The Bad Batch - One shots

How did you sleep?

Hunter never truly slept.

He supposed it came with being in a command role. During the war, he was so stressed that it was impossible to get a full, uninterrupted night of rest. He could shut his eyes and relax his body, but his mind never entirely switched off.

Tonight, of all nights, it should've been easier.

After months of anxiety and guilt keeping him from getting even a meagre amount of meaningful rest, Omega was back with her family.

And yet, Hunter remained awake as he lay in his bunk.

The rest of the ship was eerily silent. Even Wrecker's snores weren't as prominent as normal. Crosshair hadn't spoken since he boarded the Marauder, but Hunter knew he was also struggling to sleep because he heard the sniper enter the cockpit a few hours ago.

That behaviour probably should've concerned Hunter, but it was actually something that Crosshair used to do even before the end of the war. The lull of the engine and blue streaks of hyperspace were calming to the sniper. Besides, the rest of the squad would be alerted quickly enough if the clone did something as stupid as dropping the ship out of its set course.

It was quiet enough in the hull that Hunter was immediately alerted to the quiet pad of bare feet towards his bunk. The light tread was enough of a clue as to who was out of bed, but he remained somewhat surprised when he opened his eyes to see Omega standing next to his bunk.

He was still shocked by the length that her hair had grown to since she was captured.

It was past her shoulders now, and though she'd obviously been supplied with a hairband to keep it out of her face, he was appalled to discover her hair had hardly been washed or brushed, which led to it becoming matted around the nape of her neck.

Hunter had barely kept his rage under control as he spent the entire evening working through the knots and tangles. Omega was tolerant, but he could sense her embarrassment and pain, though he tried to be as gentle as possible, throughout the entire process.

It would've been easier for Hunter to shave away the matt with the clippers that Wrecker used, but Omega had been stripped enough of her dignity and autonomy for him to be so callous.

She was looking better now, after using all of their hot water to wash her hair and scrub away the grime from the journey back to the squad- not that Hunter minded.

Personally, he found himself slightly smug that Crosshair had to wash with cold water.

"Kid," he pushed himself to lean on an elbow, noting the way Omega was clinging onto Lula and looked somewhat sheepish. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

She'd overindulged at dinner, which also fuelled his anger as it became apparent that she had hardly been fed whilst imprisoned.

He'd warned her that filling her unprepared stomach with a lot of food might make her feel poorly (all too familiar with how Echo struggled to adjust to a normal diet after being held by the Techno Union), but she hadn't taken his advice on board.

Apparently, that wasn't the problem.

"I can't sleep," Omega admitted, averting her gaze, "I'm tired, but I just..."

Hunter understood.

He'd been held captive before- granted not for months as she had, but he knew how it felt the first few nights back in a place that was supposed to be safe.

The nagging sensation of waking up back in a cell could keep even the most fatigued person awake.

Tech had practically sedated Echo to ensure he got at least a few hours of sleep in the immediate aftermath of his rescue. His insomnia and nightmares were so painful to witness that Hunter had Rex's frequency on hand in case they couldn't soothe the ARC trooper themselves.