FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

Bonus Chapter Six: Alternate Ending Part Two

(For the sake of Time and Heartache, this will be a shortened chapter, so it's not going to be my usual detailed script... Let's just say I'm fairly content this isn't my canon timeline...)

Timeskip...To Ord Mantell...

THIRD PERSON POV

"Be strong. All of you."

Omega lightly groaned as her round, brown eyes peeked open. Her head throbbed. As it lopped over to her right, and the haziness in her vision cleared away, she found Hunter sitting silently by her side. His shoulders were hunched over and his hands, fingers were laced together, were covering his mouth in distress. His rugged face glistened with sweat in the single light source that rested on a stand in between them. His dark irises trembled while the surface of his eyes shimmered.

"Hunter..."

The sergeant was slightly startled, lowering his hands at the sound of her small voice. His relieved sigh expelled from his chest so heavily, he could've shed tears.

He shifted in his seat and reached out his left hand to her, brushing her blonde hair from her eyes as they struggled to remain open. He then used the same hand to support her neck, helping her sit upright slowly. There were a million words thundering in his mind like a hurricane, and managed to scoff out two of them...

"Hey, kid..." Two more sighed when the young girl's upper body swayed unsteadily. "E-easy, now."

"What happened?" She felt dizzy. Her hand reached up to her head as the room slowly spun. As Hunter's painful silence discomforted her, so did the memories flooding back into her bank. "Wait...I remember the rail car...and...Gasp..."

Hunter bit the inside of his lip as he helplessly watched the realization dawn on her face. She turned her head to him, her eyes stung with disbelief. "Tell me it's—It's not true!" Her hand covered her mouth as she tried swallowing the sobs clogging her throat. "No! No...How did this happen?!"

"They..." Hunter sighed, his heart clenching so tightly that he truly believed it would burst like a denotation. It required every ounce of strength to console himself, for Omega's sake, for after all... "They did it for you."

"Sniff...Me?"

"For all of us." Hunter transitioned himself to her side, but when he reached out to comfort her, she pushed his hand away.

Suddenly, Wrecker entered the room and a huge sigh of relief expelled from his lungs. "Oh, kid, you're awake...Don't you scare us like that..." He knelt down to one knee and embraced her. However, Omega's body fell rigid to his gentle touch. He retreated with confusion. "Kid?"

"Tell Hunter we have to go back for Fern and Tech! They could be hurt. The Empire could find them and take them!"

"Omega, please," The sergeant begged, gripping her shoulder. "don't make this harder than it—"

"No! I don't believe you! Fern and Tech would—" Just uttering their names drowned her in grief. Stiff sobs broke through her clenched teeth as she squeezed her eyes shut. "Fern...promised me..."

Her emotions overwhelmed Wrecker; he slowly backed away, wiping his own eyes dry of the silent tears leaking out. Once he had disappeared, Hunter focused on Omega, still holding her shoulder.

"She made lots of promises..." he said mindfully. "And she'd be stubborn to keep all of them... This, was just—It was out of her control. There was nothing she nor Tech could have done..."

"She gave up her dream for us." Omega whimpered, and it nearly crushed Hunter.

No, in fact, he surrendered to his paternal instincts...and wrapped his strong arms around the heartbroken girl. He winced as her quivering body pressed into his injured torso, but that pain was a void compared to the agony surging in his mind, heart, and soul... He cradled Omega's head close as he swallowed down every impulse to cry convulsively. He must be strong for her. He must be that pillar for her to cry on, instead of with.