The Bad Batch: One Shot Collection

Scraps of Cloth

Author's Note: This idea has been haunting me for a while. I couldn't stop thinking about why Hunter's bandana is... different, and this angsty, hurt-no-comfort fic is the result! Enjooooy! :D

Also, the backstory of why Hunter grew out his hair is inspired by a comic drawn by Shyranno on tumblr. I consider most of her comics canon. :)

~ Amina Gila

Hunter grew his hair out because of Crosshair and because he looked too much like the regs to stick out like his brothers did. Crosshair was the one who gave him his first bandana, adorned with the symbol of their squad. But Crosshair is gone, and Hunter has failed the rest of his squad. Or, why Hunter changed his bandana.

When Hunter was young, he kept his hair short in the regulation haircut. He looked like the regs, and they were welcoming to him because of it. He'd been too young to fully realize how much they ostracized his brothers when he wasn't with them, but after a few too many fights that mysteriously only broke out when he was not present, he'd begun to understand. He tried to make peace, to keep peace between his brothers and the regs, but to no avail. And one day, after a particularly vicious fight instigated by Crosshair, Hunter had tried to talk to him only to be yelled at.

Crosshair wasn't wrong that Hunter couldn't understand what it was like to look so different and to be ostracized for it. He'd started growing out his hair after that. He let it get as long as he could, about a foot before it started becoming too messy during training exercises. He considered cutting it off – his point to the regs made – but he couldn't quite bear to part with it. It'd become a part of him in the same way his enhanced senses were. Instead, he found a scrap of cloth long enough to tie around his forehead, keeping his hair out of his eyes.

He endured the teasing and mockery of the regs without protest and without care. He might look mostly like the regs, but he's not one of them. He's part of Clone Force 99. He's part of the Bad Batch. He wants to stand out. He wants to be distinct.

Hunter doesn't know what triggered it exactly, but one day, unexpectedly, when he's sitting at the table in their barracks, Crosshair slides a piece of cloth across the table to him. "For you," he says, leaning an elbow on the table and resting his chin in his palm.

Hunter takes it, feeling the softness of the red fabric between his fingers. It's not rough and coarse like the bandana he currently has. There's a white skull embroidered on the side of it, and he feels something in his chest twist when he sees it. That – the skull is their symbol. They picked it together a few months ago. Seeing their mark on the fabric makes him feel overwhelmed in a way he can't even explain.

"Did you... make this?" he asks, looking up. He doesn't ask how Crosshair got the materials to do the stitching, but it's clearly Crosshair's work. The lines are precise except for a few places where he mis-stitched. It's the work of... well, a six-year-old. A little imperfect, perhaps, but the care behind it is unmistakable.

Crosshair shifts a little, cheeks coloring. "Thought you might like it," he mutters.

"I love it," Hunter tells him, reaching up to untie the bandana he's currently using. "Want to...?"

Crosshair brightens. "Yeah." He picks up the fabric, brushing Hunter's hair back before he carefully wraps it around his forehead, tying it in the back. Hunter glances toward the window, seeing his admittedly somewhat hazy reflection in it, but it's clear enough for him to see the new bandana on his head, the skull emblem standing out starkly. It's – it's perfect.

"Looks good," Crosshair decides, studying his face for a long moment.

"Yeah," Hunter agrees. "Thanks."