You'll Have To Go Through Me - Tumblr Posts

Febuwhump Day 23: "You'll Have to go Through me."

Fandom: Star Wars

Timeline: The Bad Batch

Warning: Major character death

Tech laid on the ground. Trying to pull his self back up to fight he looked up at Crosshair. "Finished?" The sniper antagonized.

    The mercenary's hand slipped in the mud as he fell again. Crosshair walked closer as Tech thought of a plan. For once in his life he didn't know what to do.

    The two had found each other by chance. Both had been on their own mission. Tech was instructed to extract some information from an old separatist base while Crosshair was there to assist some commandos with rounding up some civilians. A child had escaped so the clone had gone to find her.

    When the two met they quickly managed to disarm each other. Vibro-knifes and guns fell to the ground, both knowing the other was too dangerous armed. Hand-to-hand combat is not Tech's strong suit. Though Crosshair was the sniper he found pleasure in hand-to-hand combat so he spent a lot of his free time learning. It didn't take long for the brothers to get where they were now.

    Tech started at his brother who had gone to pick up a vibro-knife. Why he chose the knife instead of his rifle confused Tech. His weapon of choice had always been his rifle so most likely it was to antagonize him.

    Omega ran out to where the two had fought. She slipped slightly in the mid then planted her feet in front of her older brother and glared at the other. "You'll have to go through me if you wanna get to him!" She flung her arms out to take up more space.

    "Omega" Tech struggled to sit up. Crosshair, at least like this, wouldn't hesitate to kill her. Being her older brother meant he had to protect her not the other way. Again his arm gave out from under him and he slipped.

    "Brave girl. If you want to protect him then you shall die with him."

    Omega stood firm. She never wavered. Tech kept trying to get up, injuring himself more in the process. He'd never felt so helpless before. Omega was going to die and it was his fault.

    Crosshair walked up to her until he was uncomfortably close to her. The girl just looked up at him. Her eyes met his and something changed. The sniper had never seen Omega so angry. Hate filled her eyes the same way it filled his.

    The child pushed Crosshair away from her and looked around. Her eyes laid on one of Tech's blasters. Not wanting to leave Tech defenseless she walked towards her imperial brother. Unconsciously Crosshair moved back. This gave her the space she needed. Sprinting over to the gun Omega purposely slid to grab it. Right after she checked quickly to make sure the gun was set to stun.

    Tech was so proud of his little sister. She used her surroundings to her advantage. Not only that the kid managed to take Crosshair off guard, something few people could do.

    Omega wouldn't get the chance to shoot before Crosshair's knife sunk into her chest. The mud around her lifeless body splashed as she hit the ground. Tech could do nothing but watch, knowing she died for him.

     Crosshair turned back to his brother. "She said I'd have to go through her so I did." Tech tried to find anything that may hint to any regret or remorse his brother may have for killing their sister. Nothing. Had Crosshair really become so cold? Was the man in front of him, the man that was about to kill him, the man that just killed a little girl, the man he grew up with. He'd seen Cross eat glue before, to think he was capable of killing his family stung. It didn't more than sting it hurt. The pain carved into Tech's heart and made itself at home.

    Crosshair walked over to the child's body and removed the knife from her chest. He slowly walked back to Tech to finish what he started. Dropping to his knees he grabbed Tech's face.

    Tears leaked into the man's googles as he started at the monster in front of him. "Murderer" he hissed.

    "I know." The imperial pulled his former team mate into a sitting position and looked him dead in his eyes. Neither recognized the other's gaze anymore. Crosshair's eyes once had a hidden softness. Now they only reflected hate. Technalways had a sort of deadpan look in his and now they reflected the pain of loss.

    "Goodbye Tech." Tech closed his eyes. Omega's sacrifice wouldn't be for nothing. From behind Echo stunned Crosshair. He collapsed into the reddish mud. Tech fell with him.

    Echo rushed to his brother's side. "Tech, are you alright?" Kneeling down to the other side of him he put pressure on a large wound with his only hand. Seeing the water in Tech's googles he pulled them off.

    Hunter and Wrecker joined the others in the field. Hunter looked around to learn more about their surroundings. That's when he saw her. With no explanation the sargent rushed over to the little girl. As soon as he saw the location of her wound he knew she was gone. Hunter checked for a pulse anyway. Feeling her skin already growing cold startled him.

    Wrecker grabbed Tech and walked over to the other two. Echo followed. "Is she?" Wrecker already knew the answer. The lack of an effort to tend to Omega's wound and the sound of soft crying spoke the words Hunter couldn't say. Carefully Hunter grabbed his little sister and stood. He nodded and they left.

    Back on the Marauder the men mourned their sister. Once Tech had the strength he explained to them what happened. No matter how hard the three tried to explain it wasn't his fault, it was Crosshair's, he wouldn't see it that way. Omega made the decision to save his life. Tech would have to come to accept her decision. Even though he wanted to there was no way to switch places with her. After all he should be the one the family buried deep in the dirt of Kashyyyk.

bloody knife / sacrifice / you'll have to go through me (we might not make it to the morning, so go on and tell me now)

TW: physical abuse, mention of/suggestion of/implication of rape

Part two of three (first part prompt 6, third part prompt 30)

guest appearances from a few recognizable folks if you're familiar with Always Sunny in Philadelphia…

"Dammit, Froggy! This situation is intolerable! How do you expect me to conduct my business in a place like this?"

"You brought a fox home last night, didn't you?"

"Well, yes, but that's beside the point! Bird came up from behind and knocked the bitch out. I didn't even have a chance to pitch my woo." A frustrated sigh. "Listen, asshole, I know you've got condos and resorts out the wazoo, c'mon man! Lemme get the keys to any of them! I can't stand being here on this reeking wreckage!"

"Huh. I guess I could run it by the Warthog…"

A strained noise from other man. "Froggy. You. Are. The. Warthog."

"Oh! Well that makes this much easier, Lefevre. No. This yacht is top of the line! Queen of the sea!"

Another desperately aggravated sound barely contained. "This is a goddamn garbage scow, you absolute fool! I can't - I can't deal with this right now. I gotta go blow off some steam."

A lecherous chuckle from Froggy. "Gonna get blown you mean!" He cackled while the other man growled.

"Must you be so crass?"

"Me? Crass? You're the sociopath kidnapping women and locking them in an escape room with no actual escape."

"I don't! Grrr, I don't kidnap anyone! They choose to follow me aboard despite the implication."

"Uh huh. What about this one then? Didn't seem in much of a state to choose being here when Ronnie the Rat hauled her in for you."

"I told you! This one wasn't my fault! Snail was distracting me from my mission with her gross attempts at groping me under the table. It was Bird who went rogue and bashed the lady!"

"Yeah Froggy, Brian has a whole system, Bird messed this up." A third voice suddenly spoke up.

"Shaddup, Rat. Get back on deck with Cricket and Dirtgrub. We've got places to be and goods to unload. Or blow a load on, amiright Lefevre?!"

The acoustics on this vessel were atrocious. Spike had thought he was nearly to the men long before the conversation reached this point. His blood was very nearly boiling. There had been other obstacles in his path to this inner chamber of the surprisingly grandiose garbage scow. He'd already taken out a man more trash than human who had been on steroids and spray paint judging by the silvery smear around his mouth and nose. Then right after that there had been a jittery mad-eyed freak dressed like a man of the cloth but scratching at his limbs too aggressively to be following any faith but drugs. And the Bird character, wasted on what looked like meth, had been no challenge at all though he wished he could go back and rough her up more now that he knew her role in Faye's abduction.

At least three more opponents in the room up ahead. The echoing of their voices down the hallway made it difficult to ascertain exactly where each threat was but that had never stopped him before. He was slightly winded from the brutal attack by the first man - in the flurry of activity the other man had managed to land several blows with the nail embedded baseball bat he wielded.

Everything seemed to happen simultaneously when he kicked down the door and burst unannounced into the room. The ship shuddered to an abrupt halt - thanks no doubt to the time he'd taken to reprogram the course to ram into the nearest docks of Tharsis - and a gunshot went off that took his breath away.

How the fuck had one of those creeps gotten the drop on him?!

A muscular man began doing bizarre martial arts on him, producing sound effects of his own accord. Bizarre moves, but most were targeting the spot just below his rib cage where the bullet had struck.

"Damn, Froggy! You really are quick on the draw!" The Lefevre man exclaimed incredulously.

Froggy, a short squat man with thinning but wild hair, shrugged.

"My gun is always in my hand." He shook himself and suddenly seemed to take charge of the situation. "Rat, throw him in with the girl. Lefevre, clear out the safe. Wherever we just ran around… it ain't the shoreline under the bridge. We gotta make tracks before the cops get here!"

"I wasn't done with her yet!" Lefevre whined.

"You'll have to go through me to finish with her!" Spike shouted. Anything else he'd wanted to say or threaten was cut off by Ronnie the Rat putting him in a strangehold.

"You know what? I bet we could sink this. Drown the evidence, so to speak. Yeahhh I like this plan! Lefevre, forget the damn girl! Cash and bash! We gotta stick some holes in the hull to send this beaut down under. Rat, what're you doing playing around over there? Stop flirting with the man and knock him out!" Froggy sighed. "Do I gotta do everything myself? You kids are useless without me."

Spike had almost broken free of the absurdly strong chokehold when Froggy approached him with a manic grin and pulled a small pistol out of his pocket - not the same gun he'd already shot, which was still present in his other hand - and sprayed a spritz of liquid in Spike's face that had blackness overtaking him instantly.

XXX

Hearing returned before vision so Spike was treated to the sound of Lefevre from the video that had been playing on the Bebop. It was no less infuriating to hear.

"My minions make a sacrifice of themselves unto me for I am a Golden God and I alone am deserving of their tender touch, their devout praise, and the glory of bringing their souls to the surface to rise and give me the power of their essence!"

A soft whimper had him struggling to come back to his senses. There was nothing restraining him which would undoubtedly prove to have been a mistake for the gang that had captured Faye. A loose Spike was the kind of loose end that would most certainly wind up killing someone - or in this case, several someones.

"Faye?" He spoke, rubbing his eyes as his sight came back blearily.

A sniffle and then a tremulous voice replied. "Spike?"

"You... uh... okay?" A pointless question. He'd seen the video - which had not featured LeFevre except as a voice over. He knew the condition Faye had to be in.

"Mm... not good... Hurt." Her voice was so quiet it was a struggle to catch all her words. "You came for me."

Well, he supposed if he got to ask a pointless question, she got to make a pointless statement.

" 'Course I did. Took a minute for Jet to figure out where you were. That guy... Froggy? Warthog? Whatever his name is... he's tied up in countless businesses. Got more offshore accounts than even the syndicate in its heyday. Tracking down all the places he owns was a bitch too." He managed to get to his feet and made his way over to the cot where she was still tied down. The fact that she hadn't bothered to undo the knots restraining her wrists was worrisome. Then again, she was a terribly vantage point for freeing herself. There was a bloody knife on the floor by her feet and cuts all around her ankles and heels.

"Can you... break that TV maybe? I can't stand hearing his smarmy voice anymore. I don't want to see myself like that." There were tears in her eyes but her face was dry. She seemed more angry that sad which was a good thing. He needed her mad - she was far stronger when buoyed by that emotion.

"With pleasure," he assured her, proceeding to do just as she asked. Destroying things was his bread and butter.

"I fucked up. Couldn't get the knife to cut myself free. Haven't had a chance to see if there's any way out of here. He said it was an escape room... assured me there was at least one way out... and then put the knife by my feet." She was shivering by the time he turned back from kicking the TV into pieces to undo the knots and set her free. Her pale skin was a mess of bruises and abrasions and her outfit was gone entirely. He helped her sit up and then, easing onto the mattress beside her, carefully eased her into his trench coat.

"We'll figure something out." He promised. "They were gonna sink the boat but it's already at the docks so it can't be too deep here."

"I'm so tired." She murmured then, leaning against him. "He gave me something... riderall? And it kept me awake while he was... abusing me."

Spike hated to ask but had to know... "Faye, did he... were you..."

She laughed weakly. "I know what it looks like. But... for all his posturing and boasting... I've never seen someone struggle so much to get hard. I shouldn't have made fun of him for it but I wanted to make him hurt for how he was hurting me. I didn't know if I was gonna die here or what. I couldn't just let him win."

"You're one tough cookie, Faye."

"I still can't feel my hands," she admitted. "Circulation wasn't cut off to my feet but... well I think I nicked them pretty bad trying to get the knife in a useful position. I dunno if I can walk out of here very well."

"It's okay. I can carry you." He noticed there was water beginning to seep in under the door and realized there was at least a little space between the doorframe and the door itself. Maybe he could use the knife to wedge it open somehow if he couldn't just use bodily force to gain access to the hallway outside.

"I'm sorry you're stuck here too... but... I'm glad you came for me. Spike, I..." She paused and looked down at her lap. "There's something I wanna tell you, when we get back to the ship."

He eyed the rising water level with some concern. "The future's pretty uncertain, Faye. We might not make it to the morning, so go on and tell me now." He had to keep her talking, keep her conscious. He knew she had some head injuries, from watching that video, so he didn't want to risk her falling asleep with a concussion. "You just say whatever you gotta say, I'm gonna try to figure out an exit, okay?"

She sighed as he helped her lay back down and moved to inspect the door, feeling his way along the frame with his fingertips.

"I've been trying... so hard... to stop feeling like I do. After Callisto, when I realized you had someone out there to love already... and... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... that she's gone now. But I know love just doesn't stop. I can't imagine what'd I'd do without you in my life... watching you walk out to face your fate... it nearly broke me. But then you came back! And... I know you can't reciprocate what I feel. It's okay, truly. I just... I need you in my life, in whatever capacity. I've made due with what we have and that'll be fine going forward too. Just if... if we're trapped here and gonna die... I just wanted you to know, for sure... that... I love you."

His heart was pounding at her words, at her misunderstanding of key things, at the faltering admission she made while he devoted most of his attention to the imperative mission of busting down the door so they could survive. This was the kind of confession that deserved his entire attention. The kind of confession that required her to be in better shape so he could lavish her with kisses as he corrected her on her inaccurate assumption of his affection.

"I'm not gonna be fine with that going forward." He told her as he took the knife and got to work at the door. "I'm gonna need more from you, actually." He went on before she could think he was unhappy with her. "I didn't come back to the ship just to hang out as your friend all day. I've got some more... intimate... ideas of how we could spend our time together, to be honest."

"Wha-"

"Got it!" Spike crowed jubilantly as the door swung open. "Man, that was more of a piece of cake than I expected after hearing you describe this as an escape room."

He turned around, triumphant, as Faye stared in dismay at the water slogging in around his ankles.

"Never mind all that. I said the ship was sinking, didn't I? Now, c'mere, we gotta try and get out so you can tell me more about this love you feel that you don't think I return. You're wrong about that, by the way, I definitely do care for you quite a bit." He scooped her up into his arms with a groan. "Don't think... you weigh too much... I just got a bit battered myself, coming to get you."

"Oh Spike..." She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung close. "You get us out of this situation and I'll do more than tell you about love. I'll use my lips and mouth and hands to paint a picture on your body that shows you what I mean."

He groaned again. "Okay, this kind of talk isn't helping as much as I'd hoped. Uhhh... tell me about something else. Nothing provocative. Like... uhh... what's your favorite meal?"

It was her turn to groan. "Why'd you have to mention food? I'm fucking starving, Spike..."