Lifeblood

Chapter 3 - They Would Die For Me

Author's Note: Yes, all the chapter titles are from the song Family. :) That song really, really fits the Bad Batch. ^-^

~ Amina Gila

Consciousness returns slowly to Hunter, and he groans weakly, his head throbbing fiercely as he struggles back to wakefulness. His memories are foggy, and he doesn't quite remember where he is or what's happening, but all he knows is that he hears explosions, and his instincts and training tell him that he needs to wake up.

Something shakes the world around him, and then, he's falling, crashing into hard durasteel. His head hits something, and darkness rises up to greet him again.

The next time Hunter wakes up, it's to hear the panicked voices of his brothers and to the realization that he did something. He doesn't quite remember what as he begins to regain awareness, but he knows it's something, something that he thinks he should be horrified about.

His head is throbbing fiercely, and he groans weakly.

"– trapped."

"– the door."

"– working on it!"

The last voice is Wrecker, and Hunter blinks his eyes open, staring at the darkened, durasteel ceiling of a Kaminoan facility.

... Kamino?

That's enough of a realization to jog his mind, and memories come flooding back in. Daro. Being captured. Crosshair. The transformation. Biting Wrecker. ... Oh kriff. He bit Wrecker. And Tech. And Echo. And – and Crosshair.

He thinks he would have much preferred not to remember that at all, especially not the last part, because he didn't just bite Crosshair. He fed from him too, and the memory of feeding on his youngest brother's warm blood – (it tasted like him, whatever that means, and it didn't taste like blood, either; it was strangely sweet and enticing, not bitter like blood always is) – horrifies him. It horrifies him just as much that something in him purrs at the memory and wants more. He licks his lips, unsure if it's disgust or delight that is stronger when he still tastes blood on them.

Being a vampire really sucks.

Hunter sits up, rubbing his throbbing head, and wincing at the bright flashlight Echo is shining at a closed door while Wrecker and Tech try to pry it open. "What's happening?" he asks, voice raspy.

"Crosshair and Omega are trapped," Tech answers, not looking back, "And we are trying to free them before they drown."

"The Empire fired on the city," Echo adds. "We're underwater now."

He missed a lot, clearly.

"Are you okay?" Tech queries, "Or do you still want to bite us?"

He flushes, glad that it's so dark so that they can't see him. "I'm fine," he assures gruffly, standing. He is, or at least he thinks he is. He remembers the jolt of raw need which had washed over him when he entered the training room and saw his brothers there, the desperate desire to feed which had pushed him on to bite his brothers in an attempt to feed. And feeding from Crosshair had... somehow quelled the need, at least for now. It won't come back, will it? He hopes not.

"Good, because we do not have time to deal with it, and we need you alert," Tech says, voice clipped and strained as he tugs on the door again.

"Almost got it," Wrecker tells them, and it opens with a rush, water flooding through, along with Crosshair and Omega.

Echo catches her so she doesn't hit the floor, but Crosshair isn't so lucky, skidding to a halt in front of Hunter while Wrecker and Tech shove the door closed again. Instantly, when he sees Hunter awake, he rolls to his feet, stepping between him and Omega.