous for her and her friends, but she so desperately wanted to believe that there was still good in him; that he was still the partner and brother she loved.

Why? Why had fate chosen to almost rub that in her face; that Crosshair had been at that gala and she couldn't go to him? Was there even anything she could've done? Most likely not, unfortunately. If anything, it would've put her and her friends in greater danger. The only takeaway from it all was now, her heart was hurting and had to try her hardest not cry. Especially around Hunter. She knew she could never tell him or the other Clones that Crosshair had been there. They wouldn't react well at all. That only hurt her even more, having to keep secrets about Crosshair from them…but it was what she had to do.

Finally, she pulled herself together, cleaned herself of her makeup, changed back into one of her civilian outfits and met up with the others who had changed already out in the main area of the ship. They all ran through the finer details of the information they'd acquired as well as went over how the mission went in their eyes. Though, a great part of the conversation focused on the fact that Rina and Wrecker could dance, considering how shocked everyone was about it.

Very soon, Irys landed the ship on a mountainside not far outside a town that was miles away from the Senator's mansion. There, they figured they could rest for the remainder of the night and then in the morning, they could head back to Ord Mantell.

Most of the group chose to head to bed, but Echo still had something on his mind that kept him from going to sleep just yet. Or rather, someone.

As he spotted Irys heading to her room, he asked her, "Do you know where Lex is?"

"I saw her go outside," she answered. "She's probably admiring the town next to this mountain. She loves to watch city lights at night."

A small grin crossed his face. He found that fact about Lex endearing. "That's good to know," he said.

"Echo," Irys called out as he moved to leave. When he looked back at her, she told him, "I saw what happened with you two outside the Senator’s office. I caught it on the cameras. I'm sure that's why you want to find her right now." He started to appear embarrassed, but she quickly said, "Lex means a lot to me. You know this. And I know she means a great deal to you, too. I know how you feel about her. She's in a tough spot emotionally, but I have full confidence that you can help her out of it. Can I trust you to take care of her the way she deserves?"

With firm resolve, Echo told her, "Yes. I promise, I only want her to be happy. She deserves the whole galaxy and more and if I can give her what she needs, then I’ll do it."

"Good. Then go after her. She needs you," she said, turning her back to him and walking off to her room without another word.

Echo was glad for Irys’ belief in him. Now, he only hoped that he could get through to Lex. He had tried earlier in the Senator’s office and it didn’t get very far, especially since she was still being stubborn about everything. What didn’t make sense to him was the fact that, not long after that, she had chosen to kiss him as part of a ploy to throw off the guards. What was she really thinking? She acted like she didn’t want to be around him, but then turned around and did that. She was a hard book to read at the moment, but after what had happened, he was determined to have an in-depth discussion regarding their relationship once and for all.

He stepped out into the cool night air and looked around for any sign of Lex. It was times like this that he wished he had Hunter’s ability to track. Though, he did notice some faint footprints leading away from the ship and chose to follow those.

Outside, sitting with her back against a tree on a cliffside overlooking the city below, Lex was lost in her own thoughts. Her fingertips ever so lightly traced over her lips, her mind wandering back to the passionate kiss she’d shared with Echo earlier in the night. Even sitting there thinking about it, she couldn’t figure out what had possessed her to even do such a thing. Once she knew the guards were coming, it was the only thing she could think of, even though now she knew that it was probably a mistake. It most likely made Echo uncomfortable or, if anything, it probably made him even more confused about her situation now, which was her own fault. All this time, she’d been trying to avoid deepening her feelings for him and then she went and kissed him anyway…now she was confused herself. She didn’t know what she wanted anymore. She didn’t want to risk getting her heart hurt again…but all she could think about was Echo. He made her happy, no matter how much she wanted to deny it. After kissing him earlier tonight, she was beginning to wonder if maybe avoiding him was worth it anymore. Was he worth risking her heart again?

“Hey,” she then heard a mild voice say behind her.

She turned around and, just as fate would have it, there was Echo, standing just a few feet away. She knew she shouldn’t be surprised that he had come looking for her.

“Hey, Echo,” she said back softly.

“Can we talk?” he asked.

She hung her head, but grinned knowingly. “You probably want to talk about what happened earlier in the corridor, don't you?” she inquired.

He nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

Her cheeks went hot as she tried to explain to him, “Listen, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you. It was just the first thing I could think of in the moment to throw the guards off; it was crazy and I'm sure I made you uncomfortable.”

As he walked over and sat himself down beside her, he responded, “You're right...it was crazy. A crazy risk that I couldn't believe actually panned out. You remind me a bit of someone actually.”

Lex gave him a puzzled look.

“Someone who was also reckless and a risk-taker,” Echo went on, “but was also loyal and passionate about what he believed in. His name was Fives.” He looked out to the glowing lights of the city in the distance, a reminiscent smile crossing his face. “He was my brother and my best friend. We were both in the same group of cadets, later got recruited to the 501st and made ARC Troopers together, as well. He was always one of the first to get into trouble and he'd drag me in with him. He, too, took a lot of insane risks.”

She listened intently to his words, intrigued by what he was saying about this other Clone brother he’d never mentioned before. “What happened to him?” she asked.

His smile slowly faded. “He was killed while I was still on Skako Minor. I haven't talked about him hardly with anyone.” Then he turned his head to look at her as he told her, “When I found out you saved me on Balmorra and when you kissed me tonight and we got away with it, both times I thought to myself, 'She's crazy...just like Fives was'.”

Snickering at that remark, she replied, “I remind you of him, huh?”

He nodded back. “Despite the things I've gotten into with the Bad Batch, I haven't had that sort of crazy risk-taking in my life for a long time, which is something I didn't realize I missed...until I got to know you.”

The soft, sweet look in his eyes and in his face told Lex exactly where his point was going. Her heart began to race like mad. At this point, she knew what he was going to do or say and she was uncertain of what she could do or say back. Her anxiety and longing were both clashing inside her mind as she anticipated what he was going to say next.

“Lex, you know that lately, I've felt a connection with you,” he continued, shifting over onto his knees so he could face her fully. “While Kimber understands my past as a slave and she and I have a deep bond through that, no one has ever understood this part of me.” He held up his scomp arm in front of him for a brief second and then lowered it again. “That night I found you alone on Ord Mantell and we talked, I felt...strangely relieved for once in a way I haven't in so long in sharing that part of myself with you.”

She lowered her gaze and shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. “Echo...I can't…,” she said, almost begging him.

That didn’t deter him as he went on to say, “I understand if the kiss was just a spur of the moment idea to keep from fighting and didn't mean anything, but I need you to know that it meant something to me. I care for you and I have deep feelings for you, Lex.”

Her head lifted up to gaze at him. Even though she’d always known he cared for her, it still hit differently hearing him admit it out loud.

He kept going, “I’ve never tried to hide that...but I also won't push you for anything you're not ready for. I only wanted you to know how I feel.” Echo laid his hand on top of hers and grasped it ever so gently. “I don't want you to shut me out and keep me at arm's length. What we have between us is something I don't want to lose and it can be whatever you need it to be. If you want me to only be your friend, then I'll do it. If you…want more than that, then I'll gladly give you whatever you ask. I just can't lose you.”

Finally, getting overwhelmed with a myriad of emotions, a small sob escaped Lex’s mouth and her tears fell, sliding down her cheeks. She so badly wanted to tell him the truth of why she had tried to shut him out and how she was really feeling. It was killing her inside keeping it from him. He was loyal enough to her that he was even willing to just be her friend if that was what she needed, even though her heart was screaming at her that she wanted more than that. She’d always said he was too good for the likes of her…yet there he was, declaring his feelings for her and his devotion to her. What had she done to deserve someone so kind and tolerant as him?

As she quietly cried, she felt something cold and metallic carefully touch her face. She realized it was his scomp arm and he was brushing away her tears. He was so gentle and caring and she could see in his eyes a look of understanding as he let her cry; his eyes that saw through her almost into her very soul. He knew there was pain and anguish in her heart that he was willing to help her overcome. She could see that he wanted to stay by her side no matter what the outcome. How could she keep pushing him away when he was willing to offer her so much?

Her voice trembling with trepidation, she admitted to him, “I'm afraid, Echo.”

His hand on hers tightened slightly to comfort her. “Why are you afraid?” he asked.

Looking down at their joined hands, she finally spoke the truth: “After what I told you happened with Dune all those years ago...I'm terrified of giving my heart to someone again. He betrayed me so badly that it's taken me years to heal from it. I can't go through that again. I just can't. None of this has been easy for me…because I'm scared it'll happen a second time.”

In that moment, everything about her recent behavior towards him at last made sense to Echo. “Is that why you've been avoiding me?” he inquired for clarification.

With a nod, she confirmed, “Yes. I thought it was the only way to protect myself from being hurt again. I've hated every moment of it.”

“Lex...do you trust me?” she heard him ask.

She lifted her head, meeting his unwavering gaze. “I do.”

“Then trust me when I tell you that I will never hurt you the way he did,” he vowed. “I would rather die than hurt you. I promise that, if you choose to give your heart to me, I will treasure it and protect it the way Dune should have. If you let me, I'll do all I can to undo the damage he's done to you and help you truly smile again. I don't want you for any possible gain like he did. I want you for who you are and nothing else.”

There was no lie in his eyes whatsoever; no form of deceit or false promises that she could see. He really meant every word, which is something she’d never believe would happen with any man, not after all the lies and false promises she’d gotten from Dune. Echo only proved to her that good men really did still exist in the galaxy.

“I believe you…,” she replied before releasing a heavy sigh, “...and I want you, too.”

The incredible relief Lex felt wash over her in finally admitting that out loud was overpowering to say the least. Echo’s eyes widened with joy at hearing her admission after what felt like so long.

She went on to tell him, moving onto her knees, as well, so she could directly face him, “If I had been paired with anyone else for the mission...I would never have thought to kiss them. With you...I wanted to...and like I told you, I took the risk...because I have feelings for you, too, Echo.” She smiled at him widely with gladness at finding the strength to be honest with him about her true feelings at long last. “You've been an amazing help to me throughout my struggles with my new arm and I can't thank you enough for that. After my accident, I thought everything would change for me and no one would ever understand me the same way...until you came to me. I, too, have felt a connection between us since that first night because you do understand me. You made me realize that my life wasn't over and that I was still me, not just a woman who's now part machine. You didn't see me just as a cyborg, but you still saw me for who I am.”

Moved immensely by her powerful and heartfelt confession, Echo brought his good hand up to Lex’s cheek, where she instinctively leaned into his touch. “Of course, I see you. I've always seen you,” he said softly.

“And I've always seen you,” she said back.

He leaned forward and tenderly touched his forehead to hers, his thumb on her cheek caressing her skin soothingly. “After everything you've been through, you deserve something real. I want us to be something real,” he told her, his voice near a whisper. “I know you're afraid…but I promise I'll take care of you, if you're willing to give me a chance. Though, if you're still not ready and need more time, then I'll respect that and step back.”

He felt her shake her head back and forth until she sat back, removing her face from his hand and declared, “No…I can't do it anymore. I can't keep avoiding you.” Her violet eyes glistened with forming tears again as she told him, her voice full of emotion, “I'm still scared, but…it's tearing me apart to push you away. Every moment, it feels like I'm driving my own vibroblade into my heart over and over again. I'm tired of being controlled by my fear.” She inhaled slowly and then released a steady breath. “I'm ready to open my heart again…because I also want something real…and I desperately want that with you, Echo.”

No words could describe the pure and profound happiness Echo felt at what Lex was saying to him. He finally knew where they stood and what she wanted and it was exactly what he wanted, too. This wonderful woman he’d pined for shared his feelings and wanted to be with him. There was nothing better he could ask for in that moment. Then without a word, he pulled her into his arms, holding her close and cradling her head against his chest. In return, she wrapped her arms around his torso, holding onto him almost tighter than he was to her. The warmth and safety in being in someone’s arms again; better yet, being in Echo’s arms was already healing her heart immensely. She could feel it deep inside. They both felt they could stay like this until the end of time.

Echo pulled back a little, glancing down at Lex again, and they shared joyful smiles that they couldn’t hold back. Then he told her, “I really would like to kiss you again...this time, not under the pretense of trying not to get caught by guards.”

She let out a tiny giggle and smirked. “ But it's more fun that way,” she replied.

He grinned and shook his head. How he adored her teasing sense of humor. “Oh, Lex,” he sighed fondly.

Then he cupped the back of her head, bent his head down and sweetly kissed her. This time, the kiss was slower and gentle yet no less passionate as they lost themselves in each other’s arms. Everything surrounding them seemed to disappear like it had before. There was only them on this mountainside and the rest of the world; even the entire galaxy was but a brief, distant memory.

After a moment, Echo broke the kiss and only pulled back a little, his mouth hovering just over hers as he rested his forehead against hers again. Lex, however, eagerly closed the distance and affectionately kissed him a second time, wanting just a little more.

When she came back, she only spoke one word: “Elexiss.”

Echo looked at her, puzzled. “What?”

She smiled adoringly at him. “Elexiss Valen. That's my full real name,” she explained. Then she blushed slightly and looked away briefly. “I've never told anyone that, not even the girls. I just...you told me about Fives, so I felt impressed to share that with you to return the favor.”

He smiled back at her as he replied, “Elexiss is a beautiful name...but Lex suits you better.”

With a light chuckle of amusement, she said back, “I definitely prefer that, anyway. Especially coming from you.”

“Thank you for trusting me enough to share that with me…and for opening your heart to me,” he said.

She nodded. “I know you've been incredibly patient with me through all this…and I only ask that you continue to be patient with me,” she calmly requested. “There may still be things in the future that will be a struggle for me because of my past with Dune, but I want to try and move beyond it all. It'll still take time, though.”

He fully understood what she was asking of him and he carefully nudged her head forward, tenderly kissing her brow both for comfort and acknowledgement. “I understand. I promise to be patient and I'll help you in whatever way I can,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she responded.

Echo reached down and grasped Lex’s hand with his own and she took his scomp in her robotic hand. Then he said with a pleased grin, “I also want to say: you were an absolute vision in that dress you wore tonight to the gala. I never wanted to take my eyes off you.”

She grinned back. “You looked like quite the catch yourself. Why else do you think I was wanting to kiss you all night?”

He found himself enamored with this new, flirtatious side of her. He knew he definitely could get used to that and he would enjoy it immensely. “The feeling was mutual...and it still is,” he said back, nuzzling her nose.

Needing no further encouragement, Lex took Echo’s face in her hands and eagerly returned her lips to his as he pulled her close in his arms once more. After a long time of going back and forth regarding how they felt about one another, they had at last been open and honest with each other and now, they were beyond overjoyed to finally be together.

They shared many kisses over the next few minutes until finally, they both sat back against the tree, his arm around her and her head on his shoulder--while being careful not to poke his face with her horns--and they just watched the nightly horizon of colorful city lights. Echo began to wonder if they should go back to the ship for the night…but he didn’t want to go back. Not yet. The only thought on his mind was Lex. He could still feel her lips on his, her hand on his cheek, the warmth of her body mingling with his own. The night had come to a wonderful conclusion and he didn’t want that all to be over just yet. He’d waited for what felt like forever to finally be with her and he still wanted more. He didn’t want this night to end.

He then spoke in a quiet voice, “I know we should probably get back to the Aurora…but after all this, I can’t be apart from you right now. Not yet. I need you still in my arms. Please, Lex…will you stay out here with me a while longer? I…I hear you love watching the city lights at night. We can stay and admire them together.”

Lex smiled fondly to herself. She didn’t know how he’d found out about that fact--though she had a hunch as to who might’ve told him--but she found it so sweet that he wanted to stay there with her just because he knew it was something she liked. Already, she began to wonder how she got lucky to have him. She also realized that she was in the same predicament as he was: she didn’t want to go back to the ship; she didn’t want to be away from Echo yet. She wanted to stay in his arms for the rest of the night. It felt amazingly freeing to let another man she cared for into her life and to allow herself to be vulnerable again. Whatever Echo wanted, she wanted it, too.

She snuggled up closer to him, nuzzling his neck, and answered him, “Of course, I will, Echo.”

Now more content than he had been, he turned his head and placed a kiss on her temple. Then there, the two of them stayed, resting up against the tree, taking in the quiet stillness of the night in the warmth of each other’s arms.

Echo stirred awake at the sensation of someone lightly shaking him. He realized that he had fallen asleep outside and was still sitting up against the tree. Lex was still asleep and her head was resting in his lap. Though, feeling him shift when he woke up caused her to wake, too. It wasn’t her that had shaken him awake. Who was it then?

Then he heard a female voice he knew all too well say above him, “Well, well, well…!”

His eyes shot open and he looked up to see Kimber standing there with a knowing grin on her face and her arms folded across her chest.

“Kim!” he cried out, making Lex jolt awake, too, as they both scrambled to stand up.

With a hearty laugh, Kimber commented, looking primarily at Echo, “You know, this seems incredibly familiar…as if I’ve seen this particular scenario before…but if I recall correctly, the roles were reversed, weren’t they, Echo?”

Echo’s cheeks were turning red and Lex appeared a little confused.

“To clear things up for you, Lex,” Kimber went on to explain, “in the early days of mine and Hunter’s relationship before we even got together, we too fell asleep outside together one night and Echo was the one who found us.” She cast him a devious smirk. “Then he proceeded to tease me a great deal about it afterwards.”

He gave her a half-smirk back. “So you’re out here for revenge then. Is that it?” he asked.

Her grin widened. “It’s as I told you before: I have a whole year’s worth of teasing to get back at you for…and this is only the beginning.”

While Echo, still seemingly embarrassed, ran a hand over his face, Lex simply chuckled in amusement at seeing him like that and at the idea of Kimber teasing him relentlessly.

Then her teasing grin turned into a genuine smile as she glanced between the two of them. “In all seriousness, though…I am truly happy for the both of you,” she told them.

“Thank you, Kimber,” said Lex.

“Now, are you going to tell the others, as well, or are you also going to be like Hunter and want to keep this a secret for a while?” Kimber asked Echo.

He shook his head and smiled. “I don’t think I could even if I tried.” He gazed back at Lex and took her hand in his. “I’m too happy to hide anything.”

Lex happily smiled back at him.

Kimber saw this and wanted to scream and hug them both, but figured she’d play it cool for the time being. There’d be time for proper celebrations later. “Well, I came to tell you both that we’re getting the ship prepped to leave soon. Take your time, though. We’re in no rush.” She gave them a wink and then just turned and walked away, giving neither of them a chance to protest. She glanced back over her shoulder a few seconds later and, sure enough, they were sharing a good morning kiss, which made her quietly squeal with excitement. She made her way down the hill where she saw Irys waiting for her.

“Were they together?” Irys asked.

“Oh, you bet they were,” Kimber replied.

“Good. It was about time the two of them realized their feelings for each other,” Irys commented.

Kimber said back, “About time, indeed.”

“I had hoped that having them paired together for the gala would give them the push they needed to face the truth. I don’t know everything that happened, but apparently it was enough. For that, I am glad.”

“As am I. They’ll be good for one another.” Then Kimber laid a hand on Irys’ shoulder. “You’re okay with this?”

Irys nodded. “I trust Echo to care for Lex the way she needs. Her heart will be safe with him.”

“I believe so, too,” Kimber agreed. “It’s been a long road for them and now…they can walk it together.”

Satisfied with the outcome they were hoping for with their two friends, Kimber and Irys walked back to the Aurora to be with their squads, knowing Echo and Lex would be along to join them when they were ready.

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