The Bad Batch: One Shot Collection

Soultwins

It goes against Hunter's nature to admit to weakness in front of an enemy, but this is Crosshair, and he –

But he's their enemy now. He's not just Hunter's soulmate and twin brother anymore.

"I'm – I fractured my spine," he grits out.

Crosshair is quiet. It could be skeptical or shocked or something else entirely, Hunter doesn't know. He doesn't want to try and feel. He's afraid to feel Crosshair. Finally, he unfastens the glove on his right hand and crouches next to Hunter's side, reaching out to touch his neck. Hunter can't help the gasp that escapes from him when he feels Crosshair in his mind again. He feels whole, and he sees a blur of an explosion and pain, but Crosshair yanks his hand away before Hunter can make sense of it.

He leaves the cell without another word and has his squad half-carry, half-drag Hunter to the shuttle.

Hunter just barely swallows a scream when they dump him onto the floor of the shuttle, but he doesn't manage to hold back the pained gasp, or the way tears of pain blur his eyes. Crosshair doesn't come back to the main hold until after the shuttle's taken off, probably after the jump to hyperspace. Hunter should ask him where they're taking him, but right now, he's in too much pain to talk. It's all he can do to just – breathe.

Very slowly and shakily.

Crosshair crouches next to him again, and Hunter doesn't even bother trying to look at him. Doesn't think he could focus on him anyways. "Can you stand at all?"

Hunter thinks back to his failed attempt at standing on Daro. The pain's only gotten worse since then, and he sort of feels like throwing up. "Not on my own," he answers.

"Okay, up," Crosshair orders, shifting him to a sitting position. Hunter gasps at the feeling that spikes down his back. It feels like something simultaneously hot and cold is being drilled into his back. Hunter tries to cooperate with him, but it's hard, and somehow, Crosshair manages to get him fully upright, even though he's supporting most of Hunter's weight.

Hunter slings an arm around Crosshair's shoulders, so he doesn't fall. It's strange to be this close to him again. He wants to hold him, so he never leaves, so they're whole again, but he also wants to pull away and run. Crosshair tried to kill them. He tried to kill them even if it would have broken him permanently if Hunter died. Hunter already knows he could never live through Crosshair's death. He'd never be able to look at the crosshair soulmark on his upper left arm without thinking about Crosshair and remember the half-skull soulmark Crosshair carries.

They tattooed each other's marks on their faces because they thought it was funny. Tech adamantly refused to tattoo himself with either the gear on Wrecker's arm or the explosion-like-symbol on his own. He didn't seem terribly impressed with Crosshair's explanation of how it would be "fun", pointing out how it took Hunter a full week to stop whining about his face hurting. Which – fair but still.

It wasn't until later that they realized how soulmates are often viewed by natborns. None of the clones understood it. As far as Hunter knows, all the clones who have soulmates are linked to other clones. But natborns often look down on them for being connected to each other like that, seeing them as inferior for being bonded in an allegedly romantic manner to their brothers. Which – gross.

At least the Jedi understood that soulmates weren't necessarily romantic – General Skywalker had one with his Jedi master.

Crosshair wraps an arm around Hunter's waist, so he doesn't fall and steers him toward the 'fresher aboard the shuttle. Sure, okay. It's probably the best place to have some privacy, even if the 'freshers on this type of shuttle are so tiny that it'll be a miracle if they can both fit without being on top of each other. Hunter's breathing is labored, but he manages to stumble forward as Crosshair guides him into the 'fresher. The door closes behind them, and Crosshair locks it.