One-Shots and Art For The Runaway

A Visit to Salucami Pt. 2

The male members of Clone Force 99 were now all watching Calli carefully, wondering what her next move would be.

Cut looked at everyone with confusion, at first not knowing why his wife and friends were so tense at his arrival. Then he spotted Calli in the corner, yet before he could ask who she was, two little twi'leks ran up to him.

"Dad!" They both exclaimed happily, making the man chuckle and he knelt down to engulf them both in a hug.

"Hey you two! I hope you were good for mom while I was gone." The two kids assured him they were and then their focus was back to Wrecker. Each took ahold of one of his large hands and started to drag him to the door, wanting to go play outside with their favorite uncle.

"Good to see you Cut!" Wrecker said over his shoulder before he disappeared outside and the reg chuckled and waved to him before turning back to the others in the room, specifically Calli. Instead of looking at her skeptically like Suu had, the reg had an air of confidence and trust as he walked up to the teen and held his hand out

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Cut. Cut Lawquane." Calli looked at his hand with confusion, then it hit her that he wanted to shake hands. After an embarrassing five seconds that it took her to process this, she met his hand with hers and gave it a firm shake to mask her uneasiness about the whole situation. Cut is a clone, there's no question about it. He had the same voice, same tan skin, light brown eyes, and a muscular build, but that was where the similarities ended. Instead of his hair being brown it was a coppery red and pulled back into a low ponytail. He wore no armor and his demeanor, well, was more laid back. He seemed... normal? Like he was his own unique person and not a soldier. There was only one term for who this guy really was.

"You're a deserter." It was out of Calli's mouth before she even had time to process that it might sound blunt and rude and set him or Suu on edge, especially in the accusatory tone of her voice. Yet she was surprised again when Cut just simply laughed at her words, as if she'd told a joke.

"I'm an individual, just like you and I exercised my freedom to live my own life." Calli blinked, not expecting such a calm response. She thought he'd get all defensive, yet he was completely relaxed. And she couldn't formulate a reply.

"I uh..." Calli pointed to the door as she sputtered out her next words, "I'm just gonna go and - yeah." She sidestepped around Cut and made a beeline for the door with her head hanging, not even sparing a glance at any of her squadmates who looked at her with concern and Hunter called out to her but was blatantly ignored.

"Be sure to stay inside the fences if you don't want to be attacked by a Nexu." Tech advised when Calli reached the door, knowing she was probably going to go for a walk to clear her mind. "But keep a blaster on you, just in case." Calli waved a dismissive hand.

"Yeah yeah, step outside the perimeter and I'll become an appetizer for the predators, got it." Calli said distractedly, exiting the main room.

"Will she contact the Republic and turn Cut in?" Suu asked the group, specifically Hunter, who right about now was regretting bringing Calli here. But he didn't believe she would turn Cut in, after all she'd been a deserter herself once and the Sergeant explained this to the couple. Cut was reassured by this and left to go check on the animals before it got dark. Suu was less certain but she trusted her husband's judgment so she went along with it and chose to distract herself by making a nice dinner for everyone as the Bad Batch only planned to stay one night, so they deserved to eat real food instead of war rations. "I don't suppose one of you boys would like to help me?" she asked and right away they began making excuses.

"I was going to head into town." Tech declared, shooting up from his seat and immediately both Hunter and Crosshair copied his movements, loudly volunteering to go with him. "I'll only need one of you as the speeder only holds two people."

"I'll go." Hunter and Crosshair said at the same time, then shot each other a glare and again were simultaneous as they shouted, "No, I'LL GO!" There were some grumbled curses at each other, then Hunter gave a triumphant smirk as he knew what card always worked and pointed to himself and declared, "I'm going and you're staying."

"Oh yeah? And who's going to make me?" Crosshair challenged before he could elaborate further, causing Hunter to shoot back,"The Sergeant of this squad, that's who!" Before clutching Techs's arm and dragging him out the door before they could argue any further on the subject, which of course pissed off Crosshair. He comically grumbled under his breath while plopping back onto his seat, crossing his arms moodily and looking like a pouting child.

Suu had been amused by the exchange and it helped melt away some of her anxiety, and when she went up to Crosshair's side, she looked down at him with an expectant look. "You'll be in charge of cutting the vegetables, think you can handle that?"

Crosshair huffed and turned up his nose at her, as if the feat was beneath him. "I'm not doing that." He stated with an air of defiance like a rebellious teenager, to which Suu rolled her eyes before pointing to the kitchen counter where there was a basket of vegetables that had been picked from the garden earlier.

"Oh quit pouting and get to it." Suu ordered him - like a teenager - then said in a baby voice as if she was instructing a mere child just to spite him, "Remember to wash your hands first!"

"I said I'm not helping." Crosshair resisted, making Suu frown in annoyance at the audacity as he tossed his head in complete insolence, "Deal with it."

This was the wrong thing to say to Suu - even her own small children had manners - and with such swiftness and no warning whatsoever she reached down and clamped her thumb and pointer finger down on Crosshair's earlobe in a vice-like grip. He let out an involuntary yelp as he was not so gently hauled from the chair with strength that surprised him and the twi'lek then yanked him down to her level (He was a good five inches taller than her) so she'd be face to face with the clone.

She plastered an innocent smile on her face, "You're either going to help me or I'll feed you to the Nexu.'' She threatened in a sickenly sweet voice, but the deadly undertones were unmistakable, and when the idoiotic sniper attempted to say again that he refused she tightened her grip on his ear and he pitifully whined in pain and reluctantly surrendered to Suu's demands.

"Alright alright woman, I'll help!" He exclaimed angrily and to his relief Suu let his ear go. He rubbed the tender flesh while grumbling to himself - curses probably, but with a glare from her he silenced himself - and he shuffled his way over to the counter where vegetables were already set out. Crosshair reached for the knife only to be stopped by Suu with an authoritative snap of her fingers, and he gave her 'What Now?!' glare.

"Hands. Wash." She reminded and Crosshair's jaw clenched yet he moved to the sink to do as told, secretly wondering how Cut could handle married life.

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I know this is a very short chapter but I felt bad that it was taking me so long to write part 2 that I decided to post what I have now. Hopefully the funny scene at the end makes up for it being so short!

Thank you, antisocial-mariposa for editing part of this chapter, specifically the last half, adding your creative flare to make it more hilarious! You're the best!

~B.C.