#they just turn up to Pabu and they run up to Tech

[fandomtrashoe]

Ok, I don't think there will be a big time jump before they get crosshair back BUT hear me out:

Imagine if Tech had a kid with Phee before Crosshair returns. Like the fact that Tech pulled a / this woman will blow Cross' mind but if they had a kid?! The poor man would short circuit.

[hugmekenobi]

Forever

A Bad Batch Post S3 Oneshot

Gif by @barissoffee

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Summary: Just when you think your fresh start can officially begin, the past still finds a way to haunt you

Warnings: No (Y/N), me adding one actual personal characteristic (sorry if you aren't arachnophobic), reader has hair long enough to hold, light PDA (kissing), mentions of scars, SMUT (shower sex with non-explicit descriptions of oral m&f receiving, handjob, fingering, making out, dirty talk,hints of praise kink), suggestive dialogue, reader wears a sundress, swearing, hints of Tech/Phee, just stick with me on the Lyra explanation please, mentions of food and drinks/alcohol, drink and general tampering for the sake of poisoning, me making up medical things, descriptions of illness (vomiting, fever, bodily pain), mentions of medical testing/needles and injections, concerned bad batch family, brief dark/protective Hunter, injury (cuts, blaster shots, broken nose/nosebleeds) and torture descriptions with further mentions of pain and blood, a certain lizard makes an unwelcomed appearance, big on the overall fluff and loving vibes but also big on angst and hurt/comfort, references to death and torture, near-character death, fluff and happy ending don't worry

<Previous Oneshot (not totally necessary to read but helpful for build up)

Masterlist for S1,S2 and S3

Word Count: 24.9K (don't look at me lol)

Rating: 18+

Author's note: This is a crazy ride jam-packed with fav tropes of mine, so I can only apologise for the emotional whiplash, but blame my dream because that is where this entire concept came from! Hope it was worth the wait!

The day of the party everyone had been eager awaiting had finally arrived. It was being done in your and the rest of the Batch’s honour and was serving as a combined official welcome to Pabu/congratulations on making it through everything alive type of thing but regardless of the slightly elaborate purpose, the island was all a buzz with excitement and preparations.

You and Hunter were meandering away from the busy colonnade. Your offer to help with the last of the party set up had been politely declined so instead the two of you had opted to join the others at the beach.

“Hey!”

You turned in surprise at the familiar voice and you saw the woman running off her ship and towards you. “Oh hey! What-” Your question was cut off with a huff of air as you were brought into a tight hug.

“Let me see-” Lyra stepped back from you and grabbed your hands excitedly but stopped short as she held them.

“See what?” You looked at her, utterly perplexed by her behaviour.

Hunter resisted the urge to clamp his hand over Lyra’s mouth but there’d be no believable way to explain that away, so he just had to stand there and cross his fingers that you didn’t pressure Lyra for further elaboration.

Lyra realised her mistake and backtracked quickly. “You. Let me see you. It’s been far too long.” She dropped your hands and just walked around you, analysing your form. “Yup, I still got it. Both of you are looking pretty sharp in my stuff if I do say so myself. So, I bet the rest of your lot do to.”

“Stop that.” You twisted your head around and waved her away with a fond yet bemused grin. “Why are you acting so weird? Better yet why are you here? Not that I’m not happy to see you.” You added hastily but you were a second too late.  

Lyra placed her hand over her heart in faux offence. “Wow, months with no word and then only sporadic comm channel conversations and this is how I’m greeted? I told you I would visit. Speaking of, I brought more samples of my work.” She gestured to the two cases by her feet. “Top one is yours, the second is to be divided between the rest of your crew. But to answer your question, I’m here for the party.”

You titled your head at her. Your last call had been before the party had been decided so you didn’t know how she knew about it. “The party? Who invited you?” You asked quizzically.

Lyra shot a nervous glance to the man at your side. She’d already almost blown it; she didn’t want to risk doing it again. “Uh, Hunter did actually.”

You glanced at Hunter curiously. “You did?”

Hunter maintained a sense of calm as he answered, “Well, technically it was through Echo, but I put them in contact. Also, a lot of people were asking about our clothes. Figured it couldn’t hurt to see if Shep needed someone like her here. Today felt like the perfect time.” That part was a genuine truth. He hadn’t thought much of the situation on Christophsis in the short time he’d been there- well, what he had thought wasn’t in any way positive-, and you’d always expressed interest in figuring out a way to get Lyra out of there and somewhere better. He was killing two birds with one stone here.  

“Yeah, a party and a job opportunity away from Imperial bullshit was too good to pass up.” Lyra confirmed with a grin.

You smiled broadly. “Oh okay! That’d be pretty great actually! So, Christophsis hasn’t improved since I left?”

“Just kept getting worse.” Lyra said plainly. “Got decent enough business to buy that condemned ship but it’s still pretty awful there. I definitely would not miss it.”

You shot her a sympathetic look before you clapped your hands together, “Well, I better go get Shep and officially introduce you two!” You wandered away to go find the man that was busying about the area making sure things were on schedule for tonight.

Hunter waited until you were out of earshot. He placed his hands on his hips and stared at Lyra. “That was subtle.” He deadpanned.

Lyra cringed. “I’m sorry! The transmission from Echo was pretty dodgy. I couldn’t quite hear him. I just heard ‘Hunter, party, Pabu’ so I though this party was to celebrate what had happened, not as a lead up to what’s going to happen.”

Hunter heaved a weary, stressed sigh. This was beginning to become the best yet somehow worst kept secret on Pabu. He was just grateful that the one person who he really didn’t want to know still appeared to have no idea. How that was possible, he really didn’t understand since it seemed to have spread from the need-to-know people to what felt like every citizen of the island, but he didn’t want to question it too much in case he jinxed it. Each time he passed someone by, and they shot him that knowing smile, he felt a flare of panic that you would notice and start to question him but so far, you just took it as standard practice from the naturally friendly disposition of the people here. He was almost there, he just needed everyone around him to keep it together. He straightened up and signalled to Lyra to act natural as you approached them once more.

“Lyra, this is Shep. The best mayor of Pabu and overall, pretty incredible man. Shep, this is my friend Lyra.”

“Nice to meet you.” Lyra stuck her hand out with a friendly grin and nodded to you. “She’s always spoken highly of you.”

“We’ve all grown very fond of her and the rest of the family.” Shep smiled and shook her hand in return. “It’s nice to officially meet you too! You’re joining us for our little shindig? And Hunter also tells me you’re looking to live and employ yourself here?”

“Yup! Can’t keep me from a good party. And yes, if you have the space for me, I’d love to talk to you about it more!” Lyra said cheerily. “Anything I can do to help with setting up in the meantime?”

“I’m sure there’s something. It always gets chaotic in the final stages.” Shep said, sweeping his arm in front of him to guide her in the direction he was going.

“Hang on, you said-” You started to argue.

“Go enjoy your day, we’ll see you later tonight!” Shep said dismissively.

“Your cases!” Hunter called after the fading figures.

“They’re yours!” Lyra tossed over her shoulder. “Although, I’d wait until you’re alone to open yours!” She said to you specifically.

You let out a small groan. Your mind immediately entered panic mode and started jumping between every experimental or bold combination of clothing that she felt the need to put you in. She’d been on point so far, but you knew there had to be a catch at some point.

“We can take a slight detour before heading to the beach, right? It’s only a couple minutes out the way.” Hunter double checked with you.

“Yeah def-” You didn’t even get a chance to finish your sentence or pick up a box before someone swept in and addressed Hunter.

“Don’t worry, Hunter. I’m heading past your house anyway to grab some supplies we need up here. I can drop them off. You guys can carry on with your day.”

“Thanks Kyan.” Hunter said as the fisherman picked up the boxes.

“Yes, thank you so much!” You echoed as he left. “Why is everyone being so nice?” You mused as you saw him head in the direction of your home. “We’re basically passing our house anyway; we could’ve done it.”

“They’re always nice here.” Hunter said nonchalantly, hoping you wouldn’t sense his nerves increasing. He snaked an arm around your waist and guided you down the winding path.

“I guess.” You mirrored his gesture as you strolled towards the beach. “This just feels different, like they all know something we don’t.”

“I wouldn’t think too much about it.” Hunter advised. Two more hours. Only two more hours to go before the secret would finally be out in the open.

--

You and Hunter stood on an outcrop of rocks just overlooking the sea and you called over to the group of people and dog sitting on the beach. “How was the swim?”

“Amazing! You really should go for one too. The water is so nice!” Omega encouraged as she lounged on a towel, letting the warm sun dry her off. Her and Batcher had been the only one to actually enter the water, the others had only decided to get their feet wet.

“I’m good. We don’t have long before the party and I’d rather-” You sensed the threat a second to late. With a yelp, you were shoved over the edge and entered the water with a splash.

You came to the surface to the sounds of laughter from the bystanders on the beach- even the dog was barking in a way that sounded like a laugh. You glared up at the clone staring down at you with a smug grin on his face. “You mother-”

“So… how’s the water?” Hunter taunted.

Two could play this game. “Yeah, it’s great actually, you’re really missing out.” With that, you raised your hand and with a tug of the Force, Hunter swiftly tumbled into the water too.

His aggrieved shout before he hit the water was music to your ears.

“Okay, I should’ve seen that coming.” Hunter admitted through a short series of coughs as he reappeared from below the depths.

Your plan of revenge had instantly backfired given just how perfect he looked right now. Your breath hitched as you saw the way his wet hair fell around his shoulders and framed his profile as well as the way droplets of water dripped down his face. He was a sight to behold. You reached up and stroked some of his damp fringe just behind his bandana. You’re beautiful.

Hunter gulped at the compliment. It had never been a word he’d apply to himself; he didn’t really view himself in that light, it was only ever you. Yet you said it to him with such sincere feeling, he knew you meant it.

You kissed him softly before you made to swim for shore, but you didn’t get very far.

In one short stroke, Hunter reached you and kissed you fiercely.

You tangled your fingers in his damp locks with a pleasure filled sigh as you matched his strokes.

Hunter could taste the salt on your lips, and he could feel the way your body pressed against him as you grew more eager, it only spurred him on further.

The few disgruntled and offended shouts as well as a ship flying overhead caused you both to hastily pull apart.

“It’s Echo!” Omega yelled happily, wriggling out of the protective hand Wrecker had placed over her eyes- it wasn’t like she had no idea what was going on. Not waiting on the rest of them, she and Batcher dashed back towards where his ship was going to land.

“Um, so-” Hunter began awkwardly. He used to be more careful about the public displays of affection, especially around his family, but it would appear that feeling free, relaxed and in love could be quite a distraction when it wanted to be.

Should everything go to plan, they were taking her anyway, but the confirmation felt necessary. “Yes, we’ll take her tonight.” Crosshair said, shaking his head in the direction of the two of you but a smile was on his face.

“Ha! The gang’s all back!” Wrecker cheered, slapping Tech’s shoulder as he, Tech and Crosshair followed the young girl. “I can’t wait for this thing to get started!”

“Yes, this party should be quite the reunion.” Tech remarked simply as he walked and finished making the finishing touches to the repairs to his goggles.

“Echo’s taking a break from the clone rebellion for a party?” You furrowed your brow as you reached the sand and half-heartedly wrung out the edges of your top.

Hunter shrugged as he wiped some water off his face. The fact that his brother was indeed making an appearance meant a lot, but he couldn’t very well act like that in front of you. “It’s supposed to be quite the party.”

You huffed out a laugh. “Right.”

“Plus, he was right there with us, so it be a shame if he didn’t make an appearance.”

You inclined your head in acceptance of that. You then took proper notice of the way his soaked clothes clung to his toned body, emphasising very muscle. Despite the chill of the water, your blood ran hot as intense longing overcame you. You turned away from him and attempted to regain control of yourself.

Hunter noticed the way you swiftly stopped looking at him and he knew you were fighting to regain control the same way he was but, quite frankly, he didn’t want to. He came up behind you and draped his arms around your front.

You exhaled happily and leaned back against him.

“How about a shower?” He crooned in your ear as he brushed his lips just behind your ear.

You nodded dumbly as he gently nipped at your earlobe. Control was overrated.

--

You let out a squeal as the door you were pressed up against opened suddenly and you stumbled backwards- if it weren’t for the strong hands gripping your hips, you would’ve fallen straight down. Your kisses with Hunter were a passionate and frenzied mess of tongue and teeth as he backed you down the hallway, muscle memory guiding the way since neither of you wanted to pull apart, not even to catch your breath.

A trail of wet clothes marked the way through to the refresher.

A gasp left your mouth as the first cold spray of water hit you, a gasp that Hunter took full advantage off as he kissed you deeply, swallowing your groans of pleasure.

The water soon turned warm, but goosebumps still graced your skin as you were pushed up against the cool wall tiles. You leaned your head back as Hunter removed his lips from yours and began biting and kissing along your neck. “W-wait.” You managed to say breathlessly. He had always been the one to cater to your needs and you wanted nothing more than to be the one to do that for him first. He so rarely put himself first both in everyday life and in this particular regard and it was something you wanted to change.

Hunter immediately stopped and braced his hands on either side of your head, his breathing heavy as he waited until you were comfortable to carry on. Or not.

You nearly lost it at the sight of the man in front of you. Beautiful had been an understatement. He looked positively ethereal as his hair was wet and loose around his shoulders, the pieces of fringe at the front just demanding your touch. Water cascaded down his toned back and his usual caring brown eyes were nearly black with lust yet there was a slight crinkle in his brow to indicate that he was happy to wait until he knew you were okay with proceeding which only added to your desire. You inhaled deeply and pressed a seductive kiss to his mouth before you trailed your lips down his neck, kissing the hollow of his throat. You then gently pushed him away from you in order to change positions, so that he was the one against the tiles now.

Hunter looked at you questioningly but any words he was about to speak became a hoarse groan as he felt you reach down and wrap your hand around him. He tipped his head back against the tiles as you moved your hand.

You ignored the feeling of the water on your back and fixed your focus entirely on him as you kept your touches teasing, relishing each groan that left his throat. Look at me.

Hunter was all too willing to follow your instructions, but he saw you getting ready to kneel and he caught your elbow. He swallowed harshly as he rasped through the haze of pleasure you were granting him, “Y-you don’t have to. L- let me-”

You shook your head to silence his protests and paused what you were currently doing. You pressed soft, doting kisses up his thighs, before making your way up his ribs and affectionately kissing the jagged scar left by the wild reeks all those years ago and then you carried on downwards once more as you formed a path of kisses to his abdomen before you moved lower still.

“You’re always the one to give. I want you to take.” You encouraged as you licked a slow, sensual stripe along the length of him.

Hunter’s head fell back against the shower wall and a choked moan left his throat.

You stopped and tutted. You rose to your full height and grabbed the back of his neck, so he was forced to look at you once more. You needed him to watch so he knew just how much you wanted to do this for him. Keep your eyes on me. Do you think you can manage that?

Hunter just about managed to nod. He was utterly enraptured by the sight of you. Your eyes were bright and laced with longing, your heavy breaths came from lips already swollen from the kisses you’d shared and there was an overall desire that radiated from you that he was completely captivated by.  

You smirked and kissed him deeply. Good boy.

“Fuck.” Hunter breathed as he watched you go to your knees once more but even as you nodded up at him, he still found himself not wanting to take full advantage of the situation. He sought purchase against the shower walls as he fought with the primal urge within him to do what you were asking of him.

This particular scenario that you were invoking was new territory for him- you knew he would still be hesitant- so you began with that you knew would make him lose his mind and remove all doubt from his brain. You needed him to stop overthinking it and to stop being concerned with your pleasure needs for the moment.

You needed him only thinking about himself and the pleasure he wanted from you.

With his eyes still looking at you, Hunter’s hands slipped against the slick tiles as he fought against the impulse to tangle his fingers in your wet hair as each frustratingly slow and light touch had him losing his mind. Your name left his mouth in a cracked whisper as he pleaded, “P-please.”

Please what? You replied innocently. You looked up at him as you carried on, keeping your pace slow and your ministrations featherlight.

The alluring glint in your eyes had him swallowing hard as he searched for his voice. “I need- fuck- I need more…” He made a move to drop one of his hands but stopped. “Sweetheart, I-”  

You only need to take. You reminded as you placed light kisses along him.

At your words and as the instinctual need for release finally took over, Hunter found himself fisting your hair and guiding your mouth down the length of him.

You groaned appreciatively at the action.

Hunter released a choked gasp as the vibrations from your throat only added to the sensation that he was getting utterly lost in. And he was continuing to follow your instructions and he could understand why you’d laid them out. Watching your eyes flutter shut in pleasure as you accepted him made him close to finishing right then and there and he had gain control quickly or this would be over too soon.

You were compliant to his every move, making sure every response you gave him was what he wanted. His own moans and the broken praise emitting from his lips for you as he grew more and more caught up in finding gratification drove you on as he claimed your throat in the way you had been waiting for him to do.

His gruff sighs made your own simmering arousal burn red hot in your veins.

This was exactly what you wanted.

You wanted him incoherent.

You wanted him to let go.

You wanted him to focus on himself.

The release Hunter was chasing arrived faster than he’d anticipated but he couldn’t bring himself to pull away from you. you felt too good. The best he could do was attempt a hoarse, stammered warning, “I’m gonna- oh fuck-” He kept looking at you and a new longing took a hold of him, the one he had before this began. “I want to taste y– I need to tou- fuck you’re doing so well-” But he still couldn’t stop despite him meaning the words he was blabbering. “I’m- wait-”

You already knew he was nearing his climax by the way his hips stuttered but you didn’t want him to hold back. You clasped his free hand in encouragement and kept yourself right where you were. It’s okay, I want it.

That was all he needed. With a loud and hoarse shout, Hunter reached that sweet moment of ecstasy.

You stayed strong, only stopping when he demandingly pulled you to your feet and before you could even process what had happened, your back was to the shower wall once more, Hunter’s body pressed tight up against yours as his lips crashed into yours.

Hunter could taste the remnants of his release on your tongue, and it prompted him to hold the hinge of your jaw to tip your head back as he licked into your mouth. A deep growl sounding from him as he did so.

You welcomed his kiss and matched his intensity as you pawed at his muscled back as if you could somehow remove every inch of offensive space between you.

Hunter finally pulled away for air, but he raised your arms above your head and pressed your wrists into the wall.

It was hard to imagine that not 30 seconds ago, you had reduced this man to a tongue-tied, purely desire driven mess. Yet now the positions had rapidly switched.

Hunter licked the water away from your neck, smiling against your skin as he felt your pulse quicken at the action. He kept one hand entrapping your wrists, but he slowly brought his other hand down, his fingertips steadily descending down your arm. “Do you know why I so rarely let you do that for me?”

You shook your head; you didn’t trust that actual words would exit your lips. Goosebumps graced your body at his touch.

“Because as talented as you are at that and as grateful as I am for you allowing me to do that…” He nuzzled his nose against the side of yours before he kissed the corner of your mouth, pulling away ever so slightly as you turned your head to kiss him properly.

The roguish, teasing grin on his face made your breath catch in your throat. Your desire grew more intense as his already low, smoky voice somehow went an octave lower and his seductive words sounded more like a deep growl as he spoke to you, and it made you weak at the knees. Your chest heaved as each yearning breath left your lungs as you watched him.

He caressed your cheek. “There’s something else that also brings me that much pleasure…” He kissed along your jaw before he carried on with his plan.

You could only observe him, the sight of his lust-fuelled gaze and the way he was suddenly so in control made your want for him burn that much hotter.

Hunter then rested his hand just at the hollow of your throat, feeling a shuddering breath leave you as you swallowed, he glanced up at your face which was watching him with both heightened curiosity and desperation as you waited for him to touch you were he knew you needed him to.

He trailed his fingers sensually down the rest of your torso before moving them tenderly up the inside of your thighs, a hint of delight flowing through him as he already felt how ready you were for him already and it was all from what had just transpired– he was yet to do anything. “Because when I touch you here…” He murmured as he ever so slightly rubbed that sensitive spot between your legs, delighting in the gasp that sounded from your lips. “I can watch you fall apart…”

A whimper sounded from your throat.

“And when I kiss you here…” He stopped his movements for the most part, instead just tenderly rubbing faint circles with his thumb as he mouthed his way down your body.

Your breathing was leaving you in short, sharp pants.

“I can watch you fall apart on my tongue.” With that, he lifted your leg onto his shoulder before his mouth joined where his fingers were. An eager moan came from his own lips as he finally got to taste you and for the moment, he wanted to savour this. You were a craving- an addiction- that he couldn’t get enough of. He was in no rush, and he draw this out for as long as you both could handle it.

His name fell from your lips through a raspy groan. He knew your body so damn well and that was both a blessing and a curse. He was barely giving you enough to gain any form of satisfaction but yet it was just enough to drive you crazy with need. You scrambled for a grip on the slippery tiles as desperate cries sounded from you. One hand fumbled against the small shelf as a particularly wicked curl of his fingers made a jolt of pleasure rush through you and various shower supplies came tumbling down with an unnecessarily loud crash but neither of you paid them any attention, instead you merely clamped that hand over your mouth to quiet yourself.

“You know I want to hear you, sweetheart.” Hunter crooned as he stopped what he was doing. The demand needed to be met before he would continue.

You nodded, through a pleasure induced daze as you removed your hand. You had to keep reminding yourself that you had a place of your own now and you could be as free as you wanted to be, there was no risk of being overheard or interrupted but it was a habit that was still proving difficult to break.

As he finally showed willing to bring you closer to the point of release, your mewls of pleasure left you without restraint.

Hunter hummed out his approval as he put his mouth back on you and began moving his fingers once more, and this time, he wasn’t drawing anything out.

He wanted to watch you come.

He angled his eyes up as he found that spot that he knew would have you finding your release in no time. He let out his own appreciative sigh as he saw the way your eyes flickered shut, as he saw the way your brow furrowed, and your lips parted in sweet relief as those special breathy sighs exited from them, signally that you were close.  

You arched your back as you went tumbling towards that blissful climax and you finished with a strangled groan, your hands tangling in Hunter’s soaked hair to ground yourself as he worked you through it.

Hunter made sure you were back to being steady on your feet before he prompted you to face the wall so he could press loving, accepting kisses to the scars on your back. “I love you... so much.” He nearly found himself following that up with the question, but he stopped himself. Too much had been planned and he knew exactly how he wanted to do it. He wasn’t about to ruin it with getting too caught up in this wonderful moment.

“I love you too.” You replied softly.

Hunter placed one last kiss between your shoulder blades before he gathered up the fallen shower products that had scattered around his feet.

You braced your forehead on the cool tiles to gather yourself once more. For a moment the only sounds were the steady of jets of shower water and Hunter placing the items back on their shelf,

“Okay… so… now we need to do the actual showering part.” You said breathlessly as you finally turned around and brushed back his fringe pieces.

Hunter chuckled and nodded his agreement. “We have a party to get to after all.”

--

“Hey, I have a question.” You asked casually as you appreciatively watched Hunter get dressed. You had made no such moves yet and were instead lounging on your bed still in your bathrobe.

“What’s that?” Hunter asked as he finished buttoning his shirt.

“How important is it that we attend this party?”

A wave of panic hit him, and he had to rely on old training to keep his voice steady. “Is everything okay?” Even with his fast-acting composure, he could tell his voice was strained but if you noticed, you didn’t call on it since you carried on as normal in your response.

“Well, no. After that display in the shower, I find myself not quite wanting to be so social.”

Hunter held back his sigh of relief. This was something he could handle just fine. It wasn’t your fault that you were looking to cause a bit of trouble, he was just glad that there wasn’t a more serious reason to your original question because that would make the rest of this evening rather tricky. “Given the fact that they’re having it in our honour, I’d say it’s pretty important that we go.”

You shuffled to the end of the bed and sat up. You caught his hand as he walked by you. “But there are five other honouree people that are going…”

“Sweetheart…” He really had to figure out how to navigate this without giving anything away.

“Now let’s see…” You feigned pondering as you went through the options in your head and rubbed your thumb along his hand. “We’ve already done the bed, the shower, the table, the couch and the counter…”

Hunter’s attempt at swallowing was interrupted as various memories flashed through his head, some highlights being your thighs wrapped around his head, you straddling his lap and his handprints imprinting on the glass of the kitchen cabinets. It was true that he had been rather insatiable lately and you had been all too willing and happy to match his enthusiasm but now was the time for self-control. He released a choked cough as he attempted to steady himself.

“But I don’t believe we’ve done a wall yet...” You said coyly as you started to pull down the arm of your bathrobe to expose more of your clavicle. You also spread your legs a little wider, so the fabric hitched up your thighs as you nodded to the dresser behind him. “Or the bureau…”

Hunter released a guttural, unrestrained groan before he kissed you. Hard. But just as you threaded your fingers in his hair and made to pull him on top of you, he found himself once more. He had to act now, or he’d never want to leave here. He stepped away and stopped your hand that was continuing to lower the shoulder of your robe, but he couldn’t help but notice the few remaining water droplets on your neck that were calling to be kissed away.  

“Hunter…” You pretended to pout as you gently yanked on the loose ends of his shirt, so he was forced to come and stand between your legs.

Hunter pushed down on your shoulders and your arms above your head. “Go.” A chaste kiss to your lips. “Get.” Another quick kiss. “Dressed.” He placed one final brief kiss to your mouth before he readjusted the shoulder of your dressing gown.

“The robe has to come off to do that though.” You whispered as you placed a tender kiss to his mouth.

Hunter huffed out a laugh as he stood tall once more. He quickly walked out the room before you had the chance to accidentally ruin everything he had put together. “Don’t take too long!” He called back to you.

You released a heavy, grounding sigh before you sat up and hopped off the bed and your eyes caught sight of the case. With apprehensive curiosity, you strolled over to the new package that Lyra had gifted you, bracing yourself for what was going to be revealed.

You unclasped the lock, but you were pleasantly surprised by what was inside. It was a variety of sundresses, each one a similar design but in a variety of colours. They were a new thing for you to try but you figured a party could call for doing something different, plus you couldn’t wait to see Hunter’s reaction to something like this.

You picked out a red dress and was unsurprised to see that it fit you just right. You had a rummage through the rest of the box to see if there was anything else or if it was just those dresses, but you regretted that immediately.

A horrified, strangled breath left you as you saw the three sets of lace lingerie. A red, a black and a white set were all folded neatly at the bottom of the box. You held up the red set and recognised the design immediately. You muttered a series of curse words to yourself before your eyes caught sight of a small black silk bag and the items in there left you frozen in shock. This was something you would have to keep well hidden. You slammed the lid shut and shoved it to the back of the shared closest.

--

You quietly walked down the short hallway towards the front room which served as an open planned area with a kitchen and living space. You leaned against the wall and a smile graced your face as you watched the domestic scene with fond affection- Hunter had just finished gathering and hanging up your sodden beach clothes and was proceeding to put away some dry dishes. It made your heart soar that he had settled into the domesticity of the island and the routine here so well, it made making a life with him here all the more appealing.

As much as you enjoyed watching him, and as much as you would enjoy just staying in, you knew he wanted to go to the party, and you knew you would have a good time once you were there. You just wanted a little bit more fun first. “Zip me up?”

Hunter half-turned from where he was putting away a plate, but he forgot how to both breathe and operate as a functioning human as he saw you. The dish slipped out of his hands and smashed against the ground.

You smirked. That had gone even better than you’d expected. “Hmm, that’s an interesting technique. Sure, it saves space but I’m not sure how sustainable it is in the long run.”

Hunter struggled to find his voice. He bent down to gather the broken pieces and throw them away to try to buy himself some recovery time, but it didn’t help. All he could do was stare at you. The red sundress you were wearing complimented you perfectly and it showed off your body to the best degree. You were, to put it mildly, simply stunning and suddenly, his entire operation for this evening didn’t seem that important anymore.

You whistled and waved your hand in an attempt to bring his attention back. “Hey, Hunter, my zip?” With that, you turned around and waited.

Hunter wasn’t sure how he willed his feet to move but he soon found himself behind you.

His knuckles grazed your skin as he slowly brought the zip up your body and attached the small clasp at the top. His jaw was clenched tight as he caught a whiff of the body wash and lotion you had used, and it was getting harder and harder to find the willpower to step away from you. He had a plan. He’d had this plan for weeks yet one look at you in this dress and he was seriously considering throwing it all out the window and to hell with the consequences of it. “You look beautiful.” He said through a deep exhale. Just one more hour. He only had to make it one more hour.

“Thank you.” You said quietly as you too worked on calming yourself.

You turned to face him. “You look pretty good too.” You complimented as you gave him an appraising look up and down– in your attempts to distract him, you’d failed to properly take him in before. He wasn’t quite wearing a suit- it would be too hot for that tonight- but the lightweight formal black button-down shirt and matching black bottoms fit his frame handsomely, and to make himself even more appealing, he had rolled the sleeves up to his forearms. “New one of Lyra’s?” You guessed as you smoothed down the front of your dress.

Hunter nodded. He didn’t offer too much detail because much of what was in his box consisted of proper suits for him and his brothers that he hoped would be useful in the near future.

“Gotta hand it to her, she knows what she’d doing.” You mused before you loosened your shoulders and linked your arm through Hunter’s elbow. “Come on, we’ve got a celebration to get to.”

--

Night had fallen but the area on the colonnade was all lit up by the warm orange glow of a vast number of lanterns. The party was in full swing. Food and drinks were already flowing, and the music was getting many people up and dancing.

A playful wolf-whistle greeted you and Hunter as the two of you entered the scene.

“Damn, I am too good. What a fine-looking couple you two are.”

Evidently, by the cheery and slightly lopsided way Lyra walked over to you, she had been hitting the punch pretty hard already.

“Having a good time?” You asked with a laugh.

“Very! This party is fantastic! Everyone here is so nice! And I got the job!!”

“Lyra, that’s awesome!” You hugged her tightly.

“Congrats.” Hunter offered mildly but sincerely.

“So, better get used to having me around. And that’s just as well cause you’ll need me to des-” She quickly cut herself off. It would appear that alcohol only aided the inability to keep a secret.

“Want a drink?” Hunter asked you swiftly before you could follow up on her comment.

You nodded. “I just gotta talk to Lyra about something.”

Hunter couldn’t very well insist you join him, but he only hoped what you needed to talk about wasn’t close to what would hopefully unfold tonight. He squeezed your hand before he hastily walked towards the drinks stand.

You faced Lyra once more after he was a suitable distance away. “Now, I’m happy for you but also rather irritated with you.”

“Why?” Lyra asked innocently as she brought the cup to her lips to hide her grin.

You didn’t believe her lack of awareness for an instant. “You put those in that case? What were you thinking?” You hissed.

“Why not? You were willing to before everything went to shit. I remembered the design and everything! And you have more options now!”

You shook your head. “I was feeling brave back then, that feeling has since passed.”

Lyra scoffed, “Please, with the way the two of you are, I’m surprised you haven’t done something like that already.”

“You’ve got a retired clone sergeant and a retired ex-Jedi living on a tropical island, things aren’t exactly crazy around here. I’ve lost my bold and brave streak.” You didn’t think she needed to know what had had gone on in the shower and the times before her arrival because that would only aid her argument if you were being perfectly honest.

Lyra merely rolled her eyes. “It’s not a battlefield. It’s a totally great way to switch things up, especially now that you’re in a secure living situation and you would both feel and looking fucking sexy. Plus, I bet you he would drop to his knees and do whatever you wanted if he saw you in one.”

“I will never- hey.” You relaxed quickly and cleared your throat as Hunter rejoined you.

“Did I interrupt something?” Hunter asked with a glance between the two of you as he passed you your drink.

Lyra angled herself towards him. “Hunter, let me ask you a question. If she had certain-”

“You interrupted nothing.” You interjected sharply.

“Um okay.” Hunter didn’t press the matter of whatever it was the two of you were debating. “Come on, the others are over there.” He pointed to where the bulk of the dancing and partying was taking place.

“Just think about it!” Lyra implored.

You glared at her as Hunter led you away.  

Lyra simply grinned and raised her glass in your direction. “Enjoy the party!”

--

The time was drawing near, and Hunter was just confirming with Shep that everything was set for when he got back when Hunter noticed you and Crosshair sitting and chatting, but you were also swaying to the beat of the music. He bade Shep farewell before he approached you.

--

The party was still going full swing and after you had the chance to catch up with Echo, you and Crosshair had retired to a seat on the side to people watch. The two of you sat in comfortable silence as you casually observed the goings on around you. There was a healthy split between the people by the food and drink area and on the dancefloor. Wrecker was enthusiastically dancing with Omega and Lyana and Phee, Tech and Echo were engaged in a pleasant conversation a few metres away and Hunter was chatting to Shep by the bar.

“So, you’re really sure about him?” Crosshair asked, breaking the silence first.

You frowned in utter confusion as you angled your head to face him. “What kind of a question is that?”

Crosshair shrugged. “Just checking.”

“You’re leaving that a bit late down the road are you not?” You were baffled by his sudden interest in the status of your relationship.

“Well, I haven’t been here for all of it. Trust me, I’m for grateful for that than I’m not. You two can be pretty sickening.” He added cheekily.

You rolled your eyes at his true Crosshair mannerisms. “So, is this your bizarre way of being a protective brother?”

“I’m looking out for both of you. He has some pretty annoying habits you know. I’d hate for you to be stuck with him before you fully knew what you were getting into.”

You snorted. “I’m all good, thanks Crosshair.”

Crosshair waited a beat of silence before his voice turned more serious. “Just don’t hurt him, alright? He’s been hurt enough already, we all have, the cycle has to end at some point.”

Your gaze softened. “I won’t ever hurt him.” You squeezed his left hand in reassurance before the two of you went back to relaxed quiet and you saw Hunter making his way towards you.  

The music turned slow and that caused a brief dispersal of the dance floor, which included Wrecker, Lyana and Omega to depart.  

--

Hunter reached you and held out his hand in invitation. “Come on.”

You looked at his extended hand, then at his face to see that he was totally serious. “Since when can you dance?” You asked, completely taken aback.

Hunter, nodded to Crosshair. “Back when we were first getting success as a squad, we thought it would be a way to impress anyone that came into 79s when we had leave from the war.”

You directed your question to both of them. “Did it work?”

Crosshair smirked as he said, “It worked for one of us.”

You laughed as you glanced to Hunter and said with a teasing lilt to your voice, “If you’re that bad at it, I don’t know if I want to.”

Hunter sighed. “Hey, I wasn’t bad, I had options, I just had a bad habit of failing to follow through.”

Crosshair continued to goad him. “Is that how you’re remembering it?”

Hunter’s voice went more defensive than he would’ve liked as he addressed his brother. “What about that red head who kept coming to our table the night we were celebrating the win at Boz Pity. She kept talking to me, remember that?”

“I remember who she left with.” Crosshair replied smugly.

You, having enjoyed watching their brotherly spat, took Hunter’s hand to stop the dispute going any further. “I will say, dance lessons were not really on the teaching agenda for Jedi, especially during the war, I don’t know-”

Hunter pulled you to your feet. “I promise to not let you trip.”

You reluctantly complied. “And if I stand on your toes?”

Hunter just led you to where the other people were dancing. “I won’t even react. And it’s slow music, I doubt you could inflict much damage.”

“You underestimate me.” You mumbled nervously.

--

“You’re too tense.” Hunter observed as he watched the way your eyes were fixed firmly on the ground.

“This is how your feet will continue to have feeling.” You grunted as you kept an intense focus on your movements. Even though the two of you were mostly slowly moving in beat to the soft music, your grip on his hand was tight and the one on his shoulder was digging into him.

Hunter released a low chuckle. “Here. Try this.” He adjusted the stance, so your arms were around the back of his neck and his coiled around your waist, so the front of your body was close to his. Now, the two of you pretty much stayed put and just enjoying the moment of being in each other’s company.

“I find it hard to believe you never followed through.” You uttered in quiet disbelief. The two of you weren’t moving from your spot all that much but the secure way he held you and the aura of calm confidence he projected was making it hard to think straight.

“It never felt right.”  

You hummed out a pleased sigh as you placed your head in the crook of his neck.

“I guess I was just waiting for you.” Hunter added softly as he rested his head against yours.

You removed your head from the crook of his neck, and you saw the heartfelt meaning behind his eyes. You leaned up to kiss him and for a minute, the entire buzz of the party faded away and it was just you and him sharing in a loving moment together.

As music the music came to a stop, Hunter whispered in your ear, “Want to get outta here?”

You nodded silently and intertwined his hand in yours.

Hunter took a deep breath as he led you away.

Ten minutes left.

--

The rest of them had gathered to watch the two of you leave.

“Let’s go!” Omega gasped eagerly.

“Hold on, kid.” Echo caught her arm as she went to dash after them. “Five-minute head start, remember?”

“Right, right.” Omega agreed as she recalled the particular details of the plan.

“Technically, only Echo should be the one going.” Tech reminded.

“Yeah, Tech, I don’t really think that was ever going to happen.” Echo replied simply.

“Damn right! We’re all getting to see this!” Wrecker argued.

Echo raised his eyebrows in Tech’s direction. “See. And you were never going to stay because you kept talking about recording it anyway.” He pointed out.

“My phrase was merely pointing out that we are all ignoring a part of the plan Hunter quite specifically told the rest of us not to get involved with.” Tech responded.

“We’re not big on following orders.” Omega said with a shrug.

“If you’re all done debating what is a pointless argument because we were all always going to watch, it’s time to go.” Crosshair drawled.

--

“Uh, Hunter, home is that way?” You pointed in the direction he was currently walking in the opposite direction of.

“How about a beach walk first?” Hunter offered.

You gave him a surprised smile but nodded your agreement.

--

It didn’t matter how much reassurance he’d received in the recent weeks that you would say yes. His heart was damn near pounding out his chest the closer the two of you got to the sight and his mind started to spiral. What if you said no? What if you hated the very idea? He should’ve spoken to you about this first but wait, there was something to be said for knowing when it felt right wasn’t there? But maybe he should’ve-

“Your palm is sweaty.” You stopped and got him to face you. “And it’s not just cause of that that I can tell that you’re nervous.”

Great, so much careful planning and keeping you away from people that were far too eager to give you hints and his own usually steady nerves were about to give it all away. He had done everything right so far yet now he was a sweaty mess.

“Hunter, is everything okay?”

“Everything-” Dammit his voice came out all cracked. He cleared his throat and started again. “Everything is fine, I promise.” He started to guide you again. “If you just follow me a little bit further…”

“Follow you to what? Why are you being so…” Your voice trailed off and released an awed gasp as you saw the scene ahead of you. A small section of the beach was set up with a canopy and illuminated in a warm glow by strings of lights and a short carpet led the way inside. “What occasion have I forgotten and how quickly can I make it up to you?” You said as you started to panic.

Hunter was quick to reassure you. “You haven’t forgotten anything, and I think we stopped keeping track of things like that a long time ago.”

“Well, aren’t we the romantic pair.” You said dryly as you looked on in wonder at the fairy lights around you before the two of you came to a stop at the end of the walkway and stood in front of a  

“I think we do alright.” Right on queue, the puck began to play the video Tech had put together, courtesy of Hunter’s guidance.

Your throat clogged with emotion at the display in front of you. The montage was starting right from the moment you had made yourself known to the squad and to when you’d first met Hunter and it was clear something transpired between the two of you. Something that you both would dismiss or shove away for a long time.

Hunter heard the footsteps and there were more than what he had ordered. “I’ll be right back.” He kissed your temple. “Keep watching.” He instructed as he saw you getting ready to question what was going on.

You couldn’t understand why he was leaving but you couldn’t tear your eyes away from the images. It seemed it was progressing to show a mix of how your relationship had transpired over the years. From every emotionally charged yet pushed aside moment, to every squabble and every time the rest of the team trapped the two of you somewhere to talk as well as the infuriating times each of them attempted to convince either of you to do something about your feelings. It showed the highs and lows of everything that had happened since Kaller too and it reminded you of just how much you’d all endured and survived.

It was a strange thing to watch, to see how obvious your feelings were yet you knew you’d waited so long before acting on them. It was so evident that the two of you were always drawn together and it would always be that way, the love radiated through, and it was something that had continued to this day.

--

“You’re not supposed to be here.” Hunter hissed as he herded his brothers and Omega behind some rocks. Keeping this secret was hard enough and he was almost there but the appearance of his supportive and rather determined family might be the final thing that gave everything away before he had the chance to even ask you yet.

“But Echo was always allowed to-” Omega started to protest quietly.

“I needed him here.” Hunter couldn’t risk receiving this item until the last minute since he wasn’t sure he’d be able to hide it well enough from you and the last thing he wanted was you to find it accidentally before he had the chance to do things how he wanted.

“Here it is.” Echo handed said item over to him.

“Thank you.” Hunter said appreciatively as he took the small velvet encased box. “But how hard did you try telling this lot not to come down?”

“Eh, not very.” Echo admitted simply. “Come on, Hunter. We all wanted to be here to watch this.”

Hunter did know that, and he wasn’t truly upset, he actually really appreciated everything they’d all helped with. “Alright, alright. Just keep quiet, please?”

Everyone nodded.

Hunter knew they were never going to follow that, but he didn’t have time to push the matter.

“Better get going. By my calculations, the video should be finishing in the next minute.” Tech informed him.

--

The video came to an end, and you couldn’t believe Hunter missed sharing this with you. You sensed him approach but as you turned to question why he’d left, your breath caught in your throat, and you forgot how to form words as you saw him down on one knee and presenting a ring to you.

--

Hunter had rehearsed this so many times, yet his adrenaline was pumping like crazy, but he was determined to see this through to its proper end. He wasn’t about to ruin it because he got jittery. He took a deep, grounding breath before he started to speak. He kept his voice low and though he spoke quietly, he filled each word with intense and sincere meaning.

“I spent so much of the war doing what was asked of me. Winning each battle, completing each mission and that was easy for me, it was comfortable, I knew what I was doing, what my responsibilities were but I was also running on autopilot. I kept moving, doing what needed to be done, it was a routine that I didn’t see myself really breaking f-from. Un-”

He paused to settle his own emotions that rising in his chest and throat. “Until you. You came into my life, and I’d never known I’d been living in a galaxy of grey until I met you and you, with your fire and your strength, brought the colour I’d been missing. You could probably tell from that holo, but everything changed that day and I’ve never been more grateful for it. I knew from the second we met on Devaron that I was hooked. I was yours and I never wanted you to leave. I love you.” He said fiercely. “I love all of you. I love your kindness. I love your mind. I love your courage. I even love your stubbornness, no matter how much stress it causes me. I love how, no matter what, you don’t stop fighting. I love having you by my side, even if you’re arguing with me. I love how you’re always ready to face whatever is sent your way, unless it’s a spider and then you’re more than happy to surrender the room.” He added, the corner of his mouth twitching to hide his teasing grin before he carried on, “I love how you are with Omega. I love how well you fit in with my brothers. I love you in a way I’d never seen myself capable of, yet you make it so easy to do. We’ve been through so much; I’ve nearly lost you more times than I care to count but it also told me something…”

He allowed himself a second to breathe before he went into the final part, “I want it all with you. I know we’ve already got the home, the kid and the dog, and you’ve got the crazy in-laws.” He smiled as you let out a choked but genuine laugh at that. “I want to take the final step with you which is why I’m down on one knee and asking you this question...” He inhaled as he finally asked, “Will you marry me?” He finished and waited anxiously. He really hoped the silent tears running down your face were happy ones.

--

“Wrecker, get in the back, I need to record this, and I cannot see past you.” Tech demanded in a hushed whisper as the four of them watched from behind a cluster of rocks.

“Did she say yes? I can’t hear anything.” Wrecker asked, his voice rising slightly in distress. He didn’t want to miss any of this.

Crosshair spoke up next, “I see tears so it could go either way.”

Omega slapped his arm. “I’m sure they’re happy tears.” 

“Here’s an idea… why don’t we wait to see it all play out first before we start talking about it?” Echo suggested sensibly.

--

His family were quite possibly the least subtle people on the planet. Hunter still hadn’t heard your answer yet, but he could hear them no problem. He waved a hand behind him to signal at them to shut up.

A happy sob mixed with laughter echoed from your lips as you looked past him saw the group of people further down the beach keenly looking on.

You brought your eyes back to Hunter. You had so many things you wanted to say, so many affirmations you wanted to give yet the first dumb thing that left your mouth was an answer in the form of a question, “Are you sure?”

Hunter chuckled as he placed the ring on your finger, the stones dazzling under the moon and fairy light.  “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

You flexed your hand as you admired the stunning ring. The design of the silver band was simple with a white round cluster diamond in the centre but what really got to you was the two smaller blue diamonds on either side of it. Their shade was exactly like that of your old lightsaber. Your words left you in a frantic state of joy. “It’s beautiful- You got- how- I mean-” You couldn’t find the words. Instead, you just fell to your knees in front of him and kissed him fervently. I love you; I love you; I love you.

Hunter cradled your face in his hands as he pulled away for a short moment to respond, “I love you too.”

Feeling a bit more collected, you pressed your forehead against his. And I meant to say that I am yours too. I may not have realised it then, but I was yours on Devaron. I saw you, spoke to you and I’d never experienced a feeling like that before. I’d spent so much time doubting if I’d made the right choice by leaving the Order, if I was wrong for believing what I did, but then I met this squad. You retreated a couple inches to look Hunter directly in his brown eyes which were filled with emotion, and you added even more devotion to your tone. And I met you and suddenly I finally realised what I’d been missing. So, yes. Yes, I would love to marry you.

Hunter grinned adoringly at you before he kissed you again. Both of you smiling hard as you kissed one another in short, passionate bursts.

A series of whoops and gleeful cries interrupted your moment and the two of you got to your feet just as Wrecker bounded over and picked the two of you up, squeezing tightly.

“Congratulations!!” Wrecker bellowed as he put you down again.

“I’m so happy for you!” Omega cried as she and Batcher went next. She wrapped her arms around both your waists and the dog took turns jumping up on the two of you. “Let me see the ring!” Omega requested enthusiastically as she pulled away from you both. “Ah it’s so pretty!”

“About time.” Echo said kindly with Crosshair nodding in agreement.  

“Indeed.” Tech concurred as he too smiled at you both.

“You all knew?” You asked as you wiped away a few remaining tears with your uncaptured hand.

“You think Hunter could pull this off by himself?” Crosshair said with a mocking scoff in his brother’s direction, but he gave you both a genuine and pleased smile.

“Look, I had the ideas and I just needed help with the logistics of everything.” Hunter still felt the need to clarify.

“So, all of this…” You trailed off and gestured to the stunning set up that had been arranged.

“Yeah, they all helped me out.” Hunter told you. “And it wasn’t like I’d be able to keep it from them anyway.”

“All of you helped?” You repeated again. What had you done to deserve finding such a perfect family?

“I obviously put together the video and I was recording this moment.” Tech stated, adjusting his goggles. “It’s just as well I back everything up or the Marauder getting destroyed would’ve proven to be more problematic than it already was.”

“And Omega and I set this up!” Wrecker boasted proudly.

“And I helped with the ring.” Echo said. “Hunter laid out the design and I knew a guy who knew a guy who owed him a favour.”

“And you?” You asked Crosshair with a smile.

Crosshair feigned an aggrieved sigh.

“You were too late in claiming the set-up job.” Tech recalled. “And Echo and I had very clear responsibilities, you were just too slow.”

“Yes, Crosshair, unfortunately, had the worst job out of all of them.” Hunter revealed.

“Oh?” You regarded Crosshair curiously.

“I had to listen to him panic over and over again about every single detail and doubt in his head over this whole thing. Didn’t matter that we all knew you were going to say yes, he was a nervous wreck. It was up to me to keep him sane.”  Crosshair told you. He truly hadn’t minded, and it had offered more opportunities for him to hone his skills since he was a hand down.

You looked at the man who was usually so put together and who had never let even the most daunting of chaotic war battles phase him. “Seriously?”

Hunter nodded and awkwardly rubbed his hand along the side of his neck. “Yeah, he was the one I needed to knock some sense into me, sometimes literally I might add.” He said with a pointed look in Crosshair’s direction.  

“That way worked the best.” Crosshair said with a nonchalant shrug.

Hunter turned to you again, “And it still wasn’t enough. Believe it or not, I didn’t want to start sweating beforehand.”

You laughed before you addressed all of them. “Thank you. All of you. This was absolutely perfect! I’m so grateful!”

Another group hugged happened before Wrecker and Omega excitedly bounced on soles of their feet.

“Come on, the party’s just getting started!” Wrecker urged.

“Wait, I thought-” You broke off and looked to Hunter.

Hunter gave you a knowing grin. “You didn’t think the people of Pabu were going to let this go uncelebrated, did you?”

You inhaled sharply. “This party…”

“Is also serving as a congratulations on getting engaged.” Tech confirmed as he walked past you. “Hunter and Shep thought the whole thing through.”

“It’s a good thing you said yes or that would’ve been really awkward.” Echo commented with a smile as he too headed back up.

Well, that explained why Hunter was so dismissive of the change in attitudes the two of you had received in recent times as well as his caginess towards certain phrases or questions you asked. And Lyra’s sudden appearance as well as her ‘gifts’ checked out a bit more too. You stared at Hunter, incredibly impressed. “You somehow managed to plan this entire thing and I had no idea?”

Hunter nodded. “A lot of kind people live around us, but the price of their assistance was that they’re terrible at secret keeping and also made my life a living hell.” Hunter kidded before he kissed you once more and led you back the way you came, the delightful cold metal of your ring pressing against his fingers.

--

The walk back up to the colonnade was filled with cheers and celebratory whistles as the two of you reappeared. Much of the party remained the same except now a huge congratulations banner was on display.

Shep came over to you and hugged you. “Congratulations!”

“Thank you, Shep. For all of it. This is amazing!” You returned his warm embrace.

Shep parted and shook Hunter’s hand. “Everything go well?”

“Very. Thank you for all your help. I couldn’t have done it without you.” Hunter said gratefully.

“I’m just glad you finally did it. We were all losing hope that it wasn’t going to happen.”

“They were?” You nudged Hunter’s shoulder playfully.

“After we recovered from Tantiss, I was apparently still moving too slowly.” Hunter said lightly.

“We need not dwell on such things now. Please, enjoy the celebrations!” Shep waved goodbye as he went to make the rounds once more.

“Incoming.” Hunter warned you.

“What-” You were nearly tackled by the woman who had clattered into your side.

“About damn time!”

 “That seems to be the general consensus.” You said as you steadied yourself against Lyra’s eager hug.

“Let me see!” Lyra took your hand and gasped in admiration. “Oh, it’s gorgeous!” She then looked to Hunter. “You did good, well done!” She swivelled her attention back to you. “And you! You are going to get the best wedding dress ever! I have so many designs in mind already!”

“Can’t wait for that.” You said and you meant it but that didn’t stop the wary laugh you emitted either.

“My drink is empty, but we will talk more!” With that, she hurried away.

“I’m never going to be able to keep up with her on anything.” You commented as you watched her go, a soft smile on your face.

“Rather you than me. I’m all set.” Hunter said smugly.

Your response was interrupted by an approaching Rodian.

“Courtesy of Phee.”

You and Hunter took the cocktails from the tray the rather timid new island resident offered and looked into each other’s eyes as you clinked glasses. The two of you too caught up in the bliss of the moment to notice that your cinnamon sugar-rimmed glass had tracings of a white powder mixed in amongst it.

--

The next morning

To say you felt like hell would be an understatement. You awakened with a deep groan and rolled over onto your front.

Hunter woke up to the sound and saw that you were awake, but you were face down in your pillow. “And how are you feeling this morning?” He quipped.

You groaned again. “I am going to say this with all the love I can possibly muster… fuck off.” The threat lost some weight since your voice was muffled by the presence of the pillow.

“I didn’t think Jedi could get hungover.” Hunter said, a teasing lilt to his voice.

“Yes well, I was always making waves one way or another and here is another prime example of that. How many of those damn Phee cocktails did I drink?”

“I only saw you drink one, but the party ran late, and we weren’t together the entire time, but you were with Lyra a bunch, so I figured you were going her pace. You were pretty out of it when we were heading home, you fell asleep instantly.”

The entire evening post that one cocktail was a total blur, so you just had to accept that. The deep pain and nausea you were experiencing just had to be the effects of a first and truly awful hangover. “I’m so sorry. I really didn’t plan on that at all.”

Hunter shushed your unnecessarily apology and placed light kisses along your shoulders and down your spine. “What do you need?”

“A lobotomy and a new stomach.” You grunted.

“Naturally… and if I can’t get that arranged?”

You angled your head to face him and rubbed your thumb along his cheek affectionately. “I just need a few hours alone to sleep it off, I’ll be okay.”

Hunter got out of bed and quietly got dressed. “I’ll see what I can find to help. I’ll be back in an hour.” He lightly squeezed your shoulder

You watched him leave and let that concern you’d been feeling take hold. You felt absolutely exhausted and though you’d never been hungover before, something about this felt different but you couldn’t think of what or why that would be.

You pushed it to the back of your mind for now and focused on sleeping and feeling better. You had a future to plan, you weren’t about to let this throw a wrench in things.

--

Hunter had been waylaid by more people who he didn’t have the time to both thank and accept their congratulations from so he was later than he’d told you but the minute he entered the house, he knew something was wrong and it wasn’t because he was late.

That was when he heard the sounds of someone- well it would only be you- graphically vomiting. He dumped the supplies he’d gathered and hustled to the open refresher door where you were hunched over the toilet.

“Sweetheart, how long have you been like this?” Hunter asked, his concern evident as he rushed in and took over holding your hair just as you finished throwing up.

“Uh, when did you leave?” You rasped through sore, heavy breaths as you righted yourself but still remained slouched against small gap between the toilet and the shower.

“An hour and a half ago.” Hunter said quietly as he sat down next to you and stroked your knee in a soft, consoling gesture.

“Oh good, I got to sleep for thirty minutes.” You said wryly through gritted teeth. “Then I guess it’s been pretty much every ten minutes.”

Hunter got to his feet and ran a washcloth under some cold water for you before he dabbed it against your clammy forehead and the back of your neck. “You should get back to bed.” He said tenderly.

“I tried earlier but leaving the bathroom floor isn’t an opti-” You stopped short before you held your head over the toilet bowl and the whole process began again. “Any time you want to take this off, say the word.” You mumbled as you pitifully waved your left hand in Hunter’s direction before another ugly wretch sounded from you and your body heaved as somehow more vomit left your system.

“Enough of that.” Hunter soothed as he gathered your hair again. “I think we need to go see Dalia.”

You managed to shake your head just as the last of your stomach contents dispensed from your system. She was someone people go to with an actual injury or medical problem and this was certainly not that. This was just you not being able to handle your alcohol... it had to be.   

“Then how about Tech?” Hunter compromised quietly as he rubbed delicate circles on your back.

You resisted the urge to wince at the action that usual would bring you comfort but instead was only sharpening the thankfully now dulling ache in your limbs. “No, no. I’m-” You sat back once more and shakily got to your feet. “I think I just hurled my entire insides out which seems to have helped.” You accepted the water from him, and you had to make a conscious effort to drink slowly since your parched and sore throat welcomed the cool liquid. The nausea and general bodily pain were less, and you didn’t want to make a fuss, especially after all that had been done for you the night before. “I’m feeling better.” You said but as you went to step out the refresher, you immediately became lightheaded and swayed violently on your feet.

“Sweetheart, please.” Hunter implored as he caught your shoulders. He’d seen hangovers but this seemed more serious than your typical post drinking consequences and it was worrying him.

“Okay, we can start with Tech.” You conceded as the room finally came back into focus.

“I’ll comm him.”

“No, I want to walk. I don’t think being cooped up is doing me any favours.” You said as firmly as you could convey.

Even in your weakened state, Hunter could tell that was a point he wasn’t going to win an argument on. He gently placed his arm around you as you gingerly made your way to the door.

--

From afar, the Rodian and Twilek watched through macrobinoculars as their target left her home with her joined up with the rest of the clones.

“How is she out and about?” The rodian remarked in astonishment.

The twilek sighed in aggravation. “Remember what the boss said, she’s a fighter and she’s strong. You clearly got the dose wrong. She’s able to be out here cause she had to have thrown it all up.”

“But the boss also wants her alive, I gave the amount I was sure would leave her vulnerable but wouldn’t kill her.”

“Well, we can’t take her whilst she’s surrounded by that group anyway, and even if we get her alone, she needs to be fully incapacitated for us to even have a shot...”

“What are you saying?” The rodian asked nervously. He’d never been as sure or as excited about this job as his twilek partner was, but the money was too good to pass up. But there was a new kind of sociopathic gleam in the twilek’s eyes that unnerved him.

“I’m saying we up the dose until her body can’t fight it.” Life here was slow and the satisfaction he’d glean from watching you and the people around you hopelessly attempt to figure out and fight what was wrong with you was an opportunity too tempting to ignore.

To the rodian, that sounded awfully risky. Both for them and their target. This stuff was extremely lethal even in a small amount. Plus, the longer they lingered, the higher the chance that they’d be discovered. And he knew his poisons- this one was one of his own inventions too- which was how he also knew it was particularly volatile when given in large quantities. The build-up of symptoms was designed to make the recipient so agonised and weakened that they’d wish for a death that would never arrive but that was when administered at regular intervals of the same low quantity– death didn’t have to be the end result, the torture was what one would buy this poison for. But, if they went with this strategy, every deadly symptom would hit you all at once and he knew you’d never survive that which wasn’t useful to their specific remit. However, the twilek had been put in charge and he wasn’t someone he wanted to be on the bad side of. “The boss won’t be happy…”

The twilek dismissed that without skipping a beat, “So, we won’t tell her yet. We just need to get the Jedi to the boss alive for the premium cut of the deal. After that, who the hell cares how she ends up.”  His voice wavered in an attempt to stay level-headed with the rodian. This whole poisoning method was so tiresome- he much preferred a straight fight- but they’d been warned off that with this whole squad. Hence why he was stuck with this jittery rodian who had gotten into this line of work through offering his services and using his skills as an apothecary for what sensitive people would deem immoral uses and gains. But even he had to admit, a Jedi was easier to apprehend if they couldn’t fight back and everyone here was so stupidly trusting, it made getting access to you almost too easy. The trickiest and most time-consuming part would be getting you alone but from their brief, he knew that time would arrive sooner or later, he just needed to be patient.

--

3 weeks later

You finished dry-heaving and risked a glance in the mirror above the sink as you slowly went upright as it became clear nothing was coming up. You regretted that decision immediately.

You barely recognised the person staring back at you.

Your clothes stuck to you uncomfortably. The fever was a new addition as of last week and your hair was slick with sweat, and you wiped away the drops slowly sliding down your temples.

Your face was sunken and devoid of all life.

Dark circles were under your eyes, so dark that they could’ve been mistaken for bruises. There was no light behind them at all, no sign of that lively spark that had once been a constant part of you.

It was as if all your fire and vibrancy had evaporated.

You looked like a shell of a human being.

To top it all off, you noticed spots of blood at the corners of your mouth and in the saliva that you’d hacked up, but you put that down to the strain your throat had been put through. Cleaning up, you took one last strengthening breath but even that was proving to be more effort than you’d expected. You then heard a quiet knock on the other side of the door

You opened the refresher door to see Hunter standing waiting with his now standard worried expression on his face and your flask of water. He’d stopped offering you food in the early stages when it became clear you couldn’t hold it down and even water appeared to be a struggle.

You rejoined the group of people in the living room who were all here to supposedly help you plan the ceremony but all you got was the sea of nervous and concerned expressions from your squad- and that included Echo who had planned to leave once you were feeling better, but that day was yet to arrive- and Dalia. “I’m fine.” You exhaled wearily as you sat down. You thought just flinging yourself into what should’ve been a good distraction would aid in your recovery but, aside from the reduction in vomiting, things weren’t looking that much improved. In fact, you’d probably admit they’d gotten worse. You realised there were two faces missing. “Where are Shep and Lyra?” You asked, your voice strained and hoarse. You rubbed your arms because, despite the humid day, you felt goosebumps rise on your skin.

Wrecker placed a blanket around your shoulders.

“They didn’t think discussing flower arrangements was a smart use of your energy.” Crosshair remarked in a clipped tone, but it came from a place of care. He, like the rest of them, was growing more and more disturbed as your condition continued to deplete.

You lacked the gumption to argue with him so instead you just nodded in acknowledgement that you’d heard him.

Hunter noted you still hadn’t drunk from the water he’d handed you. He tapped the cup to prompt you to do so. “If you would just lie down...”

You did it for him but even water tasted wrong as it went down your throat and it really didn’t sit well. “Remember that stubbornness you love?” You said through a grimace. Plus, sleep pretty much eluded you these days.

“This is one of those times where it drives me crazy.” Hunter muttered fretfully.

“If I just sit around, I’ll go insane. I-” You lost energy halfway through your attempted to explain your reasoning. Instead, you readied yourself for the medical questions from Tech and Dalia- the town healer- that were sure to come your way now.

“Your fever is getting worse.” Tech observed as he took your vitals.

“Bacta won’t do you any good anymore. You’re just burning it off.” Dalia said as she confirmed Tech’s words.

“And I checked with AZ, his recent round of tests came up with nothing.” Omega said defeatedly, patting Batcher in an attempt to quell her worries.

“So, what else can you do?” Hunter asked Dalia and Tech anxiously. It really felt like they were running out of options. He saw you hunch over in pain, and he didn’t need to touch you to feel the heat radiating off you. He instinctively reached out to offer you some semblance of physical comfort, but he knew that hurt you now, so he stopped himself.

Tech started first, “We can test for-”

You straightened up and once the room stopped spinning, put on a brave face. “Look, we ruled everything out. It’s just stress, Tech. Besides, I’m not even throwing up anymore, it’s just dry heaving so that’s progress.” You said, attempting for levity but you were too exhausted to convey it.

“I’ve seen you stressed; your symptoms were not of this format nor this severe.”

“So, it’s a different type of stress.” You said tiredly as you forced yourself to stay upright.

“And your pain?” Dalia asked as she took examined you as best she could in this particular circumstance. Your medical case was infuriating, one because she liked you and hated seeing you in this state, and two, because she hated not knowing how to help you. Everything she had attempted had proven useless. She knew your ailments but had no idea what was causing them. Your pain wasn’t localised, and no pain killers were working. All she knew for sure was that you were incredibly dehydrated and sleep-deprived, your entire body ached, you couldn’t stomach anything, and you had a fever that was reaching near dangerous levels. How you still functioning had to be due to your special abilities, but it was also a testament to your sheer strength and force of will.

The pain was getting harder and harder to ignore. “Well…” You nervously fidgeted with your ring.

“It’s worse?” Dalia and Hunter said together in the same troubled tone.

“Let’s just say the sedatives you’ve given me to sleep are losing their effectiveness.” You mumbled.

“I can give you a stronger dose.” Dalia offered. It wasn’t a suggestion she liked giving but she was running out of ideas.

“I’m not spending my time half awake and barely alive.” The irony of the comment given your present condition was not lost on you though. “I still get a few hours with what you’ve already provided. It’ll do.” Although, saying you got even a few hours was also a generous statement.  

“You can’t be serious.” Echo couldn’t help but protest, voice rising in concern. “A few hours aren’t enough to-”

“Echo…” Hunter warned. He’d already gone down this path with you and it was something you’d never budge on.

Dalia heaved a sigh as she finished up and took a fresh blood sample for comparison to previous ones. She readied to leave. “Look, me being here throwing useless suggestions your way isn’t helping either. Best I can advise is slow down. I’m going to run through your labs again.” With that, Dalia got to her feet and headed for the door.

“Thanks for coming by.” You said to her, your voice heavy with effort it took to sound somewhat normal.

“For the record, that was not convincing.” Crosshair told you as he took your water canteen to refill it since Hunter was seeing Dalia out. “Why didn’t you take the damn sedatives?”

“If Hunter can’t even get me to do that, what makes you think you can?” You pointed out as you curled in on yourself. You also knew they truly wouldn’t make a difference.

You were growing more and more aware of the reality of your situation, and it wasn’t anything that could be prevented.

--

Hunter caught Dalia’s arm just before she exited. “Dalia, she physically can’t go on like this for much longer. And it’s not just because she’s refusing to ease up. There are days where I can convince her to just stay in bed, but it’s not helping.” He whispered, doing his best to keep his voice level as his worries threatened to overcome him.

“Hunter, I’m sorry. I’m looking into everything, I promise.” Dalia said in a quiet voice. “Tech and I even checked for poisons, but nothing came up. But I’m not going to stop, I swear it.”

Hunter sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know, Dalia. Thank you.” Hunter said sincerely before he shut the door and took a calming breath as he turned around and filled him with both sadness but gratitude. All of them were doing what they could do support you.

He watched as Wrecker and Omega delicately fussed with your blanket, Tech continued to study furiously on his datapad for anything that might correlate to what was causing your illness, and even Crosshair was making sure you were drinking water regularly. But then, he saw that recognisable look in your eyes, and he saw Echo help you to your feet before you staggered to the refresher, and he exhaled shakily as he got control over his own deep anxieties over your condition.

He followed you to the refresher again, ignoring the fretful looks his family were sending both his and each other’s way.

--

You hadn’t managed to lock him out this time, so he was able to enter, shut the door and collect the hair falling forward around your face. Every miserable effort your body put you through in an attempt to rid you of whatever it was that was causing this sickness only exacerbated the strain on your worn out and frail form. He kept trying to not fixate on it because they were all working on figuring this out and he had to believe that someone would find something… because he knew you were running out of time.

You finished up and exhaled a shuddering breath, “It hurts, Hunter. Everything just hurts.” You admitted, your voice racked with agony. You only wanted it to stop. You needed it to stop.

Hunter’s chest tightened. “We’re going to find out what this is.” He promised. He reached for you but hesitated.

The need to be held by him overpowered the subsequent discomfort and you folded into his embrace and let the silent defeated tears finally fall.

--

“I really hate this, you know.” Hunter griped worriedly as he got ready to leave you at the door and spend the night with his brother’s and Omega. Somehow him saying you needed to get to sleep had turned into you sleeping here by yourself. Despite the fact that they’d all wanted to spend the night here; you’d gotten them to agree to leave you alone. How you’d managed to do that, he had absolutely no idea.

You knew he did but with all your tossing and turning in your feverish delirium, he wasn’t getting much rest either and you hated that more than you hated your own sickness. You raised your hand, your arm feeling unnaturally heavy, and placed it on his chest to quell his fears but even that simple action sent a sharp pain through your limbs.

Hunter noticed your efforts to conceal your discomfort and what you’d said in the refresher was still plaguing his head. How could you expect him to leave you like this. “Please let me stay, I really don’t mind-”

“Hunter, you haven’t had a solid night’s sleep since the night of the party. There’s no sense in us both suffering here.” You just about managed to give him a smile of reassurance. “It’s just one night and you’re only a few houses down. If I need anything, I’ll get you on the comm, I promise.”

“I won’t sleep any better away from you. I-”

“But here you have no choice. I need to know you at least had the option.” You insisted as you fought against the urge to slump into his arms. Your entire body felt like lead.

“But-”

“I’ll see you in the morning.” You said with finality before your voice softened. “I’m only asking you do this for one night. Just one night where I don’t have to worry about you.”

“Worry about me?” Hunter repeated with combined fondness and exasperation. At least that sounded more like you. “Sweetheart, the only person that anyone needs to worry about is you and that should include you.”

“What if I promise to spend all my time tonight worrying only about myself?” You offered, a hint of your old spark coming through before it was squashed by another bout of pain settling in your muscles. Your jaw clenched in an attempt to keep your groan contained. You thumb fiddled with your ring in an attempt to distract yourself.

Hunter picked up on that too but not wanting to put you under the strain of further deliberation, released a long, drawn-out breath and managed a stiff and reluctant nod of consent to this idea.

“Thank you.” You whispered. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Hunter replied as he caressed your fingertips with his own. It was the closest to an affection gesture that he could offer you now.

“Batcher is going to stay with you.” Omega said with a slightly nervous smile as she patted the hound farewell. “Just in case.” She knelt down in front of the dog and stroked the underside of her chin. “Look after her, Batcher.”

Batcher gave her an affirmative bark in reply before she came and sat by your side.

“Thanks kid.” You waved as she and the others departed but Hunter still lingered. “Go.” You ordered with a half-smile.

With one final look in your direction, Hunter finally forced himself to leave.

You shut the door and braced your forehead against it as a fresh wave of dizziness and pain coursed through your body. You felt a wet nose nuzzle against your hand with a quiet whine. You opened your eyes to see Batcher looking up at you with an intense, concerned stare. “I’m alright, girl.” You winced as you pushed yourself away. You were employing the strategy that if you told yourself that enough times, maybe one day it would prove to be true.

You debated the effort of going all the way to your bed, but your body gave up halfway there, so you decided on the convenience of the couch, Batcher curled up on the floor beside you.

--

Hours had passed. You weren’t sleeping but you were working on attempting to trick your body into thinking it could by keeping your eyes shut.

The sound of barking caused you to finally give up and open them which you did, and you were greeted by the sight of Batcher snarling at the dark shape looming over you and watched as it reacted quickly to the attacking hound and the stun blast took Batcher out before she had the chance to inflict any damage.

To say you reacted sluggishly would be an understatement. You could barely will your body to move out of the way of the threat. Your eyes finally quickly adjusted, you realised it was a male twilek and he was currently sticking a need filled with a clear liquid into your thigh.

You finally slapped his hand away but not before the needle pierced your skin.

You shot to your feet, stumbling slightly as you recovered from the head rush that hit you as a result.

You immediately felt faint.

A fresh wave of intense pain tore its way through your body and the nausea and overall weakness that overwhelmed you was scarily familiar.

It was then you realised what he’d just infected you with was in fact the source your sickness. But what you couldn’t understand was how it didn’t show up on any of the scans and tests you’d undertaken. Even though at the time you’d thought it rather unnecessary, you had been checked multiple times for poisons in your blood, yet this got missed and that was deeply concerning in its own right.

The other concern was, judging by how feeble and breathless you became, this was finally the one that your body couldn’t fight against, and you didn’t know how much longer you could hold out. If you could just get to your comm…

“You’ve got a very protective group. I thought they’d never leave. Thank you for finally sending them away.” The twilek said, utterly unphased by being discovered. He stalked around the couch and placed himself between you and the front door.  

“How did you get-” You then remembered the open window in your bedroom.

“It’s funny how little people care about the security of their homes and personal effects here. You were basically inviting all of this.” He twirled his blaster with arrogant nonchalance. He saw the way you were clutching your side like you could brace yourself against the pain coursing through your veins and your knees buckled but you caught yourself against the coffee table the move seeing the cup of water fall to the ground, cracking with the impact. “Now, let me see, I’ve been hearing enough about how this poison works to remember some of the effects. Let me guess…” He tapped the tip of his blaster against his chin as he listed them off as you pitifully worked on getting to your feet, “Constant nausea, insomnia, fever, dizzy spells and extreme bodily pain. None of which standard medical can defeat. I’m sure I missed some but those are definitely the highlights. Does that sound about right?”  He taunted.

You forced yourself to stand tall. Your eyes darted to your comm link on the kitchen counter.

“I wouldn’t…” The twilek warned in irritation as he stalked towards you.

You didn’t listen. You channelled whatever energy you had left and landed kick to his stomach- the action causing you more pain than it did him- and made a dash towards it.

Just as you grabbed it, you felt a brutally take hold of the back of your neck and smack your head against the edge of the counter. Blood poured from the fresh cut on your forehead, and you collapsed to the floor with a pained cry and cups and plates came smashing to the ground around you.

You shook away the black spots encroaching on your vision and attempted to crawl along the floor to your discarded comm device, sharp pieces of debris cutting into your palms, your body screaming in agony with the effort.

“I gotta give you credit.” He picked at his cuticles. “You lasted longer than I thought you would but I’m sick of this place so if you don’t mind, I’m going to speed this along.”

You felt a knee on your back and the butt of a blaster smack against your temple, turning your world black.

--

“Did you have to beat her like that? The poison has clearly been working. One stun blast and she’d be done.” The rodian chastised as he saw the twilek unceremoniously dump your freshly bruised body on the floor of the ship. He swivelled in the pilot’s chair and turned the ship on.

“The bitch still put up a fight. Besides, you had your fun with your little concoction. I needed mine. Now, hold on, we’re not leaving just yet.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Give me two minutes.” With that, the twilek took off the engagement ring and departed the ship.

“You didn’t use that final vial, did you?” The rodian called after him but he got no answer.

--

The following morning

Hunter roused from his restless slumber. It had been a mildly better night but not one he’d be looking to repeat.

He tidied his section of the floor he’d been given- it was a tight squeeze with all six of them here- and put away his sleep mat and spoke to his family who were all gathered in the kitchen, nursing cups of caf. “I’m heading back to check on her.”

“We’ll join you momentarily.” Tech said, his sights fixed firmly on his datapad.

Hunter nodded but as he opened the door, his blood ran cold as he saw what was on the doorstep. He kneeled down to pick it up and a new type of panic sat heavy in his chest.

“Hunter?” Echo had been the one to call over, but they’d all noticed the change in his posture.

Hunter’s head snapped in the direction of the sound of frantic, worried barks and he saw Batcher come sprinting around the corner. He started running, the rest of his squad following close behind.

--

The front room set the scene for Hunter in brief yet terrifying detail.

The floor was a mess of broken glass and smears of blood.

Your comm lay abandoned on the ground.

And you were nowhere to be found.

Hunter couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t best the tightening in his chest and the fear taking root in his heart. All he could hear was a high-pitched droning in his ears and it took everything in him not to succumb to the terror he was experiencing as he realised you had been taken from him. Again.  

Around him, his brothers already started analysing the scene.

“The Empire-” Wrecker began to ask.

“Rex and I have been monitoring them and they have no idea where any of you are. This isn’t them.” Echo disagreed.

“It’s not their style either.” Crosshair stated.

“It is highly possible that a bounty hunter infiltrated this place in. Technically, I believe the price on her head would still stand.” Tech theorised.

“But who would know where we are?” Omega asked him.

“It would be best to consider past interactions and any new people you came across post Eriadu as well as those we already know who can tie us here. Now, naturally that should include Phee and Lyra. They may have accidentally-”

“Tech, no one on this island would ever give her or any of you up.” Echo argued.

Frustrations between all of them started to rise. They were going in circles and they knew your condition only made things that much more urgent.

“I’m very well aware of that fact but the truth is we need to think practically here. Someone knows where we are, and that knowledge has been used against us. Someone with enough skills to what I assume is poison her enough to take her out, and to elude all of us and take advantage of the very foundations of this place. Surely, there is someone that fits that profile.”

“There are too many.” Crosshair countered.

“There’s not way of knowing for sure.” Wrecker agreed with Crosshair. “And she needs us now.”

“Well, we need to start somewhere.” Tech said logically though he had to make an active effort to keep his own anxieties in check.

Meanwhile, Hunter carefully held your engagement ring and remembered the happiness and hope it was supposed to represent. How was that a little over a month ago, there had been so much excitement and joy in his life, and it had been so quickly overturned by pain and suffering. This was supposed to be a new life, a new beginning. You were supposed to be safe here, the threat of Hemlock and the Empire was over. Yet somehow, the past had come back to inflict more damage. Who could possibly have anything to gain from claiming that bounty? Who did they know that was that heartless, that calculated but would use a method so cowardly. And most importantly, knew they were here. Who could’ve- Hunter snapped out of it and pocketed your ring. He interrupted the steady stream of voices, “It’s Cid.”

All of them looked at him in bewilderment as he said that name.

“The Trandoshan from Ord Mantell?” Crosshair double checked since he’d never actually met her, he only knew the name through stories, but he knew that her name had nothing positive to go with it.

Hunter nodded.

“How do you know?” Wrecker asked.

“Because everyone else wouldn’t do this.”

“But wouldn’t we be aware of her presence here?” Tech pointed out.

“Lyra wouldn’t sell us out and neither would Phee. But there’s another link between us and Phee, and that’s Cid. You’re talking about bounty hunters, and we know she doesn’t do her own dirty work. It was her who told, same way she was the one that told the Empire we were here, and now she’s doing it again.” Hunter said, his voice eerily calm. “Tech, how much of the party did you record?”

“All of it.” Tech responded and, already anticipating Hunter’s next question, he pulled up the footage.

All of the gathered round as Tech brought up the recording of the party, increasing the playback speed as the evening unfolded.

Hunter, swallowing harshly as he made himself ignore all the tender moments with you that made that evening feel so perfect, anxiously scanned the flashing scenes in front of his eyes, looking for that first instance where you got infected and where this plan all started. “There!”

Tech paused the video feed.

“Dammit.” Hunter clenched his hands into fists. How had he missed that? How had he let you down that badly? “Dammit.” He hissed again under his breath before he departed and made for Shep’s.

“What did we miss?” Echo asked as the rest of them as they all stared at the frozen image of the rodian with the drink.

There was silence for a few minutes as they all peered at the screen.

Tech inhaled sharply as he next spotted the subtle difference. “The white powder…”

They all ran after their brother.

--

Shep heard an insistent pounding on his door and opened it to see Hunter standing there, breathing hard and there was a panic behind his eyes that he couldn’t hide and to Shep, that only meant one thing. “Is she-”

Hunter wasn’t even going to let him finish that thought. “The rodian from the engagement party. Who is he?” He questioned sharply.

“The rodian?” Shep repeated in confusion. This was the last thing he expected to hear.

“The rodian at the party.” Hunter repeated hurriedly. “He gave us our drink once we got back from the beach. He had yellow skin, quiet demeanour. He was new to the island; I didn’t recognise him.”

Shep recovered quickly. “Yes, yes.” He recalled the one Hunter was referring to. “He arrived with a twilek. They were quiet, mostly kept to themselves.”

“Were?” Hunter repeated and he felt his squad approach from behind.

Shep pointed down the road, “I checked on the temporary housing we provided them to see how they were feeling about the move, but they are no longer there. What does this-” Shep was only met with the sights on all of them racing for that house.

--

Hunter took in the front room. From the clothes left behind and the general disarray in the living space, it was obvious that they’d left in a hurry. He then noticed a puck for long range communications had also been forgotten about and that was the first time he felt a flicker of hope. “Tech.”

“I’m on it.” Tech confirmed as he began working on hacking into the system to trace where the communications went.

Hunter and the others continued to search the house and that was when Hunter spotted an old wanted poster of you nailed to the wall with a knife through your face. Hunter tore it down and curled one into a tight ball in a flash of rage before he composed himself continued searching the area for any sign of where they’d gone.

“Hunter.” Omega called over as she opened a cabinet just above the sink.

Hunter walked over to where the young girl was and took in what she had found.

There was a vast array of discarded and empty vials inside the cupboard which were accompanied by a series of instructions for powder ingestion or liquid injection. Underneath the untidy scrawl, was also a list of symptoms that would accompany each dosage but what caused the fear he was working on supressing to spike was that it seemed to be that their plan had consisted of giving you the second-most lethal one.

But there was no name of the mixture, no list of ingredients to go off of or any signs of a cure. It only served to confirm that what you had been experiencing was a cruel, carefully maintained poisoning.

“I’ve got the location.” Tech announced as he brought up the coordinates to Asusto.

Hunter memorised the number and he knew he’d be able to track you once he landed. Next, he barked out orders like he’d done for most of his life. “Tech, you start getting what you can from these instructions. You thought it was a poison before, do what you can to narrow the list down. Omega, you help him. I’ll confirm what they did once I find them and get the antidote. The rest of you, help Dalia get ready for our return.” With that order, he turned on his heels and ran for home.

--

He entered the bedroom and started preparations to leave all the while doing his best to not let each reminder of you in here to distract him. You needed him focused, not frantic with worry. He reached under the bed and pulled out the case of depleted armour that he’d never thought he’d have to put on again. It wasn’t even a complete set anymore, and it was still scratched and worn down, but it had to do. He grabbed his blaster and vibroblade and got ready to leave.

As he left, he saw that Wrecker, Echo and Crosshair had returned and were all stood there, blasters in hand and in whatever armour they’d had post Tantiss. “No.” He said immediately.

“Dalia can handle setting up herself. You’re not doing this alone. You need us as backup.” Echo reasoned.

“I can’t ask that of you.” Hunter said with a firm shake of his head. This was supposed to be behind them, he wouldn’t inflict this another fight on them.

“You’re not asking, and neither are we. We’re going with you.” Crosshair said definitively.

“Yeah, you mess with one of us, you get all of us!” Wrecker said in agreement.

“I already told Rex and he ordered me to stay here. You’re not doing this alone.” Echo added. “My ship is ready whenever you are.”

Hunter dipped his head in thanks before he led the way out.

--

Your head was pounding.

The cuts on your palms stung.

Everything around you sounded fuzzy- it almost sounded like you were underwater- and from what your semi-conscious self could tell, you appeared to be in some sort of basement. You weren’t cuffed or chained but that was probably because your captors realised you were hardly able to keep your eyes open, let alone plan an attack to get out of here. You could make out their blurry shapes just ahead of you, and you strained to hear why the rodian was in such a state. As you did so, you felt something wet dripping down your face, and you guess the damp basement had a leak somewhere.

“Shitshitshit, this is why I told you not to give her that last dosage!” The rodian cried in a frantic panic.

You felt a coarse fabric scrape under your nose, and you saw the crimson stain of blood as it was pulled away… so, clearly, it wasn’t a leaky roof. You had no doubt that signified the end for you- it was now only a matter of when- but your current disjointed thought process had you worrying more about the fact that the comforting presence of the ring on your left hand was no longer there.

“You wanted her to be an easy grab, I made sure of it.”

“I don’t have an antidote prepared!

“So, make one.” The twilek said with no concern whatsoever.

“With what ingredients? This was never the plan!”

“She’ll be dead before we even leave this room and if the boss doesn’t kill us, the client sure as fuck will!”

“She was as good as dead anyway; I only sped it along.”

“You-”

“How long?” You croaked, interrupting their argument.

The twilek ignored you but the rodian, wringing his hands anxiously, said, “About two hours.”

“Ah.” You said plainly. “Guess you mistimed that one huh?” You winced as you curled into the fetal position as if it could ease the agony coursing through every fibre in your body.

“Just keep your mouth shut.” The twilek ordered as the both of you as they waited for their boss to show up.

--

You had been in and out of consciousness but came around to the sound of the rodian babbling to himself about how everything had gone to shit, and they were seconds away from getting killed. You clued in to the sounds of a door opening and footsteps descending to the basement.

You feebly raised your head and you saw the face you wished you’d never see again. “You bitch. You fucking bitch.” You seethed weakly. The last bouts of your cognitive abilities put it together: Ord Mantell, the Empire on Pabu and now these bounty hunters being able to find you… it all fell into place. “Betraying us twice wasn’t enough for you?”

Cid didn’t let your words bother her. “Money is money and you’re worth a lot of money.”

You attempted to sit up but the best you could manage was propping yourself up on your forearms. “I hate to break it to you, but the person in the Empire who wanted me is very much dead.”

“Who said it was the Empire?” Cid said coolly.

A new type of panic set in but you were distracted by the warm, wet liquid sliding down your face and on to your lips, the iron tang of it burning your tongue.

Cid then noticed the blood steadily dripping from your nostrils. She whirled on the two goons she’d hired. “That’s not supposed to appear until the last stage, how much did you give her?!”

The rodian just glanced to the twilek.

The twilek shrugged. “Look, boss, you told us to use the poison however we saw fit. She needed a hell of a lot more of it in her system, why do you think we took so long?”

“She’s no good to me or the client if she’s dead!” Cid said angrily. “How long has she got?”

A beat of silence.

“About an hour.” The rodian informed her nervously.

Cid cursed under her breath. “We don’t meet the client until midnight!”

“Just push the meeting to now. Get her to the client alive and take the cash and get outta there.” The twilek suggested calmly.

“They’d know something was up. And we’d never get away with it with how she looks like now!”

“You try what they gave me and see how good you look at the end of it.” You muttered in offence, a new type of delirium taking hold of you.

Cid paid you no attention. “What about the antidote?” She asked the rodian sharply. “This is your poison; you must know how to counter it?”

“Aw Cid, I knew you still cared.” You said hoarsely, and everything around you started to move in and out of focus, each haggard breath leaving you acted like a sick form of countdown.

“The ingredients don’t exist here, and I never brought them. It wasn’t supposed to get to this point.” The rodian admitted.

Cid tossed her hands in the air, her own nerves steadily rising. “You idiots! This deal was for a fit Jedi slave, and you’ve given me someone that isn’t going to last the next hour! How-” Her tirade was cut short by the sound of an explosion above them, dust descending from the ceiling with the impact.

“Do you know the great thing about having a family?” You said with a cold laugh. You forced yourself to sit up. You may be fighting a losing battle but one thing you still knew was who the cause of that explosion. You’d sense them anywhere. “We look out for one another.” You glowered at the twilek, “That ‘protective bunch’ are about to become your living hell.”

The twilek only glared at you.

“If they’ve found us, it’s because you left a way for them to track our communications!” Cid said angrily.

“Don’t look at me, he’s the one who was responsible for packing up.” The twilek said dismissively, readying his blaster for the fight he’d finally been waiting for.

“Well, he was the one that taunted them with the ring!” The rodian said in a panic as the thudding of footsteps drew closer.

“Ring?” Cid repeated, her stomach dropping to her feet in fear. She glanced to your depleted form, and the realisation of just what precisely had developed between you and dark and broody since Ord Mantell cemented her fate. She’d royally messed this up.

“You guys are fucked.” You said dazedly as you slouched against the wall and more blood spilled from your nostrils, staining your hands and the ground below.

The door at the top of the basement stairs crashed open and smoke engulfed the room.

--

Three precise shots fired through the smoke.

Cid raised her arms in instant surrender as the smoke dissipated and she saw the state of her hired bounty hunters. The twilek’s blaster had been shot out his hands and he was bleeding from a shot to just below the abdomen whilst the rodian took a hit to his shoulder. Both of them were now sprawled on the floor. She muttered an uneasy curse as she realised what was in store for her.

The effort of breathing and opening your eyes after each blink got tougher to maintain but you recognised the familiar tender touch under your chin from the man in kneeling in front of you. “Hunter.” You said, your voice barely sounding above a whisper. Your eyes flickered open as you took him in.

Hunter wiped away the blood from your face, but it just kept coming, the sight of it heightening his persistent rising panic but he pushed it away. It wouldn’t help you if he let you see how ruined with worry, he was. “We’re getting you out of here, I promise.” He started to lift you to your feet, uttering soft words of comfort and reassurance as you went with him but each rasp and pained whimper from you only fuelled his anger further. “Hold on. Just hold on.” He begged you quietly.

“I’ve got her, Hunter.” Wrecker offered softly as he came to your side and took over. “Hang in there.” He said to you, his gruff voice choking up with emotion as he took your weight and saw the way your face was drained of all life, the blood standing out too brightly against your skin.

Hunter waited until Wrecker was properly supporting you before he turned on the three adversaries. He ignored Cid for the moment, he’d deal with her last. Right now, his priority was getting your cure and for that, he needed the two hunters.

He did a quick scan of the two males, the twilek was gritting his teeth against the pain and his face was a cruel mask of indifference but the rodian was a mewling mess and his heart was pounding so loudly, Hunter had heard it from upstairs which meant that the rodian was his way in.

“Tell me what you did to her.” His voice quiet with lethal softness as he stalked towards him.  

But the rodian said nothing.  

“Fine.” With that, he stabbed the rodian just above the knee and angled to tip of the blade towards his kneecap and pushed. He also clamped his other hand down on the open shoulder wound and paid no attention to the miserable screams that emitted from the rodian.

Crosshair and Wrecker made no move to stop it either. Wrecker kept you propped up while Crosshair kept his rifle trained on the twilek and Echo guarded Cid.

“Fuck! Oh fuck, no!” The rodian yelled as he writhed in an attempt to get away from the blade, but each movement only caused the blade to twist further into his joint.

“What did you do?” Hunter demanded again through the cries of pain. With both hands, he pressed harder.

The rodian spoke through the pain in a rapid, terrified manner, “I’ll tell you everything! I- shit, just don’t do that anymore! It’s called Ghost. I c- created it. We put the powder in her water flask and coated her pain pills in it and spiked her sedatives with the liquid form! It- ow fuck- it can’t be picked up on any medical scans and it’s got no taste or smell but it’s fatal when used excessively. Its main use is torture and incapacitation but for that, it needs to be used precisely. That’s all we wanted to do with her! I swear! But what I calculated for her didn’t work so we upped the dose, but it was too much too quickly. I don’t know how she’s still going.”

Wrecker, Crosshair and Echo had to fight to keep their expressions neutral, but that information shook them all to their core. They’d helped this plan along and the thought left them repulsed.

The horror Hunter felt at the fact that they’d all inadvertently been contributing to your declining health threatened to engulf him. He caught himself easing up on the rodian in the pure gut-wrenching shock of it all, but he gathered himself swiftly. “But there’s a cure.” Hunter insisted, angling his blade further towards the knee.

The rodian yelped in agony. “Yes, there’s- ah fuck- there’s- a- an- an antitode!”

“Shut up!” The twilek hissed command earning him a rifle butt to his face. His nose cracked and blood poured down.

“No way! This shit wasn’t what I signed up for!”

Hunter eased up on his pressure slightly to lure him into revealing more.

“Here, take it, take it.” The rodian winced as he reached into his inside vest pocket and took the piece of paper out- it had been the one critical piece of information he had the wits to remember to remove when they’d left the island- but now he wanted it as far away from him as possible. He felt momentarily relief as the man removed his vice-like grip on his shoulder but that was swiftly replaced by fear as he saw a blaster pointed at his face. “No, please don’t! I promise I won’t tell-”

Hunter killed the rodian with a shot to the forehead. “Get that to information to Tech.” He ordered Echo sharply who took the paper with a nod and swiftly left the room.

Hunter fired two shots into Cid’s knees as she attempted to slip away once Echo departed.

Cid crashed to the ground, hissing in pain.

Your slumped form addressed the other hunter who was still alive. “You two were slipping poison into my system for 3 weeks… didn’t you have anything better to do with your lives?”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

You, still delirious, mimed applause. “Yup, it did. Extra points for you. Although you’re 30 seconds away from death and I still have a good hour so who’s the real winner here?”

The twilek saw the tattooed solider stalking darkly towards him. He wasn’t going to die begging for his life like his rodian counterpart, he’d done something others could only dream of. “And you’re more than three hours away from Pabu. We beat you, you’re as good as-”

Hunter silenced his words with a single shot of his blaster.

You felt your legs completely give out with the effort it took to remain vertical.

Wrecker, unfortunately had to ignore your moans of since he was left with no choice but to strengthen the grip that he had on you. He didn’t even need to have Hunter’s enhanced senses to see how grave your situation was now. He could barely feel your breaths leaving your body and each time he wiped away the blood, more continued to pour down.

Hunter heard your weak cries of protest, and he turned his attention to the pathetic excuse of an individual crawling on her front away from him, blood streaking the floor from the wounds in her knees. No matter how much he wanted to make this hurt, you were the priority here. He caught up with her is a couple steps, stamped down on her back before he roughly turned her around and replaced his foot harshly on her chest.

Cid couldn’t run. She couldn’t fight. But she knew fine well what was in store for her. “Look, bandana, it was just a bad business deal, okay? I didn’t know they were doing to use so much. You’ve got the antidote, just take it and get her the help she needs.” She said tightly through the pain.

Her words filled him with pure disgust, and he couldn’t stand to hear them anymore. With her out of the picture, it would finally all be over. The constant threat of her wouldn’t plague them anymore.

“You betrayed us three times. You don’t get a fourth.” Hunter said, his voice steely with quiet and controlled rage.

“It wasn’t personal, it was a business deal. I’m sure-”

Hunter cut her off with a shot to her face. He holstered his blaster.

“Move out.” He directed as he came to your opposite side and aided Wrecker in keeping you upright so you wouldn’t choke on the blood gushing from your nose.

--

Wrecker passed you fully off to Hunter as you all entered the ship, and he joined his two other brothers in the cockpit.

Hunter laid you down carefully on the cot, angling your head so you wouldn’t gag on the blood continuing to flow from your nose. He held one cloth over your nose in what he knew was a futile attempt to stem the blood flow before he also grabbed a cold cloth and dabbed at your forehead. Your skin was on fire, your clothes soaked through with sweat and even blinking seemed to be a monumental effort for you. “Hold on. It’s just a little bit longer, okay?” Hunter told you, his voice quivering as he helplessly watched you. It seemed like even breathing was a burden for you now.

You couldn’t even nod. Another shallow breath shuddered through you.

--

Echo had gotten the ship into hyperspace and Tech back on comms. “Tech, we’re heading back. Did you get anything more on the poison?”

“Unfortunately, not more than what you’ve already told me given that it was not on any official record. But I read through what we uncovered in the home. One thing to be thankful for is that, if the instructions we’d already found are accurate, there’s still time. The final stage involved bleeding from bodily orifices. If-”

“She’s bleeding from her nose.” Crosshair interrupted.

Tech’s eyes flashed with alarm. “When did that start?” He asked, his voice grave.

“Can’t be certain but she was bleeding before we got there.” Echo told him, his own nerves rising as he saw Tech’s expression.

“Tech?” Wrecker prompted; he hated the prolonged silence as Tech glanced at his datapad. “What does that mean for her?”

“Omega and I have gathered most of what is needed for the antidote here, but we’re taking Phee’s ship to go to the neighbouring planet to get the final plants required.” Tech said instead.

“That’s not an answer.” Crosshair said, his voice tense.

“The answer wouldn’t do any of you any good. Just get her to Dalia the second you land. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

As he disappeared. Echo, Wrecker and Crosshair looked down the hallway to where Hunter was crouched by your side.

“We can’t have been too late, we can’t have been.” Wrecker fretted.

“She’s survived this long. She can do it.” Echo said but it was more to convince himself than anyone else.

“I don’t know how much she has left to give.” Crosshair said, his own worries seeping through as he watched your chest barely rise.

You were already living for longer than you were supposed to but none of them knew how much more of that you could sustain.

--

Hunter had heard the words from the cockpit, but he refused to let them resonate. “I’ve got it.” He said gently as he saw you attempting to take the rapidly growing blood-stained fabric off your face. He removed it, threw it away and made to grab a new one but your gravelly voice stopped him.

“H-Hu-Hunter.”

“Don’t- don’t try to talk.” Hunter advised, swallowing thickly. “Save your energy.”

You didn’t listen and just about managed to make your eyes focus on him. “I- I hav- have to tell you-” You gasped through pained breaths.

“Tell me when you’re better.” Hunter instructed, hoping he sounded like himself even as he felt his own distress rise in his chest, in his throat. He couldn’t stand this, but he needed to stay strong for you.

“I’m not-” You broke off with a sharp, hurt whimper. “I- I’m not getting better.” You could feel your body giving up with every ineffective, weighed down breath.

“Yes. You are.” Hunter took your hand and pressed your fingers to his lips.

“I-I want you- t-to-know that- that I love you.”

“Stop-” Hunter his voice growing hoarser and more wrecked with emotion with every passing second.

“I- I want you-you to move on- I want you to-to live.”

Hunter stroked hair back from your burning brow. “I can’t do that without you.” He whispered but he could from the distant look in your eyes tell that his words weren’t landing as the fever had ultimately taken its deadly grip.

“I- I would’ve married you.”

“You still will.” Hunter said as firmly as he could manage but it required pushing away more doubt than he cared to admit.

“I…” But you trailed off as you finally welcomed what you had been resisting for so long.

“Keep your eyes open. Please.” Hunter pleaded, his voice breaking as he saw you take one deep, crackling breath as you slowly blinked.

You wanted to. You wanted to so badly, but you felt like the end would be the only thing to give you any semblance of relief. Your eyes flickered shut and darkness took over.

Hunter hung his head and held your hand tightly, and he could only watch your signs of life slowly fade away. “Stay with me.” He begged your unconscious form through a strangled breath as he hoped some part of you would register his words.

Your pulse was thready at best, your breathing ragged and shallow.

Your entire body was shutting down and there was nothing Hunter could do to stop it.

--

Thanks to Tech’s efforts, Dalia’s home had extended and doubled into a well-functioning medical centre with enough beds and equipment to cope with whatever came her or the island’s way. It had felt a bit excessive, but it was better to be safe than sorry, and today, that was good thing.

“Put her here!” Dalia ordered as Echo slammed open the door for Hunter and Wrecker to hurry through, your body hanging weightlessly between their arms. “AZ, prep her and check her vitals.”

“Where’s Tech?” Hunter asked urgently as he placed you on the hospital bed.

“I don’t know. He should’ve been back by now.” Dalia said as she got a cooling blanket for you as AZ worked on stopping the bleeding before she gathered up the part of the cure that was already made up. She’d barely finished her sentence when Tech came sprinting through the door.

Tech stopped short when he saw the perilous state you were in but recovered quickly. He handed the final components over before he made to depart but stopped as he realised that his brother was making no move to do so.

“Hunter-” Tech tried to reach and take a hold of his arm, but Hunter shook him off.

Wrecker made to do the same but got the same result.  

“Hunter, you need to leave.” Dalia insisted as she busied about prepping the antidote whilst AZ continued doing what he could to stabilise you.

“I can’t.” He croaked; his voice barely audible as he stared at your practically lifeless body. He needed to know that you’d be okay, he couldn’t leave you like this.

“If you want her to live, you need to let me work and I can’t do that with you here.” Dalia said bluntly. She cared for all of them and hated seeing this happen but there wasn’t time to be gentle, you were barely hanging on and your health outweighed politeness.

Tech nodded to Wrecker to leave first before he turned his attention to his unmoving older brother. Tech understood Hunter’s reluctance and he too found himself not wanting to leave until he knew you were at least stable, but he was just about clear-headed enough to realise their presence was a hindrance. “Come on, Hunter.” Tech tried again and this time, Hunter let him take a hold of his upper arm to guide him out.

Hunter could barely move his feet- Tech was doing most of the work for him. He saw the concerned faces of his squad staring past him into the room but as he turned around to get one last look at you, the door shut.

The door shut on him but not before he heard it.

He heard the sound that was going to haunt him for the rest of his days. The low drone of the machine chilled his body to the bone and his knees collapsed out from under him. If it wasn’t for Wrecker’s firm grip on his shoulders, he would’ve just crumpled to the floor.  

Hunter wasn’t a medical expert, but he knew what a flatline sounded like.

--

What was complete devastation was soon replaced by raw, unbridled desperation. It swallowed him whole as he thrashed against Wrecker’s grip on him in his fight to re-enter that door.

“Hunter, stop, stop.” Omega managed to dart in front of him and take a hold of his hands. “You’ve done all you can. Fighting won’t help her or you.” She did her best to soothe him or at least get him to stop struggling against Wrecker’s hold.

The best Hunter could do was let her words and touch stop his insistence to get back to you, but he was practically hyperventilating. Cid had put them through a lot, but this had affected him in a different, more visceral way. The cruelty of everything she’d planned out and attempted to execute cut him to his core. “I did this.” He said in quiet horror and that admission opened the dam.

Once Hunter eased up, Wrecker released his hold, but he remained close by just in case. “This wasn’t your fault.”

Hunter lost all emotional control. “I should have stopped this!”

They’d all been anticipating this and knew Hunter needed them now. He’d kept it together for as long as he physically could but what they felt when they heard that flatline, he would be feeling ten times over.

“No, you couldn’t have. None of us knew what this was.” Tech reminded him.

Hunter’s panic and anger were leaving him unrestrained now. He couldn’t stop. “I watched her drink from that glass the night of the party, and I didn’t notice! I just watched it happen and did nothing! What good am I if my mutation can’t even protect the people around me!”

“It was impossible to trace. There was a reason your enhanced senses couldn’t detect this; it was inherently designed against them.” Tech emphasised.

He couldn’t handle the logic right now. It didn’t matter. All he knew was what had happened to get you here and what’d he’d failed to protect you from. “I was killing her, Tech! Every day I gave her that damn flask, forced her to take those injections and painkillers, I was killing her!”

“No. The poison was.” Echo interjected.

“Which I was only helping along! Cid might as well have hired me for the fucking job! She kept telling me that she didn’t want them but took them because she was doing it for me!”

“Hunter, you didn’t know.” Omega tried again but the clone only shook his head in harsh self-deprecating dismissal of her words.

“I should have! I-”

“And if you’re going to blame yourself for doing what you naturally thought was the only way to help her, then blame all of us because every single one of us did that.” Crosshair said bluntly but he was only speaking as frankly as he was because he knew his brother would never assign that blame to them and he needed Hunter to hear how ridiculous and pointless it was to put something like this on himself.

That felt like a punch to the gut, and it took the remaining fight out of him. But he welcomed it. The last thing he’d do would be and he could hear your voice in his head telling him to see the bigger picture here. “I know you’d never-” He broke off and tried again. “That wasn’t what I meant. I know it wasn’t your fault.”

“And it’s not yours.” Wrecker echoed again as he moved to now rest a solid, calming hand on his brother’s shoulder like he’d done in the months post the disaster of Ord Mantell.

Hunter took a deep, grounding breath, before he nodded to Wrecker to indicate that he wasn’t going to do anything foolish. He stayed standing whilst his family sat in the waiting area chairs.

Now, all they could do was wait.

--

Hunter was on step 864 when he ceased his nervous pacing a half second before the door finally opened.

The others all got out of their chairs once they “How is her condition?” Tech questioned the healer.

Dalia inhaled deeply. “She’s alive.”

Hunter couldn’t help but think there was a silent ‘for now’ that was in amongst Dalia’s tone. He’d been all too aware of what was happening behind that closed door. The announcement hardly brought him solace. There was only a slight easing to his churning stomach and frantic heartbeat as he waited for her to get to the crux of what she had to say.

“Can we see her?” Wrecker inquired.

Dalia hesitated before replying, “I would wait.”

“Why?” Crosshair asked warily.

“She flatlined three times but we got her back. However, she’s not awake yet.”

Hunter choked on a breath as she confirmed what he feared he’d heard again throughout the day.

“Not awake?” Echo repeated.  

“But she will wake up, right?” Omega asked anxiously. “You gave her the cure, so she’ll be okay, won’t she?”

Dalia slowly elaborated on what she meant, “It’s possible that with the toil the poison took on her and with the amount of strain on her body... well, I just don’t know if she’ll wake up. AZ and I going to monitor her for changes, but I’d suggest going home until you hear from me.”

“That’s not happening.” Hunter rasped, but there was no mistaking the intensity behind his words.

“Hunter-” Dalia started.

“We’re staying here.” Crosshair said, backing up Hunter’s statement with his brothers nodding their agreement too.

“I don’t know how long it’ll be before we know anything more.” Dalia said truthfully.

“We’ll wait.” Tech said firmly.

Seeing that she wasn’t going to change their minds, and she didn’t really expect to anyway, Dalia bowed her head. “Very well.” She said before she walked back into the room.

--

The hours ticked by painfully slowly.

Then the hours turned into the next day.

And the next.

Shep, Lyra and Phee had periodically come by both to check in and to bring food and blankets since it was obvious that none of them would leave until they knew your fate.

“Any updates, brown eyes?” Phee asked, laying a caring hand on Tech’s shoulder.

Tech rested his hand on top of hers. “It’s still touch and go.”

“And how’s he?” Lyra inquired with a nod in Hunter’s direction but all she got were a series of uneasy looks.

“As far as we’re aware, he hasn’t slept or eaten.” Echo said worriedly.

“Nothing? Can I bring something else? He should eat something.” Shep offered.

“We’ve tried. He won’t take anything.” Wrecker replied, voice rough with tiredness and emotion.

“I’ve got it.” Omega said as she came over and took two of the prepackaged meals.

--

“I brought you some food.” Omega said delicately as she approached Hunter who looked utterly exhausted.

“I’m not hungry.” Hunter said gruffly.

“Eat.” Omega ordered more insistently this time.

“Omega…” Hunter just shook his head.

“She’s going to make it. And you’ll need your strength to see her once she’s up. You know it’s true. So, eat.” She instructed again.

Hunter took the plate with a tired sigh and allowed the young girl to rest her head against his shoulder as the two of them ate and sat in the closest thing to relaxed silence he’d experienced since coming back.

--

Nightfall had arrived on the third day and there was still no word.

The others had all been in and out of restless naps as they waited.

The only thing keeping Hunter mildly calm was the young girl whose head was currently resting in his lap as she slept. Her soft, regular sleepy sighs allowed him some form of meditative relief as he sat there waiting for news. He adjusted the blanket as it slipped down her shoulders.

Another 15 minutes passed before Hunter heard signs of life making for the door. And his head snapped up as Dalia and AZ walked into the waiting area.

The rest of them instantly got to their feet.

Hunter gently roused Omega from his lap as they both stood, and he could hear his own anxious heartbeat in his ears.

Until now, AZ had been the one to give them sporadic updates. If Dalia was out here, that only meant one of two things…

“She’s awake.” Dalia said through a weary but delighted sigh.

Hunter braced his elbows against his knees. He covered his face with his hands and inhaled and exhaled shakily as he resisted the urge to release a relieved sob.

There was a collective breath realised as they all heard her say those words.

“Thank you, Dalia.” Hunter just about managed to say as the crushing weight of his stress and worries lifted from his shoulders, and he felt strangely disconnected from every other sensation in his body as he fully comprehended that you were safe… that you were alive.

“She’s asking for you.” Dalia said, squeezing his shoulder.

As Hunter steadily walked towards the door, some part of him felt like maybe this was all a cruel dream and he’d wake up back in that waiting area to find that you were gone. That thought soon vanished as he saw you gingerly sitting up in the hospital bed.

--

“Hey.” You said with a real but still weak and tired smile as you saw him standing there.  

A strangled yet elated noise left his lips as he heard you speak.

“Yeah, I know I don’t look too hot right now.” You said with faint tracings of humour. But as you fully took him in, you realised that wasn’t what you needed to do.  

He wasn’t ready for that yet. Everything to too fresh, too intense for him to let this become something to joke about. He caught sight of you old, bloodstained clothing and all the emotions he’d been suppressing came to a head. “I never should’ve left you.”

“You weren’t to know.” You said as you realised you didn’t need to put on that front you had been prepared to maintain. You allowed your voice to soften, and you relaxed further into the bed as you no longer felt the need to act like you could just jump out of the cot. “But you got me out and back here in time.”

“No, I didn’t.” Hunter said with self-directed frustration. “You died.”

Dalia had filled you in on what had happened, but you didn’t know the extent to which he’d been around for that but now your own tears threatened to spill from your eyes as you realised what he’d had to go through. You knew how you’d be if you’d been in his position and it was something you could hardly bare to imagine so, for him to have witnessed what he did, it was no wonder you could sense his fear tearing him apart. “Hunter-”

“It’s a rare thing for me to feel as helpless as I have these past weeks, especially on that ship departing Asusto. It was a new kind of terror. I’ve always known at least something to do, but I couldn’t do anything to help cure you. Taking care of Cid was the last thing I could do for you and for the safety of this family.” He inhaled shakily, “But then I had to watch the poison destroy you and I couldn’t do anything.” Tears were running down his face, but he didn’t care. “You knew you were going to die, you told me as much on the ship. You told me to live, to move on. I heard each flatline. I heard you get ripped away from me time and time again, and I couldn’t take it. Each time I thought you wouldn’t fight your way back, a part of me died out there and if Dalia had come out there to tell us you were gone, that part of me wouldn’t ever come back. I’d exist but I wouldn’t live. Don’t ask me to move on because I can’t, I love you with all I have. You’re the other half of me and if you are ever taken from me like that again, that half goes with you.” He finished with a breath that was half exhale, half sob.

You wiped away a few of your own tears at his words. “Come here.” You whispered as you reached for him- for your other half- and moved to the other side of the narrow cot. “And it’s not going to hurt me.” You added in reassurance since you knew that’s where his concerns would instantly go.

Hunter swallowed through the lump in his throat and finally moved towards you and shifted into the bed.

You kissed away the salty tears on his cheeks and rested his head on your chest. You felt a little pressure at the action, but it was nothing you couldn’t handle. “Hear that? I’m still here.”

Hunter closed his eyes as he listened to the thudding that emitted from your chest. It still wasn’t as strong as it usually was, but it was there, and it was steady and that’s what mattered.

You delicately stroked your hands through his hair as you rested there. You focused on his warmth, his weight on your chest, and you’d never felt more content. You felt your spark coming back with each breath and so long as he was still with you, everything else now would fall into place.

--

Upon hearing rising voices and footsteps, Hunter had just sat back down in the chair by your bedside, when Dalia re-entered with AZ whirring behind her.

“What the status?” You asked the healer as you also heard the faint sounds of protests behind the shut door.

“With you or the insistent group outside?”

You chuckled quietly, “Why don’t we start with me?”

“I want you to stay here for at least a week. We need to get you rehydrated and start reintroducing food into your system and I want to give you one more dose of the antidote to make sure all the poison is out of your body. Does that sound acceptable? Bearing in mind that I know how you are, but I will really only take one answer.”

You laughed at that, “Yes, that sounds good, Doc.”

“Now, there is a rather eager group of people out there and I don’t know how much longer they’re prepared to listen to me telling them not yet. Can-” She got cut off by the door opening.

“The answer was not very.” Echo said apologetically as they all entered.

“Oh, for goodness sake…” Dalia muttered.

“Five minutes?” You requested with delicate politeness.

“Okay, fine but I draw the line at the dog.” Dalia said with a roll of her eyes as Batcher went of her hind legs and placed her front paws on the bed by your feet.

Omega whistled and hustled Batcher out of the room before she rejoined her brothers.

“Five minutes.” Dalia reminded you as she and AZ made to give you privacy.

“Dalia, I don’t even know how to thank you. I-” You began to say as the healer walked away.

“Don’t waste your precious time now.” Dalia said but she bowed her head in acknowledgment of your words before she shut the door.

“And I also believe I owe you all a rather large thank you.” You said appreciatively.

“Don’t mention it.” Echo stated with a smile as he gave you a happy squeeze.

“Just don’t scare us like that again.” Wrecker implored as he took his turn.

“Trust me, that will not be something I am looking to re-experience.” You said agreeably.

“I should hope not.” Hunter muttered as he kept a tender yet secure hold of your free hand, his fingers finding a natural place resting on your pulse as a way to ground himself in this moment and remind himself that it was real.

Tech studied the screens next to you and tapped at his datapad. “Your condition has stabilised considerably. I would agree with Dalia’s recommendation for a course of-”

“Hey, no staring at my vitals or talking about my health until you give me hug.” You just about managed to hold your arm open expectantly but it was a rather pitiful attempt since you were still feeling pretty weak, but the resultant pathetic appearance probably aided your request.

“Very well.” Tech said through a sigh, but his brief embrace was heartfelt and warm.

“You know, if you wanted out of the engagement, there are easier ways to go about it.” Crosshair quipped as he came in last, but the relief was evident in his face.

“Ha ha.” You drawled sarcastically as you accepted his hug too.

“How are you feeling?” Omega asked and she placed her arms around you.

“Exhausted and still a little sore but alive which seems to be a bit of a surprise.” You said lightly.

“A bit?” Echo repeated with a shake of his head.

“Keeping you on your toes, Echo. That’s me.” You kidded.

There was a combined reaction of eyerolls and heads shaking in disbelief.

“And hey, we gotta find the silver-linings of this whole thing eventually. If you guys hadn’t left me that night, I wouldn’t have gotten the antidote. We’d never have figured it out.” You reminded them, absentmindedly stroking your thumb along the back of Hunter’s hand.

“I knew you were going to say that.” Hunter murmured, the tracings of a smile in his tone.

At that, you angled yourself to face Hunter once more. “I’m also really hoping you have something of mine?” You asked quietly as they all stood around the bottom of the bed.

Hunter kissed your forehead and finally allowed a proper smile as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring. “Do you want the speech again? Cause I have a few amendments.”

“Tell me tomorrow.” You said with a loving grin in his direction.

Hunter gently took your left-hand in his. “You know this is forever, right?” He murmured.

“I do.” You breathed in joyous relief as the ring slid back onto your finger.

Hunter pressed his forehead against yours in and nuzzled into the side of your face as he kissed your cheek.

All of you silently absorbed the moment that finally, finally your new lives could begin.

Next Oneshot>

Taglist: @noeasyisnoisy, @andreaaxy, @notgonnaedit, @moonychicky, @arctrooper69, @dizzy-9906 , @nightmonkeysstuff , @allthingsimagines , @thegreymarveljedi , @jellybeanstacey0519 , @callsign-denmark , @superbookishhufflepuff , @qvnthesia , @justsomerandompersonintheworld

[aynavaano]

Sunsets on Pabu

Old Hunter x f!reader

Rating: Explicit

Wordcount: 3k

Summary:

You spend a wonderful day at the beach with Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair. In the evening the two of them decide to join the rest of your family at Sheps for dinner while you and Hunter stay at the beach to watch the sunset together but Hunter decides to turn his attention to you instead.

Notes:

Tadaaa! It’s finally here. I let you vote between a soft and a rough version and the majority voted for soft and loving. So this is what you get first. Reader is married to Hunter, you live on Pabu together and he absolutely worships you, we have oral (f receiving) and unprotected sex. Kind of public sex but not really. It’s porn with very little plot, just a little fluff. Also Tech lives, because I will die on that hill. And don’t worry all Hunter girlies that like it rougher, you will get your fic next week. (Spoiler alert: Hunter bends you over the dining table)

As the day winds down and the sun begins its descent towards the horizon, casting a warm orange glow across the beach, you find yourself grateful for the simple pleasures the island has to offer. You're dressed in your new cute bikini, that you let Hunter pick, feeling the warm sand between your toes as you stroll along the shore with him, Wrecker, and Crosshair. You spent the whole day at the beach together, swimming, basking in the sun and eating more Meiloorons than you probably should. The sound of the waves crashing against the beach is soothing, and you can't help but smile as you soak in the beauty of the moment. Unfortunately Tech can’t be bothered most of the time and only joins you for beach days when Omega pushes all his buttons and pulls the sweetest face on him, but you got used to it and instead often spend the evenings together at his and Phees place.

You hear Batcher barking in the distance before you even see Omega and Lyana approaching, making their way down from the town to let you know Shep invited everyone for dinner on his terrace. But despite the tempting invitation, you decline, having already decided you want to watch the sunset with Hunter. Wrecker and Crosshair however head off with the girls to enjoy Shep's famous cooking, leaving the two of you alone on the beach.

You watch them walking up the steep alley, Batcher happily running ahead and barking, while gathering your things and making your way further down the beach, seeking out a secluded spot, away from the houses, where you can enjoy the sunset in peace. The sand is still warm beneath your feet as you walk along the shore, hand in hand with your husband.

Finally, you find a spot that feels just right, a cove with a small patch of sand nestled between a few bigger rocks. You spread out your blanket and settle down beside each other.

Nestled in Hunter's arms, you watch as the sun paints the sky in beautiful shades of pink, orange and gold. It's a familiar sight on Pabu, one you've witnessed countless times before, but it never fails to take your breath away and with Hunter by your side, it always feels even more special.

"You sure you didn't want to go to Sheps for dinner?" you ask, snuggling closer to him.

"More than sure," he replies, his voice soft and warm against your ear. "It's not often that we get an evening just for us."

You smile up at him giving him a sweet kiss, his arms tightening around you protectively.

"They'll be fine," he reassures you. "Wrecker's probably already stuffed to the brim, like always, and complaining that he can’t fit more, and Omega's teaching Lyana new gambling tricks. And I'm sure Phee's doing her best to get Crosshair to open up, most likely with the help of her secret stash of Alderaan wine, while Tech is trying to argue that thats not the solution."

You smile at the thought of your friends enjoying themselves. Evenings on Sheps terrace are always a lot of fun, everyone’s together with good food and good talks but in this moment, all you care about is the feeling of Hunter's arms around you and the beauty of the sunset before you, as you lean in to press a gentle kiss against his lips, grateful for the love and warmth he brings into your life.

He pulls you closer to his chest, planting soft kisses on your lips, one of his hands tracing the curves of your body, gently caressing every inch of your skin, leaving goosebumps wherever he touches you. You playfully shift around until you're straddling him, capturing his lips in a passionate kiss. Your hand moves to his cheek and you let your thumb brush lovingly against his greying beard.

"You're going to miss the sunset if you keep looking at me love," you murmur softly, breaking the kiss momentarily.

"Well, then I guess it's good that the one thing I like looking at even more than sunsets is you," he replies with a smile, his eyes filled with adoration.

A mischievous grin spreads across your face as you lean in closer. "In that case …you know… I can make that view even better," you tease, your fingers tugging at the strings of your bikini top and with a swift motion, you unravel the top, casting it aside to expose your bare breasts.

He instantly wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you closer, burying his face between your soft breasts with a contented sigh. His beard tickles slightly against your skin, sending shivers down your spine.

He carefully begins to lick and gently nibble on your hardening nipples, getting a few soft moans from you in response. His hands roam over your breasts, cupping them with just the right amount of pressure as he looks up at you with admiration in his eyes.

"Sometimes I still wonder how I got so lucky to have you," he murmurs, his voice filled with love.

You chuckle softly and reach behind him, pulling on the back of his bandana to release his hair, which cascades over his shoulders in soft waves. You marvel at how long it has grown since you first started dating, admiring the subtle streaks of grey that have begun to appear over time.

With a gentle push, he guides you to lay on your back, positioning himself over you.

"If we're going to miss the sunset, we might as well make it worth it," he grins, his lips trailing kisses all over your body leaving a line of fire in their wake.

He takes his time, savoring every inch as he carefully removes your swim bottoms. Each touch is deliberate and full of love, each caress sending shivers of anticipation through your body, heat already pooling between your legs.

"Let me make take care of you my love," he murmurs, his breath hot against your skin, turning his attention to your core, already yearning for his touch

He kisses along your inner thighs, his breath warm against your skin as he moves closer to your center. When his tongue finally makes contact with your folds, a low moan escapes your lips and you arch into his touch. He quickly wraps his arms around your tights to keep you from moving and to hold you flush against his face.

"Oh, Hunter," you gasp, your fingers tangling in his hair as he continues to tease and lick. His movements are deliberate and unhurried, each stroke of his tongue sending waves of heat radiating through you.

"You feel so good cyare," he murmurs against your skin, his voice husky with desire. "I could do this all night."

He slowly increases the intensity of his licks and kisses and when he starts sucking your clit you are already a whimpering mess in his arms.

“You want my fingers?” he asks looking up at you.

Your only response is a desperate moan, the words lost in a haze of pleasure as he pushes you ever closer to the edge with his tongue but he doesn’t need to hear you, after all these years he knows exactly what you like.

He slowly slides first one then a second finger into you without any resistance, your pussy practically dripping for him and when he begins to thrust into you slowly you can feel the tension building in your core, the familiar coil of desire tightening with each stroke of his tongue and thrust of his fingers.

“Oh fuck…Hunter…feels…so good” you moan,

“Mmmhm…don’t hold back love” he groans before he descends down on your clit, mercilessly sucking it into his mouth until your body begins to writhe under his touch.

“M…m close” is all you can get out between your whimpers and mewls, his fingers pushing into you with an intensity that leaves you unable to have any coherent thoughts.

"Come for me, baby," he murmurs, his voice vibrating against your core as he curls his fingers up to find that extra sweet spot, the one that makes you see stars, driving you higher and higher until you're teetering on the brink.

With a final, desperate cry, you shatter beneath him, waves of ecstasy crashing over you as you ride out the storm of your release on his fingers, you pussy clenching hard around him. You’re a whining and panting mess, it’s crazy what he can do to you only with his mouth and his fingers.

When you slowly come down from your high he carefully slides out of you, his arms wrapping around you in a protective embrace and your body starts relaxing against him. Hunter's lips find yours in a searing kiss, his hands moving to cup your face as he gazes at you with a mixture of awe and adoration. His eyes are filled with love and tenderness, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead, his lips lingering against your skin.

"You're so beautiful when you come on my fingers," he murmurs, his voice filled with awe as he gazes at you with adoration, peppering your face with soft kisses. “I’ll never get tired watching you like that, it’s divine.”

You smile up at him, your heart overflowing with love and gratitude pulling him close, cherishing the moment and the man who means everything to you.

You wrap your legs around him, feeling his hardened length pressing against your thigh, your hunger for him in not yet sated and you eagerly wiggle around reaching down to free his cock.

“Can’t get enough, hm?” he chuckles.

"Mhm, help me take these off," you whisper, tucking at the hem of his swim shorts.

He quickly cast his shorts aside and crawls back over you, leaning in to kiss you, propped up on his elbows. You love how his body changed over the years, it got slightly softer as he let go of the hardships and battles, but lost not a single bit of his strength.

“I want to feel you inside me” you whisper desire lacing your words when his beautiful rock hard cock is finally freed from its confinement.

You reach down to stroke him, his lips grazing your neck, whispering sweet words of adoration and when you feel the precum already leaking from his tip you shiver with delight.

"Would you ride me a bit?" he asks softly, his voice a tender whisper against your skin.

"Who am I to deny you that wish?" you respond with a loving glint in your eye.

He rolls onto his back, effortlessly pulling you on top of him, his hands holding onto your hips, helping you to straddle him.

"Come here," he whispers, his eyes ablaze with desire, pupils blown wide, as you position yourself, sliding up and down his length, spreading your wetness all over him, before lining him up at your entrance.

With the last rays of the setting sun casting a reddish pink glow on your skin, you slowly sink down on his cock, until he bottoms out, relishing the sensation of being filled by him once more.

You both moan, taking a moment to fully enjoy it. You’ve been together for years but the sensation of taking him in completely, feeling yourself stretch around him, is still as good as it was the first time.

"Oh Hunter, you feel so good," you moan, steadying yourself against his chest.

You slowly begin moving up and down his length, relishing the sensation of being so full, his thick cock stretching you in all the right ways. Each movement sends waves of pleasure coursing through your body, igniting a desire within you that only he can still.

As you bounce up and down on his cock, your hair cascades in loose waves around your shoulders, still slightly damp from your last swim and your beautiful breasts bounce with every movement, drawing his gaze like a moth to a flame.

"I love you so much" he whispers, his voice filled with devotion, reveling in the sight of you on top of him, his eyes tracing every curve of your body illuminated by the dying sun. In this moment, he feels like the luckiest man in the galaxy, blessed to have you in his arms. Unable to resist, his hands come up to cup your breasts, his thumbs trailing over your hardened nipples, eliciting a soft gasp from your lips.

"I'll take it from here," he whispers huskily, his voice heavy with desire as he gently but hungrily pushes you onto your back, with ease, positioning himself between your legs and slowly starts thrusting into you. Taking your legs up over his shoulders, he picks up the pace, each movement driving you both closer to the edge of ecstasy.

As he plunges into you with increasing fervor, you become a moaning, whining mess beneath him, lost in the throes of passion. Fortunately, the waves crashing on the nearby rocks dim everything around, preventing your lewd sounds and the squelching of your soaking wet pussy from traveling too far up to the village.

"Hunter, I'm close," you gasp, your voice trembling with need. "Come with me?" You ask him, your eyes locking with his as you plead for release.

He lets go of your legs and comes down over you, propped up on his elbows, his hair cascading around your faces like a veil. With a deep, passionate kiss, he whispers against your lips,

"Cum for me, let me feel that beautiful pussy clenching around my cock" his words send shivers down your spine and when he thrusts deeper, his tip pushing against your cervix, just the way he knows you like it, you feel your body responding eagerly to him.

“Oh…fuck..Hunter”

It takes only a few more of these deep, powerful thrusts until you feel your pussy clenching down on him, the tension in your core reaching its breaking point. With a lewd moan, the delicious heat begins pulsing through your entire body and you're consumed by the intensity of your orgasm. He follows you almost immediately. Before the first wave of ecstasy fully washes over you, you feel him harden even more, his rhythm becoming sloppy and his arousal driving him to the brink.

With one final, deep thrust, he releases himself inside you, filling you up with his hot seed. You feel a surge of warmth as he gasps, his body crashing down against yours, his lips seeking yours in a deep, soulful kiss. In that moment, the world fades away, your mind goes completely blank, all sounds dim around you, leaving only the sensation of your orgasm pulsing through your body and the feeling of his hot skin against yours.

You bask in the afterglow of your shared orgasm, his forehead resting against yours, reveling in the intimacy of the moment. Your bodies are sweaty and you’re panting when you slowly come back to yourselves, the sounds and view of the surroundings returning to your senses.

He leans in to kiss you, his lips conveying a depth of emotion that words could never express. With a soft whisper, he murmurs sweet, loving words that warm your heart and soul.

You revel in the feeling of you bodies pressed together and when his softening cock slowly slides out of you, you feel his cum oozing from your core dripping down into the sand.

“I know you like walking around with my cum leaking out of you, but we should get you cleaned up love”

“Mhm…can’t think…n…can’t walk…Cross took…took all our towels back home” you mumble, completely blissed out and cock dumb.

“Let me take care of you riduur, like I always do” he whispers, looking down at your flushed face and your silly smile with pure love and adoration before he scoops you up into his arms.

You know what he’s about to do. He always carries you into the ocean whenever you have sex on the beach and you love it almost as much as being fucked into oblivion by him.

The water on Pabu is always warm, enveloping you in its soothing embrace as he wades into its depths and you cling to him, your legs wrapped around his waist, exchanging tender kisses as the gentle waves rock you back and forth.

As you float together, you trace the lines of his tattoo on his face, your fingers brushing lightly over his beard before trailing down his chest. You let your hands rest there, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath your touch. He pulls you closer, his arms wrapping around you protectively as you nestle your head in the crook of his neck, his long locks tickling your face in the gentle breeze. In this moment, surrounded by the warmth of the ocean and the tenderness of his embrace, you feel truly at peace.

The sun has set completely when you reluctantly emerge from the water and the cool evening breeze sends shivers down your spine. You quickly make your way to your beach blanket and lie down, the chill of the night air causing your teeth to chatter. Hunter pulls you close, wrapping you tightly in his embrace. With gentle hands, he drapes his soft knit cardigan around your shoulders, cocooning you in its warmth until the trembling subsides.

Nestled against his chest, you watch in awe as more and more stars begin to appear in the night sky, their twinkling lights casting a soft glow over the beach. With each passing moment, the world around you seems to fade away, leaving only the two of you alone in the embrace of the night. In this tranquil moment, wrapped in his arms and surrounded by the beauty of the starlit sky, you feel an overwhelming sense of peace and contentment wash over you that he is able to live this soft and gentle live here on Pabu and that he chose you to be part of it.

“Let’s go home” he whispers “before you start freezing again. And I’m sure Omega got us some leftovers from Shep”

You chuckle.

“Then we better get home before Wrecker finds them”

[cc--2224]

Working Parts

Pairing: Echo x F!Reader

Summary: There was always something about Echo that drew you to him, you had no idea that he'd feel the same way. But when he shares his past with you, you know you want to be there to comfort him in the future.

Warnings: Hurt/Comfort, pregnancy mention, lots of angst, but it's also so soft

Notes: This was written for the @cloneficgiftexchange run by @ghostofskywalker and this fic was written for @jedipoodoo , I hope you enjoy!!

Prompts: "You're okay, I'm right here." ||"I won't leave you." - and you also included that you love stories about parenthood and pregnancy, so I did my best!

Word Count: 3.4k

Read on AO3 Here

Taglist: None, let me know if you'd like to be added!

Masterlist

The first time you saw Echo, he had just disembarked from his ship, visiting his brothers and his sister. You happened to be near the landing port, and you looked over just as he descended the ramp, and from there you knew that you wanted to meet him, to get to know him. 

But you also knew that you weren't really the type to walk up to someone new, especially here. You were new enough to Pabu, the idea of putting yourself out there when you had just come here to hide from the Empire just seemed counter intuitive. It wasn't as if you were in any kind of trouble, after all, you were a mechanic and if anything would be an asset to them, but it seemed safer to stay out of sight, you could think of only a few things worse than being forced into the Empire.

“His name is Echo.” You heard a voice ring out from beside you, making you jump. You turned to your right, the voice had come from another one of the new arrivals, you had only learned that his name was Tech a few weeks prior when he walked into your shop looking for parts for his ship.

“W-What?” Your voice was still flustered from the sudden scare.

“I assumed you would want the name of the person you were so obviously staring at.”

“No, I–” You began to protest before sighing, knowing it was pointless to argue.

Tech waited for you to continue your sentence, but when you didn't, he adjusted his goggles and walked over to greet his brother.

“Like he'd want to meet me..” You muttered to yourself, but almost as soon as Tech made it over to Echo, the latter had turned his head to face you. That was your cue to turn and leave, not wanting to make him uncomfortable with your apparent staring.

~ ~ ~

The second time you saw Echo was a few months following the initial visit. He and his brothers had all come by your shop. Tech had placed another order for his seemingly never-ending tinkering, and the others - whose names you had finally learned - decided to accompany him.

You were surprised to see them all there in your little shop, but especially surprised to see Echo. It seemed that his visits to Pabu were few and far between. 

You did absolutely everything you could to avoid staring. 

When you were busying yourself with re-organizing drawers of miscellaneous parts, you heard your name being called out from behind you. It caused you to jump and knock over a pile of bolts onto the ground.

“Oh kriff, sorry about that.” 

You turned around slowly, trying not to let the embarrassment show in your face, only to be faced with the one you were internally trying to avoid.

“Don’t worry about it.” You said, a bit too shakily..

“That is your name though, right?” He asked, and when you nodded, he smiled. “Good to know, I’m Echo.”

“Nice to meet you.” You forced a smile back.

The tallest of them, Wrecker, wandered up to the front counter to join the two of you, and slapped a hand across Echo’s shoulder.

“Weird you two have never met!” He laughed, “I mean, Echo always just stares at you whenever he sees you, so it’s nice you finally have a chance to talk!” 

“...Thanks, Wreck.” Echo sighed, and looked at you with a slightly guilty expression.

You smiled and shook your head in reassurance to his unspoken apology, knowing you were guilty of the same thing. This almost gave you hope that your desire to get to know him was mutual. Almost.

Before long, the others approached the counter to collect their order and purchase the additional parts they had gathered in your shop. 

As they left, Echo took one last look toward you before ducking out of the building, and you got to work cleaning up the bolts you had knocked over.

Kriff. You sighed to yourself.

~ ~ ~

The time between Echo’s visits seemed longer and longer the more you eventually started getting to know him. You would never admit it out loud, but you even began to miss him when he wasn’t around.

He was kind, and he was quick-witted; he definitely matched his brothers' sarcasm and humour. And when the evening sun shone on him, his eyes almost appeared to glow gold.

It didn't take long for you to completely fall for him, he had a way of speaking that invited you in, he was charming and confident, certainly the type who could have any girl he wanted. 

For that reason, in addition to his frequent trips off-world, you decided not to say anything to him about your feelings. At least you wouldn't pine after him when you didn't have to see him every day, you had figured.

You had put the kettle on one evening and began sorting through your to-do list for the next day, getting lost in your thoughts when a loud knock on the door startled you out of them. 

Cautiously, you walked to the front window, peering out to see who could possibly be visiting, when you saw Echo standing on your front steps, looking around nervously, with his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

You unlocked the door and opened it. 

"Echo? What are you doing here?" You didn’t even realize he was on-world.

"I uh.. was just nearby and wanted to say hi." He was shuffling his feet a little, and his tone was hesitant.

Everything you had thought of his confidence seemed to fizzle away with his words, but still you smiled. 

"Hi," you repeated in greeting.

"Right well.. I should just.." He sighed, "I had a whole idea of what I was going to say but..."

You shook your head, still smiling. "I just put the kettle on, would you like to come in for some tea?" 

He breathed a sigh of relief, "I'd love to."

Echo entered your house slowly, as if he wasn't fully sure if he was actually welcome.

"Make yourself at home," you told him, reassuringly. "Tea should be ready soon."

"Thank you." He sat down on the sofa, taking in his surroundings. 

Your living room was warm and inviting, it certainly felt like you. He smiled, eying some of the photos on the wall.

He knew fairly early on how he felt about you, the fact that you seemed just as nervous as he was when you had first met gave him courage that you might even feel the same way. You were smart, you knew your way around all the working parts of any droid or ship on the planet. Something that he almost felt was humourous, given the fact that it made up most of him too. But more than that, his own darker thoughts figured that meant you’d want nothing to do with him. For that reason, he could never be open about his feelings toward you, but he had enough of hiding it. This revelation was what brought him to your door.

You returned to the living room holding two tea cups, and you set his down in front of him before sitting down on a nearby armchair.

"So what did you have to say?" You asked when you were settled.

"I'm sorry?" He asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"You said you had an idea of something you wanted to say."

"Oh, right I-..." 

He looked down at the teacup.

"I guess I just wanted to talk to you. We’ve been getting to know each other, but I feel like I still don’t know much about you."

You smiled, "Well there's not much to know. I came to Pabu after the Empire began occupying Lothal, opened up my shop, and have been here ever since."

"I see. Not the worst place to escape to," He noted. "Do you er... Anyone special?" 

You could feel blood rise to your cheeks at his question. 

"N-No, not really. Do.. you?" 

"Nah, me neither." His admission brought a feeling of relief to you. He had a sad look as he continued. “Not really sure it’s in my cards. Part of me always kinda wanted a family, especially after meeting Cut and Suu, knowing that some clones out there are living comfortably, but..” He trailed off.

You wanted so badly to comfort him in some way, but you didn’t know how. Anything you thought of saying would only reveal your feelings toward him, and you weren’t really ready to do that.

It grew silent with neither of you knowing what to say.

Eventually, you spoke up, figuring the best thing to do was to change the subject.

"What do you think of Pabu?" You asked him.

He thought about his answer, then he looked at you earnestly, with a spark in his eye that you couldn't quite place. 

"Honestly? I know I’m gone for long periods of time, but… It's getting harder and harder to leave." 

"You could stay." You blurted out without thinking, and you quickly tried to recover, "I mean, since the others live here and all.." 

You mentally facepalmed at your outburst.

But instead of poking fun at you, you heard a quiet chuckle.

"Maybe I will, after my job out there is done."

Your curiosity got the better of you. “What is it that you do when you’re away?”

“We help lost clones find places where they can be safe and comfortable, and above all, free.” 

You smiled, “That’s really noble.”

“It’s the least we can do. Rex and I both feel like we’re only alive today because of the blood our brothers spilled for us, so it’s only fair that we use that to help the ones still out there.”

“What was the war like for you?”

He paused and looked down at his cup. “It’s kind of hard to say.”

You waited to see if he would continue.

“It took me and my squad a long time to even pass the training drill to leave Kamino. They used to call us the Domino squad because we always seemed to fall one after the other. When we did finally get deployed, we were sent to an outpost on the Rishi moon and in our first real battle, we lost three of our men.”

“I see…”

“After that though, Fives and I were taken into the 501st under Captain Rex, where we eventually were made ARC Troopers, but after that was the Citadel.”

“What happened?”

“I got blown up.” He stated, his tone was laced with almost dry humour but he wasn’t laughing. “Seps got me and turned me into, well, this. And now I’m here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful that Rex and the boys found me on Skako Minor, but I still get nightmares about it sometimes.”

He looked over at you, and his expression turned sympathetic after he saw how upset you looked.

“I guess I unloaded there, sorry.”

“Don’t be, I’m glad you told me. I just wish I knew what to say.”

He smiled a half smile at you, “I appreciate you listening.”

Without really thinking, you moved closer to him, wrapping your arms around his neck in a tight embrace. You stayed there for a moment, and soon you felt his arm reach around you, holding you there.

~ ~ ~

After that night, your relationship with Echo changed. He trusted you, you knew that just from the fact that he was willing to tell you everything about his past. 

When he’d arrive on Pabu, he always met you with an embrace, and more times than not, he’d show up at your house to discuss his missions and any news you had over a cup of tea.

And one of those nights, he had finally confessed his feelings for you. 

He didn’t work up to it in any sense. Instead, when you opened the door to let him inside, he stood on the doorstep, holding a bouquet of flowers out to you.

“What’s this?” You said smiling at the gift.

“I love you.” He announced, a faint blush growing across his cheeks, he was slightly shaking, but his eyes were serious.

“You- What?” Was all you could manage to say in reply. You heard him, but you couldn’t believe what you were hearing.

“I have for a while now. I knew from the start that I had feelings for you, but.. Ever since the night where I told you about, well, everything, I knew how deep those feelings were. If you don’t… Feel the same way, that’s okay, but I needed you to know.”

“Echo…” You managed to say, quietly. “I do feel the same.”

“What?” Echo was surprised, and he immediately believed he misheard you.

“Come in, please.” You said, and all but pulled him into your house. “I love you too.”

“But why? I.. Since when?”

“The same time as you.” You sighed and stood closer to him. “I’ve always had feelings for you, since we met. And when you opened up to me, when you trusted me with your past, I couldn’t ignore it anymore, but I always thought I was alone in it, so I couldn’t bring myself to tell you.”

He smiled softly and placed his hand on your cheek, drawing your face closer to his. 

“You’re not alone. I’m right here with you.” He told you before he closed the distance, pressing his lips to yours, and you wrapped your arms around him, smiling into the kiss.

Echo broke the kiss before you both ran out of air, but still he held you close to him, pressing his forehead against yours.

“I’m relieved that you feel the same way, but I would understand if you didn’t, with me being this.”

“Oh shush,” you told him. “You’ll need a mechanic to keep everything in order.”

He smiled at you before placing a kiss against your lips once again.

~ ~ ~

You felt him tossing in the bed next to you. Another nightmare, you thought to yourself. 

He was getting them more frequently, and it worried you. It had been some time since he was rescued from Skako Minor, but the memories he had of his life before that had never quite faded. Memories of a life he could never quite return to. And you knew that something else was causing him stress. His nightmares grew more frequent ever since you had told him that you were pregnant. 

He was happy to be on Pabu with you, to start a family with you. But you knew it was still a hard adjustment for him. Not just living on Pabu, but everything since waking up from the stasis chamber he was put in. Everything that he had told you about all those years ago still haunted him to this day, and you wished that there was some way that you could help, but he had always told you that just being there with him was enough.

All you could really do in these moments was to try and calm him down, gently ease him out of his nightmares, try to get him to talk to you about them when he woke up, but sometimes it was easier said than done. 

You lay next to him, rubbing his back gently guiding your hand up and down next to the cybernetics, attempting to soothe him from his nightmare without waking him. He stirred gently under your touch before his eyes fluttered open.

"Fives!" He yelled as he lifted himself up off the bed. 

He took a moment to look around, eyes adjusting to the dark room.

"Shh.. You're okay." You whispered to him. 

He fell back onto the bed, turning to look at the ceiling before turning to face you.

"You should be sleeping." He said quietly, "I didn't wake you, did I?"

You shook your head, "No, I was already awake." 

He sighed and pulled you close to him, you adjusted yourself so you could rest your back against his chest, and he held you there, with a hand rubbing your belly gently. 

"I dreamt about the Citadel." He began. "Only instead of me getting hurt, it was Fives." 

You could feel his breath get shakier, and you intertwined your fingers with his. 

"I couldn't protect him. I couldn't protect any of them. Fives, Cutup, Droidbait, Hevy... I'm the only one left." 

You could tell from his voice that this wasn't entirely about his nightmare, and you turned back around to face him.

"Echo.." You gently reached your hand up to rest it on the side of his face.

He wouldn't meet your gaze, his eyes became fixed on your belly.

"What if I can't protect our child?" He asked quietly. 

"You can't think like that, I know you'll do anything for them." 

"But what if I can't?" He sighed, "You deserve someone you can rely on, someone strong to stand beside you. A good father for your children."

"And I have him." You reassured him. "Echo, everything you've described is you. I know you're afraid, and it's okay to be. In a couple months, we'll have someone else to look out for, but I know we'll be able to do this together. I didn't know them, but I know that Fives, Hevy, everyone would be so proud of you, for everything you've made it through, and everything that is coming our way." 

He sighed in frustration, clearly not hearing your words. “I won’t even be able to hold them properly without hurting them. How am I supposed to take care of a child?”

“Because you’re not doing it alone. Echo, I’m still here. I’ll always be here, we’ll be in this together, just like we always have.”

You pressed your forehead against his. "I'm right here with you." 

Echo nudged his forehead into yours gently, and pressed a kiss against your lips. 

"Thank you, mesh'la. You always know what I need to hear. I'm.. sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry. Anytime you need to hear it, I'll be here. I won't leave you."

~ ~ ~

If there was one thing Echo didn’t need to worry about, it was whether or not he would be a good father. 

He was nervous about it, of course. His nerves couldn’t be calmed until the moment he looked into the big brown eyes, his eyes, on this tiny person. His insecurities and worries all melted away from that moment onward.

He had a bit of practice with Omega, but fatherhood really came naturally to him. You remembered hearing a joke once that it was the Mandalorian genes, but to you, it was just how Echo was. He was always kind, gentle, and caring, and these traits became even stronger once your child was born. 

He was a perfect father, perhaps a little overly cautious at times, but caring all the same. You remembered laughing at his idea to wrap a soft blanket around his scomp link so that it didn’t dig into your child’s skin, but he did it anyway.

And he was proud that his child had such a loving family, the other batchers became the best uncles overnight. Hunter and Wrecker immediately took to doting on and fawning over your child, Tech took to adding all kinds of child safety measures to the Marauder, and Omega was ecstatic to finally be an aunt. 

You knew that there was still a part of Echo that he tried his best to keep hidden that longed to see the other members of the Domino squad be part of your little loving family, to watch your child grow up, to play games with them, to teach them to fly, to tell them stories about their dad that even you haven’t heard, to just be there, to be alive, but all you could do was reassure him that, wherever they are, they were looking out for him, and the new addition. 

From there, everything seemed to fall into place. Everything made sense. 

Echo had told you once, all that time ago that he had wanted a family of his own, a dream of his and yours that became reality with you by his side. 

The two of you were working parts, you helped each other move and grow, and you would continue to do so for as long as you could.

[merlincmgirl]

Sensory Deprivation - Hunter x FReader - NSFW

Summary: After speaking with Phee, you decide you want to try out something new with Hunter.

Characters: Hunter, Phee (briefly)

Pairing: Hunter x F!Reader

Word Count: 7,272

Warnings: PinV sex, fingering, oral sex (female & male receiving), 69 position, riding, blindfold, sensory kink

Authour's Note: I'm actually quite pleased with this one.

Admittedly, you weren’t sure how this conversation came around, but you were glad that it did. Because it gave you so many new ideas to try out with Hunter.

Phee leaned back in her chair, a wide-brimmed cocktail glass in her hand as she recounted the tales of her and Tech. “I knew he was creative but, ooh boy! He really out did himself!” Phee chuckled, making your face heat up even further than it had been.

“I take it you had a very satisfying night then” you retorted, sipping on your own drink. The chatter around you in the beach bar on Pabu helped cover your risqué conversation. Well you hoped it did.

“Very. Who knew that a trooper’s helmet could work as a blind fold. They can just turn off the visual fields and it all goes dark” she smirked, sending you a wink.

“What? I didn’t know it could do that!” you gasped, surprised at this useful bit of knowledge that she was sharing with you. Straight away your imagination began to run wild, imagining Hunter placing his helmet over your head, your vision going dark as he ran his hands over your body, teasing you with his dark, silky voice. You reached to take another sip of your drink, throat suddenly parched. Phee smirked at you knowingly, and you ducked your heated face away from her.

“Yeah, it heightens the senses, you know. Tech promised me that I can blindfold him next. Maybe take away his hearing, wear some headphones to muffle everything out” Phee explained, humming in thought as she aired her suggestions out to you. As much as you loved Phee and Tech, and you were so happy that they had found each other, you really didn’t want to know any more.

While she thought about what could be done, you cast your mind back to your own trooper. Just the thought of Hunter slipping his bandana over your eyes had your hand curling in your lap. To be lost in the smell of him surrounding you in his bunk, not being able to see as he kissed down your body. You could just imagine how it would feel to turn the tables on him. Spreading him out like a feast before you, taking away his sight with his own bandana or helmet. Perhaps not his helmet though, you enjoyed watching all the beautiful expressions that crossed his face as pleasure wracked through his body.

But maybe it would be too much for him. Hunter’s senses was extra sensitive, and you had been there with him when they hindered him as much as they helped. There was times when he had to lie down, head in your lap as you helped soothe him from the migraines that was caused by his sensitivity to light and sound. Sometimes you’d find him grimacing and coughing as you walked past shops or restaurants that had certain smells that agitated his nose. More than once you had turned off most of the electrical things in your house to help him not get overloaded by the electromagnetic pulses that he could detect. So perhaps during the times when you were intimate it might be too much for him to push his heightened senses even further.

You must have been quiet for too long because you were pulled from your thoughts by Phee laying her hand on your arm. “I mean you must have tried it surely, a man with heightened senses. That’s a minefield of kinks to explore” Phee stated, spotting the curious look on your face.

Blushing heavier at her probing, you shook your head. “No… it’s not something we’ve ever discussed” you shrugged, looking away from her knowing eyes.

“If it’s something you both want, maybe you should” she suggested, sending you a small smile that you couldn’t help but return.

----------

The conversation with Phee stayed in your head for the next few days, and you couldn’t help but want to do more research on it. Tech had picked up on you already pouring over a datapad and offered to help, but this was something you definitely didn’t want the intelligent clone’s help with. You didn’t think you would be able to talk to Tech about discovering kinks with his own brother. Or look him in the eye ever again. No, that would be too awkward for everyone involved.

“Still pouring over that datapad?”

You jumped at the deep rumble that came from behind you, looking up and instantly having your breath taken away. Hunter stood in the doorway, arms crossed and leaning his shoulder against the frame. He had a soft affectionate, yet teasing, look on his face as he smiled at you. He was gorgeous. The sight of him enough to have you forgetting what he said.

The smile widened over his handsome face as he stepped into the room, coming over to lean against the back of the chair you were sprawled on. You angled the screen away from him but looked up at him, his hair fell around his face and you quickly tucked it back into place behind his ear.

“I said, are you still pouring over that datapad?” he grinned, running a hand down your shoulder.

“Oh! I was. But if you need anything, this can always wait” you replied, blushing slightly at being caught so distracted by him. No doubt he could hear how your heart raced, the little changes in your body’s signals that highlighted just how much he affected you.

“I appreciate it cyare, but I just wanted to check up on you. What’s been taking up all your attention?” he asked, fingers twisting around a strand of your hair that had fallen out of place.

There was no hiding the flush that crept along your face at that question. He raised an eyebrow at your reaction, hearing your heart jump at his words.

“Just a bit of research, it doesn’t matter” you hurriedly said, internally grimacing at the way your voice went higher and the way you scrambled around to shove the datapad out of view. God, you lied even worse than the clones!

“Uhuh” he hummed, taking your hand and pulling you out of the chair. He quickly stole your spot, and tugged you back down onto his lap. You swung your legs over his and left them dangling off the side of the arm rest. His hand wrapped around your lower back, the other squeezing your knee. “Come on, cyare. You can do better than that” he teased, pulling you even closer to his warmth.

You groaned, burying your head into his chest. If only the ground would open up and swallow you so you could avoid this conversation with him. His warmth could be felt through his civvies and it helped relax you slightly as you leant into him. Was it worth discussing this with him? The kink had certainly caught your attention, but you were unsure how Hunter would react. Perhaps he wouldn’t feel the same, or maybe he would laugh at you, or feel disgusted by your thoughts. There was so many ways it could go wrong.

“Cyare?” he hummed, as you got lost in your own thoughts. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to” he comforted, frowning as he felt the way you tensed in his hold and how your heart raced for a completely different reason than before. He stroked soothing circles against your thigh and back, hoping you would understand that he was happy to just be here and hold you.

Trailing your hand up to his chest, you began to draw absent patterns onto his broad pecs, trying to find a way to word it so that Hunger could understand what had kept you so distracted these last few days. The gesture was calming to you as well as him, as you nodded to yourself, taking in a deep breath before you began.

“I met Phee for a drink a few days ago” you started, tracing the Bad Batch symbol into the shirt beneath your hands. Hunter hummed in remembrance but didn’t say anything else, waiting for you to carry on. “We got talking and she was telling me about… stuff with Tech” you told him, biting your lip as nerves bubbled in your stomach.

“Okay… what else, mesh’la?” he grimaced, he really didn’t want to hear about his younger brother’s sex life but forged on anyway. Something was on your mind, and he was determined to help you through it.

“She mentioned that… er… I uh thought… she-she mentioned that Tech had used his helmet to take away her sight. That it was part of sensory deprivation and how much she enjoyed it” you stuttered, the words falling out of your mouth in a jumbled mess.

You could feel Hunter stiffen beneath you, his hands tightening just slightly against you to keep you pressed against him. Looking up, you noticed that he wasn’t looking down at you, instead staring off to the far distance with a surprised look on his face.

“And I started to wonder what that would be like, because she seemed to enjoy it a lot. So I started researching it and honestly Hunter, there’s a lot of things that relates to sensory deprivation. It’s a very interesting topic and I couldn’t stop the thought of us trying it out. And I know that your senses are heightened so we don’t have to try it. I don’t want you to become overwhelmed-” you rambled, words coming faster and faster as you panicked, before Hunter pressed his lips to yours, silencing you.

Hunter slid his hand up your back to grip the nape of your neck, stilling you as he pressed a kiss to the corner of your mouth before nipping at your bottom lip. It had the desired affect of you gasping and he wasted no time slipping his tongue into your mouth, swallowing any more of your noises.

Pulling away, he rested your foreheads together, eyes closed tightly. You couldn’t help but grip onto his shirt, fingers tangled in the material as you both breathed heavily against each other. As you went to open your mouth again to speak, he stopped you. “Take a breath, love” he said, shaking his head.

You did so, chest becoming less tight after your panicked explanation and Hunter’s kiss. Taking a few more, you began to relax against his chest, cuddling further into him.

“Good girl” he praised, squeezing and massaging the back of your neck with his large, warm hand.

That was just unfair. How did he expect you to not be affected by that? You felt heat rush through you and your thighs tensed at the feeling of you getting wet just from his words. Hunter must have smelt your arousal because his fingers tightened slightly on your knee and he took in a deeper breath.

“Now, is this what has been on your mind for the last few days?” he asked, hand coming round to cup your cheek and pull your gaze to his. You nodded, unable to look away from those dark, mesmerising eyes. “You should have said something, love. You can always come to me with anything, you know that” he murmured, thumb stroking the delicate skin underneath your eye. It had your eyes fluttering closed as you leaned into his hand. “In fact, I think I’d like to try that out now” he said, voice dropping huskily as his hand slid higher up your thigh.

“Really?” you breathed, eyes tearing themselves open to look into his darkening eyes. It had your breath catching in your throat as you thought of all the possibilities that you had once thought impossible, was now very much an option for you to try out with your Sergeant.

“Of course cyar’ika, but I want to talk about it first. If we’re going to do this, then I want to make sure we’re on the same page. Know what we both want and need and when to stop before it gets too much” he insisted, voice firm but gentle. A variation of the voice he used while in command that said there would be no arguments, but softened just for you.

“I agree, I don’t want any of us, especially you, to get overwhelmed. It wouldn’t be fun then if it became too much” you nodded, reaching to trace the tattoo across his face before turning to the datapad in your hand. You had forgotten you were even holding it before Hunter kissed you.

“Hit me with it, cyare” Hunter smiled, relaxing further back into the chair. It caused his legs to widen even further and you reached out to grip his shirt once more. His amusement was clear to see as his smile widened.

“Okay, I’ve been doing some research and there’s a number of different ways to take away your senses. These include the common ones such as blindfold, ear plugs, gags, binders etc., there is also things such as nose plugs and the like that will stop your sense of smell, interestingly enough” you reported, going through the research you had already collected on the subject. You showed him a number of toys that you had found that could be used on your datapad.

He hummed, letting you continue to tell him what you had found out.

“There is also the sensation of taste, and most sites suggested food to heighten your senses, rather than take anything away. However, I think we’d need more time to prepare, I don’t want to be explaining to the others why our bedsheets are so messy with food. Especially as we’ve been telling Omega she can’t eat in bed, that conversation would just be too awful” you explained, shaking your head at the thought of having to lie to Omega about this.

“Agreed, so I think we should decide on who wants to try it first” Hunter suggested, bringing you back to the topic at hand. He loved how thorough you were in your research, wanting to make sure that he was cared for and that it would be just as fun for him. Your care and devotion to him, to his comfort, just made him fall in love with you even more. Taking in a deep breath of your scent, now tinged with your arousal, he could feel his cock begin to twitch in his pants.

“Would… would this be something you would be interested in?” you ventured, biting your lip as you looked up at him through your eyelashes. “You’re the one with the heightened senses. Do you think you would be okay with one getting taken away and the others heightened even more?” you wondered, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and playing with the strands of his dark hair.

He paused, thinking through what it would mean for him. He knew his senses better than anyone, he knew his own limitations and just how affected they would be if taken away. Most of the time, his senses were always on alert, ready to be utilised in any and every situation. It would be nice to not have to think about that for a while, to just be able to relax into you.

“It’s not something I’ve ever thought about but… I can’t deny that I really want to try it out with you” he admitted, leaning back into your hand that was carding through his hair.

You felt the weight of Hunter’s trust and faith in you just then. It wasn’t often he allowed himself to be vulnerable, only ever around his family. So to be showed that level of love and trust made you feel quite heady. Smiling softly, you leaned in to press a gentle kiss to his full lips, feeling them return the gesture in kind before he pulled away from you.

“So, what kind of things are we talking about here?” he asked, glancing back down at your datapad that had fallen into your lap.

Grasping it again, you quickly pulled your research back up. “Well, we could go through the different senses, see which one is more appealing to you and which would be a good starting point for us” you murmured, leaning the datapad on your knees, determined to keep stroking through his luxurious hair.

“Fine with me cyare” he chuckled, stroking up and down your thigh with his warm, calloused hand. With each upward stroke he got higher and higher up your thigh.

“What about smell? We could find something so you won’t smell me while-” you suggested, biting your lip as you researched what could be done as you wriggled, getting into a more comfortable position on his lap as you let him play with your leg.

“No. I love being able to smell you, smell exactly what happens when I kiss you just here. When I whisper exactly what I want to do with you” he teased, bringing his fingers up to run them tortuously slow over the sensitive spot on your neck that always pulled a small gasp and a shudder from you.

“O-okay then, not smell” you breathed, as it was becoming a lot harder to keep your thoughts straight with Hunter’s little touches and his seductive voice whispering into your ear. “What about a blindfold? Would that be okay for you?” you asked, pulling your focus back onto the discussion that you were having. It was important to not get distracted as you spoke about the limits that both of you had.

“I don’t need to see you to know exactly what I do to you, sweetheart” he chuckled lowly, hand slipping to rest just above the curve of your ass, the other coming up to cup your cheek and brush his thumb over your cheekbone.

“You’re making it really difficult to concentrate you know?” you grumbled, gulping back the saliva that pooled in your mouth and ignoring the flush that raced through you.

He hummed, a smirk pulling at his lips at that. “I think we’ve found a winner” he murmured, leaning forward to press a kiss to your heated cheek.

“But… but we haven’t discussed limits or what you want to do” you protested weakly, eyes sliding closed as you nuzzled into him.

“Do you remember my safeword?” he asked, smiling slightly at your words. He knew he would be in safe hands with you. Nobody had cared for him just like you. Always making sure he was comfortable, he was fed, and happy and safe. His brothers and sister loved him, just like he loved them, but with you, it was so different. What the two of you had was special and he couldn’t imagine having this connection with anyone else. No, in his future, he could see only you.

“Of course I do!” you insisted, grimacing at his choice of safeword. “Tarkin” you spat out, hatred filling you for what he had done to the Bad Batch and the rest of the clones. “I don’t know why you chose that one” you grumbled, shaking your head at him.

“Because mesh’la, I can guarantee, if that word comes up in our sexy times together, I will go softer than a rotten meiloorun in an instant” he reminded, making you let out a small huff of laughter. He was right, he was a sure mood killer. “So, if it gets too much, I’ll say it. I trust you. Do you trust me to know when I need to use my safeword?” he assured, pulling away to cup your face in his hands, looking at you with such a tender expression it made your heart clench.

“I trust you with my life” you vowed.

Hunter let out a small groan and leaned forward to kiss you, unable to hold back at your words. He caressed your lips with his, prising your mouth open so he could lick inside, groaning louder as the taste of you burst against his tongue. He couldn’t help but close his eyes as he thread his hands to the nape of your neck, tilting your head to deepen the kiss.

When the need to breathe became too much, you pulled away, leaning your forehead against his. You were both panting, breath mixed between you as you pressed as close as you possibly could against him. Angling your head to the side so he could kiss along your neck, an errant thought popped into your head. “What about the others?” you gasped, closing your eyes against the feeling of his stubble brushing against your neck.

He grazed his teeth over your pulse point, thrilled to feel it flutter underneath his tongue as he soothed the mark he left. “We have the house to ourselves, everyone else is out” he assured, kissing the patch of skin next to it and beginning a new mark for you to wear.

“Oh” you breathed, relaxing into his hold. Raking your fingers through his hair, you tugged on his dark strands lightly, feeling the way he tensed up underneath you at the action. “We should take this to the bedroom” you suggested, returning your lips to his, unable to not kiss him and drinking in the darkened, lust-filled look in his eyes. Matched with the dark tattoo spread across half his face, it made heat pool in your stomach.

Hunter gently guided you up off his lap, breaking the kiss and chuckling softly at your whine in disappointment. But as soon as he was on his feet in front of you, he scooped you up, wrapping his strong arms underneath your ass and lifting you up.

You couldn’t help the small squeak of surprise at his bold movement, his show of strength easy to see as he carried you like you weighed nothing to him. Wrapping your legs around his slutty little waist and your arms around his neck, you held on tight. He growled playfully at you before attaching his lips to yours once more, swallowing your soft whimpers and moans as he guided you both to the bedroom.

Licking into your mouth, he pressed you into the wall next to the door, teasing you and drawing out your own tongue against his own. He didn’t pull away, not even to press the button to open the door. As soon as it was open, he was stepping into your shared room, dropping you onto the mattress and taking in your sprawled, flushed body against his sheets. He groaned, palming himself through his pants as your heated look met his.

“Kriff Hunter!” you cursed, tugging off your shirt and throwing it to the floor. “You don’t know what you do to me” you breathed, pulling him towards you with a tug of his own shirt. You twisted the material around your fingers as you climbed onto your knees, eager to touch his bare skin. To feel him against you.

“Oh I think I do, mesh’la” he smirked, helping you to slide the restricting material off his top half. “Because you make me feel the exact same” he admitted, hands landing on your hips to steady you.

You smiled, pressing kisses along his jaw and neck as you ran your hands down his torso, feeling the sharp edges and hard muscles that defined his chest.

Hunter let out a quiet sigh, rolling his head back to give you more room to leave just as many marks as you wanted on his bronzed skin. As your fingers traced around his dusty pink nipples, he couldn’t help but squeeze your hips tight as he fought the moan that was trying to escape his lips.

Deciding to tease him, tracing over the dark skeleton tattoo on one side of his body, you slid your fingers lower. Running them through the soft hair that ran from his belly button and into his pants, you couldn’t help but tug lightly on the hair.

“Fuck cyare!” he grunted, biting his lip as you pulled away to look at him. “Do that again and I’m fucking you through this mattress! Forget the blindfold” he warned, heat searing his nerves at the small move. His senses already felt on overdrive, he could hear your racing heart, see the fluttering of your pulse in your neck, and smell your arousal in the air as it leaked from you.

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time” you giggled, palming him through the front of his pants. He let out a choked breath as his head landed on your shoulder. You could feel just how hot and hard he was underneath your hand. Licking your lips, you hooked your fingers underneath his pants and tugged them down, pushing them to his knees and letting him step out of them. It left him in tight underwear that left nothing to the imagination, as you grazed his prominent bulge with a light drag of your fingernails.

Hunter growled, hand coming to grip your wrist to still you.

“Get on the bed, Sergeant” you ordered him, stepping off the bed to slip your own pants down your legs and leaving you in your underwear.

Hunter did as he was told, climbing on the bed and scooting up to the top of the bed so he could lean against the headboard. He shoved a couple of pillows behind him, getting comfortable as he watched you undress. His mouth watered as you were left in just your bra and panties, showing the beautiful body he couldn’t help but want to devour. He wanted to press kisses along every inch of your skin, to mark you as much as you allowed and touch you until you were screaming his name.

Straddling him, you couldn’t help but smirk at the almost black eyes trailed over your body, landing on your heaving breasts as you took in deep breaths to steady yourself. Reaching behind you, he watched in awe as your breasts tumbled out of their encasement. Hearing your soft sigh at having the pressure gone from you, he brought a hand up to your breast, massaging and rubbing the red marks left behind by your bra.

“So kriffing gorgeous, cyare. Can I taste you? Please?” he rasped out, thumb gliding across a nipple.

“Hold on trooper” you murmured, taking a grip of his hand and bringing them between you both to wait. “I want to cover your eyes. Can I use your bandana?” you requested, brushing his hair away from the front of his bandana.

“Yes, mesh’la. Use whatever you want” he nodded, hands coming to land on your thighs so he wouldn’t be tempted to touch your breasts just yet, as they hung in front of his face.

“Thank you, my love” you smiled, kissing his head before sliding his red Clone Force 99 bandana from his head. You carefully positioned it over his eyes, making sure they were covered before you tied it behind his head.

You waved your hand in front of his face as he chuckled, kneading your upper thighs. “I can feel you moving cyare, but I can’t see you” he reported, smile dancing along his lips.

“Does it feel okay?” you frowned, checking in with him to make sure it wasn’t too tight or too jarring for him.

“Feels perfect, cyare. Good job” he praised, feeling smug at the fresh wave of arousal he could smell at his words.

With his eyesight gone, his other senses came alive. He could feel the warm, humid air of Pabu filter in through the open window, sense the current of electricity running through the house and the irritating noise of the tap dripping in the refresher. But it all paled in comparison to you. The feel of your hot skin pressing against his chest, the way he could feel your thighs beginning to clench around his own. Hear how your heart raced and the small gulp you gave as saliva pooled in your mouth as you ran your gaze over him. Could smell just how sweet you smelled as slick collected and soaked the material of your panties, smell just how he was affecting you with words alone.

He was surprised when he felt your hands guide his to your chest, encouraging him to feel and play to his heart’s content. Not willing to refuse you anything and meet his own needs, Hunter squeezed the breasts in his hands before pressing kisses around the swell of them. Your breath stuttered in your throat, Hunter could hear it as he continued to massage your beautiful tits in his hands.

“Hunter!” you groaned, hips rolling against his bulge as you tried to resist pulling on his hair. The feeling of his talented mouth laying kisses to your breasts but not going any further had you feeling very frustrated.

Chuckling, he guided his mouth to one of your nipples, enveloping the nub into the warm, wet cavern of his mouth. Running his tongue over the pert nipple, flicking the bud over and over until it had you squirming in his lap. He could feel the wet heat seep into his own briefs, the thought enough to have him twitching beneath you.

Feeling Hunter suck on your breasts, you rocked against him, hand threading through his hair and tugging. The moan he let out around you had your own eyes sliding shut as his hand came up to give your other breast some attention. After a few more moments he switched, taking your other bud into his mouth and doing the exact same thing. The air hit your wet nipple and you felt your core tighten at the feeling of it pebbling.

Pulling away from Hunter, you helped lie him down fully on the bed, getting him comfortable against the pillows underneath him. When he was stretched out before you, you licked your lips, taking in his rugged, handsome look. His cheeks were flushed pink, your marks scattered along his neck and shoulder, and you couldn’t help but admire them as they accompanied his dark tattoo that trailed all the way down to his toes. Gods, he was absolutely gorgeous.

You pressed a kiss to his heart, making sure to be tender and soft in your affection. However it didn’t last as you ran your tongue down his tattoo, tracing the design until you reached the hemline of his briefs. He shuddered at every swipe of your tongue against his sensitive skin, nerves firing back at him at the feel of you.

Hunter moaned, chest pressing against your lips and arching into you as he felt your hot breath land on his bulge. He felt his skin prickle at the soft caress of your lips against his sweat slick skin and he couldn’t help but drift his hands into your hair.

You tugged down the hem of his briefs before pressing delicate, teasing kisses to his hips, licking along the dark tattooed skin on his left side, before returning to give his tanned, bare side the same attention. “Hunter” you breathed, dragging your nose above the coarse wiry hair that surrounded his cock. Hearing his loud gasp and feeling the slight pull on your hair, you know you had his attention. “I want to taste you but I also want you to eat me out. Would that be too much for you?” you told him, wanting to make sure he was comfortable and well within his limits.

“Fuck! Yes mesh’la, yes! Let me taste you, please. You smell so good, can’t wait to bury my face in your tasty little pussy” he growled, hips twitching at your teasing touches. He slid his hands down your smooth, warm skin as you knelt before him and slipped your own panties off. Hunter helped to guide you as much as he could so you could get into position over the top of him. It would have been easier if he could see what he was doing, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him from pulling you as close as possible.

Hovering over his face, he could smell just how close your core was to him, the smell so much stronger and sweeter now. He could almost taste the delicious arousal that would flood his tongue just as soon as you lowered yourself down onto him.

However, he seemed to forget just how talented and amazing your own mouth was, as he let out a loud shout of your name as you wrapped your lips around his weeping cock. He was of average length but thick, and he stretched your mouth to near it’s limit as you took him in to you. Feeling his stomach muscles quiver underneath you, you began to gently suck and run your tongue over his shaft, tasting the pre cum that had already begun to leak from the tip.

Your Sergeant couldn’t help the whine that escaped him at the sudden heat that surrounded his cock as you took him into your mouth. It felt like he was on fire. With every strip of drool that ran from the corners of your mouth and pooled at his base, it felt like he was being burnt. The sensation of being taken into the wet, hot cavern heightened even more by not being able to see.

When he could gather enough thoughts to reciprocate, he pulled your hips down onto his lower face and began to devour you. He wasted no time running his tongue through your folds, collecting the slick that you had produced and swallowing it into his mouth. His agile tongue then flicked over your bundle of nerves, causing a moan to echo around his cock, the vibrations almost enough to send him over the edge. Fuck, he had never been so close just from a blow job before, but the way the blindfold made him extra sensitive was sending a tingling down his spine.

He wasn’t an experimental commando for nothing, as he decided to push through the overload on his senses, as he fought against the distraction of your mouth to make you feel good. Pulling away to spit slightly at your clenching opening, he ran his fingers through the mess before pushing two of his fingers into your entrance. You groaned at the intrusion, hips thrusting back into his face as he stretched you and curled them just right.

You cried out, pulling away from your trooper’s cock to take in a deep lungful of air. Hunter was thrusting his fingers into your cunt, groaning softly at the sight of your greedy hole swallowing his fingers and trying to pull them further into you. You couldn’t help but rest your head on his hip, panting heavily as you began pumping his shaft, giving the head a little twist with every upwards stroke. Your other hand came to cup his balls, playing with them gently. It had him shouting out your name, the noise echoing in the quiet room as he almost bucked his hips into your face. It seemed your clone was feeling extra sensitive tonight.

Enjoying listening to his sweet sounds, you gritted your teeth when you felt him take your slit into his mouth, sucking slightly on the swollen nub and muffling his noises. You wanted more. Wanted to hear just how good you made him feel. So you removed your hand away from his length and swallowed his cock all the way down to the base, his hair tickling your nose and making you groan.

Hunter’s teeth grazed against your clit as he felt you swallow him down whole, the vibrations of your groan causing white hot pleasure shooting through his body. It felt like he was going to release straight down your throat, feeling the tell tale signs of his stomach tightening and his balls drawing up. But he didn’t want that, he wanted to feel your tight entrance around him, strangling his cock as you both writhed against each other as your releases hit you. Reaching down, he pulled on your hair, tugging you away from his twitching cock.

You let out a few heavy pants before you turned to pout at him. Oh, you forgot he couldn’t see you. But somehow, he knew exactly what you were doing because he chuckled, head slamming back onto the pillows beneath him.

“Fuck, don’t pout mesh’la, I nearly emptied down your throat” he grumbled out, hands squeezing your ass cheeks and keeping your arousal at a low level simmer, ready for him to build you up once he had gained more control of himself.

“Why didn’t you?” you complained, turning around to climb up his body and resting your palms against his pecs.

“Because I want to fuck your tight little pussy instead. Can’t wait to know what you feel like around my cock like this” he admitted, tugging you down to him. You whined, craving the feel of his cock pressing into you, the initial burn as you took him quickly settling into liquid heat running through your veins.

“Fine, but only because I want it too” you grumbled, pressing a kiss to his lips. You deepened the kiss, letting out a pleased noise as the taste of both of you mixed together, just like it should be.

He chuckled, feeling the heat radiating off you as you straddled his hips, his cock brushing through your folds and against your clit. It felt like lava was almost dripping on him as your arousal leaked out of you onto his cock. He reached down to slick himself up, spreading you along his shaft until he was ready to notch himself at your entrance.

Pressing in, you whined against his mouth, the burn of him filling you and stretching you around him had you clutching onto his shoulders to keep yourself steady.

“That’s it perfect girl, you’ve done so well. Just a little more, cyare” he encouraged, pushing into you with a steady and sure pace. He should have opened you up more, he thought ruefully, but the both of you were so worked up, it was like you needed to be joined together.

When he had bottomed out inside of you, Hunter clenched his jaw, and you could see the muscle flutter in his cheek as he kept a tight hold of your hips. You could just imagine how it felt for him, your tight, hot heat must feel exquisite surrounding his sensitive cock. Just as good as it felt for his length to finally fill you, pressing into all those spots inside of you that you couldn’t quite reach on your own.

Taking a shuddering breath in, you pushed yourself up from his chest and placed your hands on his strong, broad chest. Knowing he would keep you steady, you began to lift your hips in minute heights before dropping back onto his cock, slowly rising higher and higher until he nearly slipped out of your core.

Hunter bit back a huff of frustration as you teased him, never going as fast as he needed or giving you both what you wanted. No this was an unrushed pace, maintaining the pleasure that had been coiling in both your cores but never letting it build up to a proper release.

“Cyare! Please!” he grit out, hands tightening on your hips to help increase your pace.

“Patience, Sergeant” you teased, dropping your head to your chest as you began to roll your hips against his.

At the end of his tether as all his senses were sounding off, he planted his feet into the mattress before thrusting up into your tight heat on one of your downward movements.

“Hunter!” you wailed, the thrust nailing that spot inside of you that had you clenching around him tightly. You collapsed against his chest, nails digging into his broad shoulders as he continued to snap his hips up into yours at a brutal pace. It seemed you had pushed your commando to his limit.

“Kriff! Fuck! Oh love, you’re so tight. So good… so good around me” he muttered, slamming you down onto his cock as your cries and shouts filled his ear. He couldn’t help but feel so proud at how absolutely wrecked you would sound to anyone who walked past your windows. Hunter couldn’t get enough of you, the sounds you made, the delicious slide of your sweat slicked skin against his own. It was nearing too much.

Burying your face into his neck to muffle your sounds, you bit lightly onto his shoulder, making him shout out your name for everyone to hear. It was only just about heard over the wet, squelching sounds as his cock drove into your pulsing heat.

Undulating your hips back against his, you tried to match his rhythm as much as you could, but it was becoming harder and harder as you felt your peak getting closer.

“Touch yourself, cyare. Need to feel you cum around my cock, wanna feel you drench me” he gasped, gritting his teeth as he began to loose his rhythm as his own release was cresting.

Your reached in between you, barely getting a couple of circles around your clit before you were clenching down around Hunter, vision going white as you shuddered and cried out. Your tightening, pulsating walls quickly threw Hunter over the edge, his hips stuttering for a few more thrust before he stilled, shooting his load into you.

After the aftershocks of your orgasm died down, you barely had enough strength to sit up slightly to look at him. “Gonna take your bandana off now” you mumbled, a few words slurring together as sleep called to you.

He hummed his consent and you carefully pulled it away, not wanting to over-sensitise him to the room around you after being in darkness for a while. He ran a hand over his eyes, blinking away the black spots that danced along his vision before finding your face in front of him. Hunter couldn’t help but grin, admiring the way your hair stuck to your temples and the way you looked all blissed out. The same expression was sure to be echoed on his own face, that he knew, but yours was more beautiful to look at.

“You okay?” you sighed, resting your head back on his chest and closing your eyes.

“More than okay, love. I don’t think I’ve ever cum so hard before” he grinned, running soothing hands up and down your back.

“Something we should do again?” you wondered, nuzzling your way into the crook of his neck and beginning to sink into him. You didn’t want to move, content to stay where you are.

“Oh definitely mesh’la. We can look into more stuff as well, explore what we like” Hunter confirmed, kissing the crown of your head. “How are you feeling?” he asked, hearing the way your breathing began to slow. He’d let you sleep soon, but he just needed to know you were okay as well.

“I think you broke me” you giggled, feeling exhaustion tug at your bones. Hunter had well and truly fucked you to your limit. Your body felt all loose and boneless and you couldn’t do much more than just lie against him.

“Your turn next!” he promised, holding you tight to him as you laughed into his neck. He couldn’t think of anything better than lying here with you in his arms, both satisfied and exhausted from your activities. Perhaps he would send a hamper to his brother and Phee, thanking them for their suggestion to his cyare.

[leapingbadger]

Amends

Summary: Takes place after the season 3 episode “The Return”. Hunter and Crosshair trust each other again and are on their way to a reconciliation, but they still need to communicate. That’s where Wrecker comes in. Read on AO3

Notes: This follows along with canon for the most part. If interested, you can also check out some of my other stories at these links: Hope; Sunrise; Sunset, Goodbye, Tattoo, Tested and Safe

Word Count:2644

Wrecker stood at the foot of the steps to the Marauder. The Pabu sun was beating down on him, sweat prickling at his neck. He hesitated before taking the first step up to the ship. It had been three days since they had returned from the ice planet. Things were better. Hunter and Crosshair weren’t actively avoiding each other anymore, but the tension was too much for Wrecker to take.

Hunter had been like his old self since Omega had returned and Wrecker was so relieved. He’d spent months trying to keep hope alive, trying to keep Hunter alive, despite his best efforts. His strong and steady sergeant had become a walking hazard. Erratic, volatile and with no regard for his own safety.

He was surprised to come across Crosshair first. Wrecker knew he had been deliberately avoiding the ship. Maybe there were too many memories tied up in it for him. He was sitting at the Comm station, carefully holding Tech’s goggles. He hastily put them down as Wrecker entered. The glass clinked as they landed face down on the control panel, a sliver of yellow glass falling out and onto the floor.

Crosshair hastily picked them up and put them on the shelf they had found themselves on since they had arrived back into their lives without their owner.

“Don’t worry. Happens all the time,” Wrecker said matter-of-factly. He picked up the glass shard, carefully tucked it back into the frame and replaced them on the shelf again.

Both he and Hunter had held vigil over the goggles as the long search for Omega had continued. They had become a kind of shrine they prayed to in the dark, as though Tech would bestow some wisdom from the grave.

Crosshair looked embarrassed and turned away from his brother. “Was just looking,” he mumbled under his breath.

“We do it all the time,” Wrecker said with a shrug, “keeps him close, you know.”

Crosshair scowled but didn’t reply.

“You’re going to have to talk to him eventually, you know that, right?” Wrecker said, sitting in the seat opposite.

“It’s fine, Wrecker, we sorted it out.”

Wrecker paused and looked down at his hands. Hunter and Crosshair had always been close. They were so similar. The quiet, observant members of the team. Crosshair would occasionally bristle when Hunter didn’t agree with him, but he believed in Hunter, respected him. That’s why Wrecker couldn’t stand this, how far they had come from who they used to be.

“He didn’t let Omega get taken to Tantis,” he said quietly. Crosshair raised an eyebrow but didn’t reply, “your comms were on. We all heard,” He added.

“It doesn’t matter, Wrecker,” Crosshair hissed, clearly not wanting to have this conversation.

“It does,” Wrecker said louder than he intended. He wanted to defend his brother. Defend himself. Crosshair paused and looked at him, clearly not sure what to do next.

“You haven’t known Omega for very long. She’s a great kid…really amazing, sweet, caring, and funny. But she’s also willful and stubborn and has no sense of self preservation,” he chuckled, “Just like Hunter, actually…He told her to find Echo. Told her to run…I…I wasn’t sure he was going to make it, Cross…after we lost her…and Tech.”

There was a sharp intake of breath from Crosshair at the mention of Tech’s name. They both instinctively looked at the goggles and Crosshair’s mood seemed to sour further.

Wrecker blinked at his little brother, suddenly realizing. This wasn’t about Omega. It was about Tech. Crosshair had always had the ability to wound with words alone. This talent had landed him and the whole squad in trouble when they were cadets. Most of their fights with the Regs broke out because of Crosshair’s mouth. Wrecker was surprised that he was holding this back. That even Crosshair knew that to bring this up to Hunter, to start a fight about Tech, would be something they might not come back from. But they still had to have the conversation.

“You really need to talk to him,” Wrecker said again.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Crosshair hissed, swiveling the chair so his back was to his brother, “Tech’s dead.”

The words were sharp, cutting like a virboknife to the face. Wrecker closed his eyes, anger bubbling up inside of him. Anger at himself, at their situation, at Tech, and at his remaining brothers. It wasn’t a conscious decision. His body moved before his brain was fully aware but Wrecker stood up, grabbed Crosshair at his waist and threw him over his shoulder, carrying him with heavy footfalls through the ship to the cockpit where Hunter sat.

“Wrecker, what are you…” Crosshair spluttered as his toothpick fell from his mouth and onto the floor. Wrecker all but threw him in the seat next to Hunter.

Hunter was in the pilot seat, leg propped up on the console, eyes closed. Wrecker knew he wasn’t asleep, that he’d likely heard their hushed conversation with ease.

“What’s your damage, Wrecker?” Crosshair spat, squaring up to his enormous brother.

Wrecker pushed him back into the seat again.

“Sit.” He looked from Crosshair to Hunter and back again, “Don’t come out until you’ve talked about it. I’m sick of this.” He scowled as he walked to the ramp of the Marauder.

“Hey, Kid, wanna get some icecream?” Wrecker called down to Omega.

“Yeah,” she called back sunnily, unaware of the turmoil within the ship.

“Talk,” Wrecker barked again, before heading down the ramp and closing the door. Shutting off the sun and leaving his brothers in darkness.

***

“He’s had one too many blows to the head,” Crosshair said, standing up and brushing himself off.

Hunter remained in the chair; eyes still closed. “He’s right,” Hunter said quietly, “he usually is about this kind of stuff.” He sat up and took in his younger brother.

Crosshair was glaring, but not at him. He couldn’t seem to make eye contact and Hunter wasn’t going to push it. He noticed him favoring his right hand and frowned as he noticed it shake involuntarily. He’d have to ask Omega about that later.

“I already know what you need to say,” Hunter continued, standing up, “just say it and we can try and move on.”

Crosshair looked at him with narrow eyes, turning and walking to the back of the ship. He was pacing like a caged creature. He paused again and turned back. Hunter knew that look on his face. He had seen it thousands of times, from when they were cadets to when they were in the field. Crosshair wasn’t angry, he was wounded, and he was searching for the words that would hurt the most.

Hunter tried his best to prepare himself, knowing it would hurt. Knowing it would cut to his core and knowing that while this may make things easier for Cross, it would likely kill him on the inside. But he waited.

“You killed him,” Crosshair growled, his eyes so narrowed his iris’s looked like black holes.

Hunter felt a weight drop in his chest and stay there. He couldn’t speak, a rock had landed in his throat too. But he nodded and croaked out, “I did,” in a strained voice that didn’t sound like his own.

“I told you to hide,” his brother spat.

“We don’t leave our own behind. We had to try and get you out,” Hunter said.

“And look where that got you. Tech died because of your negligence,”

Hunter felt like he’d been stabbed between the ribs. He couldn’t get enough air in his lungs, but it was nothing that he hadn’t said to himself already. He knew anything Crosshair would and could say would pale in comparison to the destain he already had for himself, every day, every second since his brother fell.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” Crosshair said, taking a step closer.

Hunter did. He could have said any number of things to defend himself. But he didn’t want to. His squad had had a one hundred percent success rate. They didn’t fail in anything until they left Kaminio, until they were on their own, and until Crosshair got left behind.

“I’m sorry. For leaving you on Kamino. You were tying to kill us. But we should have taken you with us. Somehow.”

Crosshair balked. Shaking his head as if to shake the memory out. “This isn’t about that…I…this is about Tech.”

Hunter nodded, “I failed you Crosshair, in the same way that I failed Tech, and the same way that I failed Omega, and Echo, and Wrecker.”

“Wha…just stop…Hunter…” Crosshair’s hand was shaking more violently now. He brought it to his forehead, as though trying to wipe away his thoughts. He was shrinking in on himself, retreating entirely.

Hunter moved forward and went to put his hand on Crosshair’s shoulder, but his brother caught it, his left fist reaching out instead, punching him in his side. Hunter winced as he let his brother land the hit. He staggered back and knelt down; arm wrapped around his side. If he thought he couldn’t breathe before, he really couldn’t now.

“All that time with the Empire and they still couldn’t train you to hit better?” Hunter growled. He didn’t know why he was baiting his brother. Maybe the same reason that he had been throwing himself into more and more dangerous situations of late. Because deep down he felt like he deserved every bruise, stab wound, blaster bolt that came his way. If he hurt enough, maybe that would be enough penance for Tech. Maybe every drop of blood was a sacrifice.

Crosshair launched himself at his brother, knocking him to the floor. Hunter let him land every punch, kick and bite. He let his brother unleash his fury, his hurt, his loss on him in the dim hope that maybe afterwards, he could heal. Hunter gave no thought to his own healing though; he knew that wasn’t possible.

“Fight back,” Crosshair yelled. But Hunter didn’t move to protect himself. He continued to bait his brother.

“Is that all you’ve got, Commander?” Hunter asked.

“Arrr…. I hate you,” his brother screamed, tears welling up in his eyes, “I wish…It should have been… you…I wish you died instead of Tech!” Crosshair froze, as if horrified by his own words. His fist was raised, pulled back to his ear, ready to unleash another blow.

“Me too,” Hunter said looking directly into his little brother’s eyes, voice gravely and horse.

Crosshair collapsed to the floor with a clank, wiping the sweat and tears off his face. Hunter sat up with a wince, wiping the blood that was pouring out his nose. He tasted copper on his tongue and could hear Crosshair’s erratic heartbeat gradually starting to slow.

Hunter looked wearily at Crosshair. He was cradling his head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees, silent tears falling on his cheeks.

“He was the best of us, Crosshair,” Hunter said through sniffs of his likely broken nose, “that’s why we have to be better. For him,” he slammed his palm on the door release, letting the Marauder swim with light once more and slowly walked into the sunlight.

***

The moon shone bright white on the dark Pabu Sea as Crosshair made his winding way down to the beach. He fought against the memories of earlier, attempting to push them out of his head but failing. He shook his head to rid himself of the image of his big brother, covered in blood, wincing but taking every blow he threw at him or Omega and Wrecker’s horrified faces as Hunter left the ship, bloodied and bruised. His stomach dropped in shame, and he tried again to shake the memory out.

The warm Pabu air was usually comforting, peaceful, but now it felt lonely and oppressive. The lights of the island cast shadows as he walked. He hesitated to round the corner, unable to see what was ahead but not wanting to turn back.

When he reached the beach, he struggled to find him, noticing some of his clothes, bandana, blaster and virboknife were scattered in the sand. His heart sank and he started searching for the water in earnest. Wrecker had told him how Hunter had changed, and Crosshair feared it was more than not being cautious, his brother had a death wish.

“Hunter,” he shouted, urgently, panicked.

“Hmm” came a grunt from the water.

Crosshair got closer to the water to find his brother, floating in a star shape, long, dark hair trailing behind him. His eyes were closed, and he barely moved, except when the waves lapped around him, slowly moving him this way and that.

“What are you doing?” Crosshair hissed quietly, trying not to intrude too loudly on what seemed like something important.

“The saltwater helps with the bruises and the pain,” his brother replied.

“I’m…sorry,” Crosshair said in a whisper. His brother didn’t respond, and he wondered if there was any way back from this, from what he’d said, from what he’d done.

“I know.” Hunter said

“I don’t just mean about today…I…”

“I know, Crosshair,” Hunter interrupted.

“Will you let me finish?” Crosshair spat, exacerbated, “I’m sorry…for all of it. I should have come with you on Kamino…I should have been there…help with…I don’t know. I’m just…” he trailed off. How could he apologize for all of it. For all the pain he’d cause. He nearly killed them multiple times. How would he be able to live with himself if he had?

And then it occurred to him, that’s what Hunter was feeling. Hunter thought he’d killed Tech. Crosshair had told him he had. And Hunter couldn’t live with himself.

“You have to stop,” Crosshair said into the darkness. His brother had floated further out, his silhouette dancing on the moon lit water.

“It’s just water, Crosshair. I’ll be out in a minute,”

“Not that. You have to stop blaming yourself. It’s killing you. It will kill you,”

Hunter pulled himself upright in the water, he wet hair plastered flat against his head, the long tendrils covering his skull tattoo. He ran his hand through it, to get it out of his face.

“I’m fine,” he said.

“You’re not. Wrecker told me. You’re the leader.  You don’t get to go to pieces. The squad needs you. I need you; Omega needs you.”

Crosshair noticed something change Hunter’s face at the mention of Omega. He looked past his brother and up at Pabu and the Marauder, the warm light shining through the gunner’s mount as the ship rested by the weeping maya tree. And he suddenly understood. Omega wasn’t just some kid, and she wasn’t just his sister either. Crosshair had been right all along.

“Stop pretending to be something you’re not, Hunter” he had told him on Kamino. But Hunter wasn’t pretending, he was like a father to her in the way that the rest of them just weren’t.

“You need to stay around, for her, if nothing else,” Crosshair continued. “Tech would want you to survive. He’d want all of us to survive.”

Hunter was still looking at him with an expression Crosshair couldn’t quite place. He nodded, an almost imperceptible nod and started to swim towards the shore.

Crosshair noticed a collection of new scars on his brother’s torso that he’d never seen before.

“What’s all that from,” Crosshair asked suspiciously.

He was surprised to hear Hunter laugh, “ran in with a few bounty hunters, the Pikes and a Hutt or two,”

“So, you did have a death wish,” Crosshair said gravely.

“Desperate times…” Hunter started but didn’t finish.

“Are any of those my fault?” crosshair asked

“You wish Crosshair,” Hunter said with a grin, “you still hit like a cadet,” he clapped his brother on the back as they started to make the winding trek back to the Marauder, together.

[thesith]

— Holove

bad batch x gn!reader (platonic), implied crosshair x reader

this is a one shot (1k)

warnings: 18+ for insinuations, cursing

notes: thought this idea was funny! i tried to keep this as gender neutral as possible, let me know if there are any slip ups! this hasn’t been edited or proofread.

summary: you, echo, hunter, wrecker, and tech play smash or pass with your newly made holove (tinder) account.

“Give me your holopad,” Hunter asked you, “there’s a game I want to download.”

You gave him a look, “You have your own, Hunter. Download it on yours.” You pulled your device close to your chest to assure he doesn’t get it.

So of course he tackled you and won, typing in your password to access the holostore. You gave up and opted to watch whatever the hell he’s doing from over his shoulder. When you watched him type ‘Holove’ into the search bar, you attempted to snatch your holopad back.

“Hunter what the fuck? That’s a dating app, not a game.”

His reaction time was fast, pulling the holopad above both of your heads as it downloaded. “It’s called Holove roulette. It’s like Smash or Pass that we can all play!”

“Then why does it have to be on my holopad!” You huffed and crossed your arms, knowing that there was nothing you could do. “Why don’t you use your own? Or Wrecker’s?”

“Our faces are too well-known - you’re anonymous on missions! We’re also… you know… clones,” he attempted to explain, “also it would be fun to know who thinks our teammate is gorgeous, other than us.”

You didn’t know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, but you didn’t care. The game sounded fun enough to play, even if it was just a game. “Fine, at least let me help make my own profile.”

The images you chose consisted of a couple selfies from your bunk, a portrait from Pabu, and an image with a cute animal you saw on one of the many planets you’d visited with the crew. You made sure none of your images had their armor nor faces in them and turned the holopad for Hunter to see.

His eyes widened, “Smash or Pass: Hunter.”

You laughed before getting to work on the remainder of your bio. “What the fuck does A/S/L mean?”

“Let me see.” Hunter asked, to which you handed him the holopad, “Aurebesh Sign Language? I don’t know…”

Tech walked into the room at the perfect time, “Aurebesh is an alphabet, not a language. If I’m correct, which I am seldom not, A/S/L means age, sex, location. Did you coerce them, Hunter?”

”You’re in on this?” You sighed, rubbing your forehead. “Next you’re gonna say Wrecker and Echo are too.”

“You betcha!” Wrecker hollered from the pilot’s seat, accompanied by “it sounds like fun” from Echo. You expected the latter to be on your side, but you were proven wrong.

“What do I even put for location? We’re everywhere…”

Tech glanced at the holopad, “I do not think it’s wise to say Ordd Mantell, even if most of our time is spent there. Perhaps a sector? Ordd Mantell lies on a cross-section of three sectors, Bright Jewel, Qiilura, and Dohu along three separate hyperspace trade routes, Celanon Spur, Burke’s Trailing, and Entralla.”

“Bright Jewel sounds pretty. What’s in that sector?” You asked, hoping you could say a planet from there.

“Ordd Mantell serves as the sector capital, but Aleen, Numidian Prime, Anobis, and Jarnollen, to name a few.”

“Hunter, write down Numidian Prime. That’s a planet I’ve actually heard of.”

Tech fixed the goggles on his face, “your potential suitors will conclude that you’re a bounty hunter if you say that.” He paused to inspect your seemingly content face, “To each their own, I suppose.”

“Now, any ideas for the bio?”

“In my research, I’ve concluded most dating application profiles include things the person enjoys. A very common one is ‘I enjoy long walks on the beach’.” Tech expertly replied, giving you all the right ideas.

“I like shooting things! And running from the Empire!” You gleefully replied, earning yourself looks of disappointment from Hunter and Tech.

“Well, that fits the profile of a Numidian Prime inhabitant.”

Hunter sighed, “maybe we don’t say that. What about flying? You like flying, right?”

That made you audibly laugh, “you two never let me fly the Marauder!”

His reply came quickly, “Hey, it’s a better idea than ‘I like shooting things’!”

Tech thought for a moment, “How about travelling? I recall that you immensely enjoy our times on different planets, even if we are being targeted with less than optimal intentions the majority of the time.”

“That’ll work!” You were getting increasingly more interested in creating your profile, as were your crewmates. Maybe this would be more fun than you thought.

“What gender?”

You leaned over his shoulder to check ‘all’ before leaning back, “also, increase the range to the furthest it will go. More options that way.”

Soon after that, your profile was finally completed. Omega was long asleep, so you joined Hunter, Echo, Tech, and Wrecker in the cockpit to finally play.

You set the holopad on the ground between the five of you so everybody could see the screen. “Okay, ready?”

The first few were straight passes from everybody - you were not into Gungans nor droids.

“Holy shit, is that Fennec Shand?”

The boys laughed as Tech inspected it closer - it absolutely was her.

“Pass.” “Smash.” “Pass.” “Pass.” “Smash.”

“Are we just gonna forget that she tried to take Omega from us? Also tried to kill us? Multiple times?”

Wrecker tried to explain his reasoning as to why he said smash, “She was hired to do that! I like a woman who can handle a weapon.”

“This game is based on looks - we would’ve all said smash if we didn’t know her. Stop shaking your head, Hunter.”

A few more rounds went by before a familiar face popped on the screen, earning gasps from everybody. Hunter grabbed the holopad with a white-knuckle grip, swiping through his brother’s posted images.

“Is that who I think it is?” You asked, the wide-eyed looks from those who surrounded you telling you everything you needed to know. “Holy shit, Crosshair is on Hololove?” You managed to snatch the pad from the Sergeant, looking at Cross’ profile. “Oh, so he can say that he likes to shoot things but I can’t?”

The brothers remained silent, not knowing what to do with this newfound information. You did, though.

You swiped right, “Smash.”

A ding came from your holopad - ‘It’s a match!’

fin.

thank you for reading! check out my masterlist!

[just-here-with-my-thoughts]

i'm not trying to replace you (only hold on to your memory)

@summer-of-bad-batch bonus prompt "Can you braid my hair?"

Fandom: The Bad Batch Characters: Hunter, Omega, Tech (mentioned) Set after the finale when everyone is living happily on Pabu Word Count: ~1950 Read Here on AO3

Synopsis: Omega misses the quiet rituals that had been hers and Tech's alone, and turns to Hunter for comfort.

Author's Note:- You all know @kybercrystals94, right? The brilliant mastermind behind the Summer of Bad Batch event? Detail Work is one of Kyber's earliest fics, and one of my favourites. When the hair braiding prompt came up during voting for the event I immediately had an idea for a story that occupies the hollow space of Omega's loss, and leads perfectly into my fic Beach Days & Hair Braiding So go read Detail Work and show Kyber some love, and enjoy this slice of Hunter comforting Omega too! :)

“Hunter!”

The tone of Omega’s cry had Hunter on instant alert, head jerking up from his task stirring the dinner. Omega flew in through the door, running straight at him and into his chest, face buried in his apron.

“Woah,” he soothed, carefully laying the sauce-stained wooden spoon atop the pot and instead cupping one hand to the back of her head, smoothing her hair as he brought his other arm round her shoulders in an awkward embrace. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” came the muffled reply. It was the least-convincing lie he had heard since Wrecker claimed he wasn’t the one who had devoured the entire tray of delicately-prepared dainties Hunter had made specially for one of Echo and Crosshair’s visits.

“Nothing,” he echoed sceptically. He settled her more firmly in his embrace, dropping his head to press a soft kiss to the top of her hair. “Alright then. I guess if nothing is up, I’ll just hold you for no reason… ‘til you’re ready to talk?”

He let his voice lift the sentence into a question, and Omega’s answering nod bobbed against his chest. Hunter squeezed her tightly, pressing reassurance into her with both arms now as they stood in the quiet kitchen and listened to the pots bubble on the stove.

After a while Hunter began to hum a tuneless, absent-minded rhythm, the noise vibrating through his chest and to Omega. Her breathing was evening out now, although he could still feel the pressure of her hands bunched tightly in his shirt-front through the apron.

The apron had been a gift from Omega who had gotten tired of helping him wash the food-splatter stains out of his shirts when he first started learning to cook. Wrecker was much better at cooking than he was, and endlessly teased his brother about being unable to smell when his food was burned or over-seasoned despite his enhanced senses. But Hunter persevered, determined to prove himself capable as more than a weapon of war – to be able to provide for his family in more ways than simply defending them from danger.

“Need to stir this,” he cautioned, nudging the toes of his boots against Omega’s feet. Obediently she lifted them one at a time, standing onto his feet, and let him waddle-shuffle them round so he could face the cooker again, reaching out to retrieve the spoon and attend to the bubbling pot.

Hunter shifted his arm lower across her back, holding her close to him and away from the hot pans.

“Think I made too much,” he said conversationally. “Who shall we invite round for dinner to eat the excess tonight?”

“No-one,” mumbled Omega against his chest. Her hands finally relaxed their death-grip on his shirt, only to go round his middle instead. She turned her face to the side, cheek resting on his chest, and her words became easier to make out. “You can save the leftovers for another day. We should have a quiet night.”

Something was definitely up, but Hunter merely rested his chin on her head as he worked and hummed an agreement.

“Sure, kid. Whatever you want,” he promised.

When everything was cooked – at least, Hunter hoped it was properly cooked – he turned off the heat and carried Omega, still standing on his feet, in the same awkward waddle across the tiny kitchen to retrieve plates.

“Not as easy as when you were small,” he lamented with a smile, and that at last drew a giggle from Omega as she hopped down from his feet to help set the cutlery out.

Hunter’s gaze turned pensive as he watched her, though he quickly smoothed the expression into a smile when Omega glanced his way. She had grown so much in the months since they had settled on Pabu – finally, full-time, no half-commitments, settled down. For good.

She still bore the scars of her trauma from Tantiss, probably always would. Kriff, they all did. But each day that passed with more smiles than pain was a victory, and the longer they went without the shadow of the Empire darkening their lives, the more fully Omega relaxed.

Like she finally believed she might be safe.

Even then, she had the occasional day like this.

Plating up their meal and setting both dishes on the small table, Hunter sat opposite Omega. He cast one of his brief smiles her way, before turning his attention to his food.

“So what have you been up to today?” he asked, tone light and conversational; he wasn’t a sergeant asking for a debrief any more. Not to mention that the open question would let Omega tell him as much – or as little – as she was ready to.

“Me and the boys–” meaning the clones Mox, Stak and Deke, “spent the morning cleaning the bay from last night’s storm,” Omega told him, shovelling food into her mouth. At least she hadn’t lost her appetite. “There was loads of cool stuff washed up there. Oh!”

She paused, laying down her cutlery, and reached into her jacket.

A wan smile lit her face behind the hesitation in her eyes, but she looked straight at Hunter as she said, “I made this for you.”

She pulled forth a length of string, coiled and knotted, and threaded with a spiral shell at the bottom. The twine – old fisher-net rope, if Hunter judged it correctly – was pushed through a natural perforation near the top of the shell, and the whole thing still carried the salt-rich scent of the ocean.

“It’s a necklace,” Omega supplied, as though it needed the explanation.

Hunter reached out and took it from her, carefully turning the shell in his hands and admiring the gentle intricacy of the spiral and the soft iridescence as it caught the light. Then he looped the string over his head, letting the shell hang against his sternum, over his heart.

“I love it,” he told her with a genuine grin, continuing to hold the shell with his left hand as with his right he resumed eating. “Did you find anything else?”

“Some tarpaulin we can probably patch,” she said, “and… I think it’s part of the Marauder’s nav console?” And she produced a dented metal cylinder, the transparisteel cover cracked and broken.

Hunter nodded, inspecting the part. When the Marauder exploded – was destroyed – debris had scored the mountain-face of the island near the docks, and been scattered wide into the ocean. They were still finding pieces all this time later.

“We can probably repurpose it for something,” he said, setting it down to continue his meal. “What did you do with the rest of the day?”

“I was helping Phee rewire her ship–”

Omega’s words choked off and she stuffed a huge forkful of food into her mouth to cover it. Hunter had noticed though. He watched as Omega chewed, gaze downcast and eyes too-bright, and knew they were getting close to what had upset her.

“Something happen with Phee?” he asked carefully, nudging her ankle under the table to show his support.

“Not really,” said Omega with a head-shake, then abruptly, “Can you braid my hair?”

“What?”

Hunter blinked, nonplussed at the sudden turn in conversation and Omega’s demanding tone. She was staring at him with a hard, uncompromising line to her mouth, the corners just downturned, and with her brown eyes shining with near-tears she looked for all the world the same as his brothers had when they were stubborn cadets. Probably looked like he had, too.

“I, uh…” He glanced at her blonde hair, the lengths escaping her pony-tail tucked behind her ears. “I don’t know how,” he admitted, then gestured vaguely. “Why don’t you ask Lyana?”

It was the wrong thing to say. Omega’s expression closed off, her gaze dropping away from his once more.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, then pushed her plate away. “I’m finished. Gonna have an early night–”

“Now hang on a second–” Hunter stood with her, chair scraping on the floor as he stepped quickly to block her path. She wouldn’t look at him but she didn’t shrug him off as he rested a hand on her upper arm, rubbing soothingly. “Omega. Why do you want me to braid your hair?” he asked, making sure to put the gentle emphasis in the right place.

Omega sniffed, and at last those threatened tears beaded on her lashes, starting to track down her tanned cheeks.

“I miss Tech,” she whispered, voice wobbling a little through the tears she fought to swallow. “He used to braid my hair for me. I… I was hoping you would…”

She trailed off hopelessly, and with a sympathetic noise Hunter pulled her back into a hug, holding her close and swaying slightly.

Casting his mind back, he remembered coming back from supply runs to find Omega with a neat pair of braids in her still-short hair, tied carefully at the nape of her neck. He pressed his cheek tightly against her hair now, giving her ponytail a gentle flick.

“Tech did your hair?” he asked with a smile, surprised to find the thickness of grief in his throat as he spoke. “I always thought you did it yourself.”

Omega gave a laugh which was almost a sob. “I found some instructions on the holonet but I couldn’t get it right. Tech was… Tech was so good at detail work.” She was trembling in his arms, but this was good, that she was releasing the pressure of her grief instead of keeping it inside for fear of upsetting her brothers. “I was hoping… You might be able to…”

Hunter angled his head, pressing a fond kiss to her temple and holding her tightly. “Of course,” he murmured, voice holding a promise he didn’t know how to deliver, but Force help him he’d try. “I’d be honoured.”

She relaxed a little into his arms, a shudder of grief passing between them as he willed love into her. Eventually she pulled back, swiping at her tear-stained cheeks with her sleeve, but she was smiling.

“You’ll learn to do it then? Braid my hair?”

Hunter nodded fervently. “I’ll find someone to teach me.”

He reached up, stroking the stray ends of her hair that clung to her damp cheeks and brushing them back so he could see her face, blotchy and pink with crying. He took her cheeks in his hands, holding her face gently cupped as he smiled down at her. Letting a glimpse of his own sorrow leach past his usual mask, he breathed out a sigh.

“Can’t promise I’ll be as good at it as Tech,” he cautioned, playfully flipping the ends of her hair. “Your hair always looked lovely like that, Omega.” He smiled, keeping one hand cupped to her cheek. “He’d be so proud of how you’ve grown.”

Omega sniffed, but now she was smiling even if it was with an ache of sadness.

“I think I’m still going to have that early night,” she said, stepping back at last.

Hunter let his arms drop to his sides, a slow movement that ached with the reticence of releasing her, but that was his role in her life now. Learning to let her go. Still being here when she needed to run home to his arms.

“Sure thing, kid,” he said softly, offering her one last pat to the shoulder. “I’ll clean up out here.”

“Maybe… I could keep my door open?” suggested Omega. “So I can hear you?”

Hunter smiled and gave her a gentle push towards her room.

“Whatever you want,” he promised, and he meant it.

Whatever she wanted. Whatever she needed.

He would be there for her.

Time to learn to braid hair.

[lost-in-fiction-like-ur-mom]

Can I get a Crosshair x Y/N comfort fic please ?

He’s my comfort clone … I love my toothpick chewing man

Okay Again

Crosshair x Reader

Summary- After spending months on Pabu recouping from the Empire, Shep gets under your skin. You blow up at the unfair treatment, and Crosshair helps you calm down.

A/N- MY FIRST REQUEST!! Thank you so much! I wasn't sure who you wanted comforting who. If you want something different or specific, feel free to send another request! BTW- I kinda changed Shep Hazard into a villain. I NEEDED IT FOR THE PLOT, SORRY!

Word Count- 2,127

You woke up in a bad mood.

That seemed to happen a lot on Pabu.

Working late helping citizens and the burning sun that shines through your blinds, waking you up at the crack of dawn- was not a good combination.

You threw your arm across your face, groaning. You haven't gotten a good sleep in weeks. Not since the decision to stay on this island. You understood perfectly well that it was good to recoup, sort out the fine details, and grieve safely over Tech. That did not mean you had to like it.

It also happened to be that Crosshair hadn't woken up yet. For half a second you were thankful for the sun. Crosshair always woke before you. This was a rare opportunity.

Your plan was to kiss him or possibly snuggle him awake, but all plans were lost in your mind at the sight of him.

The room was mostly lit up by the damned sun, but you could see Crosshair perfectly. His relaxed face was a rarity that no one was able to see but you. And when you saw it, you had to savor it.

His eyes closed oh-so delicately, breathing in softly. His eyebrows weren't furrowed. There was no scowl. He was at peace. A peace that could only be found within a dream. As your lives were far too gruesome to be at any peace now.

He looked so soft. If anyone knew you thought that, they'd laugh. 'Not Crosshair. He's so gruff. He's always mad and mean." Well not to you. not to the people he loved most. He was mean at times, yes. He was also thoughtful, caring, and will come running to help if you called. All you had to do was say the word, he would be at your side.

The thought made you smile. How did you get so lucky. He was all yours.

You gently reached out your hand to trace his tattoo. A pastime that soothed you. Something about those lines and circle that comforted you. Just before you could get any closer-

"I can feel you staring." So he was awake. That peaceful face you longed to see dissipated. His eyes scrunched before he opened them, squinting at the sun.

You moved your head above him, looking down at him, blocking the sun.

"There's lot's to stare at." You remarked with a smirk.

You leaned on your knees to hover over him, but soon you felt a foot kick them away. You feel face-first onto Crosshair, head barely dodging his own and meeting the pillow.

He had his own smirk now, arms moving to hold you against him.

You gave a playful groan. "You almost made me hit my head" You said, no real threat to your words.

"No, I knew what I was doing. I'll always take care of you." He mumbled back, a hand rested on your back.

You laughed, turning pink.

His playful attitude slowly left with his next breath. He held you tight, soaking in the moment. The kind of moment he thought he would have never seen again.

He used to take for granted the moments you two shared, that was before the Empire. It showed him exactly what he wanted, you.

Tasks of the day flooded your mind, reminding you that you weren't on vacation.

"We have to help Shep Hazard today." You told Crosshair. Shep seemed to think that Clone Force 99 was on Pabu to do all the heavy work for the island. This included transporting crates of fish, fruit, and other supplies to the top ring of the island.

You couldn't see his face, as yours was still in the pillow, but you swore you could feel him roll his eyes.

He gave out a grumble, acknowledging he heard you. At this, you lifted up, hands propped on his chest. The blanket pooled around your waist. His own hands went to your sides, feeling just under your sleep shirt at your hips. They rested there.

The two of you sat in silence for a moment, he looked at you before closing his eyes again, getting in his last ounce of rest. After a minute, he patted your hips and sat up as well.

You let out a frustrated sigh and started to get ready.

The sun's heat pounded on you, moving the crates up and down was not fun. You resented the morning you had, wishing you were back there.

You swallowed hard, taking a minute to catch your breath. It would have been much easier to load the packages onto the Marauder, but Shep insisted on doing it 'the natural way.' Apparently the ship scared some of the elderly citizens.

Now, maybe you were just spending too much time with Crosshair, but you tended to have a sour face when Shep was around.

You didn't even get to see Crosshair for most of the day, as Shep had him managing another group of volunteers. Hunter also had his own group to manage, but you and Omega were stuck with the physical labor.

The thought made you agitated, you festered the anger into your work, and the hours passed quicker. It must have been just past mid-day, because you saw a lot of passing citizens eating lunch. Including Shep.

Your face scrunched up. Lunch wasn't offered to your group. Poor Omega was in worse shape than you, sweating profusely, red in the face. She at least, still carried her happy attitude.

For the natives of the island, food was shared freely. For the newcomers, it was a 'work for your share' kind of deal. A crappy one if you ever heard it, Clone force 99 had done more for this island than all the natives combined.

You took a moment to stop and stare at Shep. Gluttony was all you saw.

With a puff you dropped your crate of fruits down. Fruit you were ordered not to eat, mind you. Sheps gaze turned to you, as he continued to eat.

"I need some water, Omega does too." Shep just looked at you.

"Once all the crates are gone, there will be plenty for you and your team." He stated, thinking he was smart by the smirk he gave himself.

"Shep, we are dehydrated. Just look at Omega!" You gestured to her. She had her smile present, but a droopy and exhausted face.

"She looks fine to me." He claimed, turning back to his own plate. You swear he laughed when he took a drink of his own water. If Hunter had seen the exchange, you were sure Shep would have answered differently.

Rage bubbled up, and deranged words left your mouth. You weren't even sure where most of it came from, you just opened your mouth and the words flowed. Derogatory words to Shep, listing off what force 99 had done for Pabu, never getting any rest, how you were forced to labor endlessly, amongst other themes.

You were just as shocked at your own words as everyone in earshot was. Though, you spoke truth through every syllable.

Seeing everyone's eyes on you made you sheepish after your rant. You stepped back, not remembering where you were- the top level of the island.

You did however, remember immediately when you didn't feel ground beneath your foot. Your eyes barely had time to shoot open in fear. You were falling back, presumably to your death. A single breath left you.

Just as fast as it happened, it ended. A painful yank of your arm grounded your reality.

You looked down, hundreds of feet beneath you. No ground under your feet. Your head shot up to see who was grabbing you.

Crosshair, with a toothpick rested between his lips.

Another breath, this one of relief. You don't think you could live it down if it was Shep who saved you.

"Cross!"

"I gotcha girlie." He said, smugly.

If the two of you were alone, that comment would have lead to more than an eye-roll from you.

He pulled you back up, with help from Omega who had rushed over.

The added embarrassment of falling had refiled your rage. Shep came up, false concern drooping form his lips. With all the commotion Hunter had arrived at the scene.

"Are you okay, you must have slipped!" Shep rested a hand on your shoulder, moving it to caress your upper arm. You shoved his hand away. His touch was like fire to your skin, you forcefully pulled away.

When anger flashed Shep's face, Crosshair stepped forward. He flicked his toothpick down. Cross made sure you were behind him in case anything went down.

"Hey, what's going on!" Hunters voice rang out, his commanding tone grabbed everyone's attention.

Before Hunter could scold you, you took off. Storming down the stairs of the levels on the island. From what you could tell, no one followed you.

Except Crosshair. He was hot on your tail, and eventually reached out. A hand on your shoulder. This one you'd never push away.

His grasp pulled you back, and if he wasn't as attentive as he was, you'd have fallen. He caught you, again.

"What's wrong with you?" He exclaims, seemingly rude- but you knew his true intentions.

"Everything! I'm hot, i'm hungry, i'm thirsty! We have earned our place, and Shep wants to try and convince us we haven't!" You huffed out, rambling as you got angrier. You threw your hands up, frustrated.

"I thought you hated this place." He questions, both hands on your shoulder now. He tried to reason with you.

"I do! There isn't a single thing I like here!" You felt angry tears start to flow, your mind was clouded and you were overstimulated.

You started to hyperventilate and grabbed at your hair. Something you had never done before, but you also don't think you'd ever been so upset in your life either. Your scalp burned as you pulled handfuls of hair.

Crosshair immediately pulled your hands away. His gaze turned more worried. You looked up at him, tears flowing faster. All he did was pull you into his chest. He was never one for many words.

Him, being ever-so tall, loomed over you. You rested your head onto his chest. You melted at his touch, especially when one of his hands came up to pet your hair. Things seemed okay again.

You took deep breaths, and Crosshair led you to The Marauder.

You heard the door close with a steam sound, as you huffed into the co-pilot seat. Cross was at your feet the next moment, crouching down to look up at you.

He held your hands in his, his eyes never once flashing with judgement, shame, or anger at you.

"I'm sorry. I over reacted..." You looked bashfully to the side, but Crosshair spoke firm.

"You have nothing to apologize for. Here." He handed you a canteen full of water.

He was so thoughtful when he wanted to be. With your emotions still high, you teared up again.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. We're going to sleep here tonight. Take a break from everything and everyone." You hung on every word he said, they grounded you.

You nodded after he finished, grateful for him.

"Shep just gets under my skin..." You were upset just thinking about him.

"You don't have to worry about him now." He said, soothing. He caressed your cheek with an ungloved hand. You nodded again, lost for words. You leaned down into his touch, he pulled you into his chest.

You felt much better, but still held onto him.

"I've been talking to Hunter." He started. "He agrees that this isn't the place for us. He said the people were much more accepting the first time you visited, with Phee?"

You nodded in his arms, Shep was much more inhabitable when Phee was there. He was just putting on a show.

"In a week, we're leaving." You looked up at him, eyes wide.

"I know you're miserable here... And the island is not as welcoming as Hunter once thought. I convinced him that we take on a few more jobs. Nothing crazy, just enough to finish repairs on the ship. Then we will find a new place to settle on." All you could do was kiss him.

Words were besides you, you didn't feel like you deserved this.

"Cross... I don't know what to say.." You pressed your forehead to his, a hand cupping his cheek. The other on his burn scar.

"I told you i'd always take care of you..."

You truly felt okay again, even after almost falling to your death, dehydration, arguing, and a miserable month.

All you ever needed was Crosshair. He was all you needed to be okay.

A/N- Thank you so much for reading! Not sure I like this one too much. I will probably come back and make some edits. Please LMK if there are any improvements I can make to any of my works!!

Tags- (lmk if you want to be tagged as well!) @thethreeeyed-raven @knight-of-flowerss

[devotional-dwams]

Just the two of us

Summary: you run into a curious girl with her large group of brothers during a festival on Pabu. Your favourite of the batch, though, is Wrecker. Wrecker x reader, she/her pronouns used.

Word count: 2726 (this one got away from me)

Warnings: there’s a slight indicator that Echo has trouble eating new foods, so keep that in mind if that’s triggering for you. But other than that it’s pure fluff!

Authors note: dude I love Wrecker so much, he’s such a sweetheart. I had the time of my life writing this. This is set after the events of s3. Tech IS alive and IS in a relationship with Phee. Because I said so.

Beneath your hands, you intricately weaved the young girls hair into braids. Your makeup and hair stand had been a big hit so far into the night, and kids had been lining up to have their face painted. It warmed your heart each time they looked into the mirror you’d propped up, beaming at the animal you’d painted onto their face, or the fun hairstyle you’d put together for them. Lyana was your favourite customer though, always sitting still and patient as you adorned her hair with braids and flowers.

“And Auntie Phee said she’ll bring back a treasure for me.”

“Wow! She sounds quite the adventurer.”

“She is. When I’m older, she’s going to take me with her at some point.”

You chuckled, wondering what Shep had to say to that. “I’m sure she will. Well, you’re all done.”

Lyana turned to the mirror, checking her reflection out before looking back to you. She wore a large grin as she wrapped her arms around your waist. “Thank you!”

“Anytime.”

The girl ran off, her braids piled securely on her head. You smiled, turning your attention to your hair tools. After putting the brushes away, you settled back into your chair and sipped your mocktail. The sun was just beginning to set, and the island was washed in pink and orange hues.

This was always your favourite festival. The day of the high tide was the mark of summer, and as the story went, the moon had shed a tear for its lost love- the sun- which dropped into the ocean, building the island of Pabu in its place. In turn, the days began growing longer as a thank you from the sun. When the island population grew, the festival grew too as a mark of celebration for the gifts from both the sun and the moon. It lasted all day, until the early hours of the morning. Each year you held a different stall, always yearning to do something for the community that had done so much for you, and this year you thought you’d put your hair and makeup skills to the test. So far it was proving a damned good decision.

You put your glass down, attention drawn to the girl approaching the stall. She was holding hands with an older man, who had scars along one side of his face, and chatting deeply with another older man. He wore a skull tattoo on one half of his face. They could only be the clones you’d heard so much about.

When she spoke, her strong accent rung out. “Hi! Lyana pointed us here, she said you do hair?”

Your hands leant on the work counter as you leaned forward. “I do indeed, makeup as well. All festival looks. You must be… Omega?”

“Yeah, and these are my brothers, Wrecker and Hunter.” She gestured to both as she spoke.

“It’s lovely to meet you guys. I take it you want your hair done too?”

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble?”

“No trouble at all! Take a seat.”

As she sat, Hunter asked you if this cost anything, which of course it didn’t. Your stalls for the high tides festival each year were always free.

“Are you sure? No credits at all?”

“Why? Do you want your hair done as well, sir?”

He scoffed. “No one touches my hair.”

“In that case, you can stop your fretting.”

Wrecker laughed, loud and boisterous. You couldn’t help but smile at the sound. “Mega’s in safe hands, Sarge.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The gentle giant rubbed the back of his neck, “call me Wrecker.”

“Wrecker it is.”

Happy that Omega was content, Hunter saw her and his brother off, wishing you a goodbye. Apparently he had to go ‘monitor Cross’, whatever that meant. The girl in the seat was inquisitive, you found, constantly asking questions about the hair procedure and how to do braids. It baffled you that a girl of her age didn’t know how to braid hair, but you taught her nonetheless. Wrecker sat by watching. You weren’t sure what to make of him. He was quiet, but you got a general sense that he was gentle. It sent a tickling up your spine, a desire to know more.

“Well, what do you think?” You asked Omega, pointing her to the mirror.

“Oh, I love it! Thank you.”

“It was nothing.” You shrug it off, leaning against the counter. As you cross your arms, your eyes catch Wrecker’s, and the tips of his ears flush pink. The giant was rather cute, you’d come to decide.

Wrecker couldn’t pull his gaze away. You were so good with the kid, and your smile- he found himself smiling along with you, even if he wasn’t a part of the conversation. His eyes lingered on your dress, a floral yellow one that had a small bow beneath the dip of your chest. It hugged your curves just right, and Maker, did you look good in it. What’s more, you looked comfortable. Your hands deftly worked on Omegas hair, easily and gently pulling the strands into intricate braids. When your eyes found his, he finally looked away, sheepish at the fact that he’d been caught ogling you. As he gazed at the sand underneath his shoes, he became vaguely aware of Omega’s voice.

“Wrecker?”

His head shot up. “Yeah?”

“Wanna get going?”

“Oh uh,” his eyes drifted to you. “Sure.”

Omega took his hand again, hopping off the chair she had been sitting on. A shooting ache in his chest sprung as he left you in your stall, and the corners of his lips fell into a frown. The two of you had barely exchanged words past pleasantries, and yet he still felt so inexplicably drawn to you… that hadn’t happened before. He wondered if he was developing a small crush, but that wasn’t likely. He had always had a large crush on Senator Amidala, and this felt nothing at all like that. Wrecker bit his lip in contemplation.

Omega swung his hand. “Soooo, wanna tell me what’s on your mind?”

“Huh? What?”

“You’re being quiet. What is it?”

“Pft, nothin’s on my mind.” He scratched the back of his head with his free hand.

“Uh-huh. Wouldn’t be that stall keeper, would it? What was her name? Y/…. Something.”

“Y/N.”

Omega looked up at her big brother, noticing the softness in his brash voice. She couldn’t resist smiling at it. Usually Wrecker was so loud, so impulsive, and despite what some thought, he had a cracking brain on him. Each time he talked with Omega about bomb mechanics, or hell, even the inner workings of cooking, she was always impressed. How did he not see that he was falling for Y/N? Omega had read about love at first sight, and had always wanted to believe in it. If this was such a thing, she couldn’t be happier for her brother.

Besides, she liked you. You were sweet, gentle, and your jokes had the two of you giggling together during her hairdo. She had to get Wrecker and you to interact again.

Your watch struck eight pm. It was time to lock up. When you ran a children’s stall, you never ran them past eight pm because they were too preoccupied to join it. It also meant you had time to enjoy the festivities of the high tide party before the night completely evaded you. After packing your things away and locking the stall up, you tucked the key into your pocket and strolled towards Shep. As per usual, you wanted to express your gratitude for his permission regarding conducting your little business.

Your hand nudged his arm. “Thanks again for letting me run the stall. I had a lot of fun.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all. Thank you for running it! I can see it was a big hit with the kids this year.”

“Yeah, they liked this one. Any chance for a burger? I’m famished.”

“They’re still going. Max is directing the grill this year, along with Rosa.”

You bid Shep farewell, turning to the direction of Max and his sister. The three of you fell into easy conversation as Max prepared your food, Rosa sitting to the side taking a break. She held a cocktail in hand, and had already made and given you one too. You had somehow drunk half the glass by the time Max handed you your burger. When you were mid-way through a bite, a voice called your name.

“Y/N!”

You turned, still biting into your burger. A drop of sauce fell down to the sand as you did, and to your terror, there stood Omega, Wrecker and a bloke with a scomp for an arm. You swallowed harshly.

“Uh, hey.”

“Friends of yours, Y/N?” Rosa asked.

“I’d say so. I haven’t met this one yet, though.”

“Name’s Echo, ma’am.”

You nodded your head to him. “Hi.”

“We were wondering if we could get something to eat?” Omega asked, standing on her tiptoes to look at Max’s menu.

“Hell yeah, lil lady. We’ve got burgers, chips, hot dogs, and Rosa’s in charge of drinks. What d’ya fancy?” He rested his elbows on the make-shift counter as he spoke.

“Hmm… I think chips. What about you guys?”

“I’m not really hungry.”

“Echo, you need to eat something!”

“I’ll steal a few of your chips then.”

Omega glared at him, her hands on her hips. You giggled through your burger. Once you swallowed your bite, you turned conspiratorially to him and dropped your voice to a hush, as if sharing a secret.

“Max’ burgers are the best on the planet. You can’t fault ‘em. And he's absolutely lovely, so if you wanna change anything up, he’ll do whatever it is, easy peasy. Go on, you know you wanna.” You nudged his side with your elbow.

“Hmm, you’re quite convincing but I’m not really one for trying new foods. But Maker above, if it’ll shut you up, Mega, I’ll have chips.”

The small girl high fived you, a shared celebration of getting Echo to eat something substantial. When Max asked Wrecker what he wanted to eat, the giant looked at you, biting into the last of your burger, and decided he wanted one too.

After Max had prepared the orders for the clones, Omega ended up dragging you away with them. The family you joined were sitting around a small bonfire, Hunter sitting beside a man who had a dog at his feet. Next to him, Phee sat with a man with goggles on. You soon learnt these were Omega’s other brothers, as was Echo. You took your seat besides Phee, finding comfort in knowing someone in the group. As the night wore on, you soon became good friends with the odd group, although you put that down to Omega. She was a ball of sunshine.

“Well, I never pegged you as someone to back down from a challenge.” Phee nodded her fork to Crosshair.

He hissed back, “I’m not.”

“Then game on, grumpy.”

You giggled, leaning your chin on your folded knees as you watched Phee stand and take position. Crosshair did the same, brushing the sand off his legs.

“I now announce this fight to be in action!” Omega clapped her hands.

The two of them brawled, and the rest of you began to place bets on who you each thought would win. Hunter assumed Crosshair, Echo voted for Phee (“eh, why not? It would be funny” were his exact words), Omega voted for both, unable to decide, Wrecker voted for Phee, and Tech voted for his girlfriend. Although he was about to vote for Crosshair, but Hunter kicked his ankle and he coughed out Phee’s name instead. You voted for Phee, having not seen the sniper fight before.

Tech called out from where he was sitting, “go for the back of his knees!”

“I know, I am!”

“Well, do it better.”

Just as the fight was about to hit the eye of the storm, Wrecker belched loudly. Each of you paused and turned to him, before laughing simultaneously. Over the course of the night, he’d become more comfortable, you realised. He was still being quiet though, which was apparently unnatural according to the many comments his brothers made.

“I said, didn't I? The best burgers on the planet.” you commented, still smiling.

“Yeah, you’ve got pretty good taste.”

“Thanks big guy. If you think that, I gotta take you to a restaurant down on south street in Ord Mantell. It’s kinda seedy, but they do the most amazing noodles.”

You watched Wrecker’s eyes light up. “Really? Dinner out?”

“Yeah, why not? It’ll be nice, we couldn’t sit in, but we could all find a place to eat together.”

His eyebrows furrowed a little. “Oh, all?”

“Well-”

A yelp rang out. You and Wrecker turned your heads back to the fight, where Phee had Crosshair pinned on the floor with his arm twisted behind his back. “Fine, fine, you win,” he seemed to be grumbling.

Phee let Crosshair go, standing and throwing her arms out. “I won.”

“We knew you would.” Tech added as she slid back into his arms.

“Liar.”

“I demand a rematch on solid ground.”

“Aw, he’s salty. Fine, rematch later.”

“Fine with me,” Crosshair muttered, his fingers stroking over Batcher’s skin once he was seated.

The batch resumed talking, pulling you and Wrecker into their conversation and away from yours. Eventually Hunter stood to take Omega home, and one by one everyone followed. Only you and Wrecker stay seated by the now dying embers of the fire. With the disappearance of the others, your conversation had also dwindled. When you faced the clone, you could see as clear as day that he was nervous. His teeth bit into his lip and his eyes darted from yours to the sand. It was quite endearing.

“So,” you began, playfully leaning into his side. “Just the two of us left.”

“Heh, yeah.”

“To be honest, I’m quite happy about that. Not that I haven’t enjoyed spending time with the others!” You rushed to add. “I just… wanted to spend time with you most.”

“Oh. Is tha’ right?”

“Mhm. You guys all seem pretty tight knit?”

Wrecker’s face lit up. “Oh we are. We were always the odd ones out so we kinda naturally stuck together, and then Echo joined and it was great. And then ‘Mega found us, and it got even better. Well, not better better, I mean we had all that stuff with the Empire, but we had ‘Mega with us. Most of the time. And then we got her back, and we got Crosshair back, and now Echo comes and goes and we miss him but- well, I’m- I’m ramblin’ aren’t I?”

“I don’t mind. Please,” you smiled and gestured for him to continue.

“Well, there’s not really much else to say. We’re always thrilled with Echo visits but he’s doin’ good work with Rex.”

“Who’s Rex?”

“Only the Captain ‘imself! He’s pretty great.”

“I think you’re pretty great.”

“Oh.”

You watched the tips of Wrecker’s ears flush. He was cute when he was nervous, you thought. Your mind played back to your interrupted chat. Biting your lip, you nudged closer to him and placed a hand on his arm. The muscles beneath his shirt tensed momentarily, and you couldn’t help but drift your eyes down to his chest.

Stars, he was gorgeous, wasn’t he?

“Well,” your eyes found his again. “Seeing as you’re all so close, I feel like you and I won’t get a lot of time just the two of us?”

He deflated. “Probably not.”

“But, maybe we could get away for a bit? You still up for those noodles?”

“You mean like a- a-“

“A date.”

Wrecker’s face lit up, unsure eyebrows lifting as he grinned. “Hell yeah! Let’s do it!”

You laughed. “Brilliant. We’ll fly out on Tuesday?”

“Yeah, okay.”

The two of you stayed at the unlit fireplace for some time more. As you chatted, your mind filled with the potential of your future date. Wrecker, of course, was jovial. His laugh consumed your lungs and you ended up laughing too. It seemed you’d caught the attention of the sweetest guy on the island, and you were glad for it.

[whos-orion]

Crash

Summary: Omega’s just finished up a mission for the Rebellion. But her ship’s been hit hard, and all systems are failing. As she falls out of Hyperspace, she finds a small bit of comfort in Tech’s goggles, as if he’s there with her.

Word Count: 1203

Notes: Another request from @mantellmix ! I love writing sad stuff. Short one-shot, enjoy!

Tag List: @mantellmix @a-cryptid-called-magetha

Things weren’t going well. They had been, for a while, but not anymore. Omega had just finished another mission for the Rebellion. She was supposed to take out an Imperial factory and get all the workers out. She did that. And may have accidentally taken down a nearby Star Destroyer. But it was fine. Or it was supposed to be. The workers were heading back to their families on the planet, the Empire was down a factory and a Star Destroyer, and Omega’s hyperdrive was in critical failure.

She watched as the blue streaks around her turned orange and pink, as she was thrown out of Hyperspace. Her console was beeping and flashing and sparking, only making the job more stressful. Gonky was in the back of the ship, shut down and being unhelpful. Even some reassurance would be nice. But she was alone.

Omega tried to take control of the ship’s trajectory, flipping on the emergency stabilizers and trying to steer. But it was no use. The ship was crashing down towards a nearby moon, out of control and buying Omega a one-way ticket to a very gruesome death. No, she couldn’t think like that. Yet.

Omega gave up on trying to control the steering and began running around the ship, fixing whatever she saw was sparking. But every time she fixed something, five more systems broke. She looked out the window and saw the ship was entering the atmosphere. She ran to the console and hit her distress signal. She looked up to the window again, seeing the orange and red flames begin appearing around her ship from such a sharp entry. She saw Tech’s goggles on the dashboard. She picked them up and held them tightly in her hands. Did he ever have to deal with a crash like this? He would at least have help. Omega was on her own. With only the reminders of her brothers sitting around.

Would they be proud? How would they even find out? Who would find her? If it was an Imperial, they’d never know. Another rebel? Maybe. She hadn’t told anyone where she was from yet, or who her family was. She hadn’t gotten to know anyone that well yet. Would they know who she was? Would they find her family and tell them?

Omega held Tech’s goggles closer as the ship kept falling. She could nearly see the planet’s surface now. Omega took Tech’s goggles and moved them over her ponytail and onto her neck. She sat down in the pilot’s chair and looked out at the scene before her. The noise of the warning sensors and sparks of the consoles were nothing now. Omega just stared aimlessly. She felt tears welling up as she placed a hand on the goggles. She felt the broken glass between her fingertips as she sighed. She laughed a bit in disbelief and felt the first tear roll down her face.

“I think this is it, Tech.” She spoke to the air. “See you soon.”

Omega closed her eyes and braced for impact. She’d been here before, hadn’t she? On Bora Vio, and her daring escape from Cad Bane. In that tiny flight pod, hands cuffed together. She’d just pushed that tiny droid off her. What was his name? Toto? Todo? It was so many years ago, but it wasn’t an experience easily forgotten. Omega remembered how loyal he was to Bane. But it clearly didn’t go both ways. She felt a little sorry for him. I guess you feel sorry about everything at the end.

She had felt so scared in that pod. She was just a kid. She was scared now. She was no longer a kid. She kept waiting and waiting for everything to stop. She’d thought about death a lot, to be honest. Back when she’d first left Kamino, it was a constant thing. It stopped for a while when Hemlock died, and they got to live on Pabu, but since joining the Rebellion it was back. That excitement. That risk. She’d underestimated it, and now she was paying the price. But she had Tech with her. She had her brother.

Omega kept waiting. But everything was the same. She was still sitting in the pilot seat, still holding Tech’s goggles around her neck, still alive. She finally opened her eyes to see she was being pulled out of the planet’s atmosphere. She looked around in confusion. A button on her console was blinking, one that signaled someone was trying to comm her. She pressed it, hoped it wouldn’t break, and waited. A few moments of silence passed as Omega saw the fiery horizon turn back to the darkness of space, and then a familiar voice came through the comm.

“Got yourself into some trouble, kid?”

Hunter’s voice was the last thing Omega expected to hear, but it was welcome. It was so welcome.

“Hunter?!” Omega exclaimed, her worry gone in a flash. They had come for her. She was safe.

The boarding hatch opened on Omega’s ship as she ran into her brother’s arms. Hunter smiled softly, holding her close. Omega heard a familiar, gravelly laugh coming from the bench on Phee’s ship (which they had arrived on).

“How touching.” Crosshair said, flicking a toothpick onto the floor. Omega ran over and hugged him as well, overjoyed to see her family again. “Only a month into the Rebellion, and we’re already coming to get you.” He snickered, hugging her back. Omega scoffed and pulled away, crossing her arms with a smirk on her face.

“Hardly needed it. Besides, you’re getting too old for this anyways.”

“We’re never too old!” Boomed Wrecker’s voice. Omega went over and hugged him as well. He laughed and held her close. Crosshair smirked, she really hadn’t changed.

“And you’re still a terrible liar.” He said, folding his arms. Hunter was going to make a snarky remark about the state of her ship, but then noticed something else. Something around her neck.

“Are those…Tech’s goggles?” He asked, something in his voice breaking. He hadn’t seen the old, shattered goggles in so long. And Omega was wearing them. Omega stepped away from Wrecker and took the goggles off, examining them in her hands.

“They…are. And you’re right. I did need your help. I got into a…bad situation. In over my head a bit. Ship was failing. Spirit was failing. I…I thought I was going to die. It brought me some comfort, at the very least.” Omega said, smiling fondly at the goggles. “It’s like he’s there with me.” The ship was silent. A silence of remembrance. They never properly talked about losing Tech when it happened. Not like they got the chance. There were conversations over the years, but Omega couldn’t remember a time where they all sat down and actually talked about him, purposefully.

“…he’s always with us. Just like how we’re always with you.” Hunter finally said, smiling warmly at Omega. “We’ll always be there. Burning ship or not. We’re a call away.” He put a hand on her shoulder as she wiped away a tear. “You’re our kid, Omega, like I’ve told you a thousand times. Now come on, let’s fix up your ship.”

[hugmekenobi]

S3: The Bad Batch (11)

Chapter Eleven: Point of No Return

Gif by @moonstrider9904

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: Ever since Eriadu, Clone Force 99 had been a fractured squad. Months have passed but you're finally back with the Batch but Omega is still out there and you won't stop until you find her again.

Chapter Summary: The Empire closes in on you and the Batch

Masterlist for S1 and S2

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)

Chapter Warnings: Canon-typical violence, threats, food mentions, flash of PDA and fluff in the beginning, referenced character death, rip a certain ship :(, self-blame, brief injury mention, humour as a tool for deflection, overall angsty vibes

Word Count: 4.2K

Author's notes: Still sticking very close to the episode here but hope it's still enjoyable and episode 12 is in progress!!

Getting into the pirate’s ship had been all too easy. He wasn’t going to fail this time. CX-2 decrypted the coordinates before he put the transmission for Scorch through, “The Trandoshan’s intel paid off. I tracked the pirate and accessed her navicomputer. She tried to cover her tracks but I broke the encryption.”

“What did you find?”

“She frequented a planet in the Outer Rim. I’m headed there now to do recon.”

“Send the coordinates. I’ll have a full division on standby if you require a visual on the targets.” Scorch provided before he signed off.

CX-2 entered the coordinates for Pabu.

--

“That’s gotta be all of it, right?” Wrecker asked in disbelief as he saw the three of you approach and unload the next round of supplies.

“We still need to grab the rations.” Hunter told him. “Keep loading up the ship. We’ll be back.”

Wrecker groaned, “Fine. But at least bring me back an ice cone.”

“Just one?” You questioned with an enticing grin as you walked backwards away from him and the ship.

“No, no, no. You’re right! M-Make it two!” Wrecker corrected his error.

You gave a two-fingered salute in reply before you turned around and jogged to catch up with Hunter and Crosshair.

--

“I wish you didn’t have to leave.” Lyana said lowly as she led Omega through the Archium.

“Me too, but Hunter thinks it’s safer for everyone if we do.”

Lyana led her over to a gap in one of the ledges. “What do you think of this spot?”

“It’s perfect.” Omega said with a thankful smile.

“So, which treasures did you bring?” Lyana asked, her tone curious but respectful of what this moment meant to those that left things here and Omega would not be treated differently.

Omega tucked Lula under her arm and brought out Tech’s cracked goggles. She held them delicately in her hands as she let the memories that they brought wash over her.

“You sure you wanna leave these behind?” Lyana double checked gently.

“Pabu was the first place that felt like a home.” Omega placed both objects down with the utmost care. “This way, a piece of us is still here.”

Lyana laid a supportive hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Well, I’ll make sure these stay safe until you come back.” She looked at Omega with a new type of seriousness. “Because you will come back, right?”

“I hope so.” Omega replied, the harsh reality of the day quickly catching up to her as she realised this would be the last time she would see her for a while.

--

“And where are you going?” Hunter asked with a questioning smile and tilt of his head as you separated from them. “We’ve got rations to get.”

You feigned disgust at the very idea. “Hey, I have the very important ice-cone mission. I cannot be diverted with a mere ration run.” You said with a coy grin before you pressed a swift kiss to Hunter’s cheek and sauntered off with exaggerated determination.

“Get that lovesick smile of your face before I throw up.” Crosshair snickered with a roll of his eyes as he saw the way Hunter watched you go.

“Shut up.” Hunter shoved his brother’s shoulder before they carried on with their own search.

--

“I don’t even think there’s room on this ship for all this gear.” Wrecker complained to Gonky as he saw all that was still to be shifted and he knew there was still more to come. However, Gonky’s cheeky honks of reply were not the commiseration he was looking for. “Oh, yeah? Well, maybe I should leave you behind.” He retorted, smirking at the offended honks he got in response.

Wrecker brought more of the stuff on board, completely unaware that the proximity sensor had been flashing a half second before.

--

CX-2 landed the ship in the cavern and began his hunt.

--

Hunter paused as he heard the nervous squeaking on the island birds, their tone matching his own growing sense of unease.

“What is it?” Crosshair asked.

“Not sure, but I don’t like it.” Hunter brought out his comm. “Omega, time to go.”

Upon hearing that, you gave up your spot in line and joined up with Hunter and Crosshair. You’d make it up to Wrecker another time.

--

CX-2 scanned the bustling market stalls from above and that was when he caught sight of the two clones and the targets he’d been sent to acquire. He touched the control panel on his sleeve and got Scorch on his comm.

“Report.” Scorch demanded.

“I’ve got eyes on the targets.”

“Ground them and wait for the division. They must be recovered unharmed. No mistakes this time.”

“And the clones they’re with?” He asked as he saw the group of you leaving the area.

“If they get in your way, eliminate them.”

--

“We’re sorry to see you go, but you’re all welcome here anytime.” Shep said sincerely. “Those homes will be waiting for you when you get back.”

You bowed your head in gratitude.

“Thanks for everything, Shep.” Hunter said, shaking his hand.

Omega and Lyana shared in a hug.

“I’ll see you soon.” Lyana said as she parted from Omega.

The four of you and Batcher started to make your way back to Wrecker.

--

The sun had almost set by the time Wrecker finished getting the most recent batch of supplies onto the ship, but he just took relief in the fact that he wouldn’t be alone in shifting the next round of gear.

As he went to grab the last crate, he paused on the steps as he picked up on a faint but rapid series of beeps.

He recognised the sound.

He knew exactly what that meant.

He reacted quickly and with a shout, he abandoned the ship and grabbed Gonky just as the Marauder exploded, hurling both of them into the sea.

With the last of his strength, he managed to pull himself onto a piece of debris before his vision went dark.

--

Upon hearing the harsh echoing boom of an explosion, you all instantly ran to the edge of Upper Pabu and your heart thumped in a frantic panic as you saw the distant flames and charred remnants of what was once the Marauder.

Hunter brought out his binoculars and took in the scene. He saw Wrecker and Gonky floating in the water and felt his own panic set in at seeing his brother unconscious. He put on his helmet and started running for the docks.

You did the same with your coverings and Crosshair put on his helmet before the three of you followed close behind.

--

One of the locals had grabbed a boat and brought Wrecker and Gonky back to port.

You pushed your way through the crowd of people and stopped short as you saw Wrecker’s body.

Omega knelt down by Wrecker’s side. “Wrecker? Wrecker!” Omega gasped, desperately shaking his shoulders to try and rouse him but it did no good.

Your stomach dropped to your feet. It took all the training you had to not lose control upon seeing the lack of response from Wrecker. He was strong, he was always so strong. He had to be alright.

“Mox and Stak, take Wrecker to Shep’s. Deke, get Az-3 to patch him up, and fast.” Hunter ordered the regs. He needed his brother back on his feet. He needed him to be okay.

“Ships don’t just blow up. We’ve been compromised.” Crosshair realised.

Hunter turned his head from Wrecker to the sound of a deep rumbling from above and what he saw sent both a deep anger and dread through his veins. The Imperial Star Destroyer hovered above the Archium and a series of gunships swarmed down. “Everyone, get to cover!”

Amidst the crowds of panicked and screaming people, the four of you regrouped and found cover of your own.

--

Shep was helpless to stop the hordes stormtroopers from moving in. He could only watch in despair as his people ran in fear.

--

“Cut off all escape routes. Destroy any ships or sea skiffs in sight.” CX-2 ordered as he remained unphased by the chaos around him. It wouldn’t affect what he needed to achieve; it would only help.

--

You and Omega both paused as you saw the destruction the Empire was causing to the docks.

The only light in the night were the fires caused by the Imperial gunfire.

The only sounds the whirr of gunship and cried of fear that echoed around the island.

Kamino, the Marauder, Pabu… How many more homes was the Empire going to take from you?

From these innocent people?

And how much longer could you let it go on?

A glance down at Omega told you she was thinking similarly to you. You indicated your head back and you both joined the others in an alleyway.

“Is this our fault? Are they attacking because of us?” Omega whispered up at you as she kept Batcher calm.

You wished with every fibre of your being that you could tell her no. That they were the ones at fault but the own guilt residing in your heart made the words die before they left your lips. How could you reassure her when you couldn’t believe the words yourself? It was never meant to go this way. The very thing you had wanted to avoid had happened and now you knew there was only one real way out of it.

Hunter crouched down. “It’s the Empire’s fault. Not yours. You have to stay focused. Both of you.” He implored with a helmeted look in your direction too.

“They’re destroying all means of escape and jamming our comms.” Crosshair said as he tried his comm, but it was only static. “We have to steal one of their gunships. Once we’re out of range, we can contact Echo.”

“I’ll handle it.” Hunter said. “You three, get to Shep’s and wait with Wrecker until I signal you.”

You caught his vambrace and pulled him back to you. You pressed your forehead against his helmet.

Hunter had a distinct and sinking feeling that this was you saying goodbye, but he wasn’t going to let that be the case- this plan would work… it- it had to. “I’ll see you soon.” He said as he stepped away.

You couldn’t quite meet his helmeted gaze as you nodded before you, Omega and Batcher split from him to head to Shep’s.

Hunter gave Crosshair a last meaningful look before he went in the opposite direction.

Crosshair knew what that look meant- keep them safe. And he would do everything in his power to do that. He followed you and Omega.

--

“Lock down the town. Search every domicile until you find them.” CX-2 ordered the squadrons of troopers.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Shep demanded as he approached the black-armoured soldier that seemed intent on ruining the lives of so many people.

“Who are you?” CX-2 replied with equal parts disdain and curiosity.

“The mayor of this town. You’ve opened fire on my village and its people without warning and without reason. Under what pretence are you attacking?” Shep seethed.

“We’re here to collect some fugitives you’ve been harbouring.” CX-2 brought out the puck and flashed the two images.

Shep made sure to keep his true reaction at bay- he wouldn’t give you and Omega away if he could help it. “You can’t just barge in here-”

“I’ve barely done anything yet.” CX-2 interrupted coldly.

“You destroyed our docks and fishing skiffs. Our livelihood.”

“I have simply cut off their means of escape. But I can do worse. I know they are here. Until they are turned over to me, your island will burn.” CX-2 threatened as he walked away.

--

The path to Shep’s had been fraught with troopers and each time like this where you had to hide from the next roaming patrol only slowed things down more.

You peered round the corner of your hiding spot to see one of the villagers being forced out of her home and you heard her distressed plea.

“You can’t do this! It’s our home!”

You were fighting the urge to go out and it seemed Batcher also shared in your current sentiment as Omega was doing her best to keep the dog quiet and calm.

And the cruel reply from the trooper that you heard next only confirmed what you already dreaded.

“We know they’re here! Where are the Jedi and the girl?”

“I don’t know! I swear-”

The familiar sound of a slap made your blood boil. You went to reveal yourself to stop them but Crosshair’s hand on your arm prevented you from doing so.

Omega couldn’t hold Batcher back though. The dog snarled and charged for the soldiers before they could do anymore harm.

“Batcher can handle herself. Let’s go.” Crosshair said to you both as he made sure Omega didn’t go to follow the dog either.

--

You had managed to scale the wall up to Shep’s and opened the door.

“Lyana!” Omega said with a relieved gasp.

“Omega! My-My dad, he said to hide here.” Lyana said fearfully. She ran up to her friend and hugged her tight, “I’m so scared.”

“I know. I’m so sorry.” Omega replied as she parted from her.

You and Crosshair took off your coverings as you saw AZ attending to Wrecker.

“How’s Wrecker, AZ?” You asked.

“He is still unconscious, but his vitals are stable.”

You allowed yourself to feel some semblance of relief at that, but you hastily pushed it to one side as you heard another gunships sound outside.

The three of you ran back out to take in what was happening and what you saw made your chest tighten and curl your fists in rage- stormtroopers were everywhere, removing people from their homes, tossing them to the ground, arresting them. It was unnecessarily cruel, and it was all because you were still here.

--

Getting onto the gunship had started out as a stealth mission but quickly became one where Hunter just had to get inside without getting shot.

He’d managed to do so but the pilot was making his life extremely difficult with erratic flying designed to fling him out. He had to take a tight grasp of the handles inside to remain upright.

--

Something else then caught your attention as you saw the unstable and irregular flying patterns of an Imperial gunship and a whole different kind of emotion swept through you. You knew the exact cause of that particular situation, but you were not reassured by the sight in the slightest.

“Is that, Hunter?” Omega asked both you and Crosshair as she noticed the ship in the air.

“Yes.” You said through clenched teeth.

“Uh huh.” Crosshair echoed nonchalantly.

But then, something shifted, there was a blaster shot and vessel nosedived down towards the sea in a way that showed that neither Hunter nor the pilot was in charge of the ship anymore.

A strained breath caught in your throat as you watched the ship plummet into the sea. “Where- where is he?” You choked out as you saw Crosshair grab his macrobinoculars.

Crosshair scanned the water anxiously but let out a relieved sigh as he saw his brother resurface and swim for the shore. “He’s fine.”

You bent forwards as you braced your hands on the wall and let out a slow calming breath before the distant sound of comm chatter reminded you of your current situation.

“He’s safer than we are at the moment.” Crosshair hissed as the three of you retreated back inside Shep’s.

--

“What do we do? Troopers will be here soon.” Omega asked anxiously.

“Hunter would want us to stick to the plan.” Crosshair replied, internally scrambling to think of a way out of this.

“There’s no hiding, Crosshair. The Empire knows we’re here. They won’t stop searching until they find us!”

Whilst they were talking, you were coming up with a plan of your own. If you handed yourself in and convinced them that you’d already shipped Omega off-world, then maybe they’d leave Pabu and the rest of them alive and in peace.

You glanced between Wrecker and Lyana and the door. You took a calming breath as you came to terms with what you had to do but a squeeze of your hand brought your eyes downwards. No. You said as you saw her nod at you.  

“You promised.” Omega reminded you.

This is different, Omega. It’s not a choice you should need to make. It-

“You’re going, I know you are!” Omega interrupted. “But that won’t be enough, they’re here for me too! They won’t stop and you know it. It is my choice!”

Crosshair clued in and realised what the two of you were arguing about. “Absolutely not.”

“It’s our only option, Crosshair.” You said heavily.

“What? No, it’s not. We-”

“Look at what they’ve already done.” You said, a flash of anger coming through. “We can’t let the people here suffer any more because of us. That’s why we were leaving in the first place- to avoid this. We can’t let it carry on. We just can’t.” I’m not risking anyone else. Wrecker already got hurt, I’m not risking you and I’m not risking Hunter. If I could help it, Omega wouldn’t be coming but I can’t and it kills me that I can’t, but it’s how it has to be.

Crosshair went to respond to you, but Omega got in first, “If we let them take us, it stops.” She emphasised.

Crosshair focused on the young girl, distress in his voice. “You’ll be taken back to Tantiss.”

“Exactly. We’ve been trying to find those coordinates, and nothing’s worked. But if we keep our comms on us, and turn ourselves in, you can track us to Tantiss. This is our chance. Our chance to finally rescue the clones imprisoned there.”

“No. They’ll search you and find it. It won’t work.” Crosshair argued.

“Then shoot a secondary tracker onto the ship that they take us away on.” You suggested.

“Too many unknown variables. It’s not a viable plan.”

“It’s all we’ve got.” You countered.

“And it’s our choice.” Omega reminded him again.

Crosshair looked imploringly in your direction now. “Tantiss is different. This isn’t some random Imperial that’ll take you this time. It’ll be Hemlock. Who knows what he’ll do to you there.”

You also saw a genuine fear behind his eyes, and it unnerved you. It won’t be for long, I’ll be alright. “Focus on the bigger mission, Crosshair.” You said aloud and you came to stand behind Omega and rested your hands on her shoulders.

“Yeah, we’re just a small part of it.” Omega agreed.

Crosshair found himself in a position where he was forced to reflect on that, and he had to agree with you both.

--

The two of you got ready to depart but you noticed the reluctance that still graced Crosshair’s face and you approached him.

“He’s going to kill me.” Crosshair said to you quietly.

So, tell him he was right that Hemlock was after me too, that outta smooth things over.

“It’s not funny.” Crosshair snapped. He didn’t want to lose you both either. Not when he knew how important you both were to Hunter, to this squad… to this family. He’d finally made ground with you, you were one of them, you always had been, and he’d welcomed that feeling again. And Omega, well, Omega had seen and been through it all with him already, he owed her much more than a half-baked rescue plan.

Yeah sorry, it’s a bad habit. You went serious again and shook your head. “He’s not going to do that, Crosshair. Six months ago, maybe he would’ve, but not now. He’s not going to lose the progress he’s built with you either, not anymore. He’ll understand.” You glanced back to Omega who was standing by the door and regret stabbed your heart over the fact that this was to be her fate too, but you also knew that she wouldn’t have it any other way. “We’re very stubborn and determined individuals.” You said fondly before you looked back at him and placed a reassuring hand on his upper arm. “Just don’t miss.” You said with a light but resigned smile that didn’t quite reach your eyes.

With that, you and Omega exited the hut.

--

You caught Omega’s shoulder just before you rounded the corner to make yourselves known. You crouched down to her eye-level. “Omega… you know if there was any other option that I could think of that would get us- particularly you- out of this, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

Omega nodded. “I know, but it’s what we have to do.” She said bravely.

Your heart broke a little bit more right then and there- this was something no kid should ever have to do, “You had to grow up far too fast.” You murmured, both with sadness and a hint of pride in your voice as you gave her a loving hug before the two of you stepped out of your hiding spot.

--

“Stop.”

CX-2 signalled the troopers with the flamethrowers to disengage as he heard the voice of a woman.

“We surrender.” Omega said as all eyes, both Imperial and Pabu civilians turned in your direction.

“Stay alert. I neutralised the other two clones with them, but not the third.” CX-2 advised as he approached you two.

“Take us and leave the island alone.” You said as you held your wrists out.

“The people here are innocent.” Omega did the same thing as you.

CX-2 first put the cuffs on the young girl, “Then you never should have come here in the first place.”

“I’m assuming these are the special cuffs made just for me?” You said dully as the operative attached a second pair to your wrists, and you noticed the slightly different design of them compared to Omega’s.

“Why don’t you try them and find out?”

The harsh modulated voice sent a cold shiver of fear down your spine, but you covered it up. “Nah, you seem like someone who is on top of things, so I’ll take your word for it.” You were determined to not flinch under the unwavering glare of his helmet.

“Scan them for tracking devices.” CX-2 ordered as he confiscated your knife and Jedi weapon.

As expected, the comm devices were picked up immediately.

“Give them to me.” CX-2 demanded.

You and Omega reluctantly handed them over before you were both shoved and made to walk between the squadron of troopers as they got ready to transport you off the planet.

--

Crosshair had watched the surrender take place and had been stealthily tracking and making his way to a vantage point where he could tag the ship that you were to be taken away on.

--

Hunter staggered to shore and collapsed to his hands and knees.

He felt the water seeping through the gaps in his armour, weighing him down, and it was choking him beneath his helmet.

He removed it and took a few recovering breaths before he became alert to the sound of rustling just ahead of him. He instantly got to his feet and guardedly drew his blaster as he waited for the threat to show.

But he was able to relax his stance as Batcher came into view and ran over to him with a happy bark. He bent down and rubbed her side with a slight grin before he glanced up at the Archium and the rest of the island, but he didn’t see as many ships anymore.

And the realisation at what was about to happen hit him harder than he had hit the water.

Hunter grabbed his helmet and started running back, Batcher close at his heels.

--

You swallowed thickly as you and Omega were marched to the docks and forced to walk past the wreckage of both the sea skiffs and the Marauder.

CX-2 tapped the band on his arm and his ship came flying to meet the three of you.

You and Omega paused before boarding but an insistent jab of the butt of the operative’s rifle prompted you both to step up.

--

Crosshair got into position and readied himself to take the shot when the flashlight hit him.

“Over there!”

He fired back at the small squad of troopers that had found him and dealt with them as quickly as he could, but the interruption had moved him out of the prime position.

He had to run for it.

His gait was rushed.

His aim unsteady.

But there was no more time.

The ship’s engines were powering up.

He had no choice but to fire.

The ship took off.

His tracker missed.

And he could only look on in complete and utter dismay and horror as the ship flew out of view.

--

“Targets acquired. Returning to base.” CX-2 transmitted before he put the ship into hyperspace.

You and Omega sat side by side on the metal floor.

Omega took off her hat and leaned against your shoulder. “We’ll have each other there.” She murmured, doing her best to keep her voice composed.

“Yeah, we’ll be okay.” You whispered back.

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @arctrooper69, @dominoeffectsworld, @andreaaxy, @notgonnaedit, @nightmonkeysstuff , @jellybeanstacey0519 @callsign-denmark @allthingsimagines, @superbookishhufflepuff

[yoitsjay]

We Are One Together

Pairings: Hunter x gn reader

Summary: After being courted for so long, you finally understand why Hunter's been doing it. So you say yes

Warnings: a bit of shouting, angry reader for a moment, mostly entirely fluff

Word count: 1,287

It started with small little gifts, like boxes of your favorite sweet treats or savory meals, then little boxes with jewelry would end up at your door, or would be given to you by Hunter himself. By now you had enough jewelry to cover you from head to toe. You knew all of it was from Hunter, but you had no idea as to why he was spoiling you so much.

You had been quite busy today, you and Crosshair were working on making him a new hand, since you were a mechanic and were handy with metals and things like that, building him a hand would be no issue for you. And with Tech’s help to make sure that the hand would connect to the nerves properly, you had no doubt that Crosshair would be able to use this hand with ease.

However as you tinkered with the mechanisms, Crosshairs broke your concentration. “sorry what did you say Cross?” You asked softly, turning to look at him as you set your tools down. “Hunter’s been courting you… it's a Mandalorian tradition that leads to marriage… I asked if you were accepting his proposal.” Crosshair spoke bluntly.

You stared at him for a moment, blinking once before you burst out into laughter. “Hah! your funny Crosshair, i didn’t know you were such a joker.” You snorted, turning back to the metal hand on your desk. However, tech spoke up this time.

“Crosshair is surprisingly correct. Ever since Tantiss, Hunter has been courting you for marriage… I am safe to assume he never told you?” Tech asked, watching as you gripped your tools tightly before standing up. “No Tech. He did not.” You seethed, dropping your tools as you turned to look at the two clones. “I will be back.” You started before walking out of the hut you were working in.

You made your way to Lower pabu towards the dock’s where you knew Hunter would be fishing with Omega. When omega saw you she smiled, however you gave her a look, one she knew well, and she quickly packed up her rod and made an excuse to leave before running off. Hunter raised an eyebrow, turning to watch her run past you, his eyes widening as he saw your arms crossed over your chest, an angry look on your face.

“Uh oh..” He muttered to Batcher, who barked and ran off after Omega.

“So when were you planning on telling me that you were asking me to marry you? huh? at the goddamn alter?!” You raised your voice as you stormed over to him. Hunter rubbed his neck nervously after setting down his fishing rod, a chuckle leaving his lips. “No- i thought- uh… i thought you knew already.” He answered.

You guffawed, shaking your head as you pushed his arm and then poke dhis chest. “How am I supposed to know that you want to marry me if you don't. bloody. ask me!” You exclaimed. Hunter sighed,gently grabbing your hand, giving them a squeeze before placing them on his shoulders, his arms now wrapping around your waist.

“I’m sorry Cyar’ika… i should have told you… and asked properly for you to marry me…” he trailed off, looking away from you with a sad look growing on his face. You sighed, gently cupping his non tattooed cheek in your hand, turning his head so he was looking at you again.

“I would have said yes Hunter, if you just asked.” You whispered, pressing your forehead to his as his eyes widened. “What?” He asked, and in return you grinned. “I said, yes. And I would've said yes months sooner too. I mean don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the gifts, but I don't need jewelry and little gifts for you to know that I love you, and that I'm yours just as you are mine.” You whispered, brushing your thumb against his cheekbone.

“Really?” He asked, and you nodded. “I really didn’t want to have to find out from Crosshair of all the people that you were showering me with gifts and proposing with them. How many times have I accepted one of your gifts and then just never said yes? i mean im not a bird Hunt, i wont shake my feathers to tease you and then fuck another man.” You joked, hearing the slight growl that left his lips when you had mentioned another man.

You rolled your eyes, and pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. “I will marry you Hunter… and now we don’t have to wait anymore, we could have the ceremony tomorrow evening if you wanted.” You breathed out, pulling back slightly as Hunter smiled.

“Or we could have it right now.” He said, and you gave him a quizzical look before he suddenly picked you up in his arms. A squeal fell from your lips and you gripped him tightly as he carried you all the way up to the highest part of upper Pabu, having commed his brothers to get Shep in on the sudden wedding, and to get other guests too.

And soon you and Hunter stood in front of each other underneath the tree, with Shep between you, a grin on his face. His words were blurred to you as you stared into Hunter’s eyes, he grinned at you, gently squeezing your hand to snap you out of your thoughts. “We’re really doing this?” You asked Hunter, and he nodded.

“Yes… as long as you still want to.” He stated, and you just grinned, “of course I do Hunter.” You whispered, raising his hand and pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

“Alright, repeat after me then…Mhi solus tome, we are one together.”

“Mhi solus tome, we are one together.” you repeated softly, glancing over at the crowd that had formed, seeing Omega’s bright smile only making you more excited

“Mhi solus dhar’tome, we are one when parted.” Hunter started again, and you stared into his eyes once more before repeating.

“Mhi solus dhar’tome, we are one when parted.” you breathed, squeezing Hunter’s hand.

“Mhi me’dinui an, we share all.” He muttered, taking a step closer to you.

“Mhi me’dinui an, we share all.” You grinned, also taking a step closer, your foreheads now pressed together as Hunter spoke the last phrase.

“Mhi ba’juri verde, we will raise warriors.” He muttered, and at that last part your cheeks flushed brightly. You had never thought of having children with Hunter… but these vows, these promises… you’d fulfill with Hunter.

“Mhi ba’juri verde, we will raise warriors.” You repeated finally, before pressing your lips to Hunter’s, wrapping your arms around his neck as he wrapped his around your waist again, deepening the kiss for a moment before pulling back as the people of Pabu cheered, as did the bad batch.

Hunter then gently slid a wedding band, engraved with the vows you just spoke, on your ring finger, and you did the same, raising an eyebrow towards him. “Where’d you get these?” You asked him, leaning into him as you walked away from the tree and through the crowd. “I had Tech make them for me… this may have been slightly planned.” He chuckled, and your eyes widened before you slapped his shoulder.

“Hunter!” You scolded, your anger melting into laughter as he laughed with you, sweeping you into his arms as he carried you to his- now your shared home.

“Let’s go make some little warriors.” He whispered in your ear, a soft squeak escaping your lips before it was silenced with a kiss as you reached your home.

It was definitely one way to get married… but you wouldn’t have it any other way.

[crosshairlovebot]

woven comforts / hunter x gn!reader

pairing: hunter x gn!reader (no y/n). reader has a nickname.

description: hunter comes home after a long day, and you're there - as always.

word count: 1,309

warnings: none. it's soft hunter at his softest.

this is a request from a lovely twitter mutual who asked for some cozy post-work relaxation/stress relief! i got a little carried away and actually wrote two pieces for this. this is the second one because I didn't think the first was cozy enough! but I will definitely still post the other one because I love it too. soft hunter is so nice to write. i hope you enjoy it!

also posted this on ao3. feedback is welcomed, reblogs are appreciated.

The Pabu sun streamed in and warmed the side of your face as you scrolled through the datapad on your lap. You heard the front door open and close from your spot on the couch, and you smiled when you turned and saw Hunter stroll in, his body slightly hunched.

“Hey,” you stood up, placing the datapad on the caf table. “You’re back later than I thought.”

Hunter stretched his neck out, eyes drifting closed before he forced them open again. “A couple of the boats broke down before they left the dock, slowed us down.” He smiled tiredly at you after running a hand down his face.

“Sounds stressful,” you commented before meeting him in the open kitchen.

Hunter shook his head, downplaying and evading his troubles as he often did. “It was nothing.” He moved closer to hold your arms and gave a lingering kiss on your cheek. “How was your day?”

“Fine,” you smiled, leaning into his kiss. He kept holding you, like if he didn’t he wouldn’t be able to stand upright. You took his hands as you surveyed his appearance. The bandana that kept his hair in check was askew, and his hair was knotted from the sea breeze. His clothes lightly smelled like sweat and the brine of the ocean, and his strong hands were slightly red and his palms calloused. He needed to relax, but he would never ask for it. You tucked some tangled hair behind his ear. “Why don’t you go shower and change, and I’ll make you some food?”

“It’s my turn to cook tonight,” he protested weakly.

“Don’t worry about that,” you said, cupping his cheek with one hand and kissing the other. “Just go and clean up, cyare.”

Hunter smiled, evidently too tired to argue and softened by the endearment. He pulled you in for a gentle kiss that almost made you forget your name before pulling away from you and going to shower. You smiled as you heard the door close and the water turn on.

The water running quickly became a comforting kind of white noise as you made Hunter a sandwich with the Pabu’s famous seeded bread that he loved so much. You just finished cutting the sandwich diagonally when you heard the water shut off and the bathroom door open a few minutes later. Hunter emerged with loose pants hanging low on his hips and a sleeveless undershirt, wet hair stuck to the skin around his collarbones and neck. He looked a little more refreshed, his tattooed face a little brighter as he ran the towel over his wet hair.

“Better?”

“Much,” he draped the towel around his neck as you pushed the plate with the sandwich across the bench. He smiled at you with such gratitude you would’ve thought you had done more than just make him a snack. “Thank you,” he took the plate.

You returned the smile. “You’re welcome.”

You poured him a glass of cool water and then you both made your way over to the couch to sit down. You pulled your legs up under you to face him as he leaned forward to eat over the plate he’d placed on the caf table. You watched the tendons in his neck move as he took a bite, he hummed in enjoyment, making you smile. “Good?”

He nodded. “Thank you,” he repeated after swallowing. “Tell me about your day?” he asked eyes meeting yours in genuine curiosity as he took another bite.

You launched into a retelling of your day; a trip to the market and the bakery for the bread with Omega before dropping her off to help Tech and Phee with cataloguing the Archium, then helping an elderly neighbour with her pruning since her hands often locked up before coming home and tidying things up after Omega stayed with you both last night. She tended to hop around to each of her brothers’ bungalows, but this was her home base.

Hunter listened intently as he ate. You watched him as you spoke, almost getting distracted by the way his hair fell in his face as he leaned over the plate so it would catch any crumbs. You reached out and placed some damp hair behind his ear, curling it gently. These moments between you were so practised that you often didn’t notice them anymore. Both of you just moving with each other automatically. You didn’t notice touching Hunter’s hair, softly running your fingers through it. You didn’t notice when he offered you a bite of his sandwich wordlessly, and you took one mid-sentence, covering your mouth as you talked around it while he took a bite where you just did.

There was an ease with Hunter that meant these moments, however insignificant, made up the pattern of your intertwined lives. Both of you weaved together effortlessly as if you were always meant to.

After Hunter finished eating and his glass of water was empty, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes. You shuffled closer and ran your fingernails over his scalp. “Today was pretty tiring, huh?”

Hunter peeked open an eye and nodded. “Since Shep opened up the surrounding islands for settlement, there’s always shipments coming and going, things to load and unload. Today felt longer than others.”

You smiled sympathetically. “You’re doing good, you’re a great help to everyone.”

Hunter smiled and reached to grab the hand resting in your lap, squeezing it as his thumb caressed the back of it. “Thanks, mesh’la.”

You smiled and gently tugged him closer and guided his head down, so his head could lay down in your lap. As soon as he realised what you were trying to do, he scooted down so he was comfortable and closed his eyes, sighing with content. You chuckled and looked down at him. “Comfortable?”

“Extremely.”

You laughed again and continued running your fingers through his damp locks, which were already starting to curl up as they dried in the setting sun’s heat that permeated the bungalow.

Instead of talking, you let him rest, watching his rest rise and fall. You adjusted yourself carefully under him, angling his head slightly so you had more access to his hair. You combed through it gently with your fingers before sectioning it in two, and then into three smaller sections on each side, braiding his hair. You softly tugged the hair as you weaved the strands together, watching his face and body slowly relax from the movement of your hands against his scalp. He loved it when you played with his hair. It soothed him in a way nothing else did.

You finished off one side before starting on the other, and by the time you were done with the braids, Hunter was asleep, his breathing deep and even. You smiled, gently brushing the bare side of his face with the back of your fingers, warmth filling your chest at the sleeping man of yours. You were glad he could finally rest.

Hunter stirred a little from the touch, reaching up to cradle your hand to his face.  He cracked one eye open. He was always a light sleeper.

“Sorry, go back to sleep,” you whispered, gently caressing his cheek with your thumb.

“Closer,” he mumbled still half asleep, tugged your hand, making you smile.

You both readjusted, him lifting his head so you could get out from under him before he pulled you down, so you lay with him, head resting on his chest. Hunter’s arms went around you, one of his hands running up and down your arm as if soothing himself back into a slumber. You relaxed too, his steady heartbeat under your ear. Soon, his touch stilled, turning limp as he fell asleep again. You smiled before closing your eyes too.

thank you for reading! i have a few requests to get through so keep a look out for more soft clone pieces!

banner art by @vimse

taglist: @starrylothcat @sinfulsalutations @moodymisty @nahoney22 @seriowan @thrawns-babygirl @bobaprint @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius @crosshairsnose @wreckerswife @leavingkamino @jesseeka @thegalaxys-edge @snarky-mans-gf @mylifeisactuallyamess @cloned-eyes @chopper-base @wenalena @bluebird-dreams @pb-jellybeans @a-streakofblue @rexamongthestars @r2d2staser @theawkwardartist12 @freesia-writes

please let me know if you'd like to be removed/added

i'm gonna make a taglist form one of these days trust

[cc--2224]

Worth The Wait

Pairing: Tech x F!Reader

Summary: You wear your favourite sundress knowing Tech has too much on hit plate to appreciate it, but you need to do the supply run anyway, so where's the harm in making him wait?

Warnings: This is very much 18+ Minors do not interact! Minimal plot, lots of teasing, slight edging?, unprotected p in v (wrap it before you tap it!), oral (m receiving), jealous/possessive/somewhat dom Tech

Notes: Requests are still open! And if you'd like to be added to a tag list, feel free to message me or fill out this form!

Word Count: 2.8k

Masterlist

It was always too hot on Pabu. Too hot to keep your armor on all the time, even too hot to wear your blacks all the time. You genuinely didn't know how the batch could wear so many layers on this island.

With it being your turn for the supply run, you decided to mitigate the heat by wearing your favourite sundress. You rarely had a chance to wear it and it complemented you so well. Besides, it wasn't as if you needed to suddenly go away on a mission any time soon, you were just going to the market.

An added bonus was that wearing such a dress was a sure-fire way to tease Tech. You had been together for a few months, since everything had calmed down and you were able to finally relax on Pabu. Your mutual feelings were known well before that, but the timing was never right. 

It surprised you how clingy he could be. He always came off as someone who was very protective of his space, which wasn't untrue, he was just also protective of your space.

So when you wandered out of your bunk in your little sundress knowing he was knee-deep in repairs on the Marauder, it added a sense of mischief to your outfit. 

"I'm heading out for the supply run, I'll be back soon." You called over to him, glancing to the array of tools splayed out around the floor. 

His head poked out from under the console and he looked at you, eying you up and down. You saw him visibly swallow before he spoke.

"You are wearing that?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I? It's hot out."

"N-no I mean... you look beautiful, but I cannot go with you to–." He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, feeling guilty for coming across so jealously. He sighed and looked back at you "Thank you for going on the supply run. You have my list, correct?"

"No need to thank me, it's my turn. And yes, I have everyone's lists." You smiled then opened the ship's door. "Oh and, when I return, you'll be the only one to see what's under my sundress, if you'd like." 

You winked then exited the ship before he could respond, however you heard the loud clattering noise of tools falling over.

You decided to take the long way to the market. After all, it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, and the warm breeze tickled your skin. And if it meant Tech had to wait longer to see you when you got back, so be it. 

Villagers greeted you as you passed them, the occasional fisherman stared maybe a few seconds too long, but you didn't pay it any mind, and eventually you made it to the market.

You decided to peruse the market stalls for a while, looking at the different trinkets and items for sale, making sure you were picking the best quality items, examining each piece of fruit closely when you got to the produce stands to ensure you weren't buying something bruised, chatting with the stall owners about their selections.

By the time you had finally crossed off every item from the various lists and arranged for them to be delivered to the Marauder the following day, it was already evening. You sighed looking off into the sunset beginning to dip into the ocean below, and decided you shouldn't torment Tech any longer. 

You walked back toward the landing port, this time hurrying a little bit, until you eventually reached the Marauder. 

The door opened for you and you stepped in, it was quiet, no longer sounds of Tech's repairs, nor was there sound of anyone else on board. You shrugged, assuming you were alone and began walking toward your bunk.

"Stop." A voice rang out from the cockpit. The door was open but you didn't see anyone, until the pilot chair spun around.  Tech did not seem pleased. He sat with his arms folded over his chest and one leg crossed over the other. 

"It is nice of you to finally return." He said, bitterly. You smirked in response. 

"I'm sorry, my love. The supply run took me longer than intended."

"Did it? Or were you purposefully extending your stay?"

How did he know? You played it cool and walked toward the cockpit slowly, making sure he had a full view of you at all times.

"Do you truly believe I would make you wait all day?" 

He leaned back, head resting against the back of the chair as he took you in. "Yes, I do, if it meant it would increase my need for you." 

You stopped a few feet away from him. "Did it work?"

He uncrossed his legs, revealing a prominent bulge under his blacks, your mouth watered at the sight. "You tell me. This is after I had to take matters into my own hands."

You took another few steps forward, closing the distance between you. Your hands rested on Tech's face, tilting his head up toward you. "I'd say it worked." You smiled before capturing his lips with yours. 

His tongue pushed past your lips, deepening the kiss, and you moaned into his mouth.

Tech's hands found their way to your hips, gripping the soft fabric. You broke away from the kiss, peppering his face with soft kisses over his forehead, his cheeks, his nose, his jaw, and finally his neck. 

He reached down, bunching the fabric up as he dipped his hand under your dress, gripping your thighs before slowly sliding up, intending to start removing your panties, only when he got to where the waistband should have been, he found nothing.

His eyes widened slightly before he looked up at you. Your bottom lip was sucked between your teeth.

"You wore this without any undergarments?" His voice a little more than a whisper.

"I told you, it was hot outside." 

He swallowed thickly, you could tell he wasn't entirely sure if he should be disappointed or turned on. 

"Besides, it's not like anyone saw... I think."

His grip tightened on your thighs. "You think?"

"I mean, a few of the fisherman couldn't keep their eyes off of me." 

You knew full well that no one saw under your dress. The breeze was never strong enough to blow your dress up, and it was long enough to cover you. But you couldn't lie, the effect you were having on Tech only added to the hot coil you felt in your abdomen.

"Another test?" He asked, seeming to call your bluff. 

"Who's to say? I don't know what they saw." You smirked as you began kissing him again.

His hand moved around to your ass and he squeezed the flesh. "It had better be a test." With his other hand, he reached up and placed it on your jaw, holding you so that you were looking into his eyes, you noticed that his pupils were blown wide behind his goggles. "You are mine. No one else's. I am the only one who gets to see you like this. Understood?" 

You nodded as best as you could with his hand gripping your jaw. "Ye-yes, sir." 

He let go of you, and stood up from his chair, looking down at you as he towered over you. You felt yourself clench around nothing with just his dark expression alone.

"Now, since you have made me wait all day, I think it is time I got what I wanted. Would you agree?"

You nodded, "Yes..." 

"Good girl." He grabbed your shoulders and spun you around so that you were facing the viewport with your back flush against his chest. You felt his cock press into you through your clothing and you stifled a moan.

He walked you forward until you were at the console and he gently pushed your back down, bending you over in front of him.

You heard a faint beep from behind you and you realized he was recording this, not that you minded, he had discussed it with you in the past, but usually it meant he had things planned.

"Open your legs." He ordered. You did as you were told, spreading your legs for him. He pushed the fabric of your dress up over your ass, out of the way, and then with his other hand he grabbed your wrists, pinning them behind your back. It took you a minute to adjust but he assured his grip wasn't too tight as to make you uncomfortable.

He took a minute to free himself from his blacks, before his hands returned to you. The hand that wasn't holding your wrists slid up your thigh before gripping the soft flesh of your ass again. 

Before long, his hand trailed down between your legs. He ran his long fingers between your folds before pushing two into you. You moaned as he began stretching you, pumping his fingers in and out, building the heat your felt in your core. 

You whined when he pulled his fingers out of you completely, feeling the loss already, but those whines turned into whimpers as he began circling your clit with expert precision.

"Mmph, Tech," You moaned. The pressure began building further in your core. "Keep going."

"Does that feel good, mesh'la?" He asked, picking up the speed slightly.

"Y-yes!" You could feel yourself tighten, you knew you were getting close. The pressure in your abdomen getting almost unbearable. "F-fuck, Tech I'm so c–"

Just as you felt yourself about to snap, he withdrew his hand. You squirmed against the console, "Tech, please!"

"You are not the only one capable of torment." You couldn't see him but you knew he was smirking behind you. "That was for making me wait all day for you." 

"But I–" any protest you had died on your lips when you felt him line himself up at your entrance. 

He pushed his head in, letting you adjust before sinking in the rest of the way. You pushed your hips back into him, trying to feel more of him and he responded by snapping his hips forward.

"Gods, you feel so good around me." He pumped his length into you slowly, and dragged himself out even more so, determined to feel your warmth on every inch of him. 

"Go faster, please," You whined. "Please, Tech."

"I am quite content at this pace." 

"Please, I'll... I'll never make you wait again I–" you were on the verge of begging. 

"And what about those fishermen? You can't stop them from looking at you." 

"I'm yours, Tech. Only yours. Only you can make me feel good, only you f-FUCK–" Your pleas were interrupted by him slamming into you, quickening his thrusts. 

"Go on." He offered. 

"On-only you... can fuck me li-like this," you praised between thrusts. 

"And who do you wear these pretty little dresses for?" His asked, pulling at the fabric bunched around your hips.

"Just... just you!" 

"You have done well." His grip loosened on your wrists. "You may touch yourself."

Your hand flew to your core, tracing circles around your clit, you moaned into the console as you chased your high. 

Tech's hands explored your body, feeling the soft material of your sundress, wanting nothing more than to rip it off of you, but he knew that would make up upset. His hands soon wandered down toward your ass and they began prodding your soft flesh before affixing themselves to your hips.

You heard him groan behind you as your walls began clenching, suffocating his cock. "That's it mesh'la." 

His thrusts grew faster, more erratic. He was chasing his own orgasm, spurred on by the feeling of your pussy tightening around him. 

You continued circling your clit with your fingers, feeling your own build up once again. Tech's hands dug into your hips, pulling you toward him each time he slammed into you. As you neared your orgasm, his name and praises fell from your lips over and over again, until finally you reached your peak.

You cried out his name as waves of pleasure crashed over you. Your walls squeezed his cock, sending him tumbling over the edge after you.

He stilled as he shot his release into you, moaning as he painting your walls with his seed. 

When he pulled out of you, you straightened yourself up, turning to face him as he tucked himself away. You wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him with such an intensity that it nearly sent him falling backward.

"I'm sorry," You told him after pulling away from the kiss. 

His eyes widened, "Do not apologize, I am not upset with you. I would wait years for you, a few hours is nothing." 

He smiled at you, leaning down to kiss your neck. You caressed the back of his head as he continued to litter kisses all along your neck. You moaned when you felt his teeth sink into you, before kissing the mark he left.

"And that will be so people know that you are taken." 

"Even still, let me make it up to you." Your lips found his again, holding him close to you as you bucked your hips into him.

"Mmm," He moaned into your mouth, feeling himself start to stiffen again. "What did you have in mind?"

You kept eye contact with him as you slowly sank to your knees in front of him. His hands found their way into your hair as you ran your hands up and down his thighs, pulling his blacks down from his hips and kissing the soft skin. You left a trail of kisses leading toward his hardening cock before you took it in your hand, kissing along the side of it, helping to coax it along until he was fully erect.

You kissed his smooth head gently and he shuddered as your breath fanned over it before you took it into your mouth slowly. You gently swirled your tongue around it, tasting both of your juices on him as well as the new beads of pre-cum that leaked from the slit.

He guided your head further and you took more of him into your mouth. Your cheeks hollowed out as you sucked, and his grip on your hair tightened when he felt your tongue tracing the vein on the underside.

"Stars, you are incredible," He praised, his voice shaky. You hum in response, the vibrations eliciting a moan from him. 

You took as much of him as you could into your mouth, and when he hit the back of your throat you gagged. This seemed to edge him on, when he felt you choke on his length, he took more control. Guiding your head so that he was essentially fucking your mouth, using you to get his relief. 

The way he thrusted into you made drool spill from your lips and down your chin, tears pricked the corner of your eyes, but it also had you moaning around him.

His head fell back in pleasure for a moment as he felt your muffled moans radiate through him, before his gaze turned back to you, looking utterly fucked as you took his cock. 

You peered up at him through your lashes as your tongue flattened against the underside of his cock. He let out a shaky breath and his eyebrows knitted together. 

Tech could feel his release building up again as you continued to bob your head around him. 

He was more delicate with his thrusts, but his pace quickened. He kept a firm grip on your hair, and he once again began chasing after his own high. 

It didn't take long from there for him to unravel. His breaths grew unsteady and your name fell from his lips more times than you could register. He thrusted a few more times before he stilled, head falling back once more, a quiet groan escaping his throat and his cock twitched as he shot his release down your throat. You swallowed around him, making sure nothing was wasted, and when he was finished, he slowly pulled himself out. 

You hastily wiped your drool away from your mouth and you rose to your feet. 

"Am I forgiven?" You asked softly.

"There was nothing to forgive. But your efforts were certainly appreciated." He smirked and clicked off the recording from his goggles.

"You're finished recording already?" You reached up and placed a hand on his cheek as you stepped closer to him.

"Mesh'la, I do not believe I could go another round without rest." He admitted quietly. 

"You're right, you could use something to drink. Or maybe to eat?" Your eyes gleamed with mischief once again when you saw the understanding in his. "Why don't we go to my bunk so I can show you everything under my dress, as I promised?" 

He leaned toward you, kissing you again. You reached up toward his goggles, pressing the record button before smirking at him and pulling him by the hand toward your bunk.

[crosshairs-dumb-pimp-gf]

"I want you there ..."

Tech Grief Ficlette

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Warnings: Sad, Grief.

Summary: A grown up Omega has some news for an old friend.

WC: 661 Read on Ao3

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Omega’s boots crunched along the gravel of the familiar path. It had been a while since she had trekked back to Pabu, now the sea breeze danced about her, caressing her cheeks like a welcome from an old friend. 

Her portfolio case swung from one hand, the familiar broken goggles from the other. She was almost never seen without them. Today though, she was heading to a special place on Pabu… the place she came to talk while she finished growing up. Talk to him. 

The cliff line finally broke, giving her a gorgeous view of the sunset. Brilliant orange, just like the amber glass in her hand. She sat at the rocks edge, opened her portfolio and with a sigh, slipped on the goggles. 

She hit record. 

“Hey, Tech… it's been a while, I wanted to update you on what I've been up to…”

It had been forever since she talked to him like this, panic and dread had set in one day when she realized the internal data storage was running low. She didn't want it to loop and record over anything but today was worth talking to him… formally. 

She pulled out the first etching, a dark umbra alive with bonfires and crude little drawings of people. 

“I've been doing well with the rebellion, we won an important skirmish a few months ago, Partied after harder than Hunter says you guys did… but I guess he might have down played what you boys got up to…”

She trailed off, stroking the figures around the little fire, just to have her hand come away black with sooty medium. She furrowed her brow, and wiped her fingers on her pants before drawing out another sketch. 

“This… well, I was trying to design a call mark for the hull of the marauder… nothing really worked out,”

There were over a dozen half finished figures with exs through them, and scattered notes. It wasn't what she was really after. She looked more carefully through her etchings, finally pulling out one of a full body figure. Their back was on full display and every detail and shadow had been filled in lovingly. 

…

“I'm getting married soon… it's gonna be here, on Pabu. I met them out there and well, life is short on the battlefield… you know that more than any so…”

A lump was starting to form in her throat but she swallowed the old pain gracefully, continuing. 

“I'm planning on wearing your goggles… so you can come to, I just wanted to give you a heads up before… before you were just, walking me down the aisle… I hope that's okay,”

It was nonsense, but it always felt like putting his goggles on and pressing record… it was like Tech could open his eyes again for a brief moment. 

“I was always gonna wear them anyways… Hunter insists he should be the one to walk me, but Wrecker said it was unfair and I think it upset Crosshair too… they're taking turns now. Hunter starts, Wrecker in the middle and Cross'll finish it… but you'll be with me the whole time… I want you there…”

She stopped the recording and whipped the goggles off, squeezing her eyes as a few hot tears grazed her cheeks. It had been a long time since she last cried for Tech, but the heightened stress of the past few weeks left her vulnerable to the old wounds. 

I'm sorry, I shouldn't have insisted we go, it's my fault…

She caught the thoughts there, releasing them with a shaky sigh as the cycles of grief lit through her for the life that should have been. Thoughts she'd never be rid of even though she knew they weren't true, almost a comfort that she could still feel his absence so greatly… that she never forgot. 

Catching her breath, she checked the remaining storage. Only a few hours left… 

I hope this is okay … I want you there. 

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