Safe and Sound (Star Wars: The Bad Batch AU)

Chapter 9

"You can't be sure of that," Hunter tried to calm his rising fear. He put an unsure hand on her shoulder.
"These weren't neatly on the ground next to each other," Rafa snapped, "They we're dropped, leading to the pier. I looked in the water and she wasn't in it. The only explanation is that she was taken."
The possibility that someone could've taken Omega shook him to his core. He shook his head, unsure of himself, "Let's see it Tech found anything on the security system."
Rafa pulled out her phone and called him, "Tech, where are you? Did you find Omega?" She paused, listened, and turned to Hunter, "He's in the living room. He found where Omega went."

They ran. Tech was sitting on the couch going over the security footage on a tablet.
"You found Omega?" Hunter asked, sitting beside him.
"Yes bu-" Tech started.
"Did she go to the docks?" Rafa questioned, also sitting beside him.
Tech went back to the footage. After a minute of searching, he found what he was looking for.
"Actually, yes. Wait a minute," he looked back down at the tablet, noticing something, "That's not good."
"What is it?" Hunter asked.
Tech rewound the footage and zoomed in. Omega was playing by the docks when someone snuck up behind her.
"No..." Rafa whispered, realizing what she said was true. She got up and started pacing the floor.
"I don't believe it," Tech muttered.
"Can you get a good look at who took her?" Rafa asked him.
"Perhaps if I switched to another camera..." Tech fiddled with the tablet until he got a decent shot of the assailant, "What's Fox doing here?"
"Fox?" Rafa stopped, "We did run into him today."
"But why is he out here? And how does he know about Omega?" Tech wondered.
The photo... the realization hit Hunter like a truck. I dropped the photo during the fight...
"Hunter?" Rafa asked him.
"I- I know how Fox knows about Omega."

"What do ya mean, 'I dropped a photo of us during the fight?' Did you leave it in your front pocket or something?" Rafa scolded Hunter, "Why am I not surprised?" She threw her hands up in the air. "Everyone knows that if you have something important on you, you either leave it in your inside pocket or don't bring it at all!"
"You don't think I realize that now?" Hunter shot back. Rafa was cut off by Hunter's running phone.
Hunter answered it, glaring at Rafa, "Who is it?"
His expression softened, a hopeful look replacing it. "Omega?"
He quickly switched it to speaker as Tech and Rafa gathered round the phone.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Hunter asked.
"I'm okay," Omega said fearfully.
"Where are you?" He asked.
"I'm not sure. It looks- No!" Omega's voice cut off.
"Omega!"
"I'll see if I can trace the signal," Tech held out his hand for the phone.
"It appears that we both have something the other one wants," Tarkin spoke. Omega mumbled something too quiet for the phone to catch.
"What have you done with Omega?" Hunter spoke coldly as he handed the phone to Tech.
"She has not been harmed," Tarkin assured, "If you want your daughter back, then I suggest that you give us the spice as quickly as possible."
Hunter didn't know how to say it. They didn't have it. He sighed, "Then you got yourself a problem. We don't have the spice."
After a pause Tarkin snapped, "Then consider it your  problem. Either you get us the spice or you give us half a million in cash by Friday."
"That's 4 days," Rafa muttered.
"Have a Merry Christmas," Tarkin hung up.
They all froze.
Trace ran in out of breath, "I couldn't find-"
"Why'd you let Omega out of your sight?" Rafa turned to her sister.
"W-what?"
"Because of you, Omega is gone!" Hunter and Rafa snapped.
"I- I didn't know she was in danger!"
"'I didn't know,'" Rafa mocked, "Well maybe that's because you have the attention span of a goldfish!"
"You know how dangerous it is to be part of a crime family. Did it ever cross your mind that you'd have to keep an extra eye on Omega?" Hunter scolded.
"I wasn't the only one in charge of Omega," Trace shot back, "Tech and Crosshair were supposed to help."
Wrecker ran in, "Have you guys found Omega yet?"
"Hmm, yes, let's see," Rafa looked around, "Yes, we have found Omega. She's right there. OF COURSE WE HAVEN'T FOUND HER YET. Because of these di'kute, Tarkin kidnapped her!"
"What?!" Wrecker's blood started to boil, "What do they want with her?"
"Tarkin wanted to trade Omega for the spice you stole, but because we currently do not have it, he has asked for half a million dollars by Friday," Tech explained.
Wrecker flipped a chair, "The spice wasn't even worth that much!"
"Do you have a better option?" Hunter asked, annoyed.
Wrecker shook his head, grumbling.
Rafa folded her arms, "Great. When can we send the money?"
"Tech, were you able to trace the phone call?" Hunter asked.
"I was able to find the area it came from," Tech said, "It originated from Jackson County, just north of here."

Crosshair was standing outside of the room when he heard what was going on. He couldn't believe that someone took Omega from under his nose. He prided himself on being the most observant, but he wasn't able to notice that she needed help. Or where she had gone. He walked down the hallway, wondering what he could've done to save her.

[Di'kute; plural of di'kut (pronounced DEE-koot; meaning idiot, useless individual, waste of space. Literally: someone who forgets to put their pants on)]