The Bad Batch: Oneshots

Not Another Day P1

     It had been around a month since the kid joined him on Tantiss. The first day they brought her in, he was supposedly unconscious. He had the faintest memories of anything happening to him during that week. With all the experiments, torture and drugging, it was an accomplishment to speak a full sentence without slurring or stopping in the middle to regain his train of thought. After Omega's arrival, the torture had thankfully stoppped, but that was only because Hemlock no longer needed to interrogate him for information on Clone Force 99's whereabouts. Crosshair would feel a twinge of guilt when Omega was brought back to her cell day after day. Though she was rather annoyingly optimistic the majority of the time, when she didn't think he noticed, the sniper slowly watched as her smile started to vanish as time passed. Her hope of being rescued by his brothers, dwindling. She never dared admit it aloud, but Crosshair could tell.

Speaking of the kid, the sniper lifted his gaze as two troopers dragged Hemlock's new bargining chip down the hall. Omega no longer tried to resist. Like him, she had to learn the hard way.

"Light's out!" the trooper to her left barked as he shoved her into the tiny excuse for a cell. Crosshair— grinding his teeth together— forced himself to keep quiet, substituting a sardonic remark with an icy glare as the two troopers left. He watched as Omega lugged herself over to one corner of her cage, pressing her forehead against the metal bars as she took in deep breaths with closed eyes.

"What was it this time? More blood samples?" Crosshair asked, breaking the silence. He cautiously glanced over her limp form, but it was hard to recognize any external damage due to the long sleeve imperial uniform. Omega turned her head, looking at him the best she could through the bars between them. "No...Dr.Hemlock said Nala Se failed to complete her task. I don't remember much after that. All I felt was burning and then nothing." Such words should never have come out of her mouth. Crosshair's fists clenched, his nails digging into the skin from the pressure. How could Hemlock sit through torturing a literal child without feeling any remorse or sense of wrongness.

"But before the droid came in," Omega continued, "I heard one of the troopers saying three of their scouts didn't report back from their patrol."

Crosshair raised a brow. "How is this important information?"

Omega scooted closer, bringing her voice down a tad lower. "It has to be them. I know it's them."

Crosshair ran a hand down his face, shaking his head. Not this again. How many times did he have to remind her. "Omega, it's not them. Why can't you accept they've given up? They aren't coming for us."

"But-it has to! This whole place is crawling with imperials. How do three just happen to go missing on simple patrol?"

"Just give up on the idea." He didn't need false hope. He had spent too many days, weeks, months, longing for his brothers to break through into the facility and find him unknowingly.

"No," Omega said firmly. "I know they're out there searching. I can feel it." Everytime she shut her eyes, she could picture her brothers smiling back at her. The fond memories would act as a coping mechanism during the roughest days, especially the first day on Tantiss.

"You're only setting yourself up for disappointment, kid," Crosshair muttered, leaning his head back. "The sooner you realize we aren't getting out of this, the better."

Omega curled in on herself, resting her chin on her knees. "I'm not giving up, Crosshair. Neither should you." The Empire had truly broken her brother's spirit. She couldn't imagine the horrors he went through. For months—alone...no wonder he felt so defeated. They had only began to start looking for him not too long ago. She wished they had started sooner, then perhaps they would all be on the Marauder or on Pabu, enjoying the island's paradise. With Tech.