The Bad Batch: One Shot Collection

Author's Note: I had the most nonsensical dream about Hunter getting stuck in a malfunctioning elevator and this fic was born. xD Enjoy :D 

~ Tirana Sorki

PS. This is for the square "parenting" on the Bad Batch Bingo. ^-^

~ Amina Gila

After losing Crosshair and Wrecker on Kamino. Hunter attempts to take care of what's left of his squad. He wants them back, but they don't have a way to get to them. Until he unexpectedly runs into them both when he's on a delivery for Cid. The only problem? They want to take him back to the Empire with them. 

It was supposed to be a normal mission for Cid. Hunter didn't have any reason to think otherwise, when he stopped by at the town center building in the middle of the town where she asked them to drop off a shipment. It's supposedly some type of food, but he has his doubts about that, not that it matters so long as they get paid.

At least it's not a dangerous mission, because Omega needs a break from that. Bane almost got as far as taking her back to the Kaminoans, and he won't let anything happen to her. That's why he opted for leaving Echo and Tech at the ship with her, while he went to deliver the shipment alone.

Though, having Tech here probably would have been helpful. The populace of the village hardly speak Basic, and from how ancient the buildings look, they appear to have been cut off from the advanced technology of the rest of the galaxy for decades, at least.

More like centuries. He's never seen anyone with technology this backwards before, and he can somewhat work around it, but it's confusing. Mostly because he keeps overthinking it and expecting things to be far more complicated than they are.

Hunter's stepping back into the main room on the ground floor of the building when he hears talking right near the entrance.

He doesn't have long enough for the voices to register, before he rounds the corner.

And freezes.

Several of the natives are standing near the doorway, but standing right in front of them are...

Crosshair and Wrecker?!

He'd recognize their black, lifeless armor anywhere, just as much as he would the familiar feel of their heartbeats.

What –

What are they doing here?!

Everyone glances up distractedly at the noise of him entering the room, and Hunter backs out three times faster than he came in, heart pounding as the door clicks closed behind him.

He just... what?!

Since when was the Empire here?! They never saw any traces of them on the planet, when they were landing, so how did they get here? How would they even know to come here, unless it happened purely by chance?

He can't imagine that, though. Probably, it was intentional, though he doesn't know how prominent the Imperial forces here are.

And he has no idea if they saw him or not, but they probably did. Crosshair, at least.

There's no way his littlest brother missed spotting him standing right there, especially if he's on-planet looking for them. Wrecker probably didn't see, but they're undoubtedly both coming now.

And he's not ready.

They're his little brothers, and he's missed both of them agonizingly every second the past several weeks since he and the rest of his squad had to flee Kamino. Everywhere he looks, he's expecting to see them, but they're gone. It's hard to believe it has only been weeks. It feels more like a lifetime ago, for how different everything is now.