Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Give it back, and we can just both walk away.”

You twirled the rather large knife in your hand, “Hmmm, no.”

Hunter clenched his fists, “I said, hand it over.”

“And I said no.” You smirked underneath your mask, the only thing visible on your face were your eyes. Eyes so full of cockiness, determination and experience. “I gotta ask though, why so long?” You chuckled, “Compensating for something?” You flipped it back and forth in your hand, twirling it around your palm and the back of your hand. “Has good weight.” You smirked as you arched your brow, “If you know what I mean.”

“I don’t have time for your nonsense!” Hunter looked behind, sensing the Imperial troopers closing in, he let out a sigh, and before you even realized what was happening he tried to stun you.

Unfortunately, he missed thanks to your ability to sense when danger was imminent. Without even thinking your body back-handspringed away from the blue stun blast. “That was rude.”

“Listen, I need to get to my sister, and I don’t have time to mess around!” Hunter could hear Tech on his comms as he described Omega hanging from the tower.

“Your sister’s in trouble?” All teasing and flirting died on your lips as soon as you heard that.

“Yes!”

You nodded and tossed the knife back to the chiseled red-bandana wearing man in front of you, “Let me help.”

“No. You’ve helped enough.” His tone full of annoyance and frustration. He grabbed the knife and took off running towards Omega, ignoring the pang of regret from his tone. It wasn’t your fault, you didn’t know he was running to help Omega. Yet, the frustration from having to waste even a minute on you was more than enough to make him worry about Omega’s safety and that’s all that mattered.

His feet came to a sudden halt when you appeared in front of him with a speeder bike, “Hop on!”

“What?”

“Just … I feel bad, ok! Now shut up, and get on!”

He didn’t delay, jumping on the back of the speeder holding on to your waist tightly as you weaved through traffic.

“Where is she?” You shouted over the noise of the air rushing past your ears.

Hunter didn’t respond and simply pointed to the person dangling from the tower, as another helmeted person neared her position.

You sped up the speeder, you’d know Fennec’s helmet anywhere. You weaved and dodged against the oncoming traffic, almost as though you could see where and when the next vehicle was going to be turning or shifting. Your heart nearly dropped as you saw the tiny person slip, driving faster and more dangerous to catch her in time.

Hunter reached out his hand and grabbed a hold of Omega’s in midair, tossing her onto his lap, pinning her between the two of you. “You okay, back there?” You shouted to make sure everyone was safe as you saw Fennec jump down and commandeer a vehicle of her own chasing after the three of you.

“We’re fine. Get us out of here!” He shouted as he quickly checked over Omega to make sure she was uninjured and safe. He couldn’t see much from how she was clutching to his chest plate, but it didn’t seem like she was in pain either.

“You got this?”

“What?”

“I’m asking if you know how to drive a speeder?”

“Yeah! Why?” He didn’t clue in to what you were preparing to do until you flipped over him and landed on Fennec’s vehicle.

“Hey gorgeous!” You smirked as you looked at her.

“Ugh! Should’ve known you’d be here.” Fennec answered, rolling her eyes as she tried to keep her eyes on her target.

“Wasn’t supposed but I sort of owed him one. Back off.” You stood aiming your blaster into the hood.

“No can do, little Butterfly.”

Force you hated that nickname, somehow it had stuck among the bounty hunters and assassins, simply because you were quick and light on your feet. Dazzling them with your antics and before they even realized you slipped out of their sight, blending into the crowds more often than not.

“Fennec, I like you, but you need to back off!”

“What’s in it for you?”

“Nothing.”

“I’ll split the reward with you, if you help me capture the little girl.”

You tried to stay balanced as Fennec tilted the vehicle side to side, “You disappoint me, going after a child.”

“Jobs a job, honey.”

You shook your head, “I warned you,” you shot your blaster into her engine, jumping off onto a nearby transport, watching as her engine began to sputter. She jumped to safety standing on the closest terrace she could find, as she watched you and her target move further away. You jumped down, finding your way back to the ground, hoping from one transport to the next.

Once you touched solid ground, you looked back up to see Fennec turn and walk away. ‘Until next time, gorgeous.’ You mumbled as you headed back to the marketplace, before you even got five feet away, you felt your body jerk forward as tiny hands wrapped around your waist. You looked down to see the blonde girl, the rather striking man had rescued, his sister.

“Uh… thanks, kid. I think…” you giggled as you pulled her arms away from you.

“You saved me!” She beamed with a brilliant smile as she looked at you.

“I think your brother did that. I just drove.” You subtly shook your head, subtly moving away from the overwhelming bundle of joy.

“She has a point,” Hunter offered, “if you didn’t show up with a speeder when you did …” you could tell on his face he didn’t want to think about what might’ve happened.

“Listen, Fennec would’ve come up with something. She’s a bounty hunter, but she’s a fairly decent one. Anyway I’m glad you’re safe,” you patted the little girl’s head, “take care of yourself and your brother. Seems like he gets into trouble easily.” You turned to walk away when she gripped your fingers.

“Come with us.” She pleaded looking at you with big eyes that were asking for more than you were prepared to give, or have given to anyone since you could actually remember. It was nice to feel needed, but it was too much.

Hunter wanted to grab Omega and pull her away from this woman who showed up, and was constantly surprising and making him feel uneasy at every turn. “Omega, we don’t know her circumstances. She’s probably already committed to something else, right?” Hunter narrowed his eyes on the helmeted woman in front of him, not wanting her to take the invitation Omega offered.

You’ve seen that look a thousand times before. It said everything that really mattered, you weren’t welcome, and he wanted you to leave as soon as possible.

“Don’t worry,” you started keeping your eyes locked on the man standing behind Omega, “your brother is right, I’m … currently … occupied with other matters.” You smiled as you turned your attention to Omega, and kneeled before her, “Omega, right?”

She nodded, not letting your fingers go.

You smiled and pulled out a collapsable vibroblade, “This is Vala,” you flicked your wrist and opened the vibroblade, “my father gave me this when I was about your age, he told me ‘this galaxy is full of good and bad people. Sometimes the good outweighs the bad, and sometimes there are too many bad, you won’t be able to find a good one. Vala, will always be there to protect you.’” You turned her hand palm-up and placed the vibroblade in her tiny hand. “It will protect you. Ask your brother to train you on how to use it. Never rely on someone else to save you, in this galaxy, sometimes the only person you can count on is yourself. Take care, Omega.” You ruffled her hair one more time, before standing up and walking away without looking back.

It felt strangely comforting to be wanted, even if it was for a brief second.

“Wait!” Hunter shouted, causing you to turn around, “We left your speeder that way” he pointed over his shoulder, you couldn’t help laughing.

“Don’t worry about it, handsome, it’s not mine.” You smiled and walked away.

Omega turned to Hunter, a saddened smile on her face, “Why couldn’t she come with us?”

“Omega,” Hunter kneeled, “we don’t know who she is. Whether she can even be trusted? It’s best if she goes her way and we meet up with Wrecker, Echo and Tech.”

“But…”

“Omega, I know you have a good heart, but you’re too trusting. It’s best if we keep a low profile and avoid entangling ourselves with people we don’t know. Come on, we gotta meet back up with the others.”

He guided her back to the hangar trying to avoid the Pantoran police force and the troopers that seemed to be searching for someone.

Omega kept watching as one Pantoran guard held up a picture to a passerby, it was a picture of you. She pulled on Hunter’s sleeve and pointed to the Pantoran’s datapad.

“They’re looking for her.”

“We should go…” Hunter tightened his grip on her hand, but she refused to move.

“We have to help her.”

“We don’t know why they’re looking for her. She could be a wanted criminal or a murderer, a thief.”

“Hunter, please. She saved me, it’s the least we can do.”

He looked at the picture and commed Wrecker, “Wrecker, where are you?”

“Just entering the marketplace right now, why?”

“I need you to take Omega back to the ship, I …” he turned his head to look at Omega, “I have to repay someone who helped us get Omega back.”

Wrecker walked through the crowd faster than the others as people naturally moved out of his way, he stood in front of the both of them, tilting his head. “Who, you helping?”

“Don’t worry about it, just get Omega back to the ship and tell Tech we need to take off the minute I get back. Make sure Echo makes it back to the ship too. We may have to get out of here faster than expected.”

“Copy that” Wrecker picked up Omega and had her sitting on his shoulder as he headed back to the hangar with her.

Hunter could hear the comm chatter between Wrecker, Tech and Echo. He let out a huff and shook his head, this was just asking for trouble. He ran back, heading the way you were walking. It wasn’t long before he found you sitting at a cafe sipping on something warm.

“Came back to tell me you love me?” You teased him.

“Came back to tell you, you’re in danger.”

“Shocker.” You didn’t react or flinch, as you kept your eyes locked on the man’s eyes.

“I need to know, are you a murderer?”

“No.”

“Do you have a bounty on your head with some crime boss or something?”

“No.”

“Then get up” he grabbed your arm and forced you to stand, grabbing your helmet as he pulled you along, running behind him.

“Wait… hey!” You stopped in your tracks and pulled your arm out of his hold, “Who the hell do you think you are, pulling me like that? You know I have the right …” he put a hand over your mouth and pushed you into a darkened alley, hiding you with his body as a Pantoran patrol passed the two of you.

“They’re searching for you, and not just the police. The Imperial troopers are looking for you too.” He stepped away and handed you your helmet, “Listen, I don’t care what happens to you, but Omega was worried, and I’m not going to disappoint her. You’re warned. So you can either go back out there and try and avoid whatever trouble you got yourself into or…” he let out a sigh regretting the words that were about to come out of his mouth, “You can come with us and we can drop you off somewhere.”

“Us?”

“My brothers, Omega and myself.”

“Why are you helping?”

“Like I said, I don’t want to disappoint Omega. So what’s it going to be?”

You looked at him and then at the increased patrols you hadn’t realized were slowly filling up the streets, they all seemed to be looking for you. You closed your eyes and tapped your helmeted head against the wall, “Alright. I’ll trust you. Lead the way.”

He stepped closer to you, “I’m taking a chance on you, you put any of us in danger, and you and I are going to go another round, understood?”

You narrowed your eyes at him, “Fine. What do I call you anyway? Because I don’t think ‘stuck up jackass’ would work.”

“It’s Hunter, and what do I call you? Because I don’t think ‘crazy tooka’ works.”

You smirked as you looked at him, “You can just call me Butterfly. Hunter.”

“Fine. Now let’s go. Butterfly.”

“You know I’m not as bad as you think.”

“And hell is just a sauna, shut up and follow me.”

As much as you tried to fight the urge to smile, you couldn’t help but enjoy the banter you two had. You also couldn’t help but examine his physique as you followed behind him, moving around the crowd, ducking and avoiding capture until you made it to his ship.

Omega ran to you and hugged you again, “I knew he’d find you, come on. Let me show you inside.”

She gripped your hand and dragged you along. You weren’t looking for family, but … as you moved closer to the ship, there was a strange sense of belonging that came from meeting the rest of her brothers. For the first time in a long time, you felt at home.

Hunter watched you and the way Omega gripped your hand, as you introduced yourself to Wrecker, Tech and Echo. He had to admit, you were attractive, when he saw you without your helmet, he almost felt his tongue getting all tied up. Not to mention, the outfit you wore also drew attention to your physique which didn’t help. He didn’t know why but he had a feeling this could either be a really horrible idea, or it would be a very pleasant surprise.

Chapter Text

Months passed since you joined Omega and her brothers, at first things between you and Hunter were … well it wasn’t great. In fact, you could say, things were downright frosty, at times you were both ready to kill each other, and other times it was if you both were walking on the edge of a knife. Leaned too far one way or the other, you would’ve fallen over.

Maybe the animosity started when Echo suggested they go to Ord Mantell and get help from Cid. It had been the most ridiculous notion you ever heard, why would you go and seek help from someone Echo never even met? How could you trust this person? Maybe you should’ve kept your opinions to yourself, but that wasn’t you, especially when their decisions could’ve put you at risk.

“Are you crazy? You want to go and ask for help from someone you don’t even know!” You yelled after Tech eloquently pointed out that the Jedi who trusted this Cid are all dead. 

“You need to back off” Hunter stood facing you, “I don’t hear you offering any suggestions.”

“I can go on my own and meet Fennec, find out why she was after Omega.”

“And let you leave my sight? I don’t think so.” He clenched his fists by his side.

“You still don’t trust me?”

“Still? Was there ever a point where I actually did?” It wasn’t exactly that he didn’t trust you, it was the fact he didn’t know you and didn’t trust you. 

“If I was going to foul you up with Fennec, I would’ve done that on Pandora, buddy!” You poked him in his chest, narrowing your eyes at him. No one said anything, as the tension between the two of you grew. 

“She has a point.” Omega’s voice echoed off the comm links, everyone turned to look at her. You couldn’t help smirk at her adorable way of easing the tension. 

Things got icier after you met Cid, especially when you felt you were right about Cid, you had pulled Hunter aside, and told him as much before you all left to find this Muchi. 

“We need to find another way.”

“There is no other way.”

“There is, but you’re too stubborn to listen to reason.”

“Listen, Butterfly, I appreciate that you helped rescue Omega, and for some strange reason she’s fond of you. That is the only reason I’m giving you any slack, but you have no say in this; we’re going to rescue this Muchi, and that’s all there is to it.”

He stormed off back to the Marauder, as though that was the end of the conversation. However, you had a chance to further your point, when you were captured by the Zygerrian slave traders, and had to leave it to Omega to rescue you all.

“Oh what a great idea!” You mocked Hunter, as you sat beside Tech, “I know next time, I’ll walk up to a random stranger, and say hey random stranger, I'm looking for intel, why don’t you give me some weird task so you can give me that intel. Oh, did I mention I’m a gullible fool and have absolutely no faith you’re actually going to get the information I requested. Sounds like a deal?” 

You couldn’t hide your irritation, as you narrowed your eyes at Hunter. You did your best however, to keep your voice low as much as possible, especially since one of those traders was all too happy to use the electro-collar. 

“Can you not just stay quiet? I mean seriously, stop talking.” Hunter whispered back.

Neither of you noticed how the other three simply rolled their eyes at the both of you, or the fact they had a pool going as to how long it would be before something happened between you, either death or romance. 

“When I see someone make a bad decision, that impacts me directly …” you jostled your chained wrists, making a point that Hunter looked at your cuffs, “I tend to get cranky and pissed off.”

“Well you can leave at any time.”

You let out an annoyed laugh, “I’m not giving you the satisfactions, and until Omega tells me to leave, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.” You narrowed your eyes at him again, as handsome and rugged as he was, at that moment all you wanted to do was pull his hair. 

Maybe that’s why now, as you made the climb following Omega and Hunter, you couldn’t help but wonder if this was the right idea to head back to the ship. The Empire wasn’t far behind, despite blowing up the engine they were after all of you with a fury. The only saving grace was that they didn’t know who you were at this current moment otherwise things could have gotten worse for them. This is why you made a point not to get close to anyone, not to stay in one place for too long, something you tried to explain to the guys and Omega, when Cid offered her ‘mutually beneficial arrangement.’ You already knew it was a bad idea, you tried to convince them to not take up Cid’s offer, to keep moving, to not stay in one place but you were outvoted.

You sat at an outdoor cafe, drinking what was supposed to be ale, but you couldn’t exactly be sure. Either way, it was strong liquor and that’s all you needed at this moment. 

“Easy on that stuff.”

Force, his voice was starting to grate on your nerves, it was either ‘watch this’, ‘don’t do that’, you slammed the drink down on the table, looking up to meet Hunter’s eyes. “You know, surprisingly enough I’ve managed to survive all this time without you, no injuries, no issues, however, since I’ve met you, I’ve had to fight for my life with Fennec, run away from stormtroopers, deal with getting electrocuted by Zygerrian slavers, and … oh yes, having to deal with Cid. So thanks, but no thanks. I’m done listening to you.”

“Then leave.”

“I told you, I’m not leaving until Omega tells me to go.” There was that tension again, “Maybe, what you need to realize is that I have more experience in this universe than you do.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning, you’re going to get played by that woman! You need to get out now!”

“There seems to be a point you are not understanding,” he placed his hand beside your arm, the heat from his very large, very muscular and exceptionally strong hand radiating warmth through your arm, “You are a guest here, Butterfly, remember that. You’re not in charge, and if you don’t like how my family and I operate, then leave. However,” he leaned closer, his eyes piercing your own, the scent of his musk circling around you, “I will not have you acting like some spoiled child who doesn’t know how to communicate in front of Omega. For some reason she looks up to you, you will behave accordingly, and if you have a disagreement, you can either talk about it calmly or pull me aside out of earshot of everyone and behave like the insane crazy woman you are.”

You slowly stood, facing him, both your eyes locked in a show for dominance. 

“I think you’re intimidated by me, because heaven forbid, I’m smarter, more experienced, and more capable than you.”

“You think I’m intimidated by the likes of you?” 

The tension that seemed to appear at random between you two, seemed to have returned with force, as your eyes slowly drifted to his lips and back to his eyes. You didn’t move away, neither did he. It was as though the tension between the two of you overwhelmed and distorted reality. You pulled back, when a strange sensation shifted in your heart, it scared you. That’s not what you wanted or longed for; just because you may have trusted them to a certain extent, didn’t mean he deserved a space in your heart. 

“I don’t think, I know. But think whatever you want,” all the anger and frustration that had been building, seem to ebb away, “I’m telling you though, I’ve known people like Cid before; they’ll try to con you, and use you as long as it benefits them. The moment you’re no longer useful to her, that’s the moment she’ll turn on you.” You picked up your cup, and chugged back the rest of your drink wiping away the dribble, “You’ve been warned.” You slammed the cup down and walked away. 

Chapter Text

Now that you thought about it, those moments of you yelling at him probably weren’t the most productive moments between the two of you. You reached out and grabbed Omega’s hand when she slipped, as the three of you made your way back to the Marauder as quickly as you could, “You okay, M?”

“Yeah, my foot just slipped.” You watched as her whole body twitched, she was nervous. You kneeled down in front of her, while Hunter took a chance to scout out the way ahead.

“Look at me sweetie,” you tucked her hair behind her ear, something you’d done numerous times. She slowly met your eyes, the two of you had gotten closer ever since you joined. In a way, she was the daughter you always wished you could’ve had. She had your love and devotion, without even a second thought. All you wanted was to protect her, and make sure she was loved and cared for, you cursed your heart. It wasn’t supposed to get attached, that was the agreement you had made when you initially went on the run, it was safer for everyone. You let out a soft sigh, as you offered her a reassuring smile, “It’s going to be okay, love. I promise.”

“I know. It’s just … do you think Crosshair is okay? What if he’s hurt?”

“M, it’ll be okay. If he’s hurt, he’s got people to look out for him. It’s us we should be worried about, we still have a myriad of stormtroopers to avoid.” She nodded, not quite able to forget about Crosshair, you pressed a kiss to her forehead, “It’ll be alright.” You held out your hand to her, “Come on, sweetie.”

Hunter hated how much his eyes kept following you, it didn’t matter that half the time, you argued with each other, or that you frustrated him so much sometimes all he wanted to do was shut you up with his lips pressed against yours. However, watching you with Omega, how motherly and kind you were to her and the others, even if you couldn’t stand him, you certainly were able to get along with everyone else. Sometimes the way you acted, reminded him of a rancor, fiercely loyal and protective of those it loved, but ready to destroy anyone who even dared to hurt you or those you loved. Maybe that’s why things had always been difficult between you two? Because he put you in danger from the word ‘go’.

He let out a sigh, whatever thoughts or desires were confusingly roaming around his heart, weren’t likely to come to fruition. You both needed to keep your distances, and focus on the one thing that mattered the most to the both of you, Omega.

“We should keep moving” he called down to you and Omega. You nodded and helped Omega up the slope.

You watched as Hunter held out his hand for Omega helping her along the way. Despite his faults, of which he had many … okay maybe not that many, maybe a few. Okay, one. He had one fault. He thought he was always right. And sometimes he was … but a lot of times, he wasn’t. However, there was one thing that always pulled at your heartstrings no matter how annoyed you two were at each other, and that was how he looked after Omega.

Everyone was asleep, as you sat in the cockpit. You tried to sleep, but running into the two sisters who were actively fighting the Empire, made you begin to question everything. Here they were putting themselves in jeopardy, to do something to help the galaxy. Meanwhile, all you’d ever done was hurt it, and now you were trying to actively hide from the Empire like a coward.

You rubbed your forehead letting out a sigh, when you heard shuffling behind you. You turned to see Hunter tucking Omega in, making sure Lula was close to her. After having to run away from Wrecker when his chip activated, you weren’t surprised to see her fall asleep as quickly as she did, the stress and adrenaline from the day definitely wearing her thin. You watched as he brushed Omega’s hair off her forehead, making sure she wasn’t having trouble sleeping. You let out a sigh, why did he have to be so sweet? Why did he have to do things that made your heart flutter?

You turned away, shutting down the feelings that were trying to brew. You closed your eyes, resting your head against the headrest. You weren’t meant for a life filled with love, sweetness, and comfort. It was never in the cards for you, and you weren’t ready for how your heart kept pulling and clenching. It was time to seriously think about leaving, you were getting too comfortable and too attached.

“You alright?”

Hunter saw how meeting the two sisters threw you, it wasn’t just them though. It was hearing Rex’s account about what happened to his brothers, the chips that were in the clones brains; then the Jedi cruiser on Bracca, or more specifically the lab on the cruiser that made you uncomfortable. Something about being in a lab made you jumpy, made you nervous, he could smell your anxiety the moment you saw the lab.

“Hmmm?” You turned to look at Hunter, not quite hearing his question.

“Are you okay?” Hunter took a seat in the chair directly behind yours, leaning forward resting his elbows on his knees, his bandana covering the patch on the side of his head, as his eyes found yours.

“Why do you care?” You followed his movement leaning forward, resting your own elbows on your knees. You didn’t mean for your words to come out as rude as it sounded. It was a genuine question on your behalf, why would he care about you after all the hassle you gave him.

“You’re part of this crew, of course I’m gonna care regardless of how much you irritate me,” he smirked, “and you do irritate me.” You were thrown off by the fact he cared … the fact that anyone cared.

Hunter wasn’t blind, he could see something was bothering you, ”Butterfly, I … I don’t know what’s got you so shaken, but you can talk to me.”

“You’re better off not knowing.”

“What if I want to know?” He leaned closer, his fingers gently brushing against your own, almost by accident.

“Hunter, you can’t help me, and when you do one day find out what’s going on, you may not want me around anymore, and I’ll accept that. But not today, I - I don’t want to talk about it.”

He took a deep breath, as he reached his hand forward tucking your hair behind your ear, it always seemed to be unruly, sticking out the side of your head or clinging to your cheek, “You don’t have to be so strong all the time.”

“It’s not about being strong…” you leaned away from his hand, not wanting your heart to thump any harder or hope for more than it was. You let out a sigh, “Never mind, I should go rest.” You stood walking away from him burying the warm sensation in your heart deep down. As you walked past him, he reached out and grabbed your hand, holding it softly in his hand, getting you to look at him one more time.

“We’ve all done things we might not be proud of, doesn’t mean you’re alone. We’re here for you.”

You took in a deep breath as you looked at him, giving his hand a squeeze, “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Chapter Text

As the path towards the Marauder became steeper Hunter did his best to help Omega along, also reaching out to help you up along the dangerous path. You were hesitant at first when he held out his hand to you, but as soon as your hand touched his - - there was a feeling of warmth and acceptance, it almost overwhelmed you how comfortable and right it felt to be holding his gloved hand.

Despite how much he wanted to keep holding your hand, Hunter focused on leading the way, keeping both you and Omega behind him.

It was almost an hour later when all three of you finally reached the hang. He froze as soon he peered over the hangar’s ledge, you could tell from the way his back tensed, something was wrong.

The both of you slowly moved along the ledge to stand alongside him, as all three of you peered over the hangar’s ledge, your heart dropped as a cold sensation crawled up your spine at what you were seeing.

“That’s not good.” You whispered, your eyes meeting Hunter’s visor, your hand went to the blaster on your thigh, as you focused back on the hangar, making sure to take in the carnage before all of you.

You counted at least eight stormtroopers on the floor, dead from what you could estimate.

“What happened to them?” Omega asked her voice low, matching your own, as she looked around the hangar.

“Someone’s here” Hunter stated as he slowly lifted himself, he helped Omega up to the hangar level first, then he reached out his hand to you, guiding you up as well.

Obviously, this wasn’t the time to be having these sorts of realization, but oftentimes when lightning strikes it does so without warning, and it was at this moment when you realized, you didn’t want to ever let his hand go; despite the fact you slipped your hand out of his.

As you looked around, a sickening feeling settled in your stomach. You kneeled down and checked one of the downed troopers, the blaster shot, and the way they were killed ringing a familiarity with you.

“This wasn’t the scrappers’ handiwork,” you mumbled.

“Wasn’t much work.”

Your breath caught in your throat as you heard that familiar accent, your eyes slowly drifted up at the bounty hunter leaning against the entrance to the Marauder, you couldn’t see his face but you didn’t have to, you’d know that hat and voice anywhere. You straightened yourself, standing in front of Omega, Hunter shifted in front of the both of you, doing his best to protect you both.

“Omega. Get behind me.” It was all he said as he took a defensive stance, his hand hovering by his blaster. If you all weren’t in danger, you would’ve taken the time to appreciate the view, without him knowing.

However, the last thing you wanted was for Omega to lose Hunter, and that’s what would’ve happened if he faced the bounty hunter. You closed your eyes, and resolved to do the one thing you avoided for so long.

“Cad Bane” you called out to him, moving to stand in front of Hunter and Omega.

“Butterfly…” Hunter’s voice was low as he called out to you, you held out your hand to both him and Omega, telling them to stay put.

“Well if it isn’t my favourite slippery bounty. Long time, Butterfly.”

You took a shuddering breath nodding to his statement, “Who hired you?”

“Butterfly, you of all people know, that’s confidential information. Now hand her over. “

“She’s with us, and she’s not going anywhere.” Hunter defended, you turned to look at him, narrowing your eyes and shaking your head subtly.

“That’s unfortunate … for you” Cad moved his hand to his blaster. He was barely 30 feet in front of you. There was no doubt in your mind what his next move was, and you knew him too well to doubt his actions.

“Wait!” You held out your hands to Cad, you wanted to do what you could to protect Omega, you didn’t want her to have a life where she had to be looking over her shoulder, like you were, “Take me instead!”

“What are you doing?” Hunter growled out.

“Butterfly…” Omega’s voice was soft and full of fear.

“Bane, you know I’m more valuable than she is. I was the bounty that got away, right? Let’s make it right. Right here. It’s me they want anyways, you know it, and I know it.”

“What are you talking about?” Hunter asked, growing more concerned about what you were about to do.

“Cad, you know a genetic scientist on the run from the Empire is always worth more than a little girl. Come on Cad, it’s a good trade. Prove to everyone else you’re not just a kidnapper of children.”

Hunter had enough, he grabbed your arm and spun you around, “What the hell are you doing? I’m not losing either of you.”

You took a shuddering breath as you gently pressed your hand against his helmeted cheek, “I … I did something unforgivable, Hunter; and if this can help save her ... I have to try. Allow me to make up for my past mistakes, please…”

Before Hunter could even answer you, Cad agreed.

“You got yourself a deal, darlin’. But I don’t have all day. We have a schedule to keep.”

“Alright just … five minutes. Just give me five minutes, please” you looked at Cad pulling your hand away from Hunter’s helmeted cheek. Bane simply narrowed his eyes but nodded reluctantly.

You took in a deep breath, and gave a quick nod, focusing back on Hunter and Omega, “I used to be a scientist on Coruscant. One of my assignments was seeing if I could transfer M-cells into a person who has no M-count.”

“What’s an M-cell?” Omega asked.

“I don’t have time to go into it, but Tech can explain. Long story short, I figured out a way to artificially give some the ability to be force sensitive, but when I realized how big of a mistake I made it was too late. I did the only thing I could, I destroyed all my research and samples. Burned down the lab in fact. I’ve been on the run ever since.”

You wished you could explain in more detail, you wished you could tell them you weren’t a bad person, you simply had been blinded by the science of everything. You wish you had more time to spend with Omega, and to have one last meaningful conversation with Hunter. However, Bane was a stickler for a time, the longer you took the more his patience was wearing thin.

You kneeled down, and looked Omega in the eyes, “I’ve done a lot of things wrong, M. A lot. Let me do one thing right. Let me give you a future.” You pressed a kiss to Omega’s forehead lingering as you held her close, “Thank you for inviting me into your family. It was nice to feel wanted.” You pulled Omega into a tight hug, “Look after your brothers, keep practicing with Vala.”

You moved away from her not wanting to see the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. You took a shuddering breath, as you stood face-to-face with Hunter, cupping his helmeted cheeks.

“I told you it was better if you didn’t know.”

“Don’t do this,” his hands rested on your shoulders, “we can figure something out, just … don’t - don’t go…”

You smiled as you tilted your head, pressing a kiss to his helmet where his mouth would be, “Don’t let her feel guilt over this, it’s no one’s fault. It’s my decision.”

You walked away from them, your hand lingering for as long as it could as it glided down Hunter’s arm, until all you could feel was the tip of his fingers before you let go completely, not looking back.

Hunter watched as the bounty hunter clamped cuffs on you, his heart broke, all this time, all the arguing and he just realized how much you truly meant to him, how much he needed you by his side.

“NO! You can’t take her!” He pulled out his blaster, but as fast as Hunter was, Bane was faster.

Before you even registered what happened, all you could see was Hunter on the ground, as smoke rose from his chest.

You and Omega screamed for Hunter, you kept screaming and watching as Bane dragged you away, leaving Omega alone as she shook Hunter repeatedly, calling his name with desperation as she tried to wake him up.