Me Ignoring Canon So My Fanfiction Can Exist

love you to the moon and to saturn

part one

part two: ten months older i won't give in

Notes/Warnings: Whump, torture (Torture droids), major character death.

For the umpteenth time that day, Omega told herself to just breathe. Hunter was captured too, he couldn’t worry about comforting her and getting them both out of here at the same time. Still, she felt his eyes on her as they were led through the halls of Mount Tantiss. Omega’s vision tunnelled, reacting purely on muscle memory as she was led along the route she knew so well.

They were brought to Hemlock’s lab, the first place she’d seen when she first arrived at Mount Tantiss. Some of the clones Omega had seen then were still alive, like Crosshair, but most had vanished.

“So you’re Sergeant Hunter,” A voice cut through the haze of cotton that blanketed Omega’s mind. Emerie left her position at one of the examination tables, and approached Hunter, hands folded behind her back as she studied his face.

“I was expecting someone of your prowess to be a bit…taller.”

Hunter chuckled, casually taking a step closer to Omega, “Well, you seem to know all about me, but I’m afraid I don’t know anything about you.”

Emerie shrugged, “There’s not much to know. My name is Emerie Karr, I’m Doctor Hemlock’s assistant, much like Omega was for Nala Se. I’ve heard a lot about you from Omega.”

Hunter glanced down at Omega, who for reasons she didn’t understand, felt ashamed. Would he be mad that he had talked about the batch with an Imperial Scientist?

But when she looked up at him, he wasn’t glaring at her, he was glaring back at Emerie.

“You’re going to regret ever laying a finger on her,” He snarled.

Emerie didn’t look the least perturbed. “I’ve never touched her,” she told Hunter, what little assurance that gave.

She glanced down at her datapad, making her way back to the table, and one of the TK troopers placed a hand on Hunter’s shoulder and squeezed. A reminder.

Omega gulped nervously.

“Hunter?” She whispered, wondering if anyone would strike at her for speaking without having first been spoken to. “She says she’s our sister.”

Hunter was just as surprised as Omega had been when she was told. Omega didn’t even know if Emerie was telling the truth, she had no evidence to back it up. Omega thought that, having spent her whole life in Nala Se’s laboratory, she would know of any other female clone troopers. But even if Omega tried to bring it up to the Kaminoan, she would blatantly ignore any inquiries.

“I am a defective clone of Jango Fett, much like the two of you and the rest of Clone Force Ninety-Nine,” Emerie said. She pressed a few buttons on the screen connected to the examination table, talking as if Omega had simply remarked on the weather, and Hunter’s perception of himself and his brothers wasn’t completely shattering for the second time in his life.

“If you’re a clone, what are you doing with the Empire? They’re wiping out the rest of us.” Hunter still didn’t believe her, Omega could tell.

“Only the ones who pose a threat to the Empire. I’ve worked with Doctor Hemlock since my adolescence. I am loyal to him, and he is loyal to the Emperor.”

Hunter’s move to shield Omega from Emerie’s view was much more obvious this time, but it was futile.

A door across the room opened, and Omega found herself gripping Hunter’s pants leg as Hemlock entered.

“Ah, Sergeant Hunter. I thought we might meet again soon,” Hemlock greeted almost cheerily.

The TK Captain stepped forward. “His comm and weapons, sir,” He held them out.

Hemlock glanced at Hunter’s pitiful-looking arsenal and his mouth twitched like he was struggling not to laugh.

“You really thought you could take on an entire base with nothing but a blaster and a vibroblade? You could have found a lightsaber at least.”

Hunter shrugged, “Not quite my style.”

With his hand bound behind his back, he tried to brush Omega in a comforting way, but it just felt awkward. Omega was grateful that Hunter at least stood between her and Hemlock, that forced Hemlock to look at Hunter instead of her, and she knew she couldn’t withstand the scientist’s gaze at the moment.

“Are his friends anywhere nearby?” Hemlock asked his men, and Omega allowed hope to soar in her heart for one fragile moment.

“No sir. He snuck beneath our shields in a modified V-wing. Its serial number matches one that was swiped in a raid on the Coruscaunt shipyards two weeks ago. No transmissions have come in or out since then.”

Omega looked up at Hunter in shock. He was always livid with her whenever she pulled a risky move on her own, even if it was to help, and here he was trying to rescue her on his own! Where were Echo and Rex in all this?

Hemlock shook his head, “You’re more foolish than I thought.”

“Omega’s my kid,” Hunter snapped at the Doctor, “I wasn’t leaving her in your clutches if I could help it.”

“Indeed.”

Hemlock nodded to the TK troopers, and Omega felt herself being pulled away for the second time that day.

“No! No!” She screamed, reaching out for Hunter as two TK troopers pulled her across the room towards Hemlock.

“Omega!” Hunter tried to lunge after them, but several troopers held him down, dragging him towards Emerie’s examination table. For all the anger in his voice, Hunter was nowhere near as strong as Wrecker.

“No! Stop, no! Hunter, Help!” Omega screamed though she knew Hunter couldn’t do anything. He shouldn’t have to. He shouldn’t have to always swoop in to rescue her, to clean up her mess. He shouldn’t have to pay for the mistakes she had made.

Hemlock placed his cold, gloved hand on Omega’s shoulder, giving her a light squeeze to remind her of her injuries. Omega whimpered softly, but it was enough to make Hunter freeze in terror. As her brother tried to think of any possible way out of this force-forsaken room, he was yanked down onto the examination table, and strapped in with the rough woven bonds that Omega hated so much.

Hemlock sighed, “And why all this drama? We could have avoided all of this if you had just cooperated.”

Hunter mustered all his strength to hurl a glob of spit across the room at Hemlock. It hardly made it halfway there, and Omega could see some blood mixed with the spit.

“Cooperation was out of the question the moment you killed my brother.”

Hemlock raised one eyebrow at the audacity of the man in front of him.

“It wasn’t I who gave the order to shoot down your cable car on Eriadu. In fact, all of you are far more valuable than simply to be used as target practice, there’s so much we can learn from you.”

Hemlock left Omega standing on her own, but she was too enraptured by Hemlock’s calm, creeping voice to make any escape attempts. That, and the two guards at each doorway would make quick work of her. Or worse, Hunter.

“Do you know how long it took your brother to break?”

Hunter strained against the straps around his head, trying his best to glare up at Hemlock.

“I’m sure you know we’ve had Crosshair in here for a while. It’s quite remarkable how stubborn he is.”

Unyielding, Tech had called him. Omega’s heart ached at the thought of her lost brother.

“Even more remarkable is his lack of self-preservation. It’s a trend I’ve noticed in many clones, on or off the battlefield. You have a quality about you that makes you so determined to live, but not at the cost of another’s life.”

Hemlock chuckled darkly, and Omega shivered.

“He had the opportunity to escape, you know. Emerie tried to stop him, telling him he wouldn’t be able to make it, but he tried anyway. If anyone could break out of our facility here, it would be one of you from Experimental Clone Force 99. But instead of escaping, he did a peculiar thing.

“He warned you about me.”

A thick silence settled over the room, like the humidity on Kamino.

“He could have called for help, given you his location, but he chose to help you.”

Hemlock rubbed his thumb against the palm of his gloved hand.

“I wonder why he would waste such a valuable opportunity on you.”

Any defiance Omega had left seemed to melt from her shoulders. They’d already lost Tech, she couldn’t risk losing Hunter, or Crosshair.

“Not that I’m complaining, however, that message did pull you out of hiding— the opposite of its intended effect, of course—and allowed me to find Omega, who is now an essential part of our work here.” Hemlock tried to hide his laughter this time, “You should have seen the look on Crosshair’s face when he realized Omega was behind held in the cell next to him.”

The table Hunter was strapped to creaked loudly as Hunter exerted all the strength in his body to his attempt at escaping. His muscles strained against the bonds as he rocked the table.

Hemlock took one step back and smirked, pleased with having gotten a rise out of Hunter.

A haunting humm echoed through the room, and Omega saw Hunter’s eye twitch at the incessant sound as it grew louder, drawing closer. The IT-O torture droid floated ominously into Omega’s field of vision, slowly making its way to Hemlock’s side as he stood over Hunter. There was hardly ever an excuse for Hemlock to use the torture droids. He needed a steady baseline in order to collect data from his experiments on the many, many clones that had made their way through Mount Tantiss. But he didn’t need data from Hunter, Omega realized with terror. He needed answers.

“Unfortunately, I’m not as familiar with your unique capabilities as I am with the standard clone’s, but am I correct in hypothesizing that your enhanced senses include an enhanced sense of pain?”

Hunter was a highly trained operative of the Galactic Republic. He knew how to keep himself from revealing sensitive topics and he was willing to die before he gave away any of his secrets to Imperial scum.

But Omega had no such training, and her gasp could be heard echoing throughout the room.

Hemlock shook his head.

<em>”Pity.”</em>

The droid was at Hunter’s neck with a syringe of suspiciously clear, viscous liquid. Before Omega could warn him, the needle was in his neck.

“Where’s the Clone Resistance hiding?” Hemlock asked, his voice dangerously calm,

Hunter was breathing heavily as the IT-O droid slowly pushed more of the serum into his veins.

“Go…to…hell.” he grunted.

“Interesting reaction,” Hemlock nodded to Emerie, who made a note of it.

Tears welled up in Omega’s eyes. She was rooted to the spot despite the terror she was witnessing.

Hunter jerked his head away from the IT-O’s needle, bringing him eye-to-eye with Omega.

Omega didn’t know what it was that Hunter saw that made his eyes go wide with terror, but then the IT-O shocked him and he howled in pain.

“Excellent. Again.” Hemlock instructed.

Hunter grit his teeth, trying not to scream. His teeth ground together through another volt of electricity. Tech was always telling him to relax his jaw and not grind his teeth.

"Omega, come here," Hemlock beckoned her forward. Omega shuffled her feet, but the TK Trooper hit her in her shoulder again, and she stumbled towards Hemlock and Hunter.

Hunter trembled on the table, his eyes squeezed shut like he was having a nightmare. Omega bit her lip as Hemlock placed both his hands on her shoulders.

“Maybe you can help us, Omega.”

“What?” She whispered hoarsely, trembling with every breath she took.

“I wonder how long you could last watching your brother be tortured. How long would it take for you to break, to give me the information I want.”

Omega’s breath caught in her throat.

“Doctor,” Emerie hissed, “Omega’s mental state is rather delicate.”

Hemlock ignored her.

"You've been with Clone Force Ninety-nine on a good bit of their adventures. Surely you would know where Captain Rex and his fighters are hiding?"

Omega stared at Hunter for a while. How was she supposed to answer that?

"I… I don't know-"

The IT-O droid shocked Hunter again.

"Omega," Hunter took deep breaths, and she could hear the wheezing as his lungs strained, "Don't tell them…don't tell them anythi-"

Another shock. Omega jumped, even though the droid hadn't shocked her.

"Do you know what that serum did to him, Omega?" there was a playful tone in Hemlock's voice, like a teacher in creche, and he crouched at Omega's side, nudging her closer to the table. Her hand brushed against Hunter's, clenched tightly in a fist. When he felt her touch, he flinched away at first, but then he nudged his pinky in between her fingers, wrapping around her own.

"When you're a hardened soldier like Hunter is, your barriers for pain are heightened, trained, strengthened from years and years. But with the introduction of a single chemical," Hemlock snapped his fingers just in front of Omega's nose, and she jumped again.

"They can disappear just like that."

Omega tried to pull away, but Hunter kept his finger wrapped around hers.

"Omega, it's gonna be okay," Hunter insisted.

"And yet he still tries to comfort you. How touching. Hit him again."

Hunter tried to hold back his scream, but it ripped out of his chest all the same, drilling into Omega's skull.

"Are you certain you don't know where Captain Rex is, Omega?" Hemlock sang, "If there's anything you could tell us, you can stop this from happening to Hunter. We've got a bacta tank right here. All you have to do is answer the question."

"I-I don't!" Omega insisted, "It's been too long, they must have moved it since I got captured!"

"AUGH-!" Hunter choked on his spit as the IT-O upped the voltage.

"Doctor," Emerie said sharply. Omega knew that tone, and she knew the sound that was coming from her tablet. The monitor was detecting Hunter's heart beating faster and faster, far faster than it was supposed to.

"STOP IT, STOP, PLEASE, I DON'T KNOW!" Omega screamed. The IT-O ignored her please, shocking Hunter several times in rapid succession.

Hemlock scuffed her, his hand around the back of her throat as he pushed her close to Hunter's face.

"That's not good enough, Omega, and you know it. Tell me now, or your brother dies."

Omega's throat was dry. Hunter was dying, and it was all her fault. She could tell Hemlock where Echo and Rex were and spare him, but then they and all the clones they'd rescued would be in danger. She couldn't do that to them. How was she supposed to choose between her brothers?

"Where is Captain Rex hiding?" Hemlock asked her one more time. The IT-O shocked Hunter again.

Hunter heaved a sharp breath as his heartbeat stuttered, "I lo- I love-"

The rapid beeping turned into an eerie siren, and Hunter's last words were lost to the ringing in Omega's ears.

Taglist (comment/dm to be added): @chopper-base

I’m crying

More werewolf au for @giganonyx. Hunter likes his scritches.

I am delighted to know that Hunter's driving is as insane as Tech's piloting

Wrecker protecting Batcher :')

OMG THIS WAS ONE OF THE MOST LOVELY THINGS TO SEE IN MY NOTIFS 😭😭😭🫶

Thank you so much for the recommendation spotlight!!! This means the world to me, it totally just made my week 🫶😭.

I jumped around excitedly just a tiny bit(a lot)

“The Night is Bleakest Beneath a Full Moon” by TrashSaberCat

“The Night is Bleakest Beneath a Full Moon” by TrashSaberCat (known as @giganonyx here on Tumblr) is  an amazing fic with an awesome werewolf Hunter! Not some fluffy doggo, like many werewolves in the multifandom tend to be, but a real feral beast (heed the warnings! Bad things happen!), albeit not by choice.

Though the plot is centered on Hunter becoming a werewolf, it is not totally Hunter-centered. I loved the solid perspectives of all the characters (Wrecker's being my favourite) having to deal with their brother gone feral and dangerous. Everybody suffers, everybody is conflicted and torn apart, some not only mentally 😱.

Not fantasy!AU, BTW, the werewolves are incorporated into the SW canon quite organically.

Can't wait for the update! 😉

An illustration by the author, @giganonyx

Can we talk about how Hunter has an “H” in Aurebesh on the back of his helmet?

It gives total Older Sibling™ “don’t you guys effing touch my stuff” energy.

Frr I’m not a big fan of her either, she gets on my nerves. Give me clones instead 😤

She’s the type who will doom your entire life and career because she “accidentally” unleashed an ancient evil and she’ll somehow make it your own fault💀

Spoiler for TBB season 2!

WAS I THE ONLY ONE WHO ABSOLUTELY ADORED THIS EPISODE HNNGGGG

As a Hunter girly, I was starving there for a minute, I’m ngl, but all is well now because I got to have smartass, snappy, grumpy Hunter who did NOT want to go for the treasure and descend into the ominous death tunnel.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW HUNTER FELT THE PRESENCE OF THE ANIMAL THING AND HE WAS GOING FOR HIS BLASTER BECAUSE THAT DID SOMETHING TO ME. I was like, clutching my pearls and shit. Swinging my feet and twirling my hair. That was hot. Need more of Hunter and his enhanced senses. Please.

The mech looked so frickin cool, I love it sm. Also!! What if all of that was ancient Rakata technology? I feel like it was being hinted at- predates the republic, thousands+ years old, and a murderous, insanely powerful war machine used to purge worlds. Frickin cool. Mwah.

Hunter twirling his knife my beloved I’m so glad you returned. It’s the way I started blushing ✋.

All in all 10/10 will go feral for this man and this episode again.

O-OH MY GOD??? THIS WAS LITERALLY *chefs kiss* SO SO PERFECT OHHHH OHHHHH IM GOING TO BE EATING THIS UP FOR THE NEXT 10 MILLION YEARS

Hi 👋!!! Omg I love your writing and stories ❤️, they always make me smile, and I absolutely loved the Crosshair werewolf au story. I was just wondering if I could request one with Hunter x fem reader and he’s nervous about how she feels about his new appearances, but she still loves him. If you are busy or if you don’t want to write it, you can just discard this request.

Hi! 👋👋👋 Thank you for your sweet words! I did get busy, as you can probably tell, but the thought of this request consumed my every waking moment. @giganonyx I know you'll enjoy this one!

Hunter's Moon (Werewolf! Hunter x GN!Reader)

Notes: Werewolf au, insecure Hunter, established relationship, Dividers by @djarrex.

Warnings: wolf fighting, blood and injuries, a wolf (not Hunter) tries to eat the reader.

"Where's Hunter going?" you asked. You just barely managed to spot the red of his bandana before he disappeared into the woods. The sun had just set, why was he going exploring now?

"He said he had a headache and was going to release some of his pent-up stress. He warned me not to wait up," Tech recited almost boredly.

You were more than slightly miffed that your boyfriend told your brother what he was up to, but not you. You grabbed one of your first aid bags and tossed in a few first aid essentials before marching down the ramp with a singular focus.

"I would not recommend following him!" Tech warned hastily.

"It's too dark out, he needs to come back!" You misinterpreted Tech's warning, and a few moments later you were enveloped on all sides by the trees.

There was a dirt path, covered by more and more grass the farther you went, but by watching Hunter in his element you'd learned enough to tell when his tracks took a sharp turn off the path and into the ever-darkening woods.

"What-?" You shook your head to clear your thoughts and followed his trail.

"Hunter, come back here!" You demanded, shouting into the woods.

As you rounded a large tree trunk, Hunter stood before you. You smacked against his chest and he grasped your arms, shaking you.

"Why didn't you stay on the ship?" He asked. He sounded, nervous, more terrified than angry.

"You're hurt," As if that was an answer to his question. You reached for his forehead, but he jerked away, as if you might burn him.

"I'm fine, I deal with this all the time."

"Then let me help you-" You reached into the bag for painkillers and bacta.

"You can't help me!" He screamed. His grip on your arms were starting to bruise.

Before you could snap at him for shouting at you, Hunter turned pale. He looked up at the sky, where the full moon was just beginning to peek over the distant mountains,

"You have to run," he rasped, unable to look away from the hypnotizing white light, "Get back to the ship, now."

You gulped nervously, "Hunter, what's going on?"

But Hunter couldn't answer. He'd let go of your arms and shoved you away, leaving tiny tears in the material of your sleeves. He stumbled just a few steps away, and when you tried to approach him and help him back to his feet, he screamed. It was a mix of pain and a battle cry, like he'd done this before and knew it would hurt, but was determined to make it through this anyway.

Hunter bent over, coughing on something in his throat like he was about to throw up. He'd told you to run, but you stayed stuck where you were, rooted to the spot as you watched in horrified fascination.

You thought it might be his hair growing longer, but it was hair growing out of his shoulders and down his arms, a rich reddish-black like his curls. A cracking noise echoed through the woods as his bones bent all out of shape, rearranging themselves in his arms and legs while a large tail grew out of the base of his spine.

Then, silence.

Hunter was bent over on all fours, his new body shaking as he took deep breaths to mitigate the pain he'd just endured.

"Hunter," You gasped. He was at least twice as big as he normally was, covered in fur, and his face elongated into a narrow snout with tall, pointed ears. He would have been completely unrecognizable if you hadn't watched his transformation yourself.

When you spoke his name, he looked up at you, slowly blinking his large, yellow eyes. He growled softly, a warning. You backed away slowly. If this wolf that had taken over Hunter, what would it do to you?

You turned and ran.

Was it stupid to run? Yes, even before he turned into a giant predator, Hunter was much faster than you and you knew it. But what else could you do? No wonder Tech wanted you to stay on the ship when you went running after Hunter.

But where was the ship? Each of the gangly-limbed trees looked identical to the next, and the shadows covering the forest were thick, even with the help of the full moon.

When you looked back over your shoulder to see if Hunter was following you, you were plowed over onto your back, looking right up at the jaw of another wolf.

This wolf was brown, with its right eye and ear missing, replaced by a terrifying jagged white scar. You chest heaved as you struggled to breathe, and the strange wolf bared it's teeth, drool dripping from its lips as it leaned in closer.

It's breath smelled of blood and raw meat, and your nose wrinkled on its own. The wolf's jaws opened wide to take a bite and you closed your eyes, unable to help the whimper in your throat.

Out of nowhere, The wolf that was about to bite your head off was wrestled to the ground. It yowled in surprise as Hunter's dark form pinned it to the ground.

You knew you should run, but you were frozen in terror. The strange wolf with the scar was smaller than Hunter, but just as vicious. It swiped a paw across Hunter's snout. Hunter's head jerked to the side, and you saw something dark drip off the tip of his nose and into the grass.

He snarled, and the scarred wolf barked back in challenge. It leaped at him, and Hunter swiped at its neck. The scarred wolf appeared to relish the challenge, the injury had made this personal now. He wrestled with hunter, forcing both of them onto their hind legs as their front paws grappled for the upper hand. they were a dark silhouette of jagged fur, their teeth and claws glistening in the moonlight.

The scarred wolf managed to get the upper hand. He bit into Hunter's exposed neck and threw him to the ground, where he lay still.

"Hunter?" You whimpered.

The scarred wolf looked at you and licked its lips.

"Hunter, get up!" you begged.

The wolf jumped at you again.

"Hunter!" You screamed. The scarred wolf got its teeth around your ankle and bit down. You heard the sickening crack of bone before you could feel the pain shooting up your leg. Your breath was ripped from your lungs, and your whole body froze as you tried to figure out what to do.

It was like watching a holofilm, or something happen to someone else. The wolf tugged on your leg again, trying to tear your leg off, or at least bring you closer to where he could get a bite of something meatier.

All you could do was lie there, waiting for something to happen and praying that it would be over soon. You should have listened to Tech. You should have listened to Hunter, and you didn't even get to say good-bye to him.

You closed your eyes, waiting for it to be over, but then there was a snarl. The tugging on your leg disappeared, but the pain was still there. You opened your eyes, blinking away the tears to see what was going on.

Hunter was on his feet again, and with his whole body weight, he threw the wolf against a tree, and then placed himself squarely between you and the wolf. While the wolf stopped to catch his breath, Hunter moved to stand over you, forming an odd, furry tent as he planted his legs on all sides of you. You could feel the growl reverberating in your bones as Hunter gave the wolf one final warning. If he tried that again, he wouldn't last the night.

The scarred wolf stood, calculating for a moment, then turned and ran off into the trees with its tail between its legs.

Hunter was breathing heavily, staring after the other wolf. He stood over you, legs and body tense and defensive. You looked up at him, noticing the scars torn across his snout and neck, and gently reached out to comfort him.

He inhaled sharply as you placed your hand on the side of his snout.

"Shh, shhh," You whispered, slowly reaching into your pocket for the tube of bacta. You scooted closer, dragging your broken leg behind you.

"It's okay, I'm just gonna help you here," You spoke softly, calmly, trying not to make any sudden moves while you applied the bacta to the angry red lines.

Hunter whimpered at the slight sting, but he didn't flinch away.

"Good boy," You cooed. It felt ridiculous saying that, knowing that this was Hunter you were talking to, but it felt appropriate. A dog was a dog, even if they were bigger than you. You pondered briefly if Hunter was the one in control inside the wolf's mind, or if something more animalistic took charge during this transformation.

Either way, the moment you put away the bacta, Hunter rubbed his head against your shoulder. It nearly knocked you over, but you recovered quickly.

"You're welcome," You said, "And thank you."

You dug your fingers into the fur behind his ears, trying to give him the scratches dogs always enjoyed. He made a sound that could almost be a chuckle if it were more human.

Tears stung at your eyes, and when wolf-Hunter tried to look at your face, you buried it in the thick fur at his neck. You wrapped your arms around him, holding tightly as the adrenaline faded, leaving nothing but fear and terror in its wake.

You shook with sobs, struggling to keep your breathing even, and focused on the huffs and puffs from Hunter's big wet nose that cascaded down your back. Hunter's snout rested against your spine for some comforting pressure. Even as a wolf, he remembered his calming techniques.

With you arms still around his neck, Hunter gently lowered himself to lay on the grass. You could feel the powerful muscles in his legs as he curled them around you, like a big furry blanket.

You whimpered as he nudged your leg, and Wolf-Hunter studied your injury with interest.

"I guess that needs some bacta too, huh?" You sniffled lamely. You didn't have anything to set it with, but you could do that in the morning once the ship found you. for now, you lathered what was left of your bacta onto your wounds, until finally wolf-Hunter was satisfied.

He lowered his head to your chest, forcing you to lay back in (what would be) his arms. He shook out his tail, finally laying it across your lap as a makeshift blanket.

You dug your fingers into his fur again, scratching those hard-to-reach spots to keep your hands busy.

"Can you help me find the ship?" You asked.

Hunter huffed.

You sighed. "Yeah, I guess I can't really go anywhere at the moment."

Hunter crooned, leaning deeper into the scratches.

"Will you stay with me?" You whispered, "Keep me safe?"

He made a huffing noise that reminded you of Tech's signature "I thought it was obvious".

You buried your face in his fur again. "Thanks, Hunter."

You woke up with the sun shining in your eyes. Not the best rude awakening, but you felt more rested than you had in years. And then the throbbing in your ankle set back in.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow-" you hissed under your breath. You fidgeted, trying to get comfortable, but two distinctly human arms tightened their grip around you.

Your face flushed with heat as you recognized the skeletal tattoo on the left arm that was holding you, keeping you pressed against a firm chest at your back.

The fleeting idea came to you to try and wriggle out of his grasp before he woke up in order to avoid an awkward conversation, but with your broken ankle, you knew that wasn't going to happen.

The next best thing to do was just to rip the band-aid off.

"Hunter?" You gently nudged his arm, then his ribs, and even poked his cheek. all recieved varying levels of reaction.

"Hunter, we're lost in the middle of the woods."

"Huuuuntaaaaaaa!"

"HUUUUUUUUUN'ERRRRRRRRRR!"

"And it sounds like your siblings are trying to find us."

Finally, Hunter groaned, pressing his face into the back of your neck. He flexed his muscles, one by one, to try and stretch himself out, but he kept his arms around you.

"Mornin'" He yawned.

It was then that he realized he had been spooning you all night.

On the bright side, you were still fully clothed, and he still had his pants. But not very much of them. The rest of his clothes had been torn in last night's little "adventure"

"Are you alright?" He sat up immediately, taking your face in his hands as he checked you over, making his way down your body until he caught sight of your mangled foot.

"Osik did I do that to you?" he didn't even wait for an answer, muttering curse words under his breath.

"No-no, Hunter that wasn't you," You touched his arm as softly as you could manage, but he still flinched, "It was something else, another wolf."

"Another-?" Hunter glanced at your ankle again, then gave a sigh of relief. He pulled you back into his arms, kissing the crown of your head as he held you.

"I'd never be able to forgive myself if I ever hurt you like that."

You wrapped your arms around him tightly. "I know that you would never hurt me, Hunt," You whispered.

Hunter picked up on the hesitation in your voice.

"You deserve an explanation," He said, resting his forehead against yours. You kept your arms around him tightly, as if the wolf from last night might emerge from the trees and rip you from his arms. But Hunter held you tightly on his lap as if he would never let you go.

"It started during the clone wars. I got cursed when I accidentally stumbled upon a Nightsister's grave while we were scouting the planet Dathomir. Whenever we're on a planet during a full moon, well, you saw what happened."

You nodded as Hunter's hands made their way up and down your spine in soothing motions, helping you relax deeper into his arms.

"As you can probably tell, I've never been able to fully control what happens when I transform, and I've never really remembered what happened after I transform back. All I know is what my brothers have told me when I wake up in the morning, and not all of it is pretty."

"Okay," you said softly, "But why keep it a secret?"

"Because I know you," Hunter said. He took your face in his hands again, "I know that you'd pull some kind of stunt like you did last night to try and "save me from myself" or whatever. But I could never risk losing you like that."

You mustered all the energy that you could this early in the morning to slug him in the shoulder.

"And did you ever think that I might be able to help you?"

Hunter smiled sheepishly, unable to look you in the eye.

"Maybe?"

You laughed softly, and pulled him in for a kiss. Hunter relaxed against you, gently caressing your hair so that your wild locks moved out of the way. There was a different kind of transformation that occured whenever you kissed him like this, the kind deep inside that made his chest swell with courage, and his heart beat stronger. He felt like he could take on the whole galaxy, wolves and all, so long as you were in his arms.

A bit farther away now, you heard Omega and Wrecker calling your names. Hunter unceremoniously broke off the kiss and gave you an apologetic smile.

"We should get that set before it tries to heal itself," He nodded to your leg.

Knowing what was coming, you wrapped your arms around his neck and braced your body for the pain, but that didn't stop everything from hurting whenever your leg was jostled even the slightest bit.

"Easy, cyare," He cooed, his voice low against your ear, "We'll take it nice and slow."

Just like how you had managed to calm his wolf-form last night, Hunter's words now had a soothing effect on you. With every step that brought you closer to the Marauder, you were able to relax a little bit more.

But you couldn't resist playing with fire.

"You know, I think your wolf-form might have had a crush on me."

"Oh did he now?" Hunter smirked, his grip on you tightening ever so slightly.

"Well, he'll have to get in line."

…yeah

Hunter entering his “burn down the galaxy until I find her phase”