The Nighttime Fear

Chapter 3 - Omega

Author's Note: Yes, this chapter is gutting. :)

WARNING: Minor mentions of past child abuse

~ Amina Gila

He knows how dangerous it will be to go for Omega, and he's terrified of what it might lead to. "We have to talk to Anakin," he decides finally, "I don't know what else to do. We need a plan, and going to Kamino is risky."

"We hafta get her outta there!" Wrecker insists.

"I know. I'm working on it." And they don't have very long. Kamino is a day of hyperspace time away, and they don't have much longer than that. Crosshair knows them, knows they'll show up. Omega is their sister, even if they don't know her, and Hunter can't let Crosshair do something he'd regret as deeply as that. He's still exhausted, though. That hasn't really faded since Kamino.

Hunter heads outside, settling on the Marauder's ramp to just... think. Brood, really. He was afraid this would happen. Of course, Crosshair's primary mission is to come after them. That's strategic. He knows everything about them.

He must know how much they're hurting, too. Does he feel the same, or is he entirely lost in his anger?

He's still sitting there when the others finally show up again. Ahsoka's first, seating herself beside him on the stairs. "Tech told us what happened," she says, "I'm sorry to hear that. I know what it means to want to just walk away from the fight."

"Anakin said you always have," he says, though he can't even imagine it. The Clone Wars is why he and his brothers were made. Hunter can't imagine a life outside of fighting. That's... really all he's ever wanted, though now? Things have changed, and he has to put their safety ahead of everything else.

She dips her head in a nod. "I was trained to be a Jedi, not to fight. I never wanted the war."

Hearing people say that inevitably makes him uncomfortable. That's stupid. She's not saying she wishes he was never born. Those aren't mutually exclusive. "If not for the war, my brothers and I wouldn't exist."

Ahsoka sighs. "Yeah. But what I'm saying is... that I want to leave the fight. I want to walk away from all of this."

He's exhausted. He thinks he could sleep for a week or ten. Either the after effects of the surgery haven't worn off yet, or he's just... "You could do that?" Hunter inquires, "Just walk out from all of this?"

"Jedi can still make choices," Ahsoka replies, "If I don't want to stay, I can... settle down. Theoretically."

That isn't what he's asking. He knows the Council would let people leave the Order, even if hardly anyone ever had – it still doesn't feel fair, because he and his brothers were always their – their property still. They couldn't walk out even if they wanted to. (Anakin had said the same about himself.) "And leave your master?" Hunter asks, because that's what bothers him the most.

He'd do anything to keep his family together. How could anyone else not say the same? He'd kill for them. Die for them. He already has.

"He's taken care of me. Stood by me. He... I want his approval, but I still have to make my own choices."

He doesn't understand how someone could talk like that. Think like that. She's talking about leaving her family because she's uncomfortable with... what they are. He and his brothers have always stuck together. It – it sounds too much like... Crosshair. He doesn't want to think about this. "I hope you find whatever it is you need," Hunter says instead of the million arguments he could say to that. If his brothers wanted to fight, he'd do it just for them. Even if he was afraid, even if... but that's not what Ahsoka has ever been. She's... younger.