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laughhardrunfastbekindsblog · 4 months ago

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Out of His Depth

Summer of Bad Batch 2024 | Week 8 | Prompt: Swimming Lessons

Summary: Omega asks for advice in giving swimming lessons. Crosshair begrudgingly discovers a new talent. POV: Crosshair Rating: G (Word Count: 2847)

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Notes: I can't help but think of Crosshair being the grumpy-uncle type who's adored by everyone on Pabu, especially the younger crowd (and he loves the kids too, but will never openly admit it, and will never understand why they like him so much). And I've been thinking a lot about what his early interactions might have been like with Jax, Eva, Sami, and Bayrn. And then the "swimming lesson" prompt popped up. Behold the result.

Also, I'm a huge Tech Lives believer, but this story takes place a month or two after the finale events on Tantiss, so in my headcanon Tech hasn't made it back to his family quite yet.

Omega walked wearily up to the group and plopped down on the warm sand with a sigh.

Crosshair eyed her questioningly. “What’s with you?”

“I don’t know what to do,” she mumbled as she rested her chin in her hand, staring out over the tranquil Pabu waters.

“About what?” Hunter asked, leaning toward Omega as Wrecker and Phee turned their attention to the conversation.

“Helping Sami so she’s not afraid of the water,” Omega replied, nodding toward the tiny Pantoran who was currently sitting squarely in the middle of the nearby dock, waving to the boats passing by.

Phee had just returned to Pabu, and since it was Phee’s first time seeing Omega since the Batch’s return from Tantiss, it was decided that a beach day was in order. With Shep, Lyana, Mox, Deke, Stak, Jax, Eva, Sami, and Bayrn also joining the party, it had been a full and eventful day. Phee had been in her element for several hours regaling the younger crowd with tales of her exploits; given that Omega had excitedly requested several specific stories, it was clear the others had already heard about many of Phee’s adventures. Crosshair, meanwhile, had listened skeptically and wondered how often Tech had tried fact-checking these stories.

It wasn’t quite as painful to think of Tech now, not since Crosshair had finally convinced himself to visit the impromptu memorial Omega had set up for their brother in the Archeum. Still, Crosshair had found himself wishing more than once that Tech could have been here with them during this beach day – if only so Crosshair could have teased him relentlessly about his pirate girlfriend.

It had been later in the afternoon that Bayrn had been taken in for a nap, Shep and Lyana had taken Jax, Eva, and the former cadets out on the boat, and Sami had approached Omega to ask for swimming lessons. “Jax and Eva know how to swim,” Sami had said. “I’d like to try it.” And Omega had happily agreed, taking Sami to the relatively shallow natural pool at the far end of this stretch of beach, while the brothers filled Phee in more on what had happened since Tantiss and the slow progress being made toward finding the children’s families.

Given what Omega was now reporting, Crosshair would hazard a guess that Sami’s family had never made her enter a large body of water.

“Did she not know swimming involves getting in the water?” Crosshair asked Omega now.

Omega furrowed her brows in thought. “Oh, she knew, but I don’t think she really thought about putting her head in the water.” A pause, then “Or any part of her body above her knees. She doesn’t mind getting wet – I tried dumping some water over her head and she was fine with it - she’s just afraid of getting into a pool of water.”

“Just push her in,” Crosshair shrugged offhandedly. Realizing from the looks he was now receiving that the others thought he had been serious, he contrarily decided to defend his statement rather than explain he had been joking. “What? That’s what the trainers on Kamino did to me. And we were about the same age she is.”

“Well, that explains a lot,” Phee remarked drily as she gazed appraisingly at him.

“A lot about what??”

“About you.”

Oh, yes, Tech and Phee had to have gotten along great together, Crosshair groused internally, before Hunter spoke up again. “That’s how the trainers made you learn how to swim, Crosshair, and you are an excellent swimmer; but I don’t think it will help with our objective of making Sami less afraid of the water.” Turning back to Omega, who was still staring with no small amount of exasperation at Crosshair, Hunter continued, “What else have you tried?”

Still halfway tuned in to the conversation, Crosshair thought back to those earliest days on Kamino, when cadets began their swimming training when they were, developmentally speaking, seven or eight years old. There had been no time, sympathy, nor resources for individual attention, however; cadets were taught to swim in groups of twenty, and had to find a way to keep up or be dismissed from training. During their first class, Crosshair had only slightly hesitated when tasked with jumping into the training pool, and one breath later had found himself unexpectedly submerged in the water, gasping for air and frantically trying to stay afloat, having been shoved into the pool by the trainer who had shouted at him that he could either sink or swim.

Well, Crosshair had quickly learned how to swim, but had also discovered that he hated being in or near the water, despite having been surrounded by the ocean since birth, and approached swimming lessons with significant dread that was overpowered only by his stubborn determination to not be decommissioned. This loathing of large bodies of water had lasted for almost two months, until one night when he had been awoken by Hunter, who had told him in a whisper that the squad was “sneaking out.” They had never been so daring before, and Crosshair, excited by the prospect, had raised no objection – until he had discovered they were sneaking out to the training pools, the last place he ever wanted to be. Still, he had stayed quiet, and had been relieved when “sneaking out” didn’t involve actually swimming. Instead, he and Hunter and Wrecker and Tech had spent an hour just sitting at the side of the pool, kicking their feet quietly in the cool water, listening to Tech ramble on about the aquatic life on Kamino until Wrecker’s snores drowned out Tech’s lecture and Hunter suggested they all return to the barracks. These sporadic outings had continued for months –always spending time near water, always by the training pools until Tech figured out a route to a rarely-used landing platform built low near the water where they could sit and enjoy the salty air and crashing waves in closer proximity – until they had a close call with being discovered and had subsequently deferred sneaking out of the barracks for almost a year. Still, after just a few relaxed trips to the pools with his brothers, Crosshair had abruptly realized he no longer hated the water – actually, he rather enjoyed it, and swimming had gradually become an activity he looked forward to rather than feared.

He hadn’t thought about those times by the pools for years, and it was only now, sitting here on the Pabu beach listening to Omega’s troubles with Sami’s swimming lessons, that he suddenly suspected Hunter and his brothers had had ulterior motives for choosing the pools as their first destination for their rebellious outings.

And he had an idea.

“Have you tried holding Sami? You know, picking her up and, well, walking into the water with her?” Crosshair interjected into the ongoing brainstorming session.

Omega shook her head slowly. “I thought about that, but Sami didn’t want to try because she thinks she’s too big for me to hold her…”

“I can do it,” Wrecker promptly volunteered. “If she’s up for it, that is.”

Omega still hesitated. “The pool’s not very deep…”

Wrecker thought for a moment before nodding. “I can just sit in the water. We’ll figure it out.”

Omega suddenly broke out into a smile and rose to her feet before grabbing Wrecker’s hand. “Okay then, let’s go talk to Sami about it.” She took a few steps before looking back at the others. “You all coming?”

Hunter shrugged. “Why not,” he said, rising from his chair and whistling for Batcher to join them.

Crosshair, standing and preparing to follow, felt Phee’s eyes on him and turned to look at her. “What now?” he asked impatiently.

Phee chuckled a little as she shook her head. “Like I said, that explains a lot,” she said cryptically, before passing Crosshair to join Omega and Wrecker as they approached the docks where Sami still sat.

******

Crosshair stepped onto the dock, waving only slightly awkwardly at Jun’s profuse thanks for his assistance in loading the boat, and made his way back toward the residential areas of Lower Pabu.

He was fully aware of Sami standing a few feet away from the dock, holding Bayrn in her arms, but he had no idea the Pantoran was waiting for him until he had almost passed her and she suddenly spoke in a low voice that was nearly inaudible.

“Mister Crosshair, sir?”

He paused in bewilderment before turning to face her, and realized he must be scowling based on the apprehensive look on the young girl's face. Making an effort to relax his features - no need to intimidate her, after all - he elected to delay correcting her form of addressing him and instead cut straight to the point.

“What do you want?”

She shrank back ever so slightly - hmmm, maybe his voice had come out a little sharper than he intended - but proceeded to make her request.

“Would you hold Bayrn while Omega gives me a swimming lesson?”

Crosshair was far too nonplussed now to consider his expression or his tone.

“What?”

Sami gulped. “Uh, well, Omega's going to give me another swimming lesson now. Bayrn’s too little to swim, but I thought maybe he could get used to the water. It took me so long to stop being afraid, maybe it will be easier for Bayrn if he can be in the water now.”

The girl's full meaning finally dawned on Crosshair, and he looked at her aghast.

“You… you want me to get into the water. And hold that kid. In the water?”

“Uh-huh,” Sami nodded, adjusting her hold on the baby. “It helped me a lot when Mister Wrecker held on to me. I would ask him, but him and Mister Hunter are out fishing and Mister Shep is busy and Mister Thom and Missus Hanti are getting dinner ready for us and…”

Peripherally noting that if Sami was persisting in calling even Wrecker “Mister,” he, Crosshair, would have to get used to being called by the same title, Crosshair cut her off. “I get the point. There's no one else. I'm glad you know I am a last resort. But I don't think I should be holding a kid.” And he frowned as he raised his arms in front of him, staring at his right stump.

He hadn't gotten a prosthesis yet. He didn't even know if he wanted one. Echo had gone for years without one and had pulled off so many incredible feats Crosshair had often forgotten Echo was missing a hand. He doubted he'd ever reach Echo's level of skill, but he had been able to find new ways to accomplish more each day with just the one hand, and was growing rather accustomed to it. Still, holding a baby…

“Oh, you can hold Bayrn with one arm. It's easy. My dad does it all the time. He got his arm hurt bad in an accident so he had to hold my little brother like this, see?” And Sami shifted Bayrn to demonstrate.

“You have a brother?” Crosshair asked as he observed Sami’s technique.

She had finally lost her apprehensive look, and now she actually smiled a little. “Yeah. I can't wait to see him again. I hope I can help him learn to swim too.”

Sighing, Crosshair decided it was time to stop delaying the inevitable. He could come up with at least two dozen more reasons why he shouldn't accede to this request, but he knew that, no matter how much he may protest, he'd be in the pool holding the baby within the next few minutes. Might as well get this over with.

“Fine. Let's go. No, wait,” he said as Sami started trotting off, “give me the kid now. I need to practice.” Before the kid becomes slippery as well as squirmy, he thought resignedly to himself.

He may have reservations about holding the baby, but Bayrn’s own sense of self-preservation was obviously seriously impaired, for the baby cooed and smiled as he was passed over to the nervously scowling clone. If Crosshair wondered if maybe he was holding the baby too tightly for fear of dropping him, the baby didn't seem to mind, happily clapping before turning his attention toward examining his new holder.

By the time they found Omega, Bayrn had thankfully released his death grip on Crosshair's ear and stopped his high-pitched excited squealing, and had settled into happily patting Crosshair's face. Omega, turning at Sami’s greeting, waved at them and impressively showed no sign of surprise or alarm at her sniper brother holding a baby. Instead, she called out cheerfully, “Crosshair! What are you doing here?”

He shrugged awkwardly, reactively adjusting his hold on Bayrn when the kid tipped forward while reaching out toward Omega.

“Swimming lessons,” he said.

“Oh?”

“I don't want Bayrn to be scared of the water, like I was,” Sami explained. “Mister Crosshair said he'd help.”

“Oh!” Omega nodded solemnly at Sami, but grinned so brightly at Crosshair he started to feel even more embarrassed than he already was. Letting out a slightly grumpy hmph, he stepped ahead of the girls into the pool, quickly finding an area of suitable depth where he could sit just about chest deep in the pleasantly cool water, and squinting as Bayrn squealed in delight and began splashing his little arms in the water.

This was his punishment for ever poking fun at Hunter’s skills with children. At least Hunter wasn't around to witness Crosshair's humiliation in person, though Crosshair had no doubt Hunter and Wrecker and everyone else on this overly-friendly island would know about this event by sundown.

“I don't think the kid is scared at all of the water,” he said to Sami while frowning at Bayrn's antics.

“Oh good! Yay Bayrn!” Sami smiled, clinging to Omega's hand as she cautiously stepped into the water herself.

This was not exactly the response Crosshair had been angling for.

“You picked a great place to sit, Crosshair,” Omega said, pre-empting Crosshair's plea to somehow get out of this. “You can watch and tell me if I'm teaching Sami alright.”

“Oh goodie,” he deadpanned, though he smiled a little when Sami took a deep, nervous breath before plunging her head into the water and emerging looking rather pleased with herself.

“Good, Sami. You're getting much better,” Omega smiled. “I think it’s time to show you how to not hold your breath all the time.”

“But I can’t breathe underwater,” Sami said.

“That’s right,” Omega said patiently. “You breathe in the air when your head is above water, and then breathe out when your head is in the water.”

“Try blowing bubbles,” Crosshair blurted before thinking. At Sami’s questioning stare, he added in a tone completely devoid of enthusiasm, “It's fun.”

For some reason, Sami took him at his word, nodding at him and watching Omega demonstrate before gamely trying it herself, giggling when she straightened. “That is fun,” she declared before, unprompted, repeating the task.

“NOT you,” Crosshair warned Bayrn, who, having watched the display with interest, abruptly tried ducking his head toward the water to mimic the girls. Bayrn, obviously a bit put out, huffed for a few moments before suddenly smiling and resuming his splashing.

By the time Thom and Hanti arrived to take Sami and Bayrn back home for dinner, Omega had started Sami on basic flutter kicks, with Crosshair – finding himself significantly interested in the proceedings in spite of himself – offering a few suggestions for improvement. His left arm felt like it was about to fall off from holding Bayrn for so long, even as he had daringly switched the baby to his right arm and discovered to his own pleasant surprise that this was quite manageable; and, to his own dismay, had found himself pondering how to best position Bayrn to help the kid get used to floating, so the arrival of the volunteer guardians couldn't have come at a better time. Still, he couldn’t hold back a sigh as he handed Bayrn over to Thom – yep, within an hour EVERYONE would know he had held a baby.

Omega playfully shouldered him as they trailed behind the children and their guardians on the way back to Upper Pabu, and Crosshair braced himself for what he knew she was going to say, even as he realized he had been rather hoping she would say it.

“You know, Crosshair, you'd make a really good swimming teacher.”

“Ha.”

“Provided you don't push any kids into the water.”

“Don't tempt me.”

“No, I mean it! You should start giving lessons.”

“Never gonna happen.”

******

Surprising to no one except, perhaps, Crosshair, it happened.

A few days later, Crosshair found himself confronted by Jax.

“Do you know how to dive?” the young Mirialan asked.

“Yes,” Crosshair answered shortly.

“Can you teach me?”

“No.”

Within a week, Crosshair had given Jax his first two diving lessons.

Within a year, Crosshair had become the go-to instructor on Pabu for swimming lessons.

The end.

@summer-of-bad-batch

#the bad batch #star wars the bad batch #tbb hunter #tbb omega #tbb crosshair #tbb wrecker #tbb sami #tbb bayrn #tbb jax #tbb phee #tech lives #tech's just not on pabu yet #bad batch shenanigans #bad batch the early days #bad batch on pabu #summer of bad batch 2024 #week 8 #swimming lessons

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kybercrystals94 · 3 months ago

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Racket

Read here on Ao3!

Summer of Bad Batch | Week 8 | Swimming Lessons

Rated: G | Words: 1000 | Summary: Omega faces a bully on Kamino.

Omega tugs at the collar of her wetsuit. It is a little tight and small, her wrists and ankles exposed. Biologically, she is the same age as the cadets standing next to her against the wall facing the training pool; however, she is slightly taller physically. Nala Se didn’t think it was necessary to have a custom wetsuit made to fit since Omega will only be taking swimming basics, the lessons extensive and lasting less than a week.

“Where’d you come from?” the cadet on her left asks, eyeing Omega suspiciously.

Omega smiles and avoids the question. “I’m Omega,” she says instead.

The cadet frowns at her. “Why are you here?”

“Same reason you are,” Omega says, shrugging.

“You don’t belong here,” the cadet sneers, “You’re not a soldier.”

Now Omega feels annoyed. She’s being friendly, so why is he being so rude? “Well, you’re not one either,” she tells him. “You’re only three cycles. You can’t be a trooper until you’re nine.”

The cadet sticks his tongue out at her, crosses his arms, and turns to face the water again.

Omega learns that the cadet’s name is Racket, which suits him. He is loud and annoying. And bossy. And a bully.

Omega loses count of the number of times he shoves her underwater. While he never holds her there, it is always unexpected, causing Omega to sputter and gasp when she comes back up.

He takes her floatation device and throws it out into the middle of the training pool. The instructor gets it, scolding Omega for letting it get away from her. She tries to explain what happened, but the instructor interrupts, “I don’t want to hear your excuses.”

When they’re swimming laps, Racket grabs at Omega’s legs or arms as he passes her to throw off her strokes, leaving her floundering to recover.

When the lesson is finally over, Omega finds Nala Se waiting for her with a towel and change of clothes. “How was your lesson, Omega?” she asks.

It is all Omega can do not to cry when she asks, “Do I have to come back?”

“That is the intention,” Nala Se replies, guiding Omega to the private changing room usually reserved for the instructors. “Why? Did something happen?”

Omega glances across the room and sees Racket watching her, a cruel smirk on his round, young face. He might be a bully, but Omega is not a tattletale. “No. I just didn’t like it.”

“Hmm,” Nala Se hums. “I thought you would benefit from interacting with individuals your age; however, if you feel it is not a positive experience, perhaps private lessons would be more beneficial.”

***

“Oh, look, a little lab scrabber,” Racket sneers when Omega walks into the infirmary with AZI.

Omega ignores him, keeping her pace to show she doesn’t care. However, AZI stops to look at the clone sitting on the edge of a medical cot holding an ice pack to a developing black eye. “I must correct you, CT-1051811. Omega is not a lab scrabber. She is a medical assistant.”

“Ignore him, AZI,” Omega calls over her shoulder, putting the tray of sanitized medical tools on the counter and beginning to sort them into their proper drawers.

“It’s so sad that your only friend in the galaxy is a medical droid,” Racket croons and then laughs.

Omega rolls her eyes. “Yep. Almost as sad as ending up in medical because you lost a fight against a seven year cadet in a training module.”

“My medical records are classified, you little brat,” Racket growls.

Omega finishes sorting the tools and turns. “I’m a medical assistant,” she tells him sweetly. “So I have access to all your embarrassing records. I hope your cracked rib is healing up okay after that tumble from the Star Destroyer ramp. You really should be more careful.”

“Why you–” Racket begins, but Omega flees the room, AZI whirring behind her.

***

She’s done it. She’s finally found her brothers. And she’s sitting with them for a meal. They don’t seem to know what to make of her yet; however, Omega knows they’ll warm up to her. She’s their sister after all. They just don’t remember.

“Check it out,” a voice says behind her. Omega would know that awful voice anywhere. “The defect squad’s got themselves a new recruit. Another member added to the Sad Batch.”

Omega feels her blood begin to boil under her skin, anger bubbling up so fast she doesn’t really think about it when she climbs up on the table and picks up her bowl of soup. No one talks about her little brothers that way. Not on her watch. The bowl of soup hits its mark stunningly: the back of Racket’s stupid head.

“What the…” Racket whirls around, expression twisted with rage muted by the sludge of soup dribbling down his face and armor. “Who threw that?”

Omega already has her next projectile in hand. “I did. Now apologize to my friends.”

“I like this kid!” Wrecker’s voice sounds delighted, but Omega doesn’t let the warmth that fills her distract from the task at hand as Racket makes his way back to the table.

“What did you say to me?” he demands.

Hunter steps in, moving between Omega and her target. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back off,” he tells Racket, “I suggest you keep moving.”

Racket glares down Hunter, shifts his gaze to Omega, and then to something behind her. Omega knows it must be Wrecker looming at her back. She keeps her expression firm.

Wisely, he deflates, scoffing. He starts to turn around, but not without having the final word. “Know your place, lab scrabber,” he tells Omega, smirking.

Omega glares after him. She can take him calling her names.

But apparently, Wrecker can’t. A tray of food flies past Omega’s head, hitting Racket hard, nearly toppling him. Omega grins as the cafeteria begins to erupt into chaos. This will be a good bonding experience with her brothers.

And they already have her back.

END

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#summerofbadbatch2024 #week8 #swimming lessons #star wars the bad batch #star wars #the bad batch #TBB #tbb omega #tbb original characters #TBB Hunter #TBB wrecker #bullying #missing scene #fics by kyber

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thepersonalwords · 2 months ago

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Writing does not exist unless there is someone to read it, and each reader will take something different from a novel, from a chapter, from a line.

Claire Fuller, Swimming Lessons

#quotes #Claire Fuller #Swimming Lessons #thepersonalwords #literature #life quotes #prose #lit #spilled ink #reading #reading-quotes #writing #writing-quotes

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neyswxrld · 4 months ago

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just in case

Wrecker (no pairing)

summary: Wrecker has a accident during one of his training modules.

warnings: starving, exhaustion, almost fainting, (almost) drowning

words: ~1780

a/n: hello again! i wrote another fic for @summer-of-bad-batch! this time, it's a bit of a heavier topic. i decided to combine the promts cadets and swimming lessons and kinda took a turn there, since my fics normally contain a lot of fluff. i hope you enjoy!

MASTERLIST

When Wrecker woke up this morning, he somehow already knew it wouldn't be a good day.

He felt drained and exhausted, even though he just slept.

And he was hungry, oh so hungry!

He didn't know what exactly it was, but since a few weeks, the food portions they got in the mess hall didn't seem to be enough for him. He always felt hungry, even after breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

His brothers seemed to have noticed, since he suddenly was a lot more grumpy and had a smaller energy level at all.

Tech said it could be because he had another growth spurt. His metabolism was higher than theirs. And his muscles needed more energy. So Wrecker really required more food.

So at his last checkup he mentioned as much, but the foreign Kaminoan just looked at him with an emotionless stare and didn't react further.

He didn't know what to do. And that he slowly could start to see his own ribs made him worry even more. He was genuinely scared he would starve to death.

The others gave him some of their food, most of the time. Things they didn't like but knew Wrecker would, or things that were too much for them. But still, it just didn't seem to be enough.

The horrible thing about this particular day was, that they had the swimming module.

Normally, Wrecker was a big fan of the swimming lessons: he liked the water, the cool of it, and he absolutely loved how light he seemed and how he could just float around in the waves.

But this day should be very different.

Before, they trained in quiet waters, in a pool in which he could easily reach the floor if he needed too. This time, they should get a simulation of waves in another pool, that was much deeper than the current one. They learned the basics of swimming, now they needed to test the deeper waters.

The problem was, swimming was exhausting. Even in the normal water. He couldn't imagine how hard it would be with the waves. Especially since he already felt his low energy.

He sighed quietly and pressed his face a little deeper into Lula's ears, which he held against his chest, before getting up slowly.

When he turned around, he instantly met Hunter's worried gaze. "You okay?" he asked, and Wrecker tried to smile, nodding.

"Yeah, jus' tired," he said, walking over to the bathroom.

When all of them were ready, they made their way over to the mess hall. As always, his brothers gave him some of their food. They talked about what they would have to do today, where they would have to be, and Wrecker was more than a little relieved that Hunter would also have the swimming module, at the same time even. So they were together at least.

It made everything just a little less scary.

After breakfast, they went back to their barracks and everyone got ready for their day. Wrecker still felt like something was off, like something bad was going to happen. He just didn't know what. Even though it was a little better after he got some food in his tummy.

He patted Lula goodbye, before walking over to Crosshair, hugging him as always. It was a little ritual between the four of them. Always saying goodbye the right way. Just… Just in case something went wrong during training.

He went over to Tech to do the same, followed by Hunter, even though he knew they would be together later. It was just in case.

Little did he know how close he would come to "just in case" at that day.

When Hunter and Wrecker walked over to the changing room together, Hunter threw worried glances at him here and there. "Are you sure, you're okay?" He finally asked when they were changing into their bath robes, standing alone in a corner, "You're so quiet today."

Wrecker nodded again. "Just really tired. I could sleep another twelve hours. And… just hungry," he said, shrugging. It's not something they could do anything about it.

"Just be careful in the water, okay? Call me if something's wrong immediately, understood?"

Wrecker gave a small smile, "understood."

The water was cold. So cold, he was freezing and shaking. His teeth chattered so hard, it made his vision shake.

The waves were big, huge even, and he wondered where the hell he would ever have to swim in a place like that.

But it seemed to be okay.

At the beginning, at least.

The first few laps were relatively good to swim. But the more he did, the more exhausting and impossible it got.

Normally, he was one of the best of the group, due to his big body, long arms and strength, but today it seemed like everyone was in front of him, overlapping him even.

But he couldn't really care. He just… He was so exhausted. His stomach ached for food, it felt empty and he was so hungry.

His arms were heavy and every swimming stroke he took felt like a battle in itself.

The waves crashed over him and suddenly he was underwater.

When his head breached the surface again, he had just enough time to take another breath before he was swallowed by another wave.

He didn't notice how he barely moved forward and how dangerous the situation was for him at this point.

He was concentrating on taking breaths at the right time, but soon enough he also got an ache at his side. He was breathing weird.

The next time he was gasping for air, a wave hit him in the face. Salty water flooded his mouth and he couldn't suppress a gag reflex.

He started to cough, spitting out the water, trying to stay above the surface, but he was just so exhausted. His arms didn't really move anymore, his head was underwater more often than not, and he just felt so helpless. He hadn't the energy to swim across to the edge of the pool, to hold himself up, and he just kept going down and down.

"Hunter!" he gasped just before another wave hit him, pulling him down.

But this time, he just… He just couldn't pull himself up anymore.

Helpless, he tried to reach for the surface, tried to paddle with his feet. He tried so hard to pull himself up, but it was just like he didn't know how to swim anymore.

The water was so deep, his ears already ached from the pressure, and all he could do was watch the bubbles that left his throat float up.

He was so kriffed. A surge of panic rushed through him, but he just - he just couldn't do anything to help himself.

He tried to get up, so hard, but he was just stuck down here, underwater.

At this moment he was sure it would be over. He was going to die. It was his "just in case" scenario. And even though he was always sure he would go down in a more epic way, for example in an explosion, he couldn't find it in him to be sad, or devastated.

His head got dizzy, he already hadn't enough air to breath and now it just wasn't possible. He tried so hard to fight his breathing reflex, but at some point he felt like he just couldn't.

Just before he was about to give up, he saw a blurry figure breaching the surface, coming closer.

Still, his eyes closed.

When he opened them the next time, he was laying on the cold, wet floor next to the pools, Hunter and a trainer above them with uncertain looks in their eyes. Hunter was panicking, and holding his hand in such a tight grip, his knuckles turned white. But Wrecker didn't really notice the pressure.

He closed his eyes again. He was so exhausted.

He floated around for a while. Sometimes it was dark, and he almost felt like he was in the water again. But in the one that wasn't so deep and full of waves.

Some other times he dreamed about his brothers. Of Crosshair and how he proudly showed him some new tricks he learned with his sniper rifle. About Tech and how he told him something about a new technology for a detonator. And of Hunter and how he tugged him close one night when he suddenly was scared of the loud noises from outside.

When he opened his eyes again, he was blinded by white lights. He groaned weakly and closed them tightly. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand, while the other squeezed the one that was occupied with something… warm?

Another hand, he realized when he heard a light gasp and a relieved call for his name.

"Wrecker!"

"I'm up. What happened?" he groaned and finally opened his eyes. Not only Hunter but also Tech and Crosshair were sitting around his medical cot.

"You almost drowned, buddy," Hunter told him, and Wrecker felt fear rising in him when some memories flooded his mind.

"Oh," he said, not really knowing what else to say. His heart beat so fast, but he chose to ignore it for now.

"I pulled you out. I-I was so scared. I just heard you calling my name, and then I couldn't see you anywhere. I thought I was too late," Hunter swallowed and squeezed his hand back.

"Oh, uh, thank you," he said again. He still felt drained and tired. It laid above him like a heavy blanked but instead of comforting him, it made him feel uncomfortable.

"Your medical records say you're malnourished and too light," Tech suddenly chimed in. "It is very likely that you were too exhausted to continue your swimming lessons because of that. Thus, the medics prescribed you a higher daily calorie income, so your body can keep up," he explained.

Wrecker didn't know what to say. It was just so much. He almost drowned.

He almost died.

"That means you can eat as much as you want from now on," Crosshair said this time, a mischievous smirk appearing on his lips. "That means you can bring me extra dessert, too!"

Wrecker blinked, but slowly started to smile, too.

More food sounded good. Extra desserts even better.

"That's good," he murmured again, still feeling tired. He absolutely needed to sleep, he needed to realize what happened, and he needed to realize that even though he almost died, it looks like he wouldn't have to be hungry anymore. That really was good.

"You look tired. Maybe you should take another nap," Hunter suggested softly.

Wrecker nodded. Yeah, that sounded great.

"We're still here, when you wake up," Crosshair promised and reached out to pat his head.

That sounded even better.

It didn't take long for Wrecker to drift off again, and fall into a recovering, comfortable dream.

The next time they were at the mess hall, he loaded his plate unbelievably full. And even though it was way too much in the end, it was the first time since a long time that he didn't went to sleep hungry.

TAGLIST

@isthereanechoinhere96 @trixie2023 @freesia-writes

#wrecker wednesday #summerofbadbatch2024 #week4 #cadets #week8 #swimming lessons #the bad batch #star wars #tbb #the clone wars #tbb wrecker #bad batch #the bad batch wrecker #clone trooper wrecker #wrecker tbb #wrecker the bad batch #tbb crosshair #tbb tech #tbb hunter

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