Chapter Text
“Hunner go?”
Hunter gave a small sigh as he paused pulling on his boots, and looked up at his baby sister with fond exasperation. Little Omega must have woken up as he was going about the lean to, stoking the fire again and starting to assemble the breakfast he would make when he got back from his morning chores of checking Cid’s mules and horse and feeding the chickens.
“Yes, Omega,” he answered her gently as she padded over from the bed. “I’ll be back in a little while. Like always.” He pulled on his cloak—patched with even older clothing and held together by crooked stitches that testified of his lack of skill as a seamster, but it did the job. “I’m going to go check on the animals.”
Omega rubbed her sleepy brown eyes with one small fist—her other arm was preoccupied holding the much-loved and patched up Lula tightly. “Tell horsie good mornin’?” she yawned.
Hunter smiled. “Yes, I’ll tell the horsie good morning from you.”
That seemed to satisfy her. Which was good. Omega could be reasoned with. Her twin, on the other hand—
“NO!”
It’s too early for this, he wanted to groan. Instead, he sighed as he and Omega both turned to look at the bed and the mound of blankets on top of it. There was a small grunt as a matching size being disentangled himself from his sleeping place, and a cottony little head popped up, along with two brown eyes that were trying to bore a lethal amount of shame right into his big brother.
Crosshair wrinkled his little nose and huffed again as he tried to kick his feet free of the covers, “Hunner STAY!”
Hunter opened his mouth to start the same old argument he and the toddler had every single morning since coming to Cid’s tavern— Hunter had to go and do the chores and whatever needed to be done because that was why Cid let them stay in her back lean to, and he would come back because it was unlikely an Orx would come out of nowhere and eat him in the middle of town—but Omega beat him to it.
“C’oss!” she reprimanded, using her status as the older-by-minutes twin to shake her finger at her brother. “Too loud! They still a-seep!”
Crosshair still scowled, but then a shifting under another section of blanket made him look alive to not get tossed off the bed with the covers.
“M’awake…” Wrecker yawned. The tawny-haired boy sat up in the bed, rubbing his eyes and reaching blindly for Lula. He found Crosshair instead, and sleepily patted his baby brother’s wooly head. Then the big-for-his-age ten year old’s eyes suddenly popped open. “Where’s Omega?”
“She’s over here.” Hunter was drowned out by Omega’s squeal as she ran to give Wrecker his good morning hug and show him that she had kept Lula safe all night.
“I assume she is awake.” Tech’s clipped voice came with a note of grogginess as he carefully placed his glasses on his face and squinted, eyes still adjusting to being awake. “She is the only one who squeals like that.”
Hunter chuckled as his motley assortment of siblings crawled out of the bed and rubbed the sleep from their eyes.
“Well, since you’re all awake, go ahead and wash up,” he said, finally beginning to pull his first boot on again. “I’ll get breakfast started when I get back.”
“I can make breakfast!” Wrecker volunteered eagerly. “I know how!”
“That way, you can eat it hot when you come in from the cold outside, without having to cook it and wait.” Tech was folding the blankets and placing them neatly back on the bed. “I can watch Crosshair and Omega so Wrecker can concentrate.”
“It’s breakfast, Tech.” Wrecker rolled his eyes at his younger brother. “It’s not that hard.”
Hunter smiled and nodded. “Okay, you can make breakfast—just don’t let the twins get close to the fire or touch the pot…” As he reached for his other boot he trailed off, because his fingers, instead of grabbing the thin hide of the footwear, brushed harder, small scales. He looked down to see a rust-colored dragon no bigger than both of the boots put together—and currently, trying to stealthily snag one of the aforementioned boots in his baby teeth.
“Gonky…” Hunter started, drawing the name out warningly. “Don’t even think about it.”
The baby dragon froze, and slowly turned his head to look up at the boy with those big orange eyes that were excellent at begging—one of the main reasons Hunter had given in to Wrecker and Tech’s pleading and let the little reptile stay with them, even after the little booger had eaten everything in their food pack. His little tail that was almost as long as the rest of his body thudded an innocent rhythm on the floor as he purred good morning I’m not doing anything…
Then he snatched the remaining boot and took off.
“You little scamp!” Hunter hollered as he lunged for the baby dragon. Except the toe of the boot he had been fortunate enough to put on caught in a dip in the dirt and straw floor, tripping him and sending him forward, and he landed headlong with an oof.
He heard his siblings gasp and grunted as he looked up to reassure them he was okay. Instead, he blinked up at Gonky, who had the gall to be staring at him concernedly, boot still dangling from his meager teeth. Because a lot of people didn’t know that baby dragons lost a lot of teeth. Tech had a growing collection of the tiny mouth daggers that had formerly belonged to their currently snaggletooth, juvenile dragon.
Then, aforementioned snaggletooth, juvenile dragon gave Hunter a mischievous snaggletooth grin, and with a squeak had turned and bounded away again with his prize of a boot.
Hunter growled as he got back up on his knees, shaking his head at Gonky’s favorite game. “Gonky, drop that right now or I’ll tan your ungrateful hide!”
But Gonky of course didn’t listen. He knew Hunter was a pushover because, well, that’s why the little lizard was here to begin with.
Hunter’s siblings knew that, too. They burst into giggles and happy squeals as Gonky raced to hide amongst them, then gave a little flap of his baby wings that weren’t very strong yet. He jumped but didn’t quite make it on top the bed, instead clutching the newly folded blankets as he began to slide off, trying to squeak in alarm around the boot he still stubbornly held in his mouth. Omega squealed and dropped Lula as she caught the dragon and tried to boost him up.
“Run, Gonky!” she squealed in between giggles. “Run!”
“Yeah!” Wrecker ran forward and helped her toss Gonky onto the bed. “He can’t leave if you don’t give his boot back!”
Crosshair clapped and Tech was smiling as Hunter made it to his feet and shook his head again. But this time he couldn’t help but smile at his siblings resounding happiness and amusement at his predicament.
“You’re all against me!” he said dramatically. “Traitors!”
That only brought more giggles, and Hunter felt his chest getting lighter. He grinned.
“He’s a thief, and you’re all accomplices!” he shouted and threw his arms wide. “I’ll have to catch you all!”
The squeals went higher as Tech hefted Crosshair onto the bed and Wrecker laughed while he scrambled to toss Omega up top with Gonky, then shove Tech up. He yelled above Tech’s surprised squeak, trying to jump up before Hunter got there.
“Hurry hurry hurry!” he shouted.
Hunter took a few running strides before he gave a not very scary “Roar!” and plopped on top of the bed with them, managing to wrap his arms around and be touching every sibling—plus Gonky—at the same time.
“Ha!” he said in triumph. “I gotcha!”
He felt the giggle vibrations from Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, and Omega travel up his arms as he hugged them, until the fuzzy feeling outgrew his chest and he burst out laughing with them. He hugged them tighter, thankful he still could embrace them all at the same time—with them all hitting growth spurts, he doubted he would be able to for much longer. He closed his eyes and listened to their breathless giggles, feeling small hands grab onto him and hug him back. And he let himself believe that this was all that mattered. That nothing else mattered. Not the Empire, who had burned their homeland and chased them for so long. Not the desperation that had driven them here to the Wilds, and forced him to labor for the less-than-generous Cid who owned the tavern in Ord Mantell, a place full of outlaws and misfits and refugees. Not the days and nights he had spent in constant fear that he wouldn’t be able to take care of his small brothers and sister. He let himself believe it would get better. That one day he would be able to take them all away from here. That one day they would find Cody, Rex, Echo, and Fives—their older brothers who had been fighting the Empire at the borders, when Hunter had been forced to flee the incoming slaughter with the twins in his arms and Tech and Wrecker running as fast as they could beside him. Hunter let himself believe they were alive, somewhere, and okay.
A wet but rough tongue licked his nose, and he opened his eyes and saw Gonky again—this time very nearly grinning at him from his place in the pile of siblings, still triumphantly holding Hunter’s boot in his tiny teeth. His orange eyes glittered almost audibly.
Ha! I won!
Hunter let out a sigh and squeezed his little family closer, boot-stealing dragon and all.
Chapter 2
Summary:
Summer of Bad Batch prompts: reunion, bedtime stories, and sibling squabbles.
Chapter Text
Hunter whistled as he poured the bucket of oats into the wooden trough, calling the horse and two mules over for their breakfast. The mules, as always, came running across the small barnyard as if they hadn’t eaten in months, while the brown horse came trotting over and huffed gratefully before poking his muzzle down among the feed. That task completed, Hunter turned to walk away—
“Oh.” He remembered his earlier promise, and turned back to the horse. The boy reached out and patted the creature’s solid flank. “Omega said to tell you ‘good morning’.”
The horse flicked his ears as he chewed, and Hunter took that as he had heard him. With a smile he turned away again, eager to finish this round of livestock chores and stir the fire in the tavern so he could steal back to the lean to for the breakfast Wrecker was making. Then he would make sure his siblings were fine for the day before going to see what else Cid required of him. The animal chores were everyday, but with the cold snap he would probably be instructed to go find some more firewood, as well as clean the tavern, check the rooms—
He sighed. Some days it was easy to remember that he had come from royal blood. Some days—like this one—it was easy to forget. He wondered if Tech or Wrecker even remembered the days when they had lived in the castle by the river—he knew the twins didn’t. Crosshair and Omega had been born less than a year before the Empire had come to raze Mandalore—and to kill its royal family. Jango, their father, had died then, and their older brothers Cody, Rex, Echo and Fives had been part of the force trying to keep the Empire at bay. But the Empire had come anyway, and Hunter didn’t know if his brothers had survived the slaughter. So, he had spent the last three years hiding his little siblings, all the family he had left. Hiding, and surviving—royal orphans in the rugged Wilds, where people came to outrun or outlive their enemies if they could.
Of course, Cid knew nothing about his heritage—if she or anyone else in this forsaken place even suspected it, Hunter knew he and his family would have been handed over to the Empire long ago. All that Cid knew was that they were orphans, and she had immediately taken Hunter up on his offer to work in exchange for lodging and food. They had been here for almost a year and a half now, and even though he didn’t like it here at all, and his only friend was the brown horse, he couldn’t justify leaving. Not when his siblings had been able to sleep with full bellies under a real roof every night while they had been here. Not while it was up to him to take care of them.
He shook his head a little and lifted his chin. It wasn’t time to be thinking about these things. He needed to focus, and continue his work and be grateful for it. He remembered Cid saying yesterday that he needed to mop the floor of the tavern—the mud from the cold rains had been coming in with the customers. As he left his bucket at the back door of the tavern to be filled with the day’s food scraps for the chickens, he took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. He was a lost heir of Mandalore, yes, and he might never be able to pick up a sword or bow to fight against the Empire, but fighting every day for his little family through dogged and thankless work was noble in itself, and he could rise to such a task like the warrior he had once dreamed he would become.
He opened the door and walked into the back of the tavern—and stopped.
As he came in the back door, four men came in the front. Tall men, wearing dark cloaks, the hoods hiding their faces as they ducked into the still-quiet building. He heard soft clinks and saw the way their cloaks were lumpy at the shoulders and knew all four were carrying swords, and wearing armor.
His heart suddenly was pounding in his ears and his blood went icy. Soldiers—in Ord Mantell? The Empire had come here? He took half a step back out the door, trying to breathe through the flush of pure fear. If the Empire had come, he had to get back to the lean to. Had to get his brothers and sisters, take them away again—
Then the soldiers took off their hoods.
Three were black-haired. One was blond. But as the foursome looked around the tavern, probably looking for the proprietor, Hunter saw a scar etched into the left side of one man’s face. A scar that resembled a scythe, just past the black-haired man’s eye.
Hunter knew that scar. He remembered the day the tall man had received it.
“Don’t worry, vod’ika,” Cody had chuckled, seeing eight-year-old Hunter’s wide eyes as the little boy watched his older brother press a cloth to the bleeding on his own head. “You should see the other guy.”
He was shouting before he heard himself, running before he realized he was moving.
“Cody!” he yelled out, then heard it echo around in the small building. “Cody, it’s me!”
All four men jerked, their heads swiveling toward him. Hunter ran until he threw his arms around his older brother, thudding into his cloaked armor but squeezing him nonetheless. He was breathing fast and didn’t know why he was crying, but he felt two strong arms squeeze him back, almost picking him up off the floor.
“Hunter?” A deep voice—Cody’s voice—choked out from above him. “How—Is it really—”
Hunter stepped back to look up at his brother and try to explain, but another set of arms grabbed him up in another hug.
“Hunter!”
That was Rex’s voice. The blond man was Rex. Which meant that the other two men were Echo and Fives, his older twin brothers.
Hunter hugged Rex back and cried with relief into his brother’s shoulder. His brothers were alive. His brothers were here and they remembered him.
He pushed back from Rex, trying to formulate words again, looking from him to Echo and Fives’ shocked faces. “You—I didn’t think—you’re alive?” he gasped out.
Rex put his hands on his shoulders, and Hunter saw tears in his eyes. “The Empire’s forces were too great for ours. We retreated, to get back to the castle and defend it.” He swallowed. “But—”
“By the time we got there, everything was burning.” Cody finished for his younger brother. He put a hand on Hunter’s head, ruffling his hair fondly. “We didn’t find any sign of you or Tech or Wrecker.” His eyes suddenly went wide. “Are they—”
“Yes!” Hunter quickly assured him. None of them must have been told about the twins, then—they had all been away when they had been born, and hadn’t ever met them. “Yes, I got us out. We ran. We—I’ve been trying to keep them safe.”
“So you’ve been here this whole—”
“What’s going on in here?” a cranky voice demanded.
Hunter cringed as the door slammed shut behind Cid. The ornery, short, middle-aged woman with graying hair and a permanent scowl came stalking from her room at the far end of the tavern, glaring eyes fixed on Hunter.
“What are you standing here bothering these men for?” she reprimanded. “There’s things to do! I don’t keep you and your pack of urchins just for charity, you know.”
Hunter was about to try and think of something to say, when Cody steered him toward Rex and stepped between the boy and Cid.
“Hunter is my brother,” he informed her. “As are the others. And he is no longer in your service.”
Cid’s scowl deepened. “What?”
“As of this very moment,” Cody affirmed. “I am taking them with me.”
Cid huffed, and still didn’t look happy about it, but Hunter saw that glint in her eye that said she saw an opportunity. “Well, what do you expect me to do then? A poor old woman with no children? I can’t do everything about this place, and good help is hard to find.”
Cody’s jaw stiffened, but he ground out politely, “I’m sure you’ll manage. And I will pay you a reasonable amount for allowing them to shelter here. But they are leaving with me today.”
Hunter opened his mouth to tell Cody he didn’t want him to pay Cid, didn’t want him to go to that trouble, but Rex’s hand squeezed his shoulder. And when he looked up, his big brother was smiling down at him.
Don’t worry. It’s all going to be fine now.
Hunter swallowed, the suddenness of it all making butterflies in his stomach—the unexpected reunion, Cody saying they were leaving. They were leaving Ord Mantell. He wouldn’t have to work for Cid anymore. They were going to go with Cody and Rex and Echo and Fives.
And he knew it would all be okay.
…
Hunter opened the door to the lean to, nearly giddy. “Tech, Wrecker?”
Wrecker bounced up immediately, looking thrilled. “I did it, Hunter! I made breakfast!” The redheaded boy stopped still, mouth falling open in surprise as he saw the four men behind Hunter.
“Cody?” he shouted, making Hunter smile. “Hey, Tech! It’s Cody! And Rex and Echo and Fivie!”
Fives laughed, pushing past Echo to hug Wrecker. “Aw, you can call me that forever, little one!”
Wrecker squeezed him back as Tech poked his head cautiously out the door. “Echo’s here?”
Echo’s warm smile made the little boy give him one back. “Yes, little Techie, I’m here, too.”
“Now we can all have breakfast!” Wrecker said happily as they all crowded into the small lean to. “We can share!”
“Who that, Hunner?”
All eyes turned down—to the little voice that came from the little blond Omega. She and Crosshair were both sitting on the floor, playing with the small leather ball Hunter had managed to scrounge up. They had abandoned rolling the toy back and forth, and were now staring at the new people who had walked through the door.
Hunter saw the visible shock and heard the choked gasps that originated from his older brothers. But before he could explain, both twins reacted exactly how he had thought that they would.
Omega stood up squealing “Hi!” with infectious glee—and Crosshair started scrambling to squeeze under the bed.
Hunter sighed as he lunged past Omega and scooped up Crosshair. “These are our big brothers,” he told him, as his baby brother whimpered and cuddled close to him, as if he could hide from the new people by merging with Hunter’s shirt.
Omega gasped from where she staring up curiously at the big brothers, who hadn’t quite regained their power of speech.
“Big brothers?” she repeated excitedly. “From the bedtime stories?”
Hunter smiled as he carried Crosshair over. “Yep.” He put a hand on Omega’s head, and looked up at the four soldiers. “This is Omega.” He nodded to Crosshair, who still wasn’t looking at the new people. “This is Crosshair. They’re twins. No one told you about them, I guess. They were born after you left to hold the border.”
Fives’ jaw dropped. “Twins? Like us!”
Echo still seemed like he was trying to process the information. “So…we have two more baby brothers?”
Hunter almost snorted, but he understood how Omega could be mistaken for a boy. Her curly blond hair was still very short, and she and Crosshair looked, of course, nearly alike.
Wrecker laughed outright at Echo’s misunderstanding. “No!” he giggled. He picked Omega up and grinned as she squealed in delight. “She’s a baby sister!”
Fives gasped. “We’ve never had a sister!” He scooped her up from Wrecker as the boy giggled harder, and kissed her forehead. “You will ride with me, and I will be your bodyguard!”
Omega giggled and stretched to give him a return peck on the nose, and Hunter could have sworn he saw their big brother melt. “Oh, she already likes me!”
Hunter felt a tug on his shirt, and looked down to see Tech looking up at him quizzically. “So, can we eat breakfast now?”
…
An hour later, they had eaten breakfast, and packed up everything in the little lean to that Hunter cared to keep. Cody had bought the brown horse from Cid, and Tech had promptly named the gentle but strong creature Marauder. Hunter, still holding Crosshair, was riding the newly christened animal, with their sparse belongings secured behind them. Wrecker was riding with Fives, and Tech was with Rex. Echo had won the sibling squabble that had ended in a coin toss to see who Omega would ride with, and looked thrilled to be the target of his newly discovered baby sister’s endless chatter.
Cody came back out of the tavern, having settled their business with Cid, who hadn’t bothered to say goodbye to the “pack of urchins”. The oldest Fett brother swung onto his horse, and smiled as he looked back at his train of siblings that had just more than doubled since he had arrived in Ord Mantell.
“Well,” he said. “What are we waiting for?”
archivewriter1 on Chapter 1 Sun 10 Aug 2025 05:28PM UTC
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