Febuwhump 2024 - Tumblr Posts

Februwhump Day 1: Helpless

Fandom: Star Wars Rebels

Summary: Kanan opens up about 66.

  It was time. Kanan had never told anyone about order 66. He sat down with Hera and sighed. "Hey love, how are you doing?"

    Kanan didn't answer. He looked at her.

    "I know today is hard on you. Just let me know if you need anything." She stood, assuming like every year, he wanted to be alone.

    "I felt helpless." He spoke. "I was helpless."

    Hera turned around and sat back down in the pilot's chair. She watched Kanan as he shifted, trying to make himself more comfortable.

    "When they killed my master, I had been walking with a few clones. The group was called the bad batch. They had some genetic mutations. That's probably what saved me." Tears already threatened to spill from his eyes.

    "I heard shots. I turned around and the men were trying to kill her. I- I ran. She told me to. It was the last thing she ever said. The bad batch had ignored the order, other than one. They let me go."

    The Jedi looked up at Hera for the first time since he started talking. "I was helpless. From then until I met you, I felt so helpless. It was like I couldn't get control of my own life. Rather it was the alcohol or the memories, I just couldn't."

    The pilot grabbed Kanan's hand gently. "It's okay."

    "I've only felt that helpless a few times. I watched her die Hera. I couldn't save her. I felt that way when Ezra fell back when the Grand Inquisitor died. I thought-" his voice broke. "I can't do that again."

    Tears fell down his face. Hera pulled him into a hug. They stayed there for a minute before Kanan pulled back. "I feel helpless to fate."

    "It's going to be okay."

    "Okay."

Februwhump Day 2: "I Love You" (Alt Prompt 2)

Fandom: EPIC the musical

Summary: Polites fell in love with his captain. The problem is Odysseus is happily married. So he'll just love his from the side.

    Polites knew this wouldn't end the way he wanted it to. He knew when he had started to develop feelings for his captain that it would end badly. Polites had never been good at hiding his feelings. He knew that Odysseus would never love him the way that he loved him.

    The war was over. It ended when the city of Troy burned. Ten long years had passed. It felt longer and shorter than it really was. Polites hated watching Odysseus suffer. He knew he missed his wife and son.

    On the ship, the man paced around the deck. He wounded what to do about his feelings and how he would manage them. Telling the caption would result in the end of their friendship and that was so dear to him that he couldn't risk it.

    Odysseus was his best friend. He was more than just his best friend. Polites saw a different light than the rest. He couldn't help but love him. There was just something so, imperfectly perfect about him.

    When Odysseus had told him to come with him to the island to scout for food, he panicked slightly. But the two left regardless. It was dawn and the sky lingered with the colors of the sunrise. the light shown of Odysseus in a way that made Polites freeze.

    They walked around the island. They walked over a river using a tree that had fallen. There were willow trees and large clearings filled with flowers. But somehow Polites couldn't take his eyes off of Odysseus.

    Polites had started to talk to his captain. He told him about how greeting the world was a brave thing to do and how kindness could help them. He talked about how he knew he was suffering and how he didn't want him to do so in silence.

    Then they met the Lotas Eaters. Odysseus slowly got the message of kindness and faces them with words not violents. Polites was proud. He smiled as the Lotas Eaters told them about a cave that was east of them and how to get there. They thanked them and were in their way.

    The man hated how being in love with someone you could never have felt. Polites didn't hate much, but this, this he hated.

    The two stopped at a willow tree to rest. It seemed their conversation about greeting the work with open arms helped. Odysseus placed a birds nest that had fallen out of the tree back within the branches.

    "I love you" Polites whispered. He hadn't meant to say it out loud. He watched as Odysseus paused as he stood and how he turned around to face him.

    That was it. Of course he had to go and say something stupid. Of course he opened him mouth. Now he wouldn't have him at all. It was better to be friends then nothing. He didn't want to lose him.

    "What?" He asked.

    "I didn't, I didn't mean-"

    "Polites, I-"

    "Don't" Polites smiled softly. "I already know what you're going to say. I didn't mean to tell you. I'm sorry."

    Odysseus just stood there. He wasn't sure what to say. He turned around to make sure the bird's nest was safely in the tree. "I love you, just not how you want me to."

    "I'm fine with being friends. I didn't want to fall for you captain. It's like you tripped me" Polites chuckled. "I don't want to lose you."

    Odysseus turned around and walked  close to Polites. He stood not even a foot away. He looked into his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

    "It's okay. It's good actually. I'm glad your wife has you. She deserves someone like you."

    "Polites" he looked away for a moment. This hadn't happened before. Ever. He had never had a man in love with him. Let alone his best friend.

    Polites pushed himself on his toes and grabbed Odysseus's cheeks. He pulled his head down a little and kissed him on the forehead. "Let's get back to the ship. The men are waiting."

    Then he walked away. Odysseus followed him. "Polites let's talk about this."

    "Captain there's nothing to talk about. I love you and knowing that you love me in some way is enough for me. I'm not asking you to love me back."

    "I know. I'm sorry."

    "For?" Odysseus stopped him.

    "For not loving you the way you desire, the way you deserve." He sighed. "Friends?"

    Polites smiled softly. It hurt more than he had thought. Nothing could have prepared him for his captain's reaction. He felt so bad for not loving him. He wasn't mad or disgusted. "Friends."

Febuwhump Day 3: "Bite Down on This"

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Summary: Omega is injured and imperials are around. Hunter is trying to help her with the pain as well as keep her quiet.

  Hunter had always been scared of Omega getting hurt. As he got to know her, he knew that he could only handle it so well. She was his little sister but he felt so much like her father. He never even knew he could feel like a father.

    But now he was faced with that. He hadn't been keen on being her on the mission. Phee had said she would keep an eye on her but the girl snuck aboard.  Now she was in front of Hunter, bleeding.

    The clone looked around. Omega was sobbing. Hunter recounted everything that had brought them to this moment, trying to make sense of any of it. A mission for Cid. One bounty hunter with a determination to 'win' and one explosion later his little girl was hurt.

    Now he looked back at her. "Hunter, imperials are heading to the site of the explosion. Be careful." Tech warned. He didn't answer him. Instead he looked around and tried to find an answer.

    Taking off a piece of his armor, he tore a part of his undershirt off. He balled it up and held it to Omega's mouth. "bite down on this."

    Fear rushed over Omega. "Hunter" she said. Her continued to cry as she took the cloth in her mouth.

    Hunter held her wound carefully. The glass was still in her side. He took torn pieces of his clothes and placed them by the glass. He pressed on her side and she yelled. "I know. I'm sorry." He's voice shook.

     The black fabric hid the blood that had started to poll in Omega's mouth. All Hunter could hear was her cries. He tried to listen for the imperials but his mind betrayed him.

    Omega started to cough. She squeezed Hunter's hand as she tried to stay quiet. The man brought his comm up to his face and spoke softly. "Omega's down" he started, "sending you our location." Then he turned off his comm.

    Now Hunter could hear the radios of the enemy. He looked at Omega and realized that the cloth she had been biting down on was filled with blood. He panicked and took it out of her mouth. Her cries became less muffled.

    The man placed a hand over her mouth for a moment. "I know. I'm sorry. You'll be okay." She looked confused.

    Hunter felt like he was going to cry. He didn't want to scare her. If he cried now, she would worry and that was the last thing he needed.

    "You'll be okay." Hunter tried to remain calm. He felt her blood on his hand and realized they didn't have time. Now he didn't care who found them. The empire wanted Omega and alive so if they found them, they would at least take care of her.

    Even if that meant they killed him. She needed help. The voices grew closer. "Over here!" One called.

    Hunter sighed. He had faced things like this before. He grabbed his gun and got ready to fire. As troopers turned the corner they were gunned down by Echo and Tech. Wrecker followed ise behind.

    "We're here." Echo said. Wrecker took one look at Omega and teared up. He placed a hand on Echo's shoulder to steady himself. Tech assessed the girls injuries and Echo took Hunter back.

    "Echo" Hunter spoke. Echo just took him into his arms.

    "She'll be okay."

    Tech picked Omega up and started to walk. "We need to get back to the Marauder."

    The family made their way to the ship and Tech started to tend to his sisters wounds. Later in the evening he would emerge from his room. "She'll be fine."

    "See. I told you."

    Hunter sighed. "Thank you, Tech." He walked back to be with her and sat beside her. He looked at her and rested his arms on his knees. At least she was alright.

Febuwhump Day 4: Obedience

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Summary: It takes place when Wreckers inhibitor chip activated.

  Inhibitor chips were scary. That's how Wrecker saw it. In a simple form at least. He saw them for more then just that. They were inhumane. They were cruel. They were so many things that it was hard to comprehend them.

    But at least his never activated. When Rex had showed up and had told them that he knew where to get them removed, the batch followed. They knew it was dangerous. The chips made them a danger to their loved ones.

    Then it happened. Wrecker hadn't thought his headaches were a big deal. He looked at his family and suddenly it didn't matter that there were his family, that he cared about them. He blindly obeyed the chips orders.

    Never once did he think he was wrong. It was like his mind had been taken over completely. The men in front of him may be his family but they were traitors. The girl may be his sister but she needed to be brought back to Kamino. She never should have left.

    Someone else had grabbed the rains. Wrecker had never been one to blindly obey orders but now he couldn't stop himself.

    They tried to stop him. Tech laid still on the ground from where the man had choked him. Hunter and Echo seemed nervous to hurt him. They tried to see if Tech was okay but couldn't make their way towards him.

    Rex didn't seem to pay attention to who Wrecker was. He was a man under a terrible influence. He didn't want him dead but he didn't want him close.

    Trying to get close seemed dangerous. The group tried to get Wrecker's gun away from him. Hunter yelled for Echo to get Omega out of there, just in case.

    The man did as he was told.

    Soon they would have him under control. Not before he knocked Hunter out and pinned Echo. Rex had been thrown aside and Omega had been cornered before Rex stunned him.

    When Wrecker woke up, he felt the shame. The memories of what he had done to his family haunted him. He couldn't look them in the eyes. It almost physically hurt.

    Tech's neck was bruised. There were dents in Echo's legs. Hunter seemed to have a sensitivity to light he didn't normally have. Omega was close to him, trying to comfort him. Rex seemed mostly unfazed.

    As the others started to get their chips removed, Wrecker wondered if this is how Crosshair feels. The blind obedience was something that, once out of it, wouldn't haunt you.

    It was like the worst kind of manipulation. You can't see through it. You're so loyal to your family and then, in an instant, all those years don't matter. It was the worst feeling. That guilt wouldn't go away. At least the chip was gone. 

Febuwhump Day 5: Last Words (Alt Prompt 7)

Fandom: Star Wars The Clone Wars

Warning: character death.

Summary: Obi-wan is tired of listening to people's last words. First his master, then his first love. As he wakes up from a starship crash he begins to fear hearing Anakin's too.

  "Train the boy." That's what Qui-gon had told Obi-wan. That was his last words. "Train the boy."

    "Remember dear Obi-wan, I loved you always, I always will." Satine had told him as she laid in his arms, dying.

    As Anakin and him laid on the ground, in the aftermath of a crash, Obi-wan feared what was next. The two had been on another Jedi's cruiser. They had been sent to help him. Instead they were shot down.

    When awoke he tried to find Anakin first. He looked around. He had to be close. They had been talking when they crashed.

    There he was. Then he looked down at himself. He could feel all of him limbs, which was good. Blood ran from his injuries, a seemingly broken right leg, multiple lacerations and bruises, and he could feel the warmth of blood on his face. His body ached as he started to move.

    As Anakin started to shift, Obi-wan sighed. At least he was alive. He sat beside him for a moment, watching him move and breathe. When he regained consciousness the first thing he heard was his old master asking him if he was okay.

    The world was foggy. Anakin was in a world of pain, and fog. "Maybe" he answered. Obi-wan shook his head.

    "Okay." The Jedi looked around again. There were a few people in the room with them. None of them seemed to be moving. So he turned his attention back to Anakin.

    "I don't feel good" Anakin spoke.

    It had been a while since Obi-wan had heard that. It had been since the boy had been a Padawan. That felt like yesterday. But today Anakin was bleeding and in pain.

    "You'll be fine."

    Anakin started to look around. He looked at his own body, then at Obi-wan, then at the others. He wondered where the others where and why the room seemed to be getting darker. Everything felt fuzzy. The man looked back to himself. His mouth tasted salty.

    Looking around, Obi-wan tried to find something that could help them. He could smell the smoke and realized just how loud the alarms were. He tried to calm the Jedi they were with but he only got static in return. He figured that was all he would be getting.

    "Obi-wan?"

    "Yes Anakin?" Fear dove into Obi-wan's heart.

    "I don't think I'm okay." Anakin coughed, blood leaving his mouth.

    That wasn't good. "Just hold on." Obi-wan tried his comm again. He tried to reach out to the commander of the ship or maybe to the medic. The message went through, but there was no answer.

    "I'm just gonna start talking okay? I need you to do something for me. I need you to take Ashoka. Tell her-"

    "I won't do it again. I won't listen to last words again. I've done it to maybe times. I'm tired of it. So don't die. Please just, just stay alive." Tears welling in Obi-wan's eyes. "I don't want to lose you too."

    "Tell her I loved her, that she did good. Tell Padme I love her. Tell her I'm sorry for not coming home and that I'm sorry I can't meet my kid." It got harder to breathe. The room got darker and some pain started to subsided. Anakin knew he was dying. There was nothing he could do to stop it.

    "You don't listen very well." Obi-wan held Anakin's hand. "I'm not listening to dying words again so you can't die. Tell them yourself when we get home."

    "Tell Rex he's the best friend I could have asked for. Make sure the 501st gets the best Jedi they could." Anakin coughed again. More blood came out than last time.

    "Stop that. Stop it" Obi-wan cried. "I won't do this again. I-I can't."

    "Obi-wan" Anakin breathed "I'm sorry."

    "For?"

    "Making you do this again" he whispered. "you're the best master, brother, I could have asked for." Anakin's voice started to quite. "I love y-" his voice faded with his life.

    "Anakin?" Obi-wan started to shake him a little. He knew the truth but couldn't face it. "Anakin get up. Get up."

    In the hall soldiers tried to get the door open. They pressed pieces of metal in-between the doors to try and pry it open.

    "Train the boy."

    "Remember dear Obi-wan, I loved you always, I always will."

    "I love you."

    Obi-wan couldn't do it again. "Anakin. Get. Up." He grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. He sobbed. He had never been able to cry when he lost them. Sure later, but never then.

   "Train the boy."

    "I loved you always, I always will."

    "I love you."

    The words haunted him. They always would.

    How could he lose three of the most important people in his life? How did he look at Padme and tell her that Anakin would never be coming home? How should he look at Ashoka knowing that they have both lost a brother and how could he look at Rex and tell him?

    The door was finally opened. A few troopers came through the doorway. They were stunned to see the sight in front of them.

    "General?" The commander asked.

    "I'm sorry Anakin. I love you too. I'm sorry." Obi-wan whispered.

    "Commander, none of them are alive. Just the general" whispered the medic of the battalion. "We need to get out of here. Do you grab him?"

    "Not yet. Give him some time." The officer gestured to him, "were not the only ones who lost someone today."

    The clones stood there for a moment before Commander Bandit walked over to the grieving man. "General." Obi-wan jumped. He turned around to see a few soldiers.

    "Oh" it took a moment before he stopped crying. "I'm sorry commander." He almost felt embarrassed. "Are there more survivors?"

    Bandit nodded. He put his hands on the general's shoulders and gave him a hug. "It will be okay."

    When the end of the mission came, Obi-wan was sent back to the temple. He left to find Padme as soon as he was cleared medically. When he got to her home, he stood outside the door for a long time.

    The door opened. Padme had in a nice dress, though Obi-wan wasn't sure where he was going. "Oh Obi-wan. What a nice surprise." She looked at him a little longer, "what happened? Come in."

    Obi-wan did as he was told. He sat on a chair by the door and sighed, "Padme, I have to tell you something."

    "Is everything okay?" She asked. Obi-wan knew he was about to destroy her.

    "No. I'm sorry but Anakin, Anakin's" the word would leave his mouth. He sighed. "Anakin's gone I'm sorry."

    So he held her as she cried. It felt like hours but it was hours he didn't mind spending.

    Eventually she let go. "He had a few things for me to to tell you." Obi-wan started by explaining what had happened. "He told me to tell you that he loves you. I love her. He said that he's sorry he can't meet your kid and that he's sorry for not coming home."

    Padme nodded. "I'm going to call Bail. I might stay with a friend for a while." She stood, "thank you for telling me." She gave him a hug.

    Obi-wan just stood. He hugged her back. Then he said his goodbyes and let for the temple. There was some else he needed to talk.

    On the way the Jedi commed Master Yoda. "Master? Do you have moment?"

    "I do. Sorry about young Skywalker, I am. Close you were."

    "Thank you master. I need to talk to you about the 501st. I need the Jedi general to be run last me. I promised Anakin that they would safe."

    "Make sure you can, I will. Safe they will be."

    "Thank you master." He ended the transmission and continued his walk to the temple.

    There he found Rex and Ashoka. He told them together. "Rex" the Jedi's voice shook, he wanted me to tell you something. He said that you were the best friend he could have asked for.."

    Rex smiled sadly. "He was my best friend too."

    "Ashoka, he wanted me to keep teaching you. He said that he loved you." Ashoka grabbed Obi-wan, "he said that you did go." She cried as he held her. "We'll be okay."

    "I know I just miss him that's all."

    "Me too."

Febuwhump Day 6: "You Lied to Me."

Fandom: The Bad Batch

Summary: Echo promises Hunter that he'll be okay facing Tantiss

  "I'll be fine." That's what Echo had told Hunter when he asked how Echo was going to handle the mission.

    "Are you sure?" Hunter knew this would be hard. An experimental facility with clones who had all faced something similar to Echo's own trauma. Everything seemed to be very uncomfortable for him. Every time they learned more about the facility, he seemed to find a way to leave the room.

    "I'm sure." The truth was, Echo wasn't sure. He knew they needed the numbers and after Crosshair had taken part of his rescue, he felt like he owed him at least that. The thought of seeing someone he knew frightened him. But he had to go. Omega would be waiting.

    So they gathered some of Rex and Echo's crew. They had planned their attack and the mission down to every minute. Tech would have been proud of the plan. There was no room for error.

    On the ship Hunter checked in with Echo again. He walked around the shop and waited to arrive. Playing a waiting game was something the batch used to be good at. Now a waiting game was almost agonizing.

    Upon their arrival, the batch, as well as Phee, Rex and a few others, split up. Each group went their separate ways. Hunter went with Echo and Rex while Wrecker went with Phee and some others.

    As the batch maneuvered around the facility, Echo got more and more nervous. Even if there were few similarities between Tantiss and Skako Minor, the eerie feeling of the halls haunted him.

    "We go in one three" Hunter spoke. "One" Echo started to regret coming. But he owed it to his family. "Two." He tried to prepare himself for what could be on the other side of the door.

    "Three."

    Rex opened the door. Inside Crosshair laid on a metal table. He was strapped down. Hunter ran over to him and Rex started to undo the straps. Echo froze. He took a deep breath and then walked over as well.

    Crosshair was awake. He sat up slowly as the last strap was undone. "It's okay" Rex tried to comfort him.

    Slowly they prepared their brother for moving. Rex took him and helped him walk. "I'll get him to the ship. Can you two take care of it until I get back?" If anything was going to happen to Crosshair, Rex was not going to let that rest in their shoulders.

    "Got it Rex." Hunter led Echo out of the room. They continued to go down the hall. "Wrecker, any word on the prisoner logs?"

    "Yep. We found them. There's quite a few regs here." Wrecker sounded uneasy.

    "Got it."

    "We are gonna need help to get them out Hunter. Rex had called back up. They aren't far but we'll need to kill some time."

    "Start taking some of the regs to the Marauder.

    "Okay."

    Hunter turned to look at Echo. "We start taking down 'medical' rooms."

    Echo nodded. The two went to find the rooms. It didn't take long to find one. When they entered the room, the arc trooper froze in the door. He didn't think he could move.

    Hunter pulled him inside. He didn't say anything as he looked around the room. Echo walked towards the table in the middle of the room. He looked around and tried to find something to do. But when he saw the needles he flew back. Tripping on his own metal feet, he fell to the ground.

    The man's breathing quickened. Hunter abandoned him spot in the room and kneeled down beside him. "Echo" he said. His tone was a lot kinder than he expected.

    Staying in the room seemed impossible. Echo stood, panicked. He went for the door. Hunter tried to stop him but he was in the hall before he could do anything. 

    The Sargent watched him fall. He heard the gun shot that he prayed hadn't killed him. "Echo" he whispered. The man moved slightly. Without another thought, Hunter went into the hall and pulled his brother back into the room.

    "You lied to me." Hunter couldn't think. "You lied to me." Echo just listened to him. He couldn't say anything. He was right, he had lied.

    As Echo faded in and out of consciousness he listened to Hunter mutter to himself. "You lied. You did you would be fine. You lied to me."

    Echo knew he lied to him. He knew that. He shouldn't have gone. Maybe he should have taken Crosshair back or maybe he should have just let Hunter sit with him when he started to panic.

    "I'm not going to let you lie to me. You're going to be fine. You'll be fine."

    "You lied." The world went dark as Hunter spoke.

    Time passed. Hunter took Echo to the ship and faced Tantiss. Soon the reinforcements arrived. With minimal casualties, the clones escaped hell.

    The lights near where Echo laid was dim. Hunter spent most of his time around him and around Omega and Crosshair. The feeling of responsibility weighed heavily on him. He laid his arms on the bed. Then he placed his head in his arms. "you lied to me."

Febuwhump Day 8: "Why Won't it Stop?"

Fandom: The Bad Batch

Warning: Character Injury

Summary: Hunter is injured while trying to flee some imperials. Omega is trying to help him.

  Blood was something the bad batch didn't shy away from. They had seen their fair share of it. It was a strange thing to be mostly used to. Every now and again it would hit them that they really weren't all that different then the other living beings on that field.

    However Omega was not used to the crimson liquid flowing outside of the body. The war was over. Yet a whole other fight had begun the moment the clones pulled the trigger.

    The batch was fighting a different fight then most. Or maybe they were fighting the same fight most every family was, protecting each other.

    For Hunter, he was protecting his vod'ikas, ori'vod, and ad'ika. That's what he was fighting for. Not that he really had much a choice. With bounty hunters after Omega and Crosshair after the rest of them, fighting was one inevitable.

    When the empire caught up to them on a mission for Cid, they knew the mission would be difficult. The empire made everything difficult. Avoiding them was difficult.

    Hunter had heard them coming. He looked over at his brothers and motioned for them to be ready for an attack. Then he grabbed Omega and pulled both of them behind a nearby wall.

    As the imperials terned the corner, Hunter turned his focus to a way out. They were cornered, yet. Hunter wanted it to stay that way. Shots were fired. The batch returned fire.

    The imperials fell and the family got ready to move. The Sargent had looked around the corner. He had his arm near Omega to protect her. More soldiers flooded into the previously crowded streets. The man tried to go back behind the building, but he as to late. A bullet ripped though his lower abdomen and Hunter fell to the pavement.

    "Hunter!" Omega screamed. She ran to his side and dragged him back behind the towering apartment building. Taking his helmet off, she set it beside them. The older clones hands covered the wound. He seemed almost distant or lost.

    The girl knew what to do, she really did. But everything she thought she knew fled her mind. She pressed her little hands over his and tried to hold pressure on the wound. Tears came to the corners of her eyes.

    Blood flowed out of the gunshot wound. It trickled over his body like rivers that lead to lakes. Puddles started to form as he lost more blood.

    "Why won't it stop?" Omega squeaked. The girl cried as she kept holding the wound. Hitting her comm, she called for her brothers. Frantically she tried to find ways to keep Hunter's blood inside of him.

    "Stop, come on stop" she pleaded. "Why won't it stop?" Hunter wanted to comfort her. More than anything he wanted to tell her that it would be okay. That at some point he would stop bleeding and things would be fine.

    It was warm. The blood that ran over him was warm compared to the chilly day. Omega's words hurt. He opened his mouth to speak but just couldn't. The girl kept pressing on his side, whispering to herself, "why can't I get it to stop?"

    The two listened to footsteps that were growing closer to them. Even almost unconscious, Hunter could tell who it was. Tech kneeled down beside the two. Wrecker and Echo covered him as he prepared to move his brother.

    "I can't get it to stop. He just keeps bleeding." The girl cried.

    "It will be alright, probably." Tech tried to comfort her. The family moved back. The strongest of the group grabbed Hunter. Echo led them back to the Marauder, where Tech could better assist Hunter.

    The Marauder was almost silent. The only noise was the sound of the ship's engine and Tech talking to Wrecker every now and again. He asked for different medical instruments. Without a word, Wrecker would hand them to him.

    Slowly Hunter recovered. He almost felt like a fool for getting shot. Mostly, he just felt bad for stressing out Omega. She was so worried and he never wanted her to feel that way again.

Febuwhump Day 10: Killing in self defense

Fandom: The Bad Batch.

Warning: Cannon typical violence and character death.

Summary: The regs never liked the batch but Tech didn't think they would try to kill him for being different.

Note: This takes place before the war. They are teenagers.

    Regs had always hated clone force 99. They started to think they always would. That didn't bother the group of clones anymore. The cruel treatment that the 'defective' clone reserved from people who were supposed to be their brothers, never seemed to stop.

    It was a beautiful day in Kamino. One of the few they had since it was always raining. The sky was a pretty shade of blue. So to make the most of the day, and because Hunter wanted him to get some fresh air if he was going to keep reading, Tech went outside. He didn't regret his choice, even if it was slightly chilly. It may have been a nice day but that didn't mean the wind wouldn't be blowing.

    Whispers seemed to follow the batch. It made sense, at least in Tech's mind. The regs would not be used to seeing people who were different then them. They were defective in the regs eyes. People tended to be scared of the unknown and they were beings that confused the others.

    Tech didn't blame them for being nervous around them. He did however blame them for the treatment they gave them. It was unfair. Even if he understood where it came from, they didn't deserve it.

     Sitting against a wall near the side of the city, Tech read up on the different species of fish that were native to Kamino. It was fascinating to learn just how many there were.

"Oh look!" A slightly older reg laughed. "It's a member of the sad batch!"

"Yeah!" The other two clones that were with him agreed. Tech ignored them. He had fish to read up on.

"Should we show him where he belongs?" The leader smirked. The other two boys nodded and they started to walk towards him.

"Can I help you?" Tech finally asked.

"Grab him!" The older boy ordered. So the other two went to.

Sighing, Tech slid his data pad further into the deck and ducked under them. Standing, he turned around. He didn't want to find out 'where he belonged'. As soon as he turned his back on the boys, they grabbed him. "Let go of me" Tech said as he kicked at them.

They took him closer to the side. Wiggling his way out of there arms, Tech once more tried to escape. This time the older boy tripped him. He fell to the metal. Fixing his goggles, Tech turned around and went to get up. Instead a harsh kick met his side. He cried out in pain and tried to move away from them. "Leave me alone" he begged.

They didn't stop. It started with the kick to the side, but it's didn't stop there. They forced him from the ground and continued to beat him. Tech wasn't helpless, he was just weaker. Knowing how to beat them was what he was supposed to be good at. However the fear and pain kept him from thinking straight.

When the shoved Tech to the ground, he was bloody and bruised. Every part of him hurt. It was a nice day. So why wasn't anyone around? Why was he alone? It had been a nice day and weather wise, it still was.

The leader of the group motioned from the other two to hold him. They picked him up. The clone grabbed Tech's bruised face. ""Someone should have put you down a long time ago, defect."

True fear filled Tech's heart as the regs threw him to the side. The metal burned him as he just barely grabbed the side of the deck. A foot came down on his fingers and suddenly he was just handing on by one hand. Fearful tears fell from his eyes, gathering in his googles. He grabbed the leg of the older clones who had stomped on his hand and pulled himself up.

When the reg grabbed a large piece of metal from the landing zone and tried to hit him with it, Tech kicked his knee in from the ground. The clone lost his balance and fell to the deck. Then, Tech forced him off the side of the city, dooming him to a watery demise. He listened to the clone scream as he fell then they all heard the splash as he fell in the water.

"You just fucking killed him!" The regs took a step back. "Murderer!" They screamed at him.

"He was going to kill me." Tech breathed. Taking off his googles, he set them beside him. The clones kept stepping back.

There was a dead child in the water. A man Tech had killed. Yes, he had to. Yes, he was going to die if he hadn't. But that didn't change the fact that he had just killed an adolescent. Tech started to breathe harder then he was before. He had just killed someone.

Hunter ran out to his brother. He first tried to make sure he was okay. Crosshair and Wrecker stepped in-between the two groups. "I was walking around and heard what was going on. I got here as soon as I could. Are you okay?"

"He murdered Jimmy!" The clone on the left yelled. Wrecker looked back at Tech.

"Yeah sure" Crosshair scoffed.

"Get out of here!" Wrecker demanded, shoving one of the boys. They ran away from the scene. "They shouldn't be bothering you anymore.

It was silent other than the crashing of waves and Tech's sobs. "What happened?" Hunter asked.

But Tech couldn't talk. No words come out. He tried to explain but trying to talk seemed impossible. So instead they sat there. Hunter held Tech as he grappled with what he had done.

The oldest boy looked up from his place on the ground. They were 14 yet they already had to defend themselves from people who wanted them dead. That wasn't supposed to happen for at least four more years or whenever the war was to start.

What a way to live. What a waste of childhood.

@febuwhump

Febuwhump Day 11: Time Loop

Fandom: The Bad Batch

Summary: Hunter keeps reliving the day Tech died and Omega was taken, desperately trying to stop it from happening.

    Walking up was something Hunter didn't want to do. When he awoke he would have to face the fact that Tech was dead and Omega was gone. He grabbed his blanket and pulled it closer to him. Hoping that Echo and Wrecker wouldn't notice, he pulled the thin blanket to his face and dried his tears. He didn't have the time to cry or to lie still.

    Getting up, Hunter looked around. Echo must have cleaned up. He swung his legs over the end of his bunk and stood up. Echo's bed had been made and so had Wrecker's, even though he never made it. Tech's bed had also been made. Resting a hand on the medal of his bunk, Hi ter thought that Echo must have made his as well.

    Then he heard it, Tech talking to Echo. Hunter stepped back. That wasn't possible. Had it all been a dream? The pain felt so real.

    Omega walked up to Hunter. "You looked tired so we got you go lay down. How are you feeling?" He didn't say anything. Instead he picked

    But things started to fall into place for those hellish days to happen. When Hunter realized they were going to Eriadu his heart sank. But that couldn't be right. That horrible day had been a dream, right?

    A few hours later Tech was hanging off the side of the rail car. "When have we ever followed orders?" He had sighed before shooting the only piece of metal that connected the cars.

    This time, instead of silents, Hunter called out for him. Almost immediately afterwards, he grabbed a hold of Omega, pulling her close to try to protect her.

    But they still ended up on Ord Mantell. Hunter was the one who required AZ to heal him. He was unconscious, making him unable to tell them about Cid's betrayal. It felt he was defenseless this time. As she was taken away, he still tried to follow her. It didn't matter, she was still gone.

    Then he woke up. Again.

    This time he would do it right. That's what Hunter had told himself at least. Trying to find a way to convince Saw Gerrera and his extremist to stop their attack, to wait just long enough for them to leave. But that didn't work.

    "Tech, we will find another way!" Hunter yelled as he claimed to the top of the rail car.

    "There is no other way, Hunter." Tech continued to follow what seemed to be his destiny.

    "When have we ever followed orders?" Again he shot the metal that connected the two cars. Again Hunter grabbed Omega. He moved to a different place in the car.

    Then he woke up on the Marauder. "Hunter, how are you feeling?" Echo asked.

    "I'm fine. Where's-" Hunter tried to sit up but couldn't. It hurt too much to move. "Where's Omega?"

    Wrecker walked into the room. He looked worried.

    "Hemlock has her." The man said.

    Then he woke up. Hunter didn't move. Maybe if he didn't move, nothing would happen.

    This time, Hunter killed Gerrera. Tech was stunned by his action but didn't say a word about it. However, the explosives still went off. Tech still went to the top of the rail car and he still called plan 99.

    "When have we ever followed orders?" Hunter mouthed along with the words. He knew them all too well. It had been three times he had gone through this after all.

    There had to be a way to stop this. Why else would he be stuck in a time lop like this? Was this a punishment for something he had done, for not saving them?

    Shoving Omega to Wrecker, Hunter turned around. As the rail car hit the wall, Hunter fell unconscious. Unlike every other time, he woke back up on the Marauder at the beginning of the day.

    "Oh" he whispered as he sat up. The man hadn't survived the crash. Hunter looked around. First he went to find the others. Grabbing Omega, he ok pulled her into a hug.

    "Hey Hunter!" She said, excited for the random hug. It didn't happen often. "Are you okay?" Her joy faded in to concern.

    "I'm okay." The man put down his daughter. "We'll be okay" he whispered.

    "I know. I trust you."

    Tears threatened to fall from his eyes. Hunter just smiled, "thank you." The girl didn't know know what he did. Hopefully she would never know that he knew.

    It didn't matter what happened, nothing changed. "There is no time Wrecker" Not again. "Plan 99." Hunter started to tear up. He couldn't do this. The conversation was engraved in the clones head.

    "Don't you do it Tech" Wrecker yelled. Hunter felt his mouth move to say something more.

    "When have we ever followed orders?"

    The rail car fell and Omega pulled in Hunter's arms, "go back, go back!"

    The car crashed and Hunter grabbed Omega quickly. They still had to go to Ord Mantell, that stayed the same. Then she was fine, again.

    Days went by, at least to Hunter. Over and over he watched as Tech sacrificed himself for his family. Then he would watch as Omega was taken from them. He was done.

    "Wrecker, stay here." This was new. This was a plan he hadn't tried yet.

    "What?! Why?" Wrecker droned.

    "In case we need a pickup."

    "Why me?" He winded

    "You are the most likely to get us caught." Tech said as he walked.

     "Okay." Sulking, Wrecker walked back in the ship.

     As the mission went forward, Hunter grew nauseous. What if this didn't work? He would just have to find out.

    When they boarded the rail car, everything seemed to be going as it had before. But this time, Hunter had already contacted their get-away driver. 

    There he was. Tech had gone to restore power to the rail car. Like every other time, he hung from the bottom of the car. "Echo, get Omega on the Marauder!" Hunter demanded.

    Wrecker kept the ship steady as the two made their way on board. Hunter had his gun ready. With the two left in the car, Echo ran to man the guns. He started shooting down the empire's air support.

    As the rail car creaked closer to falling, Hunter jumped on board. The car began to fall, Tech still dangling from below. The Sargent grabbed his gun and shot his brother with his safety line. He didn't expect the scream that would come from the end of the line clamping onto his brother's left arm and shoulder.

    Pulling him up seemed to hurt more. Tech's shoulder was bleeding. It looked painful, the way the clamp dug into his skin. But either way, he was alive. That's all that mattered now.

    Calling for one of his brothers, Hunter pulled Tech aboard. "You're gonna be okay Tech. We've got you."

    "Thank you" Tech said shakily. "I- I can't move my arm right now."

    "I know. We'll get you taken care of."

    "We'll head to Ord Mantell for AZ. He can-" Omega started.

    "No" Hunter interrupted. "There are doctors on Pabu. Someone there can help him. I-" he sighed, "don't trust Cid."

    "We can't just leave Az" the girl protested.

    "We won't. But right now we just need to take care of Tech. We can't do that if something happens on Ord Mantell." Omega looks like she wanted to say more but walked away to get Tech's bunk ready.

    While Tech's recovery would be difficult, it was better than him becoming a memory. Maybe that was a little selfish. Maybe his arm wouldn't heal but he was alive. That was enough

    After twelve attempts, everyone was alive. Tech was in a large amount of pain but he wasn't alone and dead at the bottom of the ravine. Omega may be mad at him but she wasn't taken by the empire. Hunter could fix that when he later sent Phee to pay their debts and to return Az.

    It was over. The painful two weeks were over.

my febuwhump ao3 post! all 29 days will be posted as separate chapters with the first chapter as a table of contents (for a total of 30 chapters)!

all the days will also be posted here on tumblr in full, but I'd love for you to support the ao3 post as well! it'll be linked with every day posted, so drop in sometime!

thank you and have a very whumpy february! and good luck to all my fellow writers and artists participating this year <3

Excited to be writing things for Febuwhump! Will I do all the days? Nope. Will the ones I do be released on time? Probably not. Will I do them anyway? Absolutely. 😆

Time Loop (Febuwhump 2024 - Day 11)

Summary: Time gets a poisoned wound in battle. Unfortunately, the antidote has some...interesting side effects. Rating: G to possibly PG Content Warnings: nothing in detail. Mentions of stitches, vomiting (no detail), and interesting medicine side effects.

Word Count: 8k

Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54073882

Excerpt:

While Warriors was away, Four observed the older hero laying on the ground. He didn't like seeing him struggle like this. None of them did. It was...troubling to see someone you looked up to, someone who guided you, laid low.

The smithy had taken everything in silently. As the Captain returned and began wiping down Time's face, the two began to converse in hushed tones.

“He wasn't sick this morning. We all saw him, and none of us noticed anything out of the ordinary. He sustained a moderate wound in battle, but that was taken care of quickly. So why is he suddenly getting sick now?” Four rocked back on his heels as he rattled off these important points.

Generally speaking, Four was a logical being. He liked puzzles and he liked finding answers, looking over things with a critical eye in order to find the best solution. If there was one thing Four didn't like, it was an unsolved mystery, especially if it involved his companions' well-being. He stilled, and his face darkened as he looked up.

The other paused in his ministrations, fixing him with a look. “Do you know what's causing this?”

“No, but...” his brow furrowed. “I have a suspicion. Can I get a look at that wound on his side?”

Read more on Ao3!

FEBUWHUMP 2024 PROMPT LIST

this year's prompts were chosen through a suggestion poll (in which we recevied 2,281 prompts) and a subsequent vote, where over 1,000 people voted for their favourites. the top 29 make up the core prompts, and a mixture of the next most popular - and this blog's personal favourites - have become the alternates

i’m so excited to see what you all create with these prompts, and hope they’re inspiring enough to trigger a whole month’s worth of creativity for you! if you have any questions, please check out the blog's faq before sending an ask, or check out the previously asked questions on the blog!

please note: this year, notifying the blog of completionist status will happen through a google form that will be released closer to the end of febuwhump.

full write-up of prompts and rules under the cut:

FEBUWHUMP 2024 PROMPTS:

DAY 1: helpless

DAY 2: solitary confinement

DAY 3: "bite down on this"

DAY 4: obedience

DAY 5: rope burns

DAY 6: "you lied to me"

DAY 7: suffering in silence

DAY 8: "why won't it stop?"

DAY 9: bees

DAY 10: killing in self defence

DAY 11: time loop

DAY 12: semi-conscious

DAY 13: "you weren't supposed to get hurt"

DAY 14: blood-stained tiles

DAY 15: "who did this to you?"

DAY 16: came back wrong

DAY 17: hostage situation

DAY 18: too weak to move

DAY 19: "please don't"

DAY 20: truth serum

DAY 21: unresponsive

DAY 22: "you weren't meant to be there"

DAY 23: presumed dead

DAY 24: "i'm doing this because i care about you"

DAY 25: waterboarding

DAY 26: "help them"

DAY 27: left for dead

DAY 28: "no... not like this"

DAY 29: not allowed to die

ALTERNATE PROMPTS:

is there a specific day’s prompt you don’t want to fill? here are ten alternatives you can switch them out for!

ALT 1: human shield

ALT 2: "i love you"

ALT 3: found footage

ALT 4: human weapon

ALT 5: cpr

ALT 6: immortality

ALT 7: last words

ALT 8: killing game

ALT 9: lightning strike

ALT 10: last man standing

RULES:

SOFT RULES:

prompts should be answered in the form of whump

creators can produce whatever kind of media they want

you don’t have to complete all the prompts! you can create however much you want to

you can use the prompts after the event ends and can complete them in tandem with any other event

you can post on any platform you want, however this blog will only be sharing those posted on tumblr

if you want to be featured on the hall of fame then you have until the 3rd of March to inform this blog that you completed all the days

if you have questions consult the faq before asking

HARD RULES: (specifically for being featured on the blog)

when uploading febuwhump content to tumblr, please use the tags:

febuwhump (i’ll also be checking febuwhump2024)

the relevant day’s tag e.g. febuwhumpday1, febuwhumpday2…

nsfw (if relevant)

and any trigger warnings that may be important!

you can also tag the blog, @febuwhump

i cannot guarantee your work will be archived on the blog because I have no idea how many participants there will be. a random selection of works tagged in accordance to the rules above will be reblogged every day of february.

@febuwhump prompt: helpless

***

She'd been helpless before. Too many times, in fact.

Now she even has the memories of all the times she'd been helpless in her previous life...

Watching her grandmother waste away in a hospital bed.

Being forced to accept when her best friend moved across the world.

When she succumbed to the pressure put on her by her parents to achieve certain milestones of success.

That split second of confusion and terror that seemed to stretch on for an eternity... the blink of an eye time between the reinforced glass of the space ship's wink splintering before her, cracking the fullness of the moon's image into jagged pieces...

(who would have thought that the moon itself would shatter just a few short years later?)

The immediate horror that set in when she realized she was about to perish. There hadn't even been enough time to scream. There had just been that helpless moment as existence seemed to pause on the precipice of disaster and then... nothing.

Nothing until she woke up, helpless once more. Weak from decades spent in a cryo-chamber and with no memory of anything at all that mattered. Helpless in the face of scam artists who took advantage of her ignorance and set her on a doomed life path of debt that no one could ever hope to pay off or even pay down.

She'd been helpless too many damn times since waking up. She absolutely hated it and fought tooth and nail to escape that feeling. She swindled and she thieved and she gambled and always she ran. It was important to keep at least one step ahead of everyone else - more if it could be managed.

She had to be self-sufficient. She had to be ruthless. She had to keep herself separate from others to avoid falling prey to situations beyond her control or to emotions too deep to swim through.

The change had been so gradual she almost hadn't noticed. Then, when she realized what was afoot, she fled. Of course, it was much harder to escape yourself than debt collectors. And naturally it wasn't especially easy to get away from a man like Jet Black who had been a cop in a previous life and was adept at tracking fugitives down.

He thought she'd been helpless when he found her. Handcuffed on a rickety bed in a city of only men... well, she can understand why he had that misconception. But, though Gren had overpowered her... she could have broken free at any point after he left. It's just... the will had gone out of her for a bit. Life seemed built of injustice and tragedy and futile gestures and she just wanted to give up for a while.

Not, like, entirely or forever of course. That type of action required far too much work or pain. Besides, loathe it as much as she did, Faye was keen on surviving despite the despair and frustration of it all.

Someday she'd strike it rich. Someday she'd win big. Someday it would all be worth the struggle...

So anyway, Jet retrieved her like an errant child and Faye let him think she was helpless because it seemed to make him feel better about himself. Anyway it wasn't like she had anywhere else to go.

Not then at least.

For a while she'd felt helpless when watching that damn video. Unable to summon the memories to correspond with the images, but also inexplicably devoted to scouring the tape for details that might trigger something in her mulish mind. She had been helpless to stop herself from wearing that tape out with how many times she'd play it.

She had a moment of triumph when Spike faced off against that killer clown. He'd no doubt been joking about needing rescue, but she had taken his words to heart and had shown up to help out. It felt damn good to throw herself into action on someone else's behalf... to try and prove herself instead of letting the opportunity slip by.

The fact that her attempt had resulted in crashing her zipcraft was immaterial. She'd offered enough of a distraction to have had some effect, no matter how small, on the outcome of the confrontation.

And then she and Spike had worked together to try and protect that mafia man's daughter on her weird little quest to align the stars or some bullshit. Spike had teased then too, calling them fairies out to grant a princess her dearest wish. Whatever poetry he needed to add to their job was his own business, for her it was another chance to do something. To not sit idly by, helpless.

The terrorist on Alba City had been the next opportunity to prove her merit and to push back against being a victim of circumstance. She had been doing so damn well too... until that fucking gas... until she was, once again, helpless. Vincent had overpowered her so easily... had sent shivers down her spine with his nonsense promise of immortality and his intention of destroying everything around him. If he hadn't left on his mission, giving her the chance to finally free herself and race against time to save the whole fucking planet...

Fuck, she hated being helpless.

It had rankled and even though they'd achieved their goal and saved the day... it hadn't been enough. The echo of Vincent's words haunted her dreams along with the fear that had coursed through her body when he violated her clothing.

She was determined to be faster, smarter, stronger.

Going after that cult leader had been another of her schemes to showcase her own abilities. To bring down the bounty and rake in the dough. Perhaps she'd been wrong to go about it solo... having her head spin, seeing doubles of everything as she dropped to one knee, hearing mad whispers from all around as she strove to remain conscious... that had been like falling into a whirlpool of helplessness.

She hadn't had a chance to save herself. Hell, even Spike almost got caught in that trap while trying to find her... that was something of a boost to her own ego, truthfully. The fact that he'd come looking for her and also how he'd been just as weak, just as helpless. Thankfully Ed and Jet had done whatever needed to be done behind the scenes to end the charade of "uploading consciousness" to escape the world.

And then, weeks later, she'd been helpless to stop the torrent of memories from cascading over her at last. Helpless to ignore the pull of finding answers at last... of going back home, to a place she truly belonged.

Helpless to change the past.

She had lain in the dirt and stared at the stars while her eyes burned with the need to cry.

Discovering the Bebop had left while she spent... hours? No, it could have been days... while she lingered in the limbo of grief and outrage and apathy.

Spike's call to her was revitalizing. The fact that he wanted her back, that he claimed Jet needed her around... she would have made her way to the ship in her own good time, to be quite honest. But jumping into action with that golden haired woman up against hardened suit-and-tie criminals... that had been like jumping back into her true self, the Faye Valentine that had been forged from the soggy ashes of her frozen self, a phoenix reborn.

Having to relay those words, despite how casual they sounded, when she could practically feel the weight of the sentence like an anchor about to drag a man down down down into murky depths...

She'd been helpless to keep her mouth shut. How simple it ought to have been to just not tell him a thing. But events immediately got out of hand and like watching a show from afar she heard herself speak. And then she was fighting to be in control of herself again, fighting to have a chance at surviving.

And now?

The sound of his ship launching was like a slap in the face.

Here she was, a puddle of snot and tears and so - fucking - helpless yet again... helpless to stop him from leaving...

...but not, perhaps, helpless from chasing after him.

Inhaling deeply, scrubbing her face of tears as best she could, Faye staggered to her feet and set off on a mission of her own. Spike had his vendetta, that's fine whatever, but she had her own task now. She could back him up or scrape his ass off the concrete like after the cathedral fiasco.

Her ship was fucked but Jet's was fine.

This was no time to weep and moan. No time to feel bad for herself or any of the other players in this bullshit game. No time to curl into a ball and sob.

She was Faye fucking Valentine.

And Faye fucking Valentine would not be helpless again.

@febuwhump prompt: solitary confinement

***

He was enclosed in darkness. Trapped in a cushioned solitude that offers almost no room for movement. It is a worse confinement than the cage in the laboratory.

Well.

It is a smaller space, certainly. Less fresh air and no visibility which made the chaotic tumbling of his prison very confusing and very distressing. On the bright side, there are no injections. There was no monitor hooked up to his head. There are no lab coat wearing emotion-less employees scratching down information on notepads or inputting data into computer terminals.

There had been such a commotion in the night. He still wasn't sure what had happened... a gas had been released. He knew that because the air had taken on a cloying quality that made his nose twitch and had eventually tugged him into a state of unconscious.

When he awoke, it was to discover this new frightening form of solitary confinement.

It had been devastating enough to be taken from his mother and the others like him. To be chosen from his siblings for a dubious future just because he apparently seemed more cognizant than the others. How he wished now that he had not given off some appeal to these scientists.

It had been lonely, so lonely, in the lab. Hearing the ruckus of other animals - not canines like himself but all sorts of creature. At first it was nonsense. Shrieks and wails, howls and hissing. A lot of hoof stamping and wing flapping and attempts at accosting the coat-wearers whenever cages were opened and testing was conducted.

All of the animals had been kept separate, of course. Able to see one another and hear one another but not to interact physically. No cuddling up for shared warmth, no sniffing or licking or playing at all.

But one day he realized he could understand the others - some of them at least. And it seemed as if they could understand his yips and whines as well.

It lessened the loneliness a tad.

For a social creature like the dog he was... it wasn't enough. Even the times he was picked up and put on a medical exam table or strapped to a board to be put through a scanning machine... those weren't enough interactions to satisfy his desperate need to connect. His inherent desire for petting and to be able to snuggle like he had with his family before he was taken.

Sometimes he would shake from the despair of missing them so much. His mother, with her soft milky scent. His siblings with their rough-and-tumble play and their fast heartbeats a rhythm of familiar comfort and the gentle heat they exuded from their little bodies when they all lay together in a happy little pile.

Being cooped up was slowly destroying him. Even as his intellect grew, his energy began to drain. He was morose, his spirit flagging. The lab was no place for pups, no place for any of the unfortunate animals trapped inside those white brick walls.

But was this any better? Bonked back and forth within this little cage - some form of transportation unit? Being conveyed somewhere but by whom? For what purpose? Had he been rescued by one of the protesters they could sometimes hear shouting beyond the building? Had he been stolen by a competing team of scientists, the ones the lab coat wearers whispered about in uncertain tones?

It was a new type of hell. Being in this small space... being in the dark in so many ways. There were moments where he feared he might suffocate from a lack of new air. It didn't help that he couldn't stop panting from fear.

He was alone. He was lost. He was terrified.

He had to try and calm down. To think ahead and plan for what to do next. His prison would be opened at some point - that was inevitable. He would not be confined forever and when the brightness of the outside world peeked in on his trapped form... he would need to be ready to take stock of the situation.

Fight or flight, these were the responses a typical creature - even human - would jump to. But Ein refused to be guided blindly down either of those paths. He would take his time, at least at first, and ascertain his surroundings. Take stock of the life forms in his immediate vicinity to determine which were friend and which were foe. He would need to be smart to stay one paw ahead of the enemy.

He had to calm down. Relax his muscles so he could leap into action when it was necessary. Strain his ears to hear as much of the world around him as possible.

This was only temporary. This cage would release him into freedom... and from there? Who knew...

@febuwhump prompt: "bite down on this"

***

"This fucking hurts!"

Spike scrambled through the tool kit in the workshop and finally seized upon a tool that had a rubber sheath on it. In his haste to get back to Faye he nearly tripped over his own two feet before reaching her side.

"Here! Bite down on this!" He encouraged, offering her the tool.

Faye's mouth opened in disbelief and she had to quickly smack the proffered item from his hand before he could stick it between her upper and lower teeth himself. Despite herself and the excruciating agony tearing through her, Faye began to laugh until tears were spilling down her cheeks.

"What the fuck are you thinking, you goof?" She demanded through giggles once she was able to speak again. "You're not setting a fucking bone here, Spike!" She snorted, her chin dropping to her chest for a moment.

Spike sat back on his heels, expression crestfallen.

"I don't know what you want from me, Faye. I don't know what you need from me. I'm way over my head here..." He took in a deep breath and tried to let it out slowly though his heart was still racing wildly. "I just... you... what do I do?" His voice was plaintive and warbled slightly as if he was fighting to keep from breaking down.

Eyeing the distraught cowboy, seeing fear prominently displayed on his features for one of the first times in her life, Faye took pity on him.

"Just... hold me, you dolt. I'll take care of the rest for now. Don't worry, Jet will get back here with Doc in no time." She winced as another contraction took her breath away. Spike looked physically pained by her discomfort and she tried to suck it up and play it off as he tentatively settled in behind her so she could lean back against him.

"This is ridiculous, Faye. You should be in a hospital." Spike muttered quietly.

"I don't trust hospitals." She replied when she could focus on something other than the pressure. "I trust you. I trust Jet. And given how many times he's put you back together again, I trust Doc too."

She felt Spike shudder behind her as he exhaled. "I just... what if... I mean... if something goes wrong..."

"Shh, shh, shh..." Faye reached down to grab his hands in her own, squeezing his fingers between hers partially for his comfort and partially to deflect the discomfort she was feeling somewhere else. "Don't go borrowing trouble. Fuck the future. There's only now. There's only this. The present is where we are and what we have control over. I've got this. Do you believe in me?"

He sighed shakily, burying his face in her hair so he could lean his face down to press a kiss against the side of her neck.

"You're one of the only things in this world I have any faith in." He replied eventually.

"Damn straight." She breathed. Another contraction was beginning to crash over her. It was awful but it was endurable. And, since she'd familiarized herself with all the available text and videos on childbirth, she knew that they still had some time before their baby entered the world. She wasn't sure if her water had broken or not, but she wasn't yet feeling the urge to bear down.

"You sure you're okay? I can't do anything else?" Spike murmured, flexing his fingers against hers as her hands relaxed as the contraction faded away.

"You're doing everything I need right now. You are everything I need right now." She replied in a soft voice.

Their world was about to change for better or for worse... hopefully for better even if it took a lot of work to keep it on a good course. She understood his fears, his concerns, his helplessness. She could welcome those emotions, address them, and ideally soothe him a bit. Perhaps it was the mother already in her that was so patiently dealing with his anxiety in a time when she herself ought to be comforted, but she felt remarkably calm. She felt nearly invincible, truth be told.

Spike so rarely fell apart. He did not often display any sort of true uncertainty or worry. It made him all the more human to her, his panic, and it made her love him even more deeply. He would likely put on a brave front when the others arrived, but for now he was clinging to her like she was the only secure thing in a world of upheaval.

And realistically, she was.

The woman who had cracked open his heart after Julia left it weakened and exposed... Faye had reset it like a broken bone and nurtured it until it was no longer paining him. She had become his guiding light, his north star, the safe port where he could moor his soul and rest easy enjoying the days at her side.

But neither of them were truly capable of relaxing into a life of easy sailing. They needed challenges to thrive... and what better challenge than raising a child?

@febuwhump prompt: obedience

***

Shame coursed through his veins, but damaged pride made him cry out in self defense.

"We are upholding the law of the Dragon! We are no betrayers, sensei. We are loyal men!"

"Your loyalty is not in question, Spike. It is your obedience we demand. These territorial disputes with the White Tigers and the Blue Snakes and the Golden Eagles! These - these... Pissing contests you and Vicious persist in participating in!" Mao's anger was sharp but even more cutting was the disappointment shining in his eyes.

Vicious, standing rigidly at Spike's side, kept his eyes fastened to a spot just over Mao's head. For his part, Spike could not look away from his mentor's stern face.

Embarrassment made his skin hot. To be held in such disregard... To be admonished as if they were children... Worse still, to have let down the man who had taken them in and given them a place in the Syndicate...

Mao sighed heavily. "You boys are far too brash, too bold, too disruptive. There was a reason you were removed from the Dragon's Teeth. You cannot be trusted to moderate your behavior or to adhere to the orders you are given."

"Sir, you don't understand - they started it this time! We caught them crossing into our turf by the harbor. They were setting up shop in one of the warehouses down there! We had to push back before they got the idea that this kind of thing is acceptable!" Spike protested.

Mao stared at him. "Why were either of you down there in the first place? You had no assignment in that area. There are no bars to cool your heels down on that wharf. Your... impetuous behavior was uncalled for and has set back the treaty talks that had begun between us and the Eagles. Worse, your attack on their men resulted in the death of one of their Capo's sons. They are demanding blood for blood."

Spike pursed his lips and shifted his glare to the floor. Vicious continued to stand silent beside him. Of course, Vicious never had much to say in their defense. He felt their actions spoke loudly enough and insisted that their words would only fall on deaf ears. Spike was beginning to realize the truth of that assumption.

"You cannot...seize opportunity... the way that you have. Neither of you are at a level to be trusted with making decisions for the Van. The Elders demand obedience even if you choose to not offer them respect. I will say yet again that I am ashamed at your wild behavior. It reflects poorly on more than just the two of you. It lowers me in their eyes as well. This type of thing cannot continue. Dragons do not truly exist so let us compare you to canines instead. You are curs, not men. You are to be on a leash of our control and to obey our commands. You bite who we say to bite, no others. If a dog cannot be trusted to obey, the dog is to be put down. Do not delude yourselves into thinking that the Van requires your skill set so much that this will save you from a death sentence."

Spike could hear Vicious grinding his teeth. He felt like doing the same.

There were so many arbitrary rules to follow in the Syndicate... So many hoops to jump through to keep the Elders happy... So many commands that made Spike's skin crawl. He craved the violence of taking down their enemies, fighting hand-to-hand or storming in with guns blazing. To be engulfed in the heat of battle with no time for second guessing your moves and to have only yourself, your weapons, and your bloodthirsty teammates standing between you and a painful death. He reveled in the thrill of beating someone in a fair fight and he took pride in the destruction he could cause with explosives.

He and Vicious were men of action. They were fierce and formidable and fought like devils. They deserved to be the Dragon's Claws, striking out and rending flesh! They were not made to act as the Dragon's Teeth, standing around like invisible shadows behind the puppet masters, quietly waiting for a chance to showcase their talents at keeping their lords alive. That had been belittling, to serve in such a boring capacity.

But now... To be told they weren't allowed to defend their own territory? To be made to sit idly by as rival syndicates encroached upon the streets that they controlled? It was galling. It was ludicrous. It was a mark of feebleminded frightened men.

They were Red Dragons. They had to prove their power, draw first blood, and demand respect.

Acting as delivery boys - as had been their missions lately - was embarrassing and annoying. It was pathetic work, something fit for children, not for some of the toughest men the Elders had at their beck and call.

"Sir," Spike tried again, speaking through gritted teeth. "Respectfully, we would like to be reassigned. We are being wasted as errand boys. It is degrading."

Mao's hard eyed stare made him gulp. Vicious shifted uncomfortably next to him when Mao glanced in his direction.

"You think you are important enough to make demands? You think you are worthy enough to have more responsibility? You arrogant children..."

Spike seethed at the censure from their mentor. It had hurt when he felt like they had let Mao down, especially since they had anticipated being rewarded for quelling that invasive maneuver the Eagles had tried to pull. He hadn't exactly expected rewards but this was absurd.

Outrage roiled in his belly, rising up his esophagus like heartburn. He was hard-pressed not to make matters worse for himself by adding anything else to the one-sided conversation.

Mao, clearly still vexed, gave a sigh and shrugged. "Well, fortunately for the pair of you, the Van has indeed decided that you are to be pulled from your current jobs. They were not impressed by your success rate anymore than they were pleased by your assault against the Eagles. In fact, it was decided that the pair of you shall be our offering to appease their bloodlust."

Vicious opened his mouth but said nothing. Spike physically recoiled.

"Don't look so offended, boys. It's hardly what you're thinking. In fact, it's exactly what you desire. We are sending you over there as a sort of Trojan horse if you will. They think you are a sacrifice. They do not realize that allowing you into their headquarters will mean offering their own necks to be cut. We intend for you to turn the Eagles' Nest into a slaughterhouse."

At that, Spike and Vicious glanced at one another. Smiles began to creep across their faces, hardly daring to believe their luck.

"You are to head to their neighborhood this very afternoon. Act contrite, express our condolences. They will likely bring you to the Capos themselves so you can go through with this sham of a trial they are insistent upon. This will place you near enough to the heart that you can stab it with ease. Be thorough." Mao advised. "Now, I have business to attend to. See yourselves out, if you please."

@febuwhump prompt: rope burns

***

Her wrists stung painfully from where the rope had chafed her skin. It had been a pointless endeavor in the first place, trying to slowly and methodically adjust her wrists to get the synthetic fibers to loosen enough to tug herself free.

She had known from the first sight of the colorful coil that it was a material that would prove impervious to abrasion, which meant she wouldn't be able to use friction to deteriorate the fibers. That, coupled with the terrified obedience inspired by the silver-haired syndicate man and his suit-wearing lackeys, had led her to instead offer her hands willingly to be bound.

At no point had she been left on her own to try and use the scant centimeters of advantage she'd managed to secure by positioning her arms and wrists for the bondage they'd inflicted upon her.

And then they'd cut the ropes and tied her up anew once they reached their destination: a crumbling cathedral shrouded in darkness of several types. Shadows from the setting sun that stretched into every crevice, shadows which faded into deeper darkness as clouds covered the sky and began a merciless downpour. Then, a more subtle darkness, the sins of man that radiated from each of these well-dressed thugs.

Strung up with her arms behind her back - behind, indeed, a pillar against which her back rested - she had been helpless to attempt to free herself. More than that, fear kept her firmly in place.

At first, when she had realized they not only knew her ruse of familiarity with Mao Yenrai but that they were intent on using her for their own nefarious purpose, she had been relieved that they wouldn't be slitting her throat and tossing aside her corpse. She was also thankful that violating her - beyond merely trussing her up - was not on their agenda.

But it was difficult to pretend that she wasn't terrified. She had to draw upon every ounce of will power to keep her voice light, to keep her eyes clear of tears, to keep from trembling.

Seeing the boys on the screen when she was forced to call and beg for their help - something she frankly refused to do, choosing instead to be as nonchalant as possible - was such a relief that she sagged against her bonds. The rope burns on her skin made her straighten back up a heartbeat later, the reminder of the danger she was in even if Spike decided to show like he'd mentioned he might.

Hope threatened to rise in her heart and she angrily dashed it aside. He had claimed it wasn't for her and so she knew she could not truly rely on him for a rescue attempt. Whatever odd games were being played here - she wanted no part in them and regretted getting involved. She was a pawn here, not even a player, and that rankled as much as the fact that she was tied to a rough pillar that was most certainly leaving gouges against the bare skin of her back.

Between her wrists and her spine and her pride, she wasn't sure what hurt the most. It was better to focus on the pain than the horror of her situation though. The sharp memory of Mao's mutilated corpse sitting beside her in the opera box. The callous manhandling of her person there and here. The utter indifference with which Vicious gazed at her.

Well. At first his look had been considering. Sizing her up, judging her worth, trying to determine her merit. And then... following Spike's casual dismissal of interest in her... she was surprised that he hadn't killed her immediately. Her use to him was obviously null and void at that point, unless he intended to use her as a distraction if and when Spike showed up.

It didn't matter. She had to keep herself on task.

The grunt assigned to keep her in line was rearranging the ropes holding her arms together behind her back. She was being released from standing before the pillar - a minor improvement as now she could feel cool air blowing along the scrapes of her back - and the man was positioning her at his side in one of the darkest corners of the cathedral.

"Move when I move you. Say nothing. Disobey and die." He muttered to her when she dared to look in his direction.

Fresh fear spilled down her spine and she forced herself to stand straight and tried to give off an air of being entirely unaffected by everything that had happened and was going on around her. She summoned all the grace she could muster, determined to act as if her presence was by choice. These bonds might as well be ribbons, the gun pressed to her temple could be the weight of a crown sitting jauntily upon her head.

She was not a frightened woman, shivering internally at the prospect of her imminent demise. She was not a terrified prop whose abrasions burned with every brush of the rope against her soft flesh. She was not going to die here like a panicked animal.

She was going to control her breathing and continue to try and shift out of her bonds. She was going to stomp this man's foot with her stiletto heel while ducking and twisting to avoid the bullet he would automatically fire. She was going to use these rotten pews as a cover to manage an escape from this situation all on her own.

And then, over the sound of the rainfall outside the decrepit building, she could hear the repetition of steps that indicated someone was approaching at a steady pace...

@febuwhump prompt: You Lied To Me

***

"You lied to me!" Faye's voice drifted on the breeze, accusation strong in her tone. "You said you weren't going there to die."

-I wasn't. Dying hadn't been my plan. But then...my plans never went well. That's why I tried to avoid making any.-

Faye snorted, a wet sound thanks to the stuffiness of her nose and how choked her throat was from crying. She felt weak, wretched even. She had been floundering for weeks now...since giving up on the desire to recapture something - anything! - of the life she had lived before.

Her memories were back. Useless information. Vague recollections of friendships and school courses and how much she'd loved her parents... A bunch of emotional baggage that she alone had to carry. Everyone else she'd known was dead or else, like Sally Yung, had decades of living that Faye had missed out on. The naïve little girl they'd known was no more. Her optimism had been replaced with despair. Her wealth had been transformed into debt so massive it nearly gave her an anxiety attack any time she thought about it.

"I told you... I told you that I remembered. That I no longer had a home except... Except on the ship. With you." She whispered. Her heart ached in her chest like someone had clutched that precious organ in a crushing grip.

-You came back. Because the Bebop is home.-

A sigh slipped from her lips. "Is it though?" Fresh tears streaked wetly down her cheeks. Would she ever stop crying?

-You have Jet. He needs you. Hell, that's half the reason I called you back.-

"Jet doesn't need me. He's the only one of us who ever knew how to take care of his own goddamn self."

-Well, who else is gonna keep him from getting fleeced at the card table? Besides, maybe you need him.-

Faye closed her eyes. She was trying to ignore the sun setting on one of the worst days of her life. (of course the sunset was heartbreakingly beautiful, mocking her for being unable to share it - and one more smoke - with the asshole whose voice haunted her now)

Hours ago they had gotten the call from Bob. The update neither of them had wanted to hear. Until that fateful ring they had been able to pretend like Spike would waltz back in any minute. There had been hope. And then... and then they knew. Jet had merely nodded to acknowledge Bob's quiet words before turning off the video call and disappearing from the living room.

Faye had sat for a long time on the couch. What was the point in getting up? Her ship was busted, the Bebop itself crashed outside of any of Mars's crater cities (and thank goodness for that, they sure couldn't afford any bills for damages if they'd landed anywhere inhabited) and without the bounty show on air she had no clue where to go to find work.

Eventually her body had shifted into motion on some sort of autopilot. Her ass was numb from sitting so long on the place where Spike usually slept. She found herself standing up, dizzy momentarily from the change in position after so long. When the darkness receded from the corners of her eyes, she moved.

-Where are you going?-

But there had been no one to ask and so she had no need to answer.

Still, his spirit trailed along behind her just like he often had in life. A few steps back, lazily smoking, eyes observing everything.

Once she reached the deck, she stopped. That was when the tears had begun again. The night before she had broken down in the hall and woken up uncomfortably sprawled on the floor with a threadbare blanket tossed over her. For the first few hours of the day she had been dry-eyed and full of desperate hope. Part of her hated Bob for contacting them. For forcing her to acknowledge the truth.

-You can't linger in the past, Faye.-

"Oh, fuck you. You went running back to yours."

-Hm. Suppose I could have let Vicious come to me instead.-

"We didn't have to do that either! We could have just left Mars and never come back!" She yelled, opening her eyes to glare at... at nothing. There was only emptiness stretching out before her in the dusty Martian landscape, only emptiness sprawled out behind her on the flight deck of the grounded ship. Above, the first stars began to glimmer into view as the sun continued to sink below the horizon.

Faye inhaled sharply and then fell into a crouch as sobs racked her. Angrily, she slammed her fists onto the metal of the hull once, twice, a third time. She wanted to bruise the flesh of her hands. To feel something worth crying over. Physical pain would do. Emotional pain was... fucking bullshit. This was the kind of thing she had been trying to avoid this entire time.

Caring about others was uncomfortable. It made her feel feeble. It made her hesitant. It made her do stupid things. She had made the mistake of caring about this buffoon and he went off and...

"Dammit, Spike."

@febuwhump prompt: suffering in silence

***

His grandmother had taught him that a good solid meal could fix just about any problem. Or at least give you the fortitude and energy needed to go out and handle whatever needed handling. It was important to eat well - or at least regularly - to keep your mind and body and spirit sustained.

There was an ache inside his chest. He tried to fool himself into thinking it was lower, deep down in his belly. Hunger was surely responsible. And while they hadn't snagged a big bounty today, they had been given a ton of eggs from Ed's fa...

At any rate, they had a ton of eggs. Boiled up and painstakingly shelled by yours truly and then stacked - nearly a dozen per dish - into four serving plates and one dog dish.

He and Spike sat across from one another in the living room, no words spoken.

The silence was massive. It was suffocating. It was positively unnatural after what the two men had grown used to over the past few months.

There was no clacking of computer keys, no humming or bursts of song, no childish gleeful giggles. There was no hot dog breath panting against their ankles, no random scratching of doggy claws against a furry body, no whines that somehow communicated the intent of a conversation so well. There were no playing cards being shuffled, no woman's voice bemoaning her boredom or slyly teasing, no sound of heeled boots wandering down the hall as the owner returned from a senseless shopping spree.

Hell, he had no fucking clue where Faye had disappeared to. He hadn't seen her since sometime before the girls reprogrammed the ship to land here instead of going to Mars. The dog being gone made some sense... no doubt he'd trailed along after Ed when she departed. Ein had been stuck to her side since the hacker had first boarded the ship - literally, he'd even been glued to her at one point.

It's not like Ed had been kidnapped either. He had a pretty good idea of where she'd gone given who they'd met that day.

So the kid had a father. An actual living breathing blood-related family member. An absent-minded easily distractible work-focused father who probably wouldn't remember to instruct her to bathe once a week, who wouldn't bring her along on general wellness appointments so she could see a doctor too, who wouldn't keep her adequately fed...

His heart twisted painfully.

Or maybe it was his stomach. Maybe it was the bellyache of having finished his own pile of eggs and having ruthlessly and wordlessly joined Spike in devouring the plates that had been set out for the girls.

They hadn't even eaten anything today...

Gone. Not even a goodbye from Faye, though why they ought to have expected one...

When she bailed on them on Callisto there had been a note at least. But that was because she had been secretly hoping they'd track her down. She'd never admit as much, hell, she'd deny it if she bothered to acknowledge the accusation but they'd never had a conversation about it after he'd brought her back.

So this... this meant she didn't want to be found. Didn't want to be brought back like a wayward child.

Another pang as he polished off the second plate and then looked up to catch Spike's troubled eyes before they both glanced at Ein's untouched dish. A growling rumble echoed in the strained silence - was that his belly or Spike's? It didn't matter. Nothing mattered.

Silently, they both dove for the dish and scrambled to shove as many of the by-now repulsive eggs into their mouths.

It had to be done. He wanted no leftovers to sit in the fridge, mocking him that they had all chosen to leave. He wanted no evidence that he'd cared enough to try and provide for each of them.

Hell, he never wanted to lay eyes on an egg ever again.

Spike disappeared without saying a thing, leaving Jet in his apron in the living room all alone. Futilely trying to convince himself that the rawness of his battered heart was the food not sitting well in his stomach. Crossing his arms high on his chest, Jet closed his eyes and ground his teeth together, suffering in silence.

It would be easier to just go to sleep. No need then to be bothered by the lack of missing companions.

Instead, he opened his eyes again and forced himself to his feet. He made the climb to the bridge and stared hard at the words scrawled on the deck of the ship.

Swallowing past a lump in his throat, Jet turned away and moved to the navigation panel. Programmed the ship to launch and resume course towards Mars.

There was nothing good from Earth to bother with anymore.