The Bad Batch - One shots

Working through knots

The journey from the Ryloth system to Pabu was incredibly awkward.

Wrecker, Hunter, and Crosshair were seated in the cockpit, the former snoring loudly as he slept in the co-pilot's chair. That left Hunter and Crosshair to watch the blue streaks of hyperspace in silence.

Hunter didn't know what he could say. There were too many swirling emotions inside his head to consider addressing the obvious tension between him and his former squad member.

If Omega was here, she'd probably force them to talk to each other, but she'd retired to the gunner's nest some time ago; the exhaustion of running from Mount Tantiss making itself known.

The console beeped, an incoming message. Hunter checked it and replied, sitting back in his chair with a grunt when he was done.

"Echo's going to meet us on Pabu," he said, informing Crosshair whose eyes were burning into the back of his skull.

"What's on Pabu?" The sniper asked, gravelly.

There was something wrong with the clone, though Hunter hadn't dug around to find out exactly what. He figured it was just a side effect of all the months under the Empire's control, followed by his imprisonment.

Whatever it was, Hunter didn't care- so long as it didn't make Crosshair a threat to the others.

"A beach," Hunter answered plainly, "And good people."

The sniper snorted.

Hunter turned his head, raising an eyebrow, "Problem?"

Crosshair returned his glare, though his slouched posture in the jump seat was less than intimidating.

"Didn't realise we were going on holiday."

"It's somewhere safe," Hunter hissed back, "We were trained to withstand imprisonment, she was not."

The effects of months in a cell hadn't made themselves apparent yet, but Omega had only been back for a number of hours. It was too soon to tell.

"She was fine," Crosshair all but growled, "She was hardly a prisoner; they let her walk anywhere she wanted."

"It's not about where they kept her," Hunter said, "It's about how they treated her."

Crosshair turned his head away, his jaw grinding like it used to in the war. It was where he developed the habit of chewing toothpicks.

There was a time when Hunter used to carry a pack of toothpicks on his belt in case Crosshair ever ran out. He probably still had dusty toothpicks in the bottom of his kit bag.

Hunter looked at the viewpoint, the short conversation over.

He couldn't wait until they made it to Pabu. Just another day of being in an enclosed space with Crosshair might make him go crazy.

There was so much he wanted to say, and so little at the same time. It was a social minefield.

The sound of the cockpit door opening pulled Hunter from his thoughts. He hadn't expected Omega to return to the cockpit so quickly.

Hunter waited for the girl to speak first, though he was somewhat surprised when she appeared at his side, a particularly sheepish look on her face.

"You alright?" Hunter asked, very aware of Crosshair scrutinising their interaction.

Omega seemed to be aware as well, and she practically squirmed on the spot.

He was about to question her further when the girl leaned forward, putting her lips near his ear with her hand cupped around her mouth.