The Bad Batch Cid - Tumblr Posts

Sunset

Summary: Hunter meets up with a liberator of ancient wonders. Hunter POV.

Word Count: 2151

Hunter sat at a weather worn table on the edge of Pabu’s hilltop market, listening to the idle chatter of passers by. The sun had started to set, a crimson slash across the horizon. Dusk was settling in. The lights of the island had illuminated a few minutes ago, giving the tropical paradise a warm, comforting glow.

“What do we have here?” a cool view came from behind.

“I figured you’d show up eventually,” Hunter said with gruff voice and a smile. Phee Genoa, liberator of ancient wonders and long-time friend looked down at him with a smirk on her face. She patted his shoulder fondly and she pulled a neighboring chair out with unpleasant scraping noise.

Phee looked ever the pirate, vibroblade strapped to her thigh, blaster at her side. Her hair, longer now, stretched down her back in box braids, colorful charms throughout making her look like one of the treasures she often hunted. A golden, oblong necklace hung around her neck. Hunter recognized the gift Omega had given her for her birthday. Inside was a drawing of Tech or ‘Brown Eyes’ as she so affectionately called him.

Hunter thought it was strange that out of all the people in the galaxy, she had turned out to be one of his most trusted friends. She was one of the few people he could confide in, sometimes more so than his own family.

She rocked back on her chair, so the front two legs were in the air and teetered there while a waitress brought her a drink. She raised it in salute and Hunter clinked her mug with his own before taking a deep swig of the bitter, amber liquid.

“So, what have I missed?” she asked.

Hunter shrugged, “Not much. Things don’t tend to change much these days,” he added.

Phee took notice, lowering her chair and resting her chin on her palm. “Is that a problem?” she asked, concern in her voice.

He shook his head and took another sip. “No, of course not,”

She looked at him, brown furrowed, “come on ‘Dark and Broody’, spill”

A shadow fell over Hunter’s face as she used the nickname Cid had given him. Cid, who betrayed them to the empire and led to Omega being captured.

“Sorry,” she said quickly. Realizing her mistake. “Old habit…I didn’t mean…”

“I know,” Hunter said with a wave of his hand. He didn’t fault Phee, but the name brought up memories he would rather push to the back of his consciousness and forget about. Curiosity, however, got the best of him. “Have you heard from her lately?” she asked, not looking Phee in the eyes.

“I cut contact a long time ago, but I hear things… She disappeared a couple of months before you all escaped Tantis. No one’s heard of her since.” She eyed Hunter and he stared at his mug, swirling the amber liquid around so it formed a whirlpool in the middle.  “I wondered…I mean, no one would blame you…if you… paid her a visit.”

Hunter looked into her deep brown eyes and smirked. “Believe me, we did think about it,” he said, running his hand through his hair. “Once Echo left, Wrecker and I discussed it. Thought maybe she was a good place to start. She’d contacted the Imps, maybe she had a way of getting hold of them again. We could track them somehow…”

Phee raised her eyebrows, wordlessly asking him to go on.

Hunter didn’t like talking about that time. He signed but continued, looking anywhere but directly at Phee. “Look, I wasn’t in a good place. We decided against it. Wrecker, pulled me back from the brink on that one.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, her drink sitting forgotten just out of reach of her fingertips. Phee had never been one to turn down juicy gossip.

Hunter wasn’t proud of how he’d handled the time after Tech’s death and Omega’s capture. Sometimes he thought he could have handled one or the other, but both at the same time set him on a path that he didn’t expect to come back from. He was reckless, dangerous and at times wild in his desperation.

“If we had gone back, it wouldn’t have been about getting intel. It wouldn’t have been about tracking anything. It would have been revenge, pure and simple. She would have been dead before Wrecker followed through the doorway. Besides, Ord Mantell was occupied by the empire by then. Tactically it was a no-win scenario. It wasn’t worth the risk.”

“Well then,” Phee said, seemingly relieved, “sounds like someone else took care of the problem for you.  Ketch and Bolo run the parlor now, it’s basically an imperial hangout. So, what’s got you sitting here alone? shouldn’t Wrecker be cooking up his latest masterpiece?”

“He is. I decided to take a walk. I noticed you heading to the Archium. Figured you’d stumble in here eventually.”

“And what is it I can do for you?” she asked, amused.

“Tell me about your adventures. What have you been up to?”

Phee grinned and sat forward in her chair; her arms gesticulated wildly as she regaled him with the tale of an artifact long thought lost to a tribe on Dathomir. She had managed to find it in the most elusive place, of course.

Hunter smiled as she talked and leaned back into his chair. He loved listening to Phee’s stories of the larger galaxy. Pabu was the dream, what he’d always wanted but after almost seven months with limited travel, his feet were starting to get itchy, and he had started to question if settling down was really for him after all.

He caught himself at this thought and buried it. “It’s all you ever wanted. Ever since you left Kamino,” he told himself again. He’d been having this conversation with himself a lot lately.

Phee seemed to notice she didn’t have his full attention and cleared her throat. “Am I boring you?” she asked pointedly with an amused tone.

“No, I’m sorry. I’m just…distracted,” Hunter could tell she wasn’t buying it. And he let out another deep sigh. “I’m feeling a little…restless. Without the Marauder we can’t just fly off at a moment’s notice and without that I’m feeling a little…trapped.”

She looked at him, surprised. “Pabu isn’t living up to your expectations?”

“No, Phee. It’s perfect. Omega’s in school and making friends, Wrecker’s got a job and a purpose, Crosshair is healing and painting. He’s selling some of art at the market on the weekend.” He added, “but I’m just here. I suppose my skills aren’t immediately transferable.”

“Hunter, you’re a smart guy. I’m sure you could do a lot of things,” She was always so ridiculously positive, it’s one of the things Hunter liked most about her. She was always able to put a spin on things.

“Rex contacted me the other day. Wanted help with a mission. I’d be away for a while.”

“Ahh...” Phee said, finally understanding. “What did the team say?”

Hunter looked sheepish, “I didn’t tell them.” He said, hurrying to follow up when he knew she was about to interject. “it’s not a mission for all of us. He just wants me.”

“Sounds like the perfect solution to your problem. Do the mission, get rid of the itchy feet. Everyone will be here when you get back” she said, relaxing in her chair again and downing the last of her ale.

The sun had fully set by now. The bright, pearlescent lights of Pabu cast shadows on the tiled floor. The smell of cooking meat drifted over from the other side of the market. Hunter didn’t like the idea of leaving anyone behind, even if that’s not what he was doing. Omega had been taken too many times. Crosshair was still recovering. And what if they weren’t here when he got back? That fear plagued him. He had been so close to losing all of them, losing everything. He didn’t think he could do that again.

Phee was watching him intently in a way that made him self-conscious. “What would Tech tell you to do?” she asked at last. She didn’t mention him often, at least not by name. She alluded to him, and sometimes when the light was dim, he caught her looking at Crosshair as though she had seen a ghost.

“Tech never backed down from a fight. He’d tell me to go. I’m sure he’d say that they would be fine without me,”

“Clever guy, that Brown Eyes,” she said softly. Her eyes looked suddenly sad, and she turned away from Hutner to brush her cheek.

“Yeah. He was.” Hunter said, he touched her shoulder briefly and gave it a squeeze. She nodded somberly and was back to her vivacious self.

“So, what are you going to do?”

****************************************************

Hunter stood at the base of the weeping maya tree, as the ship descended. His armor felt alarmingly heavy and cumbersome, and he felt himself pulling and the neck of his blacks. His vibroknife was strapped to his forearm, blaster in its holster and bandana tied tightly to his forehead. It felt familiar and strange at the same time.

He stood back and turned his head as the landing shuttle whipped dust and sand over him. Within a few seconds of landing, Echo appeared at the ramp, waving his scomp and he made his way to his former teammate.

They grasped forearms in greeting and smiled. “This all you’re taking?” he asked, indicating the small bag Hunter had at his feet.

“it’s a stealth mission, right? Figured traveling light would make the most sense.”

Echo nodded and looked over his shoulder, “where is everyone?”

Hunter smiled. He knew Echo wanted to see Omega and his brothers. “We said goodbye this morning. Wrecker is working, Omega has school, and Crosshair is in one of his moods.”

Echo raised an eyebrow, and a smile crossed his lips, “Oh?”

“Let’s just say he didn’t appreciate not getting an invitation to the party,”

Echo smiled again, “got it. Well in that case we can get moving. I found you a helmet. It’s not modified like your old one but it’s phase 2 armor, so at least it’s familiar. Needs a paint job though.”

Hunter gave Echo his thanks as they turned towards the ship. His helmet, and Wrecker and Crosshair’s had been lost on Tantis. They had more pressing matters when escaping than to go looking for them. Still, a huge part of his identity was caught up in that helmet and working a new mission without it made him feel a little unsure.”

Just as he boarded the ramp, he heard the unmistakable, hurried footfalls of Omega.

“Hunter,” she called as Batcher bounded behind her. She ran up the ramp to meet him and threw her arms around his neck. “don’t be too long,” she said into his shoulder, and she hugged him tighter. “Be sure to check in,”

Hunter held her for a few more seconds before setting her on the ramp with a thunk. She grinned and gave Echo a hug as well, a smile on her lips but tears in her eyes.

“It’s a stealth mission, Omega. I won’t always be able to check in.” he said, kneeling down to her height and resting his hand on her shoulder, “But Echo will send you updates. I’m going to miss you, Kid,”

Wrecker, Phee and Crosshair all made their way over to the ship from wherever they had been congregating. Hunter had assumed this morning’s goodbye wasn’t the last of it.

“Take care of yourself, Hunta,” Wrecker said, enveloping him in a bone crushing hug. He clapped him on the back with his shovel like hand and stepped back so his brother could come forward.

Crosshair was grim faced and scowling. Toothpick in his mouth, he held his augmented right hand in his left and rolled them over each other.

“I still think it’s a mistake to not take backup,” he hissed, eyes down. “But If you must go, be careful,”

“I will crosshair. Rex’ll be with me. I won’t be without backup,”

Crosshair nodded but he knew what he meant. He wanted to be his backup. Crosshair didn’t trust anyone else, even Rex, to do it.

Hunter tapped him on his shoulder and nodded. “I’ll be fine,” He smiled at Phee who had her arm around Omega’s shoulder.

“I think Brown Eyes would agree with your decision,” she said.

Omega looked up at Phee confused but Hunter nodded and smiled. “Keep an eye on them for me, Phee.”

“Hunta, if you need us. Call,” Wrecker said.

Hunter smiled. They had grown so accustomed to being together. He understood they would all have an adjustment to make. He gave Omega one last hug, Scratched Batcher under the chin and turned to follow Echo aboard. He looked up at the peaceful, blue, Pabu sky. They’d be fine for a little while. And when he came back, maybe he’d be fine too.