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Chapter Text

"Are we... gonna just keep staring at each other?" I ask finally, "'Cuz I think we've been at it for a while."

That finally shakes them out of their trance.

"This is unexpected," Tech says finally, the first to speak directly to me. Not that I blame him. They probably find me pretty weird. I find me weird, too. I was blindly excited when I first realized it was finally time. Now, I'm just... nervous.

Somehow, seeing them in person is different from holos or from afar. I think all the clones were born with perpetual scowls etched on their faces. I'm serious. Hunter looks much like the regs in that way. The skull tattoo on his face just adds to that.

Tech is a little different, his features slightly smoother and less sharp, but still. And something about his goggles makes me feel like I'm being inspected.

Wrecker is just... unnaturally big. He makes me feel tiny even if I'm only about half his height. And the scar on his face, plus his eye – or rather the lack thereof – looks... awful in person. I do not want to know how it must've looked when it first happened. Omega and I snuck in there when he was unconscious afterwards. We couldn't see his face, though, and it was only for a minute before AZI dragged us out. And his entire face was bandaged, so, no, I couldn't get a clear look at him.

And Crosshair is... quite different from the others. Something about his features are smoother than Tech's, and makes me wonder exactly how skinny he is beneath that five-thousand-kilograms of armor they wear or whatever. Not like I know the weight. His hair is gray. I can't stop staring at it. He doesn't have that inborn scowl the others do, but there's an intensity in his eyes that's just as terrifying and entirely makes up for it.

That's finally what snaps the others back to the present.

"You got that right," Wrecker agrees, staring at me, wide-eyed. His left eye is sort of... grayed over and dead-looking, and I internally shudder. What would it be like to be half blind? I can't imagine it. Would I still be able to See with only one eye? I don't know.

Hunter crouches in front of me, so we're closer to eye-level. "What's your name, kid?"

I blink. I could swear Nala Se already told them that. I don't know. I was probably panicking too much and misheard something. To be fair, she did just unexpectedly dump this on all of us. "CT-9905, because they threw me in the line after Crosshair even though I'm not even from the same batch. And my sister 'mega named me Vision, but she calls me Viz."

"Your... sister?" Hunter echoes.

I shrug uncertainly. I know they don't remember Omega but thinking about that hurts. I know how much she cares about them. "Yeah. Omega. It's complicated. And Nala Se doesn't want anyone to know about her, but she's a clone, like us. Sorta. I mean, she ages really slowly, She's, like, twelve now, but about my size." Am I talking too much? I hope not. I wish Omega was with me. At least she doesn't sound like an idiot every time she starts talking.

"And you... know who we are?"

"Of course, I know who you are. I grew up hearing about you." Silently, I'm just grateful that no one comments about how much I don't fit in with them. I'd feel more at home if Omega was here, probably.

"How old are you?"

I shrug. "Six. Nala Se says that's where I am in learning, whatever that means."

"That says very little," Tech replies.

"I know." I'm not really sure what they think about me. I don't want them to feel like I'm intruding, because really, I am. Even if it's not by my choice, because if I could have, I'd have grown up knowing them. I don't think it's fair for them to have to just... accept me. Not that I think I wouldn't fit eventually, but... I don't know. I'm not even sure if they'll like me. Nala Se finds me more annoying than anything else. And I swear I don't even try to annoy her. I do that simply by existing.

"Well," Hunter says finally, "We're being called on another mission now, but... we'll see you around."

"Good luck." I offer them a shy smile. Would now be a good time to... I don't even know. 'Mega and I would high-five each other about now. Is that normal, or...? "Go blow stuff up. I'll be waiting when you get back."

***

It turns out to be a little while before they get back. Thirteen rotations – not nearly as long as it could be, but still. That's nearly three weeks, and a painfully long time to wait. Especially when I still have no idea what they think about me.

Hunter and Tech are the ones who come to collect me from Nala Se. I'm nervous to death, almost literally. I've never had to meet people before, and now that I'm suddenly with anyone other than Omega, I feel... lost.

"Nala Se mentioned you were enhanced like we were," Hunter says, leading me down the hall.

"Yeah," I agree, "I am. Sort of. It's not like any of you though. I don't really understand it."

"I am sure I can correct that," Tech volunteers. Not to burst his bubble, but if I don't understand my abilities, I doubt he could.

"Well, I... see stuff."

"See?" Hunter repeats. "Like Crosshair?"

"No. No, no, no, it's far more complicated than that. I mean, I see... future? It's scattered bits, and I can't much control it, but –"

"You see... the future?" Hunter repeats. He doesn't sound skeptical, but I think he is anyway.

I squirm a bit, not looking at either of them. "Yes, I do."

Tech is poking at his datapad from the beeping I hear on it. Yikes. Is he researching me? That is creepy. Me is right here.

"Technically, it is possible," he replies, "That is an ability some Jedi have."

I look up at Hunter again. "Jedi?"

"They're the Generals in the war," he explains. And oh, riggghhhttt. Sometimes, Omega's cluelessness rubs off on me. It's just that the Jedi are so far removed from anything I know that I often forget that they're a real thing.

"Oh, yeah. I remember that. But – wait. How could I have the power Jedi do? That doesn't make any sense."

"Theoretically, if you are Force-sensitive, it could," Tech replies.

"That's possible?" I squeak.

"Well, of course, it is."

How is that an 'of course'? I'm about to ask, but Hunter interrupts us again.

"There's someone else you should meet."

I freeze, looking up at him. "Who?"

"After our last mission, we... have another member," Hunter replies, and we come to a stop outside a doorway.

I blink, then stare at him, wide-eyed. "That's... possible? Never mind. That was a stupid question." I very clearly cannot keep my mouth shut. Well, I already know that. I never stop talking. Omega doesn't mind. I think most people do, though. If I can take Nala Se's word for anything, anyway.

"This is our barracks," Hunter tells me, and the door hisses open.

I suck in a sharp breath, looking around, eyes wide. This... is where they grew up. This is their room, because our brothers have a room. Omega and I had a space in Nala Se's lab where we ate and slept until I started getting older and then, I got a corner off to the side where I could learn the things she and 'mega and the droids couldn't teach me.

It's... big. Really big. And it's cluttered. I immediately want to crawl across every inch, but that doesn't seem fair, because Omega has been waiting for this twice as long as me, and she'll probably never get to come here.

She'll never be allowed to, anyway, but I'll make sure she finds a way. Somehow. Some time. Maybe –

Focus, Vision.

Say something, remember? That's what you're good at.

"It's big," I supply lamely, stepping inside. "It's really big. I didn't know anyone had their own room."

Across the room, Crosshair swings himself off the crate he was sitting on and approaches us. And where's Wrecker?

I look past him though, to the other person in the room. He... his face is the same as the normal clones, though paler, and he's... part machine. Clearly. Cyborg, the term is. His right arm is... not human. And something about the scowl on his face is slightly more pronounced than Hunter's, though he doesn't actually... look unkind, either.

"Hi," I say, suddenly feeling tiny again.

"Vision, this is Echo," Hunter says, stepping inside, "Echo, this is Vision."

"Where's Wrecker?" I ask, looking around, then back up at Hunter.

"I'm right here!" he booms cheerfully, and I yelp, skittering aside to give him room to enter. "And look who I found?"

The others turn to the doorway.

"Sorry to intrude," the blond-haired clone in the doorway says, "But we were on-planet, and we... wanted to see how Echo was settling in." I know clones can have different hair colors, but I still didn't expect to see another blond-haired clone. I'd always thought Omega special for it.

And beside him is... someone else, and the moment I see him, I wonder how I didn't notice his approach.

He's not a clone.

He's... dressed in robes, something that looks suspiciously... Jedi-like? He's taller than the others, and... I can't even explain what it is. But there's something about him that feels like the burning warmth of a fire. I don't even know what fire looks like in real life. But somehow, when I see him, I see streaks of orange tinged with gold, and something about it is burning black around the edges, and when I look harder, closer, I can... See. I can see that fire burning black, drowning with smoke, before it dies out in the slightest, fading out to a soft pale-gold.

"General?" Echo asks, stepping forwards.

"Echo," he replies, and – oh, he is a Jedi, then.

Yikes.

I'm looking at...

What am I supposed to do?!

I barely notice myself retreating until I actually run into someone – Crosshair, I realize, upon looking up. Well, at least it's not Tech. Tech is creepy.

I wouldn't mind interacting with them, probably. It's just. Nala Se told me that I can't draw attention to myself because I'm still an in progress experiment, or something. So yeah. I have to make a good impression, and a fast one, because I can't fail.

Neither of us join in the conversation, at least. I have no idea what's happening, and most of it goes over my head. And that is until... the Jedi, whoever he is, approaches me. Crosshair side-steps to give us space, and it's ridiculous how alone that makes me feel – I don't even know him.

"Hey," he says, crouching in front of me. "What's your name?" His voice is deep, but soft. Firm, but soft to the point of almost un-realness.

"I'm Vision."

"What're you doing here?"

"She was sent here so we could train her," Hunter replies for me, stepping forwards.

He looks back at me appraisingly. "I can see why. She'll never fit in with... the others." He looks back at me. "My name is Anakin Skywalker."

Anakin. It... fits. "Hi," I say finally. I tilt my head, staring closer – I can See the fire again. It's not real though. It's... different.

His eyes are blue. I've never seen blue eyes before. They're... "You're Force-sensitive," he realizes, twitching. Up close, I can see the confusion before it passes. "That's why they don't want you to grow up with the others."

"Tech said something like that, too. Do Jedi... See?"

"Visions?" he inquires. "It's rare. I – I have seen them before." There's a dark note to his voice that I don't understand.

I can't help being excited. I thought I was one of a kind, until right now. "What do you See?"

He reaches out, laying his hand on my shoulder. It feels strangely heavy and hard. It's... not human. It's mechanical. That can happen to Jedi? He closes his eyes, and I feel a strange pinprick of something, and the fire flares hot enough to take my breath away. "Your future is clouded," Anakin says, "The Dark Side... hangs heavily over your future, but there's a bright light that... overshadows everything else." He smiles, though there's something strangely pained about it. "You'll never be alone. Don't take that for granted."

"I won't," I promise, throwing a glance towards the others. I don't know them, but I still care about them, and I... I could never take it for granted that I have them.

He squeezes my shoulder lightly. It's oddly comforting. "Good. Many others... aren't that fortunate."

I look him straight in the eye, immediately thinking of 'mega still stuck back in that lab, unknown to the universe. "I know."

***

Over the month I know the Batch, I notice some of the craziest things about them. First of all, they don't believe in hugs. I still find that insulting. The amount of time I spend trying to rope one of them into hugging me is frankly insane. And I miss Omega. At least she was snuggly.

Secondly, introducing tickle attacks was the worst mistake I've ever made. The first time, the level of screaming that ensued was enough to overstimulate Hunter. And Hunter is not pleasant when he's grumpy. Crosshair was brave enough to try it out on Echo once. That wasn't fun. Echo's mostly asleep brain thought it was his apparently favorite but now-dead brother harassing him. So, no, it wasn't funny at all. I think it's just that Crosshair is forever cursed that all his childish pranks (how are pranks childish, Tech?) will end very not-amusingly. Not like Wrecker is much better though. (I'm even worse but we Do Not Speak Of That.)

Anything about the number five makes Echo either look like he wants to cry, or to start glaring at the wall so fiercely I'm certain he's about to start something on fire.

They call Tech the smartest, but I still think he lacks almost all common sense.

Hunter has an insane level of patience. I don't know how he does it. He hasn't even threatened to throw anyone off the landing platform into the ocean. (Crosshair did. I told him to tell me to jump, because I wouldn't mind going for a swim, thanks. I've always wanted to do that.)

Wrecker will do anything you tell him to. And I mean anything. Tech says he has no impulse control whatsoever. I agree.

Walking around backwards in their barracks is the dumbest idea ever. Especially when you're half asleep. It doesn't matter how many credits you were promised. Having a bruised tailbone is not worth it. It still hurts.

Crosshair is... perpetually nervous. I'm not sure he even realizes it. He's just... jittery. Tense. I didn't realize it until I realized after the fact that I spent a full ten minutes biting my fingernails right before meeting the Batch. I couldn't help being freaked out.

On that note, jumping him to wake him up in the morning is a bad idea, too.

Jumping Wrecker is even worse. Crosshair seemed to instantly register me as a threat. Wrecker seemed to mistake me as a second Lula. Which I am not. I'm not that squishy. Crosshair had the audacity to think it was funny. Tech ignored us altogether, and Hunter was already in the 'fresher. And... I have no idea where Echo was. But Wrecker didn't wake up until Crosshair and I were taking what I was entirely certain would be our dying breaths. I don't know why he laughs at my misery when he never smiles otherwise. Or maybe it was his own. I don't know what's worse.

Wrecker's hands are too huge to tickle properly.

Never try to pretend you're asleep. Hunter will always know. He can sense heartbeats. Apparently. Whatever that means.

Echo can be very, very quiet when he wants to be. Even though his legs are metal.

Crosshair will not, under any circumstances, let me use him as a footrest. I've tried. Fifteen times. I'm not about to stop, though. He's more stubborn than Omega. Which is saying something.

Also, when Crosshair talks me into trying to climb a vertical wall, Tech may interject with a three-hour long speech about how "humans don't have something-something sticky pads" on their feet or whatever, but he won't stop us.

Hunter and Echo, however, will.

Wrecker just cheered me on the whole time. He's amazing. I should get sticky boots and try the ceiling next. Even if I think Hunter would kill me for it.

I really want my own comm. And blaster. And knife. Hunter's is cool, okay? But I won't seriously ask because I don't know how to use them, anyway. Maybe it's also a little that I don't want to get a flat-out refusal, either. I don't think puppy eyes would work under these specific circumstances.

Tech has no impulse control, whether he wants to admit it or not. Which he doesn't. I don't even dare mention it. I'd probably be relieved of my head very graphically.

Echo is... grumpy. Really grumpy. I think he misses his old family, even if he never says so.

I'm suspicious Hunter thinks combs are his real mortal enemy. He never uses them. Force knows how he managed to get Wrecker's droid toy tangled in his hair one time. Crosshair spent at least fifteen minutes trying to untangle it. Tech was hovering in the background, offering useless commentary. Wrecker and Echo were ignoring them altogether, and I was just doing my best not to laugh. I haven't been able to take him seriously since. Most of the time.

Hunter and Echo collectively share the brains of the group. Including mine. Actually, I think mine's on loan from Omega. Literally. Heh.

Wrecker seems to think... hitting people is showing affection? I'm not sure what that means of the droids he beats up all the time.

Hunter has a wickedly long scar on his arm. I think. I could be wrong – I saw it so fast I'm not sure if I was dreaming or not, but I intend to get answers someday.

Tech is... not quite as good at balance as the rest of us. Surprisingly. Or not. Everyone has weak points, though I still think his main one is a complete lack of impulse control. I think Hunter robbed that.

If you want to do something stupid, ask Wrecker. Hunter will stop you. So will Echo. Tech will reason enough to make you question if you're capable of spelling your own name, and Crosshair will probably backstab you. Not literally, obviously. And tattle. Or just watch you suffer and laugh.

Wrecker is terrified of heights. I'm not sure why. I love jumping off things... as long as someone catches me. What? Falling is fun.

Someday, I'm gonna jump off the highest thing I can find.

Without going splat.

I mean, why not? Not like anyone can stop me.

***

Omega and I were... both nervous about this, but I couldn't not do it, either. They'll be leaving again, and the war is getting worse. They're called Sieges now. That's bad. That means they take a while. And we have no idea when we'll see them again.

Hence why I snuck Omega all the way out to the hangar.

"Hey!" I call cheerfully as we run into the hangar, hand in hand, still panting. "This is my mom, Omega."

"I thought the mother of all clones was the Great Mother Jar," Echo says, a bit distractedly.

"The – what?" Hunter repeats, turning around to look at him like he just grew a second head. Actually, everyone is looking at him, and it's the first time I've seen him even mildly embarrassed.

"That's what F – someone used to call it. Others picked it up from him."

Fives, then? That... hurts. It hurts as much as it is funny.

"Vision said you were going again. I wanted to see you first," Omega says.

They don't know her, but they almost might as well for how much I talk about her. Which is all the time. Hopefully, Nala Se didn't seriously expect me not to mention Omega to our brothers.

"You know who we are?" Hunter asks, and I choke. What? 'Mega knew them long before they knew themselves.

"Hunter, Echo, Tech, Wrecker and Crosshair," she lists off, turning to each of them. "You're Clone Force 99."

"And you... don't have someplace to be?"

"Being a lab assistant gets very boring very quickly," I interject, "I would know. We grew up in Nala Se's lab together."

"You... want to spend time with us?" Tech asks, a bit incredulously, and she nods. "That's never happened before."

Ouch. Spending time with them, I dislike the regs even more. Most of them, anyway.

"I like you," she offers, "You don't fit around here, either."

"I hate to break this up," Echo interjects, stepping forwards, waving his only hand, "But we have a mission to do, and we need to pick up the pace."

Hunter glances back at him, then looks back to us and stands. "We'll be back."

"You better be," I reply, looking past him to the others. I don't know Echo or Tech entirely well enough to approach them, so I move to Wrecker instead. "Try not to get blown up again," I request, reaching up to grab his hand. I know they probably don't understand the meaning of it, but still.

"Don't get in trouble," he replies, patting my head.

"I'll be fine," I assure him brightly, turning to Crosshair.

He has always been a bit... standoffish in a way I can't fully understand, but he's still literally exactly my brand of crazy.

He looks at me, and for an awkward moment, I stand there, uncertain. "You too," I tell him finally, "Make sure you come back so I can continue annoying you."

"Hm. Noted," he says dryly.

"Good. I'm glad I can be sufficiently frustrating."

"Sufficiently," he scoffs.

I bite my lip, holding back a giggle. "Oh, do you need me to up my annoying-ness? I promise I won't paint your barracks green in your absence." Not that I've really seen green before. That's probably the only reason I'm somewhat obsessed with that color. It's just... kinda cool.

"Is that your best offer?"

I huff, hands on my hips. "Nope. I can get much worse. Is that a dare?" I'd repaint his armor out of revenge if Hunter wouldn't kill me for it, and if I could actually get ahold of it. This I must correct someday. Not like I can outright ask what his least favorite color is, or I'd blow my own cover in three seconds, max. Jump-hug-tackling him is always an option. If I can sneak up on him. And snipers are very hard to sneak up on. I've tried it before, and I'm not about to again.

"Consider it one."

Wow, it was that easy? "Good. Then consider it done." Now, what's the best and most annoying thing I could do? I should ask Omega for help on that – actually, never mind. She'll probably talk me down.

I don't know how long they'll be gone, though. Last time, it was a month, and I'm going to miss them all so badly. Somehow, I have the feeling I won't see them again for...

It's going to be a very long time.

And uncaring how childish or sentimental or whatever it is, I bolt forwards, throwing my arms around his waist. Crosshair twitches sharply, like this is the first time someone's ever touched him like that, or maybe it was just so unexpected.

Finally, awkwardly, he reaches back, touching my shoulder. It's hesitant and light and uncertain, but it's just as soft and firm and grounding.

And for just a moment, I See a flicker of something, of... home. Even if I don't know what that means. Just the briefest flash of green and ocean, but so full of life, and laughter. 'Mega's. And I'm leaning against something soft, someone... someone that feels of a misty fog. Crosshair. Even if he's not wearing his armor.

It's gone in a flash, replaced by the dark hangar of Kamino, and I don't know what to think about the strange amount of longing I feel when I finally step back.

I back away towards Omega, and we stand together, watching as they board the Marauder, and the ship takes off.

Next time, I vow silently. Next time, we'll be leaving too.

Even as I hold Omega's hand in mine, and we stand together watching, it... feels like we just lost something we won't be getting back.

Chapter Text

"Vision, you've been staring at it for fifteen minutes," Omega says, appearing beside me. Maybe she's been beside me for a while and I just noticed, I don't know, but I twitch at the sensation. I didn't know she was here.

"I just keep thinking about what he said," I tell her, not tearing my eyes off the image of Anakin Skywalker. It's strange, how even when I see him in holos – which I've seen because I... well, know a thing or two about hacking skills now, thanks to Tech – I can still see that... fire. It's strange. But it's warm, and it's warm in a way that I want to have back. I... like it. Him. I want to see him again. I don't even know why. "I thought I was the only one with these... abilities. I want to know more about them. I want to know what makes me special."

Omega is different than me. She wouldn't know what that means to me, even if she... understands it conceptually, as Tech would say. I'm pretty sure I only conceptually understand what conceptual means.

"You're special for more than that," she argues.

I don't break my gaze. "Not really. And Hunter's only been able to help me so much." My abilities are hard. Everyone knows that. I can hardly manage to have visions of useful things. It's usually useless, and I'm trying to train it, but I don't know how. I have to wear gloves a lot of the time, so it doesn't randomly distract me when I'm training.

That happens sometimes. It's creepy.

It happened with... Anakin once. That was weird.

I can sometimes tell my brothers stupid things that are going to happen, and I've been able to predict at least three reg squabbles so far. I'm still a bit proud of that.

I refocus at present, still staring. "I think... he could. But he's a Jedi."

"Viz?" Omega says suddenly, softly, quietly, and something about the way she says it, so quiet and nearly scared, sends a shiver snaking down my spine. "I..."

And that's when I feel it. Something has been bothering me for hours now, and I haven't been able to focus on anything, even things I like doing. And now, all I feel is a strange, icy, inky blackness. It's in my mind, a gnawing, lancing agony, and it's burning through every inch of my body.

"What is that?" I rasp, hand pressing to my head.

It feels like crying. Something is crying.

It doesn't really feel like it's inside me though. I don't know what it is, but it's dark and... terrifying.

Something's happening. I know it. I feel it.

And then I See it.

The light is fading, shrinking, drawing in to one tiny little central part of the galaxy. And that's overrun by a "he must stand trial!" and "he's too dangerous to be left alive" and I see that fire again, that fire drowning black.

And then... I hear a voice nearly too soft to be real, something silky smooth and soft at the edges – "Rex, what's going on?" –and I see the familiar face of a certain blond-haired clone. Rex. His name was Rex. And I see the way his face twists with a sense of horrified realization, and my heart breaks at the strangled "stay back". I somehow don't even need to see how that scene will end to know.

But it's gone, just like that, twisting, fading away to a snow-covered planet.

And this is – the most personal. These are my brothers. My home. My family.

"What... what just happened?" asks Echo's breathless voice. He sounds stunned, confused. Maybe even... scared.

It blurs over, and I see Hunter. "What are you doing?" He sounds – angry. Maybe. More freaked out than anything else.

There's a thud and a crunch of snow as Crosshair jumps off a rock. "Following orders."

"We don't even know what the order is!" Hunter throws back sharply, approaching him and shoving him back a step. "Stand down until we know what's going on." He turns away and keeps moving.

For a moment, Crosshair just stands there, and the soft, misty flow I feel around him that I've tried so many times to grasp but always manages to be too elusive is fading to a thick, inky black like the rest of the galaxy. It's smokey, and if I could touch it, I think it would turn my hands a charcoal black.

Even his voice sounds numb, dead, empty, when he finally speaks, watching Hunter's retreating form.

"Good soldiers follow orders."

I jolt forwards, gasping, twitching. It feels like I can't breathe. Like something is wrapping around my chest and slowly squeezing all the air out of my lungs.

"Vision, it's okay," Omega's half-panicked voice calls as she hovers over me. The light touch of her hand is on my face now, brushing back my short curls. They're barely longer than her own, but mine are loose. Hers aren't.

"Am I dying?" I ask. Air isn't coming, hard as I try.

"You're fine," she assures me. "What's wrong?"

"Do you feel it?" I ask. The light is almost too bright for my eyes, though the pain is somewhat subsiding. "It's so... cold."

"Yeah," Omega murmurs quietly, fear lingering in her brown eyes. She reaches out to take my hands and I grasp them tightly. They feel cold, even in my own. "Something's wrong. We have to find Hunter."

It's instinctive, even if she's older than them. It's instinct for me, too. Hunter is our leader, and he'll always protect us. But for all that I want to be with him again – all of them, actually – I can't shake my vision from mind. "It's Crosshair," I say almost automatically. "Something's happening to him. We have to find him, and make sure he's alright."

***

Wind whips across me, blowing my hair across my face, though I could almost swear it's not as much as it should, and tugging at my sleeves.

The constant crashing of rolling ocean waves sounds, but over that is – is something else. Something much, much worse. It's on Kamino. Everything is always wet and rainy here, and I rarely see the sun, but now? Now, everything is burning. But why? How? This is our home. It's – it's Kamino and we can't – be destroyed.

The air is as thick with smoke as with humidity.

I look skyward, panic clawing in my chest, and it's – it's raining now, too, like it always is. Only now, it's raining blue fire.

And I hear Hunter's voice in the background, unseen. He sounds scared, as scared as I feel, and his words are blurred out over with the sound of explosions.

And I can only watch with mind-numbing horror as Kamino, as my home – the only home I never knew – burns to ash.

I jolt awake, heart racing. What was that? What in the stars was that?!

I drag a hand across my face, struggling to breathe in and out. I've had nightmares before. Just not this personal. It... I can't imagine something happening to our home, but there it was. As if I need something else to be worried about right now.

I will also not be falling asleep again anytime soon. Instead, I just curl up again, shaking. It's cold in the lab here – always is, and I don't mind – but still, it's... right now, I'm freezing. It's probably just in my head.

Omega is curled up nearby, still sleeping. Her presence is comforting, but I don't want to wake her up. And it still feels too quiet, too lonely.

I groan softly, rolling over, arms curling around myself. It won't help. It won't make it stop. It won't keep me from seeing this awful nightmare when I try to sleep and even when I'm not, because I can still hear and feel it echoing in my mind.

It still feels like if I try to sleep, the room will... explode for some inconceivable reason. Or that everything will spontaneously start on fire and... I just want to see my brothers again.

***

"How does this even matter when I never do anything useful anyway?" I grumble under my breath as Omega and I follow Nala Se down the halls. Not that I'd say it out loud, but I miss the feeling of being useful. I haven't since we were last with our brothers. It's been a while.

Over two hundred days.

"I think it's required," Omega reminds, leaning over a bit so no one overhears.

I pretty much zone out for a while after that. This speech is boring me to death. I mean, honestly – oh – wait. What's this about a Jedi rebellion?

My mind immediately jumps to Anakin. He wouldn't do that. I don't know him, but I still know that. I could See it. He's... loyal to the end. I don't have a good feeling about this.

"The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed," the Chancellor's voice continues rambling in the background.

I roll my eyes so hard they hurt. I can't help it. "Oh, yeah, I know," I grumble under my breath. I can already see that, thank you very much. "I know I need to clean my eyes out now, thank you for telling me. And for that record, I don't think my disgust has ever been stronger –"

Omega elbows me. Hard. I jump, head whipping around to look at her – she rarely tells me to be quiet, and I don't know why she is now. Except instead, I see a strange amount of excitement in her eyes, and she tilts her head towards the viewport.

I follow her gaze. There, amidst the rows of white-armored clones, is the very, very familiar black and red armor of our brothers.

A soft gasp escapes me. It's – they're back. They're finally back.

Can someone explain exactly why I didn't get a comm already? It'd be far more convenient if we could just call them. Then again, Nala Se probably doesn't want me to for exactly that reason.

"Come on," Omega whispers, grabbing my hand, and we make a break for the door without having to ask. We already knew, from the very start, that we'd go back to find them together the moment they returned.

Hopefully we can get far enough away before someone catches us. Luckily, we know a bit about sneaking around.

Being on a totally different floor, getting down to where they are is... tricky. No one is around right away to pay attention to us, luckily. By the time we arrive, the briefing is finally over, and our brothers are already leaving together.

"Galactic Empire?" I hear Echo saying from afar, his voice short and aggravated. He's angry. "We're soldiers of the Republic."

"Republic, Empire, what's the difference?" Crosshair drawls.

"The systematic termination of the Jedi is a big one for me," Tech replies.

"They're spelled differently," I volunteer as Omega and I finally catch up, skidding to a stop in the hall. "And I'm not sure I want to serve someone so ugly." What? He Looks... like rot. I don't even know how to tell the others that, but he's terrifying. Just seeing him made my skin crawl.

"You won't be ready for that for a while," Hunter says, pausing, and they turn around, spreading out, to face us.

"Hello," Omega offers slightly shyly, waving.

"We were wondering when you guys would come back."

"It wasn't supposed to be long," Hunter replies, leaning down a bit, "But the Sieges began, and it took longer than expected." It's what they were made to do. I get that. I just don't think it's fair that they can... run off without us. I don't want to be left here. I hate staying here, waiting, being unsure when I'll see them again.

And I'm about to say so when a familiar voice calls my sister's name and – oh no. Omega twitches, freezing and looking up. I pause, twisting to the side and following her gaze.

Nala Se is approaching us, and even if she always sounds so smooth, calm, and graceful, I... don't see her as any of those things. I don't think Kaminoans have the same emotional depth as humans do, or at least I want to believe they don't. I don't want to believe that she doesn't care about how we feel. She always tells me it's irrelevant, and I get that, but I just...

Don't.

It's complicated.

The first time I asked 'mega why we can't just go find her brothers and stay together anyway, she told me that Nala Se always told her she'd distract them from their job, and that it was selfish. I was two, but I'll never forget that.

"Come, Omega," the Kaminoan says, briefly touching her shoulder. "There is work to do."

I bite my lip, swallowing back whatever sharp feelings burn inside me instantly. Omega was meant to be different. I was meant to be a soldier, nothing more. I was meant to... fight. And then, everyone else will move on when I'm gone. People die in war. I know that. It's just not something I ever think about seriously, though it's... a given right? It'll happen to everyone.

Doesn't mean I stress about it, or really think about it. I just...

'mega is and always has been the only thing that matters.

"Do I... get to stay?" I ask, shifting back, taking a pointed step towards Hunter and the rest. I want to be here. This is – it's where I belong, where I'm needed.

"Until they leave again, yes," she confirms, and turns away, rounding the nearby corner into another joint of the hall. Omega follows, pausing when Nala Se is out of sight to wave at us again.

My shoulders slump. "I was really hoping she could stay longer this time."

"Well," Hunter reminds, "Duty calls."

"Yeah." I spin around to face them again. It hasn't been long, but suddenly, it's like I don't know where I'm supposed to be again. That kept happening last time, but at least Echo was fitting in then. Now, it's been months, and they've all gotten so much closer.

And that's when I have time to again remember the terrifying feeling I got shortly before they returned. "Are you – uh – okay?" I ask hesitantly, uncertainly.

Hunter throws a glance at his brothers. Wrecker catches the look and shrugs. "We're fine," he assures me, "Why? Did... something happen?"

"I saw something. I'm not sure what it was, but it... scared me. I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

"No need to worry about us, kid," Wrecker assures, patting my shoulder. His hand is huge, but I still appreciate the gesture. Even if it makes me feel tiny.

I can't help it. I always will, but it's not like I'll tell him so.

I'm still worried about Crosshair. I saw... I'm not sure what it was, but I walk up to him anyway. Asking won't give me answers, not if what I saw was real. Not if he's... not himself right now.

I throw my arms around his waist, half expecting him to shove me off, because that's usually how prickly Crosshair is. Instead, he just... lets me, and touches my head. I start looking up, uncertain, and yelp when he yanks one of my curls. "Hey! I thought you were being nice!"

He has the audacity to smirk. I glower at him.

I tag along after them when they head for the mess hall which usually literally turns into a mess hall whenever we go. I'm counting on it. Which means I better eat as fast as possible, because some of us actually do get hungry.

I squeeze onto the edge of the bench next to Echo, who thankfully beat Wrecker to the table, else we'd be shoved right off the bench. Wrecker does not need three trays to eat, at least he could not possibly need that much, but he does anyway. And he takes up far more room than necessary, not like anyone is brave enough to point that out. (I'd sit next to Crosshair if I weren't fairly certain I'd get stuck between him and Tech. And I go out of my way to avoid him because he's just. Creepy. What? It's true. He stares at me like I'm some sort of lab specimen. Which I am, but the point stands.)

Crosshair is across from me, and I swing my legs into his lap. I can hardly reach his knees, and I'm expecting him to shove me off just out of spite, but he... doesn't even react. It's like he doesn't even... notice.

There's something tense in his expression, now that I'm looking. Something is... hurting him.

"Hey," I whisper, elbowing Echo lightly as Tech slides onto the bench beside Crosshair, "Is Crosshair okay?"

Echo glances down at me. "Yes. Why?"

"He never lets me use him as a footrest."

Crosshair glances up at me with that same sort of cautious observance that he always watches his brothers with, then ignores me entirely. Hmph. Typical.

I shake my head, turning back to my food. Hunter will be here shortly, and Wrecker sits down, spreading out all three trays, or however many there are.

Across from me, a group of regs pass by.

In the distance, I see Hunter approaching.

"Clones being programmed," Wrecker says suddenly, standing. Uh oh. "Nothing controls me."

Tech being Tech, of course, pauses mid-eating to look up at him, instantly jumping at the chance to explain technical gibberish to someone. "Wrecker, it is a logical conclusion," he argues, glancing at Crosshair who's slowly looking up and immediately turns away the moment Tech meets his gaze, "That your affinity for destruction would stem from your conditioning."

What in the stars are they squabbling about now?

"You take that back!" Wrecker booms, jabbing a finger at him.

"I am merely stating a scientific hypothesis based on factual data," he argues.

Crosshair throws a wary sideways glance at them. He looks at me, and I shrug, turning back to my food. Beside me, Echo is looking between Wrecker and Tech like he's entirely certain a bomb is about to take off what's left of his face. Which is a legitimate concern. No sane person interjects in these squabbles.

A sane person would just watch and laugh.

"Well, I got a fact for you," Wrecker growls, "I like to blow things up because –" He slams his hands on the table hard enough to make me jump, and everyone is looking at us now. "I like to blow things up! Got it?"

Finally, Hunter slides onto the bench next to Tech.

"Well, I'm convinced," Crosshair interjects finally, before Tech can say something even more epically stupidly antagonizing. Even if there's probably a tiny amount of sense behind it.

"An Imperial's been sent to evaluate the clones. Everybody's talking about it," Hunter says.

I tense up instantly. I don't know much about this, but I just... don't like it.

"What kind of evaluation?" Echo inquires immediately.

"Hopefully not mental," Tech interrupts. "Clearly, we'll never pass that."

I snort, especially when Wrecker gives Echo a wide-eyed look. "Good. I'm proud of being crazy."

And then I spot a familiar, blonde figure moving towards us. "Oh! Hi, 'mega!" I call, waving, "I didn't think you'd show up so soon."

"Hello again," she greets us cheerfully, climbing onto the bench next to Hunter.

It was never a question of whether she would find them. It was only a question of how. When I was created, it... answered that. Somewhat. Omega knows – has always known – that she'd find a way to fit in with them, to become one of them again. When they were little, years ago, she raised them. Took care of them. They knew her, and she knows them, not like with me.

The others freeze, looking at her.

"What?" I ask, waving my left hand at them, not looking up, "You already know she knows you." Crosshair kicks me under the table – more accurately, he knees my boot – and I yelp dramatically. "What was that for?"

"You're being annoying."

I blink. "That's good. At least I'm perfecting the art of something." He's already returned to entirely ignoring everyone else, and I swing my feet back into his lap. My legs are barely long enough to touch him though. In a year, I won't have to worry about that.

The others are talking in the background. Tech is leaning around Hunter, staring at Omega – I don't care what anyone says. His goggles still make it look like he's inspecting everyone. It's creepy.

"It's okay. I don't have anything else to do," Omega replies cheerfully, starting to eat.

I'm not being all joking when I told Crosshair that though. He probably thinks I am, and he's not wholly wrong, either. But... I never really have been good at anything. I've never specialized in anything, had a purpose like 'mega always has. I wanted to find her brothers because it was what she wanted, and it's what made her happy, and that's the only thing that ever truly mattered to me. I don't really fit anywhere, which... I guess is why I'm trying to fit in with them.

I'm not entirely sure I do sometimes.

I kept being afraid of that back at the start. I still am. But they've... welcomed me, even if they clearly aren't used to it.

Even if they don't understand why I have to be here.

Crosshair is... well, he is. And he's usually annoying, but not always. I never talked to him about it, and why would I? It's not like I have a reason to bother them. I'd been brooding and Crosshair was the one who came to just... be with me. We didn't talk. I didn't hug him, either, even if I wanted to. I don't want to push them too far, and I'm not sure what they're comfortable with.

I'm semi-brooding again, and I've slipped into robotic mode enough that I'm already halfway done eating without realizing it.

My head snaps up at the unfamiliar voice of a reg. "Check it out. The defect squad's got themselves a new recruit." I look up, as does Omega, glaring. "Another member added to the Sad Batch."

My anger is burning, back in full swing. Coiling, ready to strike. "The Dark Side hangs heavily over your future" a voice whispers in the back of my mind, and my hands clench on the table. I'm not good with words. I know that, but I want to talk anyway, to throw something back even more scathing at the people who insulted my brothers.

I don't even have to. Omega is already on the table, and she throws something at the reg in question.

"What the!" he yelps, stumbling when it hits him square in the head, and I squeal with glee. He whirls around, and the three stalk back towards us. "Who threw that?"

"I did," Omega retaliates fiercely without a shred of fear. "Now apologize to my friends."

I pull my legs up and push myself upright atop the bench. If they dare approach Omega –

Wrecker elbows Echo who immediately glares at him. "I like this kid!"

"What did you say to me?" the reg demands, pointing threateningly at Omega, who doesn't even twitch. I have no idea if he's trying to be scary, or if he's actually going to hit her, but either way –

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Hunter interjects, jumping off the bench and approaching them. Of course, he has to interrupt the conversation, even if all I want to do is try my hand at beating up someone twice my size? "Back off. I suggest you keep moving."

Behind Omega, Wrecker stands, grinning gleefully. Oooooooh. One way or another, someone's tray is going in that reg's face. And I won't have to worry about Hunter chewing me out about it if I'm not the one to do it. I subtly give him a thumbs up for good measure. At least I think it was subtle –

"Know your place, lab scrabber," the reg scoffs, and Wrecker hurls his tray the moment they turn around.

"Oops," he offers wickedly, holding his remaining trays.

"That's it!" the reg yells, lunging forwards. I throw my spoon in his face for good measure, a split second before Hunter punches him.

"Oh, yeah!" Wrecker cackles, hurling his remaining trays at the others.

"Oh, not again," Echo groans, scrubbing a hand over his face and ducking as someone throws something at him.

Wrecker jumps the regs, literally, and I decide to take a page out of his book, jumping on top of my nearest grumpy identical uncle. Is beating up someone with a fork a good idea? Probably not. Is it possible? I will make it possible.

It's fun while it lasts for one minute before someone just scoops me up from behind and I yelp, flailing to try freeing myself from the grip.

No thanks to Tech who's beating up a random bystander in the background, though I can relate.

Crosshair, of all people, is the one who comes to my rescue, though he looks none too happy about any of this.

"At least someone's nice to their sister," I wheeze, landing on the ground and rolling away from the reg, standing up again.

I want to throw a tray at someone. Just don't think I can quite throw something that heavy just right.

"Echo, watch out!" Tech yells, and on second thought, maybe he isn't being quite so useless.

There's a thump loud and sharp enough to make my skin crawl, and I dart around the tables in search of Echo. Tech has already beat me to him, of course, and he's... lying motionless, slumped on the floor, half against the serving table behind him. The reg in front of him is mid-standing up, holding the tray he must've used to do it.

I don't think twice, or even once – instantly jumping him.

The regs armor feels different than my brothers, or maybe it's just me, I'm not sure, but either way, my weight – no matter how light that is, probably mostly from the sheer unexpectedness of it – is enough to throw him off balance. I punch him in the face. Hard. From the yelp and the crack, I think I broke his nose.

Good.

I'm still seething, and I'm pulling back for another punch, perfectly ready and willing to keep railing on him, but someone lifts me up from behind again, far more gently, pulling me back.

"What's his status, Tech?" Hunter's rough-but-kind voice asks from right above me – oh. I drop my arms, grumpily crossing them as he sets me down a bit back and the others start crowding around Echo. My first thought hadn't even been to see if it was okay. It was just to beat up the person who did it. Don't really know what that says about me.

There's a thump, a crash, and a thunking plastoid sound in the background that I seriously hope is someone else being knocked out, then I hear familiar light footsteps approaching. "Dead," Crosshair deadpans.

"He's not dead!" Wrecker yelps.

"As usual, your assessment is incorrect," Tech replies, "He is still breathing."

There's a light pattering as Omega runs up. "Is he okay?" She sounds worried.

"I suggest we take him to the medbay for a scan," Tech says.

"Two credits says he is," Crosshair continues, ignoring the others entirely.

"Deal," Wrecker says, and I hear a disturbing leathery sound in the background. Stars. Did they just shake on it?

I look up wide-eyed at Hunter. "Are they betting on a teammate being dead?"

Hunter just shrugs.

Chapter Text

Waiting outside the medbay is... boring. And draining. I don't like it. Then again, I'm pretty grumpy about most things in life so that doesn't say much.

It's amazing when the doors finally slide open, letting us spill into the room. Hunter is first, as always, and Wrecker saunters in up ahead. I run in after, using my small size to squeeze past the others and beeline to Omega and Echo's sides. AZI is hovering over him, rambling.

"Ha! Told you he's alive!" Wrecker cackles, waving his arms, "You owe me two credits."

Crosshair just shakes his head, and whether that's a 'you're an idiot', a 'not now', or a 'don't embarrass us' gesture, I have no idea.

"CT-1409's condition is stable," AZI announces, turning around, "But I have some distressing news for the rest of you. According to your test results, you all appear to be genetically defective clones."

Wrecker jolts, looking wide-eyed at the others. Tech adjusts his goggles. Hunter and Crosshair don't even blink.

Huh? "We already know that, AZI," I remind.

"I will leave you to process the shock of this revelation," AZI declares, leaving the room. I watch as the door closes behind him, a bit mind-blown.

"We've got a problem," Echo says, and I whip around to face him. Please tell me he's not losing his mind, too.

"How?"

"Not really," Tech replies, "We're more deviant than we are defective."

"Not that," Echo says, shaking his head, "Admiral Tarkin's here. He's the one evaluating the clones." Who's that?

From how Wrecker jerks back a bit and looks to Tech, then to Hunter, who looks back at him, I'm guessing they know. "The same Tarkin from the Citadel rescue when you, uh... how shall I put this?" Tech asks.

"Blew up?" Wrecker queries, jolting forwards. He looks far too cheerful about it.

"And turned into that?" Crosshair adds, jabbing in Echo's general direction with his toothpick.

Echo sighs. "Yes. And he's not a big supporter of clones."

"We'll soon find out. We've been summoned by the prime minister," Hunter adds. I bite my lip at the stab of nervousness shooting through me. I... don't know what to think about that, and I don't like it. I didn't mean to get my brothers in trouble. Neither 'mega nor I did – we were defending them. It wasn't supposed to get so out of hand. I didn't think. Didn't know I needed to.

"Guess he didn't find that mess hall fight amusing. But I sure did," Wrecker volunteers.

"Me too," I offer. "While it lasted."

"Come on," Hunter says, uncrossing his arms and turning for the door. "Let's get this over with."

"What about me?" I ask, shifting, shuffling forwards, then pausing. I don't really want to get in trouble for this, but this was my fault, too. I still participated, and it's only fair to – "Do I come?"

"Wait for us in our quarters," he replies, moving for the door.

"Wait! The fight was my fault!" Omega objects, sprinting forwards and planting herself between them and the doorway. "I'm going too." And that right there is every bit of the fierce passion she's always had – that kept her stubbornly looking for her brothers, no matter how many years they've spent apart. Their time apart is longer than I've been alive.

"Not happening," Hunter tells us firmly, "We'll handle this." The others are already moving for the door.

I shift, uncomfortably. I have a sinking feeling in my gut, and I don't like it. "Okay," I whisper, though I sound small. I don't want them out of my sight.

"But I –" Omega starts protesting.

Hunter pauses again, turning around. The permanent scowl on his face looks deeper, but I don't think he's angry. Unless we did really, really screw up, and he hasn't called us out on it yet. That's never happened before. "Our squad's nothing but trouble, kid. For your sake, keep your distance."

I squeeze Omega's hand as the others disappear from sight. She watches them, pain lingering heavily in her eyes.

"He doesn't understand," I murmur, "He doesn't know what you are to them."

"I don't want them to know," Omega says, looking away, "Nala Se said it would distract them."

I bite my lip. "But you're not a distraction."

"You don't know that!" There's a deep running, aching desperation in her voice now. In this moment, I hate everything that made her feel like that.

"Yes, I do!" I huff. "You're not to me! To me, you mean everything."

I'd think she would be touched by that. Instead, her shoulders slump farther. "Nala Se is waiting," Omega supplies finally. "We should go."

I just stand there, awkwardly, uncertain – I didn't screw up for the second time somehow, did I? I want to help, but most of the time, it's like I just... can't. (Kinda reminds me of Crosshair. Isn't that sweet?) "I'll... just go to their quarters," I mutter finally, shrugging one shoulder and leaving the room, no matter how much it hurts to walk away.

***

I'm lonely. It's maddening. It's childish. They should be back soon, but the uncertainty is hanging in the air because I don't know how much trouble they'll be in this time, and I think something is very wrong.

It's not as if this is the first time I've been alone here for a while, either. It happens sometimes. I'm... one of them, but I'm not. It's a bit like Echo, I guess – I'm half here, half elsewhere. But unlike Echo, the other part of me is floating, nowhere, with nothing. I don't really know what that missing piece of me belongs with.

The room is too big, too quiet without them. I approach Crosshair's bunk hesitantly, tracing my fingers across the edge, soaking in the foggy-soft feel. It's... weird, but it's gentle.

I didn't fully fit with 'mega either, sister or no. I'm not really their sibling though – and that's probably the issue right there. It doesn't really feel like I fit anywhere, period.

I just need... something. To do something. I did threaten to paint their barracks. I don't think they have paint here though. I wander across the room and slide open one of the crates, anyway, just to see if I can find something cool. I'm not touching Tech's technical mess if my life depends on it, after all.

The only thing I find that seems... oddly unfamiliar is a vibroblade a little smaller than Hunter's. Its handle is slightly shorter. I pick it up, flipping it over – the hilt is big, but it feels like something I could get used to. Is it the one he started learning with?

I'll add that to the eternal list of questions I have.

By the time the door slides open what must be at least half an hour later, I'm on my knees on Crosshair's bunk, happily etching a ridiculous assortment of hearts into it. Is he going to kill me for this? Probably. I'm giggling anyway though. I just expected to be done before they returned.

I jump off Crosshair's bunk with a yelp. "I can't find either purple or green paint," I volunteer, "But I thought staring at the same spot on the ceiling would get boring eventually."

No one is up for my antics right now, clearly. Not even Wrecker.

"Live rounds!" Wrecker yells, throwing his helmet onto the table so hard it bounces off and sails across the room, crashing into something else. I flinch, re-sheathing the knife as fast as possible, sliding it behind me out of sight. "They used live rounds! On us!"

My jaw drops. Stars, what happened!?

"We were there, Wrecker," Tech unhelpfully supplies, "We know."

"I tried to warn you about Tarkin," Echo interjects as they gather around.

"Who's that Imperial snake think he is?" Wrecker growls. And that's when I notice the black, scorch spot on Wrecker's armor.

A quiet gasp escapes me, and I drop the knife onto the edge of one of the crates by Crosshair's bunk, darting forwards to him.

"Stow it, already. You got shot. It happens all the time," Crosshair throws back.

I whip around to face him. Actually, everyone does. "No, it doesn't!" I yell at him, hurt and confused. "What is wrong with you?" How can he not care? How can he even pretend not to care?! This is his brother. They grew up together. If someone shot Omega, I'd already be gutting them. Probably literally.

"There's a fundamental difference between taking fire in battle and being used for target practice," Tech replies, and there's a strangely hard note in his voice that I've never heard before. He's angry, too. Because that, apparently, happens.

"Exactly! We're not dummy droids," Wrecker agrees fiercely.

"That much, we agree on," a voice says from the doorway, and there's a certain roughness to it that immediately makes my skin crawl, and I instantly press myself closer to Wrecker's side.

Someone – presumably some Imperial officer, probably the one they've been talking about – is standing in the doorway, flanked by two members of the Coruscant Guard.

The Batch instantly snaps to attention, and Hunter slips his knife away. Silently, I just hope I'm invisible between Crosshair and Wrecker, because this is one time, I do not want to draw attention. Normally, I need it, but something instinctive I don't understand is whispering at me to be quiet and invisible, because something about this person is – is – sickening. It feels like my skin is crawling backwards.

"That was quite an impressive display," the Imperial continues, stepping inside.

"Didn't have much choice," Hunter throws back darkly.

"Our new Empire may have methods which seem a bit unorthodox, but so does this squadron. Both certainly have their merits," the Imperial replies. Suddenly, I'm glad I put that knife down, because I want to throw it in his face so badly. "Nala Se speaks quite highly of her enhanced clones. She claims you're more capable than an army."

He's moving closer, and I don't move, stupidly hoping that staying still will keep from drawing his attention.

"And I didn't see this one earlier," he says, looking down at me.

"My name is Vision," I reply flatly, lifting my chin, glaring. You shot my brother, I want to snarl at him, but I still have a tiny sense of self-preservation that's keeping me quiet.

"She's still training," Hunter interjects, "She's from a – later batch."

"I see," he says. He's still looking at me, though.

"You have a mission for us, sir?" Hunter inquires.

"Indeed," the Imperial confirms, turning around. The tension doesn't fade, though. All my brothers are angry. I can feel it crackling in the air. "We have tracked a group of insurgents to the Onderon sector. They must be dealt with."

"What sort of insurgents?" Echo demands.

"Separatist forces intent on keeping the galaxy at war. If you neutralize this grave threat, you will be looked upon most favorably as I assess the needs of the Imperial Army."

Is that blackmail?!

No one moves until the Imperial leaves the room and the door closes behind him.

"Who was that?" I ask, breaking the silence, reaching up to touch Wrecker's arm.

Echo huffs out a sigh. "That was Tarkin."

Ah. I make a sound of acknowledgement. "What happened?"

"We were called to the training room," Hunter replies, "They switched to live rounds."

My hands clench. "But they can't do that! I didn't know they... could." There's a really childish part of me that suddenly wants to cry. I don't understand most of my random emotional urges. They're mostly just annoying. Omega has the patience to deal with it, but no one else does. Not that I've ever really known anyone else.

"Alright, we have a mission to do," Hunter says finally, spurring everyone forwards, "Echo and Tech, prep the ship, and see what else you can find out about this mission. Wrecker and Crosshair, restock our weapon supplies."

"Ohhh, can I go with them?" I ask, "I wanna see the armory." I've always wanted to go there, though I've never had much reason to. Wrecker raves about his explosive buddies all the time, so...

Hunter looks to the others, then back at me.

"Yeah!" Wrecker cheers, already pulling me out the door. Mostly, I could use the distraction. I don't want to think about how the Empire hurt him, or about how Crosshair just brushed it off. Not about Tarkin, or anything, or... or how I think something is terribly wrong. I just wish 'mega was here.

***

"Can I ask you something?" I inquire, grabbing Crosshair's hand. He does that sort of jolt-twitch thing that he did the first time I hugged him, like he's expecting someone to stab him or something. We're on the way to the armory, and this has been bugging me for ages now.

"What?" he asks, looking down at me, though he doesn't pull away.

"Stow it already" my mind whispers, and I violently shove that away. I don't know what that was all about, but I need to ask this, mostly for Omega's sake right now. Focus. And mostly, I feel least weird to approach him – I know him the best.

"It – um – what does it take to be one of you?"

He pauses briefly, then keeps walking, pulling his hand back. It's not rough – it's gentle, strangely so, but it still hurts. Because I don't really belong here, either. "By what standards?" he asks.

What does that mean? "You might not know 'mega, but she's still one of us," I tell him sullenly, "She belongs with us."

"Hm," he supplies.

Yeesh, sometimes, talking to Crosshair is like talking to a brick.

"You okay, kid?" Wrecker asks, patting my shoulder.

I look away. "Not really." I don't even know what's wrong. I can't shake the strange, deep and gaping emptiness in my heart. I instinctively press myself closer to Crosshair. I don't really know why I seek him out every time I need something, even if I'm still angry at him.

I twitch at the sudden, unexpected feel of Crosshair's hand on my shoulder. I duck my head, pressing my cheek to his hand. Something is burning in the back of my mind at the contact. I have to be careful about touching things, but I'm Seeing something I can't ignore. I see him – Crosshair, the soft little fluffball that he's always been (even if he's still the most annoying person I've ever met) – strapped onto something like a medtable and –

It's a brief flash, but then it's gone, and I'm standing here again, clinging to them both, panting. It feels like I can't breathe at all, and a shiver snakes down my spine. "Stars," I rasp, "I don't wanna lose you." Like 'mega did, my mind whispers.

"You won't," he promises. There's a certain strange fierceness in his voice I haven't heard before. "I'm not going anywhere."

Lie, something whispers, but I believe him anyway. "Why?" I ask, feeling the sudden need to lighten the conversation. "Because you need someone around to annoy you?"

I yelp and duck away when he reaches for my hair again. "Meanie! You could just say you want me around so you can pull my hair, you know."

Crosshair scoffs.

"Hey, don't bother the kid," Wrecker scolds, shooing him away.

"See?" I gripe, "Wrecker is much nicer than you."

***

The armory is... it is. It's fun though. And I spend a while climbing over the shelves, which is fun, until I get stuck, and Wrecker has to come pull me out. Which is fine. It's actually pretty fun, despite Omega's glaring absence. I always feel lonely and empty without her. We've always been together, and I don't like it when we're not. I'm all she has, too.

When we finally arrive at the hangar, Echo and Tech are conversing in front of the Marauder before Echo disappears inside. "I'll say this for the Empire," Wrecker announces cheerfully, "They know firepower. You should see the new armory."

"He actually cried," Crosshair supplies dryly.

"Hey," Wrecker argues, elbowing him, "We both did."

"There's no room on board for that," Tech objects, gesturing to the crate Wrecker's dragging around.

I give him a dubious look. "Tech, there's no room in your barracks to breathe."

"Yeah?" Wrecker throws back, "Well, I'll make room." He hoists the crate off the cart he was carrying it on (I'm amazed he wasn't carrying it the whole time), heading for the ramp. "A new mission and unlimited explosives. Things are back to normal."

"That's not going near my rack," Tech protests, practically running after his little brother as he disappears inside. "I refuse to sleep by a projectile again."

"Again?" I query, running after. "And what's so wrong with that? It sounds fun. What could go wrong?"

"There are countless potential complications," Tech informs me, and I immediately regret my decision. "A potential detonation could result in –"

"Never mind," I reply, hands raised, backing away. "Pretend I said nothing." I run back outside before he can stop me.

Crosshair is at the bottom of the ramp, and Hunter is... near the doorway to the hanger, talking to Omega. Again. And suddenly, that feeling of wrongness is back full-force, and I dart down the ramp, approaching them.

"I don't trust him," I hear Omega saying. She sounds scared.

"A mission's a mission," Hunter assures, "It's nothing to worry about."

"What's wrong?" I query, skidding to a stop beside them.

"It's that Imperial officer," Omega answers.

"Tarkin," I supply.

"I think he has it out for you all," she adds, expression pinched with worry.

"Vision, do you See anything?" Hunter asks me.

I glance up at him. "I... Saw something on the way to the armory. Crosshair. Everything I'm Seeing is about him. I think something's going to happen to him."

"Do you know what?"

I shake my head. "No. Not really." I have to force myself not to turn back to look at him, just to make sure he's there and alright. He said he wasn't going anywhere. He promised. Hunter will protect him, all of them. I don't need to worry, but I can't help it. "But Tarkin was... he really creeps me out, too."

"Can we go with you?" Omega queries imploringly.

For a moment, I think he might agree. "It's dangerous," Hunter replies finally. "You're not trained soldiers."

"But it's dangerous here, too!" Omega protests. "Things aren't like before. We need to leave Kamino."

Leave. She's talking about leaving – with them, our brothers – the one thing we've always dreamed of doing. And somehow, looking around, I think we will. It's a strange feeling, but I don't think I'll see this place again. "She's right," I agree, looking up at him. We need to go.

"Hunter, let's go!" Wrecker yells from inside.

Hunter pauses, glancing over his shoulder. "Vision," he requests, "Tell me what you See."

I reach out for him, and he – albeit very awkwardly – lets me take his hand. None of them understand how to be affectionate much, it seems. But it's soft and warm and comforting and I can't help thinking that he feels so... grounding. It's soothing, and not in the way Crosshair is. Hunter makes me feel protected. Crosshair just makes me feel belonging. Both are... important.

I close my eyes and reach out, delving inside myself.

I see bits, flashes, nothing I can make sense of. They're silhouetted in a forest somewhere, Hunter and Crosshair facing each other again, and there's a strange tension in the air I don't like. It reminds me of what I saw during... whatever that was.

"Ah. That would complicate things," Tech's voice says, and I see myself leaning against the Marauder's doorway, fingers curling into the metal. Omega's hand is on my arm, and she's pressed against my side.

"Just complicate?" I hiss.

"Tech," Omega asks, and she sounds so, so scared. "What are we going to do?"

Then it's gone, and I yank away from Hunter, eyes wide. "It – we –"

I hear footsteps behind us. Nala Se is coming in search of Omega, and we need to – I should have been paying more attention. We could already be gone. Should already be gone.

"Omega," Nala Se's voice calls as she approaches us.

I look up at Hunter, wide-eyed, panic clawing through me. We have to go. I have no idea what that was, and why was no one else there?!

He catches my gaze and gives a subtle shake of his head. I instantly deflate, frustration washing through me. He's right – there's no choice. They need to go, and Omega and I will be staying, as we always do. I just want to go.

Not that we have that choice, anyway.

"Change takes getting used to," Hunter says, standing and stepping back. "You'll see. Just give it time." There's more he wants to say. I can see it in his eyes – he doesn't want to walk away, but Nala Se is here, and he can't take us with them.

Instead, all we can do is stand and watch as he rejoins the others, and after a brief exchange with Crosshair, boards the ship. The ramp closes, the engine fires, and the Havoc Marauder lifts out of the hangar.

My hands clench together tightly, tears pricking at my eyes for reasons I can't fully understand. I just...

I just want to leave.

***

Being alone in their quarters again is torture. I'm not even being dramatic, but I could swear the universe itself is trying my patience and just wants to see how much it'll take before I snap and start screaming or something. I'm normally not this short-tempered, but sometimes... yeah. Sometimes.

I curl up in Hunter's bunk, burying my face against his pillow, breathing in. Hunter's enhanced senses include smell, I think, and I used to think that was weird, until I didn't. The room smells like them. It feels like home.

But I could've gotten them all... hurt, anyway. I don't know how serious this is. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't talk to Hunter about it. I should've. If I had, maybe... we could have done something. Maybe we could've just left like 'mega wanted.

It was my mistake, my own stupid little slip up, and I have no idea what'll happen because of it.

I miss them.

Even curled around Lula, and with the picture I took of my brothers shortly after I met Echo beside my head, I can't sleep.

I don't remember falling asleep, anyway, though I'm jolted awake at the sound of the door opening.

"Viz?" Omega calls quietly, stepping inside.

"Here," I reply, propping myself up on my elbow, rubbing my eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Of course, that's the first thing she asks me. "Yeah," I reply, even if it's not entirely true. "Mostly. It's just that... they're going to come back for me." We don't leave our own behind. None of us would, for all that we sometimes squabble with each other. It's the core of who we are.

"Do you think they'll be okay?"

"I don't know," Omega confesses. She turns to scan the room, and I slide off Hunter's bunk, leaving Lula there. "What is all this stuff?"

"My scanners are indicating an assortment of armament, curios and detritus of little to no value," AZI volunteers, and I giggle.

"I like it," my sister says, grinning. I try my best not to think about how this may be the last time we're here together. Something is going to happen. Something dark. Either way, 'mega's here now. This is where she's wanted to be for so long, and I need to show her around.

"We should not be here, Omega. Nala Se instructed us to stay in the medical wing," AZI protests.

"Don't worry," Omega replies, "We're on a... research assignment."

"A research assignment?!" AZI asks, spinning around, and she nods. I have to smother a laugh – she's lying, and I know it. "Those are my favorite. What is it we are searching for? Is it this?"

Omega is turning away to take in everything, and I take off back to Hunter's bunk. Our skull symbol is painted on the wall behind us. "I took this," I tell her, snatching up the picture of our brothers. It's by Hunter's bunk, and it's his without officially being his. "It was right after Echo joined."

She darts over to me and climbs onto the edge of the bunk, taking the framed picture from my hands.

There's a wistful look in her eyes as she looks at them. I sit next to her, our shoulders touching. I know the meaning this moment has to her, and I don't want to interrupt it.

It's interrupted, anyway, though, when AZI screams in the background. Actually screams.

"Sh!" Omega hisses, jumping off the bunk and setting down the picture. "People will hear us!"

"Keep it down!" I whisper-hiss, scrambling after her.

"I have concluded this space is unfit for habitation," AZI announces shakily.

And that's when I hear something outside the door. Someone's coming, and I don't know why. No one should be coming, and it's not our brothers. I always know when they're coming back. I See it.

"Someone is coming," Omega says, darting for the door. "Time to go."

The door opens, and Omega crashes into the person in the doorway. I steady her, and the sudden weight of her crashing into me is nearly enough to throw us both to the floor.

"Watch where you're going!" I instinctively yell up at the reg in the doorway.

"You're not authorized to be in here," the reg accuses.

"Yes, I am," I snap back. How are we supposed to deal with these things? Hunter isn't here to handle it for us.

"I... got lost," Omega offers, and she looks nervous now. "Sorry. It won't happen again."

"Pack up their gear and take it to the hangar," the reg orders another.

"What?!" I squeak. They – what?

"You, you're coming with me," the reg adds, grabbing Omega's arm.

"We will not," AZI argues, darting forwards and grabbing the reg's arm before I can try out some of the not-so-good hand to hand combat I've been learning from Hunter, because I will absolutely beat up anyone who dares hurt 'mega. "We are official Kaminoan medical personnel –"

"Don't touch me, droid!" the reg snarls, whipping out his blaster and firing at AZI. I can only watch with mind-numbing horror as the droid hits the floor, sparking.

"AZI!" Omega screams.

The reg reaches for her again, and I don't even think. His armor, unfortunately, is hard enough that he doesn't even twitch when I kick his leg. I swing a punch at his stomach, and the reg grabs my wrist, jerking me forwards. I yelp as I crash forwards, hands connecting hard with the floor. A stinging pain shoots through them, and I push myself up.

"Viz!" Omega cries.

"I'm okay," I assure, pushing myself up. One of the regs grabs my arm, yanking me down the hall. I elbow his thigh for good measure, and he shoves me forwards. No wonder our brothers hate the regs so much. I can relate. So well. I hate 'em, too.

Chapter Text

"Honestly, what are we supposed to do if we need to use the 'fresher?" I gripe as the ray shield closes behind us. The regs just look at each other and shake their heads. Do they think this is funny? Because I'd kind of like to throw my boots at them if I could. Scratch that, I'd like to throw Wrecker at them. I've been unbearably short-tempered since whatever happened to the Jedi. Not sure why, but it doesn't really matter. Doesn't change how I want to beat up every single one.

"I don't think they care," Omega says, climbing onto the bench and staring at the ray shield.

"That's rude." I spin around, hands on my hips, glaring. I'm scared, but my fear is mostly anger. We're stuck here, and somehow, we have to find our brothers again, though I have no idea how.

"Nala Se will get us out," Omega says, though she sounds worried. I don't think she's right about this, though.

I glower at the regs again for good measure before spinning around sharply enough that my boot screeches against the floor, stalking across the cell. "Assuming she even cares to."

"She – she will," Omega insists, though there's suddenly a nervous note in her voice.

I spin around again, crossing the cell. There's nothing to see here, but I have nothing else to do. "Y'know," I yell to the guards, just for good measure, "You could at least try being a little nicer to your sisters." I should practice my fork-hitting techniques more. Seriously. Right now, I'm just bored out of my mind and angry.

It's a while later, when I'm starting to get minorly tired that I idly start tracing my fingers across the wall. Almost instantly, I feel a twinge of energy on my hand, and then...

There's a crash as Wrecker slams his fist into the wall, hard enough to dent it in. "It still didn't work!" he groans, crouching in front of it.

"Oh, yes, it did," Tech replies, approaching and nudging him aside. "Look."

"They're gonna come back," I state, blinking, hand pressed to the wall. It was right here, and Wrecker hitting it apparently is our way out.

"What?" Omega asks, jumping off the bench and approaching me.

"I Saw it," I explain, "They were in here with us. Wrecker punched a hole in the wall."

She blinks, then giggles. I can't help joining her – it's so stupid and so obvious. Of course, he's strong enough to punch his way out.

"We told them not to come back," 'mega says, once she finally stops giggling.

I smirk, sliding down along the wall onto the floor, hand still pressed to the wall. "Yeah. But really, when do we ever follow orders? Or even semi-sane advice, for that matter?"

"Never."

"Yup," I agree with equal cheer. "They'll be back. Besides, they won't leave us behind." Which is... good. I don't know how we'd ever find them if we had to go looking. We'll make it out. We'll be fine, even if it's not gonna be an easy fight.

The untamed excitement on Omega's face makes me smile. This is what she's been waiting for – a chance to get off Kamino, to be with her brothers. To be free.

"We'll be together again," I tell her, mindful to keep my voice down to avoid alerting the guards. "Like we used to be." Way back, at first, I could hardly sleep or think without her nearby. I've been forced to grow more used to it, but I still don't like it when she's out of my line of sight.

"Coming back will be dangerous for them," she points out.

"We'll be fine," I promise, nudging her. "As long as we stay together. And even if we don't, we've always found a way back."

We sit beside each other for a little while, (thankfully the 'fresher concern isn't an entirely relevant one – yet) curled up together, until the door across from us opens. Both of us scramble to our feet, though I stay close to the wall.

It's them, yeah. Hunter is in front, and Tech is right behind. Their armor is off. It's the first time I've seen them without armor, and it's... jarring. Crosshair is... somehow almost scrawnier than I expected. And Echo is... I never wanted to get an up-close look at Echo, because all the machinery he's attached to is sickening, but now, I'm morbidly curious.

The regs shove Hunter and Tech inside. Actually shove them, and my anger swings back in just like that. "You know," I snap, bristling, uncaring that no one will listen, "We're all perfectly capable of walking on our own two feet, thanks." And the next person to hit one of my brothers will get beat up with more than just a fork.

"Well, the plan wasn't a total failure," Tech offers, turning to me and Omega.

"Goody," Crosshair mutters in the background with enough dry sarcasm he could literally choke on it. Echo twists around to look at him – I can't tell if that was a glare or not.

"I warned you not to come back," Omega tells them as Hunter approaches, crouching in front of us.

"I told ya so," I sing-song gleefully.

"Had to," Hunter replies, "We were looking for you two."

"Two?" she repeats. "You came back for me?" Told you so, I want to say again – and I did. I told her they'd accept her, that it would just take time, even if it'd be hard. Crosshair basically told me the same thing.

"That's right," Hunter confirms, "If you still want to leave Kamino with us."

"It's like I said before, I want to go with you," Omega answers immediately, without hesitation.

"Hey," I tell him, smiling, and it's the first time I've been happy in... It's been months. I could almost throw myself into his arms. I'd do it anyway, if I thought Hunter would have any idea how to react. "I'm part of the team, right?" I look up in Crosshair's direction, but he's behind Wrecker, hidden from my sight. Tech is beside Wrecker, and I can't read his expression, but Wrecker looks as excitedly gleeful as I feel.

"How touching," Crosshair scoffs. Normally, I wouldn't think twice – I'd already be throwing back some equally stupid and snarky comment, but something about his tone is... off.

Hunter stands slowly, and Wrecker steps aside to look back at him. Crosshair is standing with his arms crossed, glaring. Hunter turns around to face him.

"Okayyyy," I say slowly, "What's wrong?"

No one answers.

"Uh, Hunter, how are we breaking outta here?" Wrecker asks, interrupting the moment, but neither Hunter nor Crosshair break their glaring match. Seriously. What is up with that!?

"I'm working on it," Hunter answers without so much as looking at him.

"I can –"

"You know what you should work on?" Crosshair snarls, jabbing a finger at Hunter. "Explaining when you went soft!"

Yeah... clearly this isn't the time to interject that I know our way out. And Crosshair or no, I do not appreciate someone talking to Hunter like this.

"Stow it, Crosshair," Echo snaps, stepping forwards, as if putting himself between the two will somehow shield Hunter. I know Crosshair can have a temper – we all do, except 'mega – but I've never seen it in action. And seeing it now makes my skin crawl.

The gentle, smoky mist that I've always Seen Crosshair as is shifting, morphing into something black and... dark. Something dark.

"Don't you see we're locked up in here because of him?" Crosshair throws back furiously, "He had us disobey orders." He twists away from the others, glaring at the wall.

And that – it stings, more than I thought it would. I know I'm annoying, and very exhausting, but how can he just... act like it doesn't matter? He told me I was one of them. And we don't... leave our own behind. Why would he even say that?

"I never thought you disobeying orders was a problem," Tech speaks up, adjusting his goggles. I'm starting to think that's just a nervous habit.

"Yeah, we do it all the time," Wrecker agrees.

Crosshair shakes his head and whirls around. "Good soldiers follow orders!" he shouts. Echo jerks back, either at the tone or proximity, I'm not sure which. Crosshair stalks forwards towards Hunter again. "Every choice you've made since Kaller has been wrong. First the Padawan, then Gerrera." Echo and Tech exchange glances. Omega presses closer to Hunter, expression uncertain.

My hands are freezing. I hardly realize it until Omega grabs it, tugging me closer. It doesn't do much to lessen the pain clawing in my heart.

"You're becoming a liability," Crosshair growls.

"We can debate my choices later," Hunter replies firmly. "For now, let's focus on getting outta here." He turns away, jaw clenched. The hurt and anger burning in his eyes mirrors my own. It's instinctive that I dart after him. I'd take his hand, if he didn't cross his arms first. It's... a self-comfort gesture. It hurts even more to see him like that.

Tech is plastering his face to the wall in the background – not really, but he's somehow made it all the way across the cell without me hearing him move. Wrecker eyes Crosshair just a moment before turning to join Tech. Hidden or no, he's obviously hurt, too.

I want to cry. It's childish, but I can't help it. I need to tell them, and I – oh, I just abandoned my guard spot. Anyway. "Are you okay?"

He twitches, brow furrowing. Is this the literal first time someone asked him that? "Yeah," Hunter replies after what feels like a full minute of deliberation. I don't buy it.

I pull back, hands still fluttering uselessly. "Okay," I whisper. I hate how shaky my voice sounds. I want to know what's wrong with Crosshair, but I don't think I can keep it together long enough. "I think I have an idea on breaking out." Sometimes, it feels like the only useful ideas I ever have are literal foresight. That doesn't seem fair. I guess I'm just... something. "I'll see if I can find it again."

Echo has pointedly put himself between Tech and Crosshair. He's like that – always putting himself in between them and danger. He's touchingly protective. And 'mega – Omega is by Crosshair. I shake off the sting I feel at seeing it. I could really use someone's unwavering support right now, but he comes first to her. They – all do. They should – they're her brothers, the ones she's always wanted to find. I was just her way there.

"What do you know?" I hear him asking, shaking his head and turning away.

I pause, uncertain, keeping my distance, not wanting to intrude. "I know it's... not your fault." He twitches when she touches his shoulder, and he turns to look at her. "You can't help it."

I frown. What's she talking about?

Crosshair studies her calculatingly before something in his expression softens, and he smiles. It's the first time I've seen it genuine, and I... don't understand.

I twist around at the sound of approaching footsteps.

The regs are coming towards us now. "CT-9904, you're coming with us," the one in front orders, and a small section to the right of the ray shield in front of him opens.

Hunter moves so fast he could almost have teleported, blocking the doorway, hands raised. "Oh, no, no, no. We stay together." Somehow, seeing how fiercely he's willing to defend Crosshair even now, right now, hurts.

The red and white armored clone slams his blaster into Hunter's gut, sending him to the ground. Hunter falls, curled in on himself to shield the blow. Omega jerks back, gasping, hands flying to her mouth.

And rage flares through me, hot and strangling, and I lunge forwards. I don't care if they're armed and all. They hurt Hunter.

"Stand down!" the reg barks, blaster raised, but I don't even care.

Crosshair reaches me first, catching my arm and making me skid to a stop.

"What are you doing?" I yell at him, furiously, trying to yank away.

"Stay," he says shortly, pulling me back and letting go.

For the first time in my life, I can't find words. I can't find anything at all, and just stare up at him for what I'm terrified will be the last time. He's doing this – for us. He's going anyway, so they won't hurt us. Somehow, even now, when he's not himself, when he's so angry at Hunter and at all of us, he's still willing to sacrifice himself if it means we're safe.

Plan 99, my mind supplies, and I violently force that away – that isn't what's happening. Tech had sounded so flippant when he told me that literal suicide is one of their plans. I'd looked wide-eyed up at Hunter in horror, and Wrecker patted my shoulder with a cheerful "don't worry, we'll never use that one, kid."

Somehow, it still feels like Crosshair just did. "I'm not going anywhere" he'd said, and I knew somewhere deep down that was a lie.

The most I manage is a strangled "wait" but he's already turning away and leaving the cell.

The door hisses shut behind him, before Wrecker can launch himself at the regs, because I'm almost entirely certain he's about to. Even Tech looks angry.

Hunter pushes himself up, glaring, jaw clenched, though I can't tell if it's more from anger or pain. He'll shake it off fast, I know, but still. From the look on his face, he'd have kept fighting if Crosshair hadn't left. We all would have, because it's just what we do.

Echo is standing beside me now, and I suspect he must've been just a step behind Crosshair at grabbing me.

I can only stand and watch as Crosshair disappears from sight, the door closing behind him. I stalk across the room, slamming my fist into the wall. A dull pain shoots through it, and the wall is, quite obviously, undamaged. That doesn't seem fair. Well, Wrecker's no doubt the only one able to punch a hole through it, anyway.

"Vision," Hunter asks, and I pause at the sound of his voice, twitching.

"Yeah?" I'm pointlessly dragging my hands across the wall. I can't See anything, though.

"You mentioned... knowing a way out?"

"Yup." I trace my fingers across the wall, huffing when I don't feel anything. "It's right here. Somewhere. Tech?"

"What, precisely, did you See?" he inquires, approaching.

"Uh... I think Wrecker punched a hole in the wall? A small one. I'm not sure how that helped, but..."

"Did it have a connection with... the vent?" he asks.

I shrug. "I dunno. Maybe. But it was a small hole. I Saw it briefly."

I back off as he goes to investigate. "Ah," Tech declares at last, "This is not a prison."

"Yeah, well, I beg to differ," Echo snaps.

"This is a Kaminoan facility," he explains, turning back to the others, "It was built prior to the Clone Wars. There were no barracks or prisons when it was constructed."

"Well, how does that help us?" Hunter queries.

"Because while these cells were retrofitted to hold normal individuals, they could not possibly account for someone like Wrecker."

"Oh!" he jumps up, excitement written all over his face. "You mean I could punch our way out?"

"Shh!" Hunter and I hiss in unison, Omega echoing us a second later.

He freezes, glancing back at the guards. "Oh. Right. You mean I could punch our way out?" he asks, much quieter this time. I suppress an eye roll. I'm mostly this cranky simply because of, well, Crosshair. I'm not normally this irritable.

"If you punch the correct spot," he responds.

Wrecker rubs his hands together. "Right. Show me when."

"If this is gonna work, we'll need some cover. Form a wall," Hunter replies, moving to the front. Echo is standing on the far end, closest to the wall, and Hunter beside him. Omega and I move up beside him while Tech and Wrecker hover over the wall.

I choke on a giggle when he punches the wall. Tech moves up to stand beside Hunter. The regs are eyeing us, but with all the banging and yapping from earlier, they seem pretty used to the commotion we make. Good. Wrecker hits the wall again, and Tech goes over to make sure it's working, which, of course, it is.

"Told you so," I mutter, eyes narrowing on the regs. We're gonna need a distraction soon.

"I'll never fit through that!" Wrecker protests. I rock back on my heels, throwing a glance around Hunter, and snort. The opening is tiny, just enough for 'mega and I. I very badly I wish I could see what would happen if Wrecker tried crawling through.

"Astute as always, Wrecker, but I was actually going to suggest –"

"I'll do it," Omega offers.

Hunter uncrosses his arms, eyeing her uncertainly. "You sure, kid?"

"I'm sure," she replies fiercely.

"Okay. Get to the console and hit the lever to lower the ray shield," he tells her, and she nods, racing for the opening.

"Good luck," I whisper-hiss, and she crawls inside. Wrecker and Tech push the twisted piece of... wall back over it.

"Incoming," Echo warns as the regs start approaching. They're not close, exactly, but close enough to notice.

"Wait, where's the other girl?" the reg barks.

"You tell us," Hunter throws back.

"Harm her, and you're a dead man," Echo growls.

"Oh, sorry," I drawl, waving my hands, "I was on guard duty, not you. Would you like to switch jobs? You'd do a better job at lab scrubbing anyway, and clearly, you're the ones that need to start training."

"What was that?" one of the regs asks, and I freeze. I barely even registered the faint creaking from the vent outside the cell. Uh oh.

"Sorry," Wrecker drawls, immediately diverting their attention. "These floors don't hold me so well on account of them not being designed for abnormal individuals such as myself." Hunter rolls his eyes and shakes his head, and Tech outright facepalms.

"What's behind you?" the reg demands, blaster raised.

"Nothing," he replies nonchalantly, leaning back.

"Move away from the wall. Now," the reg snaps, jerking the end of his blaster.

"Are you trying to look threatening?" I ask, tilting my head back, "You know, even if you did try shooting us, you'd miss. Since clearly, you can't see anything anyway. You do realize 'mega's Kaminoan medical personal or whatever. You should check your programming." What? Tech was talking about it earlier, and Wrecker thought it was an insult.

The grate creeks again and then gives out altogether, crashing down onto the regs. I squeal gleefully – I can't help it. I've been waiting to see that since we came.

"Hit the switch, Omega!" Hunter yells, and she rolls off the grate, running for the console. She grabs it, yanking it down. The one reg who survived the crash gives chase, picking her up, but the door is down, and I take off first with a gleeful squeal. I drop a bit, skidding the rest of the way to kick his legs out from under him.

Wrecker knocks him out with a blow to the head, and he drops to the floor.

I scramble to my feet, running to Omega, grabbing her hand to pull her up. She's grinning now, too.

"Not bad," Wrecker praises, patting our shoulders.

"Can we do this again?" I ask breathlessly. Tech stole a blaster from the guards, and Echo has a datapad.

"We need to find out where they took Crosshair," Hunter urges, and some of my lightheartedness instantly fades. I have no idea what's happening to him, but it's bad. "Let's move."

We take off from there, sticking close together.

I can't help noticing that... there are a few random points on Echo's back that look weird, probably spinal implants, but I do not want to know. I really don't know the full extent of his injuries.

The halls are mostly empty, but still brightly lit enough that I feel watched. I don't feel like we're sneaking anywhere at all. More like walking around in broad daylight and pretending no one can see us.

We pause at a corner, and Tech sighs. "We're not going to get very far without our gear."

"They started moving all your things to the hangar. Your gear might be there too," Omega offers, and we take off again.

Tech opens the door to the hangar when we finally arrive, and step outside again. Their crates are by the Marauder. We should probably thank the regs for getting our gear in the right place, but I still want to punch them just for touching it.

Thunder is rumbling distantly over the crashing and pounding of raves and ocean waves. It's... always pretty when it's raining, but it's so normal.

"All right, boys," Hunter says, spurring everyone into action, "Suit up. Let's make this quick. Vision, with me."

"Why?" I ask, trotting after him as he moves to his crate, pulling open the lid.

"I got something for you." He reaches inside, shuffling something around, pulling out a familiar knife. That's the one I borrowed to scribble up Crosshair's bunk with. "You said you wanted a knife," he says, "But be careful with it. You don't know how to use it yet."

I take it from him, awed. "You got this? For me?"

"We have a blaster and comm, too," he adds, pulling them out and passing them to me. I attach the holster to the right side of my belt, and after a moment of hesitation, the knife to my left. I don't have anywhere else to put them.

"Thank you." It sounds stupidly inadequate, but I don't know what else to say. I wait until his armor is on before throwing my arms around his waist, albeit briefly, considering that he doesn't react.

"Tech, power up the ship," Hunter calls to him. He nods, moving towards the ramp, helmet tucked under his arm. "The rest of us will go after Crosshair. Vision, Omega, stay with Tech." I glance to where Omega is holding Lula in her arms, a look of uncertainty on her face. I can't help remembering... what I Saw earlier. Something is going to go wrong. "Be careful," Hunter warns me, hand on my shoulder. I nod, head tilting back to look at him.

I step back, uncertainty twisting inside me, as Hunter, Echo, and Wrecker move back inside.

I scan the hangar again. These... are all their things. I don't want to leave them behind, at least not all of them. I flip open the top of Hunter's crate again, reaching inside, pulling out... the picture. Of all of us together. Seeing it floods me with a crushing sense of pure longing that I don't even fully understand. Somehow, I think we're going to need this.

Omega and I board the ship together. I drop the picture into the seat behind Tech as I pass it, trotting up to where he is.

"I suggest you keep watch," he says before I can hop into the chair next to him and start rambling. "It will not take long for the guards to wake up."

"On it," I reply, taking off back to the doorway and looking out, keeping close to the wall. Hopefully, I'm out of sight of the doorway here. Omega is right behind me.

I don't have to wait long before the door hisses open, and a group of regs enter. I duck back inside, inhaling sharply. "Tech!" Stars, what do we do? There's... how many of them are there? I hear their approaching footsteps. They're spreading out fast, too fast, and I think they're circling the ship. There's too many.

There's a hiss and a clang, and I wince. That's the outdoor hangar doors closing. We're going to be trapped in here, and for the first time, I'm actually scared. I have no idea where the others are, or if they're alright, or if they'll be able to make it back.

"Ah. That would complicate things," Tech offers, appearing next to me where I stand at the doorway, hand clenched against the rim of the metal, Omega pressed against my side.

"Just complicate?" I hiss.

"Tech," Omega asks, "What are we going to do? Where are the others?"

"Finding Crosshair will not be an easy task," Tech replies.

"Yeah, and neither is dealing with these regs." I wave my hand for emphasis.

"Get to the guns," Tech replies, "I will handle the rest."

I open my mouth to argue, and close it again. Omega doesn't know how to use them, anyway. "And, what? Blow up anyone else who tries coming in here? Unless they're our brothers?" I don't care if they're technically all our brothers. The regs don't count. Mostly. People who bully my brothers don't count.

"That is correct," he confirms.

I bite my lip, turning to Omega. "Take this," I say, shoving my blaster into her hands. "Just in case. Be careful."

I take off past them, scrambling into the gunner's mount, settling into the seat. The controls are far too huge for me, but I have to make it work. The tension is maddening, and I can only wait and watch, and I can't see a lot, but I can hear blaster fire from outside. I have no idea if we'll even be able to get out. I'd... feel better if Hunter were here with us.

I don't really know how long it takes, but eventually, finally, our brothers return. Crosshair isn't here, though.

The regs aren't far behind.

I have absolutely no regret for going trigger happy at them the moment I see them – I'm aiming in front of them at random to avoid actually killing them while still keeping them back, and it seems successful. Mostly. Some of them still make it past, but I know my brothers can handle that.

I hop out of the gunner's mount the moment I feel Tech taking off. He's back in the pilot seat, and the others are here.

Wait. No, not quite.

Hunter's here, breathing a little heavily, but he seems fine.

Omega passes my blaster to me the moment she sees me, smiling faintly, but there's a strange pain in her eyes that I don't understand.

Echo seems alright, though cranky, and he's moving off in search of the medpack.

One look at Wrecker answers why – he's taken a shot to the shoulder. Again. Everyone seriously needs to leave him alone.

"Where's Crosshair?" I ask, looking around.

And at that, something freezes.

Omega steps back, gaze dropping to the floor. Echo pauses, turning back, his only hand clenching. My own hands clench, and I suddenly feel cold. "He turned on us," is all Echo says before disappearing from the room.

I can't breathe. I look up at Hunter, eyes wide and horrified. He just looks away, as does Wrecker. "But he's – he's our brother!"

"I know," Hunter says quietly. I step back, fingers tightening over the end of my blaster before slipping it back into its holster. Inside, I just feel numb.

I don't dare ask if he's the one who shot Wrecker, or if I hurt him. I don't want to know either of those things.

I just watch with numb, uncharacteristic silence as Echo treats Wrecker and Omega gives him Lula. The others are pretending nothing happened. I can't do that. I wasn't there to see it. I don't think I fully understand what happened, and I don't think I can handle asking right now, either. I don't want the answer.

Tech comes out to scan Wrecker, and I don't miss how Echo flinches at the sight of the light. He's... jittery around machines. Something about Skako Minor I don't fully understand or want to know.

Omega moves to the cockpit, and I follow automatically.

It's not until then that I finally realize this is the first time I'm in space. It's so, so dark, but it's beautiful. It's black, but there's million pinpricks of stars dotting the galaxy.

"Your first time in space?" Hunter asks, entering the cockpit behind us.

"First time anywhere," Omega echoes, wide-eyed. She looks awed, as much as I feel.

"Impressive shot back there. Where'd you learn to do that?" he queries, and I immediately decide I do not want to know exactly what happened.

"All I know is I never taught her," I volunteer.

"I don't know," she shrugs, "I never fired a blaster before. I guess I got lucky."

"She's not the only one," Wrecker announces, lumbering inside, one arm draped around Echo, still holding Lula in his hand. "I'm fine. It'll take more than a blaster shot to take me down." Tech, meanwhile, is already making a beeline for the pilot seat.

"You were down," Echo objects.

"Yeah, well, not for long," he insists stubbornly, laughing. I snort as Echo gives Hunter a wide-eyed help look at Wrecker's aggressive snuggling, but Wrecker leaves him alone. Annoying him isn't quite as funny as Crosshair, I suppose.

"What's the plan, Hunter?" Tech inquires, turning around.

"I thought we could go off on our own. Lay low," he replies, uncrossing his arms, "But with Crosshair gunning for us, I'm not so sure."

"What about your friends? Could any of them help us?" Omega queries.

What friends, I'm about to ask, but Tech beats me to it with a "that would be a short list."

"You can say that again," I mutter.

"I can think of one," Hunter responds, suddenly brightening, "Plot a course for J-19."

"J-19?" Echo echoes.

"We know a guy," Hunter tells him, and he somehow manages to look faintly cheerful about that.

"Yeah!" Wrecker cheers, laughing and waving Lula. I raise an eyebrow at them. I wanna know – I never heard much about other people they know. I've heard a tiny bit of Rex and some about Cody, but that's as far as it goes.

"Strap in," Hunter says, turning to 'mega and I. "You're not gonna wanna miss this view." Wrecker sits down behind Tech, and Echo behind us.

Omega climbs into the co-pilot seat, and I hop in after. What? We're still tiny enough to fit just fine. Despite the sudden emptiness, we're... together. Omega is here, and we're leaving Kamino together. I'm still excited about that, at least. We squeeze in together, shoulder to shoulder, watching as the ship jolts into hyperspace and the stars streak by, and the vortex of blurring blue and white covers the viewport.

Finally, we're leaving. It's... what we've always been waiting for – a time when we can be something more. And for the first time since all this started, I feel a moment of calm.

Chapter Text

I can feel it more than I see it. Something is wrong. There's a danger here, somewhere amidst the city's walls and bright lights and towering buildings. Someone is watching us. 'mega is sticking next to Hunter and I, but something... The image flickers and flashes at the edges, rewritten by something else. I hear Omega's voice, muffled but panicked, and I see someone – someone grabbing her.

Someone – I don't know them, but they're masked, and dressed in black and orange, and she's scary.

"Vision, Omega, wake up." I shift a little at the sound of Echo's voice, twisting over a bit, nearly smacking my head into my sister's arm. Omega pushes himself up first, and I swing upwards out of her lap, rubbing my eyes. "We're approaching Saleucami. We'll be landing in a few minutes."

"Saleucami," I repeat, testing the word, "Never heard of it before."

"I haven't been here before," he replies, "The others were, before I joined."

I glance around to see Wrecker slowly dragging himself up, still cradling Lula like she's his most prized possession, which really, she is. Crosshair made her. I... want to remember him, too. I want to know why he isn't with us. "Is it... a safe place?" I inquire, my dream still lingers in the forefront of my mind.

"Hunter wouldn't be taking us somewhere that wasn't safe," Echo replies.

"I had a dream," I say, rubbing my eyes, trying to blink it from mind but not quite managing. It was scary, and now that we're moving in the outside world, I know we're going to encounter things that we... didn't expect. "I think someone's after 'mega. I didn't get a clear look, though."

Echo looks at me, brow furrowed with worry. "We'll be careful," he promises, and we move for the ramp.

This is the first time in my life I've been off Kamino, and we're going to a different planet. I've wanted this my whole life.

Omega and I are the last to the exit, pausing at the top when the light blinds our vision. I've never been outside in sunlight before. It... it's amazing. It's beautiful, and the air smells so... different than Kamino. It smells like... outside. Saleucami, I guess – that's what the planet's called.

There are plants everywhere. And it feels so alive.

I trot down the ramp behind Omega, who drops to her knees the moment she reaches the bottom, running her hands across the ground. "Whoa," she breathes, awed, "What is this?"

"That would be dirt," Tech informs immediately, bluntly, and I drop into a crouch to jab at it, just to see what happens. It's soft and... sort of sticky and grainy and weird, but by the stars, it is so cool.

"It's amazing!" Omega giggles, standing and jumping in it. It whips up in a sort of cloud when she kicks it.

I dig my fingers into it, feeling the soft wetness beneath my hand and scoop up a handful, just to smell it. Pretty sure it's inedible, anyway. "It's cool," I say finally, shaking my hand off and standing again, "Do plants eat it?"

"Considering that they draw nutrients from the soil to grow, in a sense, yes," Tech replies.

Hunter's watching us with a fond smile. Has been the whole time, I think, and I smile back, even if I don't fully feel it. "Come on. Let's get moving," he says.

Now, if I can convince my mind to stop making me feel like a mindless zombie following everyone, that'd be much appreciated.

"So, this friend of yours, what's he doing all the way out here?" Echo asks, and I'm grateful for the talking, because I could use a distraction from how my mind is ringing on repeat of how Crosshair isn't with us, he's gone and that doesn't make any sense.

"Hiding," Tech answers, "That's what deserters do."

"Staying off the radar's not our specialty, but he's been doing it for years," Hunter says from up in front.

"And you trust a deserter?" Echo asks. Why does he sound so disbelieving?

"Why not?" Tech asks with a much-too-gleeful smirk at the chance of getting to destroy his ori'vod. "We're all deserters now."

***

"Can I keep it?" I ask, poking at the droid head. I've never seen a whole droid before, and it's a bit mind blowing that I finally got to see one. Even if it wasn't functioning anymore. What? I've wanted to see droids for years. Not the droid head they keep in their barracks. That was Wrecker's doing, just like destroying the poor, already dead creatures here was. For literally no reason. To be fair, it freaked me out, too.

"The Marauder isn't exactly big enough to contain an endless supply of trinkets," Tech supplies.

"We can... hang them from the ceiling!" I suggest brightly. I'm sure Crosshair would like to target practice at them, or at least show me how, I want to say, and barely stop myself.

"No," Echo says fiercely. He looks least enthralled with my ingenious idea.

I pout. "Just one? Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?"

Hunter deflates like a popped balloon – literally – and looks at the... other clone? Is that a clone? He looks like the regs, which is weird.

"Let her have it," he says, and yeah, he's a reg. He sounds like them.

"Alright," Hunter agrees, "Just one."

I squeal gleefully, half at the prospect of getting to behead something. What? Hunter does it all the time, and it's cool. "This is my new best friend," I announce, lopping the droid's head off and picking it up. Yes, I hold Lula like this, and the droid is all hard and sharp, what of it?

The plants are towering, and there's so much life, and somehow, it feels like the more I'm here, the more I'm able to... feel again. I don't know what's wrong, but I have so many things to ask the others about. I need to ask Omega what she meant when she told Crosshair that... it wasn't his fault. And what's even happening to him.

The reg – Cut, his name is – invites us inside for a drink. Well, Hunter, anyway, because the rest of us are just standing, except Wrecker who starts eating the nearest thing possible. Predictably. I just stand there, awkwardly trailing 'mega, feeling horribly out of place, until Cut finally asks the question I don't want to think about.

"Where's Crosshair?"

"It's complicated," Hunter answers, a veiled pain in his voice, one that's so much an echo of... all of ours.

"Sounds familiar," Cut muses, "Rex told us about the clone troopers turning against the Jedi."

Echo perks up instantly, jolting forwards. "You talked to Rex? When?" Rex? As in that Rex? I saw him once. I heard a lot about him.

"Well, he passed through yesterday."

"Where'd he go?"

"Didn't ask. He was going on about some behavioral implant." A what?

"He must mean the inhibitor chips," Omega pipes up, moving to Hunter's side.

"The what?" Hunter asks, looking down at her, as confused as I am. That term sounds familiar, and I could swear I've heard it before. Omega's told me about them, but I clearly didn't deem it important enough to remember.

"Inhibitor chips," she repeats, "The Kaminoans implanted them in the clones to modify their behavior."

"Tech, you said the regs were programmed, but you never mentioned a chip," Hunter says, looking up at him.

"How else did you think it worked?" Tech asks.

"Wait, is that why all the regs are nasty?" I inquire, mildly mind blown, "Or did we just get lucky?" I do not follow what these things are, mean, or how they work. I need to ask Omega because if Crosshair is – if this isn't him then that explains a lot. It explains everything, because he'd do anything for us. He's our brother. He sacrificed himself for us, and that means something.

Omega is about to answer, but she's interrupted when two children run inside. They're not human, and their colorations are weird. It's cool, though. Not that I'm up to meeting new people though.

"Mom, Dad!" the girl yells. "There's a ship outside!"

"Shaeeah, Jek!" Wrecker exclaims, jumping up, "Remember me?" They run to him, squealing – apparently, they consider him their uncle? – and he picks up the girl.

Tech is ignoring everyone, lost on his datapad, and I can so relate to that right now, because I'd give anything to pretend I was busy doing something so everyone would leave me alone. I don't want to talk. Which is very weird, considering I'm me. When do I ever not want to talk?

"Who are you?" the girl asks, turning to Omega and me when Wrecker puts her down.

"I'm Omega," my sister answers immediately, "This is Vision."

"We never see kids around here," Shaeeah says, grabbing Omega's hand. She looks so excited. I wish I shared that. "Come with us."

She pulls Omega to the door, and Jek grabs my hand after a moment. Omega looks back at Hunter, and I follow her gaze longingly because I do not want to go, but he nods to us anyway, and we step out into the yard.

"Mm... what's the purpose of this?" Omega asks as the others start throwing a ball back and forth.

"To have fun," Shaeeah says, smiling. "Here, you try." She tosses it towards Omega, who awkwardly side-steps, and it bounces off.

"You're supposed to catch it," Jek explains awkwardly.

... Oh. I sort of get that, and we spend a little while tossing the ball back and forth before I back off to sit down and just rest. I'm still exhausted, and it's ridiculous.

"I don't wanna lose you."

"You won't. I'm not going anywhere."

"He turned on us."

"But he's – he's our brother!"

"I know."

I sigh, settling back, digging my hands through the dirt. I don't wanna move.

I just want Crosshair back. I don't understand why that's altogether too much to ask for. I don't understand why he left. Why...

"Vision?" Hunter asks, crouching next to me.

I startle, twisting to look at him. I didn't even hear his approach. His armor is gone, and it looks weird. He's dressed in the same green farmer's clothes that Cut wears. The sleeves are short. His hands are covered with an array of small, mostly faded scars, though some are more prominent than others. And yeah, there's the one on his arm I noticed once. It's not very visible, but still present, and the thought of him being hurt, even minorly, makes me sick. "I didn't hear you," I mutter finally.

"Are you okay?" There's genuine concern in his eyes, and I'm not sure what to think about that.

"Just tired."

"I've never seen you this still before."

I bite my lip as a new wave of pain shoots through my heart. Reaching out, I grab his hand. He looks slightly startled, but doesn't outright pull away, which I take as a plus. "I – I miss him," I mumble.

Hunter reaches up with his other hand, squeezing my shoulder. I don't miss the look of raw pain in his eyes. "Yeah," he says quietly, "We'll get used to it."

My expression scrunches. I blink back at the tears burning my eyes. "I don't wanna."

He doesn't say anything, and I don't think there's anything he could say, anyway. Instead, I ask. "What's with the clothes?"

"I'm going to town with Cut," Hunter says, "I thought I'd come tell you I was going. It won't be long."

I nod to him, watching as he disappears back inside.

I am so tired.

***

"You want to know why they put me in charge?" a far too familiar voice says, and I suppress a shudder at the sight of his mask – it's black and cold and lifeless, and entirely unlike the brother I know so well. "It's because I'm willing to do what needs to be done."

I push myself up with a groan, all but forcing myself out of the dream. I do not want to see it. That. Not Crosshair, not now. I don't want to think about him. It's too soon, too sudden. Hearing that dead, coldness in his voice is terrifying. How can he be so emotionless about all this? How can he be so – so – He was kind. He was always nice. Or not-nice in a nice way. He didn't hurt people. It isn't who he was. I don't want to think about what Crosshair is doing now that we're not there.

Omega and the others are still playing, though she must've seen me awaken, because she pauses, hurrying over to check on me. "I'm fine," I say, but let her pull me up, anyway.

"You're upset," she argues.

"I don't want to talk about it right now. When we're alone, I... want to ask you. About the inhibitor chip stuff. Thingy. Whatever."

"Oh." She squeezes my hand, and I do it back, finally tagging after her to join.

Jek misses my first very wild throw, and the ball bounces past, rolling way past the fence line into the plants.

"I'll get it," Omega offers, taking off forwards.

"It's past the fence," Jek replies, "We'll get it later."

"Jek!" Shaeeah yells from the doorway of the house. He pauses, running to her.

I look at Omega, who's already eyeing where the ball disappeared to. "Come on," she says, "We'll go get it."

"After you," I agree cheerfully, and we take off for the fence. Ducking through it is cool, but I still don't fully see the point of it. The wires look pokey, and well, not fun.

We pause farther down the path, looking around. "There," I say, pointing. My senses are picking up, and I See something dangerous. Something's coming.

"Omega, Vision!" Shaeeah yells distantly.

"Got it!" Omega calls back, holding up the ball.

"Don't move!" she shouts, and that's when I realize that she's scared. Of something.

There's a quiet snarling, and I twist around slowly, eyes widening at the sight of a giant creature prowling, slowly moving towards us. The thing... has four eyes. Red eyes.

Shaeeah told us not to move, but I have a blaster, and I can use it, even if I've never been in a life and death situation before. Still, I reach for it slowly, hand inching towards it as my eyes narrow on the creature.

My fingers wrap around the end of my blaster. I can't move to stand in front of Omega without the creature charging me, but I still wish I could. The metal is cold under my hands, and the predator is moving closer, hissing, snarling, clawing.

I whip out my blaster and fire. I didn't have time to take proper aim, so the shot glances off its front, left leg, and the creature lunges. It's fast, and I dive aside with a yelp, rolling sideways across the dirt and grabbing my knife. It's close. Knives are close contact.

It's on me, jaws snapping, and I lash out, stabbing my blade upwards into its mouth.

A blaster shot rings out from above, scorching the ground near it, and between the two, it pulls back, howling.

There's a flash of something green – Hunter's in front of me, vibroblade out, and for the record Hunter, green looks terrible with red. Someone should tell him that.

I grab at my blaster, panting, watching as he and Suu – shooting from above, like Crosshair should've been if he was here – chase it off.

I roll over, standing, snatching my blaster and slipping it back into its holster. "For being named after sight, mine's not so good, I know."

I'm about to add that all things considered, I think it was actually fun when Hunter whirls on us. "What were you doing out there?" he demands sharply, not quite yelling, but it's close enough, and Omega flinches a bit, turning away. It's not until then that I realize how terrified she looks, and I teleport to her instantly, grabbing her hand, even if she's still clinging to the ball. "Do you realize you could've been killed?!"

"Actually, no," I snap back, suddenly angry. I don't know why – I've never been angry at Hunter before. I didn't even know I could be. "It's not like anyone told us about those things! And I had it perfectly handled." I glare up at him, half angry, half sullen. My hands are cold, shaking. They're sweating. Maybe I am – was – a bit scared, but it didn't really feel like it. And I'm not supposed to get scared. I'm a soldier.

I think he's about to say something, but Cut puts a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. "Easy," he says soothingly, "They're not soldiers." Hunter backs up, expression fading a bit from anger to worry.

Cut crouches in front of us, and I press closer to Omega, swallowing back the sudden, inexplicably stupid urge to cry. "Are you hurt?" he asks. He's touching my shoulder, and it's so weirdly gentle. 'mega touches me like that, but it's different. I just shake my head in the negative. Omega doesn't even respond. "Now let's take a look here."

"I'm sorry," Omega blurts out finally, "We – we were trying to get the ball. I didn't know."

"You're safe," he assures, "That's all that matters." Cut picks Omega up, shifting her to one arm, and reaches for me.

I back away, shaking my head. "I can walk." I don't want to, but maybe – maybe it's just that I should have been able to kill that thing, because that's what I've been trained for. It's stupid that I didn't, and I want to – to be more than what I am.

Whatever I am.

He takes my hand instead – it's similar to Hunter's, just different and unfamiliar and callused in all different ways. Maybe it's just that it's Hunter I want right now. I only held his hand once. Or twice.

"Hey, kids," Wrecker asks, jolting forwards, concern audible, "You alright?"

"They'll be fine," Cut reassures, taking us back towards the house.

I want to talk to Omega alone, and I've wanted that for a while, even if asking her about the chips right now isn't the best option. "Can we go to the Marauder?" I ask quietly, looking up at him.

"Of course," he agrees, rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand. It's strangely soothing. 'mega and I do that to each other all the time.

Cut takes the ball from us and leaves us alone inside. Omega climbs into the gunner's mount, and I follow, though I'm shaking badly enough that my hands slip, and I nearly fall flat on my face. I shoved myself back up, and try again, stubbornly, because that's what I do.

We squeeze in side by side, and I drop my head on her shoulder, blinking a few times. Tears are coming too fast, and I don't want to cry because I'm supposed to be strong and...

Omega hooks an arm around me, and I curl up against her side, grabbing her hand.

She pulls off her forehead pendant, and I lift my head a bit.

She looks different without it, blonde curls falling into her face and all – more like me. It's weird, but I like it. I reach up, brushing a few strands of hair behind her ear. Omega leans into my hand, sniffling slightly, hand gripping her pendant.

I want to ask something, if she's okay, but I don't know how.

What's with me not knowing how to talk to people these days?

"I wanna be more than a medical assistant," she murmurs finally, sniffling, wiping her eyes.

"You are," I whisper back. "You're my sister."

"I want to be stronger, like they are," she argues, "Like you are."

I twitch, letting out an indignant squeak. "You're amazing because you're nice," I tell her flatly, "I'm mean. I like being mean. And everyone knows I can think better when I'm scared or being stupid. You're lucky you're normal." I duck forwards, briefly kissing her cheek and just curl up against her. It isn't much, but it's something. "Oh, and by the way, I didn't ask, but are you okay?"

She breathes in a bit shakily. "Yeah. Are you? I thought the thing was going to – I was so scared."

"I'll be okay," I promise, head on her shoulder. She lays her pendant on her knee and reaches up, touching my face. "I learned, and you will, too." I just let myself feel for a few moments, her warmth and comfort and touch. This, amidst everything that's changing, is familiar. "I miss when I was little," I mutter, a strange yearning twisting in my chest, "And I could still sit in your lap and – I miss Crosshair."

I don't even know why I say it. He tried to kill us, apparently.

"Me too," she confesses quietly. The conversation is broken up at distant footsteps – Echo and Tech are coming. We fall silent, curled up together and just listen.

***

Tech has the ingenious idea of having the Marauder impounded or whatever – genius indeed. Take us right to the Empire, and... but Hunter doesn't appreciate it, either, so I don't voice my objections.

What?

I'm still annoyed.

"There's one big problem," Hunter says over the comm, sounding totally completely 100% done. "Vision and Omega are on the ship!"

"Thanks for asking," I yell back, though I doubt he can hear, "I'm perfectly capable of being useful."

Omega pokes her head around the chair and waves. "I think it's a good plan, Tech," she offers.

"So much for simple," Echo sighs, standing. Tech is just staring at us, mildly startled.

"So," I ask, hoping off the seat, "What'd we do?"

"If we stay out of sight when they board the ship, we will be fine," Tech assures, "So long as we make it inside the facility, we will be fine."

My hand ghosts across the wall of the gunner's mount, and something shifts. It looks brighter, gold, and the walls are yellow, and there's a curtain hanging over the doorway, but it's gone the moment I blink. That was weird. The fastest vision flash I've ever had.

"Okay," I chirp anyway, opting to ignore it, "Do I get to jump off something?" I miss that.

"Yes," Tech replies, standing, "I recommend we conceal ourselves before they board."

Yay. Hiding is fun.

Our brothers put their helmets on, and this isn't the first time I've seen them in person, but it's still the first time I realize how utterly ridiculous they look, and I can't help laughing.

"What?" Echo asks, confused, and maybe a bit curious.

"You look like you're trying to wear a blindfold," I tell him cheerfully, "And Tech just looks like a big bug." I do not care that's going to annoy him. It's true. And it's adorable. At least with his helmet on, he just looks comical instead of creepy.

We climb up above, squeezing into the small space.

The wait is maddening, but I sit it out, trying to keep my whining quiet.

The hatch opens and Echo pokes his head down, literally, upside down. 'mega and I used to dangle upside down to look at the world from a new perspective. It was fun. Until that once I fell off the table on my head, and Omega panicked and had AZI scan me like, three times. Yeah. That hurt a bit.

Echo jumps down after the regs leave, and Tech looks down before way too dramatically flipping himself down. I nearly snort. Echo's moving towards the front, and Tech motions for Omega and I to come down. She goes first, and he catches her, setting her down. I jump after.

Tech catches me smoothly, setting me down. He doesn't linger, but it's still somehow touching. It's the first time he's ever held me.

"So far, so good," Omega offers, looking up at him. "How can we help?"

Tech's already tapping at his datapad, and Echo's the one who pauses, turning back to answer. "You two have had enough action for the day. We'll handle this."

I could swear, though, the wait is about enough to drive a human being insane. Echo leaves, and Omega and I stand by, itching and waiting as the boys work on getting the disks ready. They want to go themselves, but personally? I think that's stupid. We need someone who can slip past lines undetected, and in their armor and all, they'll definitely be noticed.

And that, of course, is when an alarm starts blaring.

Echo and Tech instantly move to the front, and Omega's gaze zeroes in on the chain codes. "They're not gonna be able to make it though," she whispers.

"Nope," I agree, swinging an arm up to swipe them, "Let's move."

We grab hands and run.

We pause between small crates and whatnot littering the area, because no one is looking out for something small, and it works – until it doesn't. I'm mid turning and nearly small face first into a droid. I stumble back with a startled yelp, falling to the ground, and thank the stars I don't murder my tailbone again but that was painful. Omega smacks right into it, and lands beside me with a squeak.

The droid whistles with alarm, shaking its dome in panic.

"No, don't do that!" Omega protests desperately, trying to calm the thing.

"Hush!" I hiss at it. I don't want to stab the thing. It's not a battle droid. That would be mean.

Wrecker saves the day by punching the poor thing on the dome hard enough to dent in, but I'm happy enough to see him that it doesn't even bother me. "That hit the spot!" he cheers, extending a hand to help us to our feet.

His comm beeps, and he pulls it off his belt.

"Wrecker, we could use some help over here," Echo says.

Sweet. Not.

"On my way," Wrecker replies, putting it away and looking at us. "They're waiting for you at the dock. Better get going."

Omega nods, and I dramatically salute with a grin. "On it," I say, and we take off, swinging ourselves over the small wall. Regs are talking to Wrecker behind us, and I want to stop just to watch him punch them, but well, mission first.

Sadly.

"We're here," Omega calls, panting a little as we finally make it to the line,"And I have the chain codes." She holds them out, grinning.

"Yeah!" cheers Shaeeah happily.

"I thought Tech was supposed to make four," I add, "Why are there six? Did he screw up or am I missing something?" Something stupidly obvious, per usual. And what? Tech's impossibly enormous ego makes it exceedingly comical to annoy him.

"You didn't tell them?" Cut asks, turning to Hunter.

"Tell us what?" Omega queries, looking between them.

Hunter just looks away, briefly, and I... suddenly have a bad feeling.

"Keep moving," a reg snaps in the background.

Cut motions to his family to keep moving, and Hunter passes the bag he was carrying to Suu, and the other four move away from us. I watch, confusion and uncertainty flipping inside me. Hunter crouches down in front of us, his hands coming up to touch our shoulders.

Something about the seriousness on his face makes my skin crawl. He – whatever he's about to say, he's not happy with, and I don't like it.

"The chain codes are for you, so you can leave with Cut and Suu," Hunter says, and my world screeches to a dead halt.

Chapter Text

There are so many things I could say to that, but I don't even – I'm supposed to be one of them. It's the only place in the galaxy we belong.

"Why?" Omega asks, hurt flaring across her face. "Did we do something wrong?"

"You need a family," Hunter replies, "They're good people. They'll give you the lives you deserve."

"You – you can't just get rid of us," I protest, desperation washing through me, and I don't even care how frantic I sound. I probably should. "I'm one of you! I –"

"What does it take to be one of you?"

He never did confirm it.

"We've – it's the only life we've known," I continue, and I really, really just want to cry. I don't know why he's doing this. "We're a squad. We – we're supposed to stick together." Or does that not matter, because Crosshair ditched us first?"

"But... we want to stay here," Omega objects. Her voice is shaky, desperate.

"It's all we've ever had." I can't even care that every shred of the desperation I feel is leaking into my voice, or that I'm nearly pleading, because this – it's all I've ever had. "It's the only place we belong!"

"Quit holding up the line," a reg snaps in the background, and we need to move, but I can't go, because this is all we've had, but staying will draw attention, but I can't just walk away.

Hunter glances up, then back at us. He's reluctant, but he's still doing it. "You have to go, Vision, Omega. It's for your own good." He stands, pushing us towards the line.

... I probably need to get my weapons hidden, actually.

"But –" I start protesting, a million things on my mind. "I – I can't go there like this," I blurt out. "My blaster is..."

He glances towards Cut and Suu. "I'll take it," he says, reaching out, and I want to scream because Hunter gave this to me,and it's all that marks me as one of them. I can't – can't – give it up.

I do anyway.

I still have a comm though so maybe – maybe I can still contact them.

"And – and I didn't have time to tell you, but I told Echo, and I dreamed about someone after us. They were chasing us. We need you, Hunter."

He hesitates, indecision warring on his face, before sighing. "Vision, if someone's after you, it's because of us. Go," Hunter says, nudging me forwards. I want to scream. Or cry. Or both, but Omega's moving, and I follow her instinctively. At least we're still together.

I pull out my knife, crossing my arms, tucking the blade up against my body, hidden under my arm. Is it dangerous? Little bit, but I don't quite care if I stab myself right now.

"I just lost Crosshair," I manage finally, itching to grab 'mega's hand, but I can't. "I can't lose them too."

We file into the line with Cut and Suu, and just wait. And watch. I can't look back, even though Omega keeps throwing glances back. Omega's arm wraps around my shoulders and I lean closer, pressing against her.

"I know," she whispers back, "We have to go back."

I look at her for the first time, the world blurring over, and I want to wipe my eyes, but I can't well do that without revealing my knife. "How?"

The regs are saying something, and people are moving, and the others are going inside, and I follow numbly, but I don't care for anything except Omega and how terrified, confused, and lost I am. I've never been anywhere without Omega or our brothers. I'm not about to start, either. I like Cut's family, but I don't know them, and they're not my family.

I nearly jump when I see Suu touch Omega's shoulder. "Ready?" she asks, blue eyes soft and kind in a way that reminds me so much of Anakin. She's not him either, though.

"I can't leave them," I blurt out, pulling back. "I – they're our family."

Hunter's the only one who can help me with my abilities, him and Echo, because Hunter's are somewhat similar with so much to feel – in my case See – and Echo understands Jedi and the Force. And they need us in the aftermath of losing Crosshair. It's so simple, and I don't know why Hunter doesn't get that.

And yes, I was mad at him earlier, and I'm very mad at him now, but that doesn't mean I – that I don't want to see him again. I need him. He's – he took care of me, and Omega is the only person who did that but it's different with Hunter because he's our leader, our sergeant, and it's his role. I take care of 'mega just as much.

"We have to go back," Omega agrees, backing away.

"Good luck," I nod, and the next bit is honestly a blur. I don't really remember it, but then we're moving, heading back to the Marauder. I can hear the shooting, and I pick up the pace a bit, winding our way across the port.

My knife is useless, because I hardly know how to use it, but I scramble over the barriers, snatching the blaster of a fallen reg. The shootout's nearby, and they're using live rounds, but I have never used a live round and for all that I hate the regs, I do not want to kill anyone. I can See it, as their lives fade away, and it's twisting something inside me, chipping it away, until I'm freezing, and I can't do that.

I flip the blaster to stun and start firing. My aim is good, at least.

"Wait for us!" Omega calls, waving. Up ahead, Hunter and Wrecker are on the ramp, shooting. Echo and Tech must already be on board. Hunter darts down the ramp instantly, and I'm almost impressed by how fast he reacted, though I don't stop stunning the regs I can see long enough to get a clear aim at before Hunter pushes us to cover behind a crate. I duck down, dropping my blaster, and he passes my own back to me.

"Get to the ship," he orders, touching my back again, nudging me forwards, his touch light and gentle but firm and so him that I want to cry.

I just... don't get it. I need them, and he...

We scramble aboard, Hunter and Wrecker covering, before they dart inside, and we take off. I feel awkward though, out of place. My knife and blaster are in place again, though I ought to get something better to fit and hide them with. I... don't want to pretend nothing's happening.

I climb into the chair behind Echo's, and Omega behind Tech's, watching as we take off. Once we're safe, Wrecker moves to play with Gonky who just honks at him. No idea if he's scared or just talking, though.

I close my eyes, tilting my head back against the seat, sighing.

I could've lost our entire family. Everything that matters to me, the one place that I am, and I – I don't understand why, but I just want to curl up and cry. I tuck my knees up to my chest, and just... be. Hunter's still in the back, and I don't really want to see him right now anyway, and Echo and Tech are distracted, so there's no one around to see mee cry.

Omega pats my shoulder. "I'm going to talk to Hunter," she tells me. "Do you wanna come?"

I shake my head. He just... yeah, no.

"Okay," she says, moving back.

Wrecker, unsurprisingly, also known as the best brother in the universe, is the next person to notice. His hand is enormous, really, but when he touches my shoulder, I lean into it instantly. "You okay?" he asks, worry coloring his tone.

I shake my head, sniffling.

"What's wrong?" He sounds freaked out.

I launch myself into his arms. Wrecker makes a sort of yelp, but he catches me, pressing a hand to my back and holding me in his other arm. It's kind of like how Omega used to carry me when I was little, back when I was still small enough for her to hold me.

"Hunter," Wrecker says a few moments later, during which I just cling to him and cry, the million emotions I've been drowning under since Kamino finally breaking out, piece by piece. "What do I do?"

"You need to hold her," Omega tells him. I hear footsteps, like she's getting closer, but I bury my face against Wrecker's armor and refuse to look. It's hard and cold and not exactly comfortable, but I... I don't even care. I just want an assurance that they'll stay, that we won't be apart again. I need them.

I don't think that made Wrecker feel any better, but I hear him moving farther back, away from the others. "Kid?" he asks awkwardly, patting my back. I always forget how huge his hands are.

"Mm?"

He makes another freaked-out sound, climbing into the gunner's mount and sitting on the floor and awkwardly setting me down beside him. "Here," he offers, passing me Lula, and I don't hesitate to curl up around her. Crosshair made her for Wrecker and – and I miss him. But then again, Hunter's not the first person to make me question if I belonged here.

"Am I one of you?" I blurt out, sniffling, wiping my eye. "Do I belong here, Wrecker?"

I don't think he's the best person to ask that. "Y-yeah," he replies immediately, patting my head. "Of course."

I wish I felt that simple about it. "Hunter was gonna send us with Cut and Suu," I explain shakily.

Wrecker freezes. "He – what?"

I hear Hunter's audible sigh, and I almost feel bad for telling Wrecker that. Why didn't he already know? He would've wanted to. "Vision –"

"I don't want to talk," I reply firmly, tugging my knees close to my chest, hugging Lula tighter. To his credit, he doesn't push. Wrecker lingers a bit longer before leaving himself. Omega's hovering nearby, but I don't think she has a clue what to say to me, either.

I don't even know what I want to be said.

Of all people, it's Echo who finally drops by. "Vision?" He sounds uncharacteristically gentle.

I've been brooding here long enough that I should get up and try helping, because the ship was damaged and they're trying to repair it right now, but I don't know if I even can help. I don't have the energy to get up and do something, either. "Yeah?"

"Hunter told us what happened," he says quietly, crossing his arms, standing next to me, "And truth is, we don't know much about raising a child. Certainly not in hiding. He should've told you in advance, but there wasn't time."

I glance up, a bit tiredly, but I understand what he's saying. I didn't grow up with them, and I'm not trained properly or their age. There really isn't much I could do. "I thought I was part of you." I don't know how to explain what upset me so much, and it doesn't help how I suddenly feel almost stupid for being upset. "I don't know what I..." I give him a desperate look. "Did I screw up? I didn't mean to yell at Hunter earlier, I just..."

"It's okay," Echo assures, "You were scared. It's the first time you've been in a life-threatening situation, you and Omega both. The first time is always hard."

I look up at him, surprise washing through me. "Was it for you?" I can't imagine that.

He smiles, though it's bitter. "A little bit." He glances back towards the hold. "You should talk to Hunter," he tells me, "He made a mistake, but as our sergeant, not all choices are easy."

There are sacrifices in war, but I want to be able to fight. It's who I am. It's what I was made for. I just nod to him, and Echo moves back towards the front to get back to work. I watch him go, then scan the ship for Hunter. Guilt swells up instantly. I shouldn't have snapped at him, not when I know he's struggling, too. He must've panicked when he saw us out there. I would've for my brothers, too.

I glance at Lula, setting her down propped against the wall before climbing down the steps. Omega's sitting by Gonky now, looking at something on a datapad.

"Hey," I say quietly, walking up to Hunter, who's still doing something at one of the computers. I feel almost as nervous as when I first saw him. "I'm sorry for yelling at you," I supply finally. "That was mean."

Hunter turns his seat towards me, and he looks half surprised, half amused. "It's fine," he assures, "I guess we've all got a lot to learn."

"Yeah." Part of me wants to reach out and take his hand, but I'm hesitant, afraid. "I... I dunno what to say."

"If you want to stay here, then you will," Hunter tells me, and there's an earnestness in his eyes that sooths me somewhat. "It's not that we don't want you here; it's about what you need. Omega's not a soldier, and I thought she would be safer with Cut. I know what she means to you, Vision. I wasn't going to separate you."

The thought makes my gut twist – I was apart from 'mega for a month back when I first met our brothers, and it was maddening. I spent a ridiculous length of time sporadically wanting to cry because I missed her so much. I couldn't even sleep. "Thank you," I tell him, a bit grudgingly, but I... it's the right thing to do. Echo's right that he doesn't always make the right choices. No one does, but that doesn't take the hurt away. "I just..."

Hunter reaches out, touching my shoulder, and I should probably look at him, but I still can't meet his eyes. Hey, in my defense, he looks spooky in blue lighting. Honestly, half his face is black, and the lighting makes the rest look way too light. "I'm sorry for doing that to you, Vision. I didn't realize..."

I just nod, not trusting myself to talk. I want to tell him it's okay, but it's not, even if it hurts a little less. "Does Echo need help fixing the ship?" I ask.

Hunter throws a glance towards the cockpit, squeezing my shoulder. "I'm sure he could use the help."

I nod to him, running off to find Echo.

***

Turns out I'm not much help. I spend a ridiculous length of time bouncing around trying to help, but Echo's just grumpy, and we need Tech, who's ignoring us both. Then, predictably, just when I'm thinking nothing else could possibly go wrong, we get yanked out of hyperspace.

Which Tech maintains is absolutely, completely, one-hundred-percent normal and okay. "We're not dead so we're fine", basically, and I just laugh at him, but strap myself into the seat behind him while we crash.

It's fun, even if Wrecker screams the whole way down and Omega panics.

We're searching for a replacement capacitor – why is there only one on board when they can be damaged by a tiny little blaster shot, Tech? – when Omega drags out Crosshair's weapon's kit with a much too hopeful "is it in here?"

And every single person in the ship just goes dead still.

My hands clench, nails digging into my palms as I stare at it.

"What?" Omega asks, freezing.

"'mega," I say, blinking a few times as the gnawing, emptiness and grief flares to life full force. "That's Crosshair's. It's his weapon's kit."

The silence that settles over us is heavy and awkward. Wrecker's the first to break it. "Fine," he grumbles, crossing his arms, "I'll say it. I kinda miss him." Kinda isn't enough to cover the obvious grief they all share. Echo and Tech are being short and snappy, and frankly, Hunter isn't much better, even if he's better at hiding it, because he always is. Now that I think of it, that's probably a good part of why he wanted to send us off, because Crosshair didn't believe in him, and...

If Omega started questioning something I did, I wouldn't be able to do it, either.

"He shot you, remember?" Echo throws back, and I flinch.

It's Crosshair they're talking about, not some enemy, not some reg. He's one of us, our brother, and he – he just left us, like we were nothing to him. And he hurt Wrecker. Like. I could totally understand it if he hurt me, or even Tech because he is very annoying sometimes, but I'd still want to smack him in the face with the hilt of a vibroknife for it. But Wrecker? He's just – he's Wrecker, and he's a big baby. How could someone hurt him?

"Ha! I sure do," Wrecker replies, rolling his shoulder. "That hurt!"

"It's worth noting the possibility that Crosshair's actions were influenced by his inhibitor chip," Tech interjects, and my eyes widen a bit.

Suddenly, the "It's not your fault; you can't help it" makes sense. A horrifying amount of sense, but I don't know what these things are or what they do.

"It can do that?" Echo demands incredulously, jerking forwards. Hunter crosses his arms, looking at the floor. He's so good at keeping his face blank, but I can somehow tell how he's feeling, anyway. The guilt and grief and self-recrimination he's feeling are obvious.

"That's what it was designed to do," Omega replies quietly.

"So, it wasn't Crosshair's fault?" Wrecker asks, and he sounds so hopeful it breaks my heart.

"I knew something was wrong with him," I admit quietly, "I could See it. Something about him was..." How do I explain this? "When I See him, it's like fog. But when I was last there, it was... weird," I supply finally. "It was sort of smoky and black. That's not what he's supposed to be like."

"Well –" Omega starts.

"Look," Hunter cuts in. "Debating this won't fix the ship. Right now, we need to find that capacitor and get off this rock." Whatever he feels about it is carefully hidden, and I want to ask, but that's for later. I need to figure out exactly what this means, first.

Echo and Tech go outside with breathing masks, and Omega and I steal a couple to play with in the cockpit. "Can you tell me about these... chips or whatever?" I ask as we climb into the seats. Omega's in the co-pilot seat, and I steal the pilot's seat, because I very badly want to fly someday, and Tech will probably relieve me of my head if I try. He's not around right now, though, so I'm safe. "Like, how do they do this or whatever? What do they do? Is it like... mind control or something?"

"Yeah," Omega replies, fingering the edges of the mask, "It's... it controls them if it's activated."

"Why'd only his work?" I ask, because that's what I need to know.

"I don't know." I can't make sense of the look on her face, though it's obvious she's hurting, just thinking about him, and I feel bad for mentioning it, but I need to know. "It's in the same part of his brain that's enhanced, I think. Nala Se wasn't sure their inhibitor chips would work, because of how different they were."

"But Crosshair's did," I mutter, feeling sick. He shot Wrecker, and he couldn't stop himself. That's – it's – I don't know, but it makes me feel sick. I can't even imagine it. Is he alright there alone, all by himself? What's been happening to him? Is he okay? Is he scared? Does he even know what's happening? Stars, no wonder I was dreaming about him. We have to help him.

The "I'm not going anywhere" echoes through my mind again, and I groan, reaching up to tug a hand through my dark curls.

"We gotta help him," I say finally.

"Yeah, we do," Omega agrees.

I suddenly freeze, another thought occurring to me. "Wait, wait, does that mean we all have one? Or –" I'm cut off when the lights in the ship suddenly blink off as it powers down. I squeak, looking out the viewport.

Something smacks against the hull. It's big, and I can hear the clanging, and then I see it on the viewport itself. Omega outright shrieks, not that I blame her, and our brothers are spilling into the cockpit a second later, after the thing's already taken off.

"Some kind of creature," Omega explains, raising her hands to demonstrate, standing in her seat. "About this big, with a long tail. It ran off with the part."

Echo's at the controls in a heartbeat, powering up the ship. Something flashes on the screen. "She's right," he says, turning around. "The capacitor's gone, and that was our last one."

"Well, we gotta find it, right?" I ask, jumping off my seat. We cannot get stuck here forever. That would be stupid, and we don't have anyone to ask for help.

"We will," Hunter assures, "Tech, what are we looking at?"

"The creature is most likely an Ordo Moon Dragon," he explains immediately, "A species that feeds on raw energy. It was probably drawn to the capacitor's electric charge."

"Well, that would've been good to know beforehand, Tech," Echo throws back, annoyed. What's with them arguing suddenly? I thought they were besties...?

"You two get those other systems online," Hunter says, "Wrecker, stay here. I'll go after the dragon and get our part back."

"I'm fine," Wrecker tries arguing, though he's holding his head.

"You okay?" I ask, frowning.

He groans. "I must've hit it in the crash."

"You're staying," Hunter says firmly, reaching for one of the masks.

"I can go," I volunteer, "I can help you track it."

"Me too," Omega adds.

"No, that thing could be dangerous," Hunter argues.

"We're part of the squad now, too, right?" Omega objects.

"Hey," I grumble, a shred of my frustration and worries from earlier resurfacing, "I can still be useful."

Hunter looks to Echo and Tech, who return it, before turning back to us. "Alright, kids," he agrees, a tad reluctantly, "Just stay close."

Omega jumps off the seat, putting her mask on and running past them towards the ramp. I follow, skidding to a stop and waiting a moment for Hunter to show up.

"So," I say cheerfully as we step off the ramp, "Tracking time?"

"Tell me if you see anything," he replies, scanning the dark ground and crouching. He's tracking now, and I don't understand how his abilities work exactly, but I have no clue if he tracks them by scent or what. His brain's a bit different, though I don't know how exactly. He has electro-senses, whatever exactly that means.

The wind, despite the lack of breathable air, is strong, whipping past us, blowing my hair across my face. It's tugging at my sleeves and skin and the air feels weird. I don't like it, which ought to be encouragement to get back to the ship fast. But me, unlike Hunter, can only track the future, not the past, so I don't know if I'll be able to sense anything.

"What are you doing?" Omega asks, standing at Hunter's right while he tracks.

"Tracking," he replies, eyes briefly darting to her before moving forwards.

I sprint after, pausing and crouching myself when he stops, dropping my hand to the ground and closing my eyes. I can't See anything, though. "Yeah," I huff. "Nothing to see." Why am I being so useless these days?

... or maybe I always have been and just didn't know it?

"Could I learn to track like you?" Omega asks, catching up to us, and I try my hardest not to snort.

"Well, it's an enhanced skill," Hunter explains, "Wrecker and Tech, we each have one."

"And me," I add, waiving, "Though I'm pretty useless in that regard."

"You're still learning," he reminds.

"And Crosshair," Omega adds, and somehow, I have the feeling she's been waiting a while to get this conversation to happen. Hunter pauses at the name and looks away, staring stonily ahead. "You shouldn't be angry at him," Omega tells him gently, "He can't help it."

He sighs, and he sounds so tired, and way older than he ought to be. He's nine. That's... only three years older than me. "I'm angry at myself. We don't leave our own behind."

I'm about to offer a very real reminder that he'd have fried somebody if we'd stayed, but Omega beats me with a much more logical response, of course. "Then we'll find a way to get him back," Omega offers, touching his arm. "Somehow."

Hunter looks relieved, like he actually believes it somehow, and I think I do, too.

Maybe. A little bit. I had a dream one time, a long time ago. A vision flash, actually, of me and Crosshair. It was the first time in my life I felt happy, contented, and I cling to that like a lifeline, because I need to remember I'll find that place someday. That I'll find this place where... I belong. Where we all belong.

I'd try to find it again, if I knew how to make my visions come back.

I feel a bit calmer, safer, as we keep moving over the rocky ground together.

We pause by a rock together, crouching behind it. Hunter shines his flashlight onto a light I spot blinking in the darkness. It's the capacitor alright. I have no idea why the thing grabbed it if it was just gonna abandon it. That seems rude.

"See it?" he asks, stepping out from behind the rock and gesturing for us to stay put. "Wait here."

I nod, even if he can't see, eyes narrowing as he moves forwards. Something's... coming. Unease is snaking up and down my spine, coiling within, making me tense and braced for action. "Hunter," I whisper-hiss over the sound of the wind. "Careful." He's so close now, kneeling, reaching out to pick it up it and...

I see its claws first, wrapping over the giant rock in front of Hunter, before all at once, the dragon climbs over, snarling.

Hunter stills, just like Shaeeah told Omega and I to do on Saleucami when we got attacked. It must be a typical dealing-with-animals thing, but my hand is already on my blaster, about to draw it. I am not letting that thing near Hunter, even if my aim isn't exactly the best. Sometimes I hit dead center, sometimes I'm way off.

With a snarl, the creature jumps at him, and I whip out my blaster, firing, though the shot misses. The animal throws Hunter to the ground, snatching up the part and taking off. I fire after it again, hissing angrily.

Omega's moved out from our hiding place now. "It's getting away!" she cries.

I'm lowering my blaster, grumbling a "I know, I know, I can't hit anything, ever" when I realize that Hunter's mask is off and he's...

Stars, no.

I drop my blaster altogether, taking off towards him, snatching up his mask. By the time I reach him, he's already on the ground, mostly unconscious. I put his mask back on, and Omega turns it on. We hover over him, watching as the goldish light of the mask pulses in and out. I can hear his breathing, for as faint as it may be, but it's there.

I reach out, laying my hand on his chest plate, just feeling and breathing as I struggle to calm my racing heart. He'll be fine. He's Hunter, but he could have died just now. Apparently, our coming was a good idea, after all.

Chapter Text

"Hunter, wake up," Omega begs, shaking his shoulder.

I sigh, pushing myself to my feet, even if I don't want to stop touching him right now. Not at all. I want to cling to him and not let go, just to make sure he's here, alive and breathing, not somewhere far away like Crosshair is. "Echo? Wrecker? Tech? ... Hi?" I call into my comm. "You there, or are you ignoring me?" Probably, only Crosshair would do that, though. "Hmph. Guess we'll hafta finish the mission on our own."

Omega looks up at me, worry written on her soft features, before she twists to watch the dragon.

"We'll be fine," I assure, "I know what I'm doing." And yeah, I'm a terrible shot, and terrible at just about everything, actually, but I can still protect her.

It's sitting atop a rock opening that must lead into some underground cavern, seeing as it crawls down inside.

Omega sighs, pushing herself to her feet, picking up Hunter's flashlight and blaster. "We have to get the part," she says.

"Yeah," I agree, "Me first." I'm the one who's been trained. I pick up my blaster again, keeping it in my hand in case the thing comes back. "Can I have the flashlight?"

"Be careful," she requests, holding it out to me. I can see the genuine fear in her eyes.

I nod, taking it. We move forwards together, cautiously. We're alone, and I climb up, swinging myself over into the opening and sliding down. There's a rustling and quiet thump as Omega lands beside me, and we creep forwards. It's a little clumsy, and I instantly understand why my brothers wear gloves. I'd like to, also. The rocks are so rough.

We make a few turns before reaching a slightly wider area. "There." Omega points through the darkness, and I refocus the flashlight. It's the capacitor alright.

I brighten instantly, darting forwards.

"Guess we got lucky," Omega says cheerfully, moving forwards to take it. Considering I'm the one with the flashlight and blaster, that's probably best.

I have that prickling feeling again, then I hear a snarl. The thing's back again, and I freeze up instantly. That thing nearly killed Hunter, and I have no doubt it could get us, too. And I cannot lose Omega. A month without her was torture, and I can't – can't –

No.

I whirl around, snarling, blaster aimed in one hand, shining the flashlight at it. I don't even think.

The dragon jerks away from the light, then twists towards us, snarling. Omega flinches back, covering her face, and I throw the flashlight at it instinctively. Which is stupid because that won't make it stop but the thing literally jumps it, chomping down on the center battery.

I gape at it, mind blown.

"Come on," Omega says breathlessly, tugging at my sleeve, and we turn, scrambling away. Omega picks up the capacitor and crawls out of the hole, me right behind.

Through the darkness, I see Hunter's dimly lit form approaching us. "Are you okay?" he asks, darting to the rock structure, reaching out to help Omega to the ground. He takes me a moment later, lowering me to the ground, and I savor the touch more than I should.

"Yep," I assure, grabbing and squeezing his hand. "We're fine. I guess it's a good thing we came, after all."

"What were you thinking going down there?" he asks, more freaked out than anything else.

I want to stick my tongue out at him, but he wouldn't see through my mask. "We finished the mission. You're welcome." I tell him snippily, cheerfully. I'm not upset right now, and I don't want him to think I am.

"Is that my blaster?" Hunter asks incredulously as Omega hands it to him.

"Don't worry," Omega assures, "I didn't have to use it. I got the part. We lost your flashlight, though."

Hunter takes his blaster, holstering it, then takes the part from her. "Well," he admits grudgingly, "You did good. Come on, we should leave before that thing wakes up."

I shudder. "Gladly."

***

"Where have you been?" Omega asks as Wrecker saunters into the cockpit.

"Hey, kids," he greets cheerfully, crouching and extending a hand. He looks better than earlier – at least he isn't stumbling around and practically running into things anymore. "Come with me. Cover your eyes."

I raise a curious eyebrow at him, grabbing his hand and covering my eyes, hopping off the seat 'mega and I are squeezed onto together. He takes us farther back in the Marauder, and I hear him moving past us.

"Okay," Wrecker says cheerfully, "Open 'em." I drop my hand, staring at the gunner's mount. There's a curtain hung over it, parted slightly on the right side, and its bright gold. I love gold. Not as much as dark blue, but still. That definitely wasn't there before. "Check it out," he laughs, gesturing to it.

Omega and I move forwards together, and I pause to let her go first as she tugs back the curtain.

"It's your own room," Wrecker tells us as we look around in awe.

There are lights hanging from the ceiling, and there's gold and orange wallpaper on the wall. He redecorated the entire area back here behind the seat itself. The colors are bright, flashy, everything I know he'd love. 'mega, too. Lula is sitting on the floor, propped up against the wall, and the picture I took from Kamino is leaning next to her, face down. Probably, he couldn't look at it, either. My droid head is there, too, and I squeal.

"Well, what do you think?" Wrecker queries almost nervously, "I thought this place could feel more like a home."

I jump off the top rung at Wrecker, who catches me, laughing. "It's amazing," I promise, arms wrapping around the neck part of his chest plate – why is it shaped so weirdly? – and squeezing.

"It's perfect," Omega tells him, gratitude and adoration in her tone. "Thank you, Wrecker."

"Oh, uh, it was nothin'," Wrecker assures, squeezing me tightly.

"We've never had our own room before," Omega replies, and I twist around, climbing back up beside her. She's settled onto the floor, holding Lula, andshe tugs her legs up so I can get past and settle down on her other side.

I drop my head onto Omega's shoulder, hooking an arm through hers and snuggling against her side. She shifts, pressing her cheek to my hair. I snatch my droid head into my lap, just because, and then... I reach for the picture.

"Well, you're a part of this squad now, too," Hunter tells us, and I look over at him, smiling faintly. After... earlier, I need that assurance.

I nestle back against my sister, turning on the screen to just... be. The picture flickers on instantly, of all five our brothers. I study it, ingraining it into my mind forever. Crosshair's at Wrecker's side. It reminds me of... that time. It was just a month we were together, and they mean everything to me.

"We're gonna get you back," I promise, the moment the others have drifted away out of earshot. "I promise. I'm not gonna stop looking for you."

Would he annoy me to death for being sentimental? Yeah. I don't care, though. It's... Crosshair. I'd do anything for him.

I curl up next to Omega, briefly dozing off as exhaustion from the last day or so starts catching up to me.

"Let. Her. Go," Hunter's voice hisses, dark and angry. Warning – he's furious. And I have never seen Hunter so angry before.

"Hand over the kid," a smooth voice replies, "And I'll let her go. She's not the one I'm here for."

I jerk against the hand holding me firmly. "You're not touching 'mega!" I twist, trying to glare up at her.

"What about you, kid?" she asks, "Come with me, and I'll let your friend go."

"Sister," I hiss, snarling when I see the look on Omega's face. She looks terrified.

And that's the last thing I see before jolting back to consciousness.

I jolt forwards, panting, something clattering right nearby. The droid, probably. I drop the picture beside it, shuddering, rubbing my eyes.

"Vision!" Omega's down below, and she runs over to me the moment I awaken. I swear, she has a sixth sense to keep an eye on me.

I suck in another breath, gasping, hand pressed to my face. "I saw something," I tell them, shuddering as I climb down from the mount. 'mega pulls me in for a brief hug, and her warmth someone sooths my fear. It doesn't wipe the memory of her terrified face, though. "Someone's after us, Hunter."

"Someone who?" Wrecker asks, crouching nearby, worried.

"Did you see them?" Hunter asks me.

I shrug helplessly. "Sort of. She was holding me, trying to get 'mega to come with her. She was wearing black, and a bit of orange. The surroundings were... blurry though." I frown. That's weird. It's never happened before.

"Could you recognize her if you saw her?" Hunter asks.

I nod. "Yeah, think so."

"Stay close," he requests, "We're going to Pantora to scramble the Marauder's signature and get some supplies."

I'd normally be bouncing off walls, but the thought right now makes me want to curl up into a dark corner of the ship to hide. "Uh... um. Can 'mega and I stay here? 'Cuz that person is gonna come for us, but at least if we're here, we can get out, right?"

"I was about to suggest that," he says. "Echo and I are going into town. Wrecker and Tech will take care of the ship. Vision and Omega, stay with them, just in case."

Omega looks disappointed, but she grabs my hand, squeezing it tightly as she nods.

***

"Why'd you tell me we're out of rations?" Wrecker practically wails. "Now I'm starving!"

"Our priority is scrambling the ship's signature key," Tech is trying to convince him, and I laugh in the doorway, just watching my hopelessly cray-cray brothers.

"Your priority," Wrecker growls grumpily. Apparently, he's taking his time to whine about everything right now. Considering the stress and blatant lack of our normal grouch, I think that's excusable.

I watch, bored, as some random person comes over and squabbles with them, then leaves.

"You can't sell that explosive," Wrecker complains when Hunter and Echo come down the ramp. "It's our last one."

Omega and I follow come down the ramp, scanning the area. I've never seen anything like this before, but I already love it. It's cool, and I wanna see more.

"And it's the only thing we have worth any money," Hunter replies as Omega walks over to him, holding his backpack.

"Because we are not selling Lula," I deadpan, and I will gut anybody without hesitation who tries committing such a crime.

"You wanna eat, don't you?" Echo snips, walking up.

Hunter puts the explosive inside, slinging his backpack on.

"Why do Tech and I have to do all the repairs," Wrecker whines, jabbing a finger at the other two. "While you get to go sightseeing?"

"Not us," Omega replies, and she sounds disappointed. "We're staying here."

"This is a supply run," Hunter reminds, "In and out, quickly and quietly."

And take a guess why Wrecker isn't going?

"Yeah, and you stick out too much," Echo adds.

"Oh, and you don't?" Wrecker throws back.

"Not dressed like this," Echo throws back, and snaps the mask part of whatever helmet he's wearing on. It looks like a droid, which is so convenient. Not that I even know a droid like that.

"Hey!" Wrecker yells after Hunter and Echo, suddenly brightening as they start moving off together. "Bring back something good to eat."

"And something cool if you find it!" I holler after, watching longingly as they disappear from sight. I flop out onto the ramp with an annoyed huff. Time to just wait and watch, I guess. This will be boring.

***

The wait. Is. Boring. Not that I want anything to happen, obviously. I just don't want to sit here. We spend a while running back and forth around Wrecker and Tech, trying to help out a bit, though there's not a lot we can do.

I have a bad feeling, though, and turn away, just to try Seeing.

I don't like the person we first saw when we were here. Maybe he's just too fat and ugly, no clue. But if something's gonna go wrong, that's where to start. I'm by the building he was in when I finally See it – a flash of that person again. She's dressed in black, with a ridiculous shade of orange highlights, and her helmet is half orange.

Neon orange, brilliant enough that I think it would annoy Crosshair, and I instantly want to know what he'd do if I painted his armor that color. He's not here to stop me, so...

It's a brief image, gone as fast as it comes, but I know what it means.

"'mega!" I yell, standing, sprinting back. "Wrecker, Tech – I Saw it again. She's coming. We gotta get outta here." I know we're going to fight her sometime, because my visions are never wrong, but I'm fully intent on holding it off.

"My adjustments are not yet complete," Tech replies immediately, "And unless you have a team of maintenance droids, it's going to be a while."

I stick my tongue out at him. That is so rude. And then I comm the others for good measure. "Hunter? Echo?" I call. "Well... I Saw it again. That person. We need to leave soon." And I'm not opposed to fighting – at all, I crave it and it's in my blood – but this is different. This person is after Omega, and I'm too afraid to risk it. To risk her. She means so much to me, and I cannot let anyone take her, and that's not to mention what our brothers mean to her.

I already lost Crosshair. I can't lose Omega, too.

"I'm on my way back," Hunter replies instantly, soothingly, and I almost sigh with relief at hearing him. "Tech, what's the status with our ship?"

"Well, it's not technically a ship at the moment," he replies.

"Hey, anyone got an army of droids to help him out?" I quip, "Cuz he said it'd be helpful."

"That is not what I said," Tech objects instantly, immediately resuming his important role of arguing with everything I say.

"I can help with that," Echo offers.

I don't want to know, but he shows up a bit later with a practically literal army of droids, and Hunter arrives not long later, immediately shooing Omega and I back inside. "Stay out of sight," he tells us, "If someone's looking for you, the last thing we need is to be out in the open."

The itching sensation of danger is growing as we wait inside together, taking the seats along the wall beside each other, holding hands. It's nerve wracking, really, and I almost wish we could be out there. We should fight instead of run, but this is for Omega, and I'd do anything for her, even something I am very much not comfortable with.

Like running.

But it's like I said – if Hunter gives the order, if it's for Omega, I can't complain about it, no matter what it is. She's all I've ever had, and the same is true in reverse. We mean everything to each other in much the same way the... original four Bad Batchers did.

"Don't we hafta find this person?" I ask the moment Hunter enters the ship. I just do not want to hide, okay? I was raised for action, and now that I'm not stuck in a boring lab, that's where I wanna be. I don't want to go hide out on some backwater world.

"We will," Echo assures, right behind. Tech is already aboard and halfway to the pilot's seat. They're tenser than they were moments ago. "I got a visual of her."

... Yikes.

Even if we're going to see her again, because I know we will – my visions always happen. We just have to be ready. Omega and I have to be ready, because our brothers always are. "Black and orange?" I ask, leaning forwards.

"Yeah," Hunter confirms as Tech takes us off. "She's probably a bounty hunter."

"A what?" Omega queries curiously, leaning forward.

"Someone hired to retrieve targets," Tech replies quickly.

... I don't like the sound of that. "They were after you, I think?" I tell her, squeezing her hand. "I dunno, that doesn't make sense."

"We have to find out who she is and who hired her," Hunter adds.

"Can we get 'mega a comm?" I ask, snuggling closer to her in an attempt to somewhat soothe her. "If something happens..."

"The only comm we have aboard is Crosshair's," Tech replies, "But he doesn't appear to need it."

I bite my lip. "But – what happens when he comes back?"

Everyone stills.

Somehow, I feel like I said something stupid. "What?" I ask, slightly hurt, though I can't say why. "We're gonna get him back. We can't not try. He's our brother. He needs us, and we need him."

Hunter looks away. Echo's even tenser, if possible, and Wrecker just looks sad. "If that becomes a concern," Tech replies firmly, a bit sharply, with an underlying note of hurt and anger in his voice, "We will consider it then."

I frown. If? I turn my desperate gaze to Hunter instinctively, expecting reassurance.

"Tech is right," he replies instead, straightening, visibly recollecting himself. "It's a temporary solution, but that's all we need right now."

Why does it feel like I'm the only one bothered?

That doesn't make any sense, and nor can it be right. They're a family, so what... why? I know he hurt Wrecker, and he was being mean and horrible to all of us, but still. I don't want to lose him.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Stop, I hiss, shoving the memory fiercely from mind. If I think about Crosshair any more than I already have, I'm going to start crying again, and if I start, I won't be stopping anytime soon.

Hunter sets his backpack down, pulling the flap open and reaching inside. "There's something I got for you," he says, offering us a half-hearted smile I can tell he doesn't really feel. I can relate – when was the last time I smiled that I felt truly happy? I can't remember. Probably, when they finally got back to Kamino. Omega jumps up, and we crowd over.

It's white, and it's a... person-shaped thing, sort of. It looks like clone armor.

"What's that?" I ask, blinking.

"It's a doll," Echo says, twisting around in his seat and coming over. "I saw it, and I thought you'd like it. It's... something children usually like."

"Better than naming lab equipment," I quip. Because we used to do that when we were bored and very little.

"It's amazing," Omega says, taking it. "Thank you."

Wish I could be that cheerful about something.

"Is it a he or a she?" I ask. It's white and sorely needs a repainting job. We need colors.

"She," Omega decides.

"But it's a clone," I object, "All clones are boys."

"Not us," she reminds cheerfully.

Fair. "What colors do we make her? Black and red? Or should we go for green and –"

"How about we make her a Bad Batcher?" 'mega suggests.

"Then we need a name, too!" I add. "Uh... how 'bout we name her after you, cuz you're the only smart clone I know?"

The offended look on Tech's face made everything worth it.

***

"Why are we going to Ord Mantell? I thought the plan was to lay low," Omega asks as we crowd around in the hold. Echo had insisted we rest before moving on, and I hadn't been too opposed to curling up in the gunner's mount to sulk and sleep. And I still don't feel much better. Currently, Tech is busy poking at Omega's new comm and Wrecker's playing with Gonky.

"Not while a bounty hunter's after you," Hunter replies immediately, turning his seat around to face us. "We need to find out why."

"I know an informant there named Cid who might be able to help," Echo explains.

"And you trust him?" Wrecker queries.

"Well, the Jedi trusted him."

"The Jedi who are all dead?" Tech throws back, standing up.

"Do we know that?" I have to interject, because I can't help it. I know that's what they say, and I have no reason to disbelieve it, but... even if all the clones turned on their Jedi, would that have been enough to kill them? Jedi are... they're legends. I saw Anakin Skywalker. I felt just a touch of his power, his fire, his strength. He wouldn't have died, though I don't know how to tell Echo that.

"That is what the reports say," Tech replies, "And we have no reason to disbelieve that."

"Well, anyone have a better option?" Echo throws back.

"He has a point," Omega's voice says over the comms, and I laugh when everyone turns to look at her. "Right," she says, jerking her arm down, "Not a toy."

Hunter and Echo take us on an overly obsessive lecture of what-you-do-when-something-bad-happens as we head for Cid's. "Don't worry," I assure finally, waving my hands, "I'll keep an eye out." Literally, heh. "I'll watch over 'mega."

"That is not comforting," Tech assures me immediately, and I stick my tongue out at him.

"This is the place," Echo says as we stop outside a building. It has glowing, multicolor light, even if it's dark inside.

"Charming," Tech grumbles as we enter. Echo goes first, Omega and I trotting along behind. Wrecker and Tech bring up the rear. Hunter's beside Echo – per usual.

There's only three people inside: a Trandoshan, and two other creatures who are squabbling even more fiercely than me and Crosshair.

"Which one of them is Cid?" Hunter queries, scanning the room.

"I couldn't tell ya," Echo admits, "I only heard about Cid. Never actually met him."

"That would have been information to share earlier," Tech grouses, like he's one to talk.

"Yeah, so would the thing about that dragon back on the dragon moon," I remind him dryly before sauntering off to look around. This place is cool. Omega and I are looking around, inspecting every corner of the room when I realize the Trandoshan – who firmly maintains she doesn't know who Cid is – is watching our brothers a bit warily.

"We didn't ask her if she was Cid, did we?" I whisper.

"I was thinking the same thing," Omega replies, walking up to her. I watch, arms crossed, leaning against the console.

"What's your deal, tiny?" the Trandoshan grumbles when she spots Omega standing beside her.

"Tiny?" I echo grumpily, immediately moving over to join them. I do not appreciate anyone being rude to Omega.

"You're Cid," Omega replies cheerfully.

"You're sharper than your friends over there," she grumbles again, and I immediately find myself wondering if she's perpetually cranky. Used to know someone like that.

"I found Cid," Omega tells our brothers over the comm that she's obsessed with using. I'd have bene the same with mine, had I gotten it when I had energy to move.

The boys freeze and turn to us. Omega points to Cid.

"Apparently," I tell them, waving my hands, "We need to go around asking people what their names are instead of if they know themselves." I do not like this person.

"We'll talk in my back office," Cid says, waving a clawed hand towards the door. "You too, Snippy."

"I don't even know what that means," I grumble, looking up at Tech. "What does that mean?"

"It is a term used to describe speaking in a sharp, condescending manner," Tech replies as we move for the back room.

I throw up my hands. "That's great, but I have no idea what condese-whatever means. Does it have something to do with condensation?"

I'm pretty sure Tech is about to start giving me a fierce lecture for that, but luckily for all of us, Cid interrupts first.

"I had a good thing going with the Jedi," Cid says as we enter an office-like area. She has a desk and a chair, and there's a holotable in here, too. "They valued my insights, but now that they're all dead, the demand for my services has declined. Thanks to this new Empire." She circles to stand by her desk, and Echo pulls Omega away from some of the weird artifact thingies everywhere.

"Times have changed, for all of us," Hunter replies.

"No kidding. I never had clone deserters come to me before," the Trandoshan remarks.

"Yes, well," Tech offers quickly, adjusting his goggles, "We separated due to a fundamental difference in ideology."

"That's cute, you thinking I care," Cid grumbles, and I glare at her for being rude again. "Cut to it and tell me what you want."

Echo steps forwards, setting his helmet down on her desk and plugging his scomp into the holotable.

"By all means, make yourselves at home," Cid grouses.

"Vision," Echo says as a hologram flickers on, "This is her, right?"

My head snaps around and I look up at the person in the hologram. Orange and black, just like my vision. "Yup," I nod, "That's her."

"Well," Echo says, turning to Cid again, "We encountered this woman on Pantora. Do you know who she is?"

"No, but I know a bounty hunter when I see one."

"Well, we already knew that," I grumble. No, I don't know why I'm in such a mood suddenly. Hunter throws an unreadable glance at me, and I could almost swear I feel the faintest flicker of longing, which is weird. ... Or not. The grumpy glaringness used to be Crosshair's role. Which is fine because I'm perfectly happy to take on that role if he's not here.

"Can you find out who hired her?" Echo queries.

"That depends on what you boys do for me." We all stare blankly at her, clueless. Hunter and Tech briefly look at each other, then at Echo. At least I certainly don't have a clue what she's talking about. "Are you fresh outta the tube?" Cid snaps, annoyed, turning off the hologram. "You pull a job for me, and I get the information you want. That's how this mercenary thing works."

"Mercenary?" Echo repeats, staring at her as she stalks past him towards her chair.

"Not too quick, are ya? Clearly, the kid's the brains of your operation."

Wrecker holds his hand out towards 'mega and I, and I think we should get a galactic award for managing the first three-person high-five. It's true though – Omega's the smartest person I know. I do not care what Tech claims about himself. Cramming a massive amount of information in your brain doesn't mean you have a clue how to use it.

"What kind of job?" Hunter asks, moving to the front. That's when it catches up to me that we're planning to go on a mission together for the very first time, and even if we're... down one, I'm still excited. This is what I've always wanted – to be with my brothers, to do things with them.

"A rescue," Cid explains, "There's a nice bounty on a kid named Muchi. My sources say she was taken by Zygerrian slavers who are holed up on the other side of the planet. Bring me the kid and I'll get you your intel." What are Zygerrians? And what are slavers? And nor am I sure I like the thought of them being on the same planet as us.

"Well, who collects the bounty?" Wrecker asks.

"Oh, look!" Cid snips, "It talks."

"It is my brother," I snap, hands on my hips, "Don't be mean."

Cid seems to be making her life's mission to ignore me entirely, and I step back, crossing my arms and glowering. "We split the bounty 70-30, my favor. Take it or leave it," she tells my brothers, pulling some kind of small... device out from something.

"Grab a kid from a few Zygerrians?" Wrecker asks cheerfully, laughing. He hits Hunter's shoulder, who throws him an annoyed look, one Wrecker looks entirely unphased by. Wrecker laughs, tossing his helmet from one hand to the other. "We could do that in our sleep."

Wrecker's already bounding for the door, and Omega takes off after, looking more cheerful than I've seen her in... I don't know, but it softens some of the frustration and longing inside me. I've never been scared to go on missions before, never had a reason to – not until Saleucami, when that thing nearly ate us, or Pantora, when I had that vision.

It's not about to stop me, though. We're going in, together for the first time, and this is where I wanna be. Surrounded by chaos and fighting because that's the only life I've ever known.

Chapter Text

Everything was going perfectly and completely okay – until Hunter tells us to go back to the ship. So predictable. "Seriously?" I huff, crossing my arms. "Right now? On our first mission together? We're gonna just hafta sit out forever?"

"That's an order," Hunter cuts off my gripe tirade.

Omega looks just as grumpy as I do about it. "Yes, sir," she agrees dejectedly, and I stomp off back towards the ship while the boys move out.

This is stupid.

Not like I know enough to fly if they need an emergency pick up, anyway.

"We... can start repainting our trooper," Omega offers. "We can make her a Bad Batcher, too."

"I need to paint a skull," I decide. "I need armor myself, actually. I don't think I'll be able to convince Hunter to get me any, though."

"Probably not," Omega agrees, and we get to work. Gonky comes over to us to watch as we work on repainting her – adding a red stripe to her armor like all our brothers have and painting a white skull. My half looks terrible, even if Omega's isn't much better. I don't even know how our brothers got such cleanly painted skulls – I'm looking at Crosshair for that. It shouldn't even be possible. Most of what Crosshair does shouldn't be possible, though.

Gonky honks at us, presumedly asking something or just wanting attention. "We're making some alterations to our trooper," Omega replies, holding it out to the droid, "Now she's a Bad Batcher. What do you think?"

The droid honks its approval, and I'm mid reaching out to pat its top when I hear something.

"We found their ship," a voice says, and Omega and I freeze. We? The slavers, probably. That's not good. Echo explained they capture and sell people or something, and that's definitely not something I want to think about happening to us.

"Gonky, hide," Omega whisper-hisses, before we scramble to hide behind the seat.

The droid just locks himself down and shuts off – probably smartest.

"We hafta leave," I whisper, eyes darting around. They're looking for us, and I'm not afraid of just taking them out, but not on our ship. I need to get a clear distance, a clear shot, and a view of what's happening, first. My eyes fall on the hatch below the gunner's mount. "The hatch."

"I'll get it," Omega mouths, darting over to it.

"Check the hold," I hear someone saying, and they're coming closer. Fast.

Omega ducks through first, and I shadow a second behind, jumping onto the ground below. "Come on, we need cover," I urge, grabbing her hand and running for the towering rocky formations in front of us. I hate to leave Gonky behind with those people, but we don't have much choice.

We pause, catching our breath and I draw my blaster. The Zygerrians are leaving the ship, heading back for their speeders – I need to learn to fly a speeder sometime.

I peak around the corner, but they're distracted. They don't see me, or it, coming. Probably, we could hide and wait until they leave, but I want to do something, and we can do something. I won't let them do anything to our ship, to Omega. We can't wait until they see us, and there's something about them that just makes my skin crawl.

They Look different, dirty, and it makes every instinct scream at me to end it, so they stop hurting everything around them.

I inhale deeply, closing my eyes and raising my blaster. I can See the targets, and in that moment, I just... let go. It's a strange feeling. I fire once, then again, in rapid succession. It reminds me of how Crosshair and Tech can scan heat signatures – it's sort of like that in my mind, where everything is black except what I need to hit.

Omega's voice shakes me back to reality, and I holster my blaster. "Hunter, do you copy?" she asks, sounding freaked out. "Tech? Echo? Wrecker? Anyone?"

"Me?" I quip, moving out from behind the rock.

"Something must be wrong," my sister worries, darting to the edge of the cliff where we looked out previously, scanning with macrobinoculars. I keep watch, just in case, though I doubt anyone else will come too fast. It's her slight gasp that really alarms me.

"What's wrong?" I ask, spinning around.

"They were captured," she tells me, brown eyes wide with fear.

I snatch the binoculars from her to take a look myself, and... yeah. Our brothers – all four – are sitting with the other slaves now, in chains and all.

Nothing could've prepared me for seeing that. I lower them, hands tightening, rage bubbling up inside me. "They're held captive and treated like property," Echo had said, and that's happening to our brothers now.

I already lost Crosshair.

I've been angry before, but this is different.

"The Dark Side hangs heavily over your future" something whispers.

I stand, tucking the binoculars away, a single-minded fury overtaking all thoughts of self-preservation. What we need is a direction. If Crosshair was here, he'd shoot out the Zygerrians nearby from afar, and give them a chance to break free. But Crosshair isn't here, so we need to take that role ourselves.

"'mega," I request, turning around, "Get me that energy bow."

"What are we doing with it?" she queries, though she snatches it up from the now-dead Zygerrian by the ship and holds it out to me. I take it, the weight heavy in my hands.

"What we need," I answer, shifting its weight to my left arm, turning it on and trying to balance myself, "Is Crosshair. But he's not here." I'm gonna do this, and it'll be fine, just so I can brag to Crosshair that I do, in fact, know how to handle myself without him babysitting me. Thanks. "So, we'll do it ourselves. We don't have a rifle, so I'll have to use this instead."

"Do you know how to use it?" Omega asks.

"How hard can it be?"

***

Note to Vision: never say 'how hard can it be'. The answer is always the same. Very. Except with a few experimental shots – despite Omega's worries that someone might hear – I get the feel right. Our plan is simple enough, and we take off for the edge of the cliff again, scaling down and approaching from afar. The weight is heavy and unfamiliar in my arms, but it's fun. Long-range is not my thing, but it's what we need right now.

Omega... got the zapper thingy. Which is too heavy for her to hold straight, but if we need to make it work, we can.

I'm at the edge of the cliff, crouching, staying low and out of sight. I can see their leader rambling nonsense to my brothers, like they might care about these Zygerrian's stupid attempt to rebuild an empire inside an empire. I'd have words for 'em if I was down there.

I don't calculate things the way Crosshair does, I know, but I can still do this. I stand, lowering the bow and closing an eye, looking down as I rebalance myself a little. It's clumsy, but I've annoyed Crosshair enough to play with his rifle once, and despite how much he whined about it, it was kinda fun.

It was heavy though. This is similar in concept.

But I don't have enhanced sight the way Crosshair does, so I just... use my own Sight. I close my eyes altogether, breathing, and firing when I pinpoint the leader.

He's near my brothers, and I refuse to think about what'd happen if I misfired.

I hear the startled yelps from down below, the sound of their weapons turning on. I pick another target and fire, then drop down as they start shooting back.

That's Omega's cue to move in from the other side. She needs to get to our brothers.

I poke my head over the edge again, keeping down so they won't hit me. I didn't see what happened. All I catch sight of is one of them hitting Wrecker with a golden whip-like thing, and the way Hunter flinches just watching, and I see red.

I push myself to my feet, firing down a few more times before ducking back.

Make it fast, 'mega.

I can hear movement, and I know they're breaking free. There's some... crashing? Do I even want to know what kind of distraction Omega just made?

I hear something crunching, and whirl around, dodging aside as a Zygerrian fires at me. Smart – they circled around. I whip out my knife, throwing it instinctively, though it sails way off-course and clangs onto the rocks behind. I scramble backwards, reaching for my blaster, because that's the weapon I know how to use.

I fire my blaster at him almost wildly, and he dodges aside, though it stops him from firing again. Instead, he moves closer, grabbing my arm harshly and ripping my blaster away. "You'll pay for this, skug," he snarls, shoving me towards the cliff edge. I yelp, thrashing and kicking, but he's far stronger than I am.

My blaster's on the ground, and I can't reach it. I need to. I need it, to get out of here, because I don't –

Think. My brothers are down there. They can help. "Hunter," I yell, knowing he can hear me, at least that someone can hear me. The Zygerrian is shoving me towards the cliff edge, and I do not want to die like that. I can't keep annoying Crosshair or get him back if I'm dead.

I maneuver myself, twisting and grabbing his wrist to catch myself when he tries to throw me off. Someone fires, hitting the Zygerrian in the head, and he drops to the ground. I swing myself onto the edge of cliff, fingers digging sharply into the rocks. It stings, but I drag myself up with an almost embarrassing level of flailing. I was supposed to be trained for this.

Honestly.

"Vision," Hunter's panicking voice is calling through my comm, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I pant breathlessly, "Fine. You?"

"We're alright," he assures.

"I'm on my way up," Echo tells me. "Just in case. We're getting the slaves out of here, and the rest of us are going after Muchi."

"Wait, what?" I squawk. Why is there something to go after? The child was right there.

"The child we were being sent after was a rancor," Echo tells me, voice laced with annoyance. "Cid apparently neglected to tell us."

I'm only half sure what a rancor is, but okay. Sunds like some kind of animal? "Probably, it's intentional," I shrug, uncaring. "Sounds like something she'd do just to be annoying."

Echo motions us forwards, and we move out. Something's... wrong with him, though. I can't tell what – it's more an instinctive knowledge. Their body gloves cover like, half of their necks – I still think it'd feel like being strangled – so I can't really tell, but his neck is sort of... red? It's inflamed, and it looks almost raw in a few places.

What. The. What happened to him?

We're being shot at though, so now isn't the best time to worry about it.

My bow is cool, but long-range weapons aren't my thing. I don't know how Crosshair can stand it. I prefer being up close and, well, personal. I snatch my knife on the way out, and we circle around towards the speeders so we can get the other people out.

Echo and I take out the Zygerrians shooting at us – even if my aim suddenly seems only half existent – and we move forwards. Omega pauses by one of the fallen Zygerrians, snatching up his bow with her left hand. She moves it experimentally, and the bow snaps open to its active form.

"Where's the zappy thingy?" I query, sauntering over to her.

Omega makes a face. "I tried using it," she says. "Once. It misfired and hit the... animal."

I giggle. "The dragon thingy? Sweet." I wish I got to see. That is so not fair.

"Vision, Omega, stay close!" Echo calls.

Omega turns off the bow, and we take off after him. I holster my blaster to use my own – these bows really are kinda cool. Much cooler than a rifle, and I do not care what Crosshair says about that. They're pink and gold, and those are not my colors, but they're still pretty. The gold is anyway – I officially love gold. It's my second favorite color, because nothing can compete with blue.

"You gonna keep that?" I ask as we half-run after Echo and the now-freed slaves. I didn't even know slavery was a thing a few hours ago. I can't imagine what that would be like. I felt so... trapped in Nala Se's lab sometimes. I always had hope for out though – I knew I had a way out. I knew eventually I'd be old enough to start training with my brothers, and I always looked to them as my future. I knew, if I didn't annoy Nala Se too bad and if I did well enough, I'd make it out, and I could... I knew I'd get freedom before Omega ever would.

It was hard sometimes, but it was something, and after everything she did for me, I was glad to get to do something for her for once. That was half of why I survived our month apart, but I – I miss even that now. I miss Crosshair. I don't know how to function without him. I always knew we'd be together, and I had no reason to think anything else. Most of our plans are literally based around his presence, on having someone far away to cover for us, and we don't have that anymore. Maybe that's part of why I'm asking Omega this, because we need someone with long-range weapons. It's just... easier. It's important.

"Yeah," she replies, waving it experimentally, "It's cool."

Seconded. "I think it'd be easier if you did," I offer, "We –" They don't seem to like it when I mention Crosshair, so I probably shouldn't say that. "We could use a distance weapon, y'know? And I don't offer."

For the record, if somebody tries to take my knife, I will bite their head off, thanks for asking. I refuse to part with it. Ever.

"You're free," Echo says to the now-freed slaves as we reach the speeders that I badly need to learn to fly sometime. "Go quickly." The green people climb into a speeder together, including the child, who waves at us.

"Bye," Omega calls after them, waving. She's cheerful about meeting another child, and I... don't really care? I don't understand the excitement, really. I have her, and my brothers, and I don't want to worry about someone else working their way into our family or any of that. I don't want to lose them. It's hard enough for me to keep my brothers. Why would I want anything else?

"Come on," Echo says, motioning to us as he climbs into the third speeder, "Let's get back to the others."

"Can you teach me how to fly?" I ask, hopping on behind him. "Or drive or whatever?" It looks fun. It looks freeing, actually, and I'm starting to appreciate freedom far more than ever before.

"Sometime," Echo agrees as the engine kicks in, and we take off.

I squeal at the air whipping past us, rebalancing my bow so I can wrap an arm around Echo to balance myself. I've never hugged Echo before, but he doesn't seem to mind it, either way. Omega loops an arm around me, and I grab her hand. The bow's getting heavier now. My arm's probably getting tired. I need somewhere to put the thing.

It couldn't even have taken a minute, but that was fun. Echo parks us by the others, and Omega's the first to jump off. Echo swings himself off the speeder, circling to where Tech and Hunter are watching Wrecker and Muchi beat each other up in slow motion.

The red marks on Echo's neck catch my eyes again, and I don't like it. It's – did someone hurt him? How could – The collar things they were wearing, isn't it? That hurt him somehow, whatever those were. All the slaves were wearing them. I want to kill everyone responsible for this all over again.

"How long's he been at this?" Echo queries dryly.

"To long," Tech answers cheerfully, "He's losing his touch."

Wrecker ducks a lazy arm-swing Muchi throws, and they're just – what are they even doing now? Tech's right for probably the first time in his life.

I set my bow down on the back of the speeder, jumping off, though I can't tear my eyes off Echo. What happened to him? Is he okay? Were the others hurt, too? I can't really tell. I'm at the wrong angle.

It isn't overly visible, either.

"Come on, Muchi. Go to sleep," Wrecker whines as they keep flailing at each other in slow motion before the rancor just gives up entirely and flops out on her side. Wrecker drops against her, unmoving. Probably, they both need to go to sleep. Or have a drink.

"There we go," Wrecker mumbles practically inaudibly.

"She's kinda cute up close," Omega remarks, walking over to them.

I eye the rancor. Gross. She is not. "Ew."

"Nicely handled, Wrecker," Hunter praises, and Wrecker gives him a barely half-hearted thumbs-up.

... I really think he needs to go to bed.

"Tech, bring the ship over," Hunter says, turning to him. "Echo, with him."

I snatch my bow while Echo and Tech climb onto the speeder. I watch them go, frowning, still uncertain as to what happened. I want to know. Probably, they won't want to tell me. Boys can be dumb like that.

... I still haven't asked Hunter 'bout that scar yet. I need to do that. Just don't know when or how. Could've on Pantora, but I was distracted.

"You okay?" Hunter queries, approaching me when I sit down in the dirt, feeling slightly worn.

My gaze instantly jumps to him. "Fine. What 'bout Echo? They hurt him, didn't they? And Wrecker, and – are you okay?"

"We'll be fine," Hunter reassures, "This is nothing."

Yeah, that doesn't help. They got hurt and it – I can't just get used to something like that. Wrecker lost one of his eyes and I'm still not fully used to that, even if it's been true since before I knew him.

The near fall was a bit creepy, though. For a moment, I was certain I'd go splat way below. "Can I get a grappling hook?" I request. "Or a jetpack? Or floaty shoe thingies?"

Hunter actually laughs, and stars, this is the first time I've heard it in a very long time. Months. Since before the Outer Rim Sieges, in the Glorious Horror Month. "You already have a blaster," he replies, "After this job pulls through, I'll see what we can do."

Hunter freezes when I squeal and jump into his arms. The bow clatters onto the ground, and I wrap my arms around his neck, hugging him.

I've never actually hugged him before, and he's certainly never hugged me either, but he presses a hand to my shoulder, just holding me. He's our leader, and even if he's just as human as any of us, I know he'd do anything to protect us. He's able too, also, not like 'mega – I trust her to protect me, but she shouldn't have to anymore. I'm the one who knows how to fight. That's different with Hunter.

I'd do anything for him because he'd do the same for us.

Hunter makes a three second attempt to get me off, and gives up when I refuse to move, stubbornly staying latched onto him. What? I can be clingy when I wanna be. Like right now. I can't stop wondering if someone else will just... fade away. I lost Crosshair, and that isn't something I knew I had to be afraid of. Besides. Being with Hunter makes me feel safe in a way nothing else can.

Omega's looking at me with something like longing, and I don't really get it – I might've known him a month longer than her, but that doesn't mean much. Except that I can see how drastically they've changed without me.

Tech lands the ship, and I don't unlatch myself from Hunter until then, when I head aboard to find a water bottle that I shove in Wrecker's face.

He mumbles a thank you and drinks half of it in one gulp.

Well, now the chaos is over, and it's time to get Muchi back home.

***

Riding Muchi is sort of fun, partly because I get the honor of Hunter helping me off – okay, he didn't have to, but I wanted him to because I'm still feeling clingy. Muchi's... caretakers or whatever take her off, and I wave goodbye before turning to our grumpy employer.

"Gotta say, fellas," she remarks, "I wasn't sure you could pull this job off."

"You could have told us we were going after a rancor," Echo throws at her, irked.

"Hmm. Must've slipped my mind," she replies flippantly, pointing to Hunter with her clawed hand. "You, dark and broody. My office."

"His name is Hunter," I snap back, annoyed. We have names for a reason.

"Yeah, whatever, Snippy," she grumbles, waving a hand at me and turning back for her parlor. I cross my arms, huffing, but Hunter just nods to Echo and moves after Cid like he's perfectly used to such treatment.

I do not appreciate that at all. Is this normal for them?! It certainly seemed like it with the regs, but not... not quite like this. That's the difference with natborns, I guess. At least regs were raised similarly.

Enough to get the name thing, anyway. 'mega and I don't always call each other our names, but that's different because we grew up together and it's just... it's not the same.

That aside, I'm still holding my bow, and if we keep them, we need to practice, right? And I still want to know what happened to our brothers. Crosshair isn't here to teach us so... I try to ignore the emotions welling up inside me. He's not here, so as hard as it is, I have to get better so we can get him back.

"Can I keep my bow?" Omega asks, "It's kinda cool. I like it."

"It's not a usual weapon, but you can learn to use it," Echo assures. "I've used... Similar ones. I can teach you."

Bonus of something, right? Now we just need a space.

Hunter returns a few minutes later, and there's a tightness on his face that sets me on edge. "The bounty hunter's name is Fennec Shand," he tells us, "What she's after or who she's working for, Cid doesn't know."

"Anything else?" Echo queries, obviously catching the edge in his voice as much as me.

He sighs faintly. "Let's get back to the ship," he replies instead.

"Everything okay?" I ask, grabbing his hand as nervousness bubbles up inside me.

"Cid offered us work, but I don't trust her."

Yeah, same. She's annoying and creepy, and I want to hit her. Even if she is a bit funny, too.

I don't figure out what happened, exactly, until we go back to the ship. Tech shoos Echo and Wrecker to the back where he can scan them, and I first see the actually very-visible burns on their necks.

"What happened to you?" I blurt out, and it sounds so stupid but I – they – what? It's almost a pity I can't go back and murder every single person somewhat responsible for that, because I want to. I want to gut them. Slowly.

Tech sighs. "Backtalking slavers is unwise," he replies shortly, and I think Hunter's trying to come back to collect me, but I ignore him.

"Those things, they –" The burns look pretty electric, sort of blackish in a central pattern and branch out. I don't know how I didn't notice them first thing, but it makes me sick. "They shocked them?" I squeak.

"We'll be fine," Wrecker attempts to reassure, reaching out to pat my head. His hand is huge, and I feel tiny, and normally I'd just find it endearing but right now I want to scream. And scream.

I throw myself into his arms instead, hugging him tightly. It's nothing to fix it, but it's all I can offer.

"We're soldiers," Echo replies, "We're used to injuries. This is nothing."

It certainly doesn't look like nothing. I don't take their word for it because Crosshair shot Wrecker and nobody ever talked about it again, but – but I'm not them. I'm not used to having to watch my siblings get hurt and I don't ever want to be. We're soldiers, yes, and I know it's something we'll have to deal with sometimes, but not like this. Not when... we weren't fighting. They were hurt senselessly.

I – Stars.

I want to go back and make sure every single Zygerrian is dead. I'm going to keep that bow just out of spite, even if it's not something I really use.

Chapter Text

I'm curled in the gunner's mount, next to Omega, staring at the picture of... them. My brothers. I try to distract myself when we're up, to make myself think about something other than how Crosshair isn't here.

Omega wasn't with them when the five of them were together. I was. She never got to see them happy together. Things have changed over the month apart. I was there right after Echo joined, and I didn't get to see them grow close like they are now. I don't even know what Echo and Crosshair were like later on. I didn't see them all adjusted to... being a team.

The first time I heard Hunter laugh was back when the tickle-attack thing started. Crosshair jumped him, and they spent a ridiculous length of time scuffling on the floor together. They were so happy.

I used to sleep by Crosshair sometimes. I'd never slept without Omega until then, and being alone was terrifying. I'd drop off with exhaustion sometimes but not always. I wasn't going to risk another Wrecker-crushing-me situation, and being by Hunter was a bit... weird. Even if Crosshair griped and growled about it the whole time.

...

In Crosshair's defense, he didn't actually get annoyed until I started crawling over him to hide from Tech, who he sleeps across from. But I slept with his warmth next to mine and we can't be a lot more intimate than that. I want to get that again, to bring him back.

I can see what Crosshair's absence is doing to all of us. I can see how short-tempered all four of them are being, how Hunter's withdrawing on himself.

"I miss him," I mumble – my sister's awake, but the others are sleeping. Mostly.

She grabs my hand, sliding her arm under Lula. We're close enough to feel each other's warmth, and I wish that could be enough like it always used to be, but now that I've known Crosshair, I can't let him go.

"He should be here with us. Do you think he misses us?"

"I don't know," she whispers back, "Probably. But we'll figure something out."

It feels stupid that I doubted him. I did, back in the beginning, even if I couldn't understand why he was being so uncharacteristically hostile towards Hunter – the only one he's never argued with. I saw the deep, aching hurt etched on Hunter's face, and the way he didn't hesitate to take a hit for Crosshair right after. Crosshair was hurting him, but Hunter didn't care – he didn't let it stop him. He wouldn't because that's just who he is. Hunter would do anything to protect him. He still would, and I know that. We need him, and he needs us.

We were never supposed to be apart. After Omega got her chance, we were supposed to leave and be free. I never expected us to get taken apart again. "I don't wanna wait."

"Maybe we can talk to Hunter about it?" 'emga offers.

Yeah. Probably. He'd know what to do, but I don't want to bring Crosshair up again. The others aren't talking about him, and it drives me crazy, because it feels like I'm the only one that misses him, but I don't want to do something that might hurt them, either.

Maybe, on second thought, I'm not quite ready to sleep yet. Yet.

On hindsight, I realize very, very quickly, balancing a droid-head on mine is not a good idea. They're sharp. And pokey. And it gets tangled in my hair very, very easily.

... On second thought, I probably shouldn't have done that.

Going to sleep solves most of life's problems. Apparently, not getting-droids-tangled-in-your-hair problems, though. Happened to Hunter once, and I feel so bad for him now, because when I finally wake up, it's even more a nightmare than when I went to sleep after convincing Omega we can worry about it in the morning.

I yelp loudly half-way to sitting up and drop back onto the floor.

I really, really feel bad for laughing at Hunter now. "'mega?" I squeak. She's not beside me – she's off somewhere in the ship, and I badly need someone to rescue me.

"I'm stuck."

"Perhaps you should cut it," Tech advises completely unsympathetically, turning to me. Wrecker and Hunter are up front, I think, and Omega's talking to Echo – something about bows and training – a little farther forwards.

"No," I reply grumpily, arms crossed, "I'm not cutting my hair again. Nala Se made me do it all the time, and I hated it." I'm fairly certain part of being free is making choices like that, and besides. Hunter's is longer than mine. A little bit, but still.

"I do not see your issue," Tech informs me bluntly, "Do you know how long it would be if you didn't cut it?"

I glare harder. "Too bad. I'm not changing my mind."

"You will when it's too long to keep track of," he maintains stubbornly, and I stick my tongue out at him.

"Yeah, whatever. Can you help me get this droid outta my hair?" Oopsies, now I sound like Cid. Hmph.

I'm mind-boggled when he approaches to help me out. I honestly thought he'd let me suffer alone. And let 'mega deal with it, because she's the only one who puts up with me when I'm good and truly cranky. Or maybe she's the only one who's dealt with it, period. Doesn't happen often.

"Hunter didn't cut his for two years," Tech announces, as if I – wait, whaaaat?! "And it was very long." He's climbed half on the stairs, half inside the gunner's mount now, and I'm grumpy I can't get up yet. It's weird to have him so close to me.

"How long," I ask slowly, because I can already tell from his tone this is the beginning of a very long, detailed nightmare, "Is very long?"

"About two feet," he replies much too calmly. "It was down to his elbow."

I snort. The imagery is equally hilarious and traumatic. I can't imagine Hunter with that long of hair. I can hardly imagine him that little, either. It's kinda cute, though.

Tech is giving me that disturbingly calculating look like he's trying to decipher an especially complicated math problem that I guarantee he never struggles with in the first place. That's kinda what I am, though, right?

Tech has never really touched me before, and I certainly don't have issue with it – even if he is still creepy, and nothing will ever change my mind about that – but it's just... different, I guess. Weird. Wrecker head-pats me sometimes, but otherwise, they've never been that... intimate with me. Crosshair pulling my hair does not count. And Omega and I comb each other's sometimes, but we don't even have a comb here. Lost that on Kamino, which is fine. It's not like our hair is exactly long enough to need to worry about much.

Yet.

"It was even more of a mess than yours," Tech informs me disapprovingly, "Which is impressive, considering how you have evidently refrained from combing it for days."

Ouch. I feel called out. "I don't even have a comb here," I grouch. "We left ours on Kamino."

"Hunter has one."

"Has one what?" Hunter queries, appearing beside Tech. I burst out giggling when I see him again – I can't help it.

"Vision, and presumedly Omega, have –"

Stars. I'm six years old. I do not need Tech worrying about my hair. "It doesn't matter!" I yell over him.

"Yes, it does," he argues fiercely, "If you are going to keep it long, you will have to take care of it."

If he wasn't being nice, I'd want to throw the droid head at him.

"Doesn't matter!" I yelp, flapping my arms.

"Stop moving," Tech grumbles. "It is only making this more difficult."

I grumpily stop flailing, not that I'm moving more than my arms, thank you, Tech. I'll only stop if he stops trying to tattle. That is stupid, and I don't need Hunter questioning my sanity, because that's apparently a sanity related issue. Or something. "Are you almost done yet?"

"If you don't want to cut it, it will take significantly longer."

Hmph. I remember when this happened to Hunter. Crosshair spent ages dealing with it, and he found it unreasonably hilarious. I'm so, so glad he's not here to laugh at me over it. As always, memories crash over me with a fierce wave of longing. I know what it used to be like for Crosshair to be here, and I hate seeing it any other way.

I know what it's doing to us all.

"Hunter," Tech requests, "Do you have your comb aboard?"

"... Yes?" His uncertainty is more amused than anything else.

"Vision evidently does not understand how to –"

"Stop being mean," I gripe.

"I am not," he replies, flustered.

"Seriously," I grumble, "You hardly have any hair. How do you even know how to take care of it?"

"Mine is," Hunter interjects, visibly amused, and it's the first time he looked genuinely amused since we left Kamino. Well, at least he's happy about something, even if it's at my misery. "Here." He tosses it at us, and I grab it before Tech can. I'm not helpless, thanks for asking.

"You can sit up now," Tech says, shoving the droid head away from me. "I recommend not sleeping right next to it next time." He steals the comb from me, ignoring my shrieks, with a grumpy, "On account of how you neglected it all this time, I do not believe you won't continue to do so."

Mean. Seriously.

He's insistent on combing it himself now, and he apparently can be even more stubborn than Crosshair if he's genuinely trying to be. "If you keep it long, I suggest at least getting something to tie it back with," he says, ignoring my shrieks about him scalping me – for the record, it does not hurt that much. I'm just trying to make him leave me alone. Omega is just laughing at me, the traitor.

I can't see Hunter and Echo with my back facing them, but I'm fully convinced they're laughing at me, too.

That... gives me an idea though. "Well... I could get a head-thingy like Hunter." What? The fact that I'm asking for that, plus have a blaster and a knife, has no relation to anything at all. I'm not trying to copy him or anything. Why would I? Nope, not at all.

Why would – oh, whatever.

"If that's what you want," Hunter replies. I can't read the note in his voice.

"Oh, can it be blue?"

***

It is blue. I keep my hair combed the same of course, parted weirdly towards the side like Omega does because that's what I'm used to, but my headband-thingy keeps it from flopping everywhere. It's not long right now, but it will be soon, apparently. 'mega's undecided about whether she wants to get one, too. I think it'd be cool.

I just want to know what color she'd choose. It'd be cute if she had pink. I mean light pink, not eye-assaulting magenta.

Hunter is so lucky though. His hair is slightly wavy, but hardly. Mine is a madly curly mess. I can never keep it straight.

Cid thankfully has no problem with us using her parlor for practice, so Echo takes Omega and I there with our bows. We're all there, obviously, but he's the one teaching us. Hunter and Wrecker are standing behind watching, and Tech, predictably, is busy with his datapad in the far corner of the universe as though nothing else exists.

We're shooting towards the door to avoid hurting anyone – Omega's aim is terrible, and mine is not at its best either – and I'm about to say I think it worked when someone walks in at the wrong time, and my sister's shot hits the wall right next to them.

For a panicked moment, everyone freezes, and the person who came in runs back out with Omega offering an awkward "sorry."

I burst out laughing. Can't help it.

I'm giggling so hard my bow way dips and I can hardly hold it at all. Everyone is looking at me like I lost my mind, and probably, I did, but I can't stop cackling. "Amazing," I wheeze, "Truly perfect."

She's giving me this sullenly disappointed face, and I step back, trying to hide my grin, but it's not working.

"What?" I ask, struggling to contain my laughter. "That was funny."

She does not look remotely convinced, but raises her bow again, the handle back. "Steady," Echo says, "Arms level and keep your eyes on the target."

"You can do it, kid!" cheers one of the two annoying aliens.

"Not a chance. Miss! Come on! Miss!" taunts the other.

I feel bad for laughing with them here, too, but like...

"Ah! Got it!" Omega cheers when the shot hits the outer edge of the yellow circle.

The big alien laughs. "Bull's eye! Pay up." The other grumpily groans and drops some credits in his hand.

"Good," Echo replies, "Again."

"But I already hit the target three times," she objects sullenly.

"Out of twelve," Echo replies, crouching and touching her shoulder. I turn around, firing up my bow and raising it, planting my feet and looking down the pink energy-line. My stance is... probably weird, but I'm not always gonna have time to adjust it, right? "That's luck, Omega, not skill. Soldiers need to be consistent."

I fire, and the shot hits target again. That's my fifth time. Not that I've been trying quite as much as 'mega, honestly. I'm trying not to make her feel... left out? I don't know. I've been practicing longer, so it's not really fair, but still.

Omega refires her bow next to me.

"Okay, double or nothing she chokes," the Weequay says gleefully.

Her eyes dart to them, annoyed, before she looks to the target again and fires.

I honestly don't know what it is that makes me burst out laughing again: her panicked expression as her hand moves wrong, or the shower of sparks as the shot hits the holotable. "I was doing better until those two showed up," my sister grumbles.

I retreat, wheezing, to Wrecker's side. Like, I get laughing is mean and I'd flip if someone did that to me, but I can't help it.

"You have to learn to tune out distractions, which comes with practice," Echo tells her. He's speaking with the firm gentleness that he reserves solely for the two of us. It's like he, unlike the others, understands how to do this, whatever exactly this is. His commander, I'm guessing. He watched Anakin train their commander, and I have no idea how that works with Jedi, but I guess it would've been semi-similar? "Again."

She fires, and the shot again flies way off-course, hitting the wall a distance away.

"Not exactly a natural, is she?" Wrecker whispers, and Hunter shrugs.

Cid, predictably, decides that's her cue to appear from her office. She whacks Wrecker aside, ignoring his yelp. "Okay, playtime's over. We need to talk. You two, scram." She makes shooing motions, and the other two scramble for the door with a frantic "okay, we're going, we're going."

By now, Tech has returned to join us, finally finding life a shred more intriguing than his datapad.

"I assume you boys know what a tactical droid is?" Cid asks, and I stare at her. Is that a serious question? Of course, I do. I was supposed to fight those things one day, and the first thing Tech did when he realized how little I knew about the universe was desperately attempt to cram my brain full of droid nonsense. Tech immediately looks to Hunter and Echo in alarm. "They were the oper –"

"The operational brains of the Separatist military," Tech interjects, shoving past Hunter who twists aside, his other hand on Echo's shoulder.

"Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba," Cid babbles, flailing her claws at him, and that's the first moment I decide I like her, because that is me almost whenever he starts talking. "This is my briefing, Goggles."

She throws Wrecker off the holotable, ignoring his yelp and my glare.

"Tactical droid intel has tremendous value, which is why you're gonna break into this decommissioning facility on Corellia and retrieve one before they're all destroyed," Cid replies, turning on a hologram. It's some kind of facility. It looks like a factory.

Hunter looks at it, assessing. He glances at Echo and Tech before replying with a steady, "We haven't decided if we're gonna work for you or not."

I glance up at him. It's droids, and probably the only time I'll get to see them. It's stupid, but it's what I want to do.

Cid turns off the hologram. "Allow me to decide for you. You're in!" Hunter twitches back, expression tightening a little, though it's not hostile or anything. She launches into a rant about 'beneficial arrangements', and really?

I'm in for the fun.

Hunter looks to Echo and Tech again, which I'm starting to realize is normal, and it seems far more normal than I remember from them before. How much changed during our months apart, and how much from losing Crosshair, I have no idea.

"Hey," I object, lightly elbowing Hunter's thigh, "It's the only time I'll get to see battle droids."

He sighs, catching my gaze and Omega's. "I guess we're in."

"I know you're in. I just told you you're in," Cid gripes, turning to Omega and grabbing her arm. "And you, you're releasing too soon because of those weak noodle arms. Build up your strength," she informs, taking the bow from her and firing at the target. I watch, wide-eyed, as it hits dead-center all three times. That – whoa. My brothers could do that, but I somehow never took Cid as knowing much about weaponry. Don't know why. "Lesson over."

***

She apparently left out the fact that there's police droids there. Hunter seems annoyed by it, but I'm just gleeful. The mission with Muchi was cool, but this isn't the same. It's far more... real.

Tech pinpoints a blind point in the droid's defenses, and we move in from there. We get the honor of climbing a giant ladder, which of course, Wrecker is not happy about.

I don't get it. I love being high up. It's thrilling.

I grab Wrecker's hand and pull him inside when we reach the top before he can go to the edge to terrify himself anyway. Wrecker knocks out a factory worker with a far too gleeful "nighty night" and we move in onto one of the platforms overlooking the factory itself.

There are walkways winding across it, and overall, it's very dark, which is definitely to our advantage. The air is stifling hot and hard to breathe. Droid pieces are on some kind of conveyer that's rolling along, dropping them into a melting area, which is casting an eerie, golden-orange glow throughout the building. Probably the primary source of lighting.

There are fully assembled battle droids moving right past us, and it's so weird to see them up close. They're kinda cute. I'd feel bad about chopping them up.

We're crouching against a rail, trying to take shelter from the people moving around elsewhere. "Echo, Tech. We'll locate and retrieve the droid," Hunter says, dropping into a crouch again and turning to his brothers. "Wrecker, cover us up top."

"But being the lookout was Crosshair's job," Wrecker whines.

"That wasn't a request," Hunter replies flatly.

"I can do it?" I offer. "I mean, 'mega and I did that fine before." On second thought, I still don't have that grappling hook I wanted – I desperately need the thing, but we don't have enough spare credits to think about buying one yet. Maybe it's best if I don't go up so high.

"And what about me?" Omega queries.

"No," he answers, "Stay here, and keep your eyes peeled for the target. Let's move." He motions to the others, and they scramble down the ladder, heading out. Wrecker hovers a moment, unhappily.

"We'll be fine," I tell him, with a certainty I don't have, because I just... I think something's wrong. I've been dreaming every night, whether it's flashes of someone in black and orange, or... Crosshair that once, or Kamino.

The dreams of blue fire are the most terrifying.

He takes off, climbing upward.

The others are talking, and I move to the edge, crouching and scanning the conveyers down below. It's gotta be here somewhere. Omega has the macrobinoculars, and we hafta share a pair, so I can't see properly. Don't need to, though. I have Sight that she doesn't.

Something's wrong, something's wrong, something's –

"Found it!" my sister pipes up, and I can See something out of my line of sight. There's something... nearby, something I need to be worried about. My hand creeps closer to my blaster. "Sort of. The droid's already in pieces."

"Is the head intact?" Tech inquires.

"Affirmative," she replies. "– Wait! Someone just ran off with the droid head."

Oh boy. That's not good. "I can get it," I offer.

"Negative," Hunter replies, "Stay out of sight."

"I see 'em," Wrecker reports. "One of the workers is stealing our target."

I glance down, hand resting on my blaster now. Something's close. They're trying to sneak up on us. I whip out my blaster twisting around to face the person, stepping forwards to shield Omega all in the same move.

It's one of the workers.

"Whoa, whoa," she yelps, lifting the gray mask she's wearing so I can see her face. "Take it easy, kid."

"Keep your distance, then," I snarl furiously, hissing at her, and I hear Omega drawing and firing up her energy-bow.

"Stay back," Omega snaps, coming up to stand beside me. My eyes flick towards her for half a second. I'd do anything to protect her, and it's something we'd do for each other, no matter if she's older or if I'm the actual soldier.

"I don't wanna hurt you, but I can't have you getting in the way," she replies flippantly.

"You're the one in my way," 'mega snarls.

"Our way," I correct. "'mega. Go for it. I'll keep her here." Omega hesitates, glancing between us.

"I don't think so," the not-worker replies, eyes narrowing. I think she's protecting something as much as trying to steal our target, but I don't appreciate it.

"Yeah?" I snip back. "Well, I do. I'm the one holding the blaster. Go for it, sis. Fast." I have the leverage now, because if she tries to hurt Omega, or stop her, I'll just shoot. It's not like those Zygerrians, where they needed to go, but I don't like this person, either. And we need to get that droid head.

"Rafa, I've got the target," a voice says from the other end. "Where are you?"

"Don't answer," I order, eyes narrowing, before the worker – Rafa? – can answer. She'll call support, backup, and we can't have that.

The girl on the other end keeps talking, voice filtering over, but it doesn't matter.

Omega glances at me, and I nod to her, not turning my gaze from Rafa. My sister takes off, darting past her, turning her bow off and slinging it onto her back as she scrambles down the ladder. "There's a second person after the tactical droid," she says over our comms, "But Vision's got her."

"In short," I reply, "We've already been seen, so never mind not being spotted."

"Why don't you lower the blaster, and we can talk about this?" Rafa suggests.

"How 'bout we 'talk about this' while I still have it out?" I snap back. I'm not lowering it so she can get the jump on me. I'm not an idiot. The air is hot and sticky, and I shift a hand from my blaster to wipe across my forehead – my headband thingy still feels weird. I'm still adjusting to it. And it luckily doesn't feel wet. Yet. I do need to get used to my hair not flopping in my face constantly, though.

"It's a little hard to think with you pointing it at me."

"Remind of the part where that's my problem."

Rafa's eyes dart to something behind me, and I freeze. I twist around, throwing a glance over my shoulder, just to make sure because she's not alone here, and if someone else working with her sneaks up behind me, it'll be stupid.

I should've caught it. She darts forwards, grabbing my wrist and trying to steal my blaster. I snarl at her, jerking against her, trying to fire at her, but she has it firmly pointed away.

The shot flies wild, hitting a wall somewhere, bursting some pipe or something and steam starts pouring out.

We both freeze, and I try shoving her away, though my blaster clatters from my hands off the walkway and down, down, down.

That was the one Hunter gave me. Got for me, way back, and it –

An alarm starts blaring.

"Alright, laser brain," I snarl, half of the mind of grabbing my knife and just stabbing her. "How do you plan to get out of here?"

"Nice going, kid," she scoffs.

"Excuse me?!" I yell. "You're the idiot that grabbed my blaster!"

Doors are opening in multiple places, including right nearby, and police droids are coming in. I could really, really use my blaster right about now.

"Don't just stand there. Grab a weapon," Rafa gripes.

"You know," I growl back, "You don't want me to do that, or I'll start with you."

This girl. I swear.

Chapter Text

From there, everything explodes into chaos. I draw my bow, firing at the approaching droids, and lose track of everyone else amidst the chaos of trying not to get shot. It's a bit thrilling, though minorly terrifying without my brothers right beside me.

Everything seemed fine until I feel a dull throbbing in my head. Burning. Something –

Echo is yelling at Wrecker to get to the main control panel, to reboot the system. Wrecker doesn't sound happy.

Something's about to happen.

My gut flips, and I drop down, crouching against a railing, panting. There's a dull throbbing ion my head that doesn't feel like my own, and my vision is blacking out at the edges. I lower my bow, turning it off so the light doesn't get the droid's attention, if they track by sight anyway.

I drop my head against the rail, closing my eyes and breathing in, surrendering to the violent, stormy currents.

I see myself, energy-bow raised, fingers clenched over the handle. 'mega's standing across from me, eyes wide with fear, and – and –

"Good soldiers follow orders," Wrecker's voice is in the background, and I see him on the platform by some control system somewhere. He's mumbling out a desperate string of no's and his hand is pressed to the side of his helmet.

And there's flashes of something, blaster shots and more that I don't understand and –

And then there's hands, someone holding onto me, and I feel myself jerking and reaching for my knife –

It vanishes, and I drop my bow altogether, clinging to the railing as I gasp for air. Stars, what was that? Why was I – what were Omega and I doing? I glance at my bow again, suddenly not wanting to touch the thing again. I couldn't have been about to hurt her, but something was happening, was wrong and it – I –

Wrecker. He's...

I scramble to my feet with a gasp, snatching up my bow despite how badly I don't want to touch the thing. "Wrecker?" I call into my comm. There's no answer. "Hunter, something's happening to him. I'm going to find him."

"Be careful, kid," his voice crackles back, and I hear his worry.

"I'll be fine. Could still use that grappling hook, though." I miss my blaster, no thanks to Rafa who I still want to punch for that. I also wish I could actually use my knife. I glance around the factory, making out the platform area I saw in my vision and take off instantly.

Minus the part about how I nearly got shot by droids a few times, well, I make it.

Somehow.

Wrecker is laying on the ground when I get there, unmoving. My heart skips a beat, and I dart over to him, shaking his shoulder. "Wrecker?"

"Good soldiers..." he mumbles, entirely unaware of his surroundings, and I wince when I catch the rest of his words. Crosshair said that on Kamino, and I don't know what it means that Wrecker's saying the same thing. Is he okay? Is... this something about his chip? Is that possible? Please, no. I can't lose him, too.

"Wrecker, wake up!" I shake his shoulder harder, desperation flaring up inside me. I need to know he's fine, that this – that it doesn't mean anything. He's still not moving, and I smell smoke and burning. It's like when he was shot back on Kamino – did he get shot again?!

Panic is building inside me, hot and desperate, and I reach out, tugging his helmet off. I know it's not wise in action but like... I don't know what else to do. Omega's told me before that stepping into someone's line of vision makes them focus on you, and she does that to keep me calm. Something about focusing on a person instead of surroundings, something, and she did that to me way back when this all started. "Wrecker." I drop the helmet beside him, bow reattached to my back again, hand on his shoulder.

Come on, come on, wake up, look at me, something –

He lets out a sort of growl-groan, head turning a little towards me, though his eye is wild, unfocused.

"It's okay," I try. I wish Omega was here. She wouldn't sound like a babbling idiot. "You're okay, the – I'm here. The droids are gone. We'll be fine, we –" What am I even saying? I sound like an idiot.

He blinks at me, half unseeing, but some of the haze is clearing. Uh. Okay. I guess I'll keep rambling like an idiot.

"Wecker." I try shaking his shoulder again. "Come on, they need us. We're still here; we need to move. The droids – are – are you okay?" Stupid question. I am so dumb sometimes.

He groans, twitching away and pressing a hand to his head again, other hand clenching.

I have no idea what to do. I'm panicking enough that I can't think straight. "Wrecker, come on." I don't think clocking him over the head is a good idea, but like. I have no idea what to do. "Come on, wake up." This is such a dumb thing to call Hunter over, though I'm still panicking. I don't even know what happened to him.

He groans, pushing himself up. The shot doesn't look too bad, but I could be wrong. "Hey," Wrecker supplies, rubbing his head and snatching up his helmet. "You okay?"

"Are you?" I ask anxiously, reaching for him. He presses a hand to my back and tugs me against him. I throw my arms around his neck, clinging to him. Something tells me that I could've just lost him, the same way I lost Crosshair.

"I'm fine, kid," he promises, patting my head, and I snuggle closer, trying to just breathe. Something else is wrong, though.

I don't want to touch my bow again, but whatever. Rafa stole my blaster, and I'm still about to throttle her for it.

"They need us," I say, pulling back, staring up at the perpetual-screaming face on his helmet. My comm beeps, and I answer it instantly. "We're fine," I answer instantly.

"Good," Tech's voice replies, tone clipped, "Because we could use your assistance."

"Huh. I guess we can still be useful to something." I look up at Wrecker, who scoops me up.

"Hang on," he tells me a bit gleefully, and I swing myself onto his back, wrapping my arms around his neck again.

The fall is fun. It always is. I squeal the whole way down, jumping off the moment Wrecker lands and starts firing at the approaching droids. "I got tired of you guys having all the fun," he cackles.

I jump off, rolling and drawing my bow, taking shelter behind him and firing at the droids. My aim's far from perfect, but it still works.

***

Don't know what they meant they needed us. The other girl – Trace – or Tech or someone or everyone decided it was a brilliant idea to reawaken the battle droids and send them out at the police droids. Which is funny to watch, but we don't have much time.

The droid gets shot, obviously, because Trace insisted on carrying it herself. I pick up my blaster again – I'm still of the mind to shoot Rafa but like. That wouldn't serve a purpose – and we run aboard their ship.

The doors close, and we take off.

"Whoever Cid's buyer is isn't gonna be happy," Omega says, dejected.

"Let me get this straight," Rafa snaps, "You knew how dangerous the information on the tactical droid is, but you didn't know who you were giving it to?"

"Guess what? It's not our problem, nor is it yours," I snap back, glowering.

"We're being paid to acquire and deliver, not ask questions," Hunter replies.

"Our contact needed that information to fight back against the Empire. They're trying to help people and make things better," Trace says, and I stare. Huh. Apparently, they can be nice. Sometimes? My respect for her skyrockets. Wait. There are actually some people brave enough to Actively fight the Empire? Sweet. Immediately, my mind jumps to Anakin, but I force the image from mind. He's probably still out there, but like, there's nothing we can do about that.

"Why aren't you fighting for the Empire? Isn't that what you clones do now?" Rafa asks.

"They're boring," I deadpan, "Just like you."

Omega gives me this look that I genuinely cannot read.

"Not all of us," Hunter responds. "We're different."

"Yeah, I've heard that before," Rafa replies, disappearing into the cockpit where Wrecker's lounging in the pilot seat.

They... know other clones who defected? Maybe we're not as alone as I thought.

Rafa and Trace talk to Omega, and to Hunter, right after we land, but I back off, standing in the center of the platform. The others have already boarded the Marauder, and something's wrong. Everything else is somewhat zoning out around me, and all I can focus on is how something is about to happen.

I wave goodbye at Trace, anyway, but there's something –

I See it before anything else, someone in the shadows, finger lingering on the trigger.

"Hunter, duck!" I yell, reaching for my bow. He does, right on time for a blaster shot to whiz over his head.

Stars, that could have hit him in the head. Now is not the time to think about how I just saved his life.

Omega lets out a panicked gasp, whipping around and drawing her bow. The shot fires again. I shoot back, wildly, in time to see someone in black and orange dodge behind something.

We can't get to the ship, or she'll – no.

"Get to the ship," Hunter orders, drawing his blaster.

All I can think about is how I lost Crosshair, and I can't – I can't leave him. I can't lose him. He's everything to us, our leader, our –

I duck into a roll, reaching for Omega and scrambling for the ramp either way, because I have to get her to safety, first. Hunter knows what he's doing. 'mega doesn't, not really.

A shot strikes the ramp, and I jump back with a yelp. Omega drops down, shielding her head with her arm.

He fires at her again, ducking into a roll when she steps out of hiding from behind the structure she's against, firing back at him.

There is no cover except what she has. This is a hangar bay. Hunter doesn't even have cover, and we...

Wait. Wait, what we need to do is draw her fire. She's not after me, and I'll be fine. "'mega, stay down," I order. "I'll draw her fire." Where are the others?!

I take off, bolting for the edge of the hangar, trying to circle around her and box her in. Hunter is shielding Omega now, ducking the bounty hunter's shots.

It works 'til it doesn't. I skid towards her, and I hear Hunter yelling my name, but I can't think about anything else. I can't just stand here, and watch. The bounty hunter fires at me instead, and I duck against the wall with a yelp.

It's so fast.

She practically tackles me, ripping my bow away, and grabbing my arm. She has her blaster out, aimed at me, and I jerk against her grip fruitlessly.

"Let. Her. Go," Hunter hisses, and my breath catches – it's happening. I saw this once, right before Pantora. He's standing now, Omega mostly hidden behind him. The others are coming, finally, appearing in the door.

The bounty hunter's blaster is trained on me. I can feel it. "Hand over the kid," she replies smoothly, "And I'll let her go. She's not the one I'm here for."

I jerk against her fruitlessly. "You're not touching 'mega!" I twist, trying to glare up at her. I need to get out of here, too – the knife. Right. There's that.

"What about you, kid?" she asks, looking at Omega, who somewhat creeps out from behind Hunter now. "Come with me, and I'll let your friend go."

"Sister," I hiss, because that's important, snarling when I see how terrified she looks.

"Is she?" the bounty hunter replies, "I'm not paid to ask questions. Hand her over."

"I have a better idea," I snap back, stomping on her foot. She jerks back a little, grip unfaltering. "Maybe you should take me instead and I can dye my hair blonde." Sounds nice. Then I could drag Crosshair back. Even if he's kicking and screaming the whole way.

My hand wraps around the hilt of my knife. I need to be careful though, because her blaster is trained on me, and her intentions are obvious. She's using me to get them to stop firing at her. I just need to make her let go. I draw the blade mid-talking, using my arm to shield the visibility of what I'm doing. It makes noise when I draw it, and I have to cover it up.

I stab backwards, ramming the blade into her thigh, and feel no sympathy for her whatsoever when she screams.

Her hand loosens, and I duck forwards into a roll, jerking away and running for the others after snatching up my bow. The others are shooting now, and the bounty hunter must've scrambled for cover. Wrecker scoops me up the moment I'm close enough, carrying me aboard. I wrap my arms around his neck, still holding my knife – it's a little bloody and I don't really know what to do about that. Omega's a second behind, and Hunter takes up cover while Echo and Tech scramble to fly us out.

We don't relax until we're out of the hangar, heading back for Ord Mantell.

"How did she find us?" Omega queries shakily.

"We saw her first on Pantora," Echo replies, "Could she have tracked our ship here?"

"It is possible," Tech replies, "In which case, she knows we have been to Ord Mantel. I will run a scan."

"Do it," Hunter orders, standing, "Vision, knife?" He extends a hand to me, and I raise an eyebrow at him.

"What for?" What, did I screw up again?

"You have to keep it clean. It's easier to do that before the blood dries."

Oh. Yuck. Yeah. I forgot about that.

He takes it to the 'fresher, and Wrecker finally sets me down again.

Omega throws her arms around my neck, clinging to me. I wind my arms around her waist, pulling her tight against me. I press my face to her neck, exhaling shakily. Now that we're safe, the adrenaline crash is hitting me hard. My hands are freezing.

The fact that there's bounty hunters after Omega has never seemed more real. They could hurt her, would hurt all of us to get through to her. And knowing my sister, she would do something just as stupid as what this bounty hunter had asked of her. Turn herself over to protect the rest of us. She's selfless like that.

And I'm afraid of what it could mean.

She's my sister, and she deserves to be safe. I need a way to make sure that doesn't happen.

Omega presses against me, sniffling. Wrecker hovers nearby. "Are you okay?" Echo queries, turning to us.

"Yeah," I nod, still not letting go. I kind of just want to curl up in the gunner's mount with her and Lula, but I don't want to be alone, either. We came so close to losing someone today. More than once. If I hadn't Seen it right when I did, Hunter would've... The bounty hunter was gonna kill him, and just like that, it would've been over. I don't think I've ever really thought about death before, not until now.

I could handle the thought of myself being... gone, but not them.

Still, though. I can't annoy Crosshair if I'm already dead unless ghosts are real.

Hunter comes out of the 'fresher a minute later, calling my name. I reluctantly let go of my sister, though I feel the absence of her warmth instantly. He hands my knife back, and I slide it back into its sheath.

"Thanks," I mumble, glancing up at him. I'm half expecting him to say something, to tell me that I should've listened and gone aboard instead of trying to attack her, but he doesn't.

Omega grabs my hand again, and I lean into her side, though I'm still watching Hunter. I need to talk to him sometime, and I don't know when or how. I don't want my sister to overhear it, either, which means I'll have to wait a while. Don't know how long, but it can't just... wait.

"There is a tracker on the hull," Tech says, approaching Hunter. "I suggest we land to remove it."

"We'll have to drop out of hyperspace," Hunter replies, "We can't let her know we're going back to Ord Mantell."

Yeah, that wouldn't be ideal if we'll be working with Cid for a while. Hunter gave the information to Rafa, so... we're probably going to have a problem with her, period. Either way, I'm too tired to worry about it.

"Anyone think we should go back to the Ordo moon to get it off?" I deadpan, which isn't fully a joke, but something has to lighten the mood.

"No, thanks," Echo replies fiercely.

Huh. Guess he hated it as much as me.

I sort of just feel... cold. I'm not entirely of the mindset to think about anything in much clarity right now. Hunter nearly just died, and I can't get it out of my head. And I knew that bounty hunter would show up, but that doesn't mean I was ready. Stars, I really just want to sleep, but I'm afraid to. I keep dreaming, and I miss when I was able to just sleep normally, and dream sometimes, but not nightmares. Not violence. Is that all that's left for us?

I want action, but not – I don't want to lose anyone else. I can't lose Omega. She's all I've ever had. I need to make sure she's safe.

We settle in the gunner's mount together, both sapped of energy compared to earlier, and it hurts to see her so... scared. She tugs me down next to her, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, pressing her hand to my side so I can curl up against her. I rest my head on her chest, relaxing in the warmth of her body next to mine, half wishing I was still tiny enough to curl up in her lap.

Even if constantly looking up at everyone is annoying.

After a heartbeat, I feel her cheek pressed against my hair, feel the way her breathing evens out as she calms.

How am I supposed to find a way to keep her like this? I'm... not the same to her as her brothers. If something like that happened again, if there was genuinely a risk of someone hurting me... I know what she would do. And it's stupid because I'm the one who's trained and knows what I'm doing.

I wrap my arms around her waist, and we shift a little to curl up half on top of each other on the floor. With me half sprawled on her, anyway. I drag Lula into the pile, careful to keep the droid away from us. We don't need any more hair scenarios. That was a nightmare.

In a couple years, I'll be fully grown and far too big to snuggle with her like this. Omega won't be. Not as fast as me, and I need to – to keep her safe. Protect her like she did me. It was partly thanks to her that Nala Se kept me, that I didn't get another purpose or just dumped off with the regs.

Don't know what I'd have done if I was.

I've never seen our brothers affectionate with each other like this before. Wrecker's rambunctious playfulness doesn't count. I still think they used to be, though – have always thought Crosshair was at least. He used to be. 'mega would hold him whenever they were sleeping at the same time. It... makes me wonder if he used to do that after, too, if he and Hunter ever slept like this. Can't quite imagine Crosshair curling up with anyone else.

Certainly can't imagine him, or anyone, doing that with Tech. That's traumatizing.

I'll probably never know, though. ... okay, that's not true, if we can find a way to get Crosshair back.

Why does it have to be an if? Why is no one talking about it? Why isn't that...

I glance up, feeling someone watching us more than anything else, and my eye catches Hunter standing not too far off, just... watching. I can't read his expression. Something wistful and longing in one. Pretty sure that answers that.

He turns away when he sees me watching, and I hear the others talking, but tune it out.

It's... a while later when we've landed and dealt with the thing, then taken off and are back in hyperspace to Ord Mantell. I don't want to bother her, but I have to talk to Hunter, and I've been dozing in and out a bit – okay, I probably slept a lot longer than I thought I did – and I'd like to get to feel calm about it.

The others are sleeping, except Hunter who's up in the cockpit. I slowly wiggle my way away from my sister, who cracks her eyes open at the movement. I freeze, mumbling an excuse about requiring a 'fresher trip – I am so lucky no one else is in there right now – which isn't entirely untrue before scrambling off and tugging the curtain over. I'll move it when I come back.

I tiptoe into the cockpit where Hunter's in the co-pilot seat, arms crossed over his chest. Do they never take off their armor? "Hey," I whisper, shuffling, contemplating climbing into the next seat, but I don't really want to, either.

"Can't sleep?" he guesses, spinning the chair around to face me. There's a strange heaviness lingering in his eyes, and I bite my lip.

"About earlier, I..." Where do I start? "What the bounty hunter said to Omega," I supply awkwardly. "I was afraid that she'd... do it. And I need to know that we'll keep her safe."

He sighs, and stars, he sounds so tired. "Even if she had wanted to, I wouldn't have let her," Hunter assures me, "You're both part of the squad, and none of you are any more important than the other."

"'mega is," I tell him fiercely, because I know it's true. She's different than we are, even, special, and it – she deserves to be treated like that. I know he feels it, even if he's denying it. "If – if something like that happens again, if it's a choice between Omega and I, I want to know you'll choose her."

He stares at me, lips parting slightly, as though half uncertain what to tell me. I can't blame him for it, either, because it's kinda out of the blue, but I need to know. She is everything to me. I'm just... annoying. (Does Crosshair miss me? I have no idea. Don't want to think about it either. Probably not – he seemed to find me more annoying than anything else.)

"She's important," I continue when he doesn't answer, and it's taking too long. I need to hear it, to know. I'd believe him if he said it, because this is Hunter, and he wouldn't break his word. "You know that. I'm a soldier. I know what it could lead to, what could happen. I understand that, and Omega – she doesn't deserve that. The action is... what we've always wanted, but the – I need to know she won't be hurt from it. I know we'll protect her, but it came so close today, and I just..." I trail off, huffing out a sigh, searching his face desperately.

There's a tightness in his expression now, and I can't help feeling like I screwed up again.

I'm not entirely expecting it when Hunter reaches out, laying his hand on my shoulder, but I lean into his touch instantly, pressing a tiny hand over his. I need it – him – and I...

"Vision," he says slowly, "That's never gonna happen. We'll protect you both."

"But it almost did!" I kind of really want to cry right now. "Please? Promise me. I need to know."

I didn't see anything wrong with asking, but now that I see the look on his face, I hate myself a little for having to ask it of him. I don't know what else to do, though.

"Okay," Hunter concedes at last, "I will."

I want to hug-tackle him just for that, and if it means lifting the heaviness in his eyes, but now probably isn't the time to get emotional. Instead, I just nod firmly, the way my brothers do sometimes. I squeeze his hand, snuggling a little closer up against his leg and yes, I know there's nothing to feel but armor.

Still though.

I badly want to hug him.

"For the... um. Earlier, I know you told me to get on board and I was ignoring your orders, again, but I..."

"It's alright," he assures me. "If you hadn't reacted as fast as you did, I wouldn't be here."

I shudder. "I don't want to think about it."

"Was the 'fresher thing just an excuse?" he queries, faintly amused, though there's still a lingering pain in his eyes.

"Yeah. Well, not really." I don't want to, but I back away, anyway, because if I don't scramble, someone else might steal it. Wrecker, presumedly, broke the lock system on the door ages ago – apparently, that's a thing? Kamino didn't have those.

And getting walked in on is weird. Okay. Only if Tech does it. (He did that once, and I yowled him back out.) Or Echo (not as if that'd ever happen – he's too big on personal space), because I'm not quite as familiar with him. I grew up knowing about the others, but Echo was... a new addition that I'm still getting used to, even if I love him the same as the rest.

I glance back at Hunter again, hovering, uncertain, mostly not wanting to leave him here alone, but I don't know what to say to him, so I take off to the back.

'mega's waiting for me.

(I miss Crosshair. I used to wonder what it would mean in our months apart, how we'd do that, how we'd sleep on the Marauder. I wanted to think I could still sleep next to him, even if 'mega had to pile in too, but he's not even here. He's... just gone. Does he miss us? Is he okay?)

Omega's sleeping again when I curl up next to her, dragging Lula in between us and wrapping an arm around her to grab my sister's hand.

Somehow, I still don't know what it means to be home. Won't, until we reach that undefined point in the future where our whole family is together.

Chapter Text

The bounty hunters chasing her have never seemed so real. Omega knew they could encounter the bounty hunter in person, but she still wasn't ready, didn't really realize it would happen.

She came so close to losing Vision. Viz – her sister, and she can't imagine living with that. Omega lost her brothers, and living without them was hard but she grew up with Vision. She can't imagine losing her sister, too. She was so, so scared when – of what happened, and what could happen. She can't imagine being without Vision – all they've ever had is each other.

Hunter nearly got shot. He could've died, and Omega has no idea how much danger they'll be in because of her. She didn't know this would happen, and she's terrified of being taken from them.

She can't stop thinking about it, brooding, as hard as Omega tries telling herself that she'll be fine, that they'll all be fine. It's easy to let that slide from mind when they finally make it back to Ord Mantell safely, though the bounty hunter probably tracked them here, first. That means she would know to come back here, and Omega can't help looking around, partly expecting someone to attack them.

Hunter will protect them, and she clings to that knowledge above all else.

The others are acting like nothing's wrong, which helps a little, too. She doesn't want to think about it. She doesn't want to go back to Kamino. Being away from Vision was so, so hard, and Omega doesn't want that to happen again. Vision is the only sibling she's always had. She can't lose her.

Omega is grateful at least when Wrecker comes over to her because it gives her something to focus on other than being worried. If the bounty hunter comes back to Ord Mantell – she must know they were here, right? – it could be... bad.

"Hey, kid," Wrecker asks, scooping her up, "Wanna have a look around?"

"Yeah," Viz adds, hopping up and down in a failed effort to see Omega's face, and she giggles, "We're bored of being cramped up in here. There's so much to see."

"Yeah," Omega agrees, instantly brightening. She looks to Hunter, who's sitting in the seat he normally sits at. "Hunter, can we go?"

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" Vision adds for emphasis.

Hunter turns his seat to face them. "Alright," he says, "But be careful. If something happens, or if you see something, come right back." He's looking a little pointedly at Vision, who raises her hands.

"Hey!" she whines, "When do I ever do anything that's not the smartest thing to do?"

"Uh-huh," Hunter says, sarcasm practically dripping from his voice. Vision huffs, crossing her arms, and Omega giggles. "And don't buy anything we don't need," he adds pointedly, "We're tight on credits still."

Vision huffs but salutes him anyway. "Sir, yes, sir."

"You too, Wrecker," Hunter adds.

"Yeah," he grumbles, "Whatever ya say, Sarge."

Hunter watches until they leave, and Omega waves at him.

Vision's already halfway across the parking area by the time Wrecker and Omega – who's on her feet now – catch up.

"I don't see anything poisonous," she announces, "Or blaster happy. We're safe."

There's so much to see on Ord Mantell. She's hardly seen anything her entire life, and out here, there's so much to look at.

"Where do we start?" Omega asks, looking around, wide-eyed. It's so big and bright. There are so many colors. Kamino was just white or gray. It was brilliant enough to hurt her eyes sometimes, and it was even worse for Crosshair.

"I'm starvin'," Wrecker supplies, "How 'bout we find something good to eat?"

"Yeah," Vision agrees wholeheartedly, "All we ever have is ration bars. Even Kamino was more creative than that."

"We're in a city," Omega reminds, looking around – there's so much to see and she doesn't know where to start. She'd get lost in minutes of trying to find her way around these streets. "Shouldn't there be something else here we can eat?"

"Yeah," Wrecker assures, looking around. "There's gotta be somethin'. Let's find the food stands."

"Food stands?" Vision and Omega chorus, taking off after him.

She knows absolutely nothing about how most people live, but it's so cool out here. Kamino was boring, and depressing, and she couldn't be happier to leave that life behind completely. She lost so much there, and she doesn't want to think about it. They lost Crosshair there again, and Omega lost Vision there for a while, and she... yeah. It's better now. They're free now.

Vision suddenly freezes up, and Omega pauses when she catches it.

"Viz?" she queries, turning to her little sister. Vision has that calculating, not fully present look in her eyes, the way she somewhat zones out when she's having visions. "Where should we go?" That's under the hopes her sister is Seeing that and not something else, but Omega doesn't think anything will go wrong.

"There," her sister announces cheerfully, pointing, "That way." Vision takes off running, and Omega runs after.

"This place is important," Vision announces, pausing in the middle of the street.

"Oooh," says Wrecker, laughing, "Everything looks good here." Hunter said not to buy something unnecessary, but food isn't unnecessary, is it?

***

They try about half a dozen things before they run out of the tiny amount of credits Hunter was willing to let them have in the first place.

"This stuff is amazing," Vision mumbles through a mouthful of Mantell Mix.

"It's called Mantell Mix," Omega reminds immediately, because undoubtedly her sister hasn't even read the sign.

"Whatever," Vision says, trying to cram another handful in her mouth.

"It's amazing," Omega says, giggling. It's sweet and crunchy, not in the way that ration bars are. Omega has never had anything crunchy in her life, actually, and this is amazing.

Wrecker pats her shoulder. "Yeah," he replies exuberantly.

"Hey, d'you think the others would like this?" Viz asks, waving a handful.

"Dunno," Wrecker shrugs.

"Can we take some back?" Omega queries, because this is amazing, and the others deserve to have some, too.

"Would Hunter define this as a do not buy thing?" Vision asks through a mouthful.

"Don't talk with your mouth stuffed," Omega tells her automatically, "It's bad manners."

"Good thing Nele Se's not around to worry about it," she chirps, "Besides, I'mma soldier. Not a manneristic something or other."

"Dunno," Wrecker says as answer to Vision's prior question.

"We hafta have it again," Omega agrees. "After... the next mission? When we have more credits?"

"It's the perfect post-chaos snack," Vision agrees – Omega giggles as she sees her finishing chewing an impossibly sized bite.

"We can make it a tradition," Wrecker suggests cheerfully.

"We don't have the board anymore," Vision concurs.

"What board?" Omega asks, looking up again. Sometimes, it's almost hard to believe thar Vision knew their brothers at a time when she didn't, but there are moments that it's prevalent, and that always hurts. She should be glad Vision got that time, and she is, but she wishes she could have had the same. She never knew them when they were all together, when they still had Crosshair.

"We had a board," Vision explains, "We'd keep track of our successful missions. Don't have that anymore, though. So... maybe we can do something else?"

"Can we?" Omega queries hopefully. It sounds fun, anyway. Fitting to have a post-mission reward of some sort. They don't have anywhere to have a board anymore, of course, but she still wants something.

Wrecker looks instantly elated, and Omega grins back. "Yeah!"

Vision squeals. "Yes!"

This is where she's always wanted to be – back home, with her family.

Chapter Text

'mega and I usually share a carton of Mantell Mix, because we don't need much more than that. We have enough to eat, with the missions we're going on for Cid. It's tight, but we can manage. Cid was not happy about the droid head failure, but she let us stay despite the fit she pitched about it. We owe her now, though, which isn't ideal.

We're on the way back from the mix stand when I feel a prickle of something. I don't know what, but someone's here.

Wrecker enters the parlor first, pausing. I glance up, to where our brothers are gathered by the table, eyes instantly falling on a very familiar white and blue armored clone. His hair's blond, like – is that him?

"Well, look who it is!" Wrecker booms, bouncing down the stairs and scooping Rex into a hug. "Come here, Rex."

I laugh, partly at the disgruntled sound Rex makes, partly at Echo's frantic attempt to keep from smirking. If Rex is here, what happened to Anakin? And his Commander – er, former commander or whatever? Are they alright? (They are. I know they are, because some deepfelt instinct whispers it to me.)

"Good to see you too, Wrecker," Rex wheezes.

"I thought you didn't like the regs?" Omega queries as we approach.

"This is Rex's bestie-brother-something," I inform her, "He's different. It's different if they're cool."

"This one we like," Wrecker agrees, spinning around and setting him down. Rex shoves him back and throws a wary sideways glance at him, and I crack up all over again.

"Omega, this is Rex," Hunter says.

Rex turns to us, 'mega actually, crouching. "I've met many clones in my time, but never one like you." Hunter and Echo exchange glances in the background, while Tech just watches.

"Is it the blonde hair?" I snip, "Or the fact that she's a she, because she's the second sister you've met – okay, whatever. Technically she's the first." Omega is, in fact, my mother, which is weird but like. She's still my sister first so...

"You're a generation one," Omega says, studying his face.

"Now how'd you know that?" Rex queries, slightly amused, maybe slightly weirded out.

"From the lines on your face."

Rex laughs. "Yeah, I guess I've been around."

"Can I ask you somethin'?" I query, shifting from one foot to the other. It's a nervous habit, but I don't even care.

He looks at me expectantly. "What is it, Vision?" He remembers my name. I don't know why that means so much, but it does.

"When... when it happened and – the order, whatever happened. When everything went Dark, I Saw you. You were... somewhere, and there was someone else there. I..." Why does this mean so much to me? I don't really know them. "I'm wondering if she's alright." I can't quite meet his eye, maybe because I know what I'm asking. That was a Jedi.

I can envision his surprise, either way. "We... all make different choices," Rex responds finally, "We parted ways, and I don't know what happened after."

I don't really know what that means. "Do... you know what happened to Anakin?" He's the only Jedi I knew, and he's the only person who Saw things like I can.

Rex looks away, grief flaring in his eyes. "I don't know."

"Sorry," I mumble, half uncertainly. It feels like I should say something anyway.

"It's fine," he assures, standing again. There's a heartbeat of silence. "Where's Crosshair?"

"He got Needs A Knock on the Head Syndrome," I deadpan before anyone else can think too hard into the question. Rex has a right to be curious, too, and I don't want anyone to start spiraling.

"There is no such thing," Tech replies flatly, staring at me like I just sprouted purple and green striped horns.

"Yes, there is. I grew up in a lab. I would know."

"The length of time you spent in a lab has no bearings on your intelligence," he informs me flatly.

I stick my tongue out at him.

Tech just looks at me blankly. He is no fun.

"Tech, I need one of those med patches," Wrecker interjects, groaning quietly, rubbing his head again. He's been doing that, and I don't like it.

"You used the last one," Tech responds, twisting a little to look at him. Thanks to Wrecker for distracting him at least.

"What's wrong?" Rex asks, instantly on high alert. There's something suddenly sharply intense on his face. Omega's eyes are wide and worried.

"Nothing. It's just a headache," Wrecker grumbles after draining a glass he must've snatched up when I was watching Rex.

"Which are becoming more and more frequent," Echo replies, waving his cup in Wrecker's direction. His tone expresses exactly how much that worries him.

"Is that so?" What? Why's Rex so suspicious about something?

"If you're concerned about the so-called inhibitor chips," Tech replies bluntly, shifting forwards and uncrossing his arms, obviously recognizing the growing tension as acutely as I am, "Don't be. Our deviant nature appears to have impeded their functionality." He pauses, adjusting his goggles, while Hunter keeps drinking in slow motion. "Except in Crosshair."

"You're telling me you haven't removed your chips?" ...okay?

"Rex?" Hunter says slowly, stepping in front of Tech and Wrecker, shielding them as Rex slowly reaches for his blaster. My hand shifts towards my own, instantly assessing a threat. If Rex is threatening my brothers, then...

"Those chips make you a threat to everyone around you. Even them," Rex replies tightly, jerking his head towards my sister and me. "You're all ticking time bombs."

"Take it easy, Captain," Hunter says tightly. I can't quite call his voice threatening, though there's a warning note to it. A threat to his brothers is one to him, and if – I don't get what the issue is, exactly. I mean. Crosshair turned on us because of this... thing, but I never really thought about what it'd mean for the regs. Is that the real reason they're all mean? And is that why Rex isn't or something?

"What's in your head is more dangerous than you can imagine. I've seen what happens when the chip activates, and I don't want to bury any more of our brothers. Trust me. It is not something you can control." I see the way Echo and Wrecker exchange glances, obviously remembering their discussion about Crosshair as acutely as I do. Tech glances at Wrecker, and Hunter shuffles back, gaze dropping. "I couldn't. It's a risk you do not want to take."

I watch, mostly numb, and Omega's hand is clinging to mine now, like that could help something. If one of our brothers lost their mind, I'd protect her, but that's not – they haven't already, so why would that change? And it's not like we can't go crazy too. And wait – Rex's chip activated? I guessed that from my vision, but it's different to hear.

Hunter looks at Omega and me, something calculating in his expression before it settles. "How do you suggest we get them out?"

"Good question," Rex replies, hand finally dropping away from his blaster. "I'll be in touch."

***

"He wants to cut open my head," Wrecker all but wails.

I pat his arm, even if I don't like that thought any more than he does. "You'll be fine. I'll hug you if that helps."

"All of our heads actually," Tech interjects cheerfully – he can be cheerful? – as he works on his scanner. Or maybe it's just flippant and me misreading because that's spookier than him glaring.

Well, usually, when he's cheerful, it's because he's about to chase me all around our barracks with his datapad and I Do Not Want to sit still.

"Not mine," Omega replies cheerfully, taking the tool Tech hands to her – she's been helping him this entire time, and she's probably far more qualified for it than I am. "I don't have an inhibitor chip."

"Why not?" Wrecker whines. "Now, that's not fair." He crosses his arm and pouts.

I pat his shoulder, then freeze. "Wait. If 'mega's safe, am I? Cuz I'm your... thingy?"

Tech looks up, unreasonably flustered. "Omega is your donor, but that has no bearings on whether you have an inhibitor chip as well."

"No," she replies, a strange note of regret in her voice, "You got one the same time all of our brothers did."

Oh, great. So, my sis put a mind-control thingy in my brain?

Yeah.

Not like our family could get any more screwed up than it already is.

***

We meet up with Rex again, and he takes us aboard a cruiser on Bracca. There's a medbay here that should help us, because... someone – and I'm gonna go right off and guess it was his Commander – removed his chip on one of these. Rex seems... tense now that we're back here, and I can only imagine the memories this is bringing back.

Aside from how Wrecker is nearly eaten by an underwater monstrosity, we make it to the medbay fine.

The moment I step inside, something... changes. I don't know what, but the air is humming tensely in anticipation. Wrecker has been abnormally aggressive and snappy this entire time – has been since Corelia now that I think about it. I don't like it.

Wrecker settles on the medtable first, and Omega takes his helmet off while Echo gets the lights up and working.

"Time to get scanned, Wrecker," Tech says, digging his machine out of his backpack which he sets on the floor.

Wrecker is none too appreciative of it. I can relate – I hate medbays, too. I hate being poked and prodded at, and I'd rather not watch as Tech starts scanning Wrecker. Hunter comes over to take Wrecker's backpack, and I just stare when Wrecker outright shoves him back.

He's chaotic and sometimes aggressively affectionate, but this isn't affection. He's acting like he's trying to protect himself, which makes no sense whatsoever. He can't hate medbays that bad, can he? Unless he's been very badly hurt here? Hunter wouldn't've let that happen. Assuming he had a choice. Probably, he didn't.

Omega looks at Wrecker and touches his arm, face pinched with worry, though I hardly see a shred of recognition in his eye.

"Hunter, just because the surgery worked on Rex, doesn't mean it's safe," Omega worries, approaching him as he piles Wrecker's gear up against the wall before taking off his helmet and setting it next to Wrecker's. "This is dangerous."

"Can't be more dangerous than getting it in, right?" I remind, squeezing her shoulder, eyes wandering back to Wrecker. He's the one that really needs help, even if instinct always draws me to 'mega first.

"It's more dangerous to leave their inhibitor chips in," Rex replies firmly, approaching us, too. He's standing beside me now, and I might once've found that uncomfortable, but not now.

"We have to do this," Hunter agrees, shrugging off his backpack, "It's worth the risk."

Omega's eyes dart to me, and she leans closer. "And what if something goes wrong?" she asks quietly, looking at the floor again. "I'll be left here with... no one." The question hangs heavily in the air. Truthfully, I know almost nothing about brain surgeries, though I don't like the thought of getting my head cut open, either. I do know how that could go bad, but it's not something I want to think about. I can't deal with the prospect of my brothers dying. They're all we've had. We can't lose them.

Hunter reaches out, laying a hand on her shoulder. "We're not going anywhere, Omega. You're stuck with us for the long run. Got it?" It's a promise, one I know we'll do our best to keep. I slide my arm around her waist, hugging her tight.

She smiles, though it's weak, and nods.

Omega's taken her bow off, so I shrug off my own, dropping my knife and blaster after a second thought. Don't have need for them right now, right?

Something's burning, humming under my veins as energy gathers around me unbidden. Something's wrong, something –

"I think I found something," Tech calls, his voice snapping my attention away from Omega. I pull back reluctantly, but approach them, because we need that. "Ninety degrees from his right orbital floor, below the parietal and temporal intersection –"

"Get that thing away from me," Wrecker snarls, ripping it off and shoving it at Tech. He stumbles back into Hunter and Rex who immediately move back themselves but catches the scanner anyway.

Wrecker just outright hit him, and I can only stare. That reminds me of how Crosshair was acting, and this isn't him. Wrecker groans, clutching his head – the right side where his chip is.

I approach him hesitantly, reaching up to touch his knee. "You'll be fine," I try soothing. The armor is hard and cold beneath my touch. I want to offer more, but there's nothing to give.

"Something's not right," Omega says worriedly. She looks so scared, and I hate seeing her like that. Wrecker has been... close with her both times, and they've bonded fast. As fast as he did with me.

"We need to speed this up," Rex agrees.

Tech nods to Echo, who gets to work on the machinery. I back away from Wrecker, turning to pace the room as the tension builds. Rex is talking, I think trying to distract us, but it's only going so well. Tech is hovering next to Wrecker, waiting as Echo gets the medical pod thing ready.

Wrecker's groaning now, a sort of desperate snarl-whine thing, and I wish there was something I could do about it, but – stars, there's nothing I can do but keep pacing, which I am. My boots screech slightly on the metal floor as I swing around, pacing the length of the room, breathing in sharply.

Energy is building, buzzing in the air, and I need –

"Relax, this won't hurt a bit," Tech says, and I twist around, pausing, just a few feet from them. I'm not far from Hunter and 'mega, where they're talking to Rex, but they're distracted, aren't really watching. They're too afraid to watch, I think.

Me? I can't help it. I think best in the danger. In the fear.

The energy buzzing in the air is gathering around me, whipping like a whirlwind like it's centering around me, and I can feel a weird tingling in my fingertips. It's like when I'm about to slip into a detailed vision, but something... more.

Tech is about to inject him with what I suspect is a sedative when Wrecker grabs his wrist.

That's it. The – this. Happening. I stand frozen, watching in wide-eyed horror.

Tech makes a quiet gasp, and I see the shock and pain flaring across his face. Wrecker's hurting him and he – what –

Tech, as always, regains himself fast, but I can still see his fear acutely and this is the first time it actually dawns on me that he's only nine. I was so little, I barely remember 'mega at that age. I was three, and we were little then, and I was much shorter than her. His eyes flick to Wrecker's face, which is hidden by his arm so I can't see.

"Wrecker –" I start, but I don't even have time to finish my freaked out order to let him go.

His other hand lifts, wrapping around Tech's neck.

"Wrecker," he gasps, and he sounds so hurt and scared. This is the first time I can ever, ever remember Tech being scared. He was entirely calm even when we were surrounded in the hangar, and Omega and I were panicking. Tech's free hand flies to Wrecker's arm, trying to make him let go and seeing it makes me sick.

"Wrecker, let go of him!" I yell, panicking, darting forwards as if my presence could actually do something to stop him. He's stronger than any of us, and there's nothing I can do to stop him from hurting – why is –

I can only watch with numbing horror as he lifts Tech off his feet. "You're in direct violation of Order 66," Wrecker accuses, and the snarl in his voice isn't him.

That's the same way Crosshair was talking in the prison cell.

Stars.

He roars with virtually non-human fury, flinging Tech across the room into the wall our gear is piled by. He falls to the floor, motionless.

Wrecker reaches for his blaster and helmet, and if it were anyone else, I'd dive forwards to get my own, fire and just... but this is Wrecker, and he's my brother. I can't hurt him.

"Wrecker?" Omega asks, voice shaky and terrified.

My energy bow across the room flies to my hands, firing up, and I jerk it upwards. Wrecker bats it aside, flinging the weapon across the room into one of the lights hard enough to shatter it.

"Vision, get back!" Hunter yells at me, which is what spurs me into motion. I whirl around, ducking into a roll to cover more distance as Wrecker stands, lifting his blaster.

Rex catches my arm and pulls me behind the console where we're taking shelter. Hunter's already there with Omega, and Echo jumps down beside us, ducking and covering his head when Wrecker starts firing at us, roaring something semi-incoherent like "you're all traitors!"

"Thanks," I tell Rex, landing half sprawled in his lap and scrambling up, over to Hunter and 'mega.

"He'll destroy the equipment if we don't get him out of here," Echo says, and Hunter glances from him to Rex.

"We'll draw him out. Vision, Omega, stay with Tech," Hunter orders. I hate to agree, but I nod instinctively because he's our leader, our brother, and he knows what he's doing. He catches some nearby crate-like thingy and swings it at Wrecker. I duck down, shielding my head just in case, and smoke starts flooding my vision, but the other three are running for the door now.

We stay down, unmoving, until Wrecker runs after.

Omega darts to Tech the moment the others are gone. I glance down the hall where Wrecker disappeared to, then follow. She's shaking his shoulder, panicking, nearly in tears.

Tech's not moving. He was hit hard. Wrecker was strangling him, had him up by the neck, and I have no idea if he's alright or not.

I scramble to his side, trying to find a pulse even if touching him is a bit weird.

It's there, firm and steady, and I breathe a sigh of relief. "He's a bit less scary like this," I admit, watching him.

"What do we do?" Omega asks, whirling towards me. "They're still out there, and – and we can't just stay here!"

I look back to the doorway, pulling my hand back from Tech and closing my eyes. I breathing in and out slowly, forcing myself to focus, to feel. To see.

"The vents," I say, half because an image of Omega accidentally knocking out one of the regs with a vent grate materializes in my head. I focus harder, and the image is slowly dragged to mind. "Front. Turn right. Left and... I'll lead 'im to ya."

"You?" Omega squeaks, and I nod firmly.

Too bad I don't have my grappling hook. Tech has one, though, and I snatch it off his belt, fitting it to the end of my blaster. There's a grate here, and 'mega can fit through easily enough. If Tech kills us for it later, well. He's welcome, I guess. "Take my knife," I say, picking it up and passing it to her. "Use it to cut through anything. Imma take the bow." I snatch it, in my other hand, and she takes the knife, hands shaking.

I look up towards the grate, steadying my hands when I hear distant blaster fire, and fire close enough that she can swing through easily.

"Are you sure?" Omega worries, "I've never used a knife before."

"And you've practiced more with the bow, I know," I reply, holding the blaster out to her, "We're weapon swapping. Hurry!" The urgency in my voice snaps her into action.

She takes the line from me, and I watch just to see her beginning her ascent before I take off. There's no time. I don't hear shooting anymore, and that's either very good, or very, very bad. I'm not taking chances. I make the same turns I told Omega to do, skidding to a stop at the end of the hall.

"All clones in violation of Order 66 shall be terminated," Wrecker is snarling, and he has Hunter up against the wall, hands on his throat.

I pull back on the bowstring, intentionally missing, and Wrecker's head whips around towards me.

"That's sweet," I snark at him, and I have no idea why this is the first thing that comes to mind, but I'm good at being super annoying to catch attention. "But what about indirect violation?" I have to make the offer tempting, right?

Then again, who doesn't want to throttle me constantly, anyway?

I fire again, and Wrecker slams Hunter against the wall the same way he did Tech before turning around and lumbering towards me. Hunter hits the floor again, dropping with a dull and sickening thud, the same way Tech did.

I step back, yanking on the bowstring a couple more times. Wrecker ducks to the side of the wall, as if I was actually trying to hurt him. I don't have the sense of mind to think that this is Wrecker right now. Some things hurt too much.

Wrecker lunges unexpectedly, and I spin around and run. I can only hope Omega's already to the grate I told her to go to. I stop just short of it, firing at him a few more times, intentionally going for a near-hit to slow him down.

"Really?" I snip, stepping back. I'm almost under the grate now. I pull back again, the shot flying wild, hitting the wall beside him. "I think I'd do a lot better than that in action."

He snarls at me. I ignore the instinctive fear that shoots through me – he's not himself, and he could kill me with ease if he reached me like he's trying. His hands are huge and I'm so small.

"And you said it yourself," I continue, literally just because I have a very obvious death wish right now. "I saw what happened on Kaller." That's only partly true, but it's true enough. "They didn't directly go against orders."

Wrecker snarls at me. "They failed to execute Order 66."

And as he says it, something in me... changes. It just... makes sense now. I don't really get it, but it doesn't really matter. We're supposed to defend the Republic. The Republic which is now the Empire. And that's – that's not what we're doing. I look up at him, eyes widening. Something in me just... shifts, jolts, changes. Because he's right. He's right – all our brothers, they are traitors. The Jedi were traitors.

They didn't carry it through.

They're traitors.

"All clones in violation of Order 66 shall be terminated."

He lunges at me, and I fire instinctively, though the shot goes wild, thanks to my not-perfect aim and that I wasn't entirely trying. I let out a startled squeal-yelp when he tries to grab me, and duck forwards, skidding between his legs. There's a bang and a crash above and behind, and I roll over, stumbling off-balanced to my feet, left arm still gripping my bow. Wrecker's down. The grate knocked him out.

Omega rolls off it, stumbling to her feet, still holding my knife.

She broke the order, too. She's...

Our brothers are traitors. They betrayed what we fought for, what we were made for, and the rage that floods me is blinding.

"The Dark Side hangs heavily over your future."

The metal is cold in my hands.

"Viz?" 'mega asks, taking a hesitant step forwards. Her blond curls are a mess, sticking across her forehead, and her brown eyes are wide with fear and uncertainty.

My grip tightens farther. "Conspiring with traitors makes you guilty of treason," I accuse. The bow raises, almost of its own. Tears sting my eyes. Did she even care? Did any of them?

"Vision, what are you doing?" The wide-eyed, terrified look on my sister's face is gutting, but I'm angry and I can't think of anything beyond the fierce rage and betrayal pulsing through me.

Omega dives aside when I fire at her, and this time, I'm not so sure the shot would've missed if she hadn't moved.

My gut flips, and I don't know why it upsets me so much. Okay – I do, because she's my sister and we were everything and we had a purpose that not a single one of us has been loyal to. We left Crosshair, and I'm furious about that, too.

"Vision, stop!" she yells, scrambling backwards, still clutching my knife. "This isn't you! It's your inhibitor chip!"

I don't even care what she's saying, because I'm so, so angry. Hurt is burning my heart inside out, and I – I want to hurt her for hurting me. Omega fixes things and has always made things better for me until right now, and I can't help it. My hands readjust over the bow handle, and Omega whirls around, breaking into a run. She darts around the corner, and I fire again, uncaring that the shot hits the wall instead.

I'm just angry.

It's hurting and everything hurts, and I need it to stop. I need to – to finish this.

I really, really just want to cry from sheer frustration and helplessness, which is stupid.

"This is exactly what I am," I snarl, furious at the insinuation. I'm me. This is what I always have been. "If you think anything else, then you don't know me!" I know she's close enough to hear me, even if she's not responding.

I pause at the end of the hall. I don't know where she went, and I'm expecting an attack. It's 'mega, but she betrayed me and she's going to hurt me – already is hurting me – and I just...

Don't know how to deal with it.

I don't want to see her hurt, but I don't have a choice. They made that for me. I hate myself a little that there's even a part of me that wants to protect her because she betrayed me and it's so simple.

"Okay, Omega," I hear her saying distantly, "You have one shot at this."

I don't have time to think that through before she steps out from around the corner, throwing the knife at me.

It hits my bow, spot on, with the screech of cutting metal and a shower of sparks.

I release a hiss of rage, dropping the destroyed bow and pulling my knife out from it. Hunter gave it to me, back when I thought we meant something, and it still means something to me, even if it doesn't to the others.

Omega looks at me, lowering her hands, still scared.

I hate myself for hating to see her like that.

She should be.

I stand, straightening my shoulders and stalking forwards.

Omega steps back, eyes wide. "Viz," she says again, voice desperate and pleading.

I'm too angry to care, to hurt for it to matter. She's using my nickname, driving it home even more that they... "Stop calling me that!" I yell, lunging at her. Omega squeaks, scrambling back and nearly tripping over her own two feet. She knows a little about knives, because I was obsessed with Hunter's, and he taught me some. I taught her some too. Apparently, she's as perfectly capable of throwing them as me, unless she got lucky and simply didn't care if she stabbed me.

Omega catches my wrist, struggling to push the blade away from her. "Please, stop," she pleads, nearly in tears. "You're my sister."

I want to stop, because she's asking me to and I hate seeing her like this, but I don't have a choice, and nothing she says will change it. They didn't give me a choice any more than they did Crosshair. "Good soldiers follow orders," I snap back, eyes narrowing, shoving harder.

A shot rings out from behind me, and I feel it run through me before everything blacks out.

Chapter Text

I'm on something... hard, and I try jerking, but something's holding me down. "She's waking up," a voice says from very far away. The voice is... oddly smooth – name – name – 02 – what was his name–

Familiar. I can't feel my hands still – they're faint and tingly, but memories are flickering in bit at a time.

Right – Tech. That's Tech. They're traitors. They – I have to – I try moving, to push myself forwards and to standing, to finish the mission but I can't move. My fingers twitch uselessly, and I focus on breathing and trying to get my eyes open and figure out what in the stars is happening.

Everything's quiet, too quiet, and...

Oh, great.

Some genius decided it was a good idea to stun me, and then they tied me to a chair.

Seriously.

That is why I can't move, and I let out a furious hiss when I jerk against the ropes.

Scratch the idea of gutting someone. I am going to gut every single one.

Unless they do it to me first, of course, though for some reason the thought of Hunter stabbing me doesn't feel quite right.

I pry my eyes open, blinking against the dim but still present light. Don't know why I expected something else. I recognize the smell, too, no matter how stale it is. We're in a medbay, and – Wrecker's unconscious on the medtable. Omega's curled up next to him, decidedly miserable. Hunter and Tech are sitting beside him, too, but they have their eyes pinned on me, as does Echo who's standing nearby.

Right, the medbay. We were here to – to –

Stars.

Oh no. Nononono – my only purpose was to serve the Republic-now-Empire and they can't – take that.

"Vision," Hunter says, pushing himself up the moment he sees me stirring.

I snarl at him, and he pulls back, something flickering across his face. "Stay back," I yell, squirming, but that's the most I can do. Well, I could kick him if he came close enough, but I'd probably miss. My arms are tied, so yep, all I can do is squirm.

And I am so, so angry.

"What is wrong with you?" I yell, and the sheer frustration finally makes me snap.

"Vision," he repeats, pausing, hovering a distance back, hands raised. It's cautious, a point that he's not planning to hurt me, but I don't like it anyway. "We're not trying to hurt you."

"Yes, you are!" I yell back, tears burning my eyes. I'm scared and I can't do anything, and it's getting under my skin in a way nothing else can. I hate being helpless. I squirm again, but I can't do anything.

"Viz," 'mega says, jumping up and walking towards me. I flinch back, glaring. She freezes, looking a little stung, but approaches anyway. "It's okay," she tries, one hand touching the edge of my chair. I glare at her, tears burning my eyes. She betrayed me, too, and it's – it's Omega. She's my sister, and I can't... understand how this happened.

We should've stayed with Crosshair, but we left him.

"We're going to help you," she tries hesitantly.

Tech stands, crossing the room out of my line of sight. My eyes narrow, and I whip around to face Hunter again.

"This isn't you," Hunter tries again, stubbornly, and it – it's Hunter, who has always helped me, but he's not now. He's not, and it hurts. I really just want to cry. "We're gonna help you."

"I don't need help," I snarl, jerking against the ropes again.

The calm look on Hunter's face shudders for the first time, hurt burning in his eyes. He's hurting too, and I hate myself for being angry that I caused it. It's Hunter, and he's supposed to take care of me, so why isn't he doing that?

"You shouldn't have left," I add sullenly. Crosshair was right.

"Every choice you've made since Kaller has been wrong."

"You're becoming a liability."

Omega's hand tightens over the edge of my chair, and Tech approaches me. Oh, great. He's gonna sedate me. Or try to. I twitch back when he comes closer, hissing. I jerk forwards and try to bite his hand once he's close enough, and it's ridiculously satisfying to see how fast he jumps back.

"Viz," 'mega says, voice desperate, but I – I can't. I know what she's asking, what they want, but I can't – can't – they can't take what makes me useful –

"Vision," Hunter says again, and I turn back to him in favor of glaring at Tech. He's close, too close, and I can't move. I used to trust him, but I can't now, and it just... hurts. "We can make this better. You just need to let us try."

I glare at him, tears burning my eyes, so I probably don't look half as scary as I'd like to. He's being genuine, and I know that, but I'm so, so angry. I twitch when Hunter touches my shoulder, his hand warm and lingering, but present. Grounding, as he always is.

"Is... that something you'd be willing to let us do?"

I don't trust him, but it's Hunter and he's always been able to make things alright. I nod against it, leaning closer, desperate for some semblance of comfort and warmth and belonging even if I know that wouldn't be here. He touches my cheek, and I feel the warmth of his glove on my skin. I can't see him, but I can sort of See it as he nods to Tech, who steps forwards again.

That's an awfully convenient way of keeping me still, I think grumpily at the sudden spike of pain in my neck. Also? I hate needles with a passion, and whoever thought long, sharp, pokey things was a good idea even more.

***

When I finally blink myself back to wakefulness, the first thing I register is the light happily murdering my eyes. I throw an arm over my face with a groan. Ow. Honestly.

"Vision!" Omega's hanging over me, and I lower my arm, blinking awake. Everyone's crowded around me. Omega's half on the table, and Hunter's beside her. Wrecker's hovering right behind her, and I –

He was fighting me, and he tried to kill me, but I... I did the same to Omega. What did I do? What –

Stars.

I can't look at her. I can't – anything. I hurt her. I was going to kill her. I would – would have. How can everyone act like everything is fine?

Finally, I gather the energy to swing myself off the medtable and climb into Hunter's lap. I saved his life earlier. Saved him – from Wrecker. From our brother. And I can't... think about any of that. I can't think of anything except how I was about to kill Omega and that I can't stop expecting myself to lash out at someone else.

There was that urge, that need, and I can't stop expecting it to come back in. I was so angry, and I'm never that angry, no matter how annoying people are being, at least not at my family.

Hunter will protect us. He'll... stop it. Everything makes sense with him, and I cling to that, to him, as tightly as I can. I need it. Him. Desperately.

Hunter's hand is on my back, steadying me and holding me close. I'm clinging to him, arms wrapped around his waist, and it's a blatant reminder of how tiny I am, though I need someone to hold me right now.

I inhale in a shuddering sob, shaking.

Omega was there, and I was just going to shoot her as if she didn't take care of me, as if we weren't sisters. Because that's what I was told to do, and I was gonna do it even if I knew it was wrong. They can say it wasn't mean, but it felt like me, and I couldn't –

"Kid?" Hunter asks uncertainly.

I shake my head, not wanting to talk, just clinging. Hunter's the one who always makes things better, and that's all that I care about right now. I would've – I don't know how I could have done that, but I was about to, and I can't fix it.

I can hear the others moving closer, feel Wrecker's hand on my shoulder, but I can't move for anything. I trust Hunter to protect me in a way I don't anyone else, trust that he can protect us from each other and me from myself if he has to. He always knows what to do.

"Give her time," Rex says, "We need to keep going."

I feel Hunter shifting, but he doesn't move to get up, wrapping an arm around me and pressing me close. My face is squashed against his chest plate and I'm facing him in a way that's not exactly comfortable, but I don't even care.

I was going to kill Omega.

Stars.

What is wrong with me whatiswrongwithmewhat-

I hear Echo talking, offering to be next, but it doesn't matter.

That was Omega and she's all I've had, and I was gonna...

I don't think I'll ever be able to un-see the terrified, hurt look on Omega's face. (She threw my knife at me, and she could've missed, and it would've killed me, and I have no idea why that hurts, because it was my fault anyway.)

The "please stop you're my sister" is still ringing in my head, and I don't think it'll ever stop.

I cling tighter, Hunter's hand lightly stroking my hair.

It's been a while, and I hear beeping of machinery in the background. I'm tired, too, and some of my exhaustion is catching up to me. I shift a little, and Hunter keeps me steady when I swing sideways and curl up against his chest. My right arm is squashed between us, but at least he doesn't seem to have issue with snuggling right now.

Wrecker was about to strangle him to death.

Does he have bruises from that? Does Tech?

I reach up, left hand lightly resting on his armor, just... here.

Hunter means safe, and he always has. His vambrace is cold – cold and hard and poke – but it's him, and nothing else matters.

***

When I wake up again, I'm lying on the edge of the medtable, being that's the only not-floor thing around. I don't remember falling asleep, but I must've cried myself out and drifted off sometime. There's movement – I'm not alone, though the room somehow feels emptier.

I twist over, propping myself up and blinking at the emptiness.

"Vision?" Hunter's the first to come into view, a look of mild concern on his face.

"Hey," I croak. "How long's it been?"

"A while," Echo answers, and he and Tech circle around. They're in all their gear again, and I can see the bandage on Hunter's head. All the surgeries must be done, and I reach up to touch my own. It feels weird, and that's when I realize my head-thingy's off.

I look up, eyes falling on the blue cloth. I reach for it, and Hunter steps forwards.

"I can uh – take care of it," he offers, and I give him a nod, swinging around so he can tie it on. "Rex is gone," Hunter continues, combing his fingers through my forever-messy hair and tying it on.

"Where're Wrecker and Omega?" I ask, even though I don't really want to see them. I do, but I don't, because I'm afraid to confront what happened. It's still lingering perpetually in the back of my mind, not stopping.

"Wrecker took her out to teach her about explosives."

I feel it when he finishes, but I don't move. Don't really want to. I'm not tired exactly anymore, but that doesn't shake the bone-deep exhaustion. I don't know what to do with the crushing depression and fear eating me inside out. I came so close.

"I will take you for the reason that your blaster was hanging from the ceiling," Tech says, and that's the first thing to make me crack a smile.

"I really could use that grappling hook," I agree, "I sent 'mega up to knock out Wrecker." Probably, I should've listened to Hunter and stayed, but at least we're all alive now? I don't know. If I hadn't gotten there when I did, it could've been too late, and I can't imagine that. We need Hunter.

I'm a little surprised Omega didn't insist on staying with me, but after how I reacted to her earlier, I can't blame her. Does she... is she alright? Is she angry at me? I can't quite imagine that, but if she was...

I tug my knees up, wrapping my arms around them and leaning forwards.

"It wasn't your fault, Vision," Echo says, and he's standing at the end of the table. "It isn't something you could control." Rex said the same to us, earlier, but he doesn't understand.

"You don't know that!" I accuse, jolting to my feet, and probably, throwing a mini-temper tantrum after earlier is a stupid idea, but I can't help it. "It didn't happen to you! You wouldn't know."

"I know, to a point, what that feels like," Echo objects, and I jolt back. "When I woke up after Skako Minor, I knew I'd been helping the Separatists. I couldn't control it, but I killed my brothers. I don't know how many, but I do know if I could have stopped it, I would have. And that... has to be enough."

I bite my lip, looking away. He's... right, though I don't really understand it. I never thought myself capable of violence, not like that. It might not have been my fault, but it doesn't change what happened, that I hurt Omega. My sister.

"Why was it so different for Hunter and – and Omega?" I ask. "If it's... not something I control?"

"I can theorize," Tech replies, sitting in the chair nearby. This won't be a long conversation, so probably a wise idea. I settle down myself, though Hunter and Echo stay standing beside me. "It alters the neurological pathways in the brain, and thereby –"

Blah, blah, blah. The only word I can make out is neuro-something, and I have no clue what it means. "I can't understand any of that," I whine as he continues into a long string of words that make me feel cross-eyed. I look imploringly up at Hunter. "What does that even mean?"

"It affects your thought process," Echo explains, "Though it doesn't change who you are."

"But it was still in there. How do I know it can't... do anything anymore?" I ask.

"The connections were broken with its removal," Tech replies, "There is no need for concern."

"Are you sure?" I have to know, because I – I need to be able to stop worrying. I don't want to live my life in constant fear of... hurting everyone I love.

"Well, of course, I am certain," Tech insists, adjusting his goggles. "You are immune to any further affects it could have had."

"You're amazing," I tell him, and stars, I cannot believe I am saying this. It's not like he needs an even bigger ego.

Hunter chokes on a laugh beside me.

Tech twitches back, blinking. "I... would not quantify intelligence level as 'amazing', but I agree."

I laugh, a flare of pure adoring amusement flaring up inside me, and I jump at him. Tech yelps ungracefully when my weight smacks him into the back of his chair and I wrap my arms around his neck, attempting to balance myself in his lap, so I don't fall off backwards and crack my skull open on the medtable behind me. Probably, Hunter would catch me, but I'm not tempting fate.

Hunter bursts out laughing, and it warms something in my heart I didn't know was missing. I haven't heard that in... a while. I've nearly forgotten what it's like to be carefree.

I'll be okay, though. I'll be fine if Tech is right. He knows how they work, and it's Tech, so he knows what he's talking about.

Reality comes crashing back in only moments later, and I hop off the chair onto the ground, but I'm still more settled than earlier.

"Why was it different?" I ask again. "I don't really understand."

"Perhaps because you haven't known him as long," Tech answers, standing. He still sounds mildly disgruntled, and well, that's the closest to an apology I'm getting. Of all the things that happened, trying to bite him is the one I do not feel bad about.

"Why would that change anything?" I know I feel... a blind sense of devotion and loyalty towards Hunter, but Omega and I do everything together.

"The longer you know someone, the more it feels like they should know you," Echo answers, and my gaze jumps to him. "It's different, if it's someone we're still getting used to."

That sorta makes sense. I'll just right off guess that he knows because he's been in that place before. It was... difficult to adjust to Echo being there. I remember that, was through with it, and I don't think my background chaos helped them much. "I still shot at Wrecker," I add dismally. "That was me." I hadn't even been thinking about it – it was on pure instinct, even if I knew what I was doing.

"You didn't have a choice, Vision," Echo points out. "Just like when we escaped Kamino."

Speaking of Crosshair, I feel a prickle of something. "I think we're gonna see him again," I blurt out, because somehow, I just know. "Soon."

Hunter freezes, looking at Tech, who looks just as alarmed.

"Echo," Hunter orders, a faint sense of urgency layered in his voice, "Go get Wrecker and Omega. We should clear out."

Echo nods and takes off.

I bite my lip, hating the sense of wrongness at being afraid of Crosshair. We shouldn't have to be afraid of him, but here we are. I'm just afraid of what'll happen when we see him again after what just happened with Wrecker and me.

"Here," Hunter adds, holding my bow out to me. Yeah. I don't have my weapons yet, but at the sight of my bow, for as damaged and unusable as it is, I flinch back.

"I – it's broken?" I offer in a jumble ramble of words. "I can't use it anyway. I don't – I don't want it."

"It's yours," he replies, visibly confused.

I back away, shaking my head. "That's – the – I was gonna –" I don't know how to say it. I was about to kill Omega with that thing. I don't want to be anywhere near it.

Hunter and Tech exchange glances.

"We should take it back to the ship, either way," Tech replies, "In a potential situation where Omega's is damaged or misplaced."

"Would you be alright with that?" Hunter asks me, crouching to touch my shoulder. I instantly lean into its warmth and comfort.

"Sure," I whisper numbly, unmoving when he slides it back into its slot on the strap I wear for it, identical to 'mega's. I don't want it, but they're right, and there's no reason to get rid of it, even if I never touch it again.

***

There aren't many scrappers, but Wrecker and Echo have already dealt with them when we arrive. We stick them in binders and dump them outside. Tech takes off for the bridge, because something-something information is important, and the rest of us go to the armory.

It's the first time I've seen Omega, and she looks at me with visible worry. I'm not ready to talk about it yet, so I just grab her hand and we follow Wrecker. He's giving me the same look, but we can talk later.

"Vision, Omega, I need you up on the bridge," Tech tells us, and I run for dear life as Wrecker starts snuggling with a proton torpedo.

Stars, did he just kiss the thing?

Help.

"Vision?" Omega asks shyly.

I should probably have thought better than to go alone with her, but... I hate myself for feeling like this. We always used to do everything together, and I miss her already. "Mm?" I ask as we move. It's so dark, even if the power's back on, which is ridiculous. I wish I had a flashlight, but it feels too stupid, so I don't bother. We have a long way to go though, so it's a good thing I know my way around these things.

Somewhat.

"Are... you okay?" she asks quietly.

I sigh. "Are you?" I'm not. Not at all, but I don't want to think about it. I'm holding her hand, and the glaring difference in our sleeve-colors is obvious. Mine are red, like normal cadets, and Omega's are the pale aqua that Nala Se wears. We used to dress the same when we were younger, but that's changed with everything else.

"Yeah," Omega says very unconvincingly, and I bite my lip sharp enough to taste blood. Ew.

We're alone together, and it reminds me of when we last were. That was – I don't want to think about it. It could've gotten much worse than it did, and I can't imagine what I would have done if I did go as far as hurting her. I pick up pace a little, even if I don't want to, because no matter what Tech said, I can't stop being afraid.

The thing isn't in me anymore, can't make me do it, but it felt just like me. Nothing about it seemed unreasonable, or anything other than what I've always been, so I can't... tell what's real from fake anymore. And it scares me. I can only try telling myself it'll be fine, that Hunter will fix it, but I still don't think this is something that can be fixed.

I'm walking fast enough that I smack into something in the doorway – the cruiser isn't entirely straight, and I entirely blame it on that – and I yowl, letting go of Omega in favor of checking to make sure I still have a foot.

Which I do, even if it hurts.

She throws me a worried glance, steadying me when I hop after her.

"I thought the lights were on!" I whine.

"The power has been restored," Tech calls from where he's lying under one of the control panels.

"Apparently, not enough!" I scowl.

"How's it looking?" Omega asks, approaching him, and I stumble after once I make sure my foot is in walking condition. Still hurts though.

"We're in luck," Tech replies, scooting out from under the panel. "Whoever scuttled this ship didn't wipe the hardware's data imprint. I'm transferring the files, but I still need to copy the master drive. It's under that panel." He gestures towards it while passing the datastick to Omega.

"Whadya want us to do with this thingy?" I ask, moving over to the panel. The faster we get outta here, the better.

"If you plug it in, the transfer should begin automatically."

"'If' is a good word," I snip, walking over to it and crawling underneath. I have no idea what I'm supposed to be looking at, but I raise a hand, trailing it over the metal, and just like that, my vision forward-tunnels into something else.

Crosshair walking through lines of the regs, their armors painted a boring white.

"The scanner's not working," someone says, "There's too much atmospheric interference."

"No, you're being jammed. They're still on board." He pauses, yanking his helmet on and drawing his rifle. "Take a shuttle and find their ship."

I jolt back, gasping, something metal clanking next to me as I fumble for my comm.

"Vision!" Omega yelps, and I can hear her practically right beside me, though I can't stop to think about it.

"Hunter!" I yell, "We have to get out of here, now!"

"What's wrong?" he asks, voice crackling over the line. "Did –"

"Crosshair's gonna be here any moment. We have to go. He – he said we're still aboard. We hafta –"

"There," Omega's voice says, freaked out, "Three ships."

"Three attack shuttles," Tech reports, "It's the Empire."

Stars.

It's happening. I've wanted to see Crosshair so badly, and if we were under any other circumstances, if I weren't so shaken up by what happened to both Wrecker and me, I'd be demanding we drag him with us. Not now though. My instincts are demanding that we run, and that's all I can think of doing. I already nearly lost Omega. I'm not going to risk losing someone else right now.

Omega sticks her arm under to shield my head before I can inevitably crack it up – two major brain injures-whatever is too much for even me in one day – and grabs my hand when I duck out. She yanks me upright, and Hunter's already sprinting into the room.

That was fast.

I back up, panting a stumbling a little, shaking myself back to present.

Hunter's watching through macrobinoculars. "It's Crosshair, all right," he says shortly, and I back up, hissing faintly.

"He can't see us from here, can he?" I squeak. "Do we need to find cover? Right – he can probably see us better than we can him."

"He won't be able to detect us. I'm blocking their scanners," Tech offers, waving his datapad like it holds answers to all of life's questions. As if.

"It's Crosshair," I point out, "We gotta go." I grab 'mega's hand, and we make a break for the doorway. It feels wrong to run from Crosshair, but just like back in Kamino, just like every other time we end up in a tense situation, adrenaline is coursing through my veins, and I just need to move.

***

"Talk to me, Tech," Hunter requests, and I gape at him.

"Did you just ask him to talk?" I squawk.

"I'm trying to tap into the regs' comms so we can monitor their movements," Tech replies, ignoring me entirely as he usually does.

There's a distant thumping and Hunter shines his flashlight around a corner, then pulls back, motioning for us to stop. We duck up against the walls, and I press closer to Hunter instinctively in the desperate hopes it'll help.

I was really, really hoping to get more time to think this through, to figure this out, but that's not something we're getting the chance to do with the Empire on our tail. I don't even know how they showed up here. Scrappers spotted us earlier, but I can't imagine how Crosshair could be here already.

Is he as lost and scared and alone as I was? I want to help him, but I – I don't know what to do.

Some people pass us, and we stay in dead silence, waiting.

"I'm in," Tech says a moment after they leave.

"All squads," Crosshair's voice crackles over the datapad, voice staticky but there, and it's so close I nearly jump when I hear it. That's it, it's him, the brother I've missed so much.

"Yes, sir," a reg's voice responds instantly.

"Push the targets towards the hangar. We'll pin them down."

My gut flips at hearing him talk about it so flippantly, the same way I was thinking about killing Omega earlier. He can't help it, and I know exactly how he feels. I wish someone could've stopped me, no matter what it took or how hard it was, and I know Crosshair would want the same. He'd want us to go, if we could, before he could hurt us.

"Aren't we headed to the hangar?" Omega asks, freaking out.

"Vision, what do you see?" Hunter queries, turning to me after a moment of consideration.

I close my eyes, laying a hand against the metal wall. Touching something as I try to focus on it usually helps me fall forwards in time. I close my eyes, slowly breathing in and out and trying to focus, like Hunter taught me.

He has to do that sometimes, to cope with his own overwhelming senses. I can't really understand how his work but it's not really something that can be explained. I've tried for ages to teach Omega what I can do, but it never works for her. She can pick up random things sometimes, but not the way I can.

There's vague flashes, bits and pieces of things I can't really make out. I hear Omega crying Hunter's name, desperate and scared. I see an explosion, feel air whipping past me as I fall – stars, I really do love falling – and then... there's a flash of blue fire. Not quite the same as what I dream of so often, but still there.

I pull back with a quiet gasp. "We're gonna see him, no matter what we do. We just need the fastest way out."

"Then we'll cut through the artillery deck," Hunter decides, and we move out.

Chapter Text

I'm just starting to think maybe we'll have some hope of getting out of here when we realize the opening on the auxiliary deck is over five hundred feet off the ground. Wrecker freaks out, and considering the circumstances, I'm not in the mood for joking. Crosshair's chasing us, and we have to get out, for everyone's sakes.

"There they are," a reg says, and we whirl around, gathering together in the center of the room as the regs swarm out around us, blasters raised.

"Stand down," one of the dark-armored ones says icily – they're dressed similarly to Crosshair. Did he get a new squad like we didn't even matter?

I bite my lip, trying not to think about how much that hurts.

The door slides open, and Crosshair himself steps into view. "Tapping our comms to track our movements?" he asks scornfully, "So predictable."

Times like these are when I wish my vision abilities were more useful. Tension is burning under my skin, and I have to do something though I don't know what. I'm good at this, though. I'm good at distractions, at talking.

Wrecker scoffs, and that's the first time I realize he's as angry as he is hurt, even if he knows what's happening. "Nice to see you too, Crosshair."

I remember a time where it was just the three of us, even if I missed 'mega with every shred of my being. I remember a time where we were together and we'd just... do stupid stuff. Seeing him in this armor for the first time, seeing the dead and emotionless blackness of it – I can't.

I've been there, felt that emptiness and anger and loneliness. It would've hurt at the time if someone tried to stop me, but I know Crosshair, and I know it's what he would want. My hand drifts closer to my blaster, and I step forwards from where I am beside Hunter.

Tech and Echo are quietly discussing a plan beside us, which means we need to buy time.

"Look at you all, scavenging like rats," Crosshair continues, "How pathetic."

"Why come after us?" Hunter demands, blaster raised in Crosshair's direction. Probably, I should trust Hunter to do it, but I just... I don't know. I don't want to. It feels like he should have someone willing to protect him, too, which I am.

"You're traitors." He says it so shortly, simply, scornfully, and I know it isn't his fault, though that makes it no less difficult to see. And my anger is perfectly capable of matching his, thanks.

"You betrayed us too, Crosshair," I throw back. My hand is on my blaster, though I don't risk pulling it, because I know he'll fire if I do.

There's a faint beeping, and Hunter takes the moment to start talking again. "Crosshair, wake up. You're being controlled by an inhibitor chip."

Bad call. I nearly gutted Omega for telling me that. Not that Hunter would even know since he wasn't there.

"He's telling the truth," Omega pipes up, stepping forwards fearlessly. I'd admire her for it if I weren't so afraid of her stupidity. He could kill her right off just for saying that, though it – it might be different, less emotion driven, since he doesn't know her as well. "The Kaminoans put chips in all the clones. Remember what I told you in the brig? You can't help it."

"Aim for the kid," Crosshair says, voice sharp and angry.

I jolt forwards as instinctively as Hunter does, sidestepping to shield her the same moment Hunter pulls her behind him. "You might think you have us," I throw back furiously, body tensed as the air around us picks up staticky, the same way it did back before Wrecker's chip activated. That brings bad memories, but I don't have time to think about it. "But you don't." My hands are tingling.

"There's no way out," he says, icily. "I suggest you drop your weapons."

"Do you even know us?" I snap back, "You grew up with them. I'd think you'd know them better than I would. You're not gonna catch us, so go on and chase us if that really –"

I See it before it happens, See Crosshair raising his rifle – apparently getting bored of my blabbering – and the energy pooling in my hands explodes outwards.

He's thrown back, smacking against the door behind him.

The weapons on the ship start firing, and the part of the deck up above starts collapsing.

"Go!" Hunter yells, and everyone starts shooting. I whip out my blaster and fire at one of the regs nearby. It's on stun, because I always keep it on stun now – my brothers do, and I don't feel comfortable killing them – though Hunter's... isn't. Omega draws her bow and starts firing next to me.

The deck above is caving in, debris falling, and Wrecker darts forwards to yank me out of the way as it starts crashing down on us. I stumble back, steadying myself as he charges some of the remaining regs. Hunter's tackled Omega out of the way, and I find the sense of mind to be grateful he shielded her, first, like I asked.

(I am also going to ignore the stupid, childish part of my mind wondering if it had anything to do with that, or if it's because he's angry at me for hurting her. But this is Hunter. He's not like that.)

Some idiot tries attacking us with a flamethrower when we're making for the exit – I hope Crosshair's alright behind us, wherever he is – and Wrecker knocks them out with a proton torpedo. (It's big and hard, not small, soft, and snuggly like Lula, so I have no idea why he was hugging it.)

"What was that?!" Omega asks as we run through the halls. I don't know where Tech's taking us, and I won't ask, either. They'll figure it out, and I don't want to think about it. All I know is that it'll be close.

"What?" I query as she grabs my hand, bow on her back again.

"On the deck," Omega answers as we move.

"I – I don't know," I reply, honestly. "I didn't know I could do that. I don't even know what I did." I feel worse for throwing him than I am upset about the fact that he was about to shoot me. I know that's going to hurt, and I want to talk to him again. I want to tell him I didn't mean to, that it was an accident, that I – I –

"It is unsurprising," Tech interjects, and I stare at him. "We knew you were Force-sensitive."

"You mean I can do Jedi stuff?" I knew I was Force-sensitive, but I guess I never really thought about exactly what it means. "I thought it took some kind of special stuff to use?"

"It takes extensive training," Echo replies, "But even people who have it can use it, even without." Huh. Didn't know that. I have a million more questions to ask him about later.

My questions fade to the back of my mind as we finally reach the ion engine chambe that Tech decided it would be a brilliant idea to escape out of. Dunno what else I expected. This is Tech. Of course, he has no issue with the risk of being fried.

"The ion engine chamber? Why'd you bring us here?" Wrecker asks, pausing in the doorway.

"Because this is our alternate egress off the cruiser," Tech explains flippantly, turning back to us.

"I don't even know what that means!" Wrecker whines.

Tech reaches up to help Omega down the drop, and I swing myself down after. Tech moves off, and with another glance at me, so does Omega. I start following, pausing when I hear Wrecker grumbling behind me. We're on a marrow ledge – small enough for Omega and me without problem – but he's big, and I know how he is about heights.

"C'mon," I say, reaching up to grab his hand, tugging him along.

I try not to think about how Crosshair doesn't have anyone to help him.

Wrecker follows, edging along sideways, grumbling. "Vision?" he asks finally, and I pause, looking up at him. It's dark, and he's wearing his helmet, but I know him enough that I can tell from his voice. "About earlier, I tried to make it stop."

I squeeze his hand. "I know," I tell him. It hurts, but I was no better, and I know it wasn't his fault. "It's not like I was any better."

We reach the end, and I have to slide down.

Wrecker comes after, yowling. He pats my head the moment I'm in range again, and I shift closer to his leg. We should probably save the snuggly-ness for later, though.

"Whoa, I've never been inside an ion engine before," Omega breathes, awed. It's big, and admittedly, nothing like I ever thought they'd look. Not that I ever thought about it, period.

"It'd be weirder if you had," Wrecker assures immediately.

Tech, ever being the absolute idiot he is, decides right now is a good time to start giving us a long, detailed speech about how amazing ion engines are, like someone even cares.

"No one cares!" Wrecker snaps, shoving him off the ledge he's on, ignoring his yelp when he hits the ground below. "Keep movin'."

"Maybe give us the lecture when there's time," I offer, feeling a bit bad about cutting him off, but I still agree with Wrecker. Maybe minus the shoving. How he's even able to do that after what happened earlier, I have no idea. I'm drowning in guilt from what I nearly did to Omega.

Hunter climbs up to the top, flashlight in hand. It's a distance up, and I think it's probably overlooking yet another massive drop. Even if Wrecker doesn't like it, I don't think there's a way out of here short of falling.

Tech climbs up after, moving past Hunter.

A blaster shot rings out, and my heart skips a beat, freezing me inside out when I hear Tech's yelp and see him start falling.

I don't know why I'm struck by a sudden sense of déjà vu, like this is something – something important. Not like I've seen it before, though, more like... I'll see it again, and I don't care for that thought.

Hunter dives forwards, grabbing Tech's arm and yanking him back inside, shoving him behind him to shield him.

"Try again, Hunter," Crosshair's voice yells, and my gut flips while my anger kicks back in full force. "I told you before, you're surrounded."

I freeze where I was, halfway climbed up after Hunter and Tech. Our only way out won't work, and I have no idea what we'll do now. I can't hold it against him, but that makes me no less hurt or – or any of what I feel. "That was Tech, you idiot!" I yell back, "Are you blind, or can you not tell the difference anymore? That's what's really pathetic."

Am I still sore about that comment? Yes.

"Double back," Hunter orders urgently, and he and Tech start climbing down from the opening of the engine. Right on cue, before we can make it more than a few steps, a rumbling starts up.

"What is that?" Omega queries, freaked out.

"Sounds like the engine's coming online." Hunter can sense it, no doubt, as much as hear it. And I have a very, very bad feeling about this.

"But that's not possible, right?" Echo objects.

"Technically, it is," Tech replies, instantly referring to his datapad. "I restored the ship's main power core when I accessed the central system, which means the engines can be activated."

"Crosshair wouldn't do that," Omega says quietly, eyes wide and terrified. "Would he?"

I hook an arm around her waist, squeezing tightly. "It's like you said," I remind gently, "It's not his fault." He can't stop this more than I could, and I don't really feel... anything about the fact that it's Crosshair about to fry us here. Don't know why, but that's good.

"How much time do we have?" Echo asks.

"I estimate less than two minutes." One thing I'll give Tech is that his calculations are rarely wrong, which means we have to be fast.

"Vision, anything?" Hutner asks urgently, turning to me.

With tension still burning in my veins, I don't have an easy time, but it's what I hafta do. I See something exploding, feel it falling. "Only one way out," I tell him, leaning against Omega a little and looking up at Hunter. "Down."

"Down?" Echo asks incredulously.

"Yep. Down. What's a better way out of stuck-y situations than falling? We used explosives. I think."

"That may be a feasible choice," Tech interjects, "If we place a series of charges around this cone –" He's shining his flashlight at it, and the center part is lighting up with blue gaseous something, and I don't like it. "We may be able to break away from the cylinder while destabilizing the core."

"Break away?" Omega asks, freaked out. "You mean fall? All the way down?"

"It's that, or be incinerated," Echo points out.

"Everyone, take an explosive," Hunter orders, and we spur into motion.

He and Tech take Omega, and Wrecker takes me. The engine is coming on, and I can feel the vibration. It's not exactly hot, but something in the air still stings a bit – the exhaust, I think, and we need to get out of here. Fast. The thing's going to burn us to ash, and I don't care for that thought.

It's about to fire by the time the explosives are set, and we're back on the ground floor. It's vibrating enough that I couldn't stand if I tried, which I'm not.

"Everybody, get down!" Wrecker yells, and Hunter instantly shields Omega. I dart in by Wrecker, and he shields me, hitting the trigger.

My eyes are shielded, so the light doesn't hurt, but the explosions are deafening.

And I feel us start falling.

Just this once, it's as terrifying as it is thrilling.

We're being thrown around, and the most I can do is get a desperate grip on the metal, clinging until I slip free. It's Tech, oddly enough, who grabs me before I can fall. Wrecker is holding onto Echo to keep him from going splat, and I don't have time to look for Hunter and Omega, but he'd do anything to protect her. They're fine.

When we finally hit the ground, it's with me sprawled on top of him. That's the closest I've ever been with Tech. I roll off into my back, panting. My headband feels a little messed up, but I can't take it out to fix it right now. I drag myself to my feet, and Echo's already picking himself up.

"That was fun," I supply, rolling my shoulders. I'm admittedly a bit sore from hitting the metal walls so many times, but I'll live. I glance upwards towards where the light of the ion engine is still shining like a flashlight. Just a very, very big one, and it's lighting up the darkness of night. It's spooky. Crosshair's still up here. We better scram before he sees us.

Tech is standing now, looking at me with a 'my calculations cannot express my incredulity' look, and now I just heard that in his voice and will never get it out of my head.

"Can we do it again?"

Wrecker shudders.

Maybe not.

"Hunter, we landed on the port side," Echo calls into his comm, "What's your status?"

"We're by the engine, and we've got company," Hunter replies, and I wince when I hear blaster shots in the distance. This is bad. Hunter's there alone with Omega, and I suddenly have the very bad but certain feeling that something with them is about to go terribly wrong. "Meet back at the Marauder."

"Be careful?" I request, desperately. I know he'll try, but I'm still scared. I know it the same way I can See things, and he needs to be careful.

"You too," he sends back, and the transmission cuts.

I have a very bad feeling about this, but we take off running together, anyway.

I try my best not to think about Omega's glaring absence, or the way something inside me is determinedly whispering that this isn't the last time I'll be without her.

***

We're being pursued the entire way, and predictably, picked up Imperials somewhere. I fire back on random occasions, but mostly, we keep moving. We're faster and know the way ahead. Tech scans the fastest way, and he leads.

"The ship's up ahead," Echo tells us.

"Finally," I grumble, sprinting forwards. The way is long, and my legs are shaky from running so far straight, but we need to get out of here. That matters more than me grumbling about, well, nothing.

And that's the moment the area we landed on comes into view.

There are regs around, dead, but that's not what catches my attention.

"Hunter!" I scream, running to him. There's a charred black spot on his chest plate. Omega's energy bow is lying right beside him, but she's nowhere in sight. Was it – the Empire? Crosshair? Did he do this? How could he do this? But with how I was feeling back then, with what I was willing to do, I can't be sure. Taking Omega and leaving Hunter here to die sounds like the kind of thing he'd do, especially to lure the rest of us out after her.

Unless, the hysterical part of my mind supplies, he just wants his comm back.

"Hunter," I call again, desperately, shaking his shoulder. He's just lying there and he's so terrifyingly still I can't –

This is Hunter, our brother our leader our everything and we can't lose him not –

"Hunter, wake up," Echo urges, crouching on his other side. I See it more with my Sight than my eyes. I See how the tendrils of green smokey-earthy-ness flicker back bright, hear it as Hunter sucks in a ragged breath.

"What happened?" Wrecker asks, appearing at our sides, panicking. "Where's Omega?"

Tech is here, too, his worry either as hidden as ever or I can't think about anything short of the fact that Hunter's just laying here, breathing like he can't really breathe at all, and the strangled half-gasp, half-groan that he makes aren't – stars – this is Hunter and he's not supposed to get hurt.

"He was shot in the chest plate," Echo says, and I immediately have great respect for him for even being able to form a single coherent word right now.

"We have to get him on board," Tech replies urgently after one quick glance at the wound.

"Incoming!" Wrecker yells, backing up and firing back. I whirl around, hissing furiously.

Echo struggles to get Hunter to his feet – he's virtually incapable of moving, so it's hard – and Wrecker starts firing back. It's hard when he only has one hand – the other is holding Omega's bow, and as always, it's the sheer desperation of the situation that spurs me into motion. I sprint over to him, snatching her bow and firing.

Now's not the time to be picky.

"Got him. Tech, fly us out of here!" Echo's yelling in the background, and Wrecker and I retreat for the door. Now isn't the time to think about how every shot I'm making is hitting dead-center, either.

"Vision, go!" Wrecker yells, and I back up after a few more shots before darting up the ramp. Wrecker's right behind, and Echo's helping cover now, so I slam the button to shut the ramp.

The fight's over, but it doesn't feel like it.

Echo drops Hunter into his seat before moving to the front to help Tech fly.

Hunter's still struggling to breathe.

The bow slides from my hand clattering onto the floor. I back away from it, even if it's 'mega's and not the one I nearly killed her with. I could've, and I came so close. Some scars will never really fade, I guess, and I – I don't want to use it again. I'm half expecting to feel Omega's small but warm and gentle hand on my shoulder, to hear her telling me it's okay, but she's not here. She should be, but I have no idea where she is.

I look up, feeling her absence every bit as strong as I did that month back when I was without her.

I don't want to go through that again.

Echo and Tech are flying, and Wrecker's already by Hunter. He has actually important things to worry about, not my stupid paranoia, and I really should get over myself and be useful, too.

Hunter's panting, and he has a hole in his chest and stars, I've never dealt with an injury before. What am I supposed to do?! You'd think being raised with a medical assistant would answer those questions. It does not.

Wrecker pulls Hunter's helmet off, and I move to Hunter's side, grabbing his hand.

(It – he – smells like something burning, and I don't want to think about whether that's his armor or – yeah.)

"He – he took Omega," Hunter rasps out, expression tensed with pain.

Wrecker jerks back, and I can practically feel his panic. "Who? Crosshair?"

"No. A bounty hunter," Hunter answers immediately, wincing again. Does it hurt him to talk? Probably, it's just the very nature of his existence right now, and I squeeze his hand tighter. His other hand is pressed on Wrecker's chestplate, somewhat curling in on himself. "We have to find her."

'mega.

The bounty hunters – the bounty – I was so caught up with Crosshair, I almost forgot about my worries of her being alone. Didn't have much choice either, but it still –

Tears are stinging my eyes, and I don't even bother trying to stop them. What's the point?

Omega is gone, and I promised to protect her, but I failed, and Hunter could die or maybe is dying, I have no idea, but I can't remember the last time I felt this lost and lonely and helpless.

"We gotta treat this first," Wrecker points out, even if he's still visibly panicking. "Vision?"

"Here," I choke out, but Wrecker's already working on unfastening Hunter's armor.

"We gotta get his armor off," Wrecker says.

"Working on it," I reply, eyes narrowing as I try to unfasten it. I have no idea what I'm doing, and I've only seen them do it a handful of times, and my hands are shaking hard enough that they keep slipping. Wrecker's already getting his vambrace off, and I'm still stuck on the first piece. Hunter's breathing in shaky gasps, and I'm gonna just ignore the sporadic, burning pain in my own chest that has no right or reason to exist, thanks.

I'm not the one who got shot.

"Who thought armor in this many pieces was a good idea?" I gripe, finally getting off the first piece and setting it on the floor. One thing I'm good at is talking, and we could use that right now. Hunter could use the distraction, at least. "It's not supposed to take fifty minutes a day to get dressed. This is ridiculous."

"That's why we don't usually take it off," Hunter says, or at least some semi-discombobulated something I think has the same meaning.

"That sounds lonely. And boring. And uncomfortable. And hard! Don't you get sore from it?!"

The sound he makes in response to that I can best translate as an 'I'm incapable of speaking normal Basic right now' and decide to leave it at that.

The Marauder shakes violently as a laser shot explodes past it. Uh oh. The Empire's onto us. Just what we need when Hunter's dying.

"Why can't we just give him whatever Echo gave you when you got shot?" I ask, throwing a panicked glance at Wrecker.

"The damage is far more centralized," Tech calls from the pilot-seat. Why is he talking about Hunter like he's a droid or something? That's creepy.

"Gotta speed this up," Echo says, swinging out of his seat and moving to the back, digging out the medkit.

Hunter's being mostly cooperative at least. Don't know how we could speed it up past that.

I step back so Wrecker can finish taking off the top half of Hunter's armor and loosens his belt enough to pull up his bodyglove.

I'm attempting to arrange Hunter's armor in a semi-reasonable order, but Tech's wild dive throws me off balance and I nearly smack into Wrecker's legs. The shooting is getting worse, and we need to get out of here.

There's a way-too-large burn hole through his armor, and I can't resist poking it, just to see what would happen. It's still warm, and my hand comes off coated with ash. Ugh. Um. Ew. I'm gonna just hope that was all armor, not part Hunter.

I circle around to grab his hand again, and he squeezes it back uncomfortably tight, but I don't say anything.

Wrecker gently pushes him against the back of his seat, hand lifting to his head. Whether Wrecker used to do this or learned it from me and Omega who snuggle almost constantly I have no idea. Either way, it's a very effective way of distracting him. It's very hard to pay attention to anything but when someone touches you that intimately. Hunter's still breathing unevenly though, and we need to get going.

"You ready, kid?" Wrecker asks worriedly, glancing at me, his other hand still on Hunter's hair.

I nod, even if I'm not and really don't want to see it, but we need to. Wrecker pulls up his side of Hunter's bodyglove, and I take the other. It's tight, even if it's really stretchy, and I cannot imagine having to wear something like that. Probably a good thing I won't.

Wrecker growls when he sees him, and this is the first time he's successfully sounded scary, though I know he's just scared.

My gut flips violently when I see it. This is the first real time I've seen an injury before, and it's – it's bad. (It's also the first time I've seen Hunter, period, which is weird.) There's a black scorch mark parallel to what was on his armor, and the area around it is red and inflamed, and the entire area around looks like it's turning into a single, solid, very ow-y looking bruise. That's not to mention the extent of the burn, or that a good half of what I can see is –

I got a two inch long cut once, fell on the floor screaming dramatically, and I have no idea how Hunter's even capable of speaking right now.

"Vision," Echo says, calling me away from him, "Get on the guns. We could use some cover fire."

"On it," I answer automatically, because there's nothing more I can do for him. I run for the back, sprinting up the steps and swinging myself into the seat. I've never done this before, but I know how to. Wrecker obsessively taught me about it, and I start shooting back. I'm not going to think about how I'm shooting at Crosshair right now, either. Not going to – okay. That's not true. I am definitely thinking about it, and I wish I wasn't, but I know he'll understand. He loves us, and nothing else matters. He wouldn't be angry with us defending ourselves, even if it hurt.

That's not who Crosshair is.

Chapter Text

I move out of the gunner's mount when Wrecker comes back to take over – Hunter's been treated.

"The only vessel in our scanners is Crosshair's and he is right on top of us," Tech is saying when I step into the cockpit and swing onto the seat by Hunter's. He's wrapped in a nearly ridiculous amount of bandaging, but I don't know the extent of his injuries. His bodyglove is down again, hiding the injury entirely, and Echo must've given him pain meds, because he looks fully coherent right now.

"Tell him to get off," I grumble, "Sitting on people is rude."

"And laying on them isn't?" Crosshair's voice snarks in my mind, and I bite my lip. He's not here to make any snarky comments, or for me to throw them back.

"It's getting hot back here!" Wrecker yells right after I feel the ship jolting again, and I wince.

"Prepping to jump," Tech says.

"Not without Omega!" Hunter argues instantly. Omega. She's not here, and I can't – I have no idea how to function without her. What am I even supposed to do without her beside me? It was different on Kamino, when we had something to do, when I knew when I'd see her again. But now? I have no idea who's after my sister or what they want with her, and why.

We need to get her back.

"The bounty hunter who took her is long gone. We'll have no chance of finding them if Crosshair shoots us down," Echo argues fiercely, spinning his seat around, ignoring Hunter's glare.

"Rear deflector shields are failing," Tech calls.

Hunter sighs, though I can see his wild desperation that I fully second. "Make the jump," he orders, and Tech pulls back the lever. We streak into hyperspace, and I watch numbly. Omega was here, and we have no way of tracking her.

She's my sister, and she's gone. We can't – we need to find her, but I have no idea how. I don't even know where to start. What are we supposed to do? I give Hunter a helpless look, but he's the one who's hurt, and it feels wrong to rely on him right now. He was shot, and that's not going to be a fast fix.

"What do we do?" I ask finally.

"We've gotta find that bounty hunter. Tech, see what you can find."

***

We end up just sitting around for quite a while. Hunter's description was detailed enough for Tech to figure it out, but Cid doesn't know anything about him, anyway. Tech also makes the supposed marvelous discovery that Omega's unmodified, which is old news, thanks, Mr. All-Knowing.

Nothing really matters, and Wrecker moved the energy-bow to the gunner's mount where I sit alone, leaned up against the wall with my eyes half closed.

I'm not going to sleep until we find her again, though I have no idea how long it'll be. It feels wrong to even relax right now, when I have no idea what's happening to my sister, if she's being hurt or – or what.

I don't know how to be without her. I don't know who I am without her, though I don't think I know, anyway. It wasn't so long ago that I tried to kill her, and I never got to make up for that.

There's not really a way that I could. There's nothing I can do that I haven't already tried. Nothing that – but it's never going to change what I did. Omega's gone, and I don't know how or when I'm gonna see her again.

I don't know what to do, and the helpless desperation is crawling under my skin, itching and grating on me in a way nothing else can. I'm used to not having much control over anything, but this is different, and I don't know what to do about it. I can't just sit here and wait and do nothing, but there's not even anything I can do.

I should've Seen this. The one time my Sight could have come in useful, I didn't even try to use it, at least not for what I really needed to See. And yeah, I know I can't always control it, but this is ridiculous. It isn't like I haven't gotten the feeling of... being separated from her before.

"Come in. Come in," Omega's voice says distantly, and I jolt fully into wakefulness, jumping form the gunner's mount. "Anyone?"

"Omega?!" Wrecker and I chorus in perfect unison, running for the panel.

"Omega, are you there?" Hunter calls. "Omega?"

"It's long-range. I'll try to boost the signal," Echo says, turning away.

"Is anyone there?" Omega's voice comes through again, and I dart over to the panel.

"'mega? We're here."

"Omega, do you copy?" Hunter asks, and I hear a quiet, distant gasp from the other side.

Stars. Was she there when he was shot? Did she think he was dead?

"Hunter? I'm here. I got away, but you have to hurry."

"We're hurrying, sis," I promise instantly, "You okay? Where'd he take you?"

"I – I don't know where I am, but I'm fine," 'mega answers. She sounds freaked out, and I can hear her moving around a little. I just – she has to come back. Hearing her is soothing, but she's not here, so it only helps so much.

I nearly – would've killed her. I was about to, but someone stopped me, and I – if not for that, she wouldn't even be there for us to worry about.

"Hang on, kid. We're coming for ya!" Wrecker interjects, as cheerful, or at least hopeful, as ever.

"The signal's too weak to establish a direct connection trace," Echo sighs.

"Omega, we need a relay of your position," Tech interjects, moving forwards, and I grumpily step out of the way to let him figure out whatever it is he's doing. "Try to create a power surge. Can you find a panel nearby?"

"There's one by a door," Omega offers, "It looks like the ones on Tipoca City."

"That's weird," I assert flatly over Tech's "that's good." "Why would she be on a place that looks like Kamino? I didn't know they had other places?"

"If the Kaminoans are searching for her, they'd probably have her taken to another Kaminoan world," Echo offers, and we look back at the panel.

Tech is mid-telling her what to do when a series of disturbing staticky sounds come from the other end, and I practically teleport over to the panel again. "'mega!"

"Omega?" Tech asks, and I hear distant something on the other end. It sounds like Omega, and she's – oh no.

The bounty hunter must've caught up with her, which says nothing good.

"Omega!" I yell, panicking. I want to scream. To – something, or cry, but I feel helpless again and there's nothing I can do. I can't help her. We're far away and I need to be there with her, to protect her, to – to – we were supposed to be together, to do everything together and that's changed somehow, and I don't know how to live with this.

"Do you copy?" Tech asks, and for the first time, I think even he sounds a bit freaked out. More muffled noise. "I still can't get a good read."

"Hunter, I need you!" Omega's voice cries, distant but there.

I inhale shakily, biting my lip. Whatever little something inside me is crumbling to dust, leaving me raw and empty.

Hunter darts forwards, eyes wide and panicked, shoving Tech out of the way, which is like, so rude, but who doesn't want to shove Tech around a bit sometimes? "Omega!" he calls, desperation lacing his voice, and then the line goes dead with a final sparking thump.

There's nothing, not even static.

That was Crosshair's comm.

Did someone just step on it?

I officially have someone to stab.

Tech steps back, expression tight, and Hunter stares at the now-quiet panel, raw fear and desperation written on his face.

Whirling around, I slam my fist into the chair, not wanting to hit anything breakable, literally just because it hurt. The sharp, stinging pain radiating through my hand does very little to distract me, but it's something and it – I'm just so angry. At the Kaminoans, at Nala Se for – literally anything and everything, at that bounty hunter, at Crosshair, at... me.

I was supposed to have Seen this and done something about it.

Wrecker pulls me into a hug, intercepting my storm-off return to the gunner's mount, and I throw my arms around his neck. He's so good at reading me, and I can't imagine how he feels having lost Crosshair, though it can't be much different than 'mega's absence. But still, he needs it and I need him, so it goes off well enough.

I can't do anything, except cling to him and desperately hope we're going to get her back.

We need her.

***

It's Echo, almost unsurprisingly, who finally figures out where she is. My sister is resourceful, even without me – she's the brains for all of us, after all – and she manages to get us a signal.

When we pick her up, she's in a flight pod, crashing towards the water below, but Tech has the Marauder latch onto her ship before it can hit anything and something... worse can happen.

My heart is hammering in anticipation as the hatch opens and Wrecker leans over it. I know she's there, but I feel a sudden, strange amount of anticipation at knowing I'm about to see her again. I should've stopped this from happening, and I was about to kill her. I can't believe I did that. I don't care if I couldn't help it – that doesn't mean it's alright.

"Omega, are you in there?" he calls.

"Wrecker!" Omega half gasps, half sobs, and Wrecker reaches inside to pull her out. He scoops her into a hug in the overly dramatic way he normally does, but considering what happened, I would too. If I could.

She's crying, and it's gutting to watch – Omega doesn't just cry. She's – she's the calm, level-headed one who doesn't react on pure emotions and insanity whenever something just... exists.

"Might wanna get us outta here," I yell up front to Tech, "Before the bounty hunters come back."

"Good to have ya back, kid," Wrecker says, squeezing her gently as the engine fires up.

The curtain over the gunner's mount is open, and I can see as we lift off. Tech doesn't say anything, but there's not much to say.

I pull out my vibroblade, hesitating a moment as I realize the last time she saw it was when I tried to kill her. "Stick your hands at me," I request, because just doing it would probably make her freak out. "Gotta get those things off."

She holds her hands out to me, and I cut it through the cuffs she's wearing, letting them clatter to the floor. I re-sheath the blade, and we move to hug each other in unison. Omega's arms are tight around me, and I cling to her, trying to offer comfort as well as find it.

She's my sister, and we're physically about the same age, but she still took care of me when I was little, and she's still older than me, and she fixes things. Not the way Hunte does, but still. She's my light, and I need her. She's not trained, and I have to protect her, but I know she'll do the same for me. She's my heart and she knows me in a way that no one else does. I can't lose that, and I need her to be happy and alright, where she always wanted to be. I need to know that she'll be fine, not – not lost and alone. I can't even imagine that.

Omega steps back from me, throwing herself at Hunter and wrapping her arms around his waist. Hunter flinches back, wincing visibly, and I remember seeing the extent of his injuries earlier – he's hurt badly, all over, really, and that must've hurt, even if he won't react.

He pulls her back, and I dart forwards to stay beside her and slide an arm around her waist to keep her from feeling... left out. She doesn't need to know that hurt him – she wouldn't take well to it. "Are you okay, Omega? Are you hurt?" Hunter queries.

She sniffles. "Why is this happening? Why are the Kaminoans after me? Why am I any different than Viz?"

"Hunter, you have to tell her." Echo offers, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"You're... valuable to them," Hunter replies, hands on her shoulders, and Omega's gaze snaps from Echo back to him. Hunter glances at Wrecker, as if silently asking his permission to continue. They're... close. "More than all the other clones. Even more than us. You're... different."

"Different?" Omega echoes, "How?"

"Your DNA is... unaltered," Hunter explains, "You're a pure replication of our genetic host. And... you were the host of the first known Force-sensitive clone. If the Kaminoans want to start a... possibly far more effective cloning operation, they'll need yours."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I yelp, suddenly realizing exactly what that means for the first time. "Does that mean she mutated normally, and I'm a mute-afied freak?"

Everyone is looking at me weirdly, and I shrug, pulling back.

The last time I was close to her, I nearly killed her, and I can't get it out of my head.

I don't want to think about this anymore. What if something happens again? What if... stars, I don't even know, but I don't trust myself.

I want to scream until my throat is raw, but even that wouldn't be enough to dull the fear and emptiness inside me. Crosshair's loss broke something inside me, and everything has been falling ever since.

Screaming won't change anything, but I'm about desperate enough to not even care.

I tried to kill her. The one person who – she's not more important than our brothers, but she's more – we grew up together, and that means everything to me. I can't live without 'mega, and I think she could say the same for me.

All that, and I was about to – to –

Stars.

I was going to kill her, just because I wanted to. I wanted to hurt her, and I can't stop remembering it.

I watch, awkwardly, as Tech scans her over just to make sure – that's the first real time he's showed genuine worry for her, and I find myself wondering if he ever does the same for me when I'm not looking because he certainly doesn't when I am.

Everyone keeps looking at me, half worried, though I don't get it. I'm fine. I'm not the one who was captured, and I'm not about to start trying to stab anybody again, right? Tech said I was fine and there was nothing to worry about.

What if he was wrong?

What if I...

"It's been a day," Echo says, "We should get some rest."

Hunter throws a worried glance at Tech, who catches it, but doesn't respond. "I'll watch the ship," he offers.

"Excuse me," I grumble, "You're the one with a hole in your chest. You need to be sleeping more than any of us."

Hunter turns that you're-adorable-but-I'm-not-listening-to-you look at me, which is very insulting, because I am not adorable in any shape or form, thank you very much. "I'll be fine," he assures.

Yep. I'm gonna pretend I don't see a Wrecker-shaped bruise on his neck either or anything.

I think Tech has one too, but I'm not gonna look.

"You can have my rack," Hunter tells Echo, moving up to the cockpit.

"Can we come?" Omega asks – we've never slept on their racks before, and I know why she's curious to try it out.

"Hey," I squeak, a sudden realization dawning, "Do you think three people could fit on one rack?" What? I've been wondering for months!

"I do not advise that," Tech objects, and I take off to the back before he can finish. What? He's not stopping me, either.

***

We pile in next to Echo, entirely uncaring that we could steal Tech's bunk, uncaring that he's in the back too – I will do that someday – and Crosshair's hasn't been touched since he left. For as hard as I try, I can't sleep.

I can only keep remembering how I was about to fire at Omega, how I... I could've killed her, and she could've killed me when she threw my knife at the bow. We wouldn't be here to talk about it if either of us had. I hate myself for even being upset about it because it wasn't her fault.

It's not until I hear movement from below that I finally squirm my way off Omega – she's between Echo and me. It's not noise as much as it is a feeling, the knowledge I have sometimes. It's Tech. I can See it, the edges of his presence curling and darkening.

I poke my head over the edge, scooting over to look down, even if I'm upside down.

Tech pushes himself up, a half-frown on his face when he sees me. "Go back to sleep."

"You good?" I ask, leaning farther. Yeah, I probably look ridiculous half hanging upside down, but I don't care.

His expression is tight, not quite angry, but close. "I am fine," he snaps back, swinging off his rack onto the ladder. I don't buy it.

"You sure?" I ask in a whisper, sitting halfway up and reaching for the ladder myself. I don't know him that well, exactly, but I'm perfectly fine with chasing him if I have to. I can't sleep much, anyway. All I can think about is how I was about to kill my sister and that she still trusts me enough to sleep beside me.

Not very conducive to sleep.

"Your concern is unwarranted," he replies, disappearing from sight.

Thanks.

I bite my lip, glaring, unreasonably hurt about something I can't even place. Maybe it's just out of place. I remember a time where I didn't really fit here, and sometimes...

At least Wrecker never nearly killed any of us.

Guess Crosshair and I really are quite a pair.

Is this how he feels?

Lost and empty and afraid and drowning in guilt until he can hardly breathe?

I turn back, glancing at Omega's still form. I don't think she's sleeping, at least not deeply – as upset as I am. I don't want to go to sleep again. Echo's here, but what if...

I don't think I'll be able to sleep alone by her for a little while, period.

He doesn't have to be so rude. Honestly – it's not like he's the one I nearly killed or anything. I don't even know why it hurt, but it did, and... I swing off the rack, tiptoeing past the others.

I can hear him talking to Hunter quietly up front.

I pause, backing against the wall to just... listen.

"– still out there," Tech is saying.

"There's nothing we can do," Hunter replies, quietly. "Not right now. Not after Bracca."

"I am aware," he says, maybe a little too shortly, "But as long as he is with the Empire, there will always be a threat."

They're talking about Crosshair, aren't they? It's the first time I've ever heard.

"I know." Hunter sounds so... I don't know, lost and scared. I've never heard him like that before. He's afraid, and I can't imagine anything that would make Hunter scared. There's a heartbeat. "You staying?" he asks instead.

They're back to dodging the topic, per usual, and I abruptly find myself wondering if Tech was... dreaming or something. I can't imagine him having a nightmare, but I thought those were just... normal sometimes. No idea. It's still creepy, though.

There's a pause. "Yes, I will."

I hear Tech moving to sit down, and lean against the wall, contemplating sitting down somewhere, just... something. I'm sure Hunter senses me, but he doesn't say anything.

It's not until Omega comes out from the back, and Tech is sleeping in one of the chairs – that is so uncomfortable, why did he think that was a good idea please tell me it didn't have to do with – the Bracca thing – that I finally come out of hiding.

Omega pauses when she sees me. "You okay?" she asks, even if I can see the tense worry on her own face.

"Not really." I don't elaborate past that – don't know how I could. Not to her. She's... probably the only one who could make this better, and Wrecker's probably the only one who knows what I need to hear, but I nearly killed her, and I don't feel worthy to ask for that.

Omega is... everything to me, and I... I nearly destroyed that. I don't even know who or what I am without her. My entire life has been defined by Omega, and I – I can't deal with this.

I know I didn't hurt her, but that's not enough. I just want to curl up in a ball and cry, but there's no one who has time for it, and even if someone did, I'm too exhausted even for that.

"You?" I query softly. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No." She glances up front, past Tech, to where Hunter's sitting in the cockpit. I want to go to him, but he was hurt, and it doesn't seem fair to ask him to make me better somehow when he's the one still healing.

Hunter doesn't have anyone to take care of him.

Not that I'm stopping Omega if she needs him, obviously. It's just... I don't know. Different for me.

Omega climbs into the pilot's seat, and I've got zero sympathy for Tech that his seat just got stolen.

"Can't sleep?" Hunter asks, feet up on the control panel, and it looks ridiculous to see him like that when he's only wearing half his armor. He looks... so young sometimes, and it's jarring.

He's... what? Only three years older than me? Or thereabouts. We're really not that far apart.

"I keep thinking about the Kaminoans," Omega admits, arms wrapped around her legs. I approach from behind, hand gripping the edge of her seat, but hesitant to climb in.

I don't know if she'd be comfortable with it, and for all that I want to pretend nothing's wrong, I don't want to do something she's uncomfortable with, either.

"Seeing that place. I don't want to end up an experiment in a tube."

"That's not gonna happen," Hunter promises instantly, with every bit the fierceness he has. Sometimes, I think what I love about him most is how easily he can make... nothing into something. He makes me feel alive in a way I can't quite understand.

She looks up at him, but I know she doesn't really believe it. "If I'm as valuable as you say, Lama Su will keep sending bounty hunters after me," Omega objects. She sounds so scared. I don't know what she saw there, and I almost don't want to.

"He can send everyone in the galaxy," Hunter tells her fiercely, "You have us."

"You can't fight them all," she mumbles, turning away.

Hunter pushes himself up, turning her chair to face him and crouching in front of her. "Omega, you don't have to worry. You are never going back to Kamino."

A distant image of blue fire flickers through my mind, and I shove it away just as fiercely. Doesn't matter.

Hunter casts me a warily uncertain look, but I just shrug, not really sure what he's asking.

"Promise?" she asks, a little desperately.

"I promise."

Her smile is tentative and faint, but there, and I couldn't ask for anything more.

Hunter looks at me again when Omega doesn't say anything else. "Vision?"

"It's nothing," I reply instantly, self-consciously, shaking my head.

His hand is steady and warm on my shoulder, and I lean into it instinctively, even if I wish I wasn't. I did... things, and I don't deserve this. Them. I nearly killed my sister and took Omega from them and –

"Dreams?" he guesses.

"Wake-dreams," I deadpan.

Hunter is looking at me, with that confused-calculating expression he gets when he's thinking over a particularly difficult strategy.

"Brooding," I supply when he fails to translate Vision-speak.

"What happened on Bracca wasn't something you could control," he tells me gently. "We all know that."

I scoff, and I know I'm just being bitter and mean but I can't make it stop. "Do we?" I ask. "Does Crosshair? Does he understand it?"

He looks so hurt I hate myself for even saying it. What is wrong with me? Why do I even...

"Never mind," I blurt out, backing away. "It – I don't – I don't know what's wrong with me." I don't deserve to have them, any of them, if I'm so – so – this. Whatever this is. I don't know why I keep hurting them. I thought, with my chip out, that'd be the end of it, and we'd be fine, but I was wrong.

Hunter starts calling me, but I spin around, making a dash for the 'fresher. Running to hide, per usual.

I used to be unafraid to do anything. Now, all I can feel is fear eating me inside out.

I close the door behind me, sliding onto the floor, panting.

I can't breathe.

WhatifIhurtOmegaagainwhatifthere'snoonearoundtostopmewhatif –

There's a light tapping on the door, and I squeeze my eyes shut.

Omega.

I do not want to talk to her right now.

But Omega is, well, Omega, and as persistent as ever, she lets herself in.

Chapter Text

"Vision?" She's being careful at least, cautious, and keeping her distance. That's a good thing. She's not going to leave me alone until I talk, which I don't wanna do. I did too much of that already, thanks.

I don't say anything, but she steps inside, sitting down beside me. It almost reminds me of how she approached Crosshair back in on Kamino. She touches my shoulder, gentle and soft and warm.

I nearly killed her.

I inhale shakily with a shuddering near-sob.

"It wasn't your fault," she tells me gently.

I shake my head, hissing. "Don't say that. It – it could've been. I would – I –" The tears start coming now, and I blink against it, trying to calm. Hunter taught me how to keep calm, how to focus on breathing instead of the... things I See around me. He has to do it to deal with his senses, and he taught me to do the same to try controlling my Sight. I can't do that right now, though.

"It's okay," she repeats, "I knew it wasn't you."

"We could've killed each other!" I burst out finally, "How doesn't that – it –"

She stays, calm and steady, despite the fear I saw in her not long ago. She's putting it aside for me, and that's wrong. It's – she's not supposed to do that.

"I could hurt any of you, and I'd do it because I wanted to." They can say what they may, and I believe Tech, but I also kind of... don't. I can't. They don't understand. "If I could do this, what else could I do?"

"Viz," 'mega says, gentle and firm in a way that reminds me disturbingly of Hunter. "I trust you."

"And maybe you shouldn't!" I want to scream. I don't know how to – to deal with this. "I don't even know who I am," I hiss, struggling to hold back tears.

"I do." The calm, levelness in her tone makes me look at her. Her eyes are as soft and adoring as they always are. "You're my sister."

She says it like it's so simple, but it's not. "I'm not like you, Omega. I never have been." I bite my lip, forcing a shaky inhale. "I – I'm different." I'm nothing, no one, and just once, I'd like to feel like I mattered.

Like I...

I have Omega and I know she cares, and that should be enough, but here's something missing that nothing can fill. Except our family finally being together for the first time.

I wish I could believe her, that I mean something because she is, that I... am what she is, but I'm not. I'm special in a way I don't want to be, even if it's what I am. Seeing can help, but it's exhausting. And I don't mind being weird, but sometimes...

I just feel so alone. The only other person who understood my abilities to a point was Anakin Skywalker, and I have no idea what happened to him. I Saw that bright fire once, and I want it again.

"I'm supposed to help," I continue, "I should've seen, stopped it, but I – I –"

"I'm back now," she attempts reassuring, "That's all that matters."

"We shouldn't've been apart in the first place." Probably wouldn't have been, if I hadn't asked Hunter to promise to choose her over me, if I hadn't been too afraid to stay with her throughout everything on Bracca. "We need to stick together."

"Yeah," she agrees quietly, "Nothing goes well when we're apart." She hooks an arm over my shoulders, pulling me into a hug, and I can't resist leaning into it a little, pressing my face to her neck and squeezing my eyes shut.

I have to protect her, to keep her safe. Hutner nearly died doing it, and I'd do the same. Omega is special, different, and she's more than a soldier. She is everything we aren't, and never will be. Maybe what we don't want to be.

"Okay," I whisper, "We'll stick together. Always and forever."

"Forever and always," Omega echoes, pulling back to kiss my forehead. I let out a half-giggle, half-sob at the intentional reverse of my words.

Don't, a voice whispers. Don't make a promise you can't keep.

I know that, but I'll do it, anyway. I'll try. That's what has to count, isn't it? I'll keep her safe, or die trying.

Omega presses our foreheads together, and I cling closer, desperate to be held. I need her, even now, and I don't think it'll ever change. It shouldn't, either.

***

Hunter does, in fact, eventually go to sleep. Tech insists he's healed enough that he can take the bandages off, no matter how stupid an idea I think that is.

We're heading back for Ord Mantell now, and we drop by to get another carton of Mantell Mix – Hunter insists we share for money reasons, and I don't like it, but hey, it's... not that important.

Wrecker is carrying both of us, and Omega's passing Mantell Mix to both of us.

Okay, technically, she's feeding it to Wrecker, which looks rather ridiculous, but she's the only person who was able to make him hold still long enough to feed him when he was a baby, so it's not weird.

It's nice to be back here, finally. It's not exactly home, but I still feel at home here.

Except, the last time we were here, it was before I... yeah. Before Bracca.

I still remember shooting at him, and my bow is still propped up against the wall in our room where I don't want to look at it. "Y'know," I say, "I know we didn't have much choice, but I still feel bad for shooting at you."

He laughs, and it eases something inside me a bit. "You're aim was good."

How can he joke about that? I opt to take the levity for granted and grin back. "Yep."

Hunter helps us down when we reach Cid's parlor, and it feels like we do this half as an excuse to get close to him.

Echo thinks Mantell Mix smells too weird to try, which I am so offended about, but I think he can only eat half of what normal people do, so I let it pass.

Cid is ranting about another mission, but I'm not really following the details. Something about rescuing some Separatists, and Hutner flat-out refuses until she starts griping about debts again. Honestly. She's so grumpy.

Hunter steps aside to talk to her quietly, and I try not to listen too hard. It's Hunter, and I trust him. There's nothing I need to be worried about. Doesn't stop me from being curious, though. Always am when I know I shouldn't be.

I think I hear both my and Omega's names mentioned, and I stare harder. Wrecker and Echo are bickering about something stupid in the background.

Cid is just being, well, Cid, but that doesn't mean I appreciate it anymore when she shoves Hunter. It's not hard, and he doesn't even blink about it, and that's half of what makes me so angry.

He was just shot and there's no way that didn't hurt. It had to have – it hurt when Omega hugged him earlier.

I dart forwards, anger spiking, but Hunter's already stepping back. Hunter finally moves away from Cid and crouches in front of Omega and me. "Ready when you are, Seargeant," Omega says cheerfully, saluting.

"Vision, can I have a word?" he queries.

"That sounds ominous," I deadpan, stepping closer. "What's wrong?"

"I was gonna ask you if something was," he replies, "Raxus will be swarming with Imperials. It's... too dangerous for you and Omega. We're not taking you there." Omega looks stung, and I hate seeing her so let down. "You're not coming on this," he continues, "I wanted to ask if you think you'll be safe here."

"You're..." I don't understand. "Gonna leave us here?"

"It'll answer whether we take the mission or not," he replies, touching my shoulder.

I close my eyes, reaching out. His touch gives me something to focus on, to ground myself with. I'm worried, for a countless list of reasons – primarily, that I've never been without them since Kamino, and I can't imagine that. I don't want to be without them. I'm terrified of being left alone, of something happening and one of us getting hurt.

I see bits and flashes of Omega and me, but nothing bad. "We'll be fine," I tell him, biting my lip, even if I don't want to. He deserves an honest answer. Doesn't mean I like the thought of him going somewhere so soon, though. He was hurt, and I can't get it out of my head.

Hunter nods. "Alright. You'll stay here with Cid."

"But we're part of the squad, too!" Omega argues.

"Then following orders shouldn't be a problem," he replies, pulling off his sergeant's voice now, which – well, it's the only way to make us listen. I understand how dangerous this is, and we came so close to losing Omega. I don't like it, but I get it, and I'm not going to argue, even if I don't like it. "Stay close to Cid and don't leave this parlor. Got it, soldiers?"

Good soldiers follow – shut up.

"Sir, yes, sir," I snip, saluting dramatically.

Omega huffs out a frustrated sigh. "Yes, sir."

Hunter nods, smiling faintly before standing and moving for the door. Wrecker pats Omega's shoulder as he passes, and we watch them leave.

They'll be back soon. They'll be fine. I know that, but I'm still worried. I've dealt with this before, though. Omega... hasn't. She doesn't know what it's like for them to be away, to be constantly worried about them and not knowing if they'll come back alright.

"Hey, tinies," Cid says, stepping forwards and throwing brushes at us. "I got a mission for you. Now get scrubbing."

***

Don't think Omega's ever scrubbed anything in her entire life. She's a lab assistant not a cleaning droid, thank you, Cid, but I'm just gonna hope our usefulness here will make her be less grumpy. Or pay us. Or – or something. We still owe her.

Omega's scrubbing in slow motion, looking downright miserable, and I – yeah. I've been there before. Hence, drawing hearts all over Crosshair's bunk. I wonder if he's even seen them, if he ever thinks about... us.

"Enough with the moping around," Cid gripes, coming over to us, "You're bringing the mood down around here."

"So-rry," Omega snaps back very insincerely. She's not usually a grumpy drama-queen like I am, and it's unreasonably amusing when she is.

"Alright, I'll bite," Cid huffs.

"Please don't. Your teeth look very sharp," I deadpan.

"What's wrong with you?" she continues, as usual, ignoring me completely.

I jump down from the bench I've been slouching on, shoving the brush-thingy away. I don't wanna do this – we're soldiers, and there are things I'm actually good at, thank you very much. Not feeling particularly helpful, either.

"We haven't heard back from them yet. Do you think they're okay?" Omega asks.

"They better be for what this job's paying."

"Do you ever care about people?" I query, glaring up at her. It's my brothers she's talking about, and I don't appreciate the attitude. "Or anything other than just money?"

"What's the point?"

"I don't know. Maybe not to be an isolated, grumpy crab your entire life." I know I don't have to be so nasty. No one needs to tell me that, but I just. Don't like her. Don't trust her, anyway, and I don't trust anyone. Don't have much reason to.

"We should've gone with them on the mission," Omega snaps, shoving the brush away hard enough that it thumps into the wall edge, and crossing her arms. "It's not fair."

"I've got news for you, kid," Cid scolds, "Life ain't fair. You don't like it? Stop pouting and do something about it. Maybe if you weren't so helpless, those four laser brains wouldn't have left you here with me."

Omega glares, swinging herself off the bench and stalking across the room, probably in an effort to hide the tears I see filling her eyes.

And that just about does it for me. "She's not helpless, you moron!" I yell. "That doesn't mean she's been trained for being a soldier like the rest of us! It's not her fault she got kidnapped. It's not her fault Hunter got shot. So stop acting like it!" I shove at her, much the same way she shoved Hunter around earlier – yeah, that's outta spite, too – and I'm tiny enough that it's absolutely pointless, and I can feel her scales clearly enough for it to be creepy, and I stalk off after Omega.

I want to scream. Or cry. Or something.

I just want everyone to stop hurting my family.

I wish Crosshair was here. He was good at verbal attacks. I'm not. I can ramble for hours, but I can't understand a thing about emotional anything enough to – yeah. That. The – what he does.

He was good at everything he did.

I am not.

I miss Hunter. And Wrecker. And Echo. Even Tech. Oh, and Gonky, too. And Lula obviously. And – I just want them to be back already. I don't want to be stuck with Cid alone. I don't – she's mean.

Like me.

I nearly killed Omega, and I can't just let people hurt her. Not after I did it so much myself. I can't understand why this keeps happening. It was hard on Kamino, but we were together, and it actually seemed... bearable back then.

"'mega?" I ask tentatively, approaching her. I don't even know what to say. I've never seen anyone insult her before. My brothers, yeah, but not 'mega. She never had to deal with the regs and everything that came with it.

Crosshair would verbally rip apart anyone who went after them, even if it was worth paying attention to, and Wrecker would do it physically. That's what I'm used to, not it being me against everyone else.

Nala Se never... I didn't like her very much, but she was never unkind to either of us. Not really. In her own way, but she was so... gentle, I guess. I'm not used to this life, either. Maybe I'm used to it being just me and Omega, but it hasn't been for years, and I don't know how to... handle that a second time.

She doesn't say anything, and I can't help remembering seeing her cry in Bracca, seeing the terrified look on her face as I was about to shoot her. Is she angry about that? I know she said she wasn't, but some things are hard to forget. I can't forget how Crosshair was about to kill us, either, even if I know it wasn't his fault.

I wrap an arm around her, climbing onto the bench she's sitting on, facing the wall. She leans into it, and... we just sit there.

The silence drags on, and I have no idea how long it is before I find it frustratingly unbearable. "Maybe I should try to See," I offer, "I dunno if I can do it, but... maybe?"

"Can you?" she asks, looking hopefully up at me.

The last mission we were on together ended with Hunter taking a blaster bolt to his chest. It's no wonder she's so afraid.

"I'll try," I shrug. "Haven't in a while, but... maybe?" I used to get flashes, I remember suddenly. I Saw things sometimes when Hunter was trying to teach me to control myself. I Saw flashes of a future we're living through now. I knew Omega was with us, and I never really registered that Crosshair wasn't there, though I wondered why I never Saw all three of us together. Now, it makes sense.

"Please?" she whispers.

"Okay," I nod, "We just gotta... keep working. I... need somewhere quiet. Try to keep everyone away, okay?"

Omega nods. "'kay," she agrees, perfectly used to my weird abilities. I swing around, facing the rest of the parlor, crossing my legs. It's a bit... natural, even if I hate having to sit still for so long. Some people just aren't made for it, but Echo had to do crazy things when he got used to his new abilities, too.

Echo called what I do meditation, just a little different than Hunter's constant attempts at staying grounded. Biggest difference is that I have to sit still to do it – not getting excited obsessively is boring beyond all hope of life, thank you, Hunter – and Hunter's is a constant focus of just being.

Don't much like what I am now, but I deal with it. We all do. To be fair, I hate just about everything about myself.

I breathe in and out deeply, closing my eyes. I have to cut out senses in order to focus properly. I'm in a noisy place, but when I don't see it, I can at least distance myself from it. I can See things I can't normally, and that's what I'm doing right now. It's not something anyone taught me, but I learn from trial and error.

And I See.

Gray fading up and down, dark and light, symbolizing the future. I know what it is, and I do it sometimes, to know. It's easier to at least somewhat understand what it holds, even without vivid details. And it's dark. I know it's dark, and I can just see the... emotions. Not really what I need, though.

I See fire. I always See fire, Kamino burning, and I don't want to know what it means. It's a water planet. Fires don't just start.

That fades away, into something... else. Something far more distant.

"Stay behind me," a voice says, unfamiliar, but family. Sister, something whispers. Safe. Home. A fire is burning all around, and I feel myself moving forwards, disregarding the warning.

It flickers into something else, an image I remember from long ago. The air is fresh and bright with life. It's the first time I feel home.

I've been with Crosshair enough times to know the feel of his warmth, to See the fogginess that's always defined him. I've been here enough times to know the feel of being curled half in his lap, and to feel his arm draped around my waist.

"– and you'll mess up your hair," grumbles someone out of my light of sight. I'm staring fixedly at 'mega, who's still attempting to adjust a much-too-long stick her hands. His voice is deep, and I don't recognize it, but it's achingly familiar.

"You didn't braid it today," I snip back, "This is comfy. Do you ever sprawl in someone's lap?"

"You are welcome," he grumbles.

"Haven't you heard of contractions?"

"I just used one." Stars, he sounds like Tech.

"Ohhhh, yeah. Sure. Sure-sure."

"You haven't changed at all," Crosshair tells me dryly.

"Oh, yeah, I'm bigger."

Hunter laughs. I haven't heard that in so long, but I'd recognize the sound anywhere, and I miss it. "Some things never change." He's close by, I think. I can't see him, but he sounds close.

He sounds happy, and this is the first time I realize I've never seen it before.

I blink awake again, tears stinging my eyes. I breathe in shakily, trying to ground myself. Omega catches it from across the room and practically teleports to my side, hand on my shoulder, and I lean into it. "Are they okay?" she asks, freaked out.

"I Saw something," I whisper, voice muffled as I press my face to her chest. "We're gonna get him back, Omega. I know it." It's far out, I think, at least my vision is – but it's something, and it soothes me.

We'll be okay. Eventually.

***

Omega is insanely good at strategy – no shock there. She interrupts Cid's game with the two creatures perpetually hanging out at her parlor with advice, and then the betting-craze starts. We were supposed to be staying out of attention, but we'll be fine. Just to make sure, I settle down in the far back, watching and listening. I don't See anything, and no one pays attention to me.

Omega is having fun, loads of it. She's the center of attention, and the number of people cheering her on is rapidly growing.

I kinda wish I could be the center of attention, not in a bad way, just for once. I hate myself a bit for thinking that, but at least Omega is having fun. She and Cid have taken a surprising liking to each other, which strikes me weird all the way through. I don't exactly dislike Cid, but I still don't like her. She's not family. She's not one of us or someone I grew up knowing about.

It isn't like she was just accepted into our family like Echo was, either.

Hearing Crosshair's voice in my dream somehow made the fact that he's not with us so much more real, and the gaping emptiness in my heart feels much bigger.

I jump to my feet on the bench the moment I see our brothers and wave to them before jumping off. The room is crowded enough that I'm gonna get lost before I even make it to the entrance, thanks. By the time I make it to them, Cid's already shooing everyone out the door. I skid up next to Echo, grinning, and he returns a half-smile. Unlike earlier, something in him seems strangely settled.

"Kid, where'd you learn to do that?" Wrecker laughs, scooping Omega into his arms.

"She's a natural," Cid replies, "I've never seen anything like it."

I throw my arms around Wrecker's waist, at least as far as I can, because he's too big for me to hug properly, and he pats my head.

"I told you to keep a low profile." Hunter's voice is firm, not angry, but close enough. He hasn't actually gotten angry at us since Saleucami, even if he'd have a right to with how crazy and chaotic I am. "This is the opposite."

Omega's face falls, as does Wrecker's.

"Ease up, Bandana," Cid gripes, grabbing his shoulder and turning him around. Hunter glares at her, arm lifting like he's either about to shove her off, or half certain she's going to hit him, I can't tell. "Omega made enough money to pay off the debt you boys owe me, so try showing a little gratitude to my friend." She emphasizes the last several words with a wave of her hand, smacking a hand on his chest plate at the end. Again. Yeah. Typical Cid, and I'm more hurt than annoyed, but I don't – don't know why everyone gets like that towards Hunter.

No one would dare treat anyone else like that.

"You did good," she says, patting Omega's shoulder, which is nice to hear from her, but it's not her opinion that matters.

It's Hunter's. He knows what he's doing. He's the one who looks out for us.

Cid moves off to take the Senator our brothers rescued to the back, and Echo and Tech follow. Tech throws an uncertain glance at Hunter as he passes, but he says nothing. Wrecker sets down Omega, and Hunter's just... staring, something hurt and empty in his expression. I cross my arms, blinking at the wetness in my eyes.

I know we'll find something – something someday, a time and place we're together and happy, though there's a few people we're missing yet, but that feels impossibly far out.

Wrecker shoves past Hunter, who turns to look at him for the first time, snapping back into focus, and Wrecker nods towards Omega and me.

I'm simultaneously touched that he's standing up for us and annoyed that he hurt Hunter to do it.

We're family. We shouldn't hurt each other. For anything.

I just feel empty and numb.

"You really paid off our debt?" Hunter asks finally when Omega starts after our brothers.

"I wanted to be useful, even if I couldn't go on the mission," she says quietly.

"Hmm. How about we put those strategy skills to the test?" he offers, turning towards us and approaching the board. "One match. If you win, then no more sitting out on missions." He sits down, turning it on.

Omega lights up, running to her seat on the other side.

I should probably feel a bit of something, but I don't. Not really.

"You ready for this?" Hunter asks.

Omega's grin is slightly terrifying. "Are you?"

I watch their game idly, not overly paying attention. I don't really... care? I don't want to get left behind again either, but I guess... I grew up knowing it would happen. I knew my training would never be done before I could go with them. That I've even gotten as much time with our brothers as I have is enough.

(No, it's not, and it never will be, though it certainly should be. I can't demand so much of them. It's not fair.)

The thing that sort of throws me is that Omega's actually winning.

Does win.

She shouldn't.

Hunter is our Sergeant, the one in-action who knows like. Everything. He couldn't lose to her. Maybe some of my weird Force-abilities really did come from Omega, because I think Jedi can mind-read. Dunno if I should burst her I'm-good-at-something bubble by telling her that or not, though. I certainly wouldn't want anyone to do that to me if I felt like I was good about something, so I shut up about it.

"Viz, you wanna try?" she asks, turning to me with a bright grin.

I instantly think of when I was about to shoot her not so long ago and shake my head. I'm not comfortable doing anything against her. I already – Besides, I don't want her to beat me. I'm supposed to be a soldier, too, and I'm not really good at anything. I don't want to start comparing that to how she does. "Nope. Not now. Mission's over, remember?"

"Okay. Mantell Mix?"

"Check on Wrecker," I request.

She takes off to the back, and I turn to Hunter. I think he's been watching me for a while now.

"You alright?" he asks before I can say anything.

"Sorry for the – the attention thing," I blurt out in a rush. "I didn't think, and I thought I could See if something went wrong, and I –"

"It's okay," Hunter interrupts, "It worked out, you're fine."

I shake my head. "It's not fine, Hunter. You were angry."

"You said nothing would happen. That was enough."

"What are you afraid of?"

He rocks back a little, something tightening in his expression. Fear, I think.

"I'm not gonna let something happen to 'mega," I promise, sinking onto her seat. "I promise."

"It won't be any better if something happens to you, Vision."

I blink at him, confused.

"Protecting Omega isn't the role you're supposed to have," he continues, "You're a kid, too. That's something you need to let me do."

Is that what he's afraid of? Failing to protect us?

"You never used to ask me about what I See so much," I comment, looking up at him.

"Yeah," Hunter agrees slowly, "I... I should have listened more to what you were telling us earlier, on Kamino. If we'd taken you when you asked..." He trails off, shaking his head. "Things could be different now."

As in, that was before Crosshair left, but I think we all know the truth. "You did your best," I reply, leaning forwards, touching his arm. His vambrace is hard and cool under my touch. "And even if he'd left with us... I doubt it would've gone on long before he tried to kill us, anyway. I mean. Realistically." He was willing to kill every single one of us, and he couldn't stop it. It's... for the best that he left before he could go far enough to hurt us. I know that, even if I don't like it.

"So, yeah," I continue right off, not stopping or thinking, "It worked out. We're okay. And if the Empire shows up here, we'll find somewhere else to go. We didn't plan on coming here first, either, right? You joining the Mantel' Mix craze? It's really good."

"I know," he says, half-smiling. "But that's not really –"

"That's okay," I assure, jumping over the table at him. Hunter catches me, and I wind my arms around his neck. I still saw a hole in him, though, and I don't think I'll ever get it out of my head. Don't know how bad the scarring was, either. "By the way, you okay?"

"I'm fine," he assures, making a move to stand up, but I refuse to let go.

You know the one thing I really miss? Being the center of attention.

Chapter Text

Omega and I do, in fact, go a few rounds. Hence, this.

"It's not winning if it's cheating," Omega says sullenly.

"It's not cheating," I insist, grinning. "Using all my skills to my advantage isn't cheating." Let's be honest here – someone needed to win against her once. I don't care if I used my vision abilities to predict all her next moves after doing a detailed analysis of how she does things.

It took ten rounds, but I still got one win, so it counts. Honestly, I have to be better than her at something sometimes.

It's also been over a week since Bracca. I've honestly lost track of time. Crosshair has been away for so long.

That's not something I wanna think about, though.

"You used your abilities to see what I was gonna do!"

"And you do the same," I reply smugly.

"But I can't See like you can!"

"Better," I object, "I think you read minds."

Omega blinks. "I... can do that?"

"Dunno, but I got my Force-sensitivity from somewhere, right?"

"Force-sensitivity is not strictly inherited," Tech replies, always happy to burst my bubble.

"I hate you," I tell him seriously. I'm not even kidding.

***

The mission is... it is, but it's night when we get back to the Marauder. It's a quiet, peaceful place, and we opt to stay overnight, or until Cid calls us off again. The... original three Batchers are squabbling about something too fast for me to even get a word in, and I lost track of the conversation somewhere midway.

Omega pokes my arm, gaze on the open ramp, and my head snaps around. Echo's sitting outside alone.

"Oh," I breathe. This's happened before. It's familiar, something I can actually deal with. I used to struggle with it too in the beginning. Still do now, but it's worse for Echo, because he actually had another squad before coming here. He knew people who died. I can't imagine that.

I move outside instantly, and the other three are a bit too preoccupied to comment. We're with Echo, anyway – it's fine.

I drop myself beside him with an unnecessarily loud thump, and Omega sits on his right a moment later, far more gracefully. "Hey," I say, leaning my head against his arm. Echo looks down at me, quiet. "Mind if we stay?" It's a pretty rhetorical question because no one wants to be alone.

"No, it's fine."

Maybe he's trying to make us accept him as much as we have in reverse. He wanted to stay, and the points to which the Batch went to make him feel accepted were a bit insane sometimes. They would do anything for him – he's the first person who wanted them.

On this note, there's a ton of things I've been waiting to ask him about.

"You okay?" I ask on second thought.

Echo sighs. "Dreams."

I wince. We've all dreamed about Bracca. I've heard it. Echo doesn't sleep much in the first place, but I've heard the others waking up sometimes, half panicking. It was hardest on Wrecker. Between that and Crosshair having shot him back on Kamino.

"What was your old squad like?" Omega queries curiously.

"Well," Echo replies thoughtfully, "There were five of us. Hevy was our leader. There was Cutup, Droidbait, Fives, and me." This is the longest I've ever heard him talk about them. I've never really heard their names before. Fives is the only one I know of, half because he gets so sticky about the number.

"How do you... deal with it?" I ask quietly. "I mean... I can't imagine losing someone I know. Just... gone and all of that."

"We're clones," Echo answers slowly, "We were made to be expendable. I always thought that way, until I met you."

By you, he doesn't mean me, but he met me the same time as our brothers. "Yeah," I agree grudgingly, "But you're people, too. You feel. I'm the same. That's not any different than the natborns."

"Except we were born to die." Brutal, but true.

"Don't say that," Omega argues, gutted. There's a veiled horror in her voice that reminds me of how new to this all she is. She's not a soldier. She's... meant as something else, something I am not. "You're my brother."

"They aren't mutually exclusive," Echo replies, "I never understood the cost of war until our first mission."

Omega hesitantly touches his shoulder.

I don't really think there's anything either of us can say to that.

"But how do you... deal with it?" I ask a little desperately, "With losing someone you know? Just... knowing you'll never see them again?" I can't imagine what that'd be like. The sheer hopelessness of it isn't something I can imagine, much less recover from. Omega dealt with losing our brothers from the fact that they were still alive, and she stubbornly clung to the knowledge she'd be reunited with them someday.

"They are still a part of me," he answers slowly. "I fight in their memories."

And if you die? I want to ask, but that's not something I can think about. I refuse to accept a reality where any of my brothers die. It figures, though – he's lost so many. He's gonna hafta believe something like that. It's not truly something you can just accept. "What if they're not really gone?" I blurt out, and Echo is looking at me now. "I mean – everyone thought you were – never mind." I have no idea what I'm saying. I'm not even trying to get at anything right now.

I drop my head to his arm instead, trying to... something. He's been through so much, and there's nothing I can do except deal with it.

That's true for all of us, isn't it? This is – it's depressing, but it's a part of Echo, and if he cares about them, I think his brothers deserve it, too. They deserve to be remembered, for someone else to hurt for them... even if they were regs. They're not all mean. Echo isn't. Rex wasn't. Cut wasn't, and I trust Echo's judgment.

"It's not easy," he admits, "But it's who we are. It's what we were born for. We all knew it would happen."

Yeah. I guess we did, even me, though I never really thought about it. I had no idea what war could do until I saw Echo, and how mechanical he was. He lost half of himself in an explosion. Wrecker just lost an eye. But Echo? Stars, he has so many things wrong with him, I was on the verge of tears by the time Hunter told Tech to shut up. Echo can't eat normally, and I think that's the worst. That, or the – taking care of his million mechanical pieces. It's not easy, especially now that they don't have a place to be taken care of.

"Can I ask you something?" I ask on an irrelevant note, but while we're being depressing, we might as well continue it. "It's... about Anakin."

Echo tenses up, but nods. "Go ahead."

"What was he like?" I close my eyes, memories of a burning fire, safe and warm in mind. I Saw it flicker dark, cold, and black, the same way everything is now. The galaxy looks dark, devoid of life somehow. But we'll be fine because he'll be fine.

Echo makes a sound that's half a laugh, half something else. "Intense," he offers immediately.

I hum an agreement. I only knew him for what, a few minutes? But all I could think about was him. He was just there, but with a presence so bright I couldn't see anyone except him.

"He cared," Echo adds quietly, "A... lot of people did, but he was always special."

"I don't have anybody to teach me the Force," I continue quietly. "I wanted to ask him to." It sounds so silly – I'm just someone, and he's a Jedi, but I still... wanted it?

"He would have," Echo answers, "Except he... already had a padawan."

"What does it mean to be a Jedi? What do they do?"

"To the General, it was always about helping people," Echo replies, "And that's what we always did."

"And now that he's not here, you wanna keep doing it? For him. For everyone."

"Yeah."

"I saw your Commander once," I muse, "I think. Maybe? She's a weird species."

"Fives used to drive her crazy," he says, and I See how his normal darkness is flickering, burning with something. Longing and regret and a soul-deep emptiness mingle in his voice. I feel that whenever I think about Crosshair and he's still alive. Still out there. "She was so tightly wound sometimes. Fives and the General spent a long time trying to get her to let go."

The guilt is what I latch onto though. "What happened to him wasn't your fault," I offer quietly.

Echo sighs. "I spent years trying to keep him out of trouble. I memorized the reg manuals to keep him safe, and the moment I leave... it's what I've been afraid of for years. It's been a long time coming."

"Well," I offer tentatively, "We're not going anywhere."

"He would've liked you," Echo adds, near whisper. "You're so much like the Commander."

"Me?" I squeak.

"Both of you, actually," Echo adds, "She was young. Too young for the life and responsibility she had."

I don't really know how to feel about that. I settle next to Echo, closing my eyes again. I can't really offer him anything. No one can. The most we can do for them now is to fight for whatever they believed in. Continuing their legacy is the most we can do for them.

But as for us, for Crosshair, that's not what we need. We need to find a way to get him back. Assuming he doesn't find us, first.

I drift off slowly, to the quiet voices of Echo and Omega conversing, and our other brothers still bickering inside. We're still missing Crosshair, but at least sometimes, I can find calm.

"It would seem I underestimated your four friends," a voice says, as an image slowly flickers into view. It's hazy, like I'm looking through four inches of solid glass, but still there. It's that Admiral, whatever his name is, and – and Crosshair. They're standing somewhere, lit by a golden orange glow of fire. "If only they were fighting for us, instead of against us."

"Request permission to hunt them down," Crosshair says, his voice level and oh, this is going to end badly.

"Hm. Granted," comes the response, and the Admiral walks off, leaving Crosshair behind.

I can see his face clearer, see the darkness and empty loneliness that I felt so strongly myself during those few hours on Bracca. I haven't seen his face since Kamino, when... they took him from the cell.

And he promised he'd never leave.

"Hunter!" I hear Omega – and myself – screaming, as the imagery changes to a tree covered mountain, and I see our brother crashing through branches that look an infinite level off-ground.

And then there's fire. The air is humid with water and thick with smoke, explosions overrunning crashing ocean waves.

That's finally where I jolt awake, panting.

Gasping.

"Viz!" Omega at my other side already, Echo gripping my shoulder to keep me upright, and my hands clench as I struggle to reorient myself. "Breathe, Vision."

I press forwards, head buried against her chest, struggling to think. I saw Hunter fall. Stars, is he going to die? We were just talking about dying.

And Kamino, what is that?

"Hunter," I rasp, pushing myself up shakily. Omega's steadying me as I stand, and Echo's still touching my shoulder.

"Hunter," Echo calls, "You better come down here."

He appears almost instantly of course, and I launch myself at him, not really caring how I got into his arms from where I was on the ramp a second ago. I cling to him, desperately, burying my face in his neck and struggling to breathe.

I saw him fall. And Crosshair –

"They're gonna come after us," I explain in a jumbled, rushed tone, "They –"

"The Empire?" Wrecker asks – he's here too, somewhere.

I nod. "Crosshair's – he's looking for us. Or will be. I don't know."

The silence is numb, quiet except for my own uneven breathing as I struggle to calm down. Stars, I am so, so tired of having nightmares all the time. I'd rather not dream at all, thanks. I don't want to be perpetually plagued with what ifs. But Hunter – Hunter –

If anyone could survive it, he could, but still.

"He was talking to Admiral blah-bity-blah-whatever about it," I add.

No one says anything.

I'm seconds from screaming at them to talk when Tech speaks up, and for the first time, I'm glad to hear him. "That does not sound promising."

"Was there anything else?" Hunter queries, shifting me in his arms a little.

I move back, enough to look at him, blinking back a few stray tears that sting my eyes. That's not really something I know how to answer. "Don't jump off a mountain," I tell him seriously, "Or fall, for that matter."

I probably sound like an idiot, but I am one, so.

"Okay," he agrees, a little dubiously, but he's used to me, and this is far from the strangest thing I've ever said.

We're going to see Crosshair again, and I'm not sure everyone's ready. I am, but... he shot Wrecker. I don't think Wrecker will ever be ready to see him again.

I reach up, lightly pressing my hand to his cheek.

"Please?" I ask quietly. "I Saw... we can't lose you."

He nods again, half mindlessly, agreeing just because I asked, but I'm not certain he understands. "I know." He does, and I – I believe him, but I still Saw it, and I'm still scared.

***

If I'm being honest, I adored Hera from the moment we met. She's the very first child I've ever seen, and she's a very weird, cool species. I like green. Prefer blue, but green is still pretty. And she's green. Never seen a green person before.

Didn't expect her to comm us in a panic right after we left, though.

"You have to come back to Ryloth," Hera's saying – she has a weird accent, but I kinda like it. She sounds terrified, though. The boys are talking in the background, but I don't really listen, focusing on her. "The Empire's taken my parents, and they're after me now too. I'm sending coordinates. Please hurry. I need your help."

I don't really know what parents are, except that technically, Omega's my only one, and that doesn't really matter. I know it's a... thing, something about people who take care of you or make you or whatever, but not why it's important.

Still, though, if she needs our help...

"You gave her our comm channel?" Hunter asks incredulously.

"For emergencies, and that sounded pretty urgent. We have to go," Omega insists.

"Yeah," I agree sheepishly, "Hera needs help, or she wouldn't be calling us."

"Perhaps the situation is not as dire as described," Tech interjects, predictably, immediately contradicting me. "Children often overreact."

I glare at him. "You're nine years old, Tech. She's older than you."

"With our enhanced aging, we have the maturity and rationality of someone twice our age," he argues, and I can't remember ever hearing him so annoyed before.

Rationality? Please. I bite back a snarky comment because I think he's already angry enough. I'm annoyed at him, but I don't really want to hurt him, and I don't want to escalate this, either.

"You heard her. She needs us," my sister insists.

I look at Echo, unable to help remembering what we talked about not so long ago, about fighting for what his... former brothers believed in. For what Anakin believed in, and the Jedi helped people. Who's gonna do that if they're not here anymore, and if we don't? "We have to go," I agree.

"Vision, Omega, it's a big galaxy," Hunter argues, touching her shoulder, "We can't put ourselves on the line every time someone's in trouble."

"But she's not someone, she's Hera!" I argue, "And she needs us! We're not even on another mission right now. If she needs help, who else is gonna help her?"

"Isn't it what soldiers do?" Omega presses.

I see it the way I always do when Hunter gives in, despite his better judgment. I know he's trying to keep us out of trouble, but... I can't just ignore Hera, either. That would be wrong. And messed up. And – awful. She needs us. She wouldn't ask if she had someone else, and I can't imagine how desperate I'd be if I lost everyone. Or anyone. Or just –

I saw Hunter fall. I don't know what happened, or if he'll be fine, but... he has to be.

It's Hunter.

We can't lose him.

***

Hunter still is overly wary about the whole thing, but I don't really blame him. I don't think it really sunk in that going to help her would mean going against the Empire until we actually got there, and suddenly, I'm more nervous than anything else. Hera's parents are in the capital city, and I don't know how tight the Imperial forces here are, but it's... bad. It's practically the same as sneaking deep into Separatist territory, and... it's stupid is what it is, but that's what we are.

The Admiral is giving some long, boring speech about blah-blah, as I said – Admiral blah-bity-blah.

I'm on Hera's other side, forcibly resisting the urge to steal Omega's macrobinoculars for a look myself. I hate having to wait without knowing what's happening. It's annoying. Maddening, actually. I can't shake the feeling that something's wrong. Happening. Maybe about to happen, or we're being watched. I only had the dream about Crosshair looking for us once, and I'm afraid of... something happening now. Because we made the choice we did.

"Hunter," Omega says quietly, and she sounds scared. I haven't seen her scared since she was kidnapped, and I press a little closer to Hera, though that won't change anything. "Crosshair's here."

"Great," Wrecker groans, as Hunter takes the binoculars from Omega to look himself. "Just what we need."

I groan quietly, dropping my head to my hand. "Should've guessed." He's here. That's why I was dreaming right before we came to Ryloth. We're about to see him again, and I want to, but I'm also not sure I'm ready for the emotions that'll bring up.

He's going to be fighting us, and it's not going to be easy. Again. Whatever happens, we have to be careful. Very careful. That's okay, though. Hunter always knows what to do.

Hunter makes a motion at us to get back, and the boys crawl back from the cliff edge before standing and moving farther back and hopefully out of Crosshair's line of sight. If we can see him, he can see us, too.

"The plasma bridge into the city's been deactivated," Tech supplies, and I push myself up, glancing at Hera and Omega, where they're lingering a distance back. It feels weird to go anywhere without Omega right beside me. (I hate more how it feels like I have to choose between her and our brothers all the time. That's not what's happening. It's not.)

"Well, I say we fly in and blow our way out," Wrecker volunteers.

"The Capitol scanners would detect our ship," Echo argues.

"I don't like the look of this," Tech adds, looking up from his datapad, "The troop presence here is similar to that of Raxus. This is a military occupation."

"That doesn't sound promising," I mutter, coming over to stand beside Wrecker.

"Ryloth's not a Separatist planet," Echo objects.

"Exactly my point."

"Wait here," Hunter orders – the first he's said anything, and takes off.

I bite my lip. Something's wrong. I know that feeling, and I have it now. Don't much like it. I don't say anything though, just wait, and a moment later, Hunter drops from the sky on a probe droid.

So much for not jumping off mountains.

He stands, ripping the blade out of what was once its eye.

"Oh, good," Tech supplies sarcastically, "A probe droid. The Empire will know we're here."

"And so will Crosshair," Hunter adds. I don't miss the way Wrecker's expression instantly shifts to alarm at the mere mention of seeing him again. I don't know how we fell this far. I don't know what we've become if we have to spend our lives terrified of our own brother. "Come on. Let's move." They make for the back, the way we came, and Omega grabs Hera's hand with a "come on" when she stalls.

The droid, Chopper, rolls along after.

***

The hideout is big, but it's dark. Too dark for my liking, but at least we're safe here? Temporarily. Crosshair is going to come looking for us, and every minute we spend here is giving him more time. We need to move.

Get in and out.

But Crosshair's here, on-planet, for the first time since Bracca, and how are we supposed to walk away from that? From him? We can't. We – we have to get him back. I know the desperate hopelessness I felt when I lost control, and I can't let him deal with that longer than necessary.

"All my father wanted was peace on Ryloth. Why is this happening?" Hera asks desperately.

"He's a voice the people stand behind. That makes him a threat to the Empire," Echo supplies. Blunt, but honest.

"I don't care about any of that. I just want my parents back," Hera murmurs. She's facing away from us, from me at least, and I can see her desperation. I'm not good with people. Don't even know what I'm doing, and I don't know her, but she needs help, anyway. And she's nice. I've never cared about anyone who's not family before, but I care about her.

"Don't worry," I promise. "We'll figure something out."

Her eyes are green. I think I really realize that the moment she looks up at me again. I've never seen green eyes before.

"We're all over the Imperial comm channels," Tech reports, walking down the ramp, Chopper flying down in front of him. We all turn to face him. "They've increased patrols within the city. Crosshair will expect an attack."

"The element of surprise is gone. There's nothing we can do," Hunter says, turning away.

My gut flips. "But, Hunter, she needs our help!" I'm not angry – just a little desperate and hurt and confused. I could never be angry at Hunter, and I step back, biting my lip the moment I remember vividly the last time I blatantly disobeyed his orders. That was Corellia, and I nearly got everyone killed, and I don't want to do that again. Still. I – I have to. She needs help, and I can't ignore that.

"Wait, you can't leave!" Hera protests, and I'm stuck by a sudden, flip-flopped feeling of déjà vu, like begging someone to help save my family is something I've done before. Which it isn't, thanks. My heart clenches tighter as I watch.

"I told you, no guarantees," Hunter replies, looking back at her. "We'll get you off-world and take you some place safe."

"Stop!" she cries, grabbing his arm. "I'll pay you double."

"All the money in the galaxy won't matter if we're dead," he answers firmly, "What you're asking us to do, it's not worth the risk."

"Not to you," Hera snaps, spinning around and stalking off towards the back. Chopper follows with a series of beeps I don't want translated.

Omega starts after, pausing and turning back to glare at him.

"Hunter," I interject, stepping up to him before Omega can start talking. She's angry, and I've never really seen Omega angry before, but I definitely don't want her to be angry at Hunter, even if I am, too. "If Crosshair's here, this is what we've been waiting for, right? Can't we like, go get him? He's our brother. We both have family we're missing, and – and it can –"

We talked about this once before, only briefly, but never seriously, and after – he needs us, and we need him, and it's so simple. If we just get him back, we won't have to worry about any of this anymore.

"Vision," he says, crouching, and I can see the deep and hopeless grief on his face. "It's too dangerous."

I frown. "But – we have to try! He needs us, Hunter. You don't know what it's like. I do." It's not something anyone can really imagine. The fear and helplessness and rage were driving me to the edge of my sanity, and I can't imagine what it'd have been like to be like that for more than a few minutes. Or however long it was. Probably, it was actually a few hours. Most of the time, I was unconscious.

"Being strategic means knowing our limitations."

I shake my head, biting my lip, ignoring the tears burning my eyes. "But he's our brother. We don't leave each other. That's not what family means. That's not who we are, that's not –" I don't understand. We need him, and we can't leave him there, hurting.

"Vision," Hunter says slowly, "After what happened on Bracca... he wouldn't hesitate to hurt us. The stakes are too high. Even if we could get to him without – even if we could get to him, he wouldn't come willingly."

I shake my head again. "I didn't come willingly. You knew what I really wanted. You knew you could help me. Why's this different?"

"You knew what was happening," he points out, "You understood. That's not a chance he got. We don't have anywhere to get his chip out. We can't go back to Bracca. They'd be prepared for us there. We can't... keep him prisoner. That would be wrong."

"Yeah," Wrecker agrees dismally, "And too dangerous."

My eyes snap to him. He's the one that Crosshair shot, so I have to be fair in giving him an exception. If – if I hurt 'mega, and she didn't want to be around me, I wouldn't blame her, either. I understand it, sort of, but I still don't like it. We're supposed to take care of each other. That's what Hunter is doing, but it's...

They're right.

Just like with me, he'd be trying to kill us non-stop the entire way. It's a guarantee someone would be hurt, possibly permanently, and I can't imagine what that would do to Crosshair. I can't imagine what it would do to me, and he's known them longer. We have nowhere to keep him, and we can't... keep him sedated for the indefinite future until we found a place.

That's just screwed up.

And I'm terrified of being hurt by him, too. I wouldn't blame him, but it's – he's my brother. It wouldn't be something I could just forget or let go of.

Is that how Omega feels about me?

Is she angry at me? Is –

"Hera's just trying to help her family, Hunter," Omega interjects, pointedly switching topics. Yeah. Is she angry at Crosshair, too? I don't think so, but... I don't know. She's not attached to him the same way I am, but I'd still have thought she'd... I don't know. Agree with me? Or maybe it's just that she already thought through all of this before I even got started. She is the smart one. "I'd do the same for you."

I can't read the look on his face.

Can't see it overly clearly, either.

Can't think to ask myself if that's shock at the prospect of someone doing the most decent something for him.

"We can't just leave him," I whisper.

"We don't have much choice," Echo points out. If he wants to help Hera, he doesn't say, and I respect him so much for that, because I don't think we need to turn that into a full-blown argument. I – I want to help her, because I know how it feels to be lost and terrified – and Omega does even better, which is probably part of why she's so driven to help – but I don't want to risk losing another sibling, either.

I want to, anyway, I realize. I'd rather do it alone than not at all, but Hunter's right. It won't serve any of us good if – if Crosshair kills me. I want to see him again – I need that more than I need to breathe – but that won't help any of us.

I turn away, moving towards the darkness of the back to where Hera disappeared to.

Chapter Text

There's a heartbeat before Omega follows me. She takes my hand, but I don't have the life or – something to squeeze back. I don't really want it. I don't want comfort. I just want to be alone.

Okay, that's not true.

I want Crosshair back. That's not something anyone – even Omega – can give me.

It's more like an especially Omega in this case, and I hate how we've changed. "I thought we'd get something when we left Kamino, but I was wrong."

"What do you mean?" 'mega queries softly, hand on my forearm. I wish I could still feel like that was enough, like I actually deserved some of it, but I don't. "We did. We got our brothers."

I don't look at her. "Not all of them."

"It could be worse," she tries offering, "At least we're not on Kamino anymore."

Fair. I wish I could share that never-ending cheer.

Hunter wants Crosshair back as much as I do. We all do. I just... never really thought about it enough. I understand it, but it wasn't like... now. It wasn't where I could see it as clearly as my own need and purpose to keep my family together. That's all I've ever been good for.

That's what I was made for, or at least that's what I shaped myself for – I dealt with being away from Omega for a month so I could bring her back to them. Now, I have to do the same for Crosshair. He needs me, and I can't help thinking, briefly, about going after him myself. The thought makes my skin crawl, though, so I just let it drop. I can't run off, doing something stupidly suicidal.

Still tempting, though. I was literally made for one thing, and I can't even do that?

Speaking of pathetic.

"That's not what we're here for, anyway," Omega says quietly. "We need to help Hera."

I don't think she understands. She wasn't made for something the way I was. She just... was. It wasn't... bad on Kamino, exactly, but it wasn't nice, either. I didn't like it there. It was too... dark. Boring. Lonely. I was made to fight, and I hated not being able to do that. I – Nala Se was okay, I guess, but she was just... ugh.

The way Tech talks sometimes reminds me of her. Maybe that's why I get so annoyed at him senselessly. Not his fault, I just – there's something wrong with me.

"Maybe she's not the only one who needs help," I mutter. Omega pauses, looking at me, and I step back, pulling away from her. "We can't even help ourselves."

"That doesn't mean we can't help Hera!"

I don't even know why I'm angry. "He's more important!" I yell back. "Have you even seen what it's done to us? Wrecker's scared of him. Hunter's right – we can't help everyone if we can't even –"

"That's why we have to help her!" Omega half-yells. It's not quite a yell, because Omega never yells, but she's raising her voice and glaring enough that it feels like one, and it somehow makes me feel wrong and dirty and – and something. "We know what that's like. We can't –"

"You don't even know him! Is that why you don't miss him?"

She flinches back, and I'm still present enough to realize this is the first time I've been angry at her since Bracca, and that instantly makes me feel wrong in my own skin and just – just – something. I don't know who I am. Omega says I'm her sister. I don't feel like it. I don't deserve to have her name attached to mine. I don't deserve – anything. I'm not anything.

I knew her. She knew him better than I did, better than any of us, even if he doesn't remember it anymore. Of course, she misses him. It's just – I don't know.

Other things are more important to her, I guess. People are more important. Maybe she does have a purpose, of helping, but that's not something I am. It's not what I am, and to think I was just thinking earlier that we're growing apart.

It's happening, right here, and it's who we are now.

"Of course, I miss him!" Her dark eyes fill with tears, and I step back, biting my lip hard enough to taste blood. "I just – I don't want to lose anyone – Hera needs us –"

"Helping her is risking losing someone else." I turn away and bolt. It's stupid to run, but I just can't handle this conversation. Can't handle anyone.

I understand. I know everyone – we all want him back as much as I do. I'm just the most... stupidly emotional and well, stupid. And the only person mean enough to make Omega cry.

I want to help Hera. I know how that feels, but I'm so, so scared of losing someone else. Of losing Hunter. It's going to happen, because I Saw it, but I can't – can't – let it.

Maybe she is having more issues with me than I realized. I shouldn't have yelled at her. She doesn't deserve to have me stuck on her all the time. She's better than that, and it –

I climb onto a tiny ledge a distance above everything else. Still don't have that grappling hook, but I'm too afraid to ask again. I feel empty and dead and just... I don't want to move. Don't want to do anything.

It's a little while before Hera and Omega come back, trying to coax me down. I ignore them entirely, unmoving from my personalized little misery ball. Chopper tries to bully me out, and scrams when I pull a blaster on him.

It's not until Wrecker shows up that I look up for the first time. "Go away," I grumble – I don't see him, but I can hear his footsteps. They're loud, heavier than the others.

"Kid?" he asks worriedly.

"I don't want to talk." It sounds crazy, because I'm me, but right now... I don't have energy for anything.

"We, uh, have a plan," Wrecker adds.

"I know."

There's an awkward heartbeat of silence, before Wrecker reaches for me. I'm tempted to argue, but this is Wrecker, and he doesn't deserve to deal with my temper, too. It's bad enough I let that out on Omega.

"Do you... wanna come?" he asks, taking me in his arm.

"What do we do?"

"Hunter and Echo go into the capital, and we cause a diversion."

Huh. Hunter and Echo, predictably, in the worst place of danger. Of course, they chose that.

In my mind, I see Hunter falling again.

"Okay," I agree, numbly. "Yeah. What do I do?"

"Hunter said you'd go with Omega."

"Okay." I drop my head onto his shoulder, unmoving. I do not want to be alone with her. Not now. Not – not ever, actually. Not after Bracca.

"You okay?" he queries.

"Honestly, not really." I don't elaborate right off, just closing my eyes and breathing. Forcing my mind blank doesn't stop the heaviness in my chest.

"I miss him, too," Wrecker adds.

I nod again, half mindlessly. I remember when this all started, and we'd gone to the armory together. We had so much fun there, and I was climbing around on the shelves, and – that. I don't think I can manage that level of light-heartedness without Crosshair here. Don't know if I ever will again.

"Why do you even keep me around?" I ask. "When all I do is pick fights with everyone else?" Everyone who actually matters? Because that's not me.

"Uh," he says, overwhelmingly awkwardly, "What happened?"

"Tech's mad at me. 'mega's mad at me – I'm just mean. And I yelled at Hunter again."

I'm pretty sure Wrecker genuinely has no idea how to respond to me. I'm not sure what I want to hear, either. There's nothing anyone can really offer me because we're not going to get better. I can tell myself what I want, but we're only going to fall from here.

I did have a dream of – of a time far away when we're together, but I don't know I can wait as long as I'll have to, to get there.

"Y'know," he supplies awkwardly, "We used to fight when we were little."

"Doesn't make it okay."

"Yeah," Wrecker agrees grudgingly. "Are you, uh, sure you're up for this?"

"No," I tell him honestly, "But do we have a choice?"

I take off to the gunner's mount in the back the moment we get back. I'm not crying anymore, but I still feel... I don't even know. Haven't had a breakdown that long since I woke up after getting my chip out.

I feel eyes on me, but no one says anything.

It's Chopper that rolls up first, beeping grumpily.

"Don't know what that means," I snap back.

"He's upset you threated to shoot him," Hera supplies, walking up, and I bite my lip. What am I supposed to say to that? It was mean, too.

"He was annoying me," I grumble. "Sorry."

"Are you okay?" she asks, hand wrapping around one of the ladder rungs. I glance down at her, and I think Omega's nearby, but I don't see her. I'm certain Hunter's watching me, because he almost always is, and Tech's probably up front like he usually is, and...

Why's she asking me that? "Why're you asking?" I inquire because it doesn't make any sense. We're here to rescue her parents, and I'm the one that was arguing against it. "I mean – why does it matter?"

"You're upset," she answers, like that might actually answer something – it doesn't. "I just wanted to know if you're okay."

I don't even know how to answer that. "Doesn't matter." I shift a little, bumping into Lula who I still haven't dared pick up – Crosshair made her, and anything about him is going to set me off again. Hera's staying though, so I keep talking. She... should probably know. Maybe? "You're not the only one who lost family to the Empire."

"Oh," she says softly.

"Second youngest," I continue, "Brother. He was my... closest." I supply, because while it's not fully true, I don't know what else to call us. I trusted him, and I didn't really confide in him, but that was before I really knew him. We only had a month.

"I'm sorry," Hera replies quietly.

I shake my head, closing my eyes again. "I just don't wanna lose anyone else."

"I didn't mean to bring you into danger."

"I just hope we can get your parents back."

"Me too."

I throw a glance at her, biting my lip. I want to help her, had wanted to help her, and it wasn't really until I realized Crosshair was here that I got... carried away. Hera deserves better. (So does he.) "I'm sorry for being... ugh. Annoying. Or mean. Or whatever." I have no idea how to apologize.

"It's okay," Hera assures.

I don't believe it. Don't really think she has any idea what she's asking of us, either, but there's nothing else we can do. Helping Hera is the right choice, even if everything that comes with it is... hard. "What do we do?" I ask, shifting and sprawling on the gunner's mount, dangling my arms over the edge.

Hunter's giving me one of those stop-it-before-you-give-me-a-heart-attack looks, but considering the circumstances, I think I'm entitled to have a bit of fun.

Just to not think about what I know is about to happen.

***

The glorious planning turns out to be not so glorious when Chopper realizes too late that he can't disable the cannons, only to immediately get caught.

"Guess that wasn't such a good plan," I grumble, lowering my macrobinoculars.

"We have to help Chopper," Hera says. She's panicking, and I don't blame her. He's all she has left right now.

"Yeah," I agree, crawling back from the edge. I'm not so good at figuring things out on my own. Maybe it's just that I don't trust myself anymore.

"We will," Omega assures, "But first, we need to take the console offline."

"Uh, how are we going to do that?"

"With one of those," my sister replies, pointing, "You said you wanted to be a pilot, right?"

"... yeah?" Hera answers warily.

"Well, come on," Omega says, standing.

"We've never stolen a ship before," I interject, finally catching on, "This is gonna be fun." I'm still a little nervous, though. We're going head-on into an Imperial base, and I have no idea where Crosshair is. If he's here... I'll deal with it, but that doesn't mean I want to see him alone. Better me than the others, I suppose. I can deal with it.

Can't deal with someone ending up dead, though.

I – I understand the risky gamble we're taking, and it scares me.

"My parents would never approve of this plan," Hera mutters as we take cover beneath a shuttle.

"I won't tell if you won't," Omega supplies.

I have to bite back the snarky remark that there's a high chance we won't even get them out, but I hold it back, because that's not helpful. "Assuming we get 'em," I mutter, and both heads swivel around to look at me. Hera in half-horror, and Omega in a glare.

"We'll get them out!" she insists stubbornly, and I bite my lip.

"I'm not trynna be contrary," I argue, peaking out as I see someone walking past. "I'm bein' real. We got the galaxy's best sniper up against us, so excuse me if I'm a bit pessimistic."

I don't really think she liked me wording it like that, but how else am I supposed to say it? I'm not gonna lie to her because she doesn't want the truth.

We take off from there, making for the shuttle. The lift turns on automatically once we step on it, taking us up. Hera jumps into the pilot's seat, Omega takes the co-pilot, and I take the back.

"Sure I can't fly?" I ask, but I don't want to bug if Omega wants to do this.

"Do you want to?" she asks, turning to look at me, and I shrug.

"Doesn't matter." I haven't practiced anyway. Tech won't let me, and if I tried, I'd probably end up, well, a little bit crispy.

"Omega, has Chopper deactivated the perimeter cannons?" Tech's voice crackles over the comm.

"Never mind," I say, settling back, "You do the honors. Have fun. I'll just be useless back here."

"No, but Hera, Vision, and I are working on it," Omega replies into her comm – the one Hunter had to get for her after the bounty hunter murdered Crosshair's, so no grappling hook for me for a while – "Just don't shoot down our shuttle."

"Wait. What shuttle?" Tech asks, immediately alarmed.

"The one we stole," I chirp, "You're welcome. Stealing from the Empire is a lot more fulfilling than anything else. We should try it more often."

"I do not believe that to be advisable."

"That's because no one likes my advice," I snip back, even if it does genuinely hurt. Maybe I'm just being a drama queen and whining about nothing at all, but I swear it feels like no one takes me seriously, no matter what's happening.

'mega –

There's a bunch of explosions from outside, along with Hera-freaking-out sounds as she nearly runs a bunch of people over. Hera lowers the ramp, and I wave at Chopper when he flies in.

"I am registering multiple explosions near the refinery," Tech says.

"That was us," Omega chirps, "Cannons are down."

"You're welcome," I add grumpily, settling back in a seat I steal. Literally, heh heh.

And for fun, well, Hera's having plenty. That's – that's okay. She deserves it. They both do.

Chopper rolls up to me, sort of just staring, and I stare back.

"Hey," I offer finally.

He beeps back something that sounds similar.

"Sorry for being mean earlier," I supply.

He beeps back what I think is an even snarkier response, and I raise an eyebrow at him. "What, you don't like apologizes?"

I think that beep is a no. It sounded vaguely humanoid.

"Huh. Fine. I'm glad I was being mean earlier. That better?"

"We're getting the hang of this," Hera yells gleefully up front.

"Yes, your dangerous and uncontrolled maneuvering is as confusing to them as it is to us," Tech gripes.

Just wait until he sees me fly.

***

I could almost cry in relief when I hear Hunter's voice over the comm. I didn't realize how terrified I was until after. I was so, so scared something would happen to him.

The ships land together on the same moon of Ryloth that we delivered the weapons on in the first place, where this all started. I run up to him the moment the ramps are down – Hera's practically glued herself to Tech to see something he's showing her and Omega.

"You okay?" I ask, throwing my arms around Hunter's waist.

"We're fine," he answers, but his helmet's on, and I can hear how dead he sounds.

I pull back, frowning. "Did... you see him?"

"Yeah," Hunter admits, "Briefly, but we're okay. We were already on the way out."

No cliff-falling situations. He's okay. I almost want to cry, but I bite my lip, backing away. I still wish we could've gone after him.

I hover in the background, half listening as Tech goes on a long ramble about scrambling a ship's signature. Hera's hanging on every last word, but most of it goes over my head.

Her mother calls her to leave, and that's the first moment I realize we're probably never going to see each other again. This is why I don't want anyone except my family. At least them I know will never just leave. We stick together.

"Well, copilots, we didn't do too bad," Hera offers, turning back to us.

"Do you have to go?" Omega asks dejectedly.

"For now, but I'm sure I'll see you around," Hera assures. I don't know that I believe it, but somehow, I think we will. Eventually. She'll be... important to us somehow.

I don't really know what to say to her. "Be careful," I request.

"You too," Hera agrees, "And keep an eye on your brothers. They need it."

"We will," Omega promises.

Hera pulls us into a hug, and I haven't had a group-hug with anyone in about forever, but it feels nice. "Thanks," she adds, "For believing in me."

"Think I should've a little more," I say into her shoulder. Her head-thingies look even cooler up-close.

"I hope you find your brother," Hera supplies when we step back, squeezing my hand.

I just nod, tears stinging my eyes, not trusting myself to talk. "Me too."

Hera boards the shuttle, Chopper right behind. Omega and I wave to her, and Hera returns it, until the shuttle lifts off out of view. I'm gonna miss her, and nothing can deny the sudden emptiness crushing my chest again.

We follow Hunter onto the Marauder again. Wrecker turns to me the moment he catches sight of me again. I reach for him, and Wrecker takes my unspoken request instantly, scooping me into his arms.

"I'm not good with people," I say flatly, hooking my arms around his neck. "I'm actually very, very bad with people," I mumble into his shoulder. "I'm bad at, well, pretty much everything, but especially people."

"No, you're not," he argues, sitting in one of the seats in the back, me curled up in his lap, facing him. "You're good at a lotta things."

I'm a nuisance, actually, and it's no wonder Hunter was so willing to get rid of me earlier when that was a question. I shake my head mutely.

I hear the ship taking off, and movement, but I don't look up. It's not until everything is quiet again that I keep talking.

"Y'know the... Bracca," I supply, "What happened there. I care more about losing you than trying to help." That's – that's what 'mega was made for. I don't know. It's confusing. I was going to talk to Crosshair about... well, everything, once, but that was long ago. They left before I even got a chance to. Then the Empire happened, and everything changed. "I don't trust myself not to hurt anyone."

"It wasn't your fault, kid."

"Feels like it was. Don't think it'll ever stop."

"I could've killed ya, too," Wrecker reminds.

"Yeah, but it's still different. I knew what I was doing. I could fight. She – she couldn't." She could've stabbed me when she threw my knife at me. She wouldn't have been able to stop herself. I don't know how Omega got the aim right, but we're all lucky she did.

(I'm ignoring the dark, little voice in my mind that questions that. It can shut up. I'm perfectly okay with being here, thank you very much.)

"But your chip's out now," Wrecker assures, patting my head.

I nuzzle my head against his shoulder, closing my eyes and breathing in and out. "I'll be okay. I just..."

I need time.

I need Crosshair back.

And that feels so hopelessly out of reach, but I can only cling to the hopes that I Saw him with us. We'll be fine.

I have to believe that.

***

We're in hyperspace and Hunter calls it bedtime before I find myself alone with Omega again. "I don't want to talk," I say, picking up the picture of our brothers and holding it tightly.

"That's okay," Omega supplies quietly. She pulls Lula into her arms, curling up in a little ball of misery. We used to sleep right here, snuggled together, and now, it feels like everything's changed. "But... are you okay?" As if I wasn't the one who made her cry.

"Hunter's right." I point out bluntly, "If we keep trynna help everyone, someone's gonna end up dead. I'm not willing to lose anyone else."

I rest my forehead on the rim of our brothers' picture. I miss them. I remember taking this, and I want to cry just thinking about it. I just want Crosshair back, and it only helps so far to know that every single one of us feels the same. Even Echo misses him. I – I think Tech might, too, but I'd hafta ask.

"We'll find a way to get him back," Omega offers.

I – I want to believe it, and maybe I do, but I just can't.

"It took years for us to get back, too."

"I am not waiting years to get our brother back," I snap, biting my lip to hold it back. I want to scream. And there's nothing anyone can say about it that will make it stop hurting. It doesn't change that Crosshair is there, alone, lost, and there's nothing we can do to help. It's something over our heads, and that feels so wrong, because Hunter always knows what to do, and this time, not even he can do anything.

"There has to be something we can do."

I just shake my head, so I don't snap again, flicking the picture on. The screen lights up with the eye-assaulting whiteness of Kamino, but I hardly see it through my tears. I've cried so much today that my eyes sting and burn from it, but I can't even care. Crosshair deserves to be missed. He – he was everything to us. He used to be the youngest, before they got me, and we changed a lot since then. All of us would've done anything to protect him, because he's the youngest and he's – he's not what I am. He's not annoying. He's not a burden. He's not meant to help everyone else. He's just him.

I nearly jump when Omega's arm loops around my shoulders, pulling me against her side. We haven't hugged in – well, it's actually been quite a while, now that I think about it. Didn't used to be. We've changed, too, and I don't like it. We have no reason to grow apart now that we're with our brothers.

"I'm sorry," I mumble, shifting up against her. Don't know what else to say. "Hera needed our help. I'm just selfish."

"Nala Se always told me to help people," Omega supplies, "I can't imagine being anything else."

It hurts, and it's hard, but it's Omega, and I'll – I'll deal with it because of her, no matter how hard to impossible it is. I know something's going to happen to Hunter, and there's nothing I can do except just... deal with it.

I hate this. I hate having to know, to constantly fear what's about to happen and be so helpless.

"That's okay," I say finally, "I... you knew him better than I ever could. I shouldn't've said that."

"It's okay," she promises, running a hand through my hair, and I lean into her touch and warmth. I wish I could believe it was.

That night, I don't dream, and I know what it means.

We aren't going to find Crosshair. He's going to find us, and I'm terrified for when he does.

Chapter Text

They haven't really had enough time to talk about it, but Hunter still wonders, sometimes, what the others think of her. She's young and small and kind of adorable, even if she's a nightmare of a headache, too. She's their only sister and having to take care of someone else is... difficult, though it isn't as though he hasn't taken care of his brothers their entire lives. It's nothing new to Hunter, though he can't expect her to be able to return it like he can his brothers.

Crosshair is the one he's most uncertain about. They all care about her – of course, they do. She's their sister, and she wants them – but she's their youngest now. Hunter has no issue with not constantly being the oldest – it's lonely sometimes – and Hunter's still the one in charge, so it really changes nothing. Crosshair... always used to be the youngest, until Vision came, and now he's just... not. They didn't know, didn't have much time to prepare. It was so unexpected.

"What do you think about her?" he asks, sitting on the edge of Crosshair's bunk next to him. Vision and Wrecker are curled up sleeping together, and Tech is working on some of Echo's mechanics.

Crosshair leans into his side automatically. "Mm," he says, thoughtful, just watching her. "She's a nightmare."

Hunter laughs. "Yeah, she is." He's still caught the looks his little brother throws his way sometimes though, and he wants to know what they mean, what's upsetting him. "Are... you alright with her?"

Crosshair shifts a little, looking at him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. That's why I asked."

Crosshair glances at the others, then shifts closer enough that their shoulders touch. "It's stupid."

He doesn't quite know if he should push or not, but Crosshair will talk if he needs to.

"It's... different for Vision," he says finally, "Like it is with Echo."

"Yeah," Hunter agrees, "But they're still a part of our squad, and we'll get used to them."

Crosshair presses up against his side, lowering his head to his shoulder, and Hunter slides his arm around him. They're in armor and all, so it's not that comfortable, but it's them, and it's Crosshair, so he doesn't care. "Not used to having a kid," Crosshair says after a heartbeat.

"You'll learn," Hunter tells him. "In a couple years, she'll be out there with us." She's only two years younger than they are, and she'll no doubt be out as soon as she's old enough. That will be... tricky.

It occurs to him, fleetingly, for maybe the first time, that between Vision's chaos and Echo's presence, Hunter hasn't had nearly as much time to spend with the other three. Probably, that's what's bothering Crosshair, as opposed to anything else, and it's probably bothering Tech, too. Wrecker has a way of drawing attention to himself, and he's been with Vision most of the time, so he probably hasn't had much time to think about it.

That's... okay. It's something they can deal with when they go back to the fronts, and Vision won't even be with them anymore.

They'll have all the time in the world to make up for it.

***

Hunter used to actually believe that, and now, he doesn't understand how. It's... all gone. Crosshair is gone.

And nothing he does will be able to change that. There's nothing – Omega said they'd try to get Crosshair back, but he has to be realistic, too. He doesn't know how that could happen. There's no realistic way for them to go back for him, for as hard as it was to tell Vision that.

She deserves to know the truth.

She hasn't let go of him, and to tell the truth, no one has. They never could. They grew up together, and that means everything to Hunter. It does to all of them. Having to leave Crosshair there is killing him, and it's pushing him to be even more protective – almost obsessively – of Vision and Omega.

Vision is chaotic. She's reckless, and both of them attract trouble.

If he failed Crosshair, how does he know he won't fail them, too?

"If you don't have the stomach to do what needs to be done, you're not fit to lead this squad."

He used to trust everything his brothers said, and sometimes, just remembering is gutting. That was Crosshair, even if he wasn't himself. Hunter doesn't know how much was him, and what was his chip.

He wants to see him again.

He's terrified to see him again.

Either way, he hates it. He hates – well, there's nothing he doesn't hate about this, but especially that he's so afraid. He shouldn't be. It's wrong. This is Crosshair. Hunter shouldn't have to be worried about being hurt by him. He shouldn't have to spend every moment worrying about how to protect his squad from their little brother.

Hunter turns back when their ship is taking off. They're moving away fast, but he's still close enough to catch the image of his little brother standing alone on a balcony outlooking the door they were about to go through. Just as he thought, if not for the reg's intervention, they never would've made it out.

The reg went back for his squad. He wasn't too afraid to.

Hunter was.

He and his brothers have always had something the regs never did, an unshakable closeness, but even this wasn't something he could do.

What does that make him?

***

Crosshair watches the ship take off – he caught a fleeting glimpse of Hunter and Echo, but not the others.

They must've been the ones at the capital.

They're fighting the Empire now. They're fighting him. He doesn't know how to feel about that. How to...

They left him.

They hurt him.

They –

Crosshair has no idea how things cane this far. They used to do everything together, and he thought they always would. They're soldiers. They do what they're told. He doesn't care for whatever excuses his brothers use for why they can't follow orders. Even if they had issue with something, shouldn't he be more important?

They deserted. They just walked out.

They didn't choose him, and he doubts that'll ever stop hurting.

They –

He's not even angry. He's something far beyond.

He feels empty – is empty, and he never quite realized how much they meant to him until they walked out.

Hunter was supposed to protect them, and with what he's doing, he's going to get them all killed. Crosshair nearly killed them already. Chances are, it'll happen again. He knows it will, and he's – he wants to hurt them, actually, but he doesn't want them dead.

He wants them back.

Getting them back just to rub it in their faces that he's willing to take them even after what they did to him is awfully appealing, actually.

(He misses them. He misses Hunter's warmth and Wrecker's laughter and Tech's sharpness, and Echo's – everything about Echo is complicated. And Vision. He kind of can't believe she just walked out with the others. They – they had something. She was his sister. He thought that meant something to her, and it's stupid, because he hardly knew her, anyway. It was only a month.)

He saw Hunter again, and they could have come back. They shouldn't have left in the first place. They can't complain when it inevitably blows up in their faces.

Chapter Text

"Don't worry. Hunter'll get us out," I promise, squeezing my sister's hand.

"Is he your father?" Mr. Green and Ugly asks.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?"

***

"Can I call you dad?" I ask, jumping into Hunter's lap. He reaches out to steady me instinctively, so I don't fall off, my words taking a moment to catch up with him.

I'm decently certain this is the very first time I've ever seen Hunter completely mind blown.

"What?" I ask, when he just stares, "I thought the purpose of parents was to take care of their kids, and isn't that exactly what you do?" I've been thinking about it a bit too much after seeing Hera interact with hers. That's not a relationship I really understand, but I saw them, and I saw Cut and Suu with their children, and it makes me wish we had someone. I blame the – what was his name? The meanie who stole Cid's parlor? – for even thinking about this. He's the idiot who thought Hunter was my dad, so I had to ask.

I just like that thought, okay? It makes me feel wanted. It makes me feel like I belong. I fit with people, not... some label. It's complicated.

"Yeah," Hunter acknowledges, blinking a few times. He still seems thoroughly caught off-guard. "I suppose, but you're my sister. That's not really my daughter."

"I'm your niece," I remind, raising an eyebrow.

Hunter laughs, hand gripping my shoulder. "Yes, you are."

"'mega had a child when she was like, four? Isn't that weird on natborn standards?"

"I honestly have no idea."

"Anyway," I say, reaching up to touch his shoulder. His armor is hard and cool under my touch. He looks... peaceful, and I genuinely can't remember when I last saw that on Hunter. I think it was... months ago, back before the Outer Rim Sieges. "That's not my question, anyway."

He still looks a little blown away by the question. It's... personal and weird, but really, that's kinda what I am. "I – yeah," Hunter agrees, and he sounds a little breathless for some reason. "If that's really want you want?"

I have no idea why he's so unreasonably nervous about this. It's almost ridiculous, but I push myself forwards, half kneeling in his lap and throwing my arms around his neck. Hunter's arms wrap around me as I press against him. It's soothing, relaxing to be held by him. He's safe. He always has been.

And I'd do anything to keep him the same.

I've always cared about him, but it was never really until we left Kamino that it really... cemented. What I feel towards him now is an overwhelming, all-consuming drive to – to – I don't know, but I want him to be okay.

I want... to be whatever it is that he wants me to, and I trust him, so I know he'd only want me to be me.

"I'll hafta find the next non-weird opportunity," I supply, "Because this is gonna take some getting used to."

"Yeah," he agrees. He's so gentle, I can easily see why he's our leader. And why he's stayed that way his whole life. I can't really imagine that. I'm only responsible for Omega, and it's exhausting and terrifying and sometimes, I have no idea what to do. I don't know how he does it.

I bury my face against his neck, for once letting myself relax in the calm and peacefulness of his embrace, the one place in the galaxy I know I'll always be safe.

***

The missions Cid sends us on are always pretty crazy. I usually love it, and I can't help making a mental list of all the crazy things I need to tell Crosshair whatever century we see him again. There's so much that's happened.

I'd appreciate it a shred more, though, if it didn't mean going into old, spooky buildings that just give me the creeps. I have no idea what we're doing here. I could swear she explained everything, and we had to go inside to get something, but I zoned out through the entire briefing. Oh, well, I guess – as long as I follow everyone else, I'll be fine.

How does that work, though? As splendid as ever.

I stopped because I could swear I heard something calling me. Or a noise. Or just – something, and I need to go down this hall.

I've been griping the entire way, start to finish, and I have great respect for Hunter for not once telling me to shut up.

The others are still moving, but there's something important down this hall that I need to see. "Hey, wait up!" I yell, voice echoing down the halls, my hand gripping my knife like it might actually save me from something.

They pause, looking back.

"There is nothing down that way," Tech objects, preparing to take off again.

I scowl. "It's important."

Everyone is staring at me now.

"Don't you hear that?" I ask, frustrated, "It's – something." They fall quiet, and I can hear it a little more distinctly. It's – something.

"There is nothing to see, Vision," Tech continues insisting. "That is not what we are here for."

"What is it?" Hunter asks, taking a few steps towards me.

I'm not really watching – just staring at the open doorway and edge forwards. It's something I feel more than hear, and I can't explain it. "I – it's important," I insist.

"Is it dangerous?" Echo asks.

"I dunno. Don't think so." It's something, and I can't just walk away from it. I turn, walking down the hall, shining my flashlight around to see. It's close.

Part of the wall looks... shiny. Too flat and just wrong. It's too dark, too. That's not rock, whatever it is. I think someone's calling me to wait, but I run over to it, looking closer.

It feels like I'm looking at a mirror, but my reflection is murky, hazed over.

I flick off the flashlight, staring.

It's still there, though faint, and the light from my brothers is enough for me to see.

I reach out, gently brushing the wall with my left hand.

I see something on the other side, and it looks almost like a... it's not a portal, though it almost looks like some sort of doorway. There's someone there, on the other side, and I jerk back when I see it.

She's – she looks –

She's taller than me, decently so. She's dressed in blue, and her sleeves are down to her elbows, and she's wearing a glove on her right hand. A red cloth is tied over her left wrist, and she's holding...

Wait.

Is that a lightsaber?

She's probably a year older than me, and her face is familiar, and her eyes look the same. They have the same fire and fierceness, the same passion that I have. She has the same headband thingy that I do, and it dawns on me for the first time exactly how much it does make her look like Hunter. I was so not trying to copy him, but anyway.

Her curls are longer, falling freely down her back a good foot or so, much longer than my own.

Her expression is twisted into a snarl, and she looks furious. The blade in her hand is a bright red, throwing off an eerily wrong glow of something – something Dark. It's Cold. Icy. Wrong. She's holding the hilt backwards; the same way Hunter holds his knife and the way he always tells me not to hold mine until I know what I'm doing.

The wrongness crawls under my skin, sending a shiver snaking down my spine. It started as an image, but she turns when she sees me.

I shriek, scrambling backwards and crashing onto the floor, still gripping my knife, but the image flickers out.

"Vision!" Hunter yells, and I think he's panicking.

My heart is hammering loud enough that he could probably hear it – literally. He can do that.

"She's okay," Omega assures, because she always knows those things.

"Yeah," I supply, panting, "I'm fine. I'm fine." Yes, I'm trying to convince myself of that, because the – it was creepy.

"What was that?" Hunter asks, crouching beside me and squeezing my shoulder. I lean into his hand. Omega is beside me, on my other side, and I reach out to grab her hand.

"I dunno. I just saw something creepy. Let's get out of here."

I can already see Tech's I-told-you-so expression.

He is so annoying.

***

"We deserve a raise for that," I gripe, crossing my arms and leaning on Cid's desk. "That was creepy."

"Well, well, what's snippy's deal today? I thought you liked action."

I glare harder. "I like action. I don't like seeing creepy things." I can't even explain why that was so terrifying, but she had a red lightsaber, and Echo said only Sith have those, and apparently, Sith are Bad.

"So, what'd you see?"

"There was this thing, and I touched it – it looked like a mirror, and there was something in it that looked kinda like me, and – stop laughing at me!"

"You're not trapped in a live version of Mirror Prison if that's what you're worried about," she promises.

I cross my arms, glaring. "I don't know what that means."

"What, you haven't seen it before?"

"I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"Kid, do you not know what a holofilm is?"

"A what?" I turn back helplessly, looking at my brothers, who look as clueless as the rest of us. Okay, Echo doesn't, but the others do.

"Do you not know anything?" Cid asks, and she's definitely getting a kick out of this. I want to throw my knife at her. Just... not stab her. But still. That is mean. "I'll fix that right now."

And that was how we got introduced to holofilms.

***

I don't see the point of holofims in the least, but they're still fun. Wrecker gets us the traditional carton of Mantell Mix, and we sit around the holoscreen to watch this... horror thing. I still think the main character who's-name-I-can't-even-remember was an idiot for touching the mirror he got stuck in in the first place.

Makes me feel a little called out, though.

Hunter is literally sleeping on Echo's shoulder in the back – I didn't know he was that tired, and I definitely have no idea how he manages to sleep in such an uncomfortable position with all the yowling in the background.

Tech is whining about every single thing. Literally. And insisting that this is not scientifically possible, and Wrecker and I have to keep shushing him, so he doesn't ruin the mood.

Echo keeps making snarky comments, and I think he's just trying to compete with me.

Omega is almost literally hiding behind Wrecker – I think she's overreacting – and I – well, it's cool. I need to show this insanity to Crosshair the moment I have a chance, because this was fun. We've never gotten to do things like this on Kamino. We never got to just be, to do things we like.

I've never really had time to figure out what that even means. I got some time as... me when I was with our brothers on Kamino, but that was without Omega, and it wasn't in a different life. Here, we're free. I've always wanted to fight, but I guess I don't have to do that in the Clone Wars. We can still have different purposes. We can be... something else, too.

Wrecker and I, I think, are the only people paying attention, and actually appreciating it.

If Crosshair were here, he'd probably be even snippier about it than Echo is – though I think Echo finds the entire thing comical and is a little too polite to say so.

"We should do this more often," I announce, when the horror – literally – is finally over. "It's amazing."

Omega shudders.

Uh. Okay. Maybe not.

"Or we can tone down a bit and pick something a little less spooky." That sounds like a nice idea.

"Yeah," Omega agrees, shivering again.

"Was it that creepy?" I whine, "I loved it!"

This is probably another one of the first things in the universe we're gonna hafta disagree on. I don't like how things are changing, how it feels like we're changing, but it's happening. And I hate it, but at least we still have each other.

Better than what Crosshair has, y'know?

***

I'm tired of dreaming, of Seeing. I don't want to see Kamino burning anymore. I just want to cry, actually. And sleep, please. I don't want to see Hunter falling again. I've only seen it a couple times, and it's never as urgent, but still.

I climb over Omega, who's bundled up under our blanket, arms wrapped around Lula. My droid head clangs when I bump into it, and I freeze, but she doesn't wake. I just want to – to something. I want this to stop.

I haven't seen Crosshair again, though the fleeting sensations I catch from my nightmares are always the same – that we're all there, together. And everything is burning. Why would we ever go back to Kamino? I never want to see it again. It has too many memories. Some good, some bad, but I want to leave and go – go home. Whatever that means.

"Can't sleep?" Hunter asks when he sees me climbing down the ladder. Wrecker is sleeping in the rack beside us as he always does – he's abnormally clingy, but considering Crosshair, that's not surprising.

"I want to stop dreaming," I supply bluntly, walking up to him.

"But that's what you do," he replies, mildly surprised. "That's what your ability is."

"Yeah, but I don't want to keep seeing some sort of galactic apocalypse every time I sleep."

Hunter reaches out for me, and I step up to him, resting my head in his lap. He strokes my hair, lightly, hesitantly, but he must've seen 'mega do the same to me, so he knows what to do.

"I'm just tired of seeing them. That," I mumble, pressing my hand to the cool metal of his armor.

"Is there anything you can do to stop it?" Hunter queries, "Have you tried?"

"I don't know! I can't control it. I've tried. I can See when I want to, but I can't stop it if I don't." And right now, I don't want to See anything. Not unless it's positive, please. I can't do this anymore.

"I... struggled with my own abilities when I was younger," Hunter admits, and I jerk my head up to stare at him. He looks... uncomfortable, and the blueish lighting of the computer screen throws a mildly creepy shadow across his face, and I've sorta forgotten how creepy he can look. Pretty sure me staring at him is making him uncomfortable, though, so I drop my head back down.

"You?" I ask, disbelievingly. "How could you struggle with anything? I mean, I know you're human, too, but – but that's still weird."

"I was the only one who ever had these abilities," he continues, "Same for all our brothers. We were all unique, and we... we went through it together. We helped each other, and I guess that's what we'll do for you."

"Thanks," I mutter, nodding. "I just don't wanna keep Seeing it all the time."

"What are you seeing?" Hunter asks.

"Kamino. Fire. I keep..." I feel sick even thinking about trying to explain what I saw. No time is less horrifying than the last. That's where we grew up, and even if we never go there again, I want it to stay there. "I don't want our home to be destroyed."

"There may not be much we can do to stop it," Hunter points out, squeezing my shoulder. "We're not there anymore."

"Kinda think... we will be." I thought I was getting better, but it feels like I'm just getting worse now. I can't control them. Hunter tried to help, but he can't fix everything, even if he tries. The point, I guess, is that he tries.

"Do you know why?"

I shake my head, pushing myself up. "Dunno. I just hope I didn't wake Omega up." We pause, looking up at her mostly out-of-sight form on the gunner's mount. She's still unmoving, breathing evenly. To be fair, Wrecker half-snoring pretty much drowns that out.

"She's fine," he assures me.

"'mega's amazing," I say, swinging myself across Hunter's lap. "I mean, we know that, but sometimes, I just wonder why she even... deals with me. Why any of you do."

His hand is warm on my shoulder, and I tilt my head back, looking up at him. "You are our sister," Hunter points out.

"Maybe. But still." Dad, my mind whispers. "I'd do anything for her," I admit, "Because I know it's what you'd want."

"I wouldn't ask you to endanger yourself for her."

"But I'd do it anyway," I point out, "You'd want me to, even if you'd never ask me to. She's more important than I am. Always has been."

"Not to us," Hunter insists, shaking his head. "Vision, you might have been trained as a soldier, but you're still as special as she is. You're not the same, but I wouldn't want you to be. I don't want you to be anything other than who you are."

I nod, only half understanding, but still, somehow believing. "And me, you," I promise, squeezing his hand, "You do so much for all of us."

"That is what I was made for," he reminds.

I guess we're both in the same place, really. I was made to bring our family back together, and he was made to protect us. I don't know of any of the rest of us who were made for something so... specific. It's hard sometimes, and I feel lost, but Hunter's always there, and he'll always be there so I can find my way back to where I belong.

He runs his hand through my hair, and for a moment, I feel choaked with emotion. Just frozen. I have a crystal-clear memory of Crosshair touching me like that. It was momentary, fleeting, not like Hunter's, but still there. I miss him so badly it's gutting. "You okay?" Hunter asks, snapping me back to present, worry in his voice.

Omega said we'll get him back. It's fine.

"Yeah," I tell him, and myself. "I'm okay."

"I miss him, too," Hunter confesses quietly, "I wish we could have chosen differently, but we had to go back for you. It's the right thing to do, and I – I know he would have wanted us to."

I remember a million images of Crosshair facing us down, and my gut flips a little. "Would he?"

"He would do anything for you," he says, part wistful, part... something else. "We all would."

Maybe I am a little more than what just my visions, than... my abilities. I am something, to them, to Hunter, and (I wish I knew I could be to Crosshair, but that's a point for another time) I don't want more than that.

I can't help thinking that maybe we'll be okay, after all. Maybe Omega's right that we'll find a way to get Crosshair back, and we'll...

We'll be fine.

At the very least, we're surviving, and considering everything we've been through together, I think that counts.

***

Daro is a forest planet, and the trees are towering. It's beautiful, really, even if I still have reservations about coming here. There are mountains here, and I know what that can mean. And Tech's right that we need the credits of this mission, just as every other. I have to reluctantly agree that we should try to help this random reg if we can, just because it was Rex who asked, but I'm still not comfortable.

Definitely not comfortable with the fierce way Hunter said "Coming here was up to debate – this isn't" when Omega and I tried arguing that he shouldn't go alone.

We do need to stay with the ship, though. Just in case.

I want to help in any way I can, and I'm not overly keen on trying to sneak into a massive facility like that. I could've argued that it was too dangerous, that Hunter going would guarantee my vision from happening, but that would mean arguing with Omega, and I – I don't want to do that. If I'm flying, maybe I can help. I just don't want it to be my fault it happened, though.

Wrecker, Omega, and I are just trying to distract ourselves.

And me? I'm just brooding. I saw Hunter fall, and I want to protect him. I don't want that to happen, and I don't really get why I'm the only one worried.

They just snuck inside an Imperial base, and I have a very, very bad feeling. It's some kind of top-secret place, which makes it even worse.

"Y'know," I say finally, leaning up against the wall, "I just think sometimes... Hunter does so much for us, and it just feels like we don't really do anything for him."

"Uh," says Wrecker a little awkwardly, "Don't we?"

"I don't know," I mutter, sighing, "I think we try, but I... I know something's gonna happen to him." I want to cry just thinking about it. We can't lose him. I can't even think about that – he's too important to me. We can't lose him.

Omega looks at me, biting her lip. "I know."

I wish I could've argued it, but Omega was insistent, and Echo was glaring Hunter into submission, and I find that almost ridiculously unfair. Echo joined us later, and he's been through a lot, and we'd do anything to make him comfortable here. We changed ourselves so he could fit in, have a place here, and he knows it. He knows we'd do something that we weren't comfortable with just because he asked, because we don't want him to be disappointed or to leave. To see him using that on us, to have us do something that could get us all hurt or – it makes me sick and angry and hurt at once.

We didn't know what we were getting into, but now that we're here, I think we need to just leave. I didn't think it was anything... bad at first, either. I didn't know. I should've.

Gonky honks next to us, watching, though I don't exactly understand.

"I know he's older than me, and..." He's three years older. That's not very long, but it's still half my life, and three years is forever. It makes a huge difference. "But still. Nine's not that old." I remember when 'mega was that age, and it's supposed to be different with her, but it still seems the same. I don't even know how to say what I'm trying to, but these are Wrecker and Omega, and they usually understand what I'm getting at. "He needs us," I continue finally, "He makes the choices for us, and they're not always... easy."

I want to see Hunter as something unbreakable, but the truth is more than that, and I won't delude myself to believing anything else. He needs us, too. I just don't get why it feels like I'm the only one willing to say so.

"I don't know what to do," Omega says, pacing the length of the ship, clutching Lula. "What if something happens? How can you be so relaxed?"

She's the one who saw Hunter get shot, even if I'm the one who got the honors of seeing the wound up close. "We're used to it," I point out, leaning against the wall, patting Gonky when he comes over to me. "But something's gonna go wrong."

"Oh, I'm preparing. I'm chargin' up before I charge in," Wrecker offers.

"What if it already has?" Omega queries anxiously. "What if your dream's already happened?"

"It hasn't," I promise in a heartbeat. "We were there."

"I'm sure they got everything under control," Wrecker supplies unconvincingly.

"Does snuggling with Lula help?" I ask, pushing myself forwards. Omega won't stop pacing, and I can't shake an overwhelming level of unnerving energy, but we need to save it. I know things are about to get far worse, and we need to be ready.

"I don't know," Omega says, still holding her tightly. "Maybe."

I wrap an arm around her, pressing my face to one of Lula's ear-thingies. The fabric is a little coarse, but it's still soft. Crosshair still made her for us, and I like to think we still have a bit of him, just because we have her. It's not the same, but it's something.

Chapter Text

"Wrecker, Vision, Omega, come in," Hunter's voice says over the comm, and I grab mine, flicking it on.

"Screaming by," I supply, "Because we're not standing by. Are you okay? Are you alive?"

"We have the target, but we ran into some trouble," Hunter replies, ignoring my rambling entirely, "We need a pickup."

"On our way!" Omega says excitedly bolting for the front.

"Be safe," I request, swinging myself into the pilot's seat and firing up the engines.

"On our way!" Wrecker echoes, laughing.

Flying is fun, and I love it. It's the first real time I've ever done it, even if I'm co-piloting with Omega – which at present, means squeezing into the same seat and attempting to tell each other what we need to do. I thought having four hands would be easier. It's actually more annoying. Not doing this again.

Turns out, our brothers are leaving through the reactor port, and I know what this means.

My hands are shaking, icy, as we fly to the mountain. Wrecker moves for the back, and Omega jumps into the co-pilot seat.

"Keep it steady, kid," Wrecker requests.

"Gotcha," I mutter, eyes narrowing as I steer the ship closer. I know how to do this, and I'd rather just land, but there's gotta be a short gap, because there's no landing spot here.

Omega glances at me before jumping out of her seat and drawing her bow. I hear her and Wrecker firing from the back after the door opens. "Come on," Wrecker yells once the firing dies down. I twist my seat around, glancing back. Tech climbs aboard, and – the ship shudders as fighters start shooting at us. Oh, great. This is not what I'm trained for doing yet.

"Tech," I yell over my shoulder, hands tightening over the steering yoke. "We need to break off. What do I do?"

"I will take it from here," he replies, practically appearing at my right side.

I half freeze up at the suddenness, and saved him just a moment ago, and I wish it felt like he actually – respected what I could do, but now isn't the time to complain about it, so I swing myself out of the chair and dart to the back instead.

"Wrecker, get on the tail gun," Tech orders, and Wrecker's already disappearing to the back. Omega and I scramble for the back seats to wait out the flight. Shootouts are never good for staying balanced.

My heart is hammering, and my hands clench over the arms of my chair as we wait. I just want Hunter and Echo back inside. I need to know they'll be safe. I can't – we can't lose Hunter, we can't –

The Marauder jolts as a blaster shot connects with it. "Shields are down. We're losing power!" Tech calls.

Oh, great. Like this could get worse?!

Omega jumps from her seat. "Gonky, we need you!" she calls out, grabbing the droid's plug-thing and plugging him into the nearby port.

Huh. He is a battery, I suppose.

"It's working! Systems are back online," Tech reports, and off we go.

It's only a few more minutes before we come back around, and I bolt for the doorway.

"Jump!" Omega yells to them – they're standing, facing the inside of the mountain.

"Come on!" I call.

Echo jumps, and Omega reaches out to grab his hand, pulling him aboard.

It all happens so fast after that.

I See more than see the incoming fighters, and I hear the whirring of their engines. There's too many, coming too fast. We need to move. My head turns to watch, heart hammering, the wind whipping across us.

Tech jerks the ship away from the incoming blaster shots, and thereby, the ledge Hunter's on.

I yelp, grabbing the doorway to stay upright.

Hunter jumps.

I half fling myself forwards, trying to – to – something.

He slams into the bottom of the ramp – blaster's gone – but it was too late.

Hunter falls.

Omega screams.

The ship is jolting and Omega lurches forwards, trying to catch him, but Echo drags her back inside, ignoring her struggles. I push myself up, ducking back inside. He's falling, from the mountain top, just like in my visions.

The ship is jerking and I'm just standing here, staring numbly like an idiot at the closed door.

Gonky gets zapped when the Marauder is shot again.

"Multiple system failures! We cannot take many more hits!" Tech calls from up front.

"Get the ship out of here," Hunter's voice says over the comm, and I nearly cry when I hear him again.

"Hunter?" I ask into my comm. He sounds – I don't know. The static covers anything I could tell from him. "Are –" His words catch up to me half a second later, and I know what he's saying, but we can't do that.

"I'll find another way back."

"Negative. The odds of escape are not in your favor," Tech answers curtly.

"Go, Tech!" Hunter orders sharply, "That's an order!"

There's a heartbeat of hesitation before Tech shoves the ship forwards.

I feel sick.

"No!" Omega yells, desperately, "Turn around! We have to go back for him!"

"Remember what I said about jumping off a mountain?" I ask, tears burning my eyes.

"Sorry, kid."

"Don't be. I just need to get you back." Stars, this is the same thing that happened with Crosshair. He left and – and it happened the same way. It was from the moment he walked out of that prison cell that I last saw him, and he might not've been himself, but he still was. He wasn't trying to kill us yet.

I can't lose Hunter, too.

"Dad, we need you." I'm inhaling shakily and Omega's hand is on my shoulder now, clinging to me, like there's actually something I could do to help.

"Hunter, tell them to come back! Order them to come back!" She's practically begging now, nearly in tears, and so am I. For once, I'm not alone in that. I can't even think about what's happening clearly – it's too much, too fast, too overwhelming.

"Sorry, kid. I can't do that," Hunter replies, and the line goes dead.

It feels like a part of me did, too.

I register Tech taking the ship up towards the atmosphere, and everything after that is kind of a blur.

***

We go back to Ord Mantell to fix the Marauder. Omega's with Echo, and I stay inside with Tech, though there's really not a lot I can do. I just... help, numbly, unfeeling. I don't think I can feel anything. All my visions are being set into motion right now, and I know what's about to happen. I'm not ready for it.

I'm not ready to see Crosshair again.

I wish we hadn't left, but I know why Tech made the choice he did. There wasn't much of one that didn't involve us crashing and dying. Or we'd all be captured. I have no idea what'd happen then, but Crosshair – he'll be coming for us. I'm not ready. I know Hunter isn't, either. No one is.

I'm not sure how much help I'm being, but hey, I try.

"Are you okay?" I ask finally, because I need to talk or something, and Tech's the one who left. We don't do that, and I'm certainly not okay with the fact that we did. I can't really understand how his mind works, but still.

"By what measure?"

"Don't be annoying. You know what I mean. You threw Hunter off the ship. I wanted to know if you're okay."

"It doesn't matter," he answers shortly.

"Yes, it does. I don't care about things if they don't matter."

"You spent over an hour attempting to name your severed droid head."

"Thank you, Tech, but that actually mattered to me a lot." I glare at him, uncaring if he can't see me, "And stop being nasty."

"I am stating facts," he replies, annoyed. Good, because so am I, and I'm very, very tired of fighting with him all the time.

"Can you stop acting like that every single time I try talking to you?" I snap. "You can just tell me to leave. You don't have to be so – so – ugh." I stand and turn away, tempted to just go but that's not helpful, and it won't help him. This isn't about me. Never has been. I'm just so tired of... this. He's so hot-tempered. Maybe we just clash, because the same's true about me, but I don't know how to talk to him in a way he actually understands.

"Now is not the time to discuss this."

"Yeah, then when is?" I sit down again, too close to him for me to be comfortable with, but I'm not going to leave. I'm not like him in that way. I don't run just because I'm upset. I'm not mean to people just because I'm hurt. Or to hide my guilt or whatever. I can't understand being like that, but Tech was like this after we lost Crosshair, too. I remember that – he was being uncharacteristically snappy towards Echo. I'd been wondering if it was just something that changed after I left, but I guess I was wrong. It's just how he is when he's upset.

Tech pauses, glancing at me. It's the first time he has. "Perhaps after we have located Hunter."

I still don't see how that could lead us back to Kamino.

"You mean never," I mutter. Don't say anything past that. There's no point. He's not going to give in. Tech is stubborn. Unbelievably so.

I reach out to offer a light and fleeting touch to his shoulder – I'm not comfortable with more than that. Doubt he is, either, but Wrecker touches him like that, and he seems fine with it.

"The hull's patched," Echo reports some minutes later, reentering the hold with Omega behind him. I jump up, running to her side to grab her hand. It's the least I can do to calm us both, and I miss being without her everywhere.

"Nearly finished getting the systems online," Tech replies.

"I left Gregor with Cid. She wasn't too happy about it," Wrecker adds, climbing the ramp.

"What else is new?" Echo asks dryly.

"We are up and running," Tech says, scooting out from under the control panel and standing.

"Let's go get Hunter," Omega says, grabbing the steering yoke. Don't think Tech will let her fly, though.

Something on the controls beep, and I sidestep to let Tech look at it. "His communication device has just been activated. It appears he is no longer on Daro."

My heart skips a beat, and my gut plummets. Here we go. It's happening.

"What do you mean? Where is he?" Omega asks worriedly.

"Kamino," I supply, "At least heading there. Just like my dreams."

"Every landing platform will be swarming with troopers," Echo says, "How would we get in?"

That's not hard to figure out. "Nala Se's landing platform," I offer, "It's underwater. Unless they thought jumping into the ocean and drowning was a good idea, that should be clean. Might have a few fish, though."

"Most on Tipoca City don't know about it," Omega agrees, "If we can get through their forces in the air, that platform will be safe, and we can get inside unnoticed."

"Let's get going," Wrecker says.

Echo and Tech take their seats, firing up the engines. The ride's gonna be long, but I don't even care.

"Activating Hunter's comm was intentional," Tech remarks as he takes us up through the atmosphere, "The Empire wants us to come to Kamino. I am uncertain as to why."

"No turning back now," Wrecker supplies.

"If we turned back, we wouldn't be us," I reply, gripping the armrest of Echo's chair, "And I don't wanna say this, but I'm sure it's Crosshair, and he wants to make everything up close and personal."

No one really talks after that.

***

Tech is real grumpy about landing in the water, but Omega's right as she always is. The Empire wasn't even trying to stop us from landing, which is what I'm really unappreciative of. They're up to something, and I don't know why they want to make it so – well, like I said, up close and personal.

I don't want to face Crosshair down again. The mere thought makes me want to cry.

Tech steps out first, half-shielding his eyes with his hand.

I trot past him into the pouring rain, nearly freezing at the cold wetness as it soaks my hair in a second and at the smell of seawater. Familiar. Home, but not the one I want to be at. "What's wrong with you?" I ask, "You're wearing a helmet. How can the rain even get in your eyes?"

"Never doubted you for a second, kid," Wrecker congratulates Omega, wisely ignoring us entirely.

"Landing was only one problem. How are we going to get into the city?" Tech asks cluelessly, pointing towards the city with his datapad.

Like we expected him to jump into the ocean and swim? "We're gonna swim," I deadpan, which is mean, but I can't help it, "For the next thirty years."

"We'll take the tube system," Omega replies.

"The what?" Echo asks, confused.

"Underwater tunnels," I supply. I know about them, because 'mega does. The regs don't know about it.

Once we do get inside, there's other problems.

The Crosshair problem, actually.

I don't want to think about it, but I know what the chips are like, and I know Crosshair. He isn't going to want to make this fast. At least, he'll want it to hurt first – whatever in the stars he has planned. Will he hurt us? Is he going to break us down entirely, to rip us apart just because he can? To make us beg? I don't want to think about it.

Or will he just annoy me enough to make me resume my fork-hitting techniques?

"Don't think about it," Omega replies, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the opening.

Good idea. I close my eyes, trying to focus on hearing and feeling instead of brooding. The rain makes it easier – the constant washing of waves, the roar of the rain as it hits it, and the wetness as it soaks through my hair and clothes and drips down my face.

Hunter's the one who taught me to focus like this, and that's not something I want to focus on right now.

The underwater tunnel looks the same as I remember, and Omega gets to work on the controls right off. The light outside is flashing, moving too fast for me to watch, and it's making me dizzy.

"This type of underwater transport system is not documented on any schematics," Tech remarks, working on his datapad as we go.

"Kaminoans keep a lot of secrets," Echo points out.

"Indeed," he agrees, "Vision, Omega, how did you know this existed?"

"I walked off a landing platform one day, fell three thousand feet into the ocean and survived." Everyone is staring at me. "Just ignore me."

"Nala Se," my sister answers. "This tunnel leads to her private research lab. The others run throughout Kamino."

My attempted levity falls entirely flat anyway, but it does out the moment I realize she's crying. I've seen that many times before, but I never know what to do. The most I can do is hug her, which I do. It still throws me a little how tiny and skinny she is, and soon, I'll be taller than her. I don't want that to happen.

Omega slides her arms around my waist, clinging to me, head resting on my shoulder.

"You, uh, all right?" Echo asks quietly, crouching.

"It doesn't matter," Omega mutters into my shoulder. "Saving Hunter is what matters."

I'd say the same about me, but I don't know what's upsetting her. "We'll be fine," I try, even if I don't believe it. There was once a time I thought we'd only have six members before Echo, though we were more like five then, and it feels like we're back at the same. "I Saw us together, remember?"

"Yeah," she murmurs.

It feels like it takes forever, but that's probably just the wait and anticipation talking. I want to just find Hunter already. The lab is still cold when we finally step inside, or maybe that's just how I'm still all wet.

I shiver, looking around and sighing. The depressiveness of being here never sunk in until we got back again, and I realize I very much did not want to see this place again. It was so lonely. "Here we are. Home sweet home. And I hate getting my hair wet."

"Perhaps if you cut it –"

"Don't you dare," I scowl at Tech. "Touch my hair, and I will bite your hand off."

"This looks like every other Kaminoan lab to me," Wrecker supplies, confused.

"Not exactly," Omega replies.

"Hunter's comm is still active. I'll pinpoint his location," Tech says, and that's what I focus on, as opposed to all the snippy commentary I want to make.

"I'll tap into the system," Echo adds.

"We're assuming that Hunter's with his comm," I point out, crossing my arms, because no one else is being blunt about this. I'm freezing, and maybe it is a little cooler in here than usual, or maybe that's just my fear. Yes, I am scared. No point denying it. "We know this is a trap, and Crosshair knows us, so we gotta be careful."

"Yeah," Wrecker agrees, shoulders slumping.

"Either way, if we find Crosshair, Hunter should be close by," Echo points out. Fair.

Wrecker squeezes my shoulder, and I lean into his warmth a bit. At least I'm not alone. The like Hunter is goes without saying. "What's so special about this lab?" Wrecker queries.

"It's where we lived."

"It's where we were created," Omega corrects.

"Here?"

"You all were here, too," she answers, climbing a set of stairs to one of the medical capsules, pressing a hand against the glass.

"What do you mean?" Tech asks, and he somehow sounds more confused than Wrecker.

"Your mutations were enhanced in this room. Experimental Unit 99 began right here. I was there." Her hand falls from the glass, and she turns around.

"Wh – is that true?" Wrecker splutters.

"How could I possibly know that?" Tech throws back.

"It was only for a short time, before you were sent to be with the other clones," my sister explains.

"Something's not right. All the central files have been wiped. There's nothing in the system," Echo speaks up, and we gather around.

"Anyone else think that's weird?" Wrecker asks, cut off by a clattering behind us.

We all whirl around, weapons raised. Even Omega moves surprisingly fast. She really is catching onto the soldier thing.

"Do not shoot!" a familiar voice yelps, "I am AZI-345211 –"

"AZI?!" Omega and I exclaim in unison, lowering our weapons. I don't holster my blaster, though – it's out, and I have no idea when it'll be that I need it.

"Omega, Vision, I am relieved it is you," the droid says, floating around the corner.

"Same," I agree, "Don't want to get seen on first entry."

"What are you doing down here?" Omega queries.

"I am in hiding. Soldiers were deactivating droids and forcing key Kaminoan medical personnel onto transports. Those who resisted were eliminated."

What?! I look up at Echo with wide-eyed horror. What in the galaxy is the Empire doing to our planet? What are they up to?

"The clones did that?" Echo asks, appalled.

"No, these were other soldiers. All clone troopers were reassigned and transferred off-world, with the exception of CT-9904."

I already knew that, assumed that, but I still feel somewhat let down to hear it. I was really hoping I was wrong just this once, but nope. Too much to ask for.

"It is not safe here, Omega," the droid continues, "You must leave."

"We can't. Not without Hunter," Omega replies with a shake of her head.

"Found him," Tech cuts in, "His comm is pinging from the central cloning platform."

Good. One step in the right direction.

"Come on, AZI. You're with us." Omega grabs AZI's hand, and we run for the door. Echo takes up the lead as we run through the halls of the facility.

A deep-set, rippling fear is inside me, but I'm more determined than anything else. I don't care how dangerous this will be, or what will happen. Hunter needs us. And like I said to Wrecker, it's high time we're able to do something for him.

The rain is still pouring when we leave the facility to make our way to the next one. Omega and I are beside each other, holding hands the way we often do, but as I see the walkway, the city, I can't shake a feeling of finality.

It's all winding down now. Right here.

***

We make our way to the next facility, Echo still leading. AZI explains midway when we nearly get caught that all the clones are being replaced with some other random people that they call TK troopers.

Wrecker enters the room Tech takes us too first, and the rest of us follow a few steps behind. I'm half expecting to see a roomful of people, but well, Tech's not that stupid.

"According to the comm signal, Hunter is directly above us," Tech reports.

"Sweet," I supply, a bit jittery, rolling my shoulders as I struggle to calm myself. I'm cold, freezing, and I can't quite say why. I'm just scared. "So, we chop a hole in the floor?"

"The training room?" Echo queries warily, "That's open ground. If Crosshair's waiting, he'll pick us off."

"Oh, he's waiting," Wrecker mutters darkly.

"Yep," I agree, shifting and tightening my grip on my blaster. "Like I said, he's going to make this personal."

"Precisely why we will not be going in through the main entrance, like he would expect. We'll enter through the lift. That should give us a slight advantage."

Tech activates the lift, and he, Echo, and Wrecker climb on.

"Should is a good word, Tech," I object, darting forwards, "But I'm not sure we should gamble with our lives like that. This is your life. I know I might be... very nasty sometimes, but I still care about you. You're my brothers. All of you." I have no idea where Crosshair will be exactly because I can't See it, but I don't want them walking in blind. "Are you sure there's no other way?"

"Under the circumstances, not that I am aware of," he replies.

"The longer we wait, the worse this could be," Echo agrees, "We have to move. Vision and Omega, wait here."

"Shouldn't we stick together?" my sister argues.

"No, Echo's right. Crosshair's after us, not you," Wrecker replies.

"'kay," I grumble, crossing my arms unhappily. I understand it, though I certainly don't like it. Staying here will mean having no idea what's happening to our brothers, and there's a risk to that I don't appreciate whatsoever. I want to see Hunter again, make sure he's okay. I don't want my siblings to confront Crosshair without me.

I'm supposed to be the one who brings our family back together. I can't fail. That's never even been an option.

"Stay out of sight," Echo adds, "If things go south, we'll send you a signal. Get back to the ship and contact Rex."

"For the record I don't think this is the world's best idea, but if you really think that's the best choice, just try not to get shot!" I yell after them as the lift takes them up into the training room.

If Crosshair heard me yelling in the background, oh well, I guess. Could've been worse. He's already going to know we're here – I would never be willing to stay behind, and he knows me.

I don't think waiting is a good idea. Not like Echo was going to take arguments, though. "They'll be fine," I sigh, pacing the length of the room. I have too much energy, and it's gathering up under my skin, pulsing and burning.

"We should be there," Omega says dejectedly. "What if something goes wrong? What if someone gets hurt?"

"Welcome to being the youngest," I supply sarcastically, spreading my hands. Oh, yeah, I'm just being mean now, but what am I even supposed to say? I had to deal with this for months. It was so, so hard to live knowing I had no way of knowing if they were hurt. And honestly, I think that's just what it takes to be the youngest, because Crosshair had to go through the same thing.

He's a sniper, and yeah, that means he's gonna be away from the rest of us. Not to mention that's where he is now. I wish I could say I can't imagine the stress of that, but I can and do. It's not really fair, to any of us, but it's not like we can control it.

My comm lights up abruptly – Echo. "Ohhh, typical. 'mega? What do you say? It's like we need Hunter to hold our hand so we can breathe."

"Something went wrong. They're in trouble. We have to help."

"Per CT-1409's instructions, we should flee to the research lab," AZI objects, "Assisting will mean we will also be in danger."

"AZI, we're in danger as long as we're on planet. Crosshair's not gonna let us walk out. We have to get them out. Rex would never be here fast enough to do anything." That's not what Echo told us for, anyway. It's to protect us, which is ridiculous, because this entire thing has been about bringing our family back together. Not stopping now.

"I have an idea," Omega pipes up, moving to the machines that store training droids.

"I'll keep watch," I offer, "In case someone comes. Try to make it fast."

"On it," she agrees, typing something into the screen. I draw my blaster, turning to face the doorway. I don't hear anything, but that could change at any moment.

I know something's going on with the others, and it feels like I ought to hear blaster fire, which I don't, though facilities are far more soundproof than I give them credit for. I probably wouldn't hear anything, even if I want to pretend I could. Still, I know they're hurting. Being hurt. I can't imagine how hard this must be.

I saw Hunter fall. He must be hurt from that. Can he even walk? Honestly. I know he was talking, but that doesn't mean much.

"I think I've almost got it," Omega murmurs from behind me.

"Good," I call back, "Set 'em off, and let's get in there."

"Freeze!" a voice barks and one of Crosshair's black-armored squad-members steps into view, her blaster raised.

Omega gasps, jumping back, hands raised. "Uh, hello?" she offers awkwardly, waving.

I tighten my grip on my blaster, eyes narrowed. "You're not the only one with a blaster, idiot," I growl, eyes narrowed.

And I'm angry. Scared, too, but that's a given when someone has a blaster aimed at my sister. She could kill her.

"Try anything, and I'll shoot her," she snaps.

"And I'll kill you," I snarl back, "I'll gut you and feed you to sea monsters."

"Sir, I've found the girls," she says into her comm. I hear muffled static from the other end, not enough to make out, but it's – it's Crosshair's voice. I can hear that, and I don't think it'll ever stop hurting. "Both of them," she adds, "They're together."

I take a half-step closer to Omega, trying to put myself between her and the Imperial.

"Move it," she snaps, motioning with her blaster for us to step away from the droids.

"I'm kinda in the middle of something," Omega offers hesitantly.

My hands tighten. I should've seen her coming sooner. "Just so you know, I'm not very good at following orders."

"Lower the blaster, kid," she orders, anyway, "Or I'll blast your droid."

AZI yelps.

"Do it," I snarl, "You'll lose your leverage. Crosshair doesn't want us dead. Or at least, he'd kill you for doing it. Graphically. You want me to go on?"

Her blaster starts moving, but I move first, shooting the weapon out of her hands, dead-center, and firing again. The second shot takes her shoulder, and she drops. Not dead, but injured, and it doesn't matter.

Omega breathes a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Viz."

"Sorry, AZI," I try, lowering my blaster and throwing a look over my shoulder, flipping my dark curls out of my face. "That was a bit, uh –"

"Tense?" he supplies with a droid shudder.

"Yeah."

"Let's hurry," Omega requests, typing in one last thing, "Activating droids now."

"Let's get going." I sprint for the lift to take us up to the towers – it's time to go in, finally, and I can't wait to see them again. Omega and I skid to a stop at the edge, looking down.

My eyes dart between Echo, Tech, and Wrecker who are taking shelter behind the mini-wall thingies in the room to where Hunter and Crosshair are rolling around on the floor – what are they doing, anyway? They look like they're attempting and miserably failing to mimic 'mega and my snuggle parties – to the droids closing in. "Oopsies," I supply cheerfully, whipping out my blaster.

"I believe you have activated a few too many droids," AZI supplies.

"I can see that, AZI," Omega replies, drawing her bow and firing at the two by Hunter and Crosshair, who are still... rolling around. Crosshair flips them over and Hunter kicks him off, and they roll to their feet. Crosshair... immediately tries to cut his throat. Literally. My gut flips violently just seeing it, watching in numbing horror as he stabs at Hunter's neck with his own knife. Hunter tackles him anyway, of course, ripping his blaster and knife away and rolling to his feet, shooting back at the droids. I take off one nearby, just for good measure, and Omega draws her own bow to do the same.

Crosshair pushes himself up as Wrecker and Tech move forwards, lifting his rifle to take out the next droid. Wrecker and Tech freeze, looking at each other with obvious shock, before Wrecker pulls out his knife and they charge.

"C'mon!" I cheer, swinging myself over the edge with a squeal. "That's our cue!" I slide down the wall, stabbing my blade into it to slow my fall – I refuse to take the time to climb down – and kick myself off towards the bottom, rolling to cushion the landing and jumping up again. I whip around, firring a few times at another droid, and I hear Omega beginning her own descent behind me.

Omega is down beside me in minutes – I'd like to throw my knife at them, but I don't know how to aim just right yet – and we stand together, shielding each other, dodging any shots that come close, and mostly picking them off from behind. I pull my knife out when I'm close enough, anyway, stabbing a droid in its back, half to see what would happen, half just... because. Because it's fun. 'mega fires at it, the shot taking it through, and I spin around to another droid that somehow started sneaking up on is, raising my blaster towards its head.

Only for it to be hit from elsewhere, and my head whips around. It was... Crosshair?

I look up at him, wide-eyed, and he's looking at us, too. For the first time. He... helped us.

The feeling of warmth that spreads through my heart is overwhelming. This, I realize suddenly, is the first time we've all been somewhere, fighting together. Everything that I've ever wanted and needed and... am. This is what we were made for, and it's what I've always wanted. What I've always dreamed of. We're all here together again. Crosshair is here again, and we're not going to leave without him.

We're home again.

We're together again.

We're... family.

Nothing's gonna take that from us. Not again.

Chapter Text

He should have been more careful. If he'd been a moment faster, he could have made that jump easily. Now, they're all at risk. Because of him. None of them have ever been captured for it. That doesn't mean they weren't trained – prepared for – such a possibility. But this isn't just someone.

It's Crosshair. He's – here. Whatever precisely his role with the Empire is, he's in charge of these people.

The Empire isn't above torturing people. Hunter knows that – he saw the interrogation droid on Raxus. And considering his brother's skills, the Empire has every reason to want to find them.

He can tell himself he can hold out. And he won't let the Empire hurt his squad, but he needs to be – real here. If – when – it gets that far, Crosshair will be in charge. He knows Hunter. He knows his weak points. And either way, he can handle a lot of things – anything, for his family – but seeing the numb, nearly dead look in his youngest brother's eyes is... not one of them.

He can't deal with Crosshair's anger. He's thrown... childish temper tantrums sometimes, the same way Vision does, but that's only if he's hurt, just like her. That's not what this is. It's something far darker, and he's trying to hurt them. He kept doing that before, on Kamino, on Onderon, on Bracca. He knows exactly what to say to make it hurt.

Trying to escape would be pointless. It would only get him killed. Crosshair would know, anyway. And he – he can't do that to Crosshair, either. He can't leave without trying.

Sleeping is impossible right now, because he can't shake the tension out of himself no matter how hard he's trying, but he needs to... save his energy, at least. He'll need it.

There are so many things he wants to say to Crosshair. So many that he doesn't think he could say even if he tried.

This is why he didn't want to go to Daro and get involved in the first place. It's not something he ever wants to do again. Not that he did from the start – that was Echo. But it was still Hunter who agreed to let him do it.

And now – now, he's here, and Crosshair's going to do Force knows what to him, and frankly, Hunter has no idea why he hasn't killed him yet. He doesn't want to think about what that could mean, either. He doesn't want Crosshair to hurt him, and that's bound to happen. It will happen. Some way or other. He's not ready for this he'snotreadyforthishe's –

Hunter looks up for the first time as he senses a familiar heartbeat outside the door before it opens and Crosshair steps inside. Hunter forces himself not to tense as his brother approaches. First, he needs answers. Something to work with. Focus. That's what he's good at. Stop panicking. They won't do anything to him until they get to – wherever. "Where are we going?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Crosshair replies, crossing the room to him. Hunter forces himself not to tense or outwardly react. He loathes how this makes him feel – Crosshair's presence is, and always has been, comforting.

He would've gone through anything for them. Now, that's all gone. His heartbeat feels the same, the soft, pulsing energy that Hunter has always felt on him, even if something about it is... hardened now. It's still him. And up close, he still has the same foggy, smoky scent that he always has. Somehow, that hurts even more. It'd be easier if he didn't look so much like him.

Crosshair kneels beside him, taking Hunter's comm and turning it back on. Hunter had shut it off after he fell, and on hindsight, he should have destroyed it altogether. "And so will your squad," Crosshair tells him, far too smugly.

A numbing sense of anxiety freezes him inside out. "Using my comm won't work. They'll know it's a trap," Hunter throws back as his brother stands and starts moving for the door. It's not true though. He knows that.

(Maybe he wouldn't've been so sure about that if Omega hadn't told him because they've never done anything for him before, and nor have they ever had to. He doesn't want them to. He promised he'd find a way back, and better that then – then them to be hurt, too. At least if Crosshair will hurt him, he can deal with it alone. But this is Crosshair, and everything he's doing, he does to hurt.)

Omega and Vision would burn the galaxy down to find him, as would Echo. Wrecker's probably already on it, and Tech will go with them without a second thought. Hunter... feared this could happen, which was why he refused in the first place. They wouldn't have if Echo hadn't insisted. They should've been more careful.

"They'll still come for you," Crosshair throws back, undeterred. He's right. They will.

Hunter had thought – foolishly – that by leaving Crosshair, it would save what was left of his family. He should have known that wasn't going to stay true. And now – now, they're all in danger. Because of him.

"If you don't have the stomach to do what needs to be done, you're not fit to lead this squad."

(Is he ever going to stop failing? Is he ever going to do anything right?)

They know Hunter would have them stay away, stay safe. Not come after him. But they'll do it anyway. That's – how they are. He would've preferred the alternative of being trapped here to whatever fate awaits him.

The Empire has no way of controlling him. His inhibitor chip is out, and Tech had reassured them all – Vision especially – on Bracca that once it's out, it's... out. The connections are broken, and nothing will be able to control them again. He doesn't need to worry about that.

What he does need to worry about is how in the galaxy he's going to get through Crosshair's... programming and talk him down enough for Hunter to get them both out of here. Preferably, before his squad shows up.

He promised Tech he'd find his way back, and... that's what he has to do.

***

They take him to Kamino. Just like Vision saw in her dreams. It's almost unnerving. What really strikes him as off is the lack of people around.

He already knew Rampart sent Crosshair after them after Ryloth – Vision Saw that, too.

"Where are all the regs?" Hunter asks. He already has his suspicions – that they're being phased out, just like Gregor warmed them. It's just faster than he thought, and he has no idea what the Empire is doing to all the clones then. It's an opening, something he can try to talk to Crosshair about, and he has to try. Though the lack of people present might be... useful if he's really going to get out, but considering the others are on their way, waiting is probably better. At least if he's with Crosshair he can still try to protect them. If they're apart, they're more likely to run into Crosshair instead.

"When did you start caring about them?" Crosshair snips back. Hunter opts to ignore the sting of it – if he gets angry, he won't be able to reason with Crosshair at all.

"No Kaminoans, either. This facility's being decommissioned." They're going to destroy it, like Vision Saw. The sooner they get off-world, the better, but Hunter is still – this is Kamino. It's their home. The thought of it being destroyed does not sit well with him. He waits a moment, expecting some sort of reaction, something, anything from Crosshair, but there's nothing. "You don't seem too concerned."

"Why would I be?" Crosshair asks, like it somehow doesn't matter. This is their home. The Empire's getting rid of clones, and Force knows what they're doing to them.

Hunter whirls around, uncaring of the blaster Crosshair's holding to his back. "Because the Empire will be phasing out clones next," he snaps, nodding to Crosshair's natborn squad member. This is everything they've never done and they – he has no idea what the Empire will do to Crosshair if he stays here. Hunter thought he'd be alright, maybe, but now? It's the Empire. He can't imagine the clones aren't being transferred for something... sinister.

Crosshair hits him with the end of his blaster hard enough to make him step back – it's more instinctive than it is anything else, really. On Bracca, Wrecker's first assumption was that it was Crosshair who shot him. And now, with his brother holding his blaster at the same place Cad Bane shot him not all that long ago, Hunter can't stop wondering – fearing – how long it will take for him to actually do it. At this close range, his armor would never be enough to hold up and stop the shot from being fatal.

Either way, they won't be continuing the conversation here – even if it's just him and Crosshair, and Hunter could easily take down the other... whoever he is, even with his hands cuffed.

He's not going to leave him, though.

Can't.

"Not the ones that matter," Crosshair snaps back, and Hunter glares at him. It's not fair but being angry at him is so much easier than the hurt. At least like this, he doesn't have to try to talk himself out of a breakdown that no one has time for now any more than they ever have.

They take him to a command center, where there's... a lot more people, but Crosshair holsters his blaster finally, setting Hunter's helmet and knife down on a nearby chair.

Their siblings are here now, apparently, and Hunter has a very bad feeling about this. He doesn't have much time, and he doesn't know how to get through to Crosshair, but he knows him better than anyone. If that reg captain could with his men, Hunter should, too – he and his brothers were far closer than any of the regs have been with each other.

"They'll come to us," Crosshair says, "They don't leave their own behind. Most of the time."

"You tried to kill us," Hunter throws back a little incredulously. It wasn't like Crosshair wanted to go with them. Certainly didn't imply he did. "We didn't have a choice."

"And I did?" Crosshair snaps back, and the question momentarily throws him, because he can't be talking about the chips... could he? He knows about them, but Hunter can't imagine that's what he's talking about. Or is he just angry at them for leaving the Empire?

"Crosshair, I've seen what the Empire's doing – occupying planets and silencing anyone who stands against them. You know it's not right," Hunter goes for slowly. This isn't easy, after everything Crosshair's done to them, but he has to try.

He promised Vision and Omega he would and – and Crosshair needs him. That doesn't mean trying to be calm and gentle with him isn't – it feels wrong, because Hunter knows exactly how big a threat he is, but he needs to try.

Crosshair pushes himself up from where he was half sitting on one of the chairs. He looks... the same, but so, so different from how he used to. He doesn't have the same chaotic energy. There's something Darker and sharper about him now, and Hunter can see – clearly – the scar on his head for the first time. It looks... awful, and seeing it makes him sick. He should've known Crosshair would get himself hurt right after they left, at some point or other. He had the scars on Ryloth, but it could've happened any point in time between then and the hangar on Kamino. "You still don't see the bigger picture, but you will."

He's not that close, but he's too close and it's making Hunter's skin crawl. He's taller than Hunter by only a few inches, but it still feels like he's practically towering over him.

Hunter sighs – talking to him is nigh impossible, and he doesn't know what to do. He's never felt so over his head before. What does he do? Crosshair has never been like this before. He can be stubborn, but he's never so – this. Whatever this is. Not himself. "Can't you see they're using you? It's that inhibitor chip in your head." Crosshair's eyes narrow on him a bit, and he looks assessing, calculating, and it's the first time Hunter thinks he's actually listening. "It's making you follow –"

"We have an unauthorized entry on platform 5," someone cuts in stepping forwards.

Crosshair sighs, "Right on schedule. Time to go."

Hunter narrows his eyes at him a little, not-quite-glaring because he knows it's not his fault, and that Crosshair is so careless about all of this is clear proof of that. Sometimes, he couldn't help darkly wondering, but now... it's obvious he can't help it, like Wrecker and Vision couldn't. Like Omega said. It still hurts, though.

"Here," Crosshair says, shoving his helmet at him, and Hunter catches it a little awkwardly. He'd put it on, but to talk to Crosshair, he needs to at least try to make eye contact with him because that's more personal, and even if he wants to hide right now, that's more important. Crosshair is more important.

The rest of their squad's here, and Hunter was hoping he might actually be able to do something before they got here.

Having Crosshair's blaster to his back makes him simultaneously want to cry or throw up, maybe both, but he doesn't have a choice but to move.

Crosshair shot Wrecker without a second thought. If he was willing to do that, to nearly incinerate them on Bracca, he could do far worse to Hunter right now.

Will do worse, no doubt, shortly, and Hunter can just hope he'll be the first and the only one who gets hurt.

Chapter Text

I slash through the last droid, and Omega fires a shot through it with her bow. I roll off, standing, panting a little, but despite the tenseness, I haven’t felt so – so  happy . We’re here, and maybe  this  is where we need to do it – to get Crosshair back, and…

I take off down the tilted part of the floor, skidding a bit. It’s fun, and maybe I’m a bit high on something right now, but I still feel oddly euphoric.

Our brothers are standing, and Hunter raises his blaster towards Crosshair – the fact that they’re both standing I take to be a good sign. Crosshair’s back is facing him, and he’s rubbing his forehead. Don’t know if that’s from his chip, or if Hunter hit him that hard when he threw him off.

I wince a little at that thought. I’ve seen my brothers fight before, but they’ve never hurt each other. I can’t really imagine what that’d feel like for Crosshair. Hunter’s always taken care of us, and he’ll understand it – I do, and did when Omega threw my knife at me – but it still hurt. I’ve never talked about it, though.

“Hey,” I chirp when no one says anything. “Everyone okay?”

Crosshair turns around, hands tightening over his rifle when he sees us. Echo has his blaster raised, though not aimed, and Tech and Wrecker have their own weapons out. Omega does too, though her energy bow isn’t powered up.

What? Am I the only idiot who doesn’t have my weapons out still? I’m holding my knife, but who even cares about that? And, hey, is no one going to answer me?

Crosshair looks different now. I don’t know. Darker. Emptier.  Thinner . And he has a scar on his head that somehow looks worse than Wrecker’s. It’s much deeper, like something burned nearly down to the bone and it never quite healed. … And I miss his hair. What? It was kinda pretty.

“Crosshair, forget the Empire,” Hunter requests, half begging. “This isn’t you. It's your inhibitor chip. We can help you.”

No, he  is  begging – this is as close to it as Hunter would ever  get . We need his consent, his agreement to carry this out so he won’t get someone hurt or killed. Hunter told me that, but I don’t quite know how to go about  convincing  him. Nothing they would’ve said could have stopped  me .

“Wrong,” Crosshair says finally, turning a little sideways, and there’s something  assessing  about his expression that I do not like. I’ve never seen that expression on him before, and it looks so jarringly  wrong , but it’s what I’d think is him just testing out our reactions. “I had my chip removed. A long time ago.”

I can’t breathe. I can’t  anything .

I can’t see Hunter’s face, but the smokey-forest-y-ness of his presence just  freezes . All of us do.

Wrecker and Tech jerk back simultaneously, and Wrecker looks back at Tech like he’s somehow supposed to  fix this . Tech just deflates altogether, and the sharp-smooth-ness of his presence just… freezes, icing over, dying, like I’d have thought it would if someone got their heart ripped out.

I think it just was.

“Since when?” Hunter breathes out, and he sounds so lost and broken and I don’t know, scared, that it just – I’d think it’d make me feel something.

It doesn’t.

I feel like throwing up. That’s the only thing I can feel.

This is Crosshair, and –  and  –

“Does it matter?” Crosshair snips back as if he didn’t just try to cut Hunter’s throat fifteen minutes ago.

“ Yes ,” Hunter snarls, and I can feel the heat of his glare even if I can’t see it. I don’t know how he can calm himself so fast.

I can’t feel  anything . I want to scream, but if I did, I doubt I’d ever stop. I could scream until my throat is raw and I can’t anything, and it doesn’t matter because this is Crosshair and he just – he –  what  –

“This is who I am.”

I see Hunter’s grip on his blaster tighten, and I don’t even care.

Wonder if I’d feel my vibroblade if it stabbed into what I think my heart is. Kinda feels like it did. Don’t know if I can feel anything.

Crosshair jerks his rifle upwards and Hunter stuns him before he can try to kill us again.

I would’ve done anything for him. To get him back. I wouldn’t have been afraid to die trying. Wouldn’t even have cared to. I missed him. Cried for him.

And Crosshair? He just wants us dead.

The clatter next to me sounds distant. I hardly hear it until I realize a distant  oh, that’s my knife . Yeah, that’s right.

Omega runs to Hunter’s side, throwing her arms around his waist. He looks slightly caught off-guard, but I think he’d react if he weren’t still holding his knife and a blaster I’m pretty sure is Crosshair’s – he dropped his own on Daro.

Echo’s hand lands on my shoulder, squeezing lightly. I still don’t feel it. Don’t know what to think about the fact that he came over to me. Not like I’m the one who was captured.

“Sorry, Omega. I know I promised you’d never have to come back here,” Hunter says, but his words feel far, far away.

“You did the same for Vision and me,” Omega replies, stepping back.

Hunter spins his knife around, sheathing it, and holsters his blaster before stepping forward and kneeling next to Crosshair. I can’t understand why. Don’t know why he’d want to touch him, period. Hunter turns his head to the side a little, touching his head where I think his scar is.

“Vision,” Echo says, shaking me a little, crouching to pick up my knife.

My hand is shaking so badly I can hardly hold it enough to take it from him, but I somehow manage to sheath it without literally gutting myself.

I wish I could read Hunter’s expression, could know what he’s thinking, but I can’t.

I just feel sick.

“Hunter, three Venators are descending on the city. We need to leave, now,” Tech interjects sharply, stepping forwards.

Hunter clenches his jaw, grabbing Crosshair’s rifle and pulling his backpack off. “Wrecker, grab Crosshair,” he orders, standing, “He’s coming with us.”

“ Then we’ll find a way to get him back ,” Omega had said ages ago. I asked for the same, but I don’t know why he’s willing to listen. I don’t want to be near him. Don’t want to think about this, period.

Hunter turns to Omega, who nods to him. I think she’s thinking about the same moment as I am. Don’t really know. He turns to me, and I can’t read his face. The only person's I can is Tech, and he looks as closed up and dead as me. Maybe we’re more alike than I thought.

“Vision,” he says, still far away. “Come on.” The others are heading for the door. Omega grabs my hand, and hers is  burning  in mine, but I don’t pull away.

We run for the door, taking down the halls of the facility. Somehow, somewhere deep inside, I  know  this will be the end, the last time I see it.

We’re in the halls when it starts. The facility trembles and the lights flicker. We skid to a stop momentarily before Hunter directs us to the lifts. Omega’s clinging to me, and she looks terrified. I have the sense that I should help, but I don’t know  how .

When we finally make it outside, everything is burning. The walkway connecting this facility to the next, to Nala Se’s lab where we need to be is burning. Blue laser bolts are raining down from the sky with deafening explosions. The air is thick and dark with smoke, mingling with the never-ending humidity of Kamino.

The same thing I’ve seen nearly every single night since Order 66.

“Back inside! Go!” Hunter yells, and the others are already making for cover.

I grab Omega’s hand, instinctively yanking her back and pulling her back inside. We need to find cover, and  fast , before the Empire kills all of us here.

Everything is happening so fast after that. There’s no real way  to  find cover with laser fire raining through the ceiling all around us. The ground is shaking violently enough that we can hardly stand, much less move, and the number of times we keep getting knocked over is insane. I think Crosshair woke up somewhere on the way, but I really have no idea. Debris is falling, and everything is sparking and  dark .

I’m scrambling for cover, trying to stick close to Hunter because he’s  safe , but then a door slams shut between us and Omega, and the last thing I hear is her yelling for Hunter before everything goes dark.

I’m dragged awake a bit later, hearing my sister’s panicked voice yelling through my comm. “Living,” I rasp, pushing myself up. I’m exhausted though. And cold. And once I remember what just happened, I kind of wish I didn’t wake up at all.

“Are you okay?” Hunter asks worriedly.

“Not really,” Omega replies, and she sounds close to tears, “The room is flooding. And Crosshair’s stuck”

The – oh, that’s right. She was cut off from us, and apparently, so was Crosshair. That’s certainly not ideal. I don’t want him anywhere  near  her, especially not when I’m not there, too.

“Get the door open, Tech,” Hunter orders, and our brothers are scrambling to their feet.

“All compromised compartments are sealed to contain the flooding. I cannot override the protocols from here,” he objects.

“I can,” Wrecker volunteers, stabbing his vibroblade through the door. It’s something, but the room’s flooding, and I have no idea if it’ll be enough. The situation is – tense in there, and the faster we go, the better. My worry only skyrockets when I see how much water is spurting through the crack in the door. There’s no way to seal off the opening, not when we’re underwater on the Kaminoan ocean. There’s an endless supply of water here, and I almost can’t believe this just happened.

The Empire destroyed our home. Shot us out of the sky into the ocean floor. They’re trying to kill us.

They failed, but I think Crosshair succeeded. A part of me died here, and I won’t be getting it back.

Tech steps forward to try to help get the door open, but that doesn’t make it go a whole lot faster than it has. I back up from the water that’s sloshing around my boots now, biting my lip.

The door finally opens briefly with a torrent of water, and Wrecker catches Omega, shoving her into Echo’s arms before moving to reseal the door. Crosshair crashes onto the floor, but I don’t care to watch. Don’t want to see him.

Omega’s coughing, and I squeeze her shoulder when Echo sets her down.

“What have you done?” Crosshair snarls, standing.

I perk up instantly, stalking forward. “You’re the one who brought us here, you idiot,” I hiss back.

“The Empire opened fire on the city,” Hunter retaliates shortly, “We weren’t gonna leave you behind.” He must’ve figured out what was happening from the start between my dreams and the lack of people.

Crosshair actually has the audacity to look surprised by that.

“Maybe we should, though,” I supply.

Crosshair is glaring at me sharply enough that I’m certain he’s going to try strangling me, and I don’t even care. Wouldn’t ask anyone to stop him, because if I screwed up so fundamentally that he’d even  want  to hurt me, I’d deserve it.

I just  don’t understand .

“We don’t have time for this,” Tech interjects, and he sounds… annoyed. Angry, maybe. I can’t tell. “We need to get topside before this entire structure submerges.”

Fair, but I don’t want to wait until later. What if he tries to kill us? He could. At any given moment. He’s been trying all this time. Not gonna randomly stop now.

“If you want to stay here and die, that’s your call,” Hunter tells him before turning and taking off down the hall. How he manages to sound so calm right now, I have no idea, even if there’s an underlying note of hurt and fury in his tone.

I’m not sure I could say anything short of violence right now.

His words still freeze something inside me over a little, because this is the first real moment I realize that Crosshair’s not  one of us , that he left us and he’s not our responsibility, that we can’t take care of him anymore, not when he’s – he’s – stars, this is so, so  wrong .

Wrecker shoves past him to take off after Hunter, and I don’t feel any sympathy for that. don’t feel anything at all.

I glare at Crosshair, and the flicker of hurt I see on his face just makes me even angrier. After  everything he’s done to us , he has no  right  to expect us to be any different. The others are already moving, so I take off without looking back, even if it hurts an unreasonable amount to do so.

There are explosions ringing out in the distance, but we can’t break our pace.

I wish there was more fire. There always is in my dreams, but now? All I see is water. I never associated water with destruction, but here we are. This is Kamino, an ever-standing city on a water planet, that’s – being  drowned . Or  something . The floor is still shaking, and all we can do is try to keep moving for as hard as it is.

We’re in what used to be a hall now, and it looks so different without the lights it takes a while for me to realize this is where the clones are made.

Omega spent so much time here.

She breaks off from the rest of us, turning to the window. I follow, hand clenching over the flashlight I’m holding and reaching for her free hand.

Outside, a piece of debris falls onto one of the cylinders, crushing it, and the rest are already rapidly being submerged in water.

It makes me want to throw up, but actually, I already  do , so it’s probably nothing to do with seeing our home being destroyed. “’mega, c’mon,” I beg, tugging her hand. We need to move, and I understand how overwhelming this must be for her, but I know when to focus. We need to go. “Us getting outta here is more important.”

“Come on, Omega. We have to go,” Wrecker says, appearing on her other side.

I tug her away from the window and we take off down the hall, though we don’t get much farther before – sure enough – everything starts tilting again.

“Hold onto something!” Hunter yells.

“There’s not even anything to hold on  to !” I yell, heart hammering, but I dive for the wall, anyway. Everything is falling and twisting and  cold  and my hands are flailing to grab onto just –  anything  before plummeting into the dark ocean depths below.

There – okay, there is a handhold I can get on one of the ledges on the walls. There’s a lot of jolting around and yowling on a bunch of people’s parts – that includes AZI, of course – before we finally get jerked sideways again and thrown to the floor.

We are also probably completely submerged underwater now.

Omega pushes herself up the moment she hits the floor.

Hunter sorta twitches weirdly, just… I don’t know, but it freaks me out. I push myself up, half stumbling, half crawling towards him. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he answers almost automatically. I don’t believe it. Hunter shines his flashlight down on AZI who landed in front of him, and Omega scrambles over, turning the droid on again.

“Omega! Omega, watch out!” AZI shrieks, whirring to life and upright, flailing. “– oh, you are okay.”

The others are standing – Hunter’s still moving slow.

And a little jerkily, but with Crosshair here, I don’t blame him for not wanting to admit if he’s hurt. We don’t have time to worry about it, even if I am worried.

Wrecker’s on his feet last, rubbing his head, and I take off over to him to grab his hand. We’ve been falling for a while now, and I know how much he hates heights.

“I guess we’ve been dunked underwater now?” I ask, looking around. It’s somehow even darker than it was earlier. It’s pitch black like we’re at ocean depths now. We probably are. Aren’t going to stop falling until we reach it.

“That is correct,” Tech replies, and I nearly faint, “I believe we have landed on the ocean floor. There is no way to accurately calculate the damage. Most of the facility must be –” There’s an explosion and something in the ceiling ruptures. Water starts pouring through – it’s not a large leak, but at the rate it’s coming, we need to move. “Compromised.”

“We need to get to a space that’s more secure,” Hunter says in the background as I approach the water. Something’s important about it, and the splashing of water on the floor is pulling me under, into Seeing something. I drop to a crouch, touching it. It’s just ocean water – not poisonous, but there’s…

I’m falling and it’s dark, so dark, and everything is cold. Icy. It’s soaking into me, and I can’t feel, and it’s just dark dark dark and I can’t  breathe .

“I can’t see them.” Echo.

“I’m going in,” I hear an echo of Hunter’s voice from far away, followed by the very familiar click of a rifle .

I jerk awake, struggling to breathe. Omega grabs my shoulder – I know it’s her automatically, because I See something vaguely flowery and it’s too small to be anyone else. Hunter’s on my other side, and I reach out blindly, grabbing for his hand. He takes it, squeezing mine tightly.

“What was that?” he asks.

Water. Too much water, like this hall’s about to get flooded and whatever happens after, except I’m stuck inside. “I think…” Actually, I know what that feeling means, and it doesn’t sound so bad. “I think I’m gonna – never mind.” It’s too weird to say.

“Is it… something we should know about?” Hunter asks quietly.

I should tell them. They deserve to know. Just don’t know how.

“Oh, well, yeah.” I blink a few times. “I think I’m about to die.” Everyone is staring at me. Kinda glad I can’t see their faces. “Don’t worry,” I add a little breathlessly, rocking back to my feet and brushing my pant legs off. “I’m sure I’d find a way back to life just to spite him.” I jab a thumb in Crosshair’s direction. Everyone’s still staring. No one says anything. The water pouring in through the ceiling is picking up. “What?” I ask, throwing my hands up when no one moves. “It’s fine. It’s okay, really. We knew that could happen. Not so bad.”

I should probably be afraid. I should probably want to cry, to be in shock or something, but the thought itself is so ludicrous I just want to laugh. I could probably laugh until I cry, because there’s something about that positively hilarious and I cannot for the life of me say what.

“Maybe I’m overreacting. No idea. Maybe… I’ve seen things past this. And can everybody stop staring at me? Let’s get going. Come on.” I take off down the hall, and I hear the others moving after me, though I pause anyway, just to make sure we’re all here.

That seems to have spurred everyone into motion, except Crosshair who’s still lingering behind, and Omega, who’s stopped to look back at him.

“Come on,” I whine, spreading my hands, “Omega, we gotta go. Crosshair, I couldn’t’ve just shorted out your motion circuits. You don’t care about me  that  much.”

“I’m not a droid,” he growls at me. He sounds grumpy. Ohhh, typical. No sympathy from me.

“You’re getting stuck in your programming like one.” He doesn’t move. I roll my eyes frustratedly. “Look, I might want to beat you up still, but I don’t want you to drown. Or die. Or whatever. Can we move?” I take a few steps back, and he’s just glaring, but we really don’t have time for a staring match, so I grab my sister’s hand and pull her off down the hall.

I hear Crosshair following once we reach the end of the hall.

We came here for Hunter, and if something happens to us, he’s going to blame himself. I need to make sure he understands that. I take off to the front to Hunter, throwing a few glances at him as we go. I need to tell him – just don’t know when. Why not just blurt it out, I suppose? “Hunter,” I supply, touching his forearm, head tilting back to look up at him, holding his gaze through his dark visor. He pauses, glancing down at me. “I know none of us want to think about it, but I want to say if – if something happens, don’t blame yourself. There is no way I would rather die than for you. You deserve it. As much as any of us.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to you,” he promises, touching my shoulder and guiding me along after Tech.

“I know. I just… this is all so…” I don’t even know how to say it.

I’ve tried to talk to him about it once before, but I’m not sure it really made sense to either of us. I don’t think he understands that any more than I understand when he told me he doesn’t want me to endanger myself for ‘mega. As if that’s not the only thing in life I’ve ever had to do.

No one says anything, though I can feel Wrecker’s worried eyes on me. Like anything any of us could do might actually help something, anyway.

“Ironically, our old barracks is one of the few compartments habitable, albeit temporarily,” Tech supplies, entering what was once upon a time the barracks we shared. It’s so jarring to see it again. It hurts even more.

The floor is tilted at an angle which makes walking difficult. Crosshair is in the back, and Hunter – as he has been this entire time – is right in front of him, pointedly keeping himself between Crosshair and the rest of us. I try not to think about that.

“This is our room?!” Wrecker exclaims. “What happened to it?!”

“At least the smell’s gone,” Echo grumbles, which helps nothing. It looks so wrong in here, I wish I never saw it again. Are the… engravings still here? On Crosshair’s bunk? I almost don’t want to know.

“Check it out. Our board’s still here,” Wrecker announces gleefully.

Hunter pauses by it briefly before going farther inside.

My gut flips, and I want to cry.

“All those missions together and you threw it away,” Crosshair growls, because, of  course , he has to interject with something overwhelmingly snide, as if anyone even wants to hear his opinion right now.

Hunter whirls back to face him. “We made a choice,” he throws back sharply, jabbing a finger at him, “And so did you.” I don’t need the reminder.

“Soldiers follow orders,” Crosshair accuses.

I stalk up to him, glaring. “Sir, rules were  made  to be broken.”

Crosshair glares right back, but I stand my ground, no matter how much uncomfortableness is churning in my gut. “Nothing is made to be broken.”

“Ration bars,” Omega pipes up, popping up next to me. Thank the stars she still has a snippy sense of humor like me. “When you have to share.”

“Because Wrecker stole your food,” I quip.

“Battle droids,” Tech offers without looking our direction.

“Explosives,” Wrecker volunteers.

“ Rules ,” I crow, spreading my hands in a way that I  know  is going to annoy him to death.

I’m pretty sure he’s a few seconds short of strangling me.

“Blind allegiance makes you a pawn,” Hunter tells him, wisely opting to ignore the entire whole conversation. “A real leader protects his squad.”

“Look where that’s gotten you,” Crosshair snarls back, stalking down the stairs, “They’re all going to die here because of your failed leadership.”

A flash of my vision flickers through my mind again, and I bite my lip. Crosshair knows that. He’s using that on Hunter. So predictable. I shouldn’t have said anything.

“No, we’re not,” Omega calls, looking out the window, flashlight aimed at something. “Look. We landed on the underwater tunnel. If we use it to reach the base post, we could get back to the  Marauder .”

I throw a glance out the window, spotting what she’s talking about before moving across the room to Crosshair’s bunk. The hearts are still there. I wish I hadn’t looked. They feel like a mockery of what was.

“Accessing the tube will be… challenging,” Tech warns.

“Better than staying here,” Echo points out.

“We have to try,” Omega agrees. She sounds so cheerful. I don’t know how she does it. I can’t keep ahold of myself to save anybody’s life, much less everyone’s.

Crosshair approaches them from behind, and Echo shines his flashlight at him. I have no sympathy. “ She’s  calling the shots now?” he asks snidely.

“You have a better idea?” Hunter snaps back, shoving past him. Crosshair glares after him, and I bite my lip. This is the first time Hunter’s actually  started reacting  to him. The entire situation is wearing on him, on all of us, but it’s just getting worse. Wrecker looks almost hurt, as lost as I feel seeing them fight, and trails Hunter. Tech throws Crosshair a brief glance before moving on.

I trace my fingers over the engravings, blinking at the tears in my eyes, not bothering to wipe the wetness from my cheeks – it’s dark, and they shouldn’t be able to see, anyway. I genuinely don’t care if he can see me crying. Not like it’d bother him, anyway. I jump off his bunk, glancing up at him.

I remember how much I’ve missed him when I did that. How I thought something would happen to him. That he’d be hurt. That I’d lose him. Now, he’s the one who’s chosen all of that.

Crosshair looks back. I know he caught where my attention was focused. That he saw.

“I would rather die fighting for who I love,” I tell him, nodding to where Hunter and the others went, “Than live fighting for something I don’t believe in.”

Crosshair’s still watching me when I finally turn away. I really have nothing more to say to him.

Chapter Text

I never knew what it meant to give my heart to someone. I never thought I would know. Didn’t have a reason to think I would, until it’s gone like a memory, along with the person who holds it. I didn’t realize I had until he was gone. I thought it mattered. Thought he cared. I thought I could talk to him about all the things I couldn’t anyone else. Everything that I… couldn’t with ‘mega, because it was about her, or because it wasn’t important for her to know. I just thought I’d do it later, when they came back, a time I never got.

And here I am, forever not understanding why I could.

When I drew that engraving on his bunk, I didn’t realize how much I put into it. How real it was. I thought it was something… childish. Not real. Until now.

The tunnel is dark, and being here makes my skin crawl. I don’t think this’ll end well. Maybe I’m just… too jittery. Maybe I really am a little afraid of dying.

“We need to go back,” Crosshair speaks up like someone actually wanted to hear his voice. “There must be another way.”

“’fraid of the dark?” I snip back, pausing. “Be honest here. It’s not like you care if something happens to me. Or any of us,” I add as an afterthought, glaring at the memory of him trying to stab Hunter. I almost wish I hadn’t seen, but if I hadn’t, Hunter would be dealing with that knowledge alone. It’s not something he’d ever tell anyone.

“That would be unwise,” AZI replies, “I am afraid this is our best option.”

“You done complaining?” Wrecker asks, pausing. He’s not looking at Crosshair. I don’t think he can. I hardly can, and I’m not the one who grew up with him. Not that it affects closeness much, but still. “You know, if it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Crosshair stalks towards him slowly. It reminds me of the nexu on Saleucami – stalking, snarling, waiting to pounce, desperate to hurt. Like a predator stalking its prey. But that’s just been the truth of our relationships, isn’t it? “Something on your tiny mind, Wrecker?”

Wrecker looks away, and beside me, the others are pausing, looking back. “All that time, you didn’t even try to come back.” His sigh is quiet, defeated. Broken. Like all of us. “We still would have taken ya.”

“Let it go, Wrecker,” Tech cuts in, stepping up to him and laying a hand on his shoulder, turning him away from Crosshair. “Crosshair has always been severe and unyielding. It is his nature. You cannot change that.”  He looks pointedly at Crosshair, and he sounds… hurt. Tired. I’ve never seen Tech too tired to fight back – that’s always what he’s done, but maybe he’s every bit as broken as the rest of us. And this is Tech. I don’t know – he always fights. It’s who and what he is. Seeing this, seeing him and Wrecker and Hunter, knowing that Crosshair did this to us, I just can’t. “He cannot change that.”

And Wrecker just walks off, just like that. because Tech said so, like he’s giving up just on that – like there’s something anyone can do to change this, like there’s – I don’t know. No more hope. Not that I’ve had any from the start.

“I think you’re missing what he really is,” I can’t help cutting in, glaring. “A coward.”

“Vision,” Tech objects, taking a half-step towards me.

“No,” I snap, jerking forwards. “No.” I stalk up to Crosshair, glaring, chest heaving and my hands icy cold. I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry in my life. “You are a coward,” I snarl, “You’re too afraid to do what you know is right. You know, the only thing that has ever made you special is being their brother. Without us, you are nothing.”

“Vision,” Tech says firmly, pulling me back.

“No!” I yell, shoving his hand away and whirling to glare at him. “You know it’s true! He thinks he’s something special, but he’s not! We make each other. We always have!”

“Crosshair has his own skills, as we all do,” Tech objects, “We might add to one another’s abilities, but are not defined by each other.”

“That’s what it means to be a family! Don’t you understand that?”

He looks… I don’t know. Hurt. That’s all I ever can do.

I step back, biting my lip.

I want to apologize. I just don’t know how.

“Why are you defending me?” Crosshair asks.

“I am not,” Tech retorts, turning back to him. “Understanding you does not mean that I agree with you.”

Omega’s hand closes over mine, and she tugs me back. “C’mon, Viz,” she pleads, pulling me away from the duo. I turn back, blinking back tears. Hunter and Wrecker exchange glances. Hunter’s helmet is on, but I can only imagine their expressions. This is destroying all of us. What is wrong with me? This isn’t Tech’s fault. He has a right to defend Crosshair. I – I just wish someone would do that with me.

Omega approaches the side wall, shining her flashlight into the darkness, and studying the glass. “AZI, this doesn’t look very safe,” she whispers to the droid hovering beside her. I wipe my eyes off on my hand, blinking at it. There are cracks everywhere. She’s right. It could fracture easily, and the – the vision.

“Barring any further complications, this enclosure remains a viable means of transport,” AZI replies.

“We gotta move,” I speak up, backing away from the wall. My skin is crawling with nerves. “Fast.”

Something sounds in the distance, and everyone freezes.

“Uh, I think we got a problem,” Hunter says, staring at a dark shadow approaching.

I remember the water. The – stars, we gotta move.

“AZI, these tunnels are protected, right?” Omega whispers again.

I groan. “The power’s down, so, that’s a no, right?”

“Correct,” AZI agrees, “They are protected when the power is operational, which it is not.”

The creature roars again in the distance, and I think it’s coming closer.

“We gotta go,” I breathe, backing up, “It’s gonna attack us. Or try to. Whatever.”

“You’re right,” Hunter says, “Run.”

We run.

“AZI, try to get the power on!” I yell to him as we run – the creature is coming fast, and we’re not going to make it. “We gotta stop that thing.”

“I am on it,” he replies worriedly, flying for the exit, “Try to stay alive!”

The sea monster hits the glass wall, and it fractures instantly. It’ll be only minutes before the glass breaks entirely and we’re sucked into the sea.

“They’re all going to die here because of your failed leadership.”

No. No. No one is going to die here. I won’t let it.

I should’ve thought about that before taking the time to yell at Crosshair, though.

AZI does get the power on in the nick of time, and we barely manage to make it, scrambling up into the facility before the tube floods behind us. I flop onto the floor next to Wrecker, closing my eyes and breathing for a few minutes before picking myself up and hesitantly look at Tech. He looks down at me, briefly, and I can’t even read that look. It’s too dark. With the hurt burning in me, I don’t think I’ll be able to apologize now. Hunter’s hand touches my shoulder, and I lean into it, throwing my arms around his waist.

It's fleeting, but I’m just so glad he’s safe. I was so, so worried when he fell.

Does Crosshair even know what happened? Does he care?

How couldn’t he?

There’s still an endless list of questions buzzing around in my mind.

Once we finally reach the lab again, Hunter pulls his helmet off and shines his flashlight around. “What is this place?”

“Home sweet home,” I supply dryly, rolling my shoulders.

“Nala Se’s private lab. Omega says this is where our mutations were manipulated and enhanced,” Tech replies.

“How would she know?” Crosshair grumbles.

“She’s smarter than you,” I snark back without looking at him.

“Because she was there,” Tech explains. Stars, I have no idea how he has so much patience. Tech is so gentle with his little brothers. I’m the youngest. I can’t understand that, but I wish he… was like that for me. I wish I felt protected by him. “Omega was created before us. Technically, she is older than we are.”

Crosshair is staring at Omega like he’s never seen her before, and I snort, turning across the lab to where Omega and Wrecker are already at the window.

Being back here brings up so many memories of things I don’t want to think about. I remember how achingly lonely I felt here before. I… remember all of it. How badly I wanted to see our brothers again. How I counted the days into infinity. How desperate I was for our family to be together for the first time.

Here we are, together, but forever torn apart. I think we’re doomed. Or cursed.

“That’s gonna be a problem,” Wrecker murmurs, flashlight shining at the broken tunnel.

I groan softly. That’s our only way out.

“That tunnel was the only way to the Marauder,” Omega says slowly, near tears again.

“It would seem that, once again, we are trapped,” AZI agrees.

Echo moves to the side, checking something on a control panel. I stand in the center, watching numbly as everyone mills around. There’s really nothing to do down here.

“Long-range comms are down,” Echo reports, “And our oxygen levels will be critical in a few hours.”

A few hours left to live? How sweet.

Never thought of the things-to-do-before-I-die list before, but here I am.

“This is what happens when you let a kid call the shots,” Crosshair interrupts snidely, glaring at Omega.

I can tolerate him being here, hurting me, but I can’t just deal with it when he’s hurting Omega. “I’m heartbroken to report that we’re all children,” I snark back, “You’re just an oversized nine-year-old.”

“That kid saved your life,” Hunter snaps back, stepping forward, “Unlike the Empire, who left you for dead.”

“That’s your problem, Hunter. You take things too personally.” Crosshair stalks across the room, prowling inches away from Hunter again. Why does he always do that?

I blink. What the? Is he for real? As if he hasn’t hunted us all across the galaxy because he’s angry at us for – for some imagined slight? It couldn’t have been imagined though, could it? It had to’ve been something.

If we’re messed up enough that Crosshair tried to kill us, then – then what are we?

“They destroyed an entire city,” Hunter retaliates.

“They did what needed to be done,” Crosshair insists stubbornly, entirely unfazed. He’s supporting the people who tried to kill us, and that makes it hurt even worse. It’s not just about him. He just – he wants us dead. Not just me. That, I could understand. No one really wants me, anyway. “Kamino, regs, the Republic… That time is over. The Empire will control the entire galaxy, and I am going to be a part of it. Hunter, you made the wrong choice.” He shoves past Hunter, heading across the room.

I somehow thought it couldn’t hurt worse than it did, but I was wrong. He just denounced every single thing that makes us a family. We’re always supposed to choose each other.

“Yeah, and some of us care more about family, than power and politics,” I spit back, whirling away.

“Don’t fool yourself,” Hunter calls after him. “All you’ll ever be to them is a number.”

Omega’s hand slides into mine again, and I look up at her, biting my lip. There’s an emptiness in her eyes that is so uncharacteristic it hurts. “I know you’re angry,” she says softly, “But he’s still our brother.”

I shake my head, struggling to find words. There are no words for the pain ripping me apart. I don’t think there ever could be. This is Crosshair, and he just – he’s hurting us, threw us aside for his own gain. That’s not something I can even begin to understand. “I don’t know what to say.”

“We need to talk to him. Please, Viz, we hafta try.”

I close my eyes, sighing. “Okay. Go. I’ll come with you.”

I’m surprised she doesn’t give me a you-need-to-shut-up speech, but then again, this is Omega. She’s too nice. And I have to protect her.

Crosshair’s rubbing his head again, jaw clenched, and I wince a little when I see it.

Did Hunter hit him that hard?

Omega sits beside him, expression pinched with worry and hurt. Crosshair freezes, jerking his hand down and turning away. The unsettledness in my gut grows. “You never liked it on Kamino, did you?” Omega asks, like that could be an excuse for being uncaring that our home is falling apart around us.

“Go away,” Crosshair snarls, and I feel my hackles rise again – no one talks like that to my siblings. Not to Omega.

“I understand,” she continues undeterred, the same way she is whenever I get moody and mean. “I spent most of my life in this lab. I was alone down here, until you four were created.” (And that’s why they’re so special to her – they are everything I am not and never will be. She doesn’t need someone to take care of. She doesn’t need me. She just needs them. People who aren’t too weak to care for her.) “That’s why I was determined to find you all again.”

“Being a clone doesn’t make you one of them,” Crosshair spits back, nodding towards our brothers.

“You’re an idiot,” I snarl, stepping forward. My voice is shaking still, near breaking, and I don’t sound nearly as angry as I’d like to because of it, but I’m not backing down. “And a coward.” I cut off his “and you’re not?” by continuing to talk over him, anyway. “You know what’s right, and you’re too afraid to do what you need to. We all started with Omega. Clone Force 99 began with her. Not with Hunter. And you’re not really part of it, anyway. Maybe you never have been.”

Omega is practically gaping at me, and I don’t even blame her. I’d be horrified at me, too, but I don’t even care.

I’m so, so tired of him hurting us.

Crosshair renounced every single thing that has made our family. What am I supposed to do? Keep chasing someone who doesn’t care about me and never has? Someone who tried to kill her?

I rock back on my heels, glaring at him again before spinning around and stalking off.

He’s glaring at me, too, and I opt not to think about how there was a flare of hurt in his eyes.

“And you will never be a part of them, either.”

I pause at Crosshair’s voice, turning back and no, I do not care if I not-so-accidentally shine my flashlight in his eyes. “Yeah, thanks. I already know I’m no one. And I’m not afraid of it, unlike you.”

“She’s just angry,” Omega says quietly. “She doesn’t mean that – it’s not true. You are our brother. You always have been.”

“I know her. Better than you ever will.”

I’m about to turn around and rip his head off for talking to Omega like that – wait, is that supposed to be – never mind. I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean, and I don’t care, either.

I’m expecting Omega to come back with some other sort of useless platitude, as if he’d listen to her more than anyone else, but she doesn’t. “I wanted to believe it was the inhibitor chip that made you like this… but I was wrong.”

Finally, she’s getting it. He didn’t seem evil or cruel when I knew him, but it’s – it’s what he is, and I don’t know how to deal with that. None of us do.

Wrecker catches sight of us, of me, and he lifts me into his arms, carrying me back to the others. I wrap my arms around his neck, lowering my head so I don’t have to see Crosshair in the background. Wrecker has carried me like this before, back when we were still together, just at random – if I needed it. If… he was trying to help. And Crosshair was always there then. Wrecker would always take me to him.

It's not that Crosshair could help – it’s just that he… he’s like me, I guess. Cold. Vicious. Cruel. Uncaring. I hate whatever both of us are.

“These medical capsules are our way out of here,” Echo says, and the others launch into a conversation about that.

Wrecker sets me down, but I stick close to him, anyway.

Hunter’s only objection is that we won’t have directional control, but considering the circumstances, I think it’s worth the risk either way.

“The droid,” Crosshair supplies, approaching us again, “He can do it.”

“AZI, can you guide us to the surface?” Hunter asks him.

“Barring any extraneous complications, I should be able to complete the task,” AZI promises.

“Won’t that be dangerous?” Omega queries worriedly.

“Your safety and well-being is my primary mission objective,” the droid replies. I reach out, grabbing his hand. It’s hard and cold and metal, but I still want to give reassurance. We’ll make it out. What makes us, who we are, is that we always find a way to survive.

“Who’s where?” I ask, “There’s four. We’ll hafta double up, except one unfortunate somebody who has to snuggle with glass.”

“That will have to be Wrecker,” Tech says, not even objecting to the rest of my insanity, “Unless you are volunteering to share with him.”

I step up to the capsules, taking a closer look at them. “Never mind!” I squawk. “I don’t wanna sit on his head!”

“I’m with Crosshair,” Hunter says, and I don’t miss how they pointedly don’t look at each other.

“I’ll go with you,” I tell Omega, walking up to her, after throwing a brief glance at Hunter. “Like I always do.” She is one of us, and I’ll prove that to her, in every way I have to.

From there, it’s fast. Omega and I set the charges while the boys – minus Crosshair, who stands there, just staring at us and being utterly useless – move the capsules into position.

Omega and I pile into the capsule, holding hands.

“Seal ‘em up,” Hunter orders, and I hit the button, closing the glass over us. Omega presses her free hand to the glass, watching as AZI flies over to Hunter, giving him a thumbs up. He nods, and Omega pulls out the detonator.

“Do you want it?” she asks.

I take one last look at our home, inhaling deeply. “If this place blows, I’d rather you be the one to do it. I’ve destroyed enough already.”

Omega looks at Hunter in silent question, who nods to her, and I squeeze my eyes shut, bracing myself.

The explosions are almost instant. It’s muffled through the glass, but I hear it and see the light.

It’s not like there’ll be anything left of the lab soon, anyway, but it still hurts a little.

It doesn’t matter.

We’re fine. We’ll make it.

Or, so I thought, until I See another brief flash of – of something. The familiar click of a rifle, and Hunter’s worn expression. Worried, but too tired to fight.

I bite my tongue, squeezing Omega’s hand tighter. If Crosshair turns on us, I don’t think anyone will have the heart to fight back. I certainly wouldn’t. Not that I know he’s… him now.

“This is who I am.”

“He would do anything for you.”

“This is exactly what I am.”

I’d said something like that to Omega, too, but that – it doesn’t mean anything. I’m not even going to hope Crosshair isn’t himself, because the – I can’t go through that. I can’t take that risk.

I’m forcibly snapped back to the present when our pod gets tangled in some debris, and AZI – who’s nearly out of power – flies back to free us. I was so oblivious earlier that I didn’t even notice, and all I can feel is numb certainty. My visions are… happening now, and I think I know what it means. I don’t want to lose AZI. He’s the only friend we’ve ever had.

“Don’t give up,” Omega begs. “We’re nearly there.”

“Your path is clear,” he promises, whirring as he starts shutting down. “I have completed my objective.”

“No!” Omega yells, but his eyes go dark. and he starts falling.

“No,” I breathe, hands pressed to the glass. “No, we’ve come so far, we can’t –”

“We have to save him!” Omega says desperately, turning to me.

I look from her, back to AZI, and pull out my comm. She’s asking me to do this. I am nothing if I don’t answer that. “Hunter, we’re going after AZI. Hey, Crosshair, you told me to do this like two hundred rotations ago. It’s a bit past due.”

“Vision, Omega, don’t!” Hunter yells over me, but Omega’s already hitting the controls, opening the door. She drops her flashlight as she goes, and I let myself drop beside her, swimming down to grab AZI’s other hand.

The water is smothering around me. It feels more like we’re just flailing, and really, swimming upwards one-handed is very, very hard, especially dragging a droid. I don’t dare look at ‘mega, keeping my eyes focused on the light I see at the surface.

It’s dark, and the water’s closing in on me, and my lungs are burning, and I can’t breathe. It’s freezing, soaking through my clothes and hair and it’s so, so cold. I never knew Kamino was so cold.

This is where I was born. I’m not gonna die here, too, am I? I don’t wanna die like this. I don’t want to die at all. I have so many things I need to say, and I – I want to make this right with Crosshair. I want what we were, even if it was never real. I don’t want him gone. I just want him back.

I’m not even gonna get that chance, am I?

I don’t hear it, but I can still sort of See it.

When Crosshair fires a cable down onto AZI, pulling us out.

I feel it when the water’s finally gone, and I can breathe again, though it comes in shaky gasps, and I’m half coughing, half gasping. I feel the warmth of hands pulling me from the water – familiar, but not… familiar. It’s –

Crosshair.

“Hold still,” he grumbles, and it’s close enough that I can hear that. Hear him. I want to cry at the sound. I – I would do anything to hear him, to stay with him.

He’s holding me. Crosshair has many things, but he’s never held me before, and it’s brief, but it’s still –

I’m still gasping, trying to breathe, still crying.

I don’t remember starting.

Crosshair just saved me. He could’ve let me die. He could have let us both die, and I thought that’s what he wanted. I don’t understand why he saved us.

Maybe – maybe I was wrong. Maybe he does care. Just a very small amount. Not enough, but he saved me, and I can’t even find words for that.

I recognize the feel of Hunter’s hands on me – he remembered his promise to save Omega first – half pulling me into his lap. I reach out blindly for him, clinging to him, half mindlessly hoping that the burning in my eyes is just ocean water.

Crosshair saved us.

I was so awful to him because I thought he didn’t care, but he – I don’t understand this.

I can feel something around me is tense, but I don’t care. I can’t think about it.

I just want my family back.

“I have a visual on the Marauder,” Tech’s voice is the first I hear. “I suggest we start paddling.”

I feel Hunter shifting around a little, and he’s keeping himself firmly between us and Crosshair. Still braced for attack. Still – he always puts himself in the line of danger first. That hurts, too. He’s hurt, and Crosshair could hurt him even more, but he’s still… But this is Hunter. Of course, he doesn’t care.

I can’t think about this. Crosshair. Kamino. Everything.

My hands are itching to do something, and I’m still breathing shakily. My clothes are soaked, and I’m freezing. I reach up, fumbling with my headband until I finally rip it off, scooting to the edge of the pod and ringing it out. My hair is wet, and it’s dripping down my face. This won’t help, but I need to do something.

I twist it over and over until my hands are burning and sore, but I don’t stop until Omega grabs my wrist, pulling me back. I let her, sliding down the side of the pod and just slumping there mindlessly.

My hands are still burning.

Omega takes it from me, running her fingers through my hair to smooth it back, and in a failed attempt to get the water out.

I want to ask if I should ring out the rest of my clothes, too, but the words stick in my throat, and nothing comes out. I don’t think anyone’d find it funny, anyway.

My hands are still shaking. They’re not stopping, and I press into Omega’s side, no matter how cold and wet she is, trying to find comfort in her presence, the way I always used to years ago. I need it. Need her.

Omega’s arm is around my shoulders, hugging me close, and I press into her side, still panting a little.

I don’t really fall asleep, but I’m exhausted enough that my mind slips into a half-wake, half-dream state where I’m entirely aware of my surroundings, but too tired to be involved with them. Crosshair just saved my life, and that’s the one thing at the forefront of my mind.

“He would do anything for you.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“This is who I am.”

“You will never be a part of them, either.”

I want him to touch me again. Even if it was just to hurt me. I’d rather. I just – I want to be with him again. I don’t even care if it hurts.

I still love him. I’ve never stopped.

It wouldn’t hurt so much if I had.

Chapter Text

I still feel numb when we finally reach the landing platform. Nothing but numb, as I climb the ladder up to the top, and Hunter helps pull me up. The others are climbing up behind me, and Omega is moving a little past us, toward where the city remains are smoking in the distance.

It’s been hours. I have no idea how long, but I’m so tired.

“It’s… all gone,” Omega whispers, tears hovering in her eyes as she stares at it.

I’ve dreamed about this almost every single night since we first left Kamino, and now it’s happened. I was ready. Omega wasn’t.

I slide an arm over her shoulders, over her bow, tugging her to my side. I think we’re still the same height, but we won’t be much longer, and that feels wrong. I’m not supposed to be older than her. I’m six. She’s twelve.

“We knew it was gonna happen,” I say, and that’s the first thing I’ve said since we went into the water. My hands are still stinging, and I don’t even care. “Knew it was coming.” I blink a few times, half expecting there to be tears in my own eyes, but there’s nothing. I’m still damp all over, but the sun’s out now and it’s… beautiful.

It hurts.

It feels fake.

The sun is rarely out on Kamino. Of course, it is right after our home was destroyed, the day we lost  everything . Of  course , today is the day the eternal night of Kamino decided to lift.

“We should leave before the Empire's scouts show up,” Tech says, and I hear them shuffling around behind us.

“You coming with us?” Wrecker asks. He sounds wary. Worried. Hesitant. I can hear it, too.

“None of this changes anything.”

I turn back from Omega, hand sliding off her shoulders as I turn back to face Crosshair. 

He’s still glaring. He’s always glaring. I wish he’d… stop being like this. I know what it’s like to be constantly angry, though. I know what it’s like to hurt everyone I love. To feel alone. Lost.

That doesn’t excuse him from shooting Wrecker any more than when I tried to.

“You offered us a chance, Crosshair,” Hunter says, approaching him. I don’t know how he does it. Stays so calm and unemotional. I’m not sure there’s anything left in me to fall apart. Maybe he can say the same. “This is yours.”

“I made my decision.”

“And you didn’t choose us,” I whisper.

He’s not coming. He’s not coming.

That’s the first thing that breaks through the fog of disbelief in my mind.

Crosshair’s just… leaving us.

Walking away.

As if we didn’t risk everything to come here to put our family back together. As if I didn’t argue with Hunter so many times because I wanted to get him back. As if I wouldn’t have been willing to die if it meant he could be home again. That he wouldn’t have to be alone, that our brothers could finally be happy, that Omega could finally have everyone she wanted.

“We want different things, Crosshair,” Hunter adds, anyway, still stubborn, refusing to be deterred. That’s just…  him . He still feels responsible for Crosshair, even if he shouldn’t. “That doesn’t mean that we have to be enemies.”

“Some of us care more about family, than power and politics."

Crosshair turns away like it doesn’t even matter. Like Hunter’s not asking for some sort of… reassurance. Something to know that he  matters . Just like me. He’s not even asking for an agreement. Just acceptance. Acknowledgment .

I want to punch him.

I take a few steps closer, biting my lip, and looking up at Hunter.

I can’t even read the look on his face. Empty. Dead. Broken. Just like me.

Hunter doesn’t say anything, but he reaches down, touching my shoulder.

Tech is already moving for the Marauder. He’s the first to walk away. Echo is just a step behind.

Wrecker lingers only a millisecond longer, but he follows, holding AZI.

Hunter approaches Omega, touching her shoulder before moving for the Marauder himself. Just – walking away.

“Crosshair, how can you do this?” I ask, still unmoving. I know I sound hurt, and a bit incredulous, but I don’t care. I don’t care about anything, except I was made to bring our family together, and I’m failing at that, too. If I can’t even do what I was made for, then…

His hand clenches. “How could you ?”

“I didn’t know you were there. ” I blink fiercely against the tears suddenly in my eyes.  “When I shot at you in the hangar – I thought you were coming. I didn’t mean to… ”  It feels so lame. So stupid. I shot at my brother. At Crosshair. I’ve shot at half the people I love.

I’ve hurt everyone I love. It’s no wonder Tech is always angry at me.

“I know we made a mistake by leaving you, but I don’t know what else we could have done .”

“Hunter made the wrong choice,” he growls back, “And you, by following him.”

I scoff. “Family stays together,” I argue, waving a hand, “Even if one of them screws up .”

He doesn’t reply, and the tense silence over us is soaking into me, freezing me inside out.

“Say something, ” I say, desperately. I can’t talk to him if he won’t talk. “Crosshair, please.”

We don’t have time for this. We need to go, but I can’t just walk away. I can’t accept this, even if everyone else can. And I’m angry at them for just… taking it. For the record, being tied to a chair is pretty miserable, but it’s worth it. I would know.

It’d be pretty hard to keep Crosshair if he didn’t want to be, though. That would be – like Hunter said, it would be wrong to keep him there by force. That would hurt him, but at this point I – I don’t even…

I don’t care.

I hate myself for it, but I can’t…

He doesn’t say anything. I’m not sure he’s going to.

“Thank you for saving Vision,” Omega interjects, and she’s practically standing beside me again. “And AZI.”

“Consider us even,” Crosshair replies, giving her a sideways glance.

I take a few steps closer, biting my lip, tears still burning my eyes. “We still need you, Crosshair.”

“You already made your choice.”

I inhale shakily, tears spilling down my cheeks. “We need you. ”  How are we supposed to just …  walk out ? How are we supposed to live with knowing that our brother tried to kill  us, and left us, because we weren’t what he wanted us to be? This is  Crosshair , and he means everything to us. He is everything to us. I saw how we all took his loss. “How are you going to live  without us?  We’re not supposed to do this. We need each other. How …”

“You should have thought about it earlier.”

“I did!” I yell back, “I tried everything I could! I tried to keep us together! I know what  it’s like to be alone. To be afraid. I didn’t want that to happen to you, but you were trying to kill us and I – I couldn’t – we didn’t know what to do!  You can’t just do  this. You’re making a mistake.” I already know nothing I say will matter, because it never does, but I’m not stopping.

“I didn’t ask your opinion.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, hissing out a breath. This isn’t working. “I know exactly what I am.”

“This is exactly what I am  –”

“I know I’ve made mistakes. I know I hurt you. I know I hurt …  everyone , but that’s not a reason to hurt everyone else.”

“This isn’t about you .”

“Then why did you save me ?”

Crosshair’s gaze flicks to me, and I think that’s the first time he actually  looked  at me. Doesn’t answer, though.

“I don’t care about the – any of this. I just want my family back.” Fighting is all I’ve ever known, but if we do, we won’t have each other. Eventually, we’re all going to have to make that choice. “I know what it’s like to be alone. I know it’s – it’s not worth anything you could think it is. We – we miss you. We want you. We can still make this right.”

“Stop asking,” Crosshair hisses back, and I step back instinctively, hands clenching, nails digging into my palm.

He’s angry. Of course, he’s angry. He has been this entire time, and I can’t understand where I went wrong .

He’s still not listening , and I’m   out of  what could change that. The most I can do now is… make him understand. I might never be able to forgive him for what he’s done, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want him back. That doesn’t mean I don’t think we can still… be something. Even if it’s something unbearably messed up.

“I know things have changed. I know… if you have any heart, you’d regret what you’ve done. And everything… dies. Except love. You’re still one of us. You still belong here, even if you don’t remember.”

“How sentimental,” he scoffs.

I roll my eyes. This is so familiar, it hurts.

“You’re still their brother, Crosshair,” Omega says, and I know she’s about to cry again, but she doesn’t. “You’re our brother, too.”

He doesn’t know. Wouldn’t remember – he was too little. They were taken before they could remember for a reason, before it could make them too different from the regs, and if our brothers were meant to be anything other than  different .

Crosshair doesn’t remember when he was taken, how close they were before. I know, because Omega told me. She told me all of it, everything there was, and the rest is clear enough to imagine.

He doesn’t know – probably never will – that his first words were then, as he fought with all he had  to not get taken from her. He was a few months old. Too young to… remember. But Omega does, and I know . I can’t forget that. I know how hard he tried, how the first things he ever said were a series of frantic, half-unintelligible pleas for their family to stay together.

And now he’s the one ripping it apart.

I still remember it when she told me, that Tech was clinging to Wrecker, like he could somehow solve something – how things have changed since then – and Hunter was just watching.

That she’s asked him to take care of them, protect them for her while they were away.

I wish I could believe that part of Crosshair is still there, but – 

“He would do anything for you –”

‘mega was away for so long, and then she got me, and we found our way back, but this isn’t the same. Crosshair is choosing to leave as though none of that happened,  and nothing he and his brothers have done means anything to him. I’ve been with Omega for six years, and  he’s  been with them for nine. I can’t imagine leaving her. There’s nothing – nothing that could make me do that.

It won’t be the same, because if he’s leaving, it’s not like he’ll pick up another random sister and come back or anything. Omega and I are the only two that…  exist .

I might hate him forever, but I’d never forgive myself if I just walked out without… anything. Something’s flickering in my mind, but I don’t take the time to Look at it. I move forward, reaching out to touch his arm. The metal is cool and unfamiliar, too dark, and it’s fully impulsive when I lean closer, throwing my arms around his waist.

Crosshair freezes, and I can feel him looking down at me. I’ve only hugged him once before, and that was right before this started. I feel the light weight of his hand on my head again, so much like last time. Exactly like last time. It’s him , and I can’t leave that. Can’t forget it.

I engrain the warmth into my mind, pulling back and looking up at him, eyes still wet, but clear enough to see.

I don’t know if I’m ever going to see him again.

That’s not something I can bear to think about. This is Crosshair.

I don’t expect him to say anything, and for once, my judgment is right on that.

I take a step back, blinking a few more times, the wind rustling through my hair. His eyes are still sharp, intense and hard. All the clones have a fire to them, similar to… to Anakin, but still a little different. His expression is still tight, too tight – it hasn’t softened the way it used to. The way it did the last time I looked at him before they first left Kamino, when I ingrained his face into my mind, waiting until I could see him again.

That won’t be true now.

It shouldn’t be so hard to walk away. Crosshair already made this choice.

I fumble in my belt, pulling out the few ration bars I have, just to… I don’t know. “Here,” I say, shoving them into his hand, “I dunno what hour the Empire will show up.”

He’s just staring at me. Doesn’t say anything.

I step back, eyes falling on the column of smoke, all that’s left of the only home we’ve ever known, but ‘mega’s soft “Viz” snaps me back to the present, and I run across the platform, hands interlinking.

We climb the ramp together. Hunter’s waiting for us in the doorway, watching.

Omega turns back to watch. I pause when I realize she is, looking back to where she’s watching Crosshair, who’s still overlooking the ocean, refusing to look back. To even see us off.

Hunter closes the ramp, and the image disappears from sight.

I move for the gunner’s mount, climbing inside and sitting down. The light’s off back here, and I’m glad. It’s too bright. Too cheery.

I still have the picture I used to keep, and I flick it on, just staring at it. Omega settles down beside me, picking up Lula and hugging her close. Wrecker climbs past us, sitting in the seat of the gunner’s mount, staring out the window.

I think he’s watching, too.

Of course, he is.

I hear the engine running, but I don’t look up.

Somewhere in the time of blankly staring at the picture of all of our brothers, from a lifetime ago when they were together and happy, I lean over, head resting on ‘mega’s shoulder. I feel her cheek pressed to my hair, feel the slight shake as she cries.

I know it when we make the hyperspace jump, and that’s when I finally hear shuffling. Hunter and Tech settle down in the back, taking Crosshair’s rifle apart to clean it. I’ve seen how Crosshair does it, and they’re doing it the same. They’re working together as one, wordlessly.

They put it away in his weapon’s kit, and leave it up against the wall, leaving it there, out of place, as the one thing we’ll never touch. Right. Yeah. Sure. Just back to tripping over the topic of Crosshair like he was never even…  here .

Like he’s not gone.

I squeeze my eyes shut, head resting atop the photo, bitterness bubbling up inside me.

I think Wrecker’s crying, too. I should… do something, but I tighten my arms around my leg, fingers digging into it enough to hurt, and don’t move.

“He would do anything for you .”

“I’m not going anywhere .”

Don’t lie to me, I  want to scream. It’s bad enough you left. But he’s gone. Crosshair’s… gone.

There’s nothing left but… memories.

Dreams.

“I had a dream we were together,” I whisper. “I guess that meant… nothing.”

Omega sniffles, reaching to grab my hand.

No one talks.

***

The rest of the day is a blur. We go back to Ord Mantell, but no one... does anything. Echo and Tech are working on getting AZI back up and running, and Hunter’s watching in mostly silence. Rex comes to pick up Gregor, and I think he might’ve tried talking to me, but I don’t remember anything other than a hand on my shoulder and the blurred sound of his voice. The rest of us just sit around, until we finally go to sleep for the first time since Daro.

That feels like another lifetime.

When I sleep, I dream, flickers of Crosshair and Kamino that I can’t make sense of.

I don’t want to dream. I don’t want to See. It gave me hope we could get him back, but it was wrong. I was wrong. I don’t want to go through that again. I don’t want to think about him, but I can’t stop .

I push myself up, leaning against the wall again. I don’t want to go back to sleep, even if everyone else is.

Omega is tossing a little beside me – nightmare – and I reach out, shaking her shoulder. She gasps faintly, eyes flying open and jolting upright.

“Sh, it’s okay,” I soothe. “You’re safe.”

From how fast she scoots back from me, I can’t help wondering if she’s remembering Bracca. That wouldn’t be the first time, though I’ve never seen her outright react to it before. Not like this. Omega looks around, breathing still a little high. “Okay,” she says, blinking a few times, “We’re here, but I… I keep seeing Kamino. I can’t believe they just destroyed it.”

“That’s what the Empire does. That’s why it needs to die.”

“Do you want to fight it?” It’s a tentative question, but not one I’ve ever seen Omega ask before. I didn’t know she thought about it.

“I want to  kill  it.” Fighting is too weak of a word, when I want to take it and shred it to pieces.

She bites her lip. “You know that would mean fighting Crosshair, right?”

I huff, turning away, settling back against the wall, one hand falling to the picture, fingers tracing over the cool edges. Everything is cold, especially me. I’m still freezing inside out. I shake my head a little, hearing, but not really accepting. I can’t believe that. “I can’t believe he would do something like that.”

“I know,” Omega whispers, “But he did.”

A quiet sound cuts us off, and we both freeze.

“Wrecker,” I realize, pushing myself up. He’s awake. And… I think he’s crying. I didn’t even know Wrecker could cry.  Sure, I’ve seen him get emotional, but it was never anything like this.  I thought I was practically the only weirdo who did .

I glance at Omega before leaning over, awkwardly half jumping, half climbing onto his rack next to him. Wrecker catches me, pulling me on. “Hey, kid,” he says, voice rough and shaky.

“It’s okay,” I tell him, swinging onto his chest and sprawling out on top of him. I’m light, and I know he won’t care, because he’s never bothered by any of the weird things I do.

Omega tries to join us, and I reach out, taking Lula from her and grabbing her hand to pull her on. We end up mutually piling half on top of him, Lula in between us, our hands still interlinked. Wrecker doesn’t say what’s wrong, and I don’t ask. We all know, anyway. If it’s not Crosshair, then it’s Bracca, and we all have nightmares about Bracca.

I wonder if Hunter ever has nightmares about Wrecker snapping his neck. I think about it all the time.

Wrecker’s arm is around me, keeping me close and from falling off – that’d be a long drop – and I tense a bit, expecting him to just fall asleep and it to get too tight. It takes forever for him to calm down and fall asleep, and even then, it’s restless.

His grip doesn’t get tighter.

This isn’t what’s supposed to happen. He’s  supposed  to nearly squash me, and Crosshair laughs until he cries, and I threaten to wage eternal pillow war on him.

But Crosshair’s gone, and that’s just a memory, like everything else.

That’s the first time I break down and cry after Kamino. I cry until I’m too tired too, and Omega squeezing my hand every now and then is all I have to know I’m not alone.

Not alone yet, anyway. How long will it be before someone else leaves me? Before I push someone else away?

***

I jump off Wrecker’s rack first thing in the morning. I wanted to know what would happen, okay? It was a good distraction from brooding. I keep Seeing Crosshair, and I can’t tell if my brain is trying to tell me something, or if it’s just showing me who I want most. Don’t care, either. I’m so tired of it.

We succeeded in the mission of rescuing Hunter, but no one points out we’re breaking tradition. I haven’t eaten since before Daro, and that’s been a couple days. I don’t have an appetite to.

Hunter’s working at one of the computers, or – oh, you know, he’s pretending to. All I see is a lot of staring, and he doesn’t look up until I thump to the floor, rolling to my feet with a shriek.

“You okay?” he asks, blinking himself back to present.

His eyes are red. Don’t tell me he’s been crying, too. I don’t think I can deal with that. Not Hunter. Not my dad.

Of all the things Crosshair did, I can forgive that the last. Wrecker is never depressed. He never cries. This is the first time. And if – if Hunter did…  He hurt all of us, and I don’t want to think about that right now. Or ever.

“Fine,” I assure, brushing myself off, “That was fun! Speaking of which, after you tumbled down a mountainside, are you okay? I never thought about asking. That is so rude. Did Tech check you over? I didn’t notice.”

“I’m fine, Vision,” he promises very insincerely.

“Really? Cuz that didn’t look fine. That looked painful. I mean. That was a mountain. I thought…”

“I know,” he says, touching my shoulder. “But we’re fine.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Not all of us.” I can’t read his expression, but the smokiness of his feel dims. “But anyway, I saw you limping, so I… I was just worried. Part of why I was worried.” My visions are more of a pain than anything else lately. I believed we’d get Crosshair back, but that wasn’t real. I spent so long afraid Hunter would die, and there was no truth to that.

“It’s just bruises,” he insists, “I didn’t fall straight. There were branches, and I hit the mountainside.”

I click my tongue. “You mean, a full body bruise? That sounds ouchie. Can I hug you? Is that safe?”

He leans forward first, which is weird, looping an arm around my waist and pulling me close. I don’t climb into his lap this time, even if I want to, not really sure how…sensitive he is right now. He could’ve been hurt in any one of a million different ways. Don’t wanna face any. I know he’s still human, still breakable, but he’s  Hunter , and he still seems… strong. I’m wondering more and more how much of that is an illusion he’s trying to hold over us.

We can’t be a squad if we can’t trust each other,  I want to tell him, but I have the same problem. I can’t even trust myself. I only… believe in me because they do.

I step back, one hand lingering on his chest plate and the other on his arm, and when we actually look at each other, it feels like a million things are said between us that I don’t even know. I know how lost he feels. He understands that for me. We still have each other, and for as long as we do, we don’t need to be afraid. I still trust him, even if I can’t help wondering how long it will be before there’s something  else  he can’t control.

He can’t control everything. Can’t control anything, actually, even if there was once a time I believed he could.

The others are coming in to join, and I step back, turning to stand beside him.

“I’ve been thinking,” Hunter says, and we all turn to look at him. And, oh, are we all going to ignore that I interrupted his breakdown? Really, people? “We need to stay off the Empire’s radar. I’ll have to tell Cid the next time she calls us.”

“If people need our help, we can’t turn our backs on them,” Echo objects.

“My priority is protecting all of you,” Hunter tells him firmly, with a certainty I know he doesn’t feel. “And right now, that means laying low.”

“He’s right, Echo,” I chime in, stepping forward, “I know how you feel. I want to rip apart everyone who made the Empire, who destroyed our family. All of us. But that will take us to a place  we cannot go .”

“Kid’s got a point,” Wrecker agrees softly.

“Yes,” Tech says, “I am inclined to agree. I am aware you believe fighting is still your responsibility, Echo, but we cannot endanger ourselves in a fight we cannot win.”

Echo crosses his arms, and he doesn’t look happy, but he doesn’t argue.

On the positive side, the conversation’s said and done without any of the unwanted mentions.

I think I need to thank Tech for that, though. Really. For once, he agreed with me. And I have to talk to Echo. And not screw it up. Tech first, probably.

“Thanks,” I tell him when Echo’s retreated to the back. “I think this is the first time we agreed on  anything .”

“That is not fully true, though I can understand your reasoning.”

I snort. “Oh, yeah. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I know I… what… what he means to you. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“I am aware you were angry and did not fully mean everything you were saying.”

I nod, not really looking at him, though Tech rarely looks at people when he talks, either. “I’m sorry. Really – I know this was partly my doing.” He’s watching me, waiting, and I keep talking. “I could’ve… could’ve… Something. This didn’t have to go so far. I know you’re angry at me, and I don’t know why, but I wish… I could fix this.”

“I… would not say that I –”

“Please, don’t,” I request, “I know you are. I know I screwed up. I always screw up. I just… I don’t understand you half the time.  Most  of the time. It feels like  we’re  living on completely different…  planes of existence?” I shake my head, looking away, scrambling to get my thoughts in order.  “ I know you care. I just…  I  can’t see it. You’re different. You’re … ”  Just weird , I want to say, but that sounds mean, and I think that would make this worse.

“I may process moments and thoughts differently, but… it does not mean that I feel any less than you.”

I nod, biting my lip. “I still don’t understand how it’s… how it is.  I just. I don’t wanna lose you. I told Crosshair that once, and it didn’t … ”  I press my forehead to his armor, squeezing my eyes shut. I know it’s more intimate than we normally are, than we  ever are, but I just need to get this said. “Didn’t matter,” I whisper shakily. I don’t want to linger, because this is Tech and he’s never going to say it if I’m making him uncomfortable.

“I understand your concern,” Tech says finally, hand on my shoulder. His grip is tight, firm, and I can’t help wondering if he’s afraid of losing me, too. “But I am not him.”

I blink at the tears in my eyes, but it’s fruitless. “Thank you,” I tell him instead. “I’m gonna go talk to Echo.”

“That would be wise,” he agrees.

I step back, swiping my eyes and giving him a not-quite smile before taking off to where Echo disappeared to.

There are so many things I want to ask about Crosshair, if he cared, how Hunter could have promised he’d do anything for me, when he did… all this. But Tech isn’t the one I feel comfortable talking to about it. Echo never grew up with Crosshair, and I’m fairly certain Wrecker would just cry again if I asked him. I’ll have to talk to Hunter so add that to the list of What I Do Not Want To Do.

“It never stops hurting, does it?” I ask after standing there, watching him for what must be a full five minutes.

“What?” he asks, turning to look at me.

“That they’re gone. Your squad. Your brothers. It’s never going to stop hurting, will it?”

Echo sighs, sitting back a bit, and I perch myself on the crate next to him. “No, it doesn’t.”

He had nightmares about… his past almost every night after he joined. It was awful. Calming him down was awful. Trying to ground him was hard when he’d just zone out was so hard. (Crosshair would occasionally, too. I heard him jerk awake sometimes in the night, breathing uneven, but he never moved to get up. Felt it sometimes, too. Laid by him. Scooted closer to touch him. Omega and I have the wild guess it has to do with Wrecker being blown up .)

“I guess we all have nightmares now,” I supply, leaning my head on his arm and closing my eyes. I’ll dream about Kamino forever. About Crosshair even beyond.

“That doesn’t mean it can stop us from fighting,” Echo says.

“That’s why you wanna fight,” I object, “But it’s gonna hurt all of us. Echo, they died, so you could live. Please don’t waste that. I can’t lose anyone else.” I might want to hurt them, but I’m not ready yet. Right now, I don’t even want to wake up breathing. Forget about having the energy to fight. Whenever I close my eyes, I see images of Kamino burning and Hunter falling. I can’t… do that again.

Echo touches my forearm. “I go where I’m needed,” he replies, “But this is where I am now.”

I nod, and I don’t believe him, but he said it, and I have to hold onto that for now.

When I sleep, I dream of Crosshair.

Chapter Text

“You’re still their brother, Crosshair. You’re our brother, too.”

“We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn’t mean we have to be enemies.”

“We still would have taken ya.”

“It is his nature. You cannot change that.  He  cannot change that.”

“You still belong here, even if you don’t remember.”

Echo and Tech are the only two who didn’t outright ask him back. It doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter.

Leaving was hard. Staying here is hard. He hates that he hates himself for doing that to them. For hurting them. They were supposed to stay with him. They were never supposed to leave each other.

He remembers a time when they were young, that they did… everything for him.

Crosshair doesn’t know  what changed . It wasn’t him. It  wasn’t . He’s never been different than he is now. Sure, maybe he’s a bit… lonelier and angrier now, but that’s because they  left him .

How  is he not good enough for them? He was. Used to be. He can’t understand how that changed the minute they picked up Omega. From – oh, he doesn’t even know, but he’s still angry. Still hurt.

Echo didn’t ask him back. Crosshair had wanted him. He wanted all of them. He did – he helped Echo. Tried to, even if it was hard, even if it hurt. Even if it was hard. He never gave up, because he thought Echo wanted him, that he… mattered to him. Doesn’t know why he thought that. Echo didn’t even  look back .

Vision is – everything about her is complicated.

“You don’t care about me  that  much.”

“I would rather die fighting for who I love, than live fighting for something I don’t believe in.”

“You know, the only thing that has ever made you special is being their brother. Without us, you are nothing.”

“We make each other. We always  have !”

“I don’t care about the – any of this. I just want my family back.”

“I know what it’s like to be alone.”

“We – we miss you. We want you. We can still make this right.”

She cared. She did. Once. A long time ago. He’s slept every night on Kamino with the hearts she engraved into his bunk over him, and it hurts to see them. It always hurts – a perpetual reminder of what he had and lost. Of  who  he had and lost. She walked away from him, like everyone else. He cared about her. He hadn’t wanted her, but she was there, and Crosshair accepted it. Accepted her, even if he was wary about it. He didn’t understand her, but she was… their sister, and it was new and different, but she meant…

She meant a lot to him. He can’t even say what.

“Why did you save me ” she had said, as if there was even a reason. As if there had to be. He might be angry at her. That doesn’t mean he wants to see her die.

She drove him crazy, and she looked at him like he meant the world to her, and he doesn’t want her gone. He wanted  that.  (Crosshair thinks he looked at Hunter like that, too, sometimes. Because it was true. He did. He still does.)   But  she left  and he’s still angry at her for that, too, even if there  was  no way for her to stay with them, anyway. She’s not ready. She’s not – what they need. What they have. And she betrayed him, too.

Omega – that’s so complicated, he doesn’t even want to think about it, but he can’t stop. She was so gentle. So kind. Vision cared about her. And then, she was gone, too. She said she cared about him, but she didn’t try to  help . She didn’t try to stay.

Wrecker might’ve been… annoying and sometimes infuriatingly stupid but Crosshair can’t believe he just  left . Probably, he should, because Wrecker will always do what Hunter tells him, but it feels like… he should have mattered more than that. They used to do  everything  together. It drove Hunter crazy sometimes, the way they shadowed each other and – and  everything .

( You shot him. What did you expect? That he’d welcome you back? That he could look you in the eyes again?  Crosshair opts to ignore that voice entirely – it sounds like Vision even if she never said any of that – but he has nothing to do here. He has nothing but his own mind and the chorus of voices in his head.)

Tech had… Tech has always been gentle with him, but that’s just what he is. There’s a difference between that and loyalty, apparently.

He doesn’t understand why he didn’t deserve it. How they could just…

“Understanding you does not mean that I agree with you.”

Tech looked out for them, too. Certainly not the way Hunter did, but he always  knew things , and  how could he not have known this?  How could he not have tried?  Why  didn’t he try?

Hunter was supposed to  take care of them . Why  didn’t  he? He always listened. Used to listen. Everything changed after Kaller, and  it never used to be like that . They’re not supposed to be at odds with each other. They – Hunter always made it obvious. He never hid. He never… lied to them.

They don’t hide things from each other, until Hunter did the –  all that , and Crosshair can’t understand how it changed. Why it changed. He told them to come back. That’s what… they were supposed to do. They were supposed to do everything together, always, to…

Vision can say a “ we miss you ” as much as she wants, but it wasn’t enough for them to care to stay.

He’s not going to leave everything they fought for just because  they want him to . He’s not a coward. He’s not  going to run  because something makes him a bit uncomfortable.

“You know what you should work on? Explaining when you went soft!”

They meant something – everything – to him and it’s still hard to wrap his mind around the fact that they just… left. Because of some spontaneous sense of – of – he doesn’t know, or care, but he’s just  angry .

Hunter has always been there for him. He always took care of him, always – he was always there. He was  always there when Crosshair needed him.  He never left. He never –  they don’t do that . They’re not like the regs. They’ve always been there with each other, so  why …

(He still remembers the raw, gutted look on Hunter’s face. He still wants to punch him for it, because he  doesn’t get to be like that,  but he feels awful for it, too, because Hunter  never  loses composure and Crosshair hasn’t seen him so close to tears since they were seven. That was two years ago.)

He still dreams of Bracca. Of the explosion close enough it could’ve killed him.  They  nearly killed him. And they just…. left.

Him.

Everything.

He’s never been afraid of anything more than being alone. It isn’t even something Crosshair  thought  he had to be afraid  of  until it happened, but here he is.

(The “ we still would have taken ya ” is still vibrating around in his mind, and he wonders what they would have said if – if he had. What they would have done. Where he’d be now. What… they’d be like. Then he remembers the “You’re not really part of it, anyway, maybe you never have been”, and he doesn’t. “ She’s just angry ” Omega had said. “ You still belong here ,” Vision had promised him. He doesn’t know what to believe.)

In the end, it  really  doesn’t matter.

His family is gone, and he’s left here, alone.

“Without us, you are nothing.”

Maybe that’s all he’s ever been.

They couldn’t have – left him for nothing.

Chapter Text

I don’t know whose ingenious idea it was to sell AZI to Cid. Hunter’s, I think. “We need the credits,” he had said, “If we’re leaving fighting behind us, we need to change our armor.”

I don’t fight it when he says it. I should have. I’m angry. I shouldn’t be, because Hunter’s right, and we need to survive, and it’s not his fault we hardly have enough to get by. It’s not his fault we’re in this situation, and we really don’t need AZI, but I’m still angry.

Maybe if he’d done something a little different, too, Crosshair would still be here. Maybe he messed it up, too. Maybe I wasn’t the only one.

That’s not fair though. This wasn’t Hunter’s fault.

I punch the wall hard enough my knuckles turn red and are swollen and sore enough I can hardly unclench my hand. Omega must’ve seen, because she grabs my hand and drags me around after her the rest of the day.

***

I can admit I like painting. It’s something to do, and the boys offer to until someone gets the point it’s one of the only things I’m able to do. Focusing on anything is so hard, and I’m so tired. I can’t stop seeing Crosshair in my dreams. I wish I could.

I paint their armor, one piece at a time. I do it when there’s nothing else to do. At night when I can’t sleep. It’s hard to eat, too. Hunter still gives me my rations, and I take to sneaking them back into our stash pile when no one’s looking. I think he notices, because Hunter keeps looking at me, expression tight and worried. I can’t look him in the eye anymore. I thought he could do anything, and I was wrong.

I remember before when we talked about our armor before. I remember it like yesterday.

I’d asked Crosshair what in the galaxy the thingies hanging by his bunk were, and he’d told me they were armor sketches.

“Is your favorite color red?” I ask, staring.

“No!” he snarls disgustedly, “It’s Hunter’s!”

“Then why’s it on your bunk?”

“To embarrass him for eternity.”

Yeah. That’s the Crosshair I remember. The annoying one. The one who wanted Hunter around to annoy him to death. Not the one that tried to slit his throat when no one was looking.

I’d wanted my armor dark gray like Hunter’s.

Echo had cut in, saying he wanted his darker than Crosshair’s, which I thought fit.

“Omega would have white,” I had told them without a second thought. Hers would look a lot like Tech’s in color.

Now, I guess we’ll never know.

***

The dreams about Crosshair still aren’t stopping. I think it’s been about a week by now. I don’t know – I’ve lost track of time. The days sort of blur together, with me hardly having any energy to drag from one through to the next. Every time I see Crosshair, he’s still on Kamino. It’s been a week. I know what it means. Could mean. The Empire never did bother coming back, did they? Or am I just seeing the past? I don’t think so, though. It has the same feel all my visions have.

How long is he going to be there?

Maybe that’s half of why I can’t make myself eat. I don’t know when he’ll – he’s out there, alone, and that was…

I can’t stop thinking about it, though. I don’t even want to suggest going back. No one talks about him, but I know no one’s thought about anything else since Kamino. I’m terrified at the thought of seeing him again, but I can’t just – we need him. Crosshair might be stupid and stubborn, but he’d know if he messed up. Maybe he’d realize he made a mistake and come back. I can’t accept he’ll be gone forever. He wouldn’t do that. He’s still our brother. He still means everything to us. And I – I need to know if he’ll be okay.

I feel oddly self-conscious and nervous about it as I slip up front into the cockpit where Tech is. “Hey,” I say, sliding into the seat beside him.

Tech glances at me, but doesn’t say anything, entirely lost on his datapad.

He doesn’t ask, so I just jump right into it. “So, theoretically, how long could someone survive without eating?”

Tech pauses, adjusting his goggles and turns to look at me. “What is you are asking for?” he queries. “Are you –”

“I’m okay!” I interject sharply, “I’m not going to die. I think. But I keep having these… dreams.”

“What are you Seeing?” he asks instead. He sounds… a little rougher than normal. Worried, maybe. I don’t know.

“It’s not about us.” I close my eyes, sighing. I haven’t said his name in a few days. It feels like forever. “It’s – it’s about Crosshair. I’m worried about him. He’s out there, alone. We have no idea… if he’ll be hurt. If he dies, we wouldn’t even know.”

“That is not our concern any longer,” Tech says bluntly.

I jerk forwards, inhaling sharply. “How can you say that?!” I demand. “He’s still –”

“He made his choice, Vision,” Tech says, a thinly veiled pain in his voice. “And he did not choose us.” It’s a blatant echo of what I said to Crosshair back on Kamino. Maybe he listens to me more than I thought. Somehow, that makes it hurt even worse. Tech grew up with Crosshair, no matter how weird he is about emotions. I can’t even imagine what this is doing to him. It couldn’t be much better, I imagine, than if ‘mega just ditched me.

The knife in my heart twists deeper. “I thought being family always meant we choose each other.”

“Not necessarily. The needs of separate individuals are not identical, and neither are their choices or beliefs.”

I shake my head. “But – but ‘mega and I always choose each other. I thought the same was true for all of you.”

“Yes,” Tech agrees, “I did as well.”

I bite my lip a tear dripping down my cheek. I don’t have the sense of mind to care that I’m crying in front of Tech. “I thought he was our brother, that he cared, that… I thought he would miss us, thought he would… care.” About me, about all of us, and I can’t help thinking that maybe I shouldn’t have been so nasty to him, and he wouldn’t have left us. “That he’d try to come home.”

I hate myself for that as fiercely as I do shooting at Omega.

“Perhaps the person you are searching for never existed.”

The seat squeaks when I swivel around and run from the room.

Tech doesn’t even make an effort to stop me.

***

Cid ships us off on another mission, and I’m too tired to even make it off the gunner’s mount. Tech tries to coax me out of the gunner’s mount, as does Omega and even Wrecker, until Hunter finally steps in and squeezes my hand and tells them to let me stay behind before they leave.

I’ve never truly been alone until then. Gonky’s there, lingering loyally and beeping, but this is the first time I’ve truly been alone.

I cry until my eyes are sore and burning and itchy and then some more.

I wish I’d gone with them, even if I didn’t have the energy to peel myself off the floor.

I wonder if Crosshair feels the same way.

***

If Crosshair’s going to just ditch us, fine. Doesn’t mean I can’t still make his life hell. It’s not fair for me to be mad at Hunter, but I kind of am – I thought he could fix this, and I’ve always known he can’t always control everything, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.

I hate myself for being the slightest bit upset at him, because I know he did everything he could, and he was so much nicer about everything than I ever could’ve been, but it still… I don’t know. I guess I just thought he could… fix this, but Hunter can’t solve everything. It’s not his fault.

It really, really isn’t. I hate I even have to tell myself that. There’s not anyone I’m not angry at, but that’s the one that hurts the worst.

I tiptoe into the back of Cid’s parlor while the others are distracted. I’ve been so quiet lately, I doubt anyone would notice – well, Hunter probably would, because he can feel me, and Omega might, because she always knows those things, but…

“Hey,” I say, gripping the edge of her desk and pulling myself up a bit. “Can you do me a favor?”

“What is it, Snippy?” she asks, looking up.

“Shh!” I hiss, “I don’t want my brothers to hear I need a tiny bit of green paint. Preferably neon green. It’ll annoy Hunter,” I whisper conspiratorially when she doesn’t reply.

Cid laughs. “How much you asking?”

I shrug. “Enough to paint a helmet. And somewhere to hide it while it dries. I’m going to murder my brother’s armor. Y’know. The one you haven’t seen yet. He ditched us, and I threatened to paint his stuff green a long time ago, and since he’s not here to stop me, well, why not?”

Cid laughs. Actually laughs. I can’t help grinning a little myself. “Deal.”

And that was how Crosshair’s helmet got painted neon green and the same horrific shade of orange Omega picked out for our brothers. He deserves to have a giant mad face on his helmet, okay? Really. I giggle every time I imagine seeing his very annoyed expression. Probably the first time I laughed since before Daro.

***

Wrecker still wakes up every night crying. I hear it, because I can’t sleep myself. Omega and I climb in with him all the time, as if our presences could actually help, until Omega starts sleeping through them.

Somehow, that makes it hurt even more. It hurts to have to leave her side and her warmth.

***

Once, when Wrecker wakes up, my presence isn’t enough to calm him. Hunter climbs wordlessly onto his rack, and Wrecker buries his face in Hunter’s neck, crying. I can’t help wondering if he’s dreaming of Bracca, of when he nearly killed Hunter. I don’t ask. I never do.

***

Echo still dreams, too. He always dreams. He has from when he first joined us, though back then, I was usually tired enough to sleep right through his nightmares every time. Echo is always very quiet about it, but I still hear it when he gets up and paces the length of the snip. Despite his mechanical legs and all, he’s quiet. Agile.

He’s been growing darker. More restless. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen him like that, but I think it’s the first time I push myself out of our bed and approach him.

“I thought you were sleeping,” Echo tells me in a hushed voice.

“Yeah, me too,” I say, fidgeting. I don’t even know what I’m doing, except I don’t want him to be alone.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

I shrug again, avoiding his eyes. “Can’t sleep.”

“Dreams?” Echo guesses, and I tentatively nod.

“Is it alright if I ask?” he inquires.

I’ve thought about telling them about Crosshair so many times. I just don’t know how to even go about it. “I just can’t stop thinking about Kamino,” I confess, “What they did. What we lost.”

“We didn’t lose everything on Kamino,” Echo objects, “We lost it when the Empire formed.”

He has a point. “I could have changed it. I could have fixed this.”

“Vision, you’re six,” Echo tells me firmly, “It doesn’t matter what you have or haven’t Seen. You can’t change everything.”

“But I can try. I’m supposed to try. I’m supposed to know.”

“You couldn’t have known what the Empire would do to Kamino.”

“Even though I saw it every night for weeks.” I turn away, sighing. I should have known. I saw Hunter falling. I could have stopped that, too.

“I don’t know much about visions,” Echo admits, “But… the general always said they were warnings of a future. I don’t know if that means you could change them.”

“Then what’s the point?!”

“I don’t know,” Echo replies, “But the general knew about it. It was never something he talked about, though.”

“Well, that doesn’t really help me.” Me? Really? Is that all I’m capable of thinking about? This was never about me. “I’m sorry,” I say, shuffling back, “This wasn’t – I – I know it doesn’t get better. It never will.” I wish I could stop feeling it so much. That I could get the break I need or want or whatever. That I could stop hurting all the time.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Echo replies, “But it hasn’t. I keep thinking maybe today will be the day I figure it out and I feel like I’m at home, but truth is, I never have. Doubt I ever will. Our brothers across the galaxy need help. I don’t know if I can just leave them.”

“We need you, too,” I argue, “We always have. You belong here. You’re one of us. I’ve always. The only thing I and any of us have ever cared about is keeping our family together.”

“Sometimes, we have to go whatever our heart leads us, even if it’s hard.”

I don’t really understand what he means by that. (Somehow, I know there will be someday I will, and it’s something that will shape our lives forever.)

***

I can’t stop remembering everything I said to Crosshair. I was so – awful to him. I don’t know what was wrong with me. I didn’t have to hurt him so much. I saw the hurt in his eyes more times than I could count, and I didn’t care. I didn’t stop or try to make it better, even when Omega told me to. I should have.

If – if he came back, if he – I could try to make it better. I still remember the feel of his hand on my head, and I can still feel it sometimes when I lay down. I can still remember the warmth of lying next to him, the not-so-pleasant smell of our barracks and the dimness of the room.

I want to go home.

Be nice if I had a home to go back to.

Crosshair does.

I am home. I don’t have a right to feel like I’m not.

(Echo had said the same thing, though.)

***

It’s another night I wake up – it’s happened every night, over two weeks now – after dreaming. Something’s wrong, though Omega and Wrecker are still sleeping soundly right now. Echo and Tech are asleep, too. I slowly climb down the ladder, tiptoeing past them up front. We’re in space after a mission now, much like that time right after Bracca, and Hunter’s up front.

He’s awake, of course, staring out the viewport, breathing uneven. The smokiness of his presence is burning, dark, clenched with something dark. He’s dreaming, too, isn’t he? Of course, he is. I’ve never noticed that on Hunter before, and it comes back with an overwhelming flare of guilt. He’s not that old, either. We – we need someone else. I hate feeling like that, but it’s just the truth. We need someone who can help Hunter, because if – if he doesn’t have anyone, if he can’t stay stable, grounded, we’re not going to have anything to take care of us.

Hunter’s head turns my way a little, and I know he’s watching me.

“Did he ever care?” I ask quietly, leaning my head against Hunter’s arm. “Did we even… matter?” Did he leave because of me? Was I too much for him? On him? Was it me who tore our family apart?

Hunter sighs. Doesn’t even have to ask what I’m talking about. “I don’t know,” is all he says, but it sounds desperate and hurt enough that my heart just shatters further. Hunter’s hand strokes lightly through my hair. It’s so gentle. Familiar. I’ve missed him.

Haven’t really spent time with him since Daro. Or… any of them, actually. That was the last time I was really with Wrecker and Omega anywhere. I should… try to fix that. I climb into Hunter’s lap, and he holds me until I fall asleep.

***

When I wake up, I’m still curled up in Hunter’s lap, wrapped in his arms, and I feel more awake and alert than I have in a long time. I’d forgotten Hunter could have that effect on me. He’s so gentle. Soothing. He’s… everything I need.

I… feel better that day. Somehow. More vibrant. More me.

I eat more than a few bites for the first time, and finally, everyone’s not looking at me like I’m something breakable.

***

I’ve heard Tech dream before. Didn’t brace me for when I see him wake up – I wasn’t sleeping, as I often don’t. I’m half dozing on and out, clinging to the picture I took of our brothers so long ago when I see him wake.

It’s not the brief waking and falling asleep again.

It’s the kind where I See the air around him get charged and staticky, the kind where I know someone hurt him. I know what that looks like. It’s fear.

And I still cannot imagine Tech being afraid of anything.

C’mon. Just because he’s scary doesn’t mean he can’t be scared.

Omega, actually, beats me too it, clamoring over me and sliding down the ladder. I scramble after, and we skid to a stop beside him. Omega’s surprisingly more hesitant about it than I am.

I don’t think it’s ever sunk in exactly how young Tech is. He’s nine. That’s – Omega’s twelve right now. She’s not that old.

“Hey,” I whisper finally, grabbing his hand.

“Vision,” Tech replies, blinking at me. “Is something –”

“We’re fine,” I assure, “I thought you were dreaming.”

He sighs. He sounds tired. “I am fine.”

“Mm-hm.” I climb onto the chair into his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck, chin resting on his head. I didn’t realize his hair was so curly. Never seen it up close. I hug him tightly, pressing my cheek to his hair. He feels more frozenly awkward than anything else, and finally awkwardly pats my back.

I giggle, squeezing him tighter. Not letting go anytime soon.

***

This time, when I wake, Omega’s already up, and she pulls me into a tight embrace before I can try running off. I cling to her, sighing and burying my face in her shoulder, struggling to stay calm. I’m so, so tired of seeing Crosshair in my dreams. I miss him, but I don’t want to be haunted by him.

I curl up around her, head on her shoulder, arm looped around her middle, trying to ignore how it feels like I’m getting… big for this. We used to do it all the time when we were little.

Even if I’m bigger than her, that doesn’t mean we have to stop.

***

Hunter never talks about what happened after he fell from the mountain. Sometimes, I wonder. Sometimes, I worry. I don’t know what happened when he was in custody. I don’t know if – if Crosshair hurt him, or if he just talked to him, but looking back, he’s just not the same. He isn’t the same as the brother who fell there. He’s so much quieter. So much more… broken. There’s no way to know that he didn’t hurt him physically, too, even if I don’t want to think about it.  It isn’t like Hunter let Tech scan him.

Either way, I guess it doesn’t really matter. Crosshair broke all of us irreparably, and there’s no getting back what we once were.

***

Echo and Tech will not stop arguing. They’re driving me insane. They acted like this right after we lost Crosshair in the first place. I hate it when my siblings fight, and now… I just want to sleep. I want everything to stop. I want Crosshair to stop being an idiotic moron and just get back here. Honestly. Can’t be that difficult. They deal with grief by arguing, but it just hurts everyone else more.

I’ve never seen them jump higher than when I yell at them both to shut up.

I still feel bad.

***

Wrecker’s dreams aren’t stopping. It feels like nothing is stopping. Nothing’s changing. We’re not getting better, and I’m so tired of it. I asked Echo once if loss gets better, and he told me it didn’t.

I wish I could stop seeing Crosshair in my dreams, stop hearing his voice. I want to scream until my throat is raw and I can’t scream anymore, but in the end, all I can do is bury my face into Lula and cry, remembering how I heard Crosshair made her. He was trying to help Wrecker, and I can’t believe that brother is entirely gone. I can’t.

***

Maybe I’m just lost in myself, but I think something’s different about Omega, too. She seems darker, more withdrawn. I haven’t heard her and Wrecker laugh in weeks. It’s been – a very, very long time. I feel so empty. So dead inside.

Omega is different now. I can’t deny it.

I hate it.

She’s so dark. She doesn’t stick beside me all the time anymore. Sometimes, she’ll sit by me for hours as I painstakingly paint every inch of whatever armor piece it is I’m working on, and sometimes, she’ll just get up without a word and go. I don’t react, don’t ask about it, because that’s selfish and Omega has better things to do with herself than worry about me.

All of them do.

***

The first actual nice thing in a good long while is when we go to a snow planet somewhere. I’ve never seen snow before, and it’s beautiful. It’s so soft and cold.  I jump head-first into a snowdrift, giggling, and Omega jumps after.

Hunter digs us both out, less than impressed. I laugh at him until I realize he’s genuinely worried. He insists it can be dangerous, though I don’t get how. In the meantime, well, Wrecker somehow got stuck to Echo’s scomp.

I laugh at him until I cry, too.

***

Omega is the one who wakes me up this time. I See her golden-soft petals curl inwards at the edges, rippling and darkening. It looks like something dying. Like she’s dying. The light in her, anyway.

“’mega?” I whisper, shaking her shoulder. She’s dreaming again. At least I think she is.

Her eyes fly open, and she lashes out, fist slamming into my jaw.

I fall back with a squeak, hitting the floor awkwardly.

She gasps softly, and I scoot back, a swell of alarm morphing across her soft features. “Viz!” she gasps, even if her eyes are wet with tears. “I’m sorry, I thought –”

“Don’t,” I snap back, tears suddenly burning my own eyes, rubbing my jaw. It’s still stinging. I don’t even know why I’m so angry. “You just punched your sister in the face. Nicely done. First time that’s happened.”

“I – I’m sorry,” she fumbles, hands clasped together tightly.

“It’s okay,” I promise, desperate not to see her cry again, no matter how much it hurts. She doesn’t deserve to face my rage. I made that mistake with her before, and with Crosshair. “It’s not a big deal. You okay?”

“I – I’m fine,” she insists, settling down again.

“Guess that’s what I get for trynna kill ya’,” I mutter. She could’ve killed me, too, and I – I wouldn’t miss it.

“Vision,” she whispers, eyes wide, voice shaky.

I sigh. Squeeze my eyes shut and drag a hand over my face. “It’s fine. I mean it.”

“I – okay.” Omega doesn’t believe me. She’d be stupid to, and my sister isn’t stupid. She knows full well I’m lying. I know it, too, but I’ve hurt her enough. Don’t need to again.

She doesn’t fall asleep again though, and neither do I. I can’t I’ve hardly slept in… forever. I’d do anything to just close my eyes for a little while, to get to breathe, but I can’t, and nothing’s changing. It’s not stopping. The dreams aren’t stopping, and I spend almost the entire time lying there, wondering if I should finally just tell her about it.

I don’t.

***

Echo is restless. I think he’s angry, and I just hope it’s not at me. I wish he’d take it out on me instead of Hunter, though. Or even Tech. Well, they haven’t argued since I yelled at them, but still.

I know Hunter isn’t in the mental state to carry on with someone constantly questioning his every move. I know Echo doesn’t mean to make things hard for him, but he still does. And is. I know he wants to fight, but hearing about it just makes me angry. I think Echo’s let it drop for a while again, but…

I know this isn’t what he wants, and it hurts.

We’re supposed to do whatever Echo wants. We’re supposed to keep him here, and I’m so, so afraid of another one of us leaving. Crosshair walked away, and I can’t survive without someone else. We need each other. I still can’t believe he did that to us.

***

Sometimes, I’ll stare blankly at the wall for hours. I don’t mean to zone out all the time, but it happens all the time.

I’m so worn out, exhaustion nagging at every inch of my body, but I can’t sleep. I’ve trained myself to wake whenever I start seeing Crosshair. There’s never anything more to see, anyway, except the distant crashing of ocean waves and rain and I don’t want to think about Kamino anymore. I just want to live. Why does that have to be too much to ask?

I remember how it felt to sleep next to Hunter that once, and I’m a little wary about asking him for it again, but I curl up next to him when he finally lays down. Hunter doesn’t ask me about it. He just wraps an arm around my middle, holding me tightly against him.

I toss and turn a bit in the night, but when I awaken from the dream, I doze off again almost instantly, still nestled in Hunter’s embrace. If he’s here, that means I’m safe. It means we’re fine. We’ll survive. (This can’t be called living. I never will be alive again.)

Chapter Text

I’m nearly caught painting Crosshair’s helmet. I finally manage to finish the final touches, and I’ve been hiding it in Cid’s parlor under her desk. I have no idea how we’ve managed to hide it for so many weeks, but somehow, I have, and I’m not about to blow cover yet.

I want Crosshair to be the first to see it, which is stupid, because I doubt he ever will.

I think I blabbered over Tech and Omega’s attempted questions, and Hunter and Wrecker are luckily considerate enough not to press. I think they knew something’s up, but at least I’m talking, so they let it slide.

Sneaking it back to the Marauder is another different case of ugh, but I’m not leaving it out here any longer. Now, I need to figure out what in the galaxy I’m doing with the rest of his armor.

We can repaint it properly, but we won’t have to worry about that yet. Or for quite a while. The amount of time I spend wondering what Crosshair’s reaction would be is almost insane, though.

***

I want everything to stop hurting.

I want to stop feeling like I’m losing it.

I just want Crosshair back.

How hard could it be for him to accept that he made a mistake? I told him that. I tried. We all did – we tried telling him it didn’t matter if he made a mistake, because we were still… there. Wrecker told him that. So did Omega. Even Hunter tried. What more could he have wanted from us? How couldn’t he have figured that out by now?

Like. I get contacting us would be awkward, but why? Why couldn’t he come home? Why hasn’t he wouldn’t he even try? He’s our brother. I know him. He might be stubborn to death, but he still knows when he’s wrong. We’re soldiers. We can’t afford to be stubborn and get ourselves killed.

He saved my life. He pulled me out of the ocean when he didn’t have to. He could have left me in there. Could’ve left me to die. Or even for a minute until Hunter was ready to take me, but he did it himself, and I don’t know what to make of that.

He – he’ll realize he made a mistake and come back, right? Can’t be that hard. Can’t be that long… I can’t believe my vision of us together was really nothing. They’ve never been wrong before.

***

I’ve seen how depressed Hunter is. He’s uncertain in himself, and it’s – it scares me. He shouldn’t be. He’s our leader. He’s not supposed to feel like that. I trust him, but if he doesn’t trust himself, it’s… hard. He’s not supposed to struggle. If he needs help, I wish he’d just ask. Wish he felt comfortable enough to. Wish he trusted me enough to, but I’m the idiot who made everything worse, so I have no right to complain. I’m the reason this happened. All of it.

***

Omega still dreams of Bracca. Of Kamino. Maybe both. I don’t know, but I try to be there whenever she needs me, but lately… it feels like she prefers to deal with it in silence. It drives me crazy. She shouldn’t feel like that. She’s important to all of us.

Or maybe it’s just me and that it’s impossible for anyone to be comfortable with me anymore. Not after what I did. Am. What-ever. Maybe I’m just too much like Crosshair.

It’s not like she’s the only one who dreams, though. We all do. Between that and stumbling and slipping up at random on missions. I don’t know why, but I let it slide, trying to cover for my brothers whenever I can. We all have our struggles. I don’t hold it against any one of them.

***

Stumbling around with a he’ll be back any day, right, he’s going to admit he screwed up he’ll come home that’s all there is for him ringing around in my head is driving me into rapid insanity.

I can’t stop wondering how he felt. I wish I’d actually talked to him, like Omega had asked me to. I want to go back and change everything. I want to know how he felt, what I could’ve said to make it better.

Even what I couldn’t’ve said to make it worse.

I’m terrified of being alone, though I never have been the same way he was. Someone hurt him. I can’t imagine what it was like without us – I know how hard it is to survive. I’ve seen how the regs treated them. They wouldn’t have been any kinder to Crosshair just because he was alone. I want to help him. I don’t want to have to never see him again while knowing that he was hurt when he left us. I – I don’t want him to have been hurt. I want him to accept us. I just don’t… want it to feel like this.

I don’t want him to be out there, alone and hurt and lost and totally insane.

Why am I even thinking about this?

Of course, I’ll see him again. I Saw it. My visions aren’t wrong. (What if they were, what if –)

***

“Come on!” I whine, slamming my hand on the ‘fresher door. “How long have you already been in there?!”

“Most of my limbs are metal, Vision,” Echo calls back, dryly.

“It’s already been a hundred thousand hours!”

“That is impossible,” Tech announces, “Seeing as that is approximately how long he has been alive.”

“WHAT?” I screech.

“That is over eleven years,” Tech informs me.

“Ugh, whatever! I really don’t care if Echo spent his entire life in the ‘fresher or not. I sort of just. Need it like. Right now!”

I distinctly hear Echo laughing at me.

Meanie.

***

For some reason, this time, when I dream, it’s… different. I have no idea how long it’s been since Kamino.

I see Crosshair, but he looks… different. Maybe a little older, and everything is so bright. I feel happy, at peace, and I can’t remember the last time I actually felt like that.

I push myself upright, climbing past Omega after grabbing the picture I still sleep beside and out of the gunner’s mount, sitting lightly on the seat that’s normally Hunter’s.

I turn the screen on, staring at the bright lighted image of our brothers standing together.

I still remember it when I took this. I remember how it was to be together. The only thing I’ve ever wanted was to be with them, and I know the same is true for all of us, so why…? How could Crosshair have done this to us? I remember this. He was happy. He certainly wasn’t discontented.

The only thing I hate worse than seeing him in my dreams is hearing his voice, his laughter, and I can still hear it in my head.

Doesn’t matter if I’ve only heard it a few times. I remember it vividly.

I haven’t looked at this since Kamino – I remember Crosshair’s armor by memory enough to picture it, so I didn’t need it to figure out how to repaint it. I’ve thought about it all the time, but until seeing it again, I haven’t wanted to take the time, no matter how much I thought about it.

A quiet sound beside me makes me freeze.

It’s Hunter. I can tell even without looking up in the same way I always can, and I sometimes wish I hadn’t. I’m supposed to See. I should’ve known when Crosshair started doubting, started struggling.

Hunter’s awake right now, and I’m guessing this was one of the times that he wasn’t able to sleep at all.

My hands tighten over the rim. “Hey,” I whisper, looking up.

He’s crying.

It’s quiet, but it’s there, and I can see it.

I feel sick.

I feel cold.

Everything feels cold.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, tears suddenly in my own eyes, “I didn’t know you were up.”

Hunter shuffles closer to me, lightly touching my shoulder, and I lean into it, not looking up. I don’t think he’d want me to watch. “I didn’t know you still had this,” he says finally. He sounds too even. Level. Not angry, just – calm. Not shaky like he ought to.

“Of course, I do,” I mutter, blinking a few times. “I know what it meant to all of us. What it meant to me. I remember that. I think about it all the time. I – I wanna know how long it’ll be before he finally figures it out. That he was wrong. How long it’ll be before he…”

Hunter sits down beside me. I briefly glance up at him – his eyes are still wet, but he’s way too quickly made himself calm. Temporarily forced, no doubt. I’ve been there before. “Vision,” he says softly.

I lift my head to meet his gaze, saying, wiping my eyes on my sleeve so I can see his face as the blue light throws a too-bright glow across his face. The wetness in his eyes reflects stronger.

“I know what you want to believe, Vision,” he says, voice rough. “But he’s not coming back.”

I think that’s when it finally sinks in. I’ve been living in denial all this time, because I can’t let it go. Because at the end of the day, Crosshair made his choice, and so did we. Just like Hunter had told him back on Kamino. He isn’t coming back. I’m not going to see him again. To tell myself anything else is a lie.

Everything I’ve been hanging onto is just… hope. And I don’t even know why, because it’s never gonna happen.

It’s gone. Everything’s gone.  I wanna go home, but we don’t even have that.

I look down at the picture again, inhaling shakily as the tears start spilling down my face.

“All I want is to see him again.”

“I know,” Hunter replies, soothingly, “Me too.”

The picture is blurred through my tears, but I can still see Crosshair’s face. That’s the last thing I see of it before I shut it off, this time for good.

I can’t keep lying to myself if I’m going to protect Omega, if we’re all going to survive. I will never be able to move on. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to accept it, but I know Hunter’s right. Crosshair made it obvious that he had no intention of even reconsidering. He knew what the Empire’s doing. He knows what him leaving would do to us, and he didn’t care.

Because to him, we’re expendable, and he’s the only one who isn’t.

I wish I could hate him, but all I can feel is a crushing, gutting pain. Maybe I just needed Hunter to give me permission to accept it, because suddenly, I feel so stupid. I should’ve known from the start. It was all so obvious that there was no going back. I’m so, so tired of seeing him. Everything I’ve tried to deal by doing was for nothing. There’s no way to deal. It was all a lie, me trying to delude myself with hope because I am absolutely the greatest idiot known to all of clone kind, except you know, maybe Crosshair.

I had a dream, and I based everything on that.

I can’t trust myself any more than Hunter can, and maybe he’s not all wrong for that if he really trusted me. You’d have to be crazy too.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me, if I’m irreparably brokenly defective or screwed up or just a – a something.

I thought I could get Crosshair back, that there was something to wait for, and I have no idea why. I was supposed to see –

I failed them. I should have known.

“I’m sorry I let you hope.” I draw my knees onto the chair edge, hugging the picture against my chest. Hunter’s hand is on my shoulder, warm and grounding, but I don’t look up. My shoulders are shaking from suppressed sobs.

I wanted to believe in him. I couldn’t let go, and I still can’t, but I know the truth as much as I know I’m living and don’t want to.

Crosshair’s gone.

He’s not coming back.

I don’t want to see him again. I don’t want to have to worry about him every moment of every day when I know he never worried about us. He was always about what we could be for him, not who he could be for us.

Maybe I shouldn’t ask anything of him, but that doesn’t make this right.

I don’t want to dream if all I’ll see is Crosshair. I don’t want to See anything. I’m tired of nightmares.

I can feel it as something changes inside me, growing cold and distant. I feel it as a bit of warmth fades away, even if I don’t know what it means. I don’t really care either. I just want to sleep.

***

I don’t dream. It’s the first night in what must be months by now. I don’t know how long it’s been.

I saw Hunter crying.

Crosshair isn’t coming back.

I’m still holding the picture, and I turn it over in my hands again. It feels wrong to hold. It’s a time long gone, just like Crosshair himself. There’s no reason to keep it around to haunt me. I move to the back, and I think there’s at least three pairs of eyes watching me as I move in search of Crosshair’s crate, still stashed in the storage hold. I flip the top open, gut clenching as I see his armor again. I’ll never get to see it on him again, not as if he deserves to wear it.

I want to say something, maybe a final goodbye. That I love him, that I miss him, I want to see him again… but all of that feels fake, and Crosshair never said the same to us. I slide the picture in wordlessly, letting it drop beside his helmet, and close it.

That leaves me feeling even emptier than I already do. I can’t continue like this, though. I can’t live when there’s nothing to live for.

Hunter’s the first one I see again, and I nod to him, moving up front. Nothing to see out the viewport that I haven’t seen a thousand times, though – we’re on Ord Mantell still.

“So,” I say instead, spinning around to look up at Hunter. I can’t See the smokiness I always do with my eyes closed, and I feel cold, but I don’t think about it. “What’re we eating this morning? Hopefully not each other?”

***

I check the calendar on Tech’s datapad that I stole when he didn’t need it – as if he ever really does. I count it once. Blink at it blankly and count it again.

It’s been thirty-two days since we came to Kamino. It’s the morning of the thirty-second now. No wonder it feels like a lifetime. It’s been almost a month. That’s forever. And… the anniversary of our first meeting is coming up in a couple of weeks. I used to think that would be a day of celebration, of chaos, but I’m never going to be able to do that now. I could mention it, and the words are itching in the back of my throat, but nothing comes out, not even when I spot ‘mega watching me.

***

I don’t actually realize what’s wrong until we’re on our next mission. Hunter asks me to Look like he often does, but when I try, it’s like running into a wall. I just can’t do it.

I bite my lip, panic clawing its way up into my chest. I can’t See anymore. I can’t – that’s what I was made for. Nothing else. And I can’t do it. “I – I can’t,” I say finally, opening my eyes. Hunter’s frowning a little, brows furrowed with worry. “I can’t See.”

“That’s okay,” Omega assures, patting my shoulder, “That happens.”

“No, that’s not what I mean,” I argue, shaking my head. Maybe I shouldn’t tell them, and it feels so stupid too – what’s the point of keeping me around, if I can’t even do the one thing I have to? But I can’t lie to them, either. This is important. “I can’t See. Like. can’t can’t. I – I don’t know why or what it means.”

“But that is your ability,” Tech points out, “You have used the Force before even more actively.”

I frown, flicking a hand towards a small rock, because Jedi are supposed to be able to move things, and I have before, too. I should feel the warm burning in my palm and fingers, even if nothing happens and it’s not enough to change anything. Instead, all I feel is… nothing. Cold. I’m too scared to try. “I can’t,” I whisper again, tears pricking my eyes. What’s wrong with me? Why is this happening? What is wrong with me? How am I this defective?

“Vision,” Hunter says firmly, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me to look at him. I am, but I can’t focus, and I can’t See the smokiness, and am I dying what if I die will I ever get off this planet I’m so useless what is wrong with me I need – “Look at me,” he requests. I think he’s talking, but his words are lost in a storm.

I’m trying, but I can’t, and there’s a pressure in my chest as I inhale in ragged gasps. Can’t breathe out – I’m gasping like I can’t breathe, like I’m drinking an ocean full of air, and I remember the water and the darkness as it closed over me and the panic that I’d never get out that Omega and I would die and I can’t breathe and I can’t –

“Viz!” Omega yells, shaking my shoulder. “Vision! Breathe!”

I can’t. I’m trying. I am, really, but I can’t – it’s so hard, so – I don’t know what I’m doing don’t know what’s wrong with me don’t –

Wrecker lifts me into his arms.

I know it’s him because his hands are huge and there’s no one who feels quite like him, and I throw my arms around his neck, gasping. Someone’s hand is on my back and Omega’s fingers are tangled into mine. Her hand is burning. Maybe I’m just cold.

“It’s okay,” Wrecker tries soothing, and his voice is loud enough for me to hear.

I hear muffled talking in the background from a distance, through a haze, but gradually, with their hands and their warmth, I can find myself fading back in. I’m so tired though. I feel like I could sleep for a decade. That’s probably true anyway, though.

Hunter pulls me back to look at him, and I raise my head, blinking at him through my tears. “Hey,” he says, fingers brushing across my shoulder. “Do you want to rest?”

I nod shakily, tears still falling down my face, but I’m so tired. “Yeah. Please.”

Wrecker hoists me up without a word, carrying me back home. Back into safety and warmth.

***

I can’t See, because I – I don’t want to, I realize. I didn’t want to See Crosshair anymore, which automatically comes with everything else. I’m so tired that I genuinely can’t even care. I’ll find other ways to be useful. I – I have to.

My hands are twisting together nervously, and I push myself up when I hear the others finally returning, mission accomplished. Without me, obviously. They didn’t need more now more than they ever do, and that hurts.

“Are you feeling better?” Hunter asks, offering me a forced smile.

I nod, biting my lip. “I – I’m sorry,” I say, tightening one hand over the other to the point of painful.

“What happened?” Echo inquires. They’re all approaching me now, and Lula catches my gaze. I scoop her into my arms, holding her tightly. My droid head is sitting by my leg.

“I think I broke something,” I attempt explaining. “A couple days ago, when… I was so tired of Seeing and I think I broke something in my mind.” I wave a hand in the air, dropping it onto my leg again. I’m so tired. I’m so – I don’t want to sit still.

“You were still having those visions?” Tech inquires. Oh, right. He’s the only one I told.

“Yeah.”

“What visions?” Hunter asks, turning to him.

“I did not ask for clarifications,” Tech responds, “But she informed me she had been having visions of Crosshair. She believed he might have been… in danger.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I say loudly as everyone’s heads swivel back to face me. “He’s gone.”

“I don’t understand. Visions were your ability,” Echo frowns, “How could that be broken? It’s a mutation, isn’t it?”

“It is not, technically,” Tech replies, “It is a specific range of Force-ability, which is extremely rare. The normal version of this is to see into the past.”

Huh. Don’t know what good that does, though. Why see the past if you can’t change it? “I know we counted on my abilities all the time,” I continue, biting my lip again. “I’m sorry I did this. I – I didn’t know what it would mean. I’m useless now.”

“You are not useless,” Echo tells me fiercely, stepping up to the edge of the ladder. I set Lula down, propping her up against the wall, fingers pressed against the metal floor.

“Then… what am I?”

Omega climbs the ladder, hand over mine. It usually helps, but right now, I can’t feel anything. “I told you before. You will always be my sister. It doesn’t matter what you did, or what you are.”

What does that mean for Crosshair? Doesn’t matter now, though.

“If I can’t do anything, how does that matter?”

“It will sufficiently limit your abilities,” Tech says bluntly, and Wrecker shoves him. That just makes it hurt even more. I don’t want them to fight. Not because of me.

“Then… what makes me special?” I ask. I feel numb inside. I don’t think I can feel anything anymore. I won’t be able to see danger, won’t be able to help on missions, even if all I’ve ever been able to do is very little things. Useless things.

Hunter looks away. I don’t think he even knows, and that makes it hurt even more.

“That you care,” Echo answers instead, “You wanted to be with us when you could have been anywhere else. I have only seen one other who cares in… much the way you do. Who understands so well.”

“That’s it?” I ask, expression scrunching a bit. “I… know stuff?”

“You understand people,” Echo repeats, “You understand us. We were never raised to… feel. It was you who let us know we could be more.” He’s looking at me with a sharp intensity in his eyes, and I wish I knew what to say to it. I don’t.

Instead, I jump off the gunner’s mount into Echo’s arm, His arm comes around my back and I bury my face in his neck. “’m sorry,” I say, anyway, “For bein’ so useless.”

“You aren’t,” Echo promises me firmly. “And even if you were, I can say I wouldn’t care.”

I want to believe him. I can’t. I nod against his neck though. If they think I can help in… other ways, then… I guess I need to try. I can’t let them worry about me. They shouldn’t have to.

I’m not worth it.

***

Today is the anniversary. The one I’ve been waiting for and dreading for so long. The one I thought could be happy, could mean something, could be – when we met, I thought we could be together for this. This is something to celebrate, and Echo’s joining anniversary is coming up fast, too.

Omega knows the day the same time as me, and she shakes my shoulder with a much too bright smile for the crushing depression and emptiness I feel.

How things have changed.

I used to wake everyone else up, bouncing all over because I couldn’t sleep, and now? I just want to be left alone in my own little, miserable hole. Leave me here, let me die.

The one thing I would very much like everyone to understand nice and well this morning is that I want to left alone.

Or thrown out an airlock. That works, too.

I don’t feel like the same person who joined them. I’m not the same Vision who my brothers were so happy to take in, who Crosshair even… Anything. I’m not even the one he saved. I’m something else, something irreparably fractured and broken, and I shouldn’t be living this day when she couldn’t.

She was young. Naïve. Stupid. So, so stupid. I should’ve just gone after Crosshair, should have done something. I could have asked to go back. Found a way back, and now, we’ll never know if he’s still there, if he needs us, but really? The Empire wouldn’t have left him there a month. They’re awful, but they’re not as stupid as I am.

“Vision, come on!” Omega urges, shaking me a little.

“No,” I say flatly, refusing to move.

She sits down beside me. She’s probably sullen. Hurt. Just another thing to hate myself for. Another thing I screwed up. “I’m sorry,” Omega confesses, “I thought you’d be excited.”

“Excited for what?” I snap back, head whipping up. “I thought I could take you home, that we could be together!”

“You did,” she insists, “And we are.”

I throw her a sideways look. “Not all of us.”

“I miss him, too,” Omega confesses, leaning her head on my shoulder. “I thought we could be together. But… we have some of us, and we’ve been alone for so long…”

She doesn’t understand. No one does. I knew Crosshair. I was with him, and I can’t forget it. I cannot forget what and who we were. “I don’t care. I thought we could be together, and I was wrong.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispers thickly, and I turn my head away. I can’t bear to look at her. She wanted to celebrate this, but I just – I can’t. I should. Get up and be goofy. I’m so selfish. Omega always holds firm for me, but when she needs me? I’m nowhere.

“Was it hard?” I ask finally, “Being alone? Knowing you’d come back at night, and I wouldn’t be there?” We’ve never really talked about this before. It isn’t something I wanna think about.

“Yeah,” Omega answers finally, “But… I knew you were safe. I knew you were happy to be with our brothers.” Because I could find home before she did. I ought to be happy for her now, that she can feel safe and protected and at home here, but I can’t. I never will again. Not without Crosshair.

(Does he feel – anything? Is he alone? Is he hurt? What if something happens to him? That would be on me. Because I turned my back on him when he needed me. Not as though he didn’t walk away first.)

I wonder if this is special to them. If it matters at all. If Crosshair would even care, if he was with us. If he ever has. If… all that was fake.

It doesn’t feel like it could have been.

I remember his hand on my hair. Remember his warmth.

How could that have been a lie?

Oh, I met Anakin almost a year ago. Anakin, who is probably dead, too. Just like the old me. I’m never going to get back the only person I thought could understand me, who was special and different like me. I wish I could see him again. I wonder if he were alive, where he’d be, if he’d feel as lonely and lifeless and I do.

“I don’t want to talk,” I whisper, lowering my head again. “I thought maybe we’d get to have today together. That we could just – I thought we’d have each other, that maybe I’d have found a way to bring you back, that… why is it always my job to bring everyone back together?” I look up at her helplessly, and Omega strokes my arm.

“It’s not,” she promises, “That’s mine.”

“Then what else am I good for? I can’t protect you. I can’t protect anybody.”

“Then we can figure it out together,” Omega offers, “Like we always have.”

I wish I could believe her. (I don’t.)

Chapter Text

My brothers and especially Omega are fussing over me nonstop, anyway. It’s driving me crazy. I don’t need it. Don’t want it. I want… to be fine. Normal. I can’t See anymore, though. Sometimes, I catch little whisps of things, but I quickly close off. I don’t want it back. I don’t want to See Crosshair again. After how many nights I spent staring up at the ceiling, trying to wish it away, I want it to just be over. I think I should be allowed that.

Maybe not. Maybe I shouldn’t be. I have no idea, but either way, the numbness doesn’t go away.

I feel so dead and empty, it feels like I’m walking around in a haze. Time blurs together. I think I’m eating, but I don’t really know. Don’t care. It’s just draining our resources, anyway. Cid asks me about the armor thing, but I brush her off so sharply, she has the decency not to broach the topic again.

My brothers are treating me like I’m glass. I hate it. I’m not – okay, maybe I am. Can’t trust my own judgment for that, either. I don’t even know what to do with myself half the time. I feel so… I know I’m in place here, because we’re all a broken mess with no thanks to Crosshair, and sometimes, I still wonder how he feels. Don’t want to think about it, though.

What did we do that made him angry enough to leave us? How did we fail him? Why weren’t we enough?

Hunter does get me that grappling hook, though, and I hug him for it, even if I feel nothing. He’s so depressed. Maybe what I need to be doing is trying to help him. He can’t do this alone. I don’t even get why he’s trying.

I don’t feel anything, and I’m tired of feeling nothing. I don’t think about it, though – trying to throw myself into the final painting touches and whatever nonsense Tech tells me to study.

When it finally happens, it happens fast.

We walked into a bit of a trap by some nasty band of criminals, and there’s an explosion. Omega’s flung off the side. I can’t think of anything except that’s Omega, can’t let her die when I jump off, after. Just like I promised Hunter, the grappling thingy came in handy. We both would’ve fallen some hundred feet onto the rocky ground if I hadn’t had it.

Omega grabs my hand, and I jerk her upwards to reach the line herself.

I look down.

The ground is so, so far below us. I wonder if it would hurt. Wonder how it would feel if I just let go. Wonder how it’d feel to fall that far, if it’d hurt, or if it’d stop hurting into a blissful of nothing.

I would, except Omega is clinging to me, and I drag her up.

Hunter’s waiting for us at the top. He grabs Omega’s hand, pulling her over the edge, and she collapses into him, panting. I wish he came for me first. I know I made him promise not to, but when he turns to me, asking if I’m okay, I just shake my head with an “I’m fine” that sounds numb and fake even to my own ears.

I don’t stop thinking about it. I don’t think it would’ve hurt much. I wish I wasn’t… here. I wish I didn’t have to worry about any of this. I wish I – a lot of things.

I can’t stop remembering Bracca. I remember her panicking. I remember her yelling at me to stop, remember her throwing her knife at me. She could’ve killed me. I have no idea how she got so good with knives – she never did that before. I know it’s self-defense, and I deserved it, but she’s my sister that could’ve gone through me. I could’ve died and it would’ve been Omega. I feel so useless. Empty. I don’t want to keep getting up.

I haven’t felt anything for so long, I can’t help wondering if it’s… real at all. If there ever was anything real about any of this.

I’ve seen Hunter do that knife-twirl thing when he’s bored, and I pull out my own, trying to balance it between my fingers the way he does, but I still don’t know how. I asked him to teach me to use it. But now, I just… I can’t do this.

I wish I wasn’t a burden on them. I wish I could actually feel something, wish I had something with which to be useful. I wish I didn’t have to feel like this at all. I wish I wasn’t here to feel. I don’t want to be away from my family for anything, but I just – I’m so, so tired of trying to be fine when I can’t. None of us should have to feel this way. Says a lot about how bad Crosshair destroys us. We’re falling apart at the very seams, forgetting who and what we are.

How many times have I died since I joined our brothers? It’s been many, and I don’t care about any of them. I nearly drowned on Kamino. Crosshair nearly killed us un Bracca, after I nearly killed ‘mega. Would he have regretted it? I know I would’ve.

Maybe I don’t deserve to be here. Maybe that’s it. I’d been so, so scared on Kamino. Crosshair saved Omega and I, but that doesn’t mean he did it for me. Omega’s worth saving. I am not, and I never have been.

I never will be.

Omega through my knife at me, and if she was off by a hairline, she could’ve killed me. I wouldn’t even have cared – I wish…

Am I even real? Is any of this?

I feel so disconnected now. I’m still a little sore from the explosion thing – my hands are sore from climbing and my shoulders are sore, but the pain is the only thing that keeps me grounded. Don’t know what that says about me. I flick the blade around, lightly drawing the blade over my arm.

I have no idea why I just did that. It stings, not as much as I thought, but still. And probably deeper than I thought.

I jump at Hunter’s voice. “You okay?”

I shake my head.

“Careful,” he says, and it’s honestly impressive how calm he sounds for having seen what he did. “Sure you’re ready to train with that?”

“Wasn’t an accident,” I say sullenly, “I have no idea why I did that.”

Hunter stares at me. I can’t tell if he believes it or not.

The blood is warm on my arm. It doesn’t hurt that bad, really, but the blood is fast and warm and enough that I ought to be worried. I can’t really smell it, but Hunter probably can. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I just – I don’t know.”

Hunter kneels in front of me, reaching for my arm. I feel stupidly self-conscious about it, but it’s Hunter, so I let him have it. His touch is grounding, anyway.

I’m holding my knife still. That he’s here without a weapon of his own says a lot about trust. Not that I’d – but Crosshair hurt him, and I couldn’t blame him for being jittery. He ought to be. I’d feel better if he was. It’s not like I haven’t hurt people before, too. It’s not like I’m any better than all the things I hate Crosshair for.

“Do you want to talk?” He asks finally, and it’s a shred jarring to say that, because I’m always talking. Everyone wants me to shut up. No one wants me to talk. Unless I’m distracting someone.

“I – uh – I don’t know. I was thinking about Bracca. I feel so numb or something. I wasn’t sure if I’d even feel it. I kinda wanted to know I’m still here. I – this is gonna sound bad.” I don’t know why I want to tell him this. Once, I would have talked to Crosshair, if he’d listen, but oh, that’s a joke now. I don’t know why I was stupid enough to believe he actually cared.

“That’s okay,” Hunter replies, and he just waits. He’s so quiet now. He’s never been overly talkative, but I remember a time when he was as energetic and chaotic as the rest of them. Now, he just seems so… dead. I miss who he used to be so badly it hurts. Maybe there were often times he was tired, but he was never like he is now.

“Omega threw my knife at me. On Bracca,” I blurt out, not looking at him, not really looking anywhere. “I was about to – and she took out my bow with it. She coulda missed. Inch off and she could’ve killed me. I understand it and it doesn’t matter, but I just wonder – if she’d done it, then I wouldn’t hafta be here to – I can’t deal with this. I can’t live with this. How am I supposed to know when someone else will decide they don’t want me?”

Hunter doesn’t say anything. I wait a heartbeat, but he says nothing at all.

“Call it selfish,” I mutter, turning away, “I already know that.”

“Maybe,” Hunter replies finally, “A little. Sometimes… We were halfway in to find him when he came after us. I didn’t understand what was happening. Why – and it would’ve been easier if I hadn’t ducked the first shot, but the easy way out isn’t the right one. It rarely is. And you need me. We need you, too.”

Hunter feels it, too. Maybe I’m not quite as messed up and broken as I thought I was, or maybe it’s just that Hunter is far more than I thought he was.

“I used to think he did.”

“I know,” Hunter murmurs, “Me too.”

There’s really nothing more we can say. I smear the knife off on my hand – I know that’s gross. What about it – and slide it away into its sheath, leaning forwards to hug him. Hunter holds me tightly against his chest, sighing.

“I don’t know how to deal with this,” I confess, “I know I failed you. That you need me to be something I’m not.”

“It’s okay,” Hunter assures, “I know it’s not your fault. We need… to find a way to move on. To survive.”

“I know.”

“What… do you want?” he asks me finally.

“What about you?” I ask, “That matters as much as ‘mega. She’s the one I can’t imagine living without most, but… we all need each other. I’ll go wherever you do. Wherever you need me to.”

“I… want you to be alright,” he confesses, “I don’t care about anything else.”

I don’t believe him, but I pull back, anyway, actually looking at him for the first time since everything went Dark. “Come on,” he requests, pulling me towards the ‘fresher, “I’ll… clean this up for you.”

***

“Try again?” I request, retrieving my knife from where it clattered uselessly to the floor.

Omega groans, pulling her bowstring back again. “Ready.”

What can I say? We are both stupid. No shock there! Not that I’m making fun of ‘mega, honest. I don’t know why she agreed to this, why Cid agreed to it, or why Hunter agreed to it, but I’ve seen Wrecker and Crosshair do it all time! Why can’t we? Except, you know, that I can’t throw my knife right, and Omega definitely can’t shoot like Crosshair could.

The whole shooting-a-knife-out-of-the-air thing is cool, okay? Even if it marks everything up, and we’re in a corner! We can be careful. No one’s gonna get hit.

Oh, you know, I thought we could be careful until Omega hits it at all the wrong angles and it zips across the room. Echo jerks out of the way before the thing can take his foot off, and I squeak.

Hunter stands.

I jump behind Wrecker’s legs in the desperate hope he might. You know. Save me from murder. Being murdered, whatever.

“That’s enough practice for now,” Hunter decides, “Vision, give me your knife-sheath.”

“Why?” I squeak, still hiding. “What am I supposed to do with my knife? Eat it? Stick it inside me?”

“I was thinking maybe I’ll keep it until you know how to use it.”

“I do! I just don’t have the best judgment in using it!”

“That’s exactly why –”

“Vision is perfectly capable of using it,” Tech interjects. “She has had enough training for it not to be unsafe.”

“Tech, why is the only time you defend me when I nearly commit homicide of Echo’s feet?”

Hunter sighs. “Vision.”

“Okay, okay, fine.” I’m a little annoyed, I’ll admit, but after what he saw just a couple days ago, I know why he’s scared. Plus the Crosshair-nearly-stabbing-him thing that I still can hardly believe happened. I don’t blame him if he’s a bit jittery around knives right now. “I can’t see you though, so I hope you can catch!” I pluck it off my belt and just throw it. It clanks onto the ground somewhere, but I think Hunter goes to retrieve it anyway. It feels so strange to have it off, and I miss it instantly.

“I’ll teach you how to use it later,” he offers. For some reason, I don’t exactly buy it, but I don’t argue, either. I need more training in – in everything if I’m actually going to be useful now. I don’t have my Vision abilities anymore, so I need to… try to make up for that.

***

Everything was, you know, okay until nighttime when I walk in on Hunter playing with Wrecker’s knife like a literal five-year-old. “That’s not faiiir!” I whine, “I dared you to do the giant knife-twirl nonsense with Wrecker’s knife once! And you ignored me.” I cross my arms grumpily, pointing up at him.

“It got tempting,” he replies sheepishly, “But anyway, I can teach you if you want.”

“I do,” I answer, shuffling forwards, “I’m sorry about earlier. I thought we could make it work, and I just – I want to feel again. I don’t mean to worry you.”

“It’s okay,” Hunter replies, “I thought maybe I should… let you settle a bit before giving it back? I know you’re ready to learn, but I don’t know if you’re ready to keep it. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

That’s fair. I nod, feeling numb inside. I can’t feel anything except numb. Kinda wish I could, but at least it doesn’t hurt anymore? Not as much, anyway. I can deal with trying to be useful in other ways. Not with constantly drowning over Crosshair’s loss.

“I know,” I promise with another nod. “It’s okay.”

Hunter nods back, but I don’t think he’s… happy about this. He’s still afraid, afraid of… Well, everything. Could be anything. “Just, uh, be safe,” he requests.

“I will,” I promise, even if I know I won’t do it. Can still try, though.

Hunter can’t do this on his own. He – he needs our help, just like I tried telling Wrecker on Daro and it went way over his head somehow. If there’s nothing useful I can do, and if it’s… not something that our siblings will do for him, then I will. I know what I need to do, who I need to be, though I have no idea how to go about doing it.

I love him to the edge of the galaxy and back. Won’t let anything get in between that. Not now, not ever. If no one else is brave enough to protect Hunter, I will.

I’m not afraid to try, only afraid of failing in the same way I know he always is. I’ve always understood it, but it feels like I finally can see it in a way I never have before. I know why he’s afraid, because I am, too. I guess for once, Hunter doesn’t have to share it alone.

***

“If you wanted to know how to fly, this isn’t it!” Echo yells as the speeder zig-zags gloriously across the sky, upside down.

I laugh breathlessly. Can’t help it. “It’s definitely fun, though!” I argue, clinging onto the handlebars for dear life. Okay. Not really, cuz my life isn’t that amazing or anything, but I kinda don’t want to crash so many feet to my death.

“When I offered to let you learn to fly, I didn’t mean it like this!” He sounds annoyed. Maybe he’s just freaked out.

“I’m trynna flip it over, but um. I don’t think it’s working.” Mayyyybe learning to fly on a mission wasn’t my brightest idea, after all – on a speeder bike, anyway – but I’ve done worse. Yelling at Crosshair was definitely worse. Or at least when it gets shot? “What if we just jump off?”

“We’ll crash!” Echo snaps, irritated, “And that’s not to mention how high up we are.”

“High,” I crow, “I think this thing has a ruptured something or other, and we’re trailing smoke.”

“I can see that!” Except Echo, with only one hand, doesn’t have much maneuverability except just hanging there.

“Well, at least you see somethin’!” I try swinging myself over, missing and nearly falling. I yelp ungracefully. “Fine! Then maybe we need to rewire the – something or other.”

“While we’re flying? Are you crazy?”

“Yes! Worth a shot, isn’t it?” I climb over the handlebars, glaring at the smoking something. I’ll probably shock my hand off if I even try touching that thing. Wires are – ugh. I take it back, I have no idea what to do. “You know what? I’m starting to think jumping is the best option, actually, and we’re heading for a – wait, is that a mountain? I don’t wanna become rock dust!”

“Try to angle us up,” Echo requests.

Guess my first flying lesson is how-to-fly-an-upside-down-burning-speeder, which is far more fun than it ought to be. I grab the handlebars again and try yanking. Isn’t really working.

“I can officially decide I don’t wanna die like this!” I whine.

“Pull harder.”

“Excuse me sir, but I’m hanging my whole weight on this thing! What am I supposed to do, rip the handlebars off? I’m not Wrecker!”

We do end up crash landing. Ungracefully, but we jump off once I clear the mountain top – okay, we hit a small ledge on the mountain, technically, and the speeder crashes gloriously into the side and explodes. “That’s a Wrecker landing,” I say, rolling my shoulders. They’re so sore. Ugh. Hanging off of stuff is very annoying. “Should I be proud?”

“No,” Echo says firmly, grabbing my hand. I let him pull me upright. Echo comms the others with our location while I make for carefully climbing around the rocky edge towards the crash sight. “What are you doing?” he asks, watching me.

“There’s gotta be something rebuildable in here,” I reply. It's a smoking pile of charcoal, but really, I’ve seen Tech build stuff from worse. I carefully poke at it with my boot, jumping back when the rocks beneath it screech a little and some sparks fly. They hit the leather of my boot, and I wince.

“There’s nothin’ left of that,” Echo objects.

“Nah, Tech’s made things from worse,” I reply, crouching beside it. “I think it’d help me have something useful to do, y’know? Maybe we can drag it back to Ord Mantell and sell it for something.”

“The only thing this’ll be useful for is spare parts,” Echo huffs.

“I’m useful for spare parts, too,” I snip back, “But we make do. How about my first speeder lesson – oh, maybe it’s second speeder lesson? – can count as rebuilding a speeder bike from a trash pile.”

Echo sighs. “You’re not going to stop, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Alright,” he sighs, “I’ll help you see if there’s even anything salvageable.”

“If people didn’t throw stuff out so much, you never know how much can be salvaged. Really. Imagine if the Kaminoans did that to all of us. Maybe I just like broken things.” I kick at it again, and the metal screeches, sparking again. Uh. Oops. Maybe I beat it up more than I realized.

Still though. “Ohhh, look! The handlebars are intact! These are my new best friends!”

Echo sighs loudly, and I giggle. I mean it, though – maybe I do just like broken things. They’re familiar, and I like machines. They’re so much easier than people.

***

Things are quiet. They’re too quiet – it’s not bad, but I don’t like it, and I wish things were different. That’s pointless to say, though – I’ve already told myself that many times. We all know it, too. Things are changing. None of us are happy with it, or even comfortable or accepting.

I’ve seen how we’ve all changed, are changing, and I still feel so numb. I don’t want to think about it, though – I throw myself into whatever my siblings need me to be. Doesn’t matter how exhausting it is.

I get back up, because that’s what they need me to do, over and over. No matter how tiring it is.

I still don’t ask Wrecker about the dreams I know he still has. He’s so quiet though, and he still… broods. I sit on the floor next to him, leaning my head on his arm wordlessly. Can’t really say anything about it – there’s no way I have to make it better, to keep him from hurting. Guess the only good thing about pain is that at least we know we’re still alive.

Wrecker pats my knee, and I don’t think there are words to go between us anymore. Our bond is far deeper than words.

I don’t see a light in the future for us. Sometimes, memories of the visions I had – things so far off in the future, far enough away that it feels like a distant dream of a nightmare. I know we’re not going to get him back. I – I’m not gonna see him again, and if I do, it won’t be… good. I can’t believe it’ll happen. I don’t think about it much, but I still remember. I remember feeling Crosshair’s hand in my hair. I remember his warmth. That’s not something I can forget.

I can’t ever stop thinking about what’s missing, no matter how desperately achingly badly it hurts to remember his face. I hope wherever we go from here, we’ll be able to… stick together, that we’ll be able to pull through to the end. No matter what sort of living nightmare lies ahead of us.

Chapter Text

“Vision,” Tech’s voice asks, and he sounds… slightly hesitant. Almost awkward in a way that’s terrifyingly uncharacteristically un-Tech-like. Tech is never hesitant or wary or cautious about anything, and it drives me crazy, and I’m so, so scared of something happening to him. He’s chest-crushing-ly reckless, and I don’t care that’s not a word. It scares me half to death all the time. One of the only things that really does scare me. Guess the one thing about Tech that hasn’t ever changed is that he’s creepy.

“Yeah?” I ask, bouncing off my seat. My helmet’s on, holding my hair back, but sometimes it just makes my head hot and itchy. Omega and I got the same design of helmets – ones that don’t have anything over the front and are a very dull shade of light gray.

“I’m aware you said you did not want this,” he says, approaching me from the back. I do a double-take when I see him, inhaling deeply. That’s my energy bow – even if it’s blatantly the wrong color now. The one that was destroyed on Bracca, and he offered to fix. I’d honestly forgotten about it. That’s the one I nearly killed Omega with. “But Omega wanted me to fix it for you.”

“W – what for?” I ask. “I mean, I…”  I don’t know how to react to this. I never wanted to see it again, even if it was about four months ago – that’s almost half a year – but Tech still fixed it up for me. He – he didn’t have to.

Tech holds it out to me, and my hands are shaking when I take it, the somewhat heavy weight dropping into my arms. I remember this. I… I held this, fought with this, but I don’t want to use it. I have so many feelings about it, and with a strangling rush, I realize it reminds me of Crosshair. We haven’t talked about him in – I think it’s been two months now. Don’t really remember. But it’s been a very, very long time. I don’t want to think about that.

“Omega requested I complete this for… your anniversary,” he says, “But I was uncertain you would have wanted it then.”

“Yeah,” I whisper, blinking back tears. I wouldn’t have reached very well to seeing it back then. I’d been so depressed, I’d basically yelled at Omega for trying to get me out of bed. Which was so lazy, but I didn’t have the energy to move. I still don’t think I do. Many things have changed since then, but one thing that never has is how I constantly feel so exhausted. “Thank you,” I whisper. “I think ‘mega could use a spare, but I… this isn’t mine anymore.” I don’t trust myself to use it. Don’t quite want to tell Tech that, though. “Thank you, though,” I repeat, blinking a few times.

“I suspected that would be your reaction,” Tech replies.

I nod a little, feeling the cold weight of it in my hands. That he went through all that to make this for me, that he was still… well, he likes fixing things, just like I do, but still. The time and effort he put into this was obvious. Omega had damaged it badly when she stabbed it. When she nearly stabbed me.

But this is Tech, and he made it for me. He made something for me. I get that it was technically already mine, but he still… did this. No one does things for me. No one ever… makes me things, and that he did is… This is Tech. We don’t really get along and he’s certainly never done something for me before.

“How long did this take you?” I have to ask incredulously. I almost don’t want to know, but I – he made this for me. Whether I use it or not, I should know how much it took.

“It had been a week before Omega intended to return it to you.” Oh. They… waited a week to give me something because they thought I’d like it, but then I was a grouch, and they never gave it to me, and Tech kept it for a couple months instead. Ah. What a sweet little sister.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I didn’t know.” How’d they even hide it from me? To be fair, I wasn’t overly explorative at that point. I hadn’t wanted to move at all – it’d been so hard to get up every morning.

Still is.

I still expect to be beside Crosshair sometimes.

“I’m aware,” Tech replies, “We were attempting to conceal it from you, and you were not being overly attentive.”

I promised I’d never touch this thing again. The things it reminds me of are… not things I want to think about. Or dwell on. Or – anything. I never wanted to see it again. Almost hadn’t realized we still had it, even if we never throw things away. Guess I’d just forgotten about it because I never saw it lying around. Makes me wonder if anyone saw what I did to Crosshair’s helmet.

“Thanks. I – I never thought I’d use it again. I can’t quite imagine it.” I’ve gotten better with a blaster, and with my knife. That’s my preferred fighting style, though it’s hard to get to use. We don’t often fight droids, and I’m a bit wary about using it on people or animals.

“What will you do with it?” Tech inquires. I think Omega’s watching me from somewhere in the back, but I don’t look up.

“Keep it,” I answer immediately, “I won’t need it, but… maybe ‘mega will sometime. Besides, you made it for me. It’s special.” I look at it again. They even went through the pain of painting it light blue. My favorite color is dark blue, the color most of my clothes are, but light blue’s close enough, and I like it better than gold. Well, it’s not all blue, but I think Omega painted most of what she could reach. I remember seeing blue paint on her clothes a few times, but I couldn’t figure out what it was about. I never asked. Didn’t have the energy to. That makes me feel even worse.

“Thank you,” I whisper again, bolting forwards and throwing an arm around his waist, squeezing tightly. I don’t let it linger, because I’ve gotten the point that Tech finds it weird. I move past him, not looking at the others, even if I know they’re all watching me.

This is – it’s something of my past, just like… like he was.

My heart is hammering when I pause in front of the crate. I don’t want the others to see what I did here, but I doubt they’ll look, and it doesn’t really matter. I’m sure I was the last one to open it. I’m sure I always will be the last. It’s not like – stop it.

I open the crate.

My eyes fall first on the picture I’d slept with every night since leaving Kamino. For a moment, I consider looking at it, but then I remember Hunter’s face and I don’t touch it. I drop my energy bow inside, hearing it fall on top with a clang, just staring for a moment.

Maybe Crosshair and I are more alike than I want to think about. Both of us tried to kill our sisters. Hurt our families in more ways than I can count. Doubt I’m done, either. It’ll only be the beginning. Always is.

I love him.

I hate him.

Don’t want to think about that, though.

Guess part of me will still be with him.

I shut the crate. Stare at it a moment before turning away. It feels like I’m putting to rest a piece of myself forever. I wish I actually knew what I was.

“You’re not an experiment, Vision,” I remember Echo saying so, so long ago when we were still in their barracks, and the memory is enough to bring tears to my eyes. “You’re a person, and you deserve to be one, no matter what Nala Se told you.”

Wish I actually understood what that meant.

***

We move on, but Crosshair is still lingering at the forefront of my mind. I think about him all the time.

I want to know how we failed. What I did that made him leave us. What all my brothers could have done to him to make him care about us so little that he’d be willing to walk out without looking back, because he never did. If he had, he wouldn’t have left.

Wouldn’t’ve… any of what he did.

He wouldn’t have tried to slit Hunter’s throat and have shot Wrecker. I can’t forgive him for either, or for trying to kill us, but for as much as I wish I’d have had the courage to punch him in the face, I know I never could’ve and I’d regret it every moment. I regret yelling at him as it is. Hitting him is something else entirely.

I’m… I’m glad I hugged him. I wouldn’t have wanted us to part ways on any other terms. I wonder if he still thinks about us. If… he cares, but I know he doesn’t, so I don’t know why I can’t stop brooding. It won’t bring him back. Nothing will. Not crying, so if I can please convince myself to stop, thank you, I’d appreciate it very deeply.

I know what he did to us, and I’m so, so angry at him for it. It’s a constant burning fury humming beneath my skin, burning through my veins. I never know when the next person to walk away from me will be. I’m terrified too – no matter how it happens, cuz I know it will. I never thought I could lose Crosshair. He promised me he wouldn’t leave. I believed him. I don’t know why.

“He made his choice, Vision, and he did not choose us.”

Tech said the same thing. So did Echo. What… if none of them are? I’m so, so afraid of being left alone and everyone being gone, and I can’t even be useful to them anymore. I feel like a shadow. Whatever I used to be was something from a dream.

I don’t know how to go back, though it often feels like I want to. I do want to, just – it’s not possible. I can’t unwind time, no matter how itchingly desperately I yearn for it. I do. I want to be that chaotic, cheerful little girl I used to be, and maybe I’m still chaotic, but I’m not cheerful. I’m just… dark. Empty.

Everything feels empty. We all do. We just have a game going to see who will break first, who will be able to take it in silence the longest.

Another thing Crosshair started. Another thing that I know only he can end.

Just another thing he did to us, and the list goes on. It never ends, any more than our time away.

***

Echo is so restless all the time. It hurts, if I’m being honest. It feels like he… wants more than us, that we’re not enough for him, and I hate myself beyond reality to know I feel the same. When I look around, I feel empty. I don’t feel anything, and it feels like I’m trapped living in a lie. Like whatever I’m seeing… isn’t what I wanna be seeing.

I know who I want. I know it’s impossible.

I want to hurt the Empire. I wanna burn it to the ground. I want to burn the whole galaxy because it’d be fun, and I think it might do something to the gaping void in my heart.

I’m so, so selfish. I shouldn’t want more than my family. I’m where I belong, but I’m not doing what I need to do. I’m not helping them. I’m just getting in everyone’s way. I need to keep ‘mega safe. That’s all that’s supposed to matter, but the rage doesn’t stop.

“You know,” I tell him one day when he’s on watch and we’re sitting on Ord Mantell, waiting for Cid to send us on another mission, “I wanna destroy the Empire, too. I want to hurt them. It feels like we… we’re not doing anything.”

Echo sighs. “It doesn’t,” he agrees, “I know why Hunter doesn’t want to fight. I know he’s just trying to protect us, but there’re others out there who need our help.”

I nod, biting my lip. I keep doing that. Dunno why. (It reminds me of Crosshair.) “Hunter’s doing his best,” I reply, “He always does. He protects us. And… he usually makes it. But sometimes… I just want… more.”

“Do you want to fight the Empire?” Echo asks me quietly.

“Yeah.” I look away, fidgeting, “Honestly, yeah. But it won’t change anything. We’re six people and the… everything that comes with that. We can’t do that. I guess… I always thought I’d get to fight in the war, that it’d last long enough for me to, and it should be a good thing it already ended, but now that it’s gone, I don’t know where I belong.”

“You belong with us,” Echo replies, “You always have.”

“And so do you,” I tell him, lifting my head to look at him, “You are one of us, Echo, even if you were a reg once. I know you’re afraid of someone dying, but Hunter will protect us. He always has. I know he always will.”

“Hunter can’t control everything, Vision.”

“He doesn’t need to.” I know that – learned it the hard way on Daro. I still freeze up whenever I see Hunter fall, even if he jumped. Which is crazy, because I don’t hesitate to jump off anything.

“I know,” Echo agrees, “But we have other brothers out there. Fives –” That his voice shudders on the name is something we both ignore, though I reach over to grab his hand, anyway. “Died for all of us. He was trying to stop this. I want to finish what he started.”

“How long before it’s enough? How many worlds can we burn before it’s enough? Before we want to stop fighting?”

“We’re clones,” Echo points out, “We can’t live well in a world without war.”

“The galaxy’s always gonna have war. But how many will we need to put our names in before we give it up? I have everything I need here, so why do I still…”

“Vision,” Echo tells me gently, and I glance up at him before I have to look away again. “The Clone Wars is over. The war we were made to fight in is over, and if we fight again, it will be our own choice.”

“And wouldn’t it be… good to get to choose a fight for once?”

“It would be for our brothers,” he adds, “In a way, that’s already what we’re doing, only the risks we’re taking aren’t as great.”

“I know Hunter says ‘mega shouldn’t live in war,” I continue, “But I don’t know if she wants anything else. I know I don’t, but I don’t think he’s… able to. I know what Kamino did to him. He’s never been… the same since.” Crosshair hurt him, I want to say, but some things are far beyond words. I can’t bring myself to mention him so bluntly. “We’ve all changed. I know he still dreams.”

“We all do,” Echo objects, “It’s normal.”

“Normal?” I whisper-hiss, trying to keep it down so Hunter back inside doesn’t hear, even if he is sleeping right now. “That’s not supposed to be normal!” Has Echo seen him cry? I have. I don’t think I’ll ever get it out of my head.

“It’s not that it doesn’t matter. It’s just… normal for those in action. It happens all the time.”

“Echo,” I sigh, closing my eyes, “Hunter has been hurt by this. I can’t ignore that.”

“I’m not saying he should, but he’s a sergeant. He knows how to take care of himself.”

“That isn’t what family’s about, Echo. If… you wanna help your brothers, I think we need to start with each other.”

“What do you want me to do?” he queries.

“I dunno. Just… there’s so much tension. Everything’s…” I trail off, pressing my forehead into my hands, sighing. I’m so exhausted. I want to sleep. “Everything is so quiet,” I whisper. “So lifeless. We feel so… cold. Like somethin’s dead.”

I want to cry again, but I’m not fully certain I’ve ever stopped. I just want to sink into someone’s arms and let them hold me, but I can’t do that anymore. Could’ve let Hunter do it once, but he needs someone to take care of him, too. That’s what I’m trying to explain to Echo.

“You don’t have to do everything alone,” I say, because I feel like I need to for some reason. Maybe I need to say it for myself, too. “The point of families is so we can do it together.”

“Yeah,” Echo agrees finally. “But it’s still our duty to protect them, too.”

“For you, maybe.” I have to leave it there, because I have nothing more to say about it. I don’t care about the regs. Okay, that’s not true, but they’re not the ones I’d do anything for. They were never kind to me or my brothers, and they never cared about us.

I think Echo or I is going to break first. Echo because he’s been through so much already, and me because I’m just… breakable.

I can’t blame him for this, even if it’s hard for me to… agree with. I get it, though. Guess that’s what matters. I want to hurt everything for hurting me, too, and I wonder how much of his reaction is just grief over Kamino and Crosshair as it is his inability to let go of how he used to be. (I wonder how long it’ll be before he walks away, too.)

***

Everything’s falling apart. I can’t even deny that anymore. I never realized exactly how bad it was until the moment I realize I can’t talk to Omega anymore. I came here too. Meant to. But when I try, nothing comes out, and it feels like I’m looking at someone else. This isn’t the gentle, soft person who always sat by me, stood by me no matter what was happening anymore.

I’m taller than her now. She’s let her hair grow longer, and I think it fits her better, but she’s so… dark. Distant. She doesn’t want me.

Omega doesn’t talk to me anymore, either. I can’t even remember the last time we did – I think it was after Kamino? Maybe? But whenever we interact, it’s always passing and offhanded, fleeting comments about missions. We never talk about us anymore.

And why should we? I need to take care of her. I’m supposed to protect her, the same way our brothers do, and Omega – she doesn’t have to worry about me anymore. We’re with our brothers. She’s fine. She’s home. She has everything she wants now.

Which, apparently, is a buncha random besties who she knows for no more than two days and never sees again.

It’s not me.

She hardly looks at me anymore.

She shouldn’t. I’m a disgrace. A failure. I was supposed to bring us together, and I couldn’t even do that. I tried to kill her. I tried to slit her throat the same way Crosshair did Hunter. I’m – I – don’t deserve to be here. I don’t deserve her, and she has every right to hate me forever. I’m so awful. And selfish.

I try to pretend I don’t see Hunter looking at her with the same gutted longing I feel. Can’t say anything to him about it, except squeezing his arm whenever I see that look on his face and moving on. Don’t know how to address it with him, either.

But Wrecker…

Wrecker’s the one I have to talk to.

I see it on him, too – the way he’s become so withdrawn and empty and dark. He might still laugh, but it’s always so weighted and so rare. He doesn’t have the same energy anymore, either, and he and Omega never had the same closeness as she did with me, but I just can’t ignore it. This is Wrecker. He doesn’t deserve to be hurt.

“I know she’s distant now,” I tell him finally, sitting down beside him as we watch her talking to a – whatever species that is? And whatever the name of her new random best friend is? I don’t have the energy to care. I stopped caring about everything a long time ago. Crosshair took my heart.

I remember the feel of my blade digging into my arm and if I hadn’t promised Hunter I’d never do it again, I’d be tempted. Okay. I am tempted, but I made a promise. Can’t break it, y’know? Doesn’t stop me from digging my nails into my arm. Hard – my sleeves are longer than Omega’s, and they’re long enough to hide it.

Wrecker’s head turns towards me, something confusedly uncertain in his eyes.

“Omega,” I answer his unasked question. My arm is throbbing a bit. “She’s distant now. She’s hardly talked to me since Kamino.”

“Oh,” Wrecker says, and I kinda feel like the sheer emotional-ness of this conversation is already going over his head.

I rest my head on his arm, trying not to actually look at him. I don’t know why that’s made me so uncomfortable. To be fair, I never really have – I used to be able to See how people were feeling out ever seeing their faces. I can’t do that anymore. Can guess, but it’s not the same. Trying to constantly see the world through my brother’s points of view is so exhausting. I’m still half afraid I’m turning into a Tech, though. He never looks at people.

“I miss her, even if we’re on the same ship. It’s ridiculous. ‘n I don’t want her to know, but I want it to stop, and… do you ever feel ignored?” Two lines in, and I’m already making this all about me. Ugh. I wish I could stop doing that.

I’m pretty sure he does, though, but I still have to ask. Wrecker’s a bit unpredictable like that.

“Uh. Sometimes,” he admits. Clearer answer than I thought I’d get.

“I know Tech would say change is… a natural part of life, but I don’t want it to,” I say, scooting back and touching his arm. My hands still look ridiculously tiny compared to Wrecker’s, though. “I guess we have to let Omega… make the choices she wants, too, even if it hurts.”

“She’s still here,” Wrecker points out.

“Doesn’t really feel like it.”

“Oh,” he says again, and I’m unrightfully annoyed it feels like that’s all he can say.

“I know we’d changed after we left Kamino and after I got older, but I guess I never thought about what it’d mean for me to hafta take care of her.”

Wrecker pulls me into his side in a hug. “Bein’ older is hard,” he says, and I get the very, very distinct feeling he’s talking about Crosshair.

Huh. Maybe Echo and I aren’t the only ones on our breaking points, after all.

Guess it really is a game, cuz I have no idea who’ll come out on top. Or, who’ll come out at all.

***

Tech is – well, the one thing about Tech that has never changed, and never will for as long as either of us are alive, is that he drives me crazy. And stresses me out to death. And – yeah, that sorta thing.

“Oh, nice,” I tell him, way too sarcastically, when I see him again after a mission gone especially screwed-up-ly, “You nearly died time number, what was that?”

“It is of no concern,” Tech replies flippantly, “I am well accustomed to it.”

“Ohhhhhh, sure. Keep tellin’ yourself that. Suppose saying we couldn’t do this without you is a bit tpo sappy for ya.” I whirl away, curls flying across my face and stalk off.

I feel bad for walking out on him, but I’m so, so angry. I’m terrified we’ll lose him, one way or another, and I’d much rather him have been alive to walk out on us than to die. I couldn’t survive that. None of us could. We need him, the same way we needed Crosshair, and to lose anyone else would destroy us.

Not the first time I’ve fought with Tech, either – it happens all the time. There’s a reason Hunter never leaves us with the ship alone. Hardly the first time I’ve hurt him.

It’s Hunter I end up talking to about it. As always.

“I know I shouldn’t think about it so much,” I admit, “But I’m – I’m worried. ‘bout losing him. About… something going badly someday.”

Hunter’s so good at hiding his emotions, but I can still read his eyes, and well – Hunter’s easy to read if you actually know him. He’s worried, too. “We’ll be fine, Vision,” he replies soothingly, “That’s why we avoid taking risks.”

“You mean that’s why you try to,” I remind, “Cuz no one else really seems to listen.”

Hunter sighs. He looks tired – a sort of bone-deep exhaustion gnawing at him everywhere he goes. I feel it, too, and I wish there was something I could do. Wish there was some way I had to take it away, to make it better. There’s not, though – I already know that. “We’ll be fine, Vision,” he says, and it feels more like a prayer than anything else.

Yeah. I don’t believe him. Might’ve once. Wish I still could.

But I get the point, and I should stop talking about things that make him uncomfortable. I should just… leave it. “We’ll be fine,” I echo, and it’s more of a desperate hope than a promise, but I mean it as one, anyway. I’m going to protect us, too, no matter what it takes.

Even if I have to be the one to take it for them.

(Especially if I do. Not like I matter enough for anyone to miss me, anyway.)

(I didn’t to Crosshair.)

(And they’re not Crosshair, but – but ‘mega – yeah. I think that says enough.)

Chapter Text

I thought it’d be just a normal mission when it started. Okay, it was a normal mission when it started, all the way until we made it back to Ord Mantell, but backtracking just a bit, it was normal until Tech threw Omega and me off the ship.

Which.

Okay, it was an accident – some giant crabs were attacking the ship, and we happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – meaning on the ramp.

“Omega!” Tech calls, alarmed at her yelp and my squeak as we catch onto the line – I jumped off the ramp after, okay? This happened with Hunter on Daro. I got a bit of a right to freak out – so we don’t fall head-first onto the very, very rude creatures down below. “Vision!”

“We’re okay,” Omega calls back to him.

“Hang on,” Tech orders, and he’s trying to take off, but I don’t think it’s working. Some of the hopelessly rude creatures climb onto the front of the ship and start jabbing at it with their gigantic pinchers.

“They’re wrecking the ship!” Omega calls from below me.

“I cannot shake them,” he replies.

“Never mind,” I call up to him, “We’ll get ‘em off for you. Omega, we gotta go down.”

“On it,” she replies, looking down before swinging off. I let myself slide down, swinging off the line onto one of the crab’s backs before rolling off, drawing my blaster. Omega’s already on the ones on the ship, shooting them a couple of times and knocking them off, so I turn to fire at the ones near us. Y’know, the hopelessly rude monsters that tried to eat our fishing line.

The crabs instantly duck though, and their huge shells are unfortunately blaster-proof. Oh, yay. There’s rustling from behind us as more monsters approach.

“Uh oh,” Omega says, eyes widening.

“C’mon!” I urge, grabbing her arm one-handedly, “Time to run.” I fire at them over my shoulder, hoping to at least slow them down. “Hey, Tech?” I ask into my comm as we run, “Do you think stunning these things would work? Cuz these monsters have at least three times as many legs as I do, and there’s only so long I can run from huge monsters.”

“I suspect their size would make a stunbolt ineffective.”

“How’d you know? Have you stunned Wrecker?”

“Why would I have stunned Wrecker?”

“For the same reason you threw Omega and I off the ship?”

“I am coming around,” Tech replies, wisely ignoring me – oh, first smart choice. “Grab the line.”

I slide my blaster back into its holster, and we scramble onto the line. I go first, despite my reluctance, because a hand-blaster is really hard to use against things from far away. Omega’s bow is very useful that way – it’s something you use both hands on, which she does after hooking the end of the line onto her belt.

“Why are Omega and Vision hanging off the ship?” Hunter asks over the comms,

“It is… an unscheduled study break,” Tech replies with a pause long enough to obvious avoid the. Well. Real story. I am not mean enough to sell him out, even if it’s tempting. He nearly got us pinched to death by giant crabs, and I don’t appreciate the sentiment.

I jump onto the ramp, shooting down at the thingies even if half my shots are missing wildly. Omega and I cover for them as they approach until our brothers climb onto the crate they needed to get.

Omega and I head back inside once they’re close enough, and I pull my helmet off, holding it against my hip.

“I thought the beach was gonna be relaxing!” Wrecker whines, flopping face-first onto the crate he dropped on the floor.

“Nah. Nothin’ ever is,” I shrug, rolling my shoulders, heart still pounding a bit from the rush of adrenaline fading out. “Besides, there’s water here. I still hate it.” Haven’t been able to see it the same way since I nearly drowned, anyway. Dunno if that’s stupid, but I… can’t.

“Appreciate the backup, but try staying inside the ship next time,” Hunter requests.

I snippily give him a two-fingered salute. Try not to think about how that’s what Crosshair probably would’ve done. In a lotta ways, though, that’s what I am.

“I’ll try,” Omega says cheerfully, pulling her helmet off, “But it was still pretty fun.”

Hunter does that totally-done-but-you’re-adorable sigh thing he does whenever one of his siblings is annoying him to death and he’s too nice to yell at them. I pat his shoulder, moving past to steal a seat in the back. It was fun, though. Really.

***

AZI thinks Cid being grouchy is news. Echo’s snippy ‘well there’s a surprise’ is literally the best response there is. She’s one of the whiniest people I’ve ever met, and I’ve met a lot.

“Well, well, well. The space lugs decided to finally show up,” Cid gripes when we come into her office, but I freeze in the doorway, eyes zeroing in on the someone who is very much not supposed to be there. She’s a dark-skinned human, and something about her is. Well. I instantly don’t like.

“Better late than dead, I always say,” the newcomer snips.

“And who are you?” Hunter demands, tensed up like a bomb’s about to be set off in his face. Kinda agree with the sentiment, and I step closer to Omega instinctively.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she throws back, rounding Cid’s desk, holding a glass of stars-know-what. “So, this is the top team you’ve been talking about? The rogue clones on the run from the Empire, huh? How juicy.”

“You told her?” Hunter demands, half betrayed, half angry.

“Don’t get twitchy,” Cid scolds, waving a claw at him, “Phee’s a friend. She’s the most trustworthy pirate I know.”

“Is that supposed to be comforting?” Echo asks dryly.

Yeah. I thought they were like. Bad. Or whatever.

“Aren’t clones supposed to look alike?” Phee – if that’s what this freak’s name is – asks, and I instantly tense further. Oh. Here we go. I can’t say how many times I’ve heard people make snarky comments about this, and I already want to smack her in the face with the hilt of my vibroblade. I haven’t wanted to hit somebody this badly since Kamino, since Crosshair, and that’s saying something. “So much for quality control. This one’s too big. These are too small.” Omega’s glaring, and I snarl, a quiet growl-hiss in the back of my throat. “This one’s got a face tattoo. Yeah, real subtle.” She turns past us, eyes falling on Tech, brightening enough that I want to smack her in the face even harder. “Oh. Hey now. Got a name, brown eyes?” Phee crows.

“Tech. However, the phenotypic eye color for all clones is brown,” my allegedly genius brother starts rambling, like there’s actually a way to reason with this – this – ugh.

“Blah, blah, blah, whatever,” I snap, stepping forward, arms crossed and glaring. “His name is Tech, not whatever you decide to call him this morning. And what makes Omega and I different is that I bite, and she just purrs.”

“Well, as fascinating as this has been, I have places to be,” she interrupts, ignoring us entirely, drinking the rest of her glass and dropping it in Cid’s lap. “You,” Phee says, bonking Wrecker’s shoulder as she passes him. “Let’s see those muscles in action. Grab that and follow me.” She motions to the crate we fished out of crab den. Wrecker looks at Hunter, who nods to him.

“Uh, y-yes, ma’am,” Wrecker mutters, picking up the crate.

I pat his shoulder sympathetically. “Good luck with Miss Meanie,” I whisper, not so quietly as he turns to the door.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he promises unconvincingly.

“And, Cid, that intel is not free. I expect a cut if your ‘top team’ comes through,” Phee adds, finally exiting the room.

I want to throw something at her. Very badly.

“What is she talking about?” Hunter inquires.

“Your next mission. You lot are heading to the Outer Rim,” Cid replies, turning on the holomap, and we gather around to look at it. It’s… some sort of building.

“That is Castle Serenno, the former home of Count Dooku,” Tech says instantly. How he recognized it so fast, I have no idea.

“Who’s that?” Omega queries.

“A Jedi who betrayed the Republic and led the Separatists in a war,” Echo replies. There’s a dark tightness in his voice – Echo loathes him. Personally. Either something about Anakin, or he blames him for all of our brother’s deaths’.

“With him being dead, Dooku’s entire war chest is up for grabs,” Cid continues, “The Empire has already started pillaging his palace, but there is still time to strike before it’s all gone.”

“Too much of a risk,” Hunter replies flatly, firmly. He’s changed a lot, I realize. He’s not so afraid to stand up for himself anymore. “You want that war chest? You go after it.” He turns away, leaving the room. Cid looks grumpy about it, but I shrug to her and follow.

She wants us to go up against the Empire? Again? Is she insane? We already told her no. That’s the one thing we’ll never cross. Crosshair might’ve chosen to fight us, but Hunter meant what he said when he said we didn’t have to be enemies. I’m not going to fight him, no matter how desperately achingly badly I want to rip the Empire to shreds.

I’m not going to hurt him. I won’t let myself fall to the same level that he did. I’m – I’m not that petty. Or maybe it’s just that I’m petty enough to prove I’m better. Dunno. Doesn’t matter.

***

Hunter takes ‘mega and I off to keep teaching us ship stuff. He’s so much less pushy about it than Tech and it’s so un-annoying it’s not even funny. Except – Cid’s talking to the others, and I don’t really know what’s up, but I don’t like it.

I don’t pay much attention until Hunter turns away, giving us back the datapad, and I hear him saying a “convince me about what?” I pause, looking up, frowning.

“Uh, well, we took a vote, and we wanna go after the war chest,” Wrecker replies, and he’s looking away, as if somehow ashamed of disagreeing with Hunter and I – I think he ought to be, considering what we’re talking about.

“It’s unanimous. Even killjoy over here agreed,” Cid says, and I sigh.

Hunter’s just trying to look out for us, and I – I don’t want to make this even more difficult than it already is.

Hunter’s angry at them. I can tell, even if he hides it well, and he’s glaring pointedly at Tech.

I can’t believe Cid talked to them about it without him. Okay, yeah, I can, because that’s totally something she would do. She cares about money more than us, and she doesn’t know why we’re hiding from the Empire. If she did, I don’t think she’d care. Okay, maybe that’s not fair, but – I’m still angry at her for going around Hunter’s back like that. Having his brothers turned against him is literally his worst fear. Same for me.

And of course, Cid pulled Wrecker aside to talk him into it. He wasn’t there when we first got the briefing – he doesn’t understand the risks. He just said yes because Echo and Tech did, and – do they think he can puppy-eye Hunter the best? Ugh.

Honestly.

All of them.

Cid is going into a long speech rant about how she can give us a future with this mission and blah-blah-blah. I’m not sold, but Hunter is, and honestly, I dunno how he’d be able to argue with all three of our brothers, anyway, so here we are.

Up against the Empire.

Against Crosshair.

Again.

***

And that, I think, was the first of a very, very long string of mistakes we all made. But sometimes, it takes the worst mistakes to lead you back to where you need to be, to lead you back home, even to the people and nightmares you fear the most.

***

I’m lounging in the back with Hunter, pointlessly twirling my knife in the same way he does. I’m totally not copying him. I’m just bored.

‘course that’s when Echo comes to the back, too. He’s scowling, and I – oh no. Not another argument, please. All my siblings wanna do anymore is argue. I don’t even remember what it was like to feel united anymore.

“I know why you agreed to this mission,” Echo says fiercely, “But we can do better things with Dooku’s fortune than hide, Hunter. With what we’re up against, we have to be prepared to fight. That means numbers and weapons.”

We? Who’s the we in this, Echo?