The Bad Batch: One Shot Collection

Twin Week Day Five

Author's Note: No, I won't be mad if you just need to leave a very short, to the point review saying "I hate you" =)

Also, I know this is sort of a play on the Sun&Moon prompt for the twin week, but I think it still fits. <3

~ Rivana Rita

Wrecker and Crosshair are born twins. It's a bond Hunter and Tech could never share with each other, but it won't stop them from trying.

The twins are playfully scuffling, rolling on the floor in the way they always do, and Hunter watches almost wistfully, leaning against the table in their barracks.

It's always adorable to see them, but sometimes it makes his heart ache. What counts is if they're happy, and they are, but Hunter wishes he could have that sometimes.

"What is it?" Tech inquires, sitting beside him on the bench.

Hunter sighs a little. The twins are adorable, and he loves them, seeing them and their closeness with each other, the carefree way they always interact. The real world doesn't exist to them, just each other, with no worries and... anything. He wishes he could have that freedom.

"It's just," he mutters, "I know it's silly. I'm our leader, and I look out for us, but sometimes, I guess, it's hard."

"Well," Tech replies, placing his small hand over Hunter's, "You are not alone, Hunter. We will always be there to help you."

"Not like it is with them," Hunter sighs, nodding to their little brothers, "We can't have something that... was never there. The twins are part of each other in a way that I guess we aren't."

"I would say all of us are a part of each other in some form or another," Tech responds.

"It's not the same." It's silly to get hung up over this. "It doesn't matter. I'm our leader, anyway It's not important." He slides off the bench, about to return to his bunk with the datapad of information he's supposed to be studying.

"Hunter," Tech interrupts, taking his arm before he can run off to hide and brood. "We are not twins, and neither could we ever be, but that does not mean we cannot have... the same type of relationship. Preferably with slightly less..."

"Chaos," Hunter agrees as Wrecker yowls. He's half certain someone's about to break the window out, which would guarantee a flooded barracks, but that sounds just like their luck.

"Yes," Tech concurs, "It would not be wise for all of us to dissolve into such levels of insanity. But, if you ever need my help, I will be there."

And that's how it started, in their barracks together, when they were five years old, a dedicated promise to always help each other in the ways no one else ever could, tied together in their mutual, blind love for their twin little brothers, and the need to be at their best to protect them.

He and Tech aren't twins, but they almost could be, in all they try to be one another's light for their dark.

***

His shoulder still throbs from where one of Phee's pirate not-friends shot him in their last mission. They got the score, but not without a fight. And, Tech has to reluctantly admit, a good one, with multiple close calls. And yet, somehow, working with Phee has somehow turned out less dangerous than Cid.

She is more than their employer. She is their friend as well, and has saved them on multiple occasions.

"Tech, wait at the ship," Hunter says, "We'll make the delivery."

"I will be fine," Tech promises, standing.

"Negative," Hunter answers, "You're still recovering."

"That will not be a hinderance."

"We'll need a fast escape."

That is a plausible excuse, though Tech is growing increasingly irritated with Hunter's constant insinuation that he is incapable of caring for himself. He is fully trained, and perfectly rational. He is fully capable of fighting with a sore shoulder.

They drop the topic there, though Hunter brings it up a few days later, after the tsunami, when he and Tech stand alone together by the edge of the seawall on Pabu.

"Tech," he says with a sigh, "I... know you're capable, but we need you."

"Naturally," Tech replies, adjusting his goggles and genuinely entirely uncertain where this is coming from. "I am the one who does all of our calculations."

"That's not what I mean, Tech," Hunter replies quietly, "You're our brother, and... I know you're perfectly capable of assessing risks and avoiding danger, but we made a promise to do this together. We can't do that if you're dead."

He's scared of losing another sibling. Tech can understand that. He is as well. Crosshair had been... hard, and he had never fully understood why it happened. Echo, as well, just as he told Omega. "I have no intentions of dying."

Hunter blows out a breath. "That's good. It would be very difficult to explain I have a fake and absent twin."

"I would not say we are fake," Tech amends, "We may not have been created in the same tube, but we are still tied to each other." Wrecker does not have his twin anymore. It is probably for the best that things are the way they are, because it would be very difficult if he and Hunter were twins when Wrecker, who has always been so much more emotional, had lost his own.

"Besides," Hunter adds quietly, "I think we finally found what we've been looking for. It's a good place for the kid. If we choose to stay."

"Omega does appear comfortable here," Tech agrees, "As does Wrecker. I do not believe the Empire will find purpose with occupying a place like this. We... may be safe here, at least for a time. I believe you are correct that Pabu could be a place for us to remain, long term." It is a strange concept, but one they had an extended period to prepare for. This is what they have been searching for. The home they wanted, and finally found.

"We did our best, for Wrecker and Omega," Hunter agrees, leaning on the rail, "Like we always have."

This will be a place for them to live, and though Tech cannot fully imagine putting their lives as soldiers behind them, it still feels like it could be the closest to a home he has ever had.

"You have been a good leader," Tech tells him.

"Couldn't've done it without you."

"Although I do not believe that is fully true, I will accept your compliment."

Hunter laughs, wrapping an arm over his shoulders and pulling him into his side, and together, they watch the setting sun and the lighted areas of Pabu flicker on.

This will be their home. Tech is relatively certain of that. And for once, this is a change he is... hopeful to live through.

Btw, I picture this as happening in the same place Crosshair was when he tried and failed to track Tex's ship. Just in the evening. For some reason...

Final Notes: Reviews are always appreciated! ^-^

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