#tech has the best balance out of the bad batch

[justaparsec94]

Sniper

Summary: You're a civilian medic assigned to The Bad Batch, during a mission you are injured and Crosshair has to get you to safety. Seeing you hurt has him struggling to come to terms with his feelings for you.

Pairing: Crosshair x fem!reader

Word Count: 6,599

Warnings: Description of Injury, Blood, Gore, Broken Bones, Needles

Authors Note: I've been watching too many medical shows lately and this is the result.

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When GAR High Command had decided to assign a civilian medic to Clone Force 99 Crosshair had completely baulked at the idea. They didn’t need some medic, especially a civ tagging along with them and upsetting the balance they had achieved as a team. Tech had always been considered their resident medic and Crosshair and the rest of his brothers had enough basic medical training to get by in the event Tech wasn’t around. In Crosshair's opinion that was good enough. But his protests had gone largely ignored and within days you had shown up at their ship with bright eyes and a warm smile and that had been it. 

It hadn’t taken long for you to find your place amongst the squad, you seemed to get along well with everyone, even despite Crosshair’s initial attempts to scare you off. His brothers had all accepted you quickly and even though he would never admit it to anyone it hadn't taken long for your charms to work on him too. There was just something about you that drew him in. You just had an easygoing way about you, always ready with a smile or joke, or an encouraging comment. You were smart and competent, never a liability in the field. And your bedside manner was impeccable, they all knew they were in good hands any time you had to work on them. Even Crosshair could admit that you were a good addition to the team. And as Tech liked to point out, their efficiency had improved with your presence as they no longer had to make trips back and forth to Kamino for every medical need. 

It wasn’t just your professionalism that drew him in though. He had spent many hours in hyperspace sitting silently at your side while he cleaned the Firepuncher and you idly chatted about whatever facts you had learned about the planets your missions had taken you to, or whatever recent medical journal you had read. He just liked spending time with you, which until you had come into his life was a completely foreign feeling for him. He didn’t like people. But you seemed to be the exception. It also didn’t hurt that you were beautiful. Warm and radiant in a way that made his heart pound if he stared at you too long.  He ached for you in a way that was decidedly unprofessional but he kept those feelings locked up tight. He knew there was no chance that someone as bright and beautiful as you would fall for someone, well, someone like him. Asshole wasn’t his nickname for no reason at all. 

His feelings weren’t helped by the fact that the two of you were often paired on missions. You could handle yourself and knew how to use a blaster if needed but as a medic, your job was to stay out of the fight while still being close enough that you could  get to them quickly if needed. As the squad's sharpshooter, he often was separate from his brothers, finding the spot that would give him the best advantage. It only made sense that on the missions where you couldn’t hang back close enough on The Marauder, you would join him instead. He wouldn’t admit that he enjoyed the times the two of you spent together, holed up in some spot keeping a close eye on your squad, but he did. Crosshair wasn’t soft, he was harsh and unyielding but that didn’t ever seem to bother you. He gave little but you took and gave right back. Never with frustration or annoyance. He knew he didn’t always deserve your kindness but you gave it anyway, without fail. You just seemed to understand him in a way that very few others did. 

As much as he believed that you couldn’t possibly have any feelings beyond friendship towards him there were times, as the two of you lay side by side in the dirt when you would look at him just so, that he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe his feelings weren’t so one-sided. It was dangerous, this line that the two of you toed. You were dangerous. Because he knew that if he let himself he could get completely lost in you. 

Currently, the two of you were staked out at the top of a rocky cliff on some backwater planet he didn’t care enough about to remember the name of. The plan was relatively simple, his brothers would storm the village where the Seppies had dug in while he provided covering fire. In and out if everything went according to plan. 

“Did you know that the residents of this planet worship the god of the moon? They believe he brings them good fortune. Each full moon they throw a festival and offer up gifts as a thank you,” You said suddenly breaking the relative silence between the two of you. It was a habit of yours that he liked, a way to break the pre-battle tension. 

“Hm,” Crosshair mused as he looked through his scope. He could see his brothers getting into position as the squad of clankers cleared the ridge just in front of the village. A series of small, calculated explosions set up by Wrecker had drawn them out and hopefully in doing so would reduce the risk of the planet's inhabitants being harmed in the ensuing fight. From this current vantage point, Crosshair would have no problem picking them off as they approached the rest of his squad, “That sounds like a lot of work.” 

“Especially when you consider that full moons occur twice a month on this planet,” You added as you peered through your own scopes to watch the battle unfold. 

“Must be nice to get so many gifts,” Crosshair replied as the first shots sounded. He took aim with ease, picking off droids one by one as his brothers got to work. 

“Must be,” You said, your tone considering, “Though if I were a god I don’t know if I’d be all that excited about a bunch of pickled vegetables.” 

“So ungrateful,” Crosshair tsked as he picked off another super battle droid. You laughed at his reply and he gave himself a mental pat on the back at his ability to not get distracted by such a lovely sound. 

He fell into an easy rhythm, picking off droids, calling out their movements and targets to his brothers. It was all second nature to him, as easy as breathing. However, from past experience, he should have known it couldn’t be that easy. 

“I think they might have spotted you,” You said suddenly, a quick glance over at you showed you were still peering intently through your own scopes. Sure enough, the cliff shook as a blast hit about 30 feet below their position. 

Crosshair hissed as small rocks and debris rained down from the impact, he immediately scanned the field, looking for the source of the blast. His heart kicked up a notch as he found the barrel of a tank aimed directly at him. 

“Crosshair, look out!” You cried, panic lacing your tone as you scrambled to your feet. He was moving without even thinking, just catching a glimpse of the blast of energy headed straight for them as you both threw yourselves from your positions. 

“No!” Was all Crosshair was able to shout as he looked back towards you before the earth between you exploded. He saw your body tumbling through the air momentarily before he too was launched by the blast. The world became a blur as he was thrown head over heels, tumbling through space before he landed with a hard crunch against the rocks. The air completely left his lungs as he landed in a heap. His head spun as he wheezed, trying to pull in a full breath. The pain from the rocks around him bit through him even with his armour on. He was definitely going to feel this one later. 

With a pain-filled groan, he rolled over, pulling himself up into sitting. It took another long moment but finally, his lungs found their normal rhythm again as he surveyed the scene around him. The spot he had been perched on had been obliterated, a pile of rubble all that was left of his sniper's nest. A sort of numb shock washed through him as he realized that without your warning he likely would have been blown to pieces too. 

Suddenly a loud and agonized cry caught his attention. His blood ran cold as he looked at the place where you had once stood. He was on his feet before his mind could fully comprehend it, any aches he had been feeling completely forgotten about as he rushed to the edge of the cliff. 

His heart was pounding in his chest, terrified of what he might find, as he reached the edge and he took in the sight below him. You’d been thrown clear off the cliff by the blast, landing on a ledge nearly 10 feet below. Even from this distance a quick scan of you was all it took for him to figure out what had you crying out in such agony. You were in a contorted seated position, hands grasping at your leg. It appeared as though you had tried to right yourself in the air and had likely landed on your feet but the impact had been too severe as now the sole of your right foot completely everted, twisted unnaturally and offset from your leg.  

Crosshair felt as though he were going to be sick as he half slid then jumped down the cliff side to land at your side. Agony was written clearly across your face as you looked up at him. A white knuckle grip on your injured leg told him just how badly you were hurting. 

“Get my kit,” you managed to ground out between your teeth before you let out another soft cry of pain. 

Your gear had been separated from you during the blast but thankfully it was intact only a few feet away. Crosshair grabbed it and was back at your side in an instant. His heart was still pounding painfully against his ribs as he looked at you. On top of the obvious leg injury, you were also covered in scrapes, likely from the flying debris, having not had any armour to protect you like he had. 

“What do you need me to do?” He asked, trying to remain stoic as you took the bag from him, unzipping it with shaking hands. 

“I need pain meds. And then I’m going to need you to cut off my boot. We need to straighten it,” you hissed between clenched teeth as you pulled a hypo-needle from your bag. 

If Crosshair had thought he was going to be sick before it was nothing compared to how he felt now. The thought of laying his hands on you and causing you more pain was unthinkable. He watched in painful silence as a tear slid down your face, your hands still shaking slightly as you drew up the medication from the vial. 

“Can you administer this?” You asked, holding the needle out to him, “My hands are shaking too much, I’ll probably miss the vein.” 

Wordlessly he took it from you, all of the training he had received taking over and putting him on autopilot. He had done this countless times for his brothers before, he could do it now too. But that fact that it was you made it different. You should be the one helping him, not the other way around. You should have never been put in such a dangerous position. You could have died…he could have lost you. 

You let out a soft hiss of air as he administered the shot into the crook of your arm. He was about to say something to you, what he wasn’t sure, provide reassurance maybe, but he was cut off by his comm pinging. 

“Crosshair, come in,” Hunter’s voice filtered in through his helmet, “Are you alright? We saw that blast.” 

Crosshair looked up briefly towards the battle, it was clear the number of droids was diminishing but the firefight was still intense. He lifted his hand to his earpiece to answer his brother, “I’m fine. Doc took a hit. Working on her now.”

“Keep us updated,” Straight to the point but the concern in Hunter’s voice was clear. 

Crosshair didn’t bother with a response to that, simply turned his attention back to you. You were quickly beginning to look worse by the minute. 

“There’s a pair of shears in my bag that’ll cut through my boot,” you said, taking the needle from him and dumping it back in your bag. With that done you leaned back slightly propping yourself on your hands as you let out another shaky breath. 

“We should just get you out of here,” Crosshair said, he would never admit out loud the amount of fear that was lacing through him at the thought of causing you more pain, even if it was to help you in the long run. 

“We need to stabilize my leg first. It will only get worse if we leave it,” You replied in the same professional air as always, as though you were talking about a patient and not your own injury. 

Shears in hand Crosshair moved down towards your leg. Up close it was even worse, the unnatural angle of it made his stomach roll. Blood was leaking out between the bottom of your pants and the high top of your combat boot, staining the ground below. 

“It’s fine Cross,” You said, clearly noticing the discomfort he was trying hard to conceal. Normally he would have warmed at the gentle way you always said the shortened version of his name but right now the only thing he felt was dread, “Just do it.” 

He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding before pulling off his helmet and setting it beside him on the ground. As advanced as his HUD was he needed an unobstructed view of what he was about to do. 

At first, you were silent as he started cutting, your leg shaking slightly the only sign of your discomfort. But as he began to peel away the layers of bloodied boot and sock a string of curses so impressive that it had him looking up at you in surprise flew from your mouth. 

He couldn’t stop the small smirk that made its way onto his face, “Who knew you had such a mouth on you Sunshine.” 

“Just take my kriffing boot off,” you hissed. Even from where he was sitting he could see the way your shoulders heaved with each painful breath. 

He did as he was told, his entire body tensed as you let out a painful howl as he pulled your boot away from your foot. A cold sweat broke out on the back of his neck as he looked at your mangled ankle. Blood was flowing from the opening where the bones of your leg were clearly visible, your foot off centre and from the looks of it hanging on by nothing more than skin and tendon. He'd seen hundreds of horrible injuries throughout the war, many worse than this, but the fact that it was you rattled him to his very core.  

His eyes strayed back up to you as he tried to hide the horror he felt at the sight of your leg. Your eyes were shut as you took a few deep, shuddering breaths and he could see a clammy sheen on your skin that hadn’t been there before. He knew he would have to hurry before shock set in fully. 

Your eyes blinked open again and he knew the look you were giving him was meant to be reassuring, “You have to move my foot back into place, it’ll help restore circulation.”

“But the pain-“ Crosshair started but you cut him off with a shake of your head. 

“I’ve taken enough pain medication to sedate a bantha. I’m not even going to remember any of this has happened within the next few minutes. You have to do it, Cross, please.” 

The words in his head slipped out before he could stop them, “I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“You could never,” You said softly, reaching out to put a hand on his arm, “this is helping me.” 

He took a deep breath, “On three?”

You nodded, pain and fear mixing in your eyes as he grasped your foot, “Do it.” 

“One… two… three,” He tried to think of anything else as he pulled on your foot, attempting to realign it with the rest of your leg. 

The cries you let out would haunt him for the rest of his life. He stopped once your voice croaked out and when it felt as if he couldn’t budge it anymore. It was definitely straighter and the amount of blood flowing had lessened but the bone was still exposed. 

Content that he had done what he could and anxious to get you off this kriffing cliff he looked back up at you for his next directions. All the blood had drained from your face and his heart rate kicked up a notch as he watched your chin dip down towards your chest. Your entire upper body suddenly sagged back down towards the ground. He managed to move in time to catch you by the shoulders, lowering you down softly to the ground as you let out a weak and pained moan. 

“Look at me,” he demanded, his hands firmly on your shoulders. Your eyes opened at his command, staring blankly up at the sky first before sluggishly finding their way to his face, “focus on me.” 

“I am,” you replied weakly as he gently mopped at the cold sweat on your forehead. You let out another groan before you seemed to pull your thoughts back together, “there’s dressings and an air cast in the bag. Put the dressing over the open wound and then put on the splint, there’s a valve on the side to inflate it. It’ll keep it stable and put pressure on the wound.” 

He quickly went about doing as he was told, his anxiety was amping up with each passing minute. He needed to get you to safety. You let out a few more painful cries as he applied the dressing and the splint but they were weak, your voice hoarse from your earlier screams. 

“Antibiotics,” you mumbled once he had finished and moved back up towards your head. You gestured with a flailing hand towards your bag. He wasn’t sure if it was the medications kicking in, the pain, or a combination of both but you were clearly becoming weaker and more out of it by the minute. 

He was thankful that you were so meticulous about your kit as he dug through the bag and quickly located the vial of antibiotics. You didn’t even flinch as this needle went it, simply blinked up at him sluggishly as he went about cleaning and getting everything stored away. 

“You did good,” you said weakly, your words beginning to slur together. Your hand waved towards him and on instinct he reached out to grab it, lacing your fingers together and giving you a reassuring squeeze. 

“We have to get you out of here,” he replied tersely as he surveyed the area around them. It wouldn’t be an easy journey down the cliff. He would have to fully support you over the rough terrain, if not carry you completely. The only saving grace was that likely thinking the blast had destroyed you both the clankers were no longer firing on your position. But the sounds and sights of an ongoing firefight in the direction he knew his brothers were meant a pickup would be unlikely at this time. 

He looked down at your prone form again, some of the colour had returned to your face but not enough to ease his nerves, “Can you sit up?” 

You groaned but managed to pull your upper body back up into sitting without his help. You seemed to wobble slightly before righting yourself and looking up at him, “m’ok.” 

“Clearly,” he scoffed before he could stop himself. He grabbed his helmet and put it back on, activating his comm as he kept a close eye on you. 

“Hunter," He barked over his comm, "I’m moving Doc now. We’ll rendezvous at The Marauder.”

“Copy that. We’ve got things under control here,” Hunter replied instantly, the slight breathlessness in his voice over the comm the only sign that he was in the midst of battle. 

Crosshair wanted to snark out that from the sights of the explosions in the distance, it didn’t look like they did but he let the moment pass. You were more important than getting under his eldest brother's skin at the moment. 

Disconnecting his comm he stood, he looked down at you for a moment, weighing his options before he stooped and wrapped his arms underneath your own, hands resting on your shoulder blades. He didn’t give you any warning before he pulled you up onto your good foot, hoping the lack of warning would cut down on anticipation pain but you still moaned with the movement. He had to steady you as you swayed like a tree in the breeze once fully upright. 

“Do you think you can try walking?” He asked after you had stilled. He didn’t miss the white knuckle grip you had on his armoured arms, your face pale and clammy once more as he helped take most of the weight of your injured right leg as you held it up off the ground. 

“Gotta try,” you mumbled. He gave a stiff nod and then maneuvered himself to your side, his arm going around your waist as you slipped an arm over his shoulders. He pressed his hip into you to take the brunt of your weight, your injured leg sandwiched between you both. It was awkward due to your major height difference but it would have to do. He managed to grab your kit with his free hand, slinging the bag over his shoulder before he helped you hop forward on your uninjured leg.

It was instantly apparent that this wasn’t going to work as you let out another horrible cry that cleaved his heart from his chest. The vibrations from his and your own movements were likely too much for your injured leg and you crumbled against him. 

With a single smooth motion, he hooked his arm under your knees and around your back, scooping you up into his arms. In the past when he had pictured you in his arms thousands of times before this situation had never even been considered and he desperately hoped it would never happen again. 

Your head lolled against his chest as he took a moment to adjust to your weight, the rest of your body was essentially limp in his arms. You weren’t heavy by any means but it was an adjustment to rebalance himself with the added weight, especially on such rough terrain and with your kit and the Firepuncher slung across his back. 

You were mostly silent as he began making his way down the cliff side but every once in a while a soft moan would escape your lips. He tried his best not to jostle you too much but thankfully by your lack of protest, it seemed like the pain medication had fully kicked in. 

The dissent was slow and Crosshair couldn’t help but now curse his decision to chose this spot for his sniper's nest. You wouldn’t even be in this situation if he had chosen somewhere else. He sighed, desperately trying to keep his feet underneath the shifting rock as he picked his way down the cliffside. 

He had made it about halfway down the cliff without any sound from you, the gentle puff of your breath against the sliver of exposed skin between his helmet and the neck of his blacks the only sign you were still with him.

He was about to duck his head to check you were still awake when a sudden soft mumble caught his attention, “You’re my favourite, you know.”

He scoffed, tilting his head down as best as he could to try and get a better look at your face, “You really overdid it on the drugs.” 

You tipped your head up to look at him, shaking it slightly in disagreement “No is true,” you slurred before your head lolled back onto his shoulder 

Your next words were so quiet we wouldn’t have heard them had you not been so close but as it was they made his insides freeze, “Sexy sniper.” 

He let out a sound that was half scoff, half chuckle, “You’re delirious.” You couldn’t possibly feel the same way about him that he felt about you. It just had to be the drugs talking. 

“No m’not,” You protested again as your one hand came up to wrap weakly around his neck, “You’re s’handsome.” 

“Stop,” he hissed. He couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t stand the way your words, addled by medication or not, were getting his hopes up. 

“Ok,” You mumbled but your hand stayed laced around his neck, “S’ok if you don’t like me back. Just thought you should know.”

His entire body felt as if it were on fire as he gazed down at you. Your words reverberated around his skull, solidifying something in his very soul. He was so bloody kriffed. You had your eyes closed, head resting gently on his shoulder, looking for all the galaxy as if you hadn’t just said something that had completely ruined him.  

He couldn’t even begin to think of what to say back to you. A part of him was convinced the words out of your mouth were completely drug-fueled nonsense, but the other part wanted to hold onto them and on to you and never let go.

His comm blaring in his ear cut off any sort of response he could have come up with. 

“Crosshair!” Tech’s voice vibrated through his helmet, “You have droid starfighters headed your way!”

Crosshair cursed as he looked up and sure enough, he spotted two blips in the sky growing bigger by the moment. 

“Cross?” You asked weakly from his arms, sensing his distress. 

There was no time to answer you though, he moved back towards the centre of the cliff, as far from the edge as he could get as the fighters roared overhead. The cliff shook, debris raining down around them as hyena droid bombers dropped their load. Crosshair cursed again as his feet slid beneath him, he held you as close to his body as possible as the cliff continued to crumble around you both. He wouldn’t drop you, he couldn’t.  

You both let out a cry as he slid further down the cliff, feet scrambling as he desperately tried to maintain his balance. You cried out in agony at the shifting and jostling as Crosshair slipped once more, going down to his knees as the ground beneath him gave way. He managed to keep you in his arms but the pained noises you made as the earth below you both finally settled indicated that more damage had been done. 

“Put me down,” You cried out, writhing in his arms, “Put me down. Put me down.” 

It was the last thing he wanted to do, he just needed to get you to the ship. But as he watched all of the remaining colour drain from your face he knew he didn’t have much of a choice. 

You screamed in pain as he placed you down on the ground again, hands clawing at his chest plate as you screwed your eyes shut. Even through the filters in his helmet, he could smell fresh blood. He risked a look at the splint and while it still looked intact clearly the past few minutes had not done you any favours. 

“Easy,” He said softly as he moved his hands to your shoulders in an attempt to steady you, “We need to get you back to the ship.”

“No, no, no,” You chanted as your bloodshot and glassy eyes popped open momentarily, “I can’t.”

“You have to,” Crosshair barked out, his tone harsher than he intended. The stress of the situation was eating away at him. He just wanted to get you to safety. He knew that between the pain and the medication you weren’t in the right state of mind. Knew that had the situation been reversed you would have been hauling his shebs back to the ship no matter how much he protested but he just couldn’t bear the thought of causing you so much pain. He’d do it, but it would kill him every step of the way.  

Your eyes had slipped closed once more and your voice was weak as you spoke, “Just leave me. I’m no use to you guys anyways.” 

“Now you’re just being dramatic,” Crosshair hissed and rolled his eyes even though he knew you couldn’t see his expression. 

You didn’t say anything, but he watched you for a moment, the way your chest was rising and falling raggedly. You needed more help than he could give. 

A sudden explosion off in the distance, likely Wrecker’s doing, caught his attention. He watched the cloud settle before he reached up to activate his comm. 

“Tech we’re going to need a pickup,” Crosshair barked, “Doc is fading fast.”

“Copy,” Tech replied, “ETA 10 minutes.” 

Clearly whatever the explosion had been had been an end to the firefight. He transmitted his location to Tech and then he waited. 

It was one of the longest 10 minutes of his life as he kneeled over you, one of your hands clasped between both of his as it shook. Your eyes had slipped closed again but he could tell by the way you were breathing that you weren’t asleep. He wasn’t even fully aware of the words that were leaving his mouth but he just felt the overwhelming need to reassure you in some way. It’s what you would have done for him or any of his brothers in the same situation. 

He finally let out a breath of his own as the familiar sounds of The Marauder's engines filled the air around them. Your eyes popped open as it came into position, hovering beside the cliff edge. 

Wrecker came barreling down the ramp, jumping onto the ledge with ease and quickly covering the distance. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of you but he didn’t falter in his movements. 

“Hang in there, doc,” He said as he kneeled down, “we got ya!” 

You let out another painful moan as he lifted you up and into his arms. The lack of volume and fight from you worried Crosshair immensely but he didn’t hesitate. He grabbed your kit and followed quickly after Wrecker as he carried you onto the ship. 

Tech was at your side in an instant, directing Wrecker to lay you down on the middle bunk in the back of the ship. You groaned again as Wrecker gently laid you down but it seemed that all of the energy had been sucked right out of you. You were so pale and weak that Crosshair felt almost feral with the amount of fear that was coursing through him. You needed to be ok. Anything else was not an option. 

He couldn’t bring himself to leave your side, even as Wrecker left and Hunter appeared in his place. Tech ignored you all, the medscanner passing over you as he worked. His brow was furrowed beneath his goggles in concentration as he assessed your condition. All the while you remained still and silent, your eyes only opening for brief moments. 

“This is beyond my skill level, she has suffered a severely displaced compound fracture. She will require surgical repair of this,” Tech replied matter of factly before he turned to look at Hunter, “Set course to Kamino, it is the closest medical facility to our current location.”

“On it,” Hunter replied moving instantly off towards the cockpit. Technically as a civilian member of the GAR, they should have been taking you to the medical base on Coruscant but that would add days to their travel, time they did not have. 

“Will she be ok?” Crosshair asked, tension evident in his voice. 

Tech looked at him briefly before his eyes returned to the medscanner in his hands, “She is stable for now. It is a serious injury but I am hopeful she will make a full recovery once in the proper hands. You did a good job stabilizing her in the field.”

“I just followed her instructions,” He grumbled. 

“In any case, a good job,” Tech repeated, “I will do my best to make her comfortable for the journey and ensure she remains stable.”

Tech became a flurry of movement as he bent over you, checking your vitals and looking for any other injuries. Crosshair couldn’t bring himself to leave your side. Not when you were like this. Instinctually he kept creeping forward, the distance between the two of you unbearable. He just wanted to touch you, to feel that you were still with them, still alright. 

“Crosshair!” Tech snapped, pausing in his work drawing up more pain meds for you, “Your hovering is distracting and not helpful. Go clean yourself up. You are covered in blood.”

Crosshair growled at his brother, unwilling to part from your side when you were in such a state. A biting response was on his tongue but Tech didn’t let him speak, “You know she would say the same if she were not so out of it.”

As if sensing you were being spoken about you perked slightly, eyes opening as you turned your head towards the sounds of their voices, “Cross,” You called out again softly.

He shouldered past Tech, who tsked in annoyance, and kneeled down beside your head, reaching for the hand you held out towards him, “What is it, mesh’la?” 

“Did you know that on this moon they worship the gods?” Your eyes were big and glassy as you looked up at him. Your tone was completely serious, as though this was the most important information you had ever told him. 

He scoffed and ignored the jumbled way your sentence had come out, “Yeah, I even hear they give gifts to their god every full moon.”

Your eyes widened even more, comically so, “Wow. Who told you that?”

“I must have read it somewhere,” He replied with a soft smirk as he squeezed your hand once more. 

“Crosshair,” Tech’s annoyance at the continued interruptions was evident as he spoke, “You. Are. In. The. Way.”

He hissed, glaring up at his brother briefly but he stood, pulling away from you slightly. He looked back down at where you were still gazing up at him dreamily, “I have to go clean up, you got blood all over me, Sunshine.” 

“Whoops,” You replied with a delirious giggle, “My bad.”

An actual chuckle left Crosshair at that as he pulled his hand from yours, “Don’t cause too much trouble for Tech while I’m gone.”

“You’ll come back?” You asked, concern suddenly written all over your face. 

“In a flash,” He replied, and suddenly as though he were possessed he stooped, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead. As he pulled away he didn’t know what had come over him, or when he had grown so soft. But he found he didn’t care as he noticed the content look that had replaced the worry on your face. He waited for your eyes to slip close once more before he turned away from you. 

He instantly froze, bristling as he noticed the smug look on Tech’s face. He had clearly paused whatever he was doing to watch the interaction. 

“If you mention this to anyone I will put a blaster bolt between your eyes,” Crosshair hissed venomously. 

If anything, Tech only looked more smug at Crosshair’s response, “It is amusing that you think your affections for her are a secret,” He replied, “However, I do promise that I will not mention what I have observed here today to anyone else.”

“You better not,” Crosshair growled, unable to think of anything better to say before he once again shouldered past his brother as he headed off to change out of his gear and clean himself up. He chose to ignore the embarrassment that was burning through him at Tech’s words.  

He had never gotten out of his gear and cleaned himself so quickly. He returned to your side in under half a standard hour, clean from the small sonic shower on board and a fresh pair of blacks covering his body. 

Tech didn’t even look up as he approached, “She’s stable. All we can do right now is let her rest,” he explained as Crosshair returned to bunks. 

Crosshair watched him silently as he stood. Tech gave him a pointed look that he did not like but chose to ignore, “I’ll be in the cockpit if she needs anything.” 

He kneeled down beside your head once more, no longer caring what his brothers might think if they saw him with you. Your breathing had thankfully evened out and a bit of colour had returned to your face but you still looked unwell. Slowly and hesitantly he reached out his hand to brush some of the hair off your forehead. 

His touch caused you to stir and your eyes popped open, finding him instantly. A small, though decidedly hazy, smile grew on your face, “You came back.” 

He scoffed, “Of course I did.” 

“I missed you,” You said casually, clearly having no idea what effect your words were having on him. He really was so truly kriffed. 

He swallowed the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm him and settled for his usual snark instead, “You did? How touching.” 

Much to his delight that got a chuckle out of you. Clearly, you weren’t so out of it that you couldn’t still enjoy his usual quips, “That’s why you’re my favourite Cross.” 

He knew that with the drugs running through your system you wouldn’t remember much, if any of what you had said to him. But even if things between you went right back to the way they had been before he would remember them and the way you had made him feel forever. 

“Get some rest,” he replied, his voice gruff with all of the unspoken feelings bubbling inside him. 

“You’ll stay?” You asked, hand reaching out to grasp his wrist gently. Your eyes were wide, as you looked at him, the faintest line of concern creasing your brow. 

He slid his hand down to interlock his fingers with your own. He watched as a small smile bloomed on your face at the motion, “Always,” he replied. You smiled up at him before closing your eyes, pulling his hand into your chest, clearly intent on keeping him close. 

Always.  He felt the word straight down to his very bones. The first step had been to admit it to himself, just how much you had crept under his skin and how much he wanted to keep you there. Always. Now maybe one day he’d be brave enough to tell you just how much he truly meant it.

[here-comes-the-moose]

Bad Batch Modern AU Headcanons Under the Cut

Echo

Does not like red wine. It gives him a headache and heartburn (he’s just like me fr).

Plans Friday Fundays with Omega after she gets out of school.

Great at cooking and baking, but absolutely needs to follow the recipe. If he’s tries to improvise or experiment, the food is not edible at all.

Can flawlessly do a shot with no hands.

Has done a keg stand.

Before the loss of his limbs, he used to NEVER get hungover, no matter how much he drank. Even now, his hangovers are pretty mild. He’s just built different.

Was recruited to be one of the room parents for Omega’s class.

The only one who can get through to Crosshair when his mental health gets really bad.

Has their house decorated like the most stereotypical suburban mom. I’m talking Live Laugh Love signs, a beach-themed bathroom, so many throw pillows and blankets that you can barely sit, a rotation on of seasonal decor, the list goes on.

Hunter

Cannot sing for shit.

The king of dad jokes.

Has absolutely no fashion sense. Negative drip. He’s wearing socks and sandals unironically.

World’s worst cook. Managed to burn and undercook a pancake. Gave Crosshair food poisoning.

Banned from grilling after he set all the food they got for their 4th of July barbecue on fire.

Gets migraines. He gets extremely sensitive to sound and smells.

The only person Crosshair lets look after him when he isn’t feeling well.

Views expiration dates as suggestions. Somehow has never gotten sick.

Constantly going on Tinder dates.

Tech

Total chick magnet.

Does not realize this.

Constantly drives over the speed limit (except in school zones) but miraculously has never gotten a speeding ticket.

Best at making cocktails.

The most intense one about making sure they all eat healthy.

His shoulders and neck get really tense, from sitting at a computer and from carrying most of his stress there.

Does not like crispy bacon.

Wrecker

Grill master.

Actually great at cooking and baking. He can improvise and experiment with ease and the food comes out even better.

Always showing off photos of Omega when he’s at work.

Saw the Barbie movie more than once. He cried each time.

LOVES to listen to Kesha.

His music taste is basically just 2000’s-2010’s party girl music.

Used to choreograph dances that he would then perform with Crosshair and Fives for the rest of their family when they were kids.

Gives the best massages.

Wears the New Balance dad sneakers. Crosshair HATES them.

Crosshair

Banned from their local Applebee’s for getting extremely sloppy off their dollaritas.

Gets motion sick sometimes, mostly in cars.

HATES air travel.

Top three artists on Spotify are My Chemical Romance, Taylor Swift, and Lana Del Rey (he’s just like me fr)

Also gets migraines. Unlike Hunter, he isn’t that sound sensitive, but he gets extremely sensitive to light and smells and gets auras with his migraines.

Also saw the Barbie movie more than once (he went with Wrecker). He also cried.

Has a crush on Tony Soprano (don’t ask why the thought came into my head and wouldn’t leave)

Babies and toddlers love him for some reason.

Will not eat or drink something if the expiration date is within two days. Gets extremely grossed out by Hunter not caring for expiration dates.

Secretly a hopeless romantic.

Omega

Learned her first curse word from Echo when he let one slip while driving.

Repeated the word in front of Hunter, who nearly had a heart attack.

Looks just like Crosshair when he was a kid.

Likes going out with Crosshair because he almost always gets her a little treat.

Gets annoyed by how many people in her class and some of their parents have a crush on one of her brothers.

Has tried to play matchmaker for her brothers before.

All of her brothers give amazing hugs, but she secretly thinks Echo’s are the best.

Batcher

She was a rescue dog.

She’s a gray pittie.

Her favorite person is Crosshair and she’s always following him around and is always at his side.

Goes crazy for cold cuts.

Was originally going to be brought to the shelter if they couldn’t find an owner, but Hunter agreed to keep her when he saw how happy she made Omega and Crosshair.

Her tail has a kink because it broke and didn’t heal properly.

Feel free to add more if you’d like! I have included some of these in my Modern AU works.

[laughhardrunfastbekindsblog]

Possible hot take: I don't think the Bad Batch were given preferential treatment as cadets.

They, like the vast majority of the GAR, would have spent most of their childhood/training without Jedi oversight (remembering that the Jedi only found out about the clone army at the very start of the war, therefore the Jedi would only have been involved during the 3 years the war lasted). And while I don't think the Kaminoans would put their "products" at undue risk, I also think they knew these clone soldiers HAD to be the best and therefore wouldn't have been shy about decommissioning any clone/squad that didn't measure up.

And while the clones with "desirable mutations" would have been an interesting experiment and one the Kaminoans (especially Nala Se) would likely have wanted to see succeed, I believe this would have to have been balanced against the practicality of not sinking more time/resources into clones who are experimental and may not "work." (The fact that the 4 clones of CF99 are the ONLY "deviant" fully commissioned clones we ever see goes to show that, for whatever reason, this experiment was apparently not considered enough of a success to warrant a change in the Kaminoans' standard operating procedure with Fett clone development.) So, as cadets, the Bad Batch must have felt the pressure of possibly being decommissioned as much as any of the regs did.

Plus, Omega says the Bad Batch were "sent to live with the other clones" at a very young age. That doesn't seem to imply preferential treatment to me.

(We see CF99 have their own barracks after they are fully commissioned soldiers; but we also don't ever see where other commissioned soldiers sleep when they visit Kamino, so there's no telling what the other sleeping quarters look like. The only other sleeping quarters we see are those for cadets.)

Of course, by the time we meet them, the members of Clone Force 99 are commandos and treated as an independent squad; but we don't know if they were granted that role as soon as they graduated, or if that happened after they definitively proved that their unorthodox methods translated into a 100% mission success rate on the (unsimulated) battlefield.

All this to say:

When it came to training as cadets, I believe the Bad Batch underwent the same training and living conditions as the regular cadets.

The Bad Batch likely had some accommodations to account for their differences (examples might be Tech's goggles, or Wrecker having specialized armor that fit his larger size), but I would consider such things necessary considerations, not indicative of preferential treatment.

I believe the Bad Batch had to prove their worth to the Kaminoans throughout their training, and they knew it.

I don't think all the regular cadets were openly mean to the Bad Batch; but I DO think the regs, especially as cadets, didn't really know how to handle clones who were appreciably different (we see the regs react with disgust and call one of their own squadmates "deficient" when they discover he has been collecting droid appendages from battlefields), so the Bad Batch very likely were shunned, ignored, and endured more bullying than other regs did - and I think this is why we see CF99 (Crosshair in particular) act the way they do around the regs in their intro story.

[lifblogs]

The Right Body

@ailesswhumptober Day 20 Enemy/Stranger to Caretaker, Accidental De-aging, "I'm absolutely not qualified for this shit."

Fandom: The Bad Batch Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Word Count: 2874 Summary: The Bad Batch are separated by a cave-in, and Echo is injured and his prosthetic legs aren't working right. He only has Phee to help him, and he's not too sure of her yet. READ ON AO3

Echo couldn’t remember if he’d cried out when a rock hit his spine during the cave-in, but now he was on the ground, blue-gray dirt in his eyes, rocks still settling. He coughed as the dirt got in his throat. Phee was coughing too. Echo didn’t think anyone else had made it to their side of the cave-in, but that meant the rest of his squad was stuck with the pirates who had been idiotic enough to set off a bomb.

His squad was extremely competent though, and some pirates… not so much. Phee was pretty competent, though that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. It got them dragged around too much, in his opinion. He was tired of her adventures and found her too boisterous, but Omega liked her, and Tech liked her, so Echo tried his best. At least he knew Hunter shared his sentiments.

“You okay?” Phee asked.

Echo tried to get up, but a weird sensation came from his prosthetic legs. Not pain, but… it was almost as if nerves he no longer had were being tugged at. His legs weren’t moving right. Painstakingly, exhaling as he used his core, he rolled over, and sat up to get a look at them. His back ached so badly that he adjusted his breathing so his ribs wouldn’t expand too much, causing more pain.

His legs were sparking, and each blue spark was accompanied with that strange feeling.

His back wouldn’t stop throbbing from where the rock had hit him, but since he could move he figured nothing was broken. Well, nothing organic. The rock must have hit the servos that connected to his legs.

Kriff.

“There’s something wrong with my legs,” Echo said aloud.

When Phee came over she crouched down, eyeing his legs.

“Can you stand?” she asked.

“Maybe.”

He didn’t actually think so, but Echo didn’t like anything about this situation. His legs were everything to him. They were how he got around, how he could protect his family. They helped him survive, helped him live.

He was used to doing tune-ups on them, Tech and Omega helping him out, but they were trapped without them.

“Here, I’ll help.”

Phee got on his left side, and put an arm around his waist.

He winced.

“Careful. My back’s injured too.”

She touched him lightly now, and let him put his arm around her shoulders. He tried to stand, and made it to a wobbly crouch. Echo swore as his legs sparked again, and he landed on his knees. He would have fallen onto his face if Phee hadn’t caught him with a hand on his chest.

“I think my legs are broken.”

For Echo that was a completely different statement than for someone else.

“There’s something wrong with the servos, I think,” he panted.

Phee helped him balance, but looked down, and then looked back at him.

“I’m absolutely not qualified for this scrag,” she said.

Echo had figured, but still: “Kriff.”

“Here, let’s get you sitting again.”

Definitely a good idea. Already his torso was aching from this fixed position.

Echo was panting by the time they got him resting against the rock wall again. The pressure hurt his back, but he didn’t have to work so hard to stay upright.

“Do you think the others are okay?” Echo asked.

Phee waved a hand, setting up lanterns so they’d be able to see better. “Pfft, they’ve got Brown Eyes with them. They’re fine. Plus Hunter is as good as his arrogance suggests.”

“That’s confidence, not arrogance.”

“You know from personal experience?”

Echo gave a light laugh. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Phee dragged her bag over, while Echo worked on getting his comm working. Static met him for a few taps, but then the line was clear.

“Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, Omega, are you all okay?”

“We are fine,” Tech said. “Though pirates are firing at us.”

Echo straightened. “How is that fine?”

“He means we’re not injured,” Omega said.

“Not yet!” Wrecker responded.

“Echo, are you okay?” Hunter asked.

Echo could imagine his team running, dodging, and firing all while having this conversation. He figured that soon the pirates would all be dead, or stunned.

“A rock hit my back. It hurts, and my legs aren’t working.”

“What?” Omega gasped.

Phee said into her comm, “And I’ve only worked on ships, and some droid maintenance, so I have no idea what to do here.”

“I’ll walk you through it from here,” Tech said.

“Good luck,” Phee said. “‘Cause all I got is a hydrospanner and a solder.”

“That might be all you need, though a piece of string might come in handy.”

“Excuse me?” Phee asked.

Echo was confused too.

“If you tie it around a motor you can make a…” Tech sighed. “Never mind. Now what part of the prosthetics is damaged?”

“Hold on,” Phee said.

“Echo, you mind showing me your back? And taking off this… What is it?”

“A kama.”

“Do you need help?”

With a sigh, Echo rolled, and laid down on his stomach, propping his head up on his arm.

“The kama’s attached to my belt,” he supplied.

“Ah.”

Phee removed it, then asked, “What about your armor, and your tunic?”

“You can take off the belt and armor, and lift my tunic up,” he consented with a huff.

Echo took in a deep breath, not always a fan of people he didn’t know very well touching him.

“All right, let’s get a look here,” Phee said, his armor now removed. She lifted up his tunic, and Echo inwardly winced, knowing she’d see not just his prosthetics, but the covered implants he had along his spine. “Well, you’re certainly bruising,” she said. “Must’ve been some rock.” Phee must have then looked lower because she said, “Brown Eyes, I don’t quite know what I’m looking at.”

“Describe it.”

Phee did so, and Tech responded, “Oh, that is an easy enough fix.

“Echo, how do your legs feel?”

He frowned, but responded, “Like someone’s tugging on nerves.”

“Ah, that would make sense. Phee, you’re going to have to uncouple the lumbar rotors so you can deactivate the servo encoder without burning through Echo’s cerebral interface. Then you have to solder—”

“In Basic, please!” Phee interrupted.

“That is Basic,” Tech muttered.

“Oh my stars, Brown Eyes, I swear…” Phee cried.

“You see the circular nodules along Echo’s spine?”

“Uh…”

“They’re about two inches in diameter, gray, right above his culet.”

“Found ‘em.”

Echo felt Phee press.

He was anxious to have her work on him when she didn’t know much about this type of technology, but he trusted Tech to do his job well, even through comms.

His back seemed to ache more from this position, and he tried shifting his hips, but his legs sparked again. Echo winced at the strange tugging sensation.

He grunted.

“You good?” Phee asked.

“Peachy.”

“There’s a switch under a panel right in between the nodules. That should begin the detachment process so Echo won’t feel any of this.”

Phee must have hit the switch because Echo’s legs even stopped transferring the sensation of the rocky ground to him.

“Got it,” Phee called.

They talked as Phee worked on him. There was a strange dissociation with not being able to feel any of it. As time ticked on, he felt like this body was wrong, that this wasn’t his. Echo floated away from it, till he could look down and see this body, this strange, strange thing that was supposedly his. But how could it be? From the implants, to the prosthetics, the chemically ruined skin, and the inner workings of him, he didn’t quite understand it. This body had been blown up and tortured and experimented on, and this was what he, Echo as a person, was left with. 

It also was strangely intimate and unerring that Tech seemed to know more about his prosthetics than he himself did. It was like he was floating in something that didn’t belong to him.

A few times they had to pause for them to take care of the pirates. But then that was all clear.

“I think we can loop back around and get you two out,” Hunter said.

“No talking,” Phee told him. “Except for Tech. I have to think.”

“How’s it going?” Echo asked, surprised that it was his own voice that came out of him and not something mechanical.

“Shh.”

“It’s my body,” Echo grumbled.

“And that’s why I’m trying to be so careful,” Phee argued. “Hold on, I have to… Tech, what am I doing here again?”

Echo didn’t like that.

“Maybe we should wait for Tech,” Echo suggested.

His sense of helplessness was becoming keener with each second.

“No, I’ve got it.”

Tech’s answer was long, and Phee asked him to break it down again.

“Oh, I already did that,” she said.

“Without my instruction?” Tech asked.

“Sorry, I thought it was what you said.”

“Please do not break Echo,” Tech told her. “Or I’ll be less amenable to being called Brown Eyes in the future.”

“Can you two flirt on your own time?” Echo asked, lifting himself up to shoot Phee a glare.

She rolled her eyes.

“Calm down. I’ve got it. Kinda like a droid when you get right down to it.”

“I am not a droid,” Echo argued. His voice was strong, but his body didn’t feel that strength at all.

Phee paused, looking at him. He recognized guilt in her face, but she didn’t seem like she was going to try and stand her ground on this. She knew she was wrong, and she accepted that.

“You’re not a droid,” she agreed. “I’m sorry.”

Echo couldn’t accept her apology just yet, and simply let out a sigh as he laid back down.

“Are you almost done fixing my legs?” he bit out.

“I think so.”

She continued to work, Echo hearing the slight buzz and sizzle of the solder.

“I really am sorry for what I said. I hope you know I don’t see you that way. I… actually think you look pretty cool.”

“Oh, well I won’t tell Tech that,” Echo joked.

Someone must have had a comm on because Tech suddenly said, “I heard that.”

They laughed before lapsing into near-silence again.

“I guess I wouldn’t blame you if you did see me that way,” Echo admitted. “I even have a scomp.”

“And do you like having a scomp?” Phee asked slowly, carefully.

“Yeah, kinda,” Echo answered, surprising even himself. “I still kind of use it like my arm, and I like being able to help my team, and help others in this way. I know my body isn’t just for them, but I guess that’s who I am. I like helping. It’s what I was created for, basically. Plus you would not believe the kind of stuff droids have access to.”

“Echo, you’re telling me there’s droid porn?”

“That is not what I was getting at,” he laughed out.

“But there could be. You know that rule, if it exists there’s porn of it?”

Echo laughed more now, and Phee was laughing too.

“Fine, there’s probably droid porn,” he relented.

“Probably? I know there is. I swear, one time I caught MEL—”

“No, no, I don’t need to hear it.”

Their laughter continued.

“Okay, but I’ll keep it on the back burner for ya. Hey, what if you and MEL—”

“Are you trying to set me up?” he asked, completely incredulous.

Phee paused in her soldering, maybe to shrug. “Hey, I’ve seen it work before.”

“You’re crazy,” Echo muttered.

“Why do you think Tech likes me?”

“Oh, so he does?”

Phee gave him a light shove on his arm. “Shut up.”

Echo grinned, but then remembered what he had wanted to share:

“So… what I was trying to say earlier about my scomp is that the way the files show up in my brain is so… interesting. It’s like I’m not just my body anymore, but part of the information, part of something bigger. It feels… freeing.”

“Huh, sounds like a pretty good deal then.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.”

“Hey, Tech,” Phee asked, “I finished recalibrating the servos. Is he all set?”

“Yes. You can connect his legs back to the rest of his body now.”

“All right, brace yourself, Echo, in case I messed up.”

“I sure hope you didn’t.”

There were a few different metallic sounds, and then Echo could feel the ground against his legs again.

About time too because the pain in his back was thundering through him in this position.

“How about we test ‘em out before we get you all armored up again?”

Echo felt a bit odd being exposed still, but with Phee’s help he was able to stand. He had to tighten his abdomen to stay upright though, as his aching back wasn’t doing the work it should have been. That was going to get exhausting.

Echo tested out walking a few paces, Phee near at hand. He couldn’t believe how her presence had gone from strange and irritating to… well, a friend.

“Lookin’ good.”

Echo felt good too. His legs felt completely back to normal, no fake nerve tugging sensations or anything. But he grunted as he moved, the pain in his back worse than he had thought.

“Hey, you good?”

“My back,” he said, voice tight. “It’s hurting a lot.”

“Darn, I don’t have a medical scanner with me.”

“Tech or Hunter should have one.”

Phee was picking up her things, and handed Echo his blaster. “Let’s go find ‘em then.”

Hunter was correct, the tunnel did loop back around. It appeared that the others had taken care of all the pirates as they were nowhere in sight, save for a couple of bodies in the blue-gray cavern.

Light streamed down from holes up above to paint designs against the stone, and Omega was jumping from one patch of light to the other. Though she stopped at seeing Echo and came closer.

Echo was breathing hard and taking smaller steps without meaning to by the time the others caught up to Omega. Phee was holding onto his arm to aid him.

Before anyone could say anything, Phee pointed at him with a thumb. “Someone get a medical scanner and look at Echo’s back.”

Hunter immediately started searching through Tech’s pack, and came over.

“How bad do you feel?” he asked Echo.

Echo gave a tight laugh as he turned around for the scanner to better penetrate into his spine. “Oh, you know, I’ve had worse.”

Hunter gave a light laugh too.

“Nothing’s broken,��� Hunter reported. “No herniated discs either, though we could get AZI to look at you, see if there’s something I missed. Seems like you’ve just got a nasty hematoma.”

“Really?” Echo asked, not liking what this meant for how he would have to live his life till he felt better. Already his abdomen was tired from the extra work.

“Yeah, you were definitely pretty purple,” Phee informed him.

Tech came over, Echo glancing over his shoulder at him.

“Hmm.”

“What?”

“Fascinating.”

Echo rolled his eyes. “Quit ogling my medical scan like a cadet seeing a woman for the first time, and tell me what’s going on.”

“I have never—” Tech began to say.

Wrecker said, “Sure you have. Remember that one time when Master—”

Hunter cut in, “I don’t think this is the time for embarrassing stories.”

“Oh, yeah,” Wrecker said. “Another time.”

“No, not another time,” Tech said. “I will not have you airing my embarrassing moments—”

“What is up with my back?” Echo asked. “We can embarrass you another time, Tech.”

Omega murmured to Hunter, “What are we all talking about?”

“Wait till you’re older.”

Echo laughed a bit at that.

Tech said, “Your hematoma is around one of your implants, so I assume it is causing you extra pain. Perhaps AZI will have a nerve block for you.”

Echo nodded, a strange mix of exhausted and amused.

Hunter helped Echo the rest of the way out of the cavern, though Tech, Wrecker, and Omega had all volunteered to do so.

Phee took Tech’s arm. “You know I’m going to have to hear those embarrassing stories sometime, right?”

Wrecker laughed. “Yeah!”

“So you’re really okay?” Hunter asked while Omega pestered Tech and Wrecker about stories of them as cadets—hopefully appropriate ones.

“I think so,” Echo said. “I felt… strange though. Like…” He swallowed roughly. “Like this isn’t actually my body,” he admitted.

“Well, if it’s worth anything,” Hunter began, “I like how your body is. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like what you’ve been through. But it’s the body of my friend, my brother. So to me, it’s just right.”

Echo blinked back tears. Hunter focused dead ahead to give him some privacy.

Echo nudged him with his shoulder, and Hunter nudged him back. He couldn’t say what he was feeling, couldn’t even put it into words. This was all he had.

Omega looked back at him and smiled.

Maybe this… maybe this was the right body for him. It was the body of someone who was loved.

Sunlight beamed down upon them once they exited the cave, and Echo thoroughly enjoyed its warmth.

[theladyheroine]

The Bad Batch ATLA AU 🪨🔥🌊🍃

❥ Headcanons #1

❥ Hello there! 👋🏽 I’m back with the Bad Batch posts! And I wanted to try elaborating on a previous headcanon I made. There’s some things I might change from the original concept though, but I hope you all enjoy!

Starting off, as a way to try & connect with both the Clone Wars & Bad Batch concepts, let’s just say it’s during the 100 Year War. I think the major clones from the series would be soldiers fighting the Fire Nation. Or as an alternative, it could take place during a different Avatar period. And maybe they’re framed individuals on the run? Kind of like in Season 1-2 of the series. 😅

Either way, I really want Omega to be the Avatar! But so far for each member, they would be from a specific region or place. Rather than being everyone being related, they don’t exactly resemble each other anyways lol. 😅

Also shoutout to my Bad Batch Discord Server! Who helped me flesh out this AU! 🙏💕💕

Hunter would definitely be a firebender, at first I wanted him to be Earth instead but Fire seems more his style. While he’d still be the tracker of the group, he might also play role as a scout when they enter a new territory. For a professional occupation, maybe he’d be some kind of a survivalist? Just a guy out in the wilderness, I’m not too sure what else to do for him though? 😅 If anyone has any ideas I’d appreciate it!

Wrecker is an obvious earthbender, but I don’t want him to be only a skilled fighter because of his strength. I feel like that’s a common trope for tough characters, but also because Wrecker is known to be pretty smart with his demolitions skills. He could prove to be a good engineer or inventor much like Sokka, with the help of Tech of course. Even a metal bender!

Tech would for sure be an airbender, at first I wanted Water but air bending is about avoiding your opponent then knocking them off balance. Which is totally Tech’s thing! However, I feel as though Tech would have a bit of wanderlust in Avatar? He’d want to see the world & learn about the other nations, so maybe he’d already be an Airbending teacher! Or a researcher! But with some engineering skills he’s picked up since he, Echo, & Wrecker spend alot of time fixing the ship too.

Echo was definitely a toughie for me, but I decided to go with Waterbending instead! While I’m sure it’d be a little bit tougher considering his prosthetics, I feel he’d be very a real strong bender once he gets going. His teaching skill is very kind though with Omega. Also! As his occupation I feel being a normal solider fighting the Fire Nation would work well with him.

Crosshair would be a nonbender from the Fire Nation! He’s definitely a hothead but since he can’t bend I feel he’d try to teach Omega how to use weapons if she can’t bend in a situation. But instead of a gun or something like that he’d be the archer of the group! Maybe he’d have Hunter make flaming arrows for him if they need it, but he strongly advises against it. 😅

And Omega is *drumroll* the Avatar!! 🥳 I really really wanted her to be the Avatar, and water is probably the best fit for her! I originally picked Air but I changed my mind because I didn’t want her to be a copy of Aang, it didn’t seem fair. And I did get an idea from my Bad Batch discord saying Batcher would be a Polar Bear Dog! This was sooooo cute! But continuing, Omega would be thrilled to travel with the Bad Batch! Storywise, I feel maybe she left the North Pole part of the world to either learn on her own or she had to leave for safety reasons? But also because those who were originally training her thought it’d be too dangerous for her to leave the Pole.

I also want to include Gonky because he’s the Bad Batch mascot! Gonky would be a little injured turtleduck Omega found while traveling near the Earth Kingdom. And he likes to hitch rides in their bags or maybe Wrecker likes to hold him since he’s so cute & wittle! 🥰😊 Batcher likes to play with him too but he gets scared sometimes. 😅

The Maurauder is also Tech’s Flying Bison! I did discuss with the discord about his name being Maurauder or Havoc? I went with Maurauder, but both can work well!

❥ And that’s it for now! I do wanna expand on this at some point in the future, but I hope you all had fun! 🙌 Thank you for your time!

[din-miller]

Heyoooo! I’m not sure if you take requests, or if this is where your supposed to ask, it’s my first time doing so :’)

BUT

If you do, I was wondering if you could maybe wright an angsty fic, could be platonic or romantic, idm, but after a mission the reader dies similar to how aunt may dies in Spider-Man. Like, everybody gets out alive after a mission, and they’re about to head back on the ship r somthin and then BOOM, the reader falls. They don’t know the are dying and everyone is panicking(or just one of TBB for bonus individual trauma) then after a few, they die. One minute TBB have it all, the next, their world shattered.

Ofc your free to change as much as you want up, and you really don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, it’s just a prompt I’ve been thinking about. Personally its just been nagging me for a while and I love your writing, and would really love to see it done (we all love some heavy angst, no?)

Again, if you don’t want to that’s perfectly fine, just thought I could ask <333

Hello dear, sorry this took so long.

Full disclosure, I’ve never seen Spider-Man. I watched a few videos on YouTube. Both for the movie and the video game not knowing which death of Aunt May you had in mind. Thankfully you provided enough details in the request which helped me hugely!

Thank you for your love and support. It means the world to me ❤️

(Ps. You didn’t mention if you wanted the reader to have a specific pronoun so I’ve chosen to use she/her as the readers pronouns)

Go Peacefully, It’s Okay

Pairing: The Bad Batch + f!reader

Word count: 2.4k

Warning: Character death, blood mentioned, female reader, fun sibling dynamics THEN hurt with not a drop of comfort to be found, platonic relationships, use of mando’a (translation at the end)

Sometimes everything you hold dear to your heart, can slip out of your fingertips without out a cause, without a warning, without an explanation

“Remind me when we get back to Ord Mantell, to tell Sid that being hunted by an unknown animal was not in the job description.” Tech grumbled, re-gaining his balance after tripping over a root hidden in the soil.

You laughed, dodging another tree branch as you raced past him, “I wasn’t aware Sid was handing out job descriptions.”

“It’s probably for the best that she doesn’t, we’d be broke if she did,” Hunter pointed out, “If you haven’t noticed, her missions are getting more dangerous lately.”

“Oh, come on, they’re not all bad,” You flinched when the creatures let out a loud roar, “See, even they’re agreeing with me.”

Your commlink beeped, Crosshair’s voice coming through the speaker, “Take the next left, you should be able to lose them in the tall grass.”

“Lose them?” Echo smirked, enjoying this more than he probably should as he jumped over a fallen log, dodging the sharp claws trying to shred his prosthetic leg into pieces, “The fun’s just getting started!”

“You can say that again!” Wrecker cheered, running beside you; Omega balanced on his shoulders, shooting her bow in hopes that it’ll slow the animal chasing them down.

“Has anyone found their weak spot yet?”

Of course nothing is ever simple with the Batch. The creature's skin ricochet any blaster fire and for the first time in history, Wrecker didn’t pack any explosives. Something he’s still evidently mad about as he complained very loudly: “No need for explosives, Tech said. It’s a peaceful planet, Tech said.”

“It was peaceful until you decided to awaken the den, Wrecker.” Tech pointed out, dodging another pounce from the creature behind him, “This plan isn’t working.”

“Crosshair, I thought you said we’d lose them in the tall grass, not attract more!” Echo growled, annoyed as his prosthetics creaked loudly, “You’ll be in charge of oiling my prosthetics when we get back.”

You let out a snort, because that'll be a sight to behold. The others laughed when all Crosshair replied with was a sneer. With a fond roll of your eyes, you opened your comm link, “I have an idea.”

“If past experiences have proven anything, those words have never been followed by anything good.” Typically Tech response.

“You got a better idea?” You asked, a tad judgemental, “Just trust me, okay. Hunter, grab Omega and run. All of you, out of the grass.”

“Copy,” Echo turned to brothers, “Race you to the ship, last one takes first watch tonight.”

Hunter’s helmet is focused on you and you know underneath it he’s giving you a pleading look to not do anything stupid. You just waved him away in response.

“I’ll be right behind you.” You promised and drew your blaster. He sighed and took off with Omega at his side.

As promised, you followed. Albeit a little further behind them as you shoot at the ground again and again, the blaster shot hot enough for the dry grass to catch on fire, forming a wall of flames that prevent the creatures from continuing their attack. As the fire builds and they begin to retreat, you let out a breath of relief. Then, with a huge grin, you threw your hands in the air, ”Victory!”

“Parjir!” Wrecker cheered, high-fiving the youngest Batch. The kid giggled and gave a cheer herself.

Hunter shook his head at them, but you can see the tiniest hint of a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. The smile disappeared as quickly as it came, your name falling from his lips: “Behind you!”

Before you could turn around, your body is slammed to the ground. A vicious snarl came from right behind your ear and you winced at the loudness of it. You twisted your body and grabbed the blaster off of your belt. In the distance the boys are calling your name and without sparing a second thought you started firing into the creature's stomach, taking no pleasure in the pained screams it let out.

You laid your head back against the ground and tried your best not to gag at the smell and warmth of the blood seeping into your clothes. A second barely passed before a pair of hands pushed the animal off of you, “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” You answered, letting Tech help you up, “Thank you.”

“Next time please eliminate all threats before celebrating.”

“I’ll make sure to triple check my surroundings.” You promised, brushing off the dirt clinging to your pants.

“That would be suffice, thank you.” He said dryly and you chuckled in response, amused with his way of speech.

While Hunter started checking Omega over for any injuries, you pulled Wrecker toward you to do the same. The biggest clone willingly allowed you to poke and prod at various body parts and he doesn’t even complain when you checked a second time despite knowing that other than a bruise or two, he’s fine.

“Your turn,” Wrecker gestured for you to turn around, but before he could begin his check, Hunter called for everyone to grab their packs and start moving out. Wrecker clapped his hands together with a giant grin, “Finally! The heat is killing me! I guess I’ll check you over once we’re back on the Marauder.”

“I’d expect nothing less.” You patted Wrecker’s shoulder and followed him to where the others started preparing for the trip.

You begin the journey back to the ship at Wrecker’s side but the longer you walked, the slower your pace became and eventually you fell behind. The fire is still roaring behind you, the warmth of it faint against your back and despite having felt like you’ve travelled miles, you're not even halfway back to the ship yet.

Echo slowed down to match your pace, arm brushing against yours, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Echo. I think the adrenaline is starting to wear off, that's all.”

“Should I get Tech? He’ll probably have a stim shot.”

“No, there’s no need to bother him. I just need a sec-,” A sharp spasm rippled down your back, the force of it knocking you over, your legs giving out from underneath you.

Echo caught you, his arm wrapping around your waist and you leaned into his embrace, head crashing onto his shoulder. Echo lowered both of you to the ground, “Help, we need help!”

Hunter dropped down beside you, helmet placed on the ground as his eyes scanned over your body, looking for injuries, but he can’t tell if the blood is yours or the creatures, “Echo, what happened?”

“I don’t know, we were talking and then she collapsed.”

“Collapsed?” Wrecker appeared beside Hunter, helmet also off, his brows knitted together, “Is she okay?”

You know what he’s thinking, it’s written across his face. He should have checked you over earlier and you know very well that thoughts like those never lead anywhere good, so you grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, “I’m okay, Wrecker. I just need a second.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Crosshair huffed impatiently. He’s out of your line of sight but you know he’s scowling, “Get up.”

“We have time to let her catch her breath,” Hunter surveyed the burning grass. The fire is steady and far enough that it wouldn’t hurt to sit for a few seconds, “When we get back to the ship, Tech is going to check you over, okay?”

Tech eyed the flames with caution, “For once I find myself agreeing with Crosshair. We don’t know what other animals the noise and fire might draw. We shouldn't stay here. It’ll be best to let Wrecker carry her to the ship.”

“First cardio, now a full upper body workout! It’s shaping up to be a good day after all.” Wrecker joked, but he couldn’t hide the anxiety that lingered in his words as he waited for Hunter’s permission.

Hunter nodded and moved out of the way, “Thanks Wrecker.”

“I got ya, ner vod.” Wrecker scooped you up, shifting you in his arms to get a better grip, only before he could find one comfortable enough for the both of you, he froze, his hold on you loosening until you were set back down carefully.

“Wrecker?”

“I-, she’s…,” He stuttered, taking several steps away from you until his back collided with a tree behind him. His eyes desperately searched for his brother, “Tech, she’s… oh maker, please no.”

You frowned, confused at his sudden behaviour. Tech seemed equally confused but he must have seen something in Wrecker's expression that you hadn’t, because suddenly he’s digging through his pack, searching for something of importance judging by the urgency of his movements.

You turned back to Hunter, “What’s wrong? What’s Tech doing?”

“I don’t know, but I’m sure everything is fine.” Hunter reassured, returning to his previous place beside you. His hand slipped under your shirt, fingers deftly prodding at your side until they stopped at the bottom of your rib cage, then he’s applying pressure against your skin, cursing as he yelled for his brother to hurry.

Echo grabbed his pack, emptying the contents carelessly onto the ground before lifting your head up and placing the pack on the ground as a cushion for you, “Just relax, everything is okay, you’re okay.”

Tiny footsteps made their way to where you’re laying and Hunter held up his hand, stopping Omega from coming any closer. He doesn’t take his eyes off of her but his words are directed at his older brother, “Echo, take Omega to the ship.”

“No,” Omega fought the hand that grabbed her arm, shoving Echo back, “What's going on? Why aren’t we moving?”

She looked at you, anxiously awaiting an answer and you're quick to reassure the small girl, “Need a sec’, I prob’ly inhaled too much smoke.”

Realising that she isn’t going to go willingly to the Marauder, Hunter sighed, “Omega, go check on Wrecker. That’s an order, kid.”

Omega pressed her lips together and for a second you thought she was about to argue but instead she listened and went to check on Wrecker. The bigger clone’s sat on the ground, head between his legs, but he welcomed Omega into his arms when she hugged him in an attempt to calm him down.

Hunter cocked his head towards the two, “Echo, keep an eye on them.”

“Yes, sir,” Echo stood up and laid a hand on Hunter's shoulder, his voice lowering to a whisper, “Take care of her, vod.”

Tech took Echo's place, a scanner held over your body and he adjusted his goggles in the way he does when something isn’t looking good. The muscle in his jaw twitched before he turned the scanners screen to Hunter.

You tore your eyes away from them and tilted your head back to watch as the fire curled up into the dawn sky. Red and oranges mix with the pale pascals, and the stars, so bright from here, so familiar, blur with every breath you take. You can’t help but let your eyes drift shut.

“Don’t do that,” Crosshair hissed, “Keep your eyes open.”

You blinked them back open and you’re a little surprised to see Crosshair kneeling down beside you, his hand reaching out to gently cup your cheek. When your eyes met his, the corner of his mouth turned up, “Good, keep your eyes on me.”

“Crosshair?” You leaned into his hand, seeking the comfort he’s providing despite his usual nature, “Why aren’t we movin’? Is someone hurt?”

“No, everything is okay,” Crosshair replied, but it’s through clenched teeth. Something he only does when he’s having to say something he doesn’t fully believe and/or agree with. He positioned himself criss-crossed above you and lifted your head, replacing Echo’s pack with his lap, “We’re just taking a break.”

Right, a break. A second to relax and catch your breath, that’s what you needed. You closed your eyes, even though you're pretty sure someone just told you not to, but there’s a heavy fog clouding your mind and you can’t remember who it was.

“I said to keep them open.” Crosshair, right, that’s who said it. The man who’s currently demanding you to look at him.

“Crosshair, keep her awake.”

You're able to open your eyes enough to watch as the sniper glared at Tech, “What do you think I’m trying to do?”

Hunter’s fingers threaded through yours, “You can’t fall asleep, cyar’ika, okay? Hey, look at me, let me see those pretty eyes.”

The fading sun is too bright and your vision struggles to focus but you listened to his words and for that he gave you the softest smile, “There you are.”

“Wrec’ ok’?”

“He’s okay. We’re all okay. You just take another second to relax and don’t worry about anything, we have you.” Hunter pressed a kiss to your forehead.

Echo rubbed the back of his neck, looking anywhere but at his Sergeant, “You have to tell her, Hunter. You have to let her say goodbye.”

You want to ask what he means. Who’s saying goodbye by who. You want to ask why he looks so sorrowful, but your body doesn’t seem to want to cooperate and your voice only comes out in weak gasps.

“Move,” Tech ordered Crosshair, taking his position to support your body up against his chest, helping the air fill your lungs, “Deep breaths, nice and slow.”

You tried to match Tech’s breathing, the strength in his inhale and the sturdiness in the exhale, but your lungs start to fail you as your breathing became weaker, your grip loosened but Hunter doesn’t let go. Not even when your eyes drift shut for the final time and your chest stills.

Hunter lowered his head, pressing his forehead to yours as he whispered a promise: “Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum.”

“Hunter?”

“Kid-,” Crosshair reached out for Omega, not sure if he was trying to comfort and protect her or hell, maybe even himself, as she dropped to her knees beside your body. It took everything in him to not walk away, far from here, but she needs him. His brothers need him.

They all watched helplessly as Omega finally noticed the blood pooling around your body, “She's bleeding! Tech, why are you just sitting there?! Help her!”

“I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do, Omega. The wound was too deep, she was losing too much blood. I’m… I’m sorry.”

“No, I don’t believe that. There has to be something we can do!” She pressed her tiny hands against the wound while she begged through tears: “Wake up! Talk to me, say something, anything! Please, open your eyes!”

“Ad’ika, she’s gone,” Hunter swallowed around the lump in his throat, his lower lip quivered when he pulled the small clone into his arms, “She’s gone.”

Mando’a translation

Parjir. – Victory

Ner vod – My sister

Cyar’ika – darling/sweetheart

Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum – Daily remembrance of those passed on *I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal.*

Ad’ika – Little one

[techs-ass]

The Bad Batch Head Canons - Favorite Flavors

So for a little background on this, one of my love languages is cooking. I love cooking for my loved ones and and it boosts my ego when they enjoy my food. This kinda popped into my head the other day when I was thinking about things I would cook for Tech. So then I started thinking about flavors that the other batchers would like/dislike and thus flavor headcanons were born!

I know it's a little random but I enjoy thinking about fluffy stuff like this (in between the constant flow of smut in my head) so I hope you guys like it too!

Also, this is my first post in TBB fandom!! I'm so excited :D I hope ya'll like my stuff~ Please feel free to like, reblog, comment. You're interactions feed my ego.

TW: There's like one or two sex jokes but nothing really nsfw

Hunter

Hunter isn’t a picky eater but because of his senses, he’s very easily overwhelmed by strongly scented foods. If you want to cook for him, just keep this in mind and maybe open some windows for him. Overall, I feel Hunter doesn’t get to really sit down and enjoy his food often so I think he’d really enjoy having a spouse that likes to cook for him.

Spicy: I feel like because of his heightened senses, Hunter isn't a big fan of really strong flavors so immediately anything spicy is out especially if it has a really strong scent. I don’t think that he can’t handle spiciness, it’s just that he has a strong dislike for it. 

Sweet: Hunter likes sweet things but he’s definitely not as into them like Wrecker. I feel like he’s more of a fruit kind of sweet guy. Like if you give him the option between chocolate or freshly sliced peaches, he’s gonna go for the peaches. His favorite kind of cake is any cake with fruit on it. Bring this man a bowl of fresh fruit after a long day of hot work outside and you’re gonna see hearts in his eyes. 

Sour: No. Absolutely not. Do not bring this man anything sour, he won’t even look at it. You know how some restaurants will bring you water with lemon? He will send the water back (or give it to Tech)  because it’s already ruined to him. Don’t even think about offering sour candy to him because he will gag in your face. Trick him into eating something sour and he won’t speak to you for a week. Hunter doesn’t claim to hate many things but sour stuff is right at the top of this man’s list.

Savory: You wanna bring this man to his knees? Make him fall head over heels? Bring him a plate that has medium-rare, lightly seasoned steak and a piping hot baked potato and he’s YOURS baby. Hunter loves savory things, very much a meat and potatoes guy. Make him a good homemade gravy and you’re gonna get his gravy later that night. I could see him really enjoying southern cooking because it’s a very savory cuisine. But be a little light with the spices, at least if it has a strong scent. Other than that he’s not picky about savory foods. 

Bitter: Refer to ‘spicy’ but there’s the exception of caf. He does add a little sugar to it when he can to help balance it out. But overall, he’s not really into bitter things. He does occasionally like bitter wines though! 

Tech

Tech doesn’t really eat because he enjoys eating, he eats because he has to. If your love language is cooking, you might struggle a little when it comes to Tech. It’s not that he’s super picky, he just…doesn’t enjoy eating? He doesn’t dislike it. It’s just something he does in order to keep his body going. It’s almost like a chore. He’ll do his best to try your cooking though! He doesn’t want to make you feel bad.  

Spicy: Tech is pretty neutral when it comes to spicy things. He does occasionally enjoy some spicy food but he likes more subtle spice. Something with a very low heat to it that is more in the background than the main flavor. If you bring him something that's really spicy, he will most likely not eat it. 

Sweet: I don't see Tech being a sweet fan. Not that he particularly dislikes sweets but he doesn't like them either. If he does eat sweets, it’s probably going to be hard candy.Like he really enjoys peppermints or butterscotch. Doesn’t really enjoy sweet fruits either.

Sour: No one in the galaxy can convince me that this man doesn't pop sour candies like his life depends on it. Tech LOVES sour things. He's the kind of guy to ask for extra lemons for his water. He keeps a stash of super sour candies in various places around the ship so he has access to them at all times. This man can suck on limes like they're butterscotch. He adores oranges and green apples!! Bring him some peeled oranges that are already broken apart (the less work it takes for him to eat something, the happier he is)  and you'll have him wrapped around your finger.

Savory: Tech likes savory foods. I see him really enjoying grilled cheese sandwiches with soup. He likes his savory food to be relatively simple though so maybe don’t season it too much. 

Bitter: You would think that because he enjoys sour things that he would like bitter foods but the answer is no. He honestly doesn't even like caf, he just drinks it for energy and that's about it. Tech will actively avoid anything with a bitter flavor. Do not bring this man dark chocolate, he will spit it out. 

Wrecker

Wrecker is absolutely not a picky eater. This man LOVES food and will rarely turn a meal down. I can’t even begin to fathom the amount of ration bars it took to make this man feel full. Wrecker is the perfect person for you if your love language is cooking food. He will always be willing to eat what you make! You mean you?? The love of his life?? Made him something to eat?? Just for him?? Maker, you’re literally perfect, marry him right now. 

Spicy: Y'know those people who can't handle even a singular flake of red pepper? The kind of people who eat something with a *hint* of spice and start dramatically waving at their tongue and calling for milk? That's Wrecker. This big boy cannot, under any circumstances, handle spiciness. He'll try to act tough but you can see the tears in his eyes and his cheeks are comically red. It’s honestly kinda cute.

Sweet: You thought Hunter had heightened senses? You haven't seen Wrecker around sweets. Did you eat a singular piece of chocolate 3 hours ago? Did you happen to put a piece of candy in your pocket? Wrecker can SMELL it. He's all over you like a hound dog asking you where you're hiding the candy. This man loves sweets. You will never be able to hide sweets from him.  He WILL find them and consume all of it. You want Wrecker to turn into putty in your hands? Shower him with sweets, bake him cookies. If you’re a baker, you’ll never have to worry about your sweets going untouched. 

Sour: I feel like Wrecker would enjoy sour candy but not really sour foods. He doesn’t mind a squeeze of lemon over fish or something with a sour element but he doesn't really like just straight sour. Overall, he’s kinda neutral to it.

Savory: Yes. Absolutely yes. You gonna look me in the face and tell me this huge man doesn't gorge himself on meat like a man starved for 30 rotations? Give him a fat turkey leg and it'll be eaten to bone within minutes. Wrecker loves savory foods (though not as much as he loves sweets) and will enjoy most savory dishes. I feel like he would enjoy anything with tomatoes in it. Feel free to go heavy on the seasonings too! Wrecker loves things with a lot of flavor! I personally feel like smoked paprika would be a favorite of his. 

Bitter: Again, with the exception of caf, no. Wrecker just doesn’t like anything bitter and adds loads of sugar to his caf to cover the taste of it. He looks like he might cry if he goes to bite into some chocolate and finds out it’s dark chocolate. Literally nothing will ruin his day more.

Echo

I think we can all agree the Echo is an extremely picky eater. The amount of times we see him turn his nose up at food is almost comical. My deepest condolences if you want to try and win this man through his stomach because you are up for a challenge. You’re gonna have to serve him any food you make him on those plates with the separated compartments. Because by Maker, if one of the foods touches the other, he’s not going to eat any of it. Try not to take it personally if he doesn’t like what you cook. With that in mind,

Spicy: Spicy? No. Absolutely not. Bring him food that he knows is spicy and he won’t even look at it. He’ll just look at you with a quirked eyebrow like “You don’t expect me to touch this do you?”  

Sweet: Eh. Echo isn’t really a big fan of sweets though he doesn’t mind eating fruits. He’ll occasionally indulge in candy but it’s very rare and he’ll only eat one or two bites before he’s done. He does enjoy baked sweets though if it’s got a good flavor balance! Think like sugar cookies made with almonds or dark chocolate covered strawberries. He’ll eat it as long as it’s not overbearingly sweet. (Don’t tell anyone but he’s got a soft spot for oatmeal cookies)

Sour: Once again, no. Absolutely not. Very similar to Hunter in that regard. Feed him something that’s even slightly sour and he will spit it out. He honestly doesn’t even like the smell of sour things. Whenever Tech is going on a sour binge both Echo and Hunter will avoid him like the plague because even the smell makes them nauseous. If you purposely trick him into eating something sour, do not expect him to be willing to try your food for a while. He won’t trust it. 

Savory: Yes but similar to Tech in the regards that he likes simple things. Bring him grilled chicken with some rice and he’ll be pretty content. If you want to bring him a snack then bring him some garlic bread. He’ll devour that shit. Bacon is another good food to give him but you do have to make sure you cook it perfectly. If it’s too soft or too cooked, he won’t like it. Be VERY light with seasonings. He’s extremely picky with how things taste so if it has too many flavors, he’s not going to like it. Your best bet would be just stick with pepper and salt.

Bitter: Surprisingly…yes. One of the few things Echo does enjoy is bitter foods. He loves his caf without anything added. Bring him some hot, fresh caf and some dark chocolate and darlin’ he’s yours.

Crosshair

Many things will be complicated if you enter a relationship with this grumpy sniper but oddly enough, food is not one of those things. He’s not a picky eater and will consume just about anything that’s put in front of him. However, be prepared for him to be very blunt about your food. He’s not afraid to tell you if he hates something or if the food doesn’t taste good. Be ready to be teased for weeks if you accidentally burn something.

Spicy: Literally the only batcher who enjoys spicy food. Crosshair loves spicy food and will usually ask things to be made extra hot. You know those menus where they got like the little flaming peppers indicating spiciness level? Yeah, he always gets the max heat. He’s the kinda guy where you’ll hand him a plate of food and he’ll ask for hot sauce or sriracha to put on it. Sometimes he’ll specifically order spicy food just to bother Wrecker and eat it in front of him with a shit eating grin while he calls him weak. 

Sweet: Yes but only secretly. He’ll never openly admit it but he loves sweets. His sweet tooth almost rivals Wreckers. He has a secret stash that he keeps very well hidden and every once in a while will sneak off the Marauder to go eat his candy in peace. If you like to make baked goods, you’ll have to listen to him grumble about how he absolutely doesn’t like sweets as you watch him devour the entire plate of chocolate chip cookies that you pulled out of the oven less than five minutes ago.

Sour: Crosshair doesn’t dislike or like sour foods. He’s pretty neutral to it and it really just depends on this dish. He’d probably enjoy things like kimchi but doesn’t enjoy sour candies. It’s pretty much a coin flip on whether he’ll like it or not.

Savory: Do you want this gruff sniper to be completely wrapped around your finger? Want him to fall to his knees and declare his undying love for you? Bring him some heavily seasoned savory food and he’s a goner. Spicy fried chicken? He’s gonna follow you like a love-sick puppy for months. Literally anything with potatoes. Anything. With. Potatoes. Spicy and cheesy? He’s dead and gone to heaven. 

Bitter: No. Just no. Crosshair hates bitter foods probably because he’s bitter enough all by himself. If you happen to catch him making a cup of caf, you’ll see him dumping loads of sugar into it. Like just an entire bag. You know how southerner’s make their sweet tea? (If you don’t, just know that my family recipe for sweet tea is one gallon of tea with about three cups of sugar. That is considered normal.) That’s how Crosshair makes his coffee.

[mylifeisactuallyamess]

The Keldabe Kiss

A/N: It’s no secret I actually despise February 14th (whether I’m single or not!) and so I fall back on my boys to help me through. Don’t ask, I’m complicated. This year the lucky guy is Tech 🥹 honestly my clone fixation has blown up recently and I’m not even sorry. (I use that tag a lot.) I wrote something simple for him.

Summary: Festival of Love has come to Ord Mantel (yes I fucked with the timeline.)

Warnings: none except this is based on a little universe I have going on in my head where the Bad Batch rescued a medic and nicknamed her Stitch. F!Reader (I can’t remember if I stipulated that in the fic so just covering my ass. If could be GN I honestly can’t remember.) Mention of children (Omega.) It’s kinda fluffy.

Word Count: 3.5k+

You stood outside Cid’s parlour, watching some people put up flickering lights ready for tomorrow's Festival. You’d been so set on going, never having the opportunity to experience something like this before as you’d always been on the run or ‘avoiding the locals', your father had called it. These things were never fun alone though.

The wistful sigh couldn’t be contained but your sinking mood was lifted by the group coming toward you. Their armour was distinctive, marked with orange and grey, carrying their helmets as they eyed everyone with a healthy dose of suspicion. You knew where they were heading and you waited to side until they reached you.

“Ah, Stitch!” Wrecker grinned joyfully at you and barged past his brothers to grab you in a bear hug, lifting you clean off the ground.

“Wrecker!” You giggled, momentarily losing your balance after being swept off your feet. Hunter automatically reached out to steady you with a firm hand to your shoulder followed by the softening of his gaze. “Good mission?”

“Depends on what you’d define as good.” Hunter muttered and moved past you revealing Tech who made eye contact for a brief second.

“That bad?” You asked and fell into step beside the younger looking clone.

“Well no one was injured, so I think you’d class that as a successful mission. Cid, not so much.”

“Ah,” you understood perfectly. They left you at the bar with Omega and you glanced at her fallen face, wondering how you could cheer her up. “There is a festival tomorrow,” you told her.

“What sort of festival?”

“It’s a celebration of the best things in life. There’s going to be stalls selling special items, different food, they are putting decorations up and I heard, there might even be fireworks.”

“Fireworks??” Her brown eyes shone with wonder.

“Want to come with me?”

“Oh yes! Hunter, can I go with Stitch?” Omega swivelled on her stool and you looked up at the tired group as they all grabbed a drink.

“Go where?” He asked, his tone laced with doubt and you wondered if you should have offered at all.

“Oh it’s nothing…” you tried to gloss over it but once Omega got her teeth into something she didn’t let it drop.

“It’s not nothing! It sounds really cool! There might even be fireworks,” she parroted. “I want to go.”

“You’re talking about the festival, tomorrow?” Echo huffed as he slumped on the other side of you.

“The Festival of Love originated from Endor and has since been recognised in places like Naboo, Coruscant, Ord Mantell and other places. The Festival is to honour kinship and love. Traditions include exchanging gifts, eating meals and…dancing.” Tech lowered his datapad and glanced at the expressions on his brother’s faces.

Echo sighed and turned to look around the bar like he wasn’t even part of this conversation, Wrecker grumbled something about wanting to play dejarik and sidled off. Hunter’s shoulders slouched like he couldn’t think of anything more tedious while Tech had his nose in his datapad, probably scrolling through more facts.

“I don’t mind taking her,” you mumbled.

“You can’t take Omega on your own,” Hunter instantly said, causing Omega to cross her arms and sulk. “Plus we have another mission for Cid tomorrow.” He leaned closer to the little girl and you could see the regret etched on his tattooed face. “I’m sorry, Omega.”

“I never get to see anything fun!” She pushed away from the bar and stormed off to find Wrecker.

“Handled that well,” Echo muttered.

“You could have stepped in,” Hunter shot back hotly.

“May I suggest an alternative?” Tech appeared at your shoulder, taking Omega’s vacant seat.

“You’re going to anyway,” Echo snarked under his breath and you raised an eyebrow but Tech didn’t even notice the other clones' sour tone.

“If it’s Omega running off you’re worried about, I can watch her. I’ll make her wear a tracker.”

“Tech! You can’t put a tracker on a kid!” Hunter nearly spat out his drink in shock and stared incredulously at his brother.

“I can. I have before and she didn’t seem to mind.”

“Did she know?” You asked Tech gently, making him look up from his datapad as he thought about your question.

“Actually, no.”

“I don’t think she should go and it puts us at a disadvantage if Tech stays behind.”

“Not so,” Tech cut across Echo. “You don’t need my particular skill set for this mission.”

“He’s right,” Hunter agreed and Echo just rolled his eyes in response. A strained quiet settled over the group only broken by the sounds of the parlour and Tech’s tapping on his datapad. You clutched your drink, feeling bad that you’d not spoken to Hunter first, of course it was his decision if you took Omega or not. “All right, fine!” Hunter grumbled and then downed his drink. “Plant a tracker on her and do not let her take it off. Plant one on Stitch while you’re at it, we can’t afford to lose her either.”

“Gladly,” Tech blinked owlishly at his own response and his fingers stilled on the screen.

“Well! Now that’s settled I’m going to head back. I’ve had a long day.” You emptied your own cup and slipped off the stool, hoping no one would notice the silly smile you couldn’t suppress at the idea of Tech putting a tracker on you.

“Tech…” Hunter jerked his head in your direction and then went off to find Omega and no doubt tell her the good news about tomorrow.

“Of course.” To your surprise the datapad was put away and he stood, looking at you with an air of expectancy. “You were leaving?” He reminded you, a hint of uncertainty in his voice like he worried he’d missed something.

“You’re coming with me?” Tech swallowed and adjusted his specs as his honeyed brown eyes met yours for just a second.

“Hunter is worried about you walking back at this time. Crime activity has increased by 28 percent in this section and I believe it’s why he wants you and Omega to have an escort tomorrow.”

“Oh.” You stood there stupidly for a second, trying to gather your skittish thoughts. “It’s not necessary,” you eventually managed to say.

“I believe it is.” You couldn’t argue against that so you didn’t protest anymore and he followed you out. The street was almost empty, just a few people with their heads down as they went home. Tech kept a watchful eye, his hand never straying far from his DC-17s. He stayed about half a step behind you almost bumping into you when you stopped at your door.

“Well, we made it.”

“So it would seem. I have yet to check your residence.” You sputtered out a laugh but he only continued to stare at you as he waited for you to admit him.

“You’re serious. Ok, sorry about the mess.” The door opened and the lights came on automatically. You went to go in but he put out an arm to stop you, dropping the visor down over his specs and stalking into your apartment that also doubled as your treatment room.

Your droid woke up at the movement beeping out a greeting, coming forward a few steps before the power seemed to disappear completely from it and you huffed as it slouched lifelessly. Opening the front panel you stared completely clueless at the wires wishing you could afford to get the damn thing fixed.

“The charging ports might need replacing,” Tech announced his arrival from scouting out your place. “I could run a diagnostic if you like?”

“It’s late, you’ve barely been home.”

“Home is a state of mind.”

“Yeah…” he was right. You’d never had a place you could really call home. So home being a feeling rather than a place was the most accurate thing you’d heard in a long time.

“Another time then,” Tech said. “Your place is clear. I shall be back tomorrow with Omega.” He walked towards the door and you followed, desperately wanting to say something else but not sure what.

“Tech…” he turned at the sound of his name and you really tried hard not to gaze directly into his eyes, knowing that made him uncomfortable. “Be careful. On the way back.”

“Always,” he saluted you with two fingers before disappearing round the corner. You closed and locked your door letting out a frustrated sigh. Of all the clones to harbour secret feelings for…

Your droid looked like a patient, laid out on the table with its wires hanging out as you tried to repair it, not wanting to put Tech out. He had better things to do than maintain your equipment. The door alarm sounded and you quickly smoothed down the material of your outfit, your heart fluttering a little at the idea of spending the whole day with Tech. And Omega.

The latter wrapped herself around you as soon as your door opened, her mouth instantly going as she spilled her excitement. You grinned at Tech and his tense expression, beckoning them inside. Omega went straight to your table, standing on a supply crate to have a proper look inside the droid.

“Did she sleep much?” You asked him noticing the way he clutched his datapad and glanced over at the mess your droid was in.

“She slept less than the normal amount,” he informed you matter of factly. “Echo was not amused.”

“Not a lot amuses him at the moment,” you replied dryly.

“Echo believes we should be doing more against the Empire rather than just hiding. He cannot help it.” You hated to admit Tech was right. He seemed completely unruffled by the conversation and you admired his utter acceptance of his brothers.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes!” Omega leapt down and hurried to the door. “Come on! We don’t want to miss anything!” She shouted and you smiled at Tech as he refrained from rolling his eyes.

“I’m not actually sure we can miss an all day event,” Tech called after her. “You forgot this.” You locked your door and turned to find him holding out a tracker on the palm of his hand, the light blinking innocently.

“I don’t think Hunter was serious about one for me,” you half laughed but Tech stayed standing in your way with his hand held out.

“He was. And so am I.” You took the tracker and slipped it into your pocket, Tech lifted his datapad and pressed a few buttons. “Perfect signal.” For some reason that made you so happy that you’d pleased him over something so simple.

“Are you guys coming?” Omega appeared around the corner eyeing you both just standing in your doorway. Tech brought up the rear as you reached for Omega and she clasped your hand eagerly.

The festival wasn’t what you expected at all, it was so much better. The streets were lined with pink and red coloured streamers, all fluttering in the breeze. Bunting stretched from one side of the street to the other and the lights were flickering. You couldn’t wait to get the full effect of it when it was dark.

Omega danced from stall to stall, her excitement contagious and you found yourself caught up in her joy and zest for life. Tech trailed after you both, suffering the chatter, loud noises and heavy crowds. Keeping himself occupied by noting down new facts or recording anything he found remotely interesting.

You happened upon a stall run by a twi’lek, your stomach rumbling at the fresh meilooruns. You approached the stall noticing the usually orange fruit had a purple tinge to the rind. You’d never had this variant before but before you could ask for one Omega was tugging on your hand and dragging you to look at something else.

Soon even Omega was flagging, but her eyes were still wide from all the sights she’d experienced. Her bag was full of trinkets and she’d bought something for each of her brothers. You felt honoured that she had asked for your opinion, enjoying the feeling she instilled inside you. She really was something special.

As darkness fell you suggested getting a good view for the fireworks and began to head in the direction of the seating area when Tech stopped you.

“I have a better place where we can watch the fireworks, away from the crowds.”

“Is it far?” Omega asked, chasing it up with a yawn.

“It’s approximately 0.5 klicks from our current location,” Tech rattled off as he adjusted his specs, the light of the datapad reflected in them.

“I can make it,” she said cheerily but you heard the fatigue in her voice, especially if she had been up early hassling her older brothers.

Now Tech took point, leading you away from the streets where the festival was still in full swing. You wanted to question him but instead you decided to trust him. Tech had never let you down yet. Your interest peaked when he told you to climb an outside staircase. Omega went first with no hesitation, climbing to the top of the seemingly abandoned building and gasping loudly.

“Oh…wow.” You looked up at the sky, mesmerised by the amount of stars that dotted the black sky above you. Tech had led you to a place on the edge of town that wasn’t affected by the lights of the festival, giving you an incredible view of the stars and no doubt the fireworks when they started.

“I calculated the amount of noise and light pollution from the festival. From that I was able to survey an appropriate place where it was quiet and had uninterrupted views.”

“Tech…this is amazing!” You gushed.

“He checked it out last night,” Omega said slyly and Tech looked at her in shock. “What? I was awake when you snuck out. Now I know what you were doing.”

“Clearly I wasn’t as subtle as I thought,” he muttered, reaching to adjust his specs again.

“Oh look! Seats!” Omega dropped her bag and fell into one, turning to wave you over.

“Were these you as well?” You asked Tech quietly.

“The fireworks are supposed to last approximately 15 minutes. I had assumed that by being on your feet all day and chasing Omega, you’d want to rest.”

“You assumed correctly.” Omega had taken the middle seat, cuddling up into you when you settled beside her. Tech sat on the other end, his trusty datapad in his hand as he counted down to the fireworks; and they started exactly when he said they would.

The fireworks were the best moment of the day, filling the sky with glittery flashes that lit up the world all around you. Omega laid her head in your lap and you rested a hand on her side watching the display together. You revelled in the deep bangs that seemed to explode in your chest and the fizzling crackles that popped in your ears. You’d never seen something so eye-catching and you were sorely disappointed when they finished; just a plume of white smoke the only evidence that they had happened at all.

“She’s asleep.” You glanced down at Omega and sure enough her eyes were closed, even breaths passing through her slightly open lips as she lay completely relaxed in your lap. “You’re good with her.”

“You think so?” Biting your lower lip you glanced over at Tech to find him looking at you both with a strange expression on his face that he tried to hide.

“I know so. Due to her nature she is exceptionally accepting but she does seem to favour you.” Gently you swiped some blonde strands out of her peaceful face, regretful that you were going to have to wake her soon.

“I think she’s great and after everything she’s seen and been through…she still has this innocence about her. She’s a credit to you all.”

“I don’t see us having much influence over her,” Tech said and you scoffed at his words.

“She idolises every single one of you.”

“That’s nice to hear,” you turned to find Hunter, Echo and Wrecker coming from behind. Tech stood up and greeted his brothers. Wrecker reached down and plucked the sleeping child from your lap, cradling her in his massive arms.

“Look at her,” he whispered in his gravelly voice. “This is the quietest she’s been for days!”

“Don’t wake her then, Wrecker!” Echo hissed as they made their way carefully down the stairs.

“Was it worth it?” Hunter asked you and the smile that spread over your face told him everything he needed to know.

“Thanks for lending us Tech. He did actually put a tracker on me,” you told Hunter who let out a soft chuckle.

“Good. I’d be having words with him if he didn’t.”

“You know, I’m scrappy. I can look after myself.” Hunter fixed you with a knowing glare and it reminded you so much of Tech for a moment.

“It’s what we do. Anyway we need you, Stitch. More than we like to admit.”

“Medics are everywhere,” you told Hunter with a quick roll of your eyes.

“Not ones, as good as you.” The pair of you stopped and looked back at Tech who came to an abrupt halt. “Well,” he adjusted his specs and lifted his datapad. “Stitch has performed 107 successful repairs on all of us together, the most drastic being my broken femur from the failed mission on Serenno. Not to mention the blaster shot to your chest and Wrecker’s shoulder. Also her continual observation of Echo…” Hunter gave his brother a lopsided smile and clapped him firmly on the shoulder.

“Now you’ve listed her best accomplishments, you can walk her home.” He melted into the shadows suddenly leaving you and Tech alone in the dark.

“Do you know the best route? I’m still not familiar with this part of town,” you admitted shyly.

“It won’t take us long,” he reassured you. The walk was quiet, you weren’t sure what to say to him and your feet were beginning to ache something drastic. You followed Tech onto a street you were familiar with and fished around in your pockets for the tracker.

“I should give this back.”

“Keep it. I have plenty.” Tech said quickly. He glanced at you and then continued. “It’s a modified one, with a panic option that goes straight to my datapad. Should you ever need it.” Your fingers closed round the tracker, suddenly finding it the most precious thing you had.

All too soon your door loomed and the pair of you stood under the small light that flowed on the outside.

“Tech…?”

“Yes?”

“I got you, something.” He watched curiously as you opened your bag and pulled out a small box, taking it gently when you offered it to him. “I hope it’s useful.” He opened the lid and revealed a brand new All-kit tool. The handle had a rubber grip, the alloy shiny from having never been used. At first Tech didn’t say anything, just reaching for the tool and you panicked, thinking you’d got something he really didn’t need. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know if you had one, I’ve never noticed you with one.”

“I don’t,” he interrupted. “I didn’t have one, until now.” He looked up to see the relieved smile cross your face and a small frown appeared on his own. “You shouldn’t be so worried, I am always in need of tools and this…” he pulled it from the box and with a flick began to cycle through the different heads. “It’s immediately my favourite,” he reassured you. “Which reminds me…” he put the box in his bag and extracted something that had you gasping a little. “I saw you looking at these but not actually buy one.” You took the purple fruit from his hand, trying not to over think the fact you both gave a gift during the Festival of Love. He probably didn’t realise the depth of the tradition and you were fine with that. Although out of the whole squad, he’d be the only one to know.

“Tech, thank you so much.” Emotion coloured your tone and you stepped closer to him. Gently resting a hand on his shoulder you made your intentions clear expecting him to pull away. When he didn’t you went ahead and planted a soft kiss on his cheek, breathing him in as you did. He lifted a hand to rest against your elbow, as though he was steadying you both. Your eyes were still closed as you pulled your lips into your mouth, reluctant to move away just yet. Tech’s quick breath fanned over your face as he pressed his forehead against yours. His fingers tightened on your arm and you both stood like that for a moment, just drinking in each other's closeness.

“Tech?” His com lit up with Hunter’s voice and you separated. Clearing your throat you backed up and allowed him to answer, telling Hunter he was all right and was just making his way back.

“Thanks, Tech.” You swallowed down the huskiness in your voice. “For today, for all of it. Get back safely, please.”

“Always,” he said, touching two fingers to his forehead and giving you the casual salute. “I’ll be back tomorrow to fix your droid.” He told you, walking backwards down the street, his gaze still fixed on you.

“I’ll be here,” you answered, leaning on your doorframe and watching him leave.

“I know.”

[masterjedilenawrites]

Can I request the Bad Batch and the clones dating a S/O who is very similar to tech (smart, can talk for hours about something they are very interested in, bookworm, etc.)?

Cody, Jesse, and Dogma are challenged to break out of their intellectual dormancy, so to speak. They aren't naturally curious beings, preferring to take things at face value and help maintain the status quo. With such a smart bookworm-y S/O, their eyes are constantly opened. It's uncomfortable for them at first, but over time they find some similarities and middle ground that help them appreciate their S/O's uniqueness so much more.

Rex, Hardcase, and Thorn are very fond of their S/O, in constant awe of their intelligence and craftiness. They could listen to their S/O ramble for hours without getting bored, could watch them tinker and hyper-fixate on whatever new thing they're into without getting tired. They don't feel the need to always relate or understand in order to admire their S/O.

Fives, Hunter, and Wrecker are used to the type, they have plenty of friends and brothers who are very similar. So they are accustomed to their S/O's personality and all the quirks it brings. They don't get worried if their S/O disappears into a book for a while, and they don't get flustered from any info-dumping sessions. They also patiently help their S/O understand their own need to be more active and social, so they can find a nice balanced relationship.

Fox, Kix, and Tup will try their very best to keep up with their S/O's speed-talking, simultaneous projects, and endless amounts of information. They often get exhausted and don't always remember everything. Wait, what is this project, I thought you were doing this other thing? Oh that was yesterday, got it.... Regardless of their frequent confusion, their effort to lend a supportive ear never waivers.

Wolffe, Echo, and Crosshair find comfort in having someone like their S/O. They appreciate both their quiet moments, when they can do their own things side-by-side without the need for conversation, as well as their talkative moments, because there's always something interesting to learn or amusing to hear. They may shake their heads sometimes, or even roll their eyes, but their S/O knows they are loved just as they are.

Tech has his work cut out for him, dating an S/O who is so similar to himself. Before they got together, he was actually annoyed and always competing with them. He wanted to be the only one with the answers. But over time he came to not only appreciate a kindred spirit, but to need them in his life. They almost have their own language, they're in their own world, understanding each other like no one else can.

Clone Tag List: @damerondala, @marvel-starwars-nerd, @dangerousstrawberrypie, @pandora-the-halfling, @misogirl828, @darkangel4121, @sobstea, @rintheemolion, @dionysuskid21, @jesseeka, @hanbetired, @fallingforthem, @harleyevanstan, @imabeautifulbutterfly, @justanothersadperson93, @thatmultifandomdumbass, @sarahtanmarvel, @itsagrimm, @call-me-a-fool, @lackofhonor, @error6gendernotfound, @theclonesdeservebetter, @hannahhearttcw, @Techie-bear, @Lottemoppie13, @salaminus, @arctrooper69, @theroguesully, @clonesimps

+Bad Batch Tag: @bowtiesandsandshoes, @softlymellow, @Disney_exe, @reading02

(Join my tag list here)

[starwarsbean]

Love Against The Odds

Pairing: Tech x F! Reader.

Warnings: Fake Dating! Alternative Universe! Pretend Dating! Smut & Fluff! Sexual Tension! NSFW. 🫶

A/N: Hi everyone!!!! This is my first fanfiction! I decided I wanted to read more alternate universe of the bad batch. So, I took it into my own hands. This is a tech/reader series fanfic. If I make any mistakes please let me know. I hope you all enjoy reading. 18+! <3

Summary: Tech is a successful CEO of a technology company. His commitment to his work has given him success in his career. However, he is not interested in trying love. Tech neglecting the important parts of life. His brothers urge him to give it a shot, as they believe finding a romantic partner will make him happy. Tech comes up with a brilliant idea to fake date to trick his brothers.

Chapter 1

You were at your day job taking care of files you needed. You were a busy lawyer, handling multiple cases a day and juggling deadlines and meetings. You know how hardworking and organized, always striving to provide the best legal advice and representation for your clients. However, you were also valued having a good work-life balance, making time to make dinner every night and catch up on your favorite shows. Although you are focused on work, you also have a soft for romance. Reading different love novels and engaging in romance films. Your compassionate side, always making an effort to understand other people's perspectives and try to help them the best you could. You thought it’s been a while since you’ve been on a date. Remembering the last time you were out with your ex boyfriend Anakin Skywalker. He sure was a great boyfriend in the beginning. It just became to difficult when you both didn’t want to try. Both of you mutually breaking things off. The next time you go on a date it will definitely be a good time.

You decided to clear your mind back to work. You were working on a case, researching relevant laws and legal precedents, drafting briefs and petitions, and meeting with your client to discuss. You were making sure that deadlines were being met and that the case was progressing smoothly. Despite the intensity of your work, you felt fulfilled and satisfied with your role as a lawyer, enjoying the challenge of providing legal representation and helping people navigate tough situations. Realizing the time you see you have two messages from your two friends. Hera and Kanan texting you to meet them for dinner at a restaurant.

You were feeling tired but agreed to go anyway, wanting to make time for your friends and spend time socializing together. You text back saying you’ll meet them there. Before you leave the office you make sure your outfit looks decent. Your black office dress making your hips look amazing. Your breast cevlage revealing a bit. You take off your black flats and put on your black heels instead. You notice the time and hurry along. Thinking of how lucky Hera and Kanan are. They both have each other and are extremely in love. You watched them both fall in love in college. Reaching for the same textbook and their hands touching. Both of them locking eye contact with each other. It was like a scene from a romance movie. You hope one day you’re able to find a love like them.

You arrive at the restaurant. You squeal once you see them both. Hera pulling you into a hug and Kanan standing with his arms crossed. Pulling away from the hug, Kanan gives you a slight hug. Hera shakes her head at Kanan as you laugh.

“Guess somebody missed us?” Kanan said with a sly smile.

“Oh shut up! you know I always miss you both.” You say playfully rolling your eyes.

“Come on you two let’s eat. I’m starving.” Hera says walking into the restaurant.

You order your usual meal, enjoying the company of your friends. The conversation was catching up with work and spilling about the latest tv shows.

“So, Y/N has anyone caught your attention here at the restaurant?” Hera says with a smirk.

You look around the restaurant. The restaurant was filled with people your age but no one stood out to you. It was a crowd of people who just wanted a quick hook up. You turn your attention back to Hera and Kanan.

“Nope not a single person here. Nobody here is necessarily my type.” You say popping a piece of broccoli in your mouth.

“Oh Y/N you should go on a date soon! It’s been a while since you gone out. Have some fun.” Hera says looking at you.

Kanan looks at you both and laughs. Putting a piece of steak in his mouth.

“I do want to go out, but nobody here has caught my attention. If someone interesting comes to mind I’ll make a move.” You say with a smirk.

“There you go! Maybe next time you’ll get luckyyy.” Hera says laughing a bit.

“Mhmm maybe… I hope so.” You take a sip of your water while laughing a bit.

Kanan groans and shakes his head. Hera phone lights up and she rolls her eyes. Her smile drops as she texts back. Kanan looks at who Hera is messasging. He sighs and rolls his eyes. You notice the sense of annoyance.

“What happened? Is everything okay?” You ask worriedly.

“It’s just Heras boss. He’s always making her do last minute changes. Or if something isn’t perfect he makes her redo it. A pain in the ass I have to say.” Kanan says with annoyance in his voice.

“Yeah he’s a real pain the ass. He’s making my work harder, but I really want the promotion. He has high standards and high expectations of our work.” Hera says while typing a long email.

“That sounds pretty tough Hera. You can most definitely do it. Just try to keep a positive mindset on this.” You say taking a sip of your drink.

Kanan smiles at your kind response to his girlfriend and nods his head. He finishes his food and looks back at Hera who is still typing.

“Thank you Y/N. I appreciate you so much. In the email he’s asking so many questions about the dinner event I’m hosting at my place. He wants everything to be perfect.” Hera says.

“Is there a reason why” Kanan ask while raising an eyebrow.

“He just wants everything up to date. Which I understand but I have everything under control. He seriously needs to learn to trust his employees more.”

You remember how you had a boss like that. It was pretty difficult to do any work or have any sense of how to react to their control. Understandably a technology company must be hard to manage.

“ are you free tomorrow night?” Hera puts her phone down and looks at you.

“Yeah, I am. Why?” You ask.

“Can you please come to my dinner event I’m hosting. I need your company and your support. I don’t know how I’ll manage being in the same room with so many people.” Hera says with pleading eyes.

“Hera, you can most definitely handle it. You’ll have me there.” Kanan says while grabbing her hand.

“I know but I really want you to come. It’ll be fun. Please.” Hera says looking at you.

“Of course I’ll be there Hera.” You say.

Hera smiles at you agreeing to come to her dinner. Kanan smiles seeing Hera happy. You finish your dinner. Hera and Kanan paying the bill. You insist on paying the bill, but they beat you to it this time. You playfully roll your eyes.

“Have to be faster than that” Kanan says with a sly smile

You laugh and shake your head. Hera grabs Kanan hand as you both walk outside the restaurant. Hera hugs you and thanks you for showing up for her tomorrow.

“I’ll be there Hera. I’ll make sure we’ll have some fun tomorrow.”

Hera tells you she will send you the details what time the dinner starts. You nod and wave bye to both of them. As you get home you pet one of your cats. Her name was Autumn. A pretty calico cat who most definitely spoiled. She purrs at your feet as you continue petting her. Making sure she has enough food and water. You eventually head to the shower and finish your routine. You lay in bed and get comfortable. Autumn comes in the room and sleeps at your feet. You smile falling asleep.

Thinking of how the dinner event was going to be like tomorrow.

[get-wr3ckered]

|Karma- (GN Reader x The Bad Batch)|

Warnings: SW cursing, canon-typical violence.

Wordcount: 1,300+

Notes:

Reader has an established nickname/ callsign.

While reader is gender neutral, they're AFAB

I think I've added all the appropriate warnings and tags but if I've missed something or tagged it incorrectly feel free to let me know and I'll fix it asap!

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-Chapter Three-

Coming upon the Separatist encampment to find that one of the structures was already enveloped in a smoking mass of flames wasn't quite what Clone Force 99 had anticipated.

"No fair," Wrecker grumbled, a pout pulling at his lips. "The one time the higher-ups let us blow something up and some or'dinii goes and beats us to it!"

Clapping Wrecker on the shoulder, Echo offered him what little reassurance he could. “Maybe if we get this done quick enough there’ll still be something for you to blow?”

That was all Wrecker needed to hear before he was rushing off, charging at the first set of droids to cross his path without so much as a second glance at his brothers.

“Really?” Hunter sighed before he too was running headfirst into the chaos with the rest of the Batch hot on his heels. Well, ‘chaos’ wasn’t exactly the right word given the underwhelming amount of droids that could be seen.

Quickly catching up with Wrecker, they made swift work of taking out any clankers they came upon. Advancing through the encampment was easy enough, the five-man squad worked together seamlessly, like a well-oiled machine and soon enough they were within reach of, what Tech and Echo had predetermined to be, the detention facility. A quip about this all feeling a little too easy pushed its way past Crosshair's lips but was soon silenced by an unfortunate revelation.

The doors were sealed tight.

Scomp link at the ready, Echo didn’t have to be told twice as he began interfacing with the lock mechanism. His efforts were fruitless. “Someone’s triggered a system-wide lockdown. We’re not getting these doors open quietly.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Hunter gestured their destructive counterpart forward. “Wrecker-“

Before Wrecker could take even a singular step closer to the doors, however, a small droid was throwing itself at him from Maker knows where. Climbing the clone's oversized frame with ease, despite only possessing two appendages, the droid began beating against Wrecker's head, angry beeps calling out with every hit.

The droid's attack was harmless, serving only as a mild irritation to Wrecker who, try as he might, couldn’t shake the small droid. “Hey!- Someone get this thing offa me!”

Another ragged sigh was pulled from Hunter's lips before he was stepping forward to free Wrecker from his unwanted passenger.

At the first sign of movement, the droids beeping grew in volume and frequency- the rhythm being all too similar to that of someone uttering every curse they could think of. Balancing precariously on its left leg, the droid lifted it's right flexing its mechanical foot as sparks of electricity crackled over the conductive pads that had been retro-fitted in place. It didn't take a genius to gather that the droid was giving its best attempt at a threat despite its less-than-intimidating stature.

"The BD unit stated that-" Tech's words were interrupted by yet another string of angry beeps. Adjusting his google, he gave the droid a slight nod before clearing his throat. "My apologies, Buddy says that should we attempt to manhandle him he will have no choice but to tase us. I shall refrain from repeating the colourful analogy he used."

"We're wasting time," Crosshair groused, fingers flexing around his rifle.

Ceasing his attempts to swat the droid away, Wrecker cocked his head to the side as a grin pulled at his lips. "Hey, Buddy!"

Seemingly satisfied with his perch's surrender, and overly happy greeting despite the imminent threat of being tased, Buddy let his conductive pads die out before setting his foot back down on the largest of the group's shoulder once more.

"Did you engage the lockdown?" Echo piped up, his scomp waving in the direction of the sealed door as he made an attempt at getting them back on track.

"Boop!" The little droid chirped, head wiggling from side to side proudly. "Bewoop!"

"He did indeed," Tech translated for his brothers who didn't understand droidspeak. "It appears our new friend did so under Special Operative Karma's orders."

"Doesn't change the fact that we need to get in there," Hunter remarked, arms crossing over his chest as he eyed the BD unit. "Why'd they want the place in lockdown?"

A long series of beeps were emitted as the droid clambered down from Wrecker's shoulder... Only to soon take up residence upon one of the Sergeants.

"Well that explains the lack of battle droids," Tech hummed at the droid's response. His thumb and forefinger reached up to caress his chin as he thought over the new predicament that had been placed before them. "Buddy and Karma have succeeded in trapping Grievous and a great deal of his forces within the compound. Were we to override the lockdown in order to get in, we'd be relea-"

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If you never had the displeasure of finding yourself in a vent system every again it would still be too soon.

Swiping beads of sweat from where they'd begun collecting along your brow, you let out a quiet huff. Your arms and legs had long since grown stiff, your joints aching with the repetitive motion needed to traverse the confined space.

Having spent so long in captivity, you didn’t doubt that your sense of time was a little skewed. The ever present dryness in your throat, an after affect of the necessities that had been withheld from you over the past few days, wasn’t helping matters, time seemed to tick by slower as your limbs grew heavier under the strain of movement. What was in all likelihood only a handful of minutes felt like an hour long endeavour.

Manoeuvring around a particularly sharp bend in the vents, you were all to happy to see the minuscule streaks of daylight clawing through the vent opening at the end of the stretch.

A relieved breath fell from your lips before you were pushing forward with renewed vigour. Nimble fingers worked at prying away the vent cover, this one appearing to have been secured far better than the one within the cell you’d been in previously. With a little added exertion and another series of scratches added to your mechanical fingers, the vent cover finally fell away.

Now, you wished you could say that slinking out of the vent had been a graceful affair… it was anything but.

Tumbling out of the opening, tired limbs flailing at your sudden lack of purchase sent you careening a short distance butt-first into the dirt below. Reaching back you rubbed uselessly at the base of your spine as a dull ache set in. ‘Got all the grace of a Bantha on ice,’ you mentally scoffed at yourself.

It was then, as you sat massaging away the pain in your rear, that you became acutely aware of the audience you had landed before.

Five clones- although you did momentarily consider if they truly were clones given their considerable differences- stood, varying looks coating their similar features as they looked between you and the vent opening you'd appeared from. Perched upon one of the men's shoulders was none other than your pesky droid companion who was continuing his streak of ignoring your orders.

Scrambling to your feet, quickly dusting off the back of your pants, you offered the men a swift two-finger salute. "Fellas."

Your feet worked quickly as you moved around them, taking off toward the tree line that encircles the Separatist encampment. You were too tired to get yourself roped into another detachments mission and so making the decision to run the other way before they had the chance to utter even a single word was an easy choice to make. Whatever they were up to was none of your business and you'd be damned if you gave them the opportunity to make it your business.

Throwing a quick glance over your shoulder toward your droid, who dutifully was already clambering from his place atop the clone, you hollered as you went. "Let's go you little nerf-herder!"

“Was that…” Wrecker muttered as the Batch watched your fleeing figure, Buddy hopping up onto your back at his earliest convenience.

“Special Operative Karma? Yes, I believe it was.” 

A deep sigh fell from Hunter's lips. The Batch couldn’t have one simple mission, could they?

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Taglist: @staycalmandhugaclone @photowizard17 @burningfieldof-clover @actuallybarb @ladykatakuri @tired-night-owl @solstraalaa

Feel free to drop me a message to be added to (or removed from) the taglist!

[ashes-2-ashes57cba]

The Bad Batch: Specter

Episode 9: Bounty Lost

edited by: @ryleeeeeenn warnings: this is a pretty short chapter, that's it

Another blast nearly knocked Specter off her feet. She swore under her breath and clung to the side of Hunter’s chair, regaining balance so she could wrap another bandage around the sergeant. Tech’s piloting skills were undoubtedly the best Specter had ever seen, but that didn’t make his efforts to outmaneuver the Imperial ship on their tail any less dizzying. Specter wondered if Wrecker could even get a good shot from the rear cannon with all the jostling. 

“If you could just– I don’t know– fly straight, that would be great, Tech!” Specter scolded the pair piloting ahead of her. 

“Doing the best I can,” Tech said through gritted teeth, not sparing her a glance.  

“Any sign of that bounty hunter?” Hunter asked, grunting. 

“The only vessel in our scanner is Crosshair’s, and he is right on top of us,” Tech answered, the ship once again spinning to avoid another blast. 

“Sarge, if I have to tell you to stay still one more time, I’m going to tie you to the chair,” Specter threatened. He straightened up to let her finish. 

“It’s getting hot back here!” Wrecker announced, blaster fire pelting the back of the ship and only growing closer. 

“Prepping to jump.” Tech made some adjustments on the console.

“Not without Omega,” Hunter urged, sitting forward. 

“I. Said. Stay. Still. I swear, Hunter, I will bandage you right to this chair,” Specter growled and shoved him back in his seat. Hunter winced but sat perfectly still. 

“The bounty hunter who took her is long gone. We’ll have no chance of finding them if Crosshair shoots us down,” Echo argued. Hunter looked to Specter, considering their options. She gave him a gentle but firm look.

“We’re all worried about her, but there’s nothing more we can do right now, Hunt.”

“Rear deflector shields are failing,” Tech said urgently. Hunter sighed.

“Make the jump.” A second later, stars streaked by as they entered the safety of hyperspace. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Specter watched as Hunter gently flexed his arm, letting out a sharp hiss as he worked away the soreness. She understood his impatience. Getting Omega back was their top priority, but Hunter seemed to be taking the loss the hardest. In a very short time, they’d grown very attached to that little girl. Specter’s skin tingled with a sickening anxiety at the thought of Omega in the wrong hands. If anything happened to her… if she got hurt… 

Specter shook her head. She couldn’t afford to think about it now. With a deep breath, she pushed it all aside. 

Focus, Specter, focus. 

No matter what, she would force herself to work until there was room to breathe again… however long that would take.

“Your description of the bounty hunter is a match to one from the Republic’s files,” Echo said, bringing up an image on the terminal of a mean-looking Duros with a wide-brimmed hat. 

“That’s him,” Hunter affirmed. 

“Cad Bane. He had multiple run-ins with the Jedi and was responsible for attempting to abduct Chancellor Palpatine,” Echo explained grimly.

“That’s a hell of a track record. He’s no amateur, so that makes everything a whole lot harder,” Specter mumbled, reading over his file. “They must be really serious about getting their hands on Omega,” she trailed off, worried about what they might have in store for the girl. Her stomach churned at the thought. 

“First the bounty hunter on Pantora and now this guy? Why are they after this kid?” Wrecker wondered aloud frustratedly. 

“Because she is more valuable than we realized,” said Tech as he emerged from the cockpit.

“What do you mean?” asked Hunter.

“I further analyzed Omega’s genetic profile and discovered she has pure first-generation DNA.” Specter straightened up at the revelation, as did the others.

“Woah! Wait. What does that mean?” Wrecker asked. Specter rolled her eyes and smacked his arm.

“Didn’t you ever pay attention during the biological history lessons?” she hissed. He shook his head. 

“All clones were created from a host named Jango Fett. While our genetic structure was modified for growth acceleration and obedience, Omega is a pure genetic replication,” Tech explained. 

“How many clones like that exist?” Hunter asked.

“To my knowledge, there’s only one other,” Tech continued. “A male clone, code-named Alpha, later referred to as Boba. Since he disappeared at the start of the war, that makes Omega the sole living source of Fett’s raw genetic material.”

“So she’s their perfect resource. And since you can only divert the original DNA sample so many times before it’s no longer effective, she would be vital to the Kaminoans’ cloning operation. They must have put the bounty on her,” Specter theorized, pieces beginning to fall into place before her. 

“So how do we find this bounty hunter?” asked Wrecker, turning to Hunter. 

“Echo, check with Cid. See if her contacts know anything. We’ll keep monitoring comms,” he ordered. 

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What seemed like only a few moments later, Echo reentered the cockpit. “Yeah. Cid knows all about Bane but not how to find him. She says we’re on our own.” Specter slouched and sighed disappointedly; she had a feeling Cid would say that, but hearing it out loud made it worse. But she pinched the bridge of her nose, took a deep breath, and continued her task. 

“Come in. Come in. Anyone?” a voice came in over the comm. Specter straightened and gasped.

“Omega!” Wrecker exclaimed, joining the others in the cockpit with Specter.

“Omega, are you there? Omega!” said Hunter frantically. 

“It’s long-range. I’ll try to boost the signal,” Echo said, turning back toward the controls.

“Is anyone there?” the girl asked again.

“Omega, do you copy?” Hunter asked. Specter gripped the back of his seat, knuckles turning white.

“Hunter? I’m here. I got away, but you have to hurry.”

“Omega? Take a deep breath for me, hun. Do you know where you are?” Specter asked calmly but urgently, leaning over Hunter’s shoulder.

“I don’t know where I am,” said Omega after a moment.

“Hang on, kid. We’re coming for ya!” Wrecker encouraged.

“The signal’s too weak to establish a direct connection trace,” Echo told the group.

“Omega, we need a relay of your position. Try to create a power surge. Can you find a panel nearby?” Tech asked, calmly guiding Omega to hopefully find some clues to her whereabouts.

“There’s one by a door. It looks like the ones on Tipoca City,” Omega said.

“That’s good. First, see if you can activate it,” Tech instructed. Specter rocked on her feet, nibbling on her nails and tapping the side of her leg to try and soothe her nervousness as they waited. She watched Hunter fidget in the corner of her vision, leg bouncing as he rubbed his sore shoulder. 

“It worked. Now, what should I do?” Omega’s voice came in again. 

“Next, you will need to reroute the circuits to overload the main grid,” said Tech. They all waited a moment, waiting to hear from the girl; Specter grew exponentially impatient, the tapping on her leg speeding up.

“Omega?” she tried, “do you copy?” Silence and broken bits of static were the only things to come through. Tech shook his head.

“I still can’t get a good read-”

“Hunter, I need you!” Omega suddenly screamed in distress. 

“Omega!” Hunter shouted. They kept trying until the signal was cut off.

“She said there was Kaminoan technology? Let me see if I can find anything in the databases,” Specter said, hurrying to the terminal.

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Echo worked to trace Omega’s signal as Specter frantically searched the databases. Her efforts were fruitless, sending her into a tense quiet until she forced herself to her feet to rejoin the others in the cockpit. 

“I couldn’t find anything about a separate Kaminoan facility. I even went as far back as before the war started, but still nothing,” she reported, flopping into the pilot’s chair. 

“It was a good try. Even the Jedi had a hard time finding them the first time around. We’ll have to hope Omega is able to get a signal out,” said Echo. Specter nodded and brought her knees up to her chest, staring out the viewport. She caught Hunter looking up at her from Tech’s datapad, trying and failing to mirror his reassuring smile. Her anxiety ate too quickly at her, but not enough for her to ignore a beeping from the console. 

“I think I’ve got her,” announced Echo. “She’s in the Lido system.”

“Where in the Lido system?” Wrecker urged for clarification. 

“I’m pinpointing the exact coordinates,” replied Echo. 

“It’s close enough. I’ll start us en route. Hang on!” Specter straightened her legs and piloted the ship towards the Lido system. 

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“Could someone give me coordinates? I have to pick a planet,” Specter said through gritted teeth as they entered the system. All she wanted was to get Omega back. 

“I just detected another energy signal; it’s coming from Bora Vio,” Tech answered. Specter picked up speed and flew them to the planet, breaking through the atmosphere only to be met with a labyrinth of clouds. “I’ve got a lock on something, but I can’t see exactly what it is. The atmospheric disturbance is scrambling the scan,” said Tech. Specter got up, letting Tech take her seat, while she ran to the rear canon.

“Visual scans work just as well,” she muttered to herself, peering through the clouds to see what it was they were tracking. A spherical pod sank towards the planet, its engines no longer functioning. “Looks like Omega took a flight pod… that isn’t currently in flight,” she shouted back to the cockpit. Tech altered course to intercept the pod as it gained more speed. “Just a little more, Tech,” she instructed, watching as the Marauder’s underbelly hatch grew closer to the pod. Finally, they locked on, catching the flight pod; Specter hopped down from the rear gun into the main hold, watching as Wrecker lifted the hatch.

“Omega! Are you in there?” he said down into the flight pod. Specter crossed her fingers that she was not mistaken and that Omega would be in there.

“Wrecker?” a voice shouted back. The girl was alright, allowing Specter to sigh in relief. 

“Good to have you back, kid,” Wrecker cheered, helping her out of the pod and closing the hatch behind her before hugging her tightly.

“We’re all clear back here!” Specter shouted to the cockpit; the ship jolted as Tech flew them away from the scene fast. Omega’s hands were bound in cuffs, and the poor girl looked shaken. “Oh, Omega, come here. Let’s get those off of you,” Specter instructed gently. Omega held her hands out, letting Specter unlock them and throw them to the side. “I’m so glad you’re alright, hun,” she whispered, pulling the girl close and stroking her hair, kissing the top of her head. Omega pulled away a little, leaning towards Hunter and hugging what she could reach, starting to cry; he hid his pained wince before kneeling down to her level.

“Are you okay, Omega? Are you hurt?” he asked, checking her over. She sniffled.

“Why is this happening? Why are the Kaminoans after me?” she asked, distraught. He hesitated to answer, worried about scaring her further. 

“Hunt,” Specter urged in a low voice. He sighed.

“You’re valuable to them. More than all the other clones. Even more than us. You're different,” he explained slowly. Omega tried to blink away her tears, confused.

“Different? How?” 

“Hey, hey, let’s not worry about that now. What matters is you’re safe. We won’t let them take you, I promise,” Hunter backtracked, seeing the girl’s fear. He extended his arms to hold Omega, who nuzzled immediately into his touch. He shared a glance with the others, grateful she was back safe with them. Specter stared at Omega, half expecting the girl to suddenly fade away; Wrecker came around to place a hand on her shoulder and guide her towards the cockpit, giving the two space as they flew to safety.

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Specter stifled a yawn, ignoring the strain on her eyes. She was exhausted, but wanted to stay awake for a few minutes longer, half in paranoia that Omega would somehow disappear again, half in an effort to allow herself to regain her sense of calm. Autopilot was set to take them back to Ord Mantell at a steady cruise, so Specter simply sat back in the co-pilot’s chair, naming stars as they passed.

“I thought you would have been asleep by now,” Hunter said as he entered the cockpit. “It’s my turn to watch, anyway.”

“Just a few more minutes, then I’ll be out of your hair,” Specter insisted with a smile. Hunter nodded before moving to sit in the pilot’s seat, wincing as he did so. Her smile dropped and her brow furrowed with worry.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, noticing the change in her demeanor. Now she scoffed.

“‘What’s wrong’? What’s wrong is that you almost died—again—Hunter!” Specter snapped, throwing her hands up. So much for trying to decompress, she thought to herself as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Hunter sighed.

“Specter, listen, I-”

“No, you listen.” She stopped him, turning to face him. “We have been in crazy dangerous situations against droids and other horrors of war. But this time, everything is crazier and frankly, I’m terrified. This is, what, the second time that little girl has been kidnapped? And not only that, this is the second time you’ve almost died; you stopped breathing on that moon, and I don’t know how long you would have had if we hadn’t gotten to you in time,” she ranted, dissolving into tears as she buried her head in her hands.

“Hey, I turned out okay,” he reassured, kneeling in front of her and placing his hands on her shoulders.

“You were shot in the chestplate. If that bounty hunter were any closer, he might have pierced the armor and struck your heart,” she shook her head. “If you had died, your last thought would have been wondering where Omega was being taken and why the rest of us weren’t there with you.”

“Stop that,” Hunter pleaded, reaching up to bring her close in an embrace. Specter finished crying until all that was left were shaky breaths. “Look, I’m sorry all of this happened, and to be honest, I didn’t realize how scared you were,” he explained. “I just-” he paused to take a breath himself, “you trained for years to develop a still and graceful nature; I only wish that you can learn to trust that we’ve still got your back, and you can talk to us, you know?” She pulled away, wiping her face and nodding. 

“I’m sorry. I don’t want Omega to see me like this. And I’m just really tired and I haven’t been able to sleep,” Specter whispered, leaning back in the chair. Hunter’s head bowed as he quietly chuckled.

“Do I even need to count to 5?” he asked himself aloud. He looked up again, finding that she had quickly fallen asleep. “I thought not.” Hunter stood, gently lifted her up in his arms, and placed her in one of the cots in the hold. He embraced the peace that had fallen over the ship and his crew, but knew it would only be temporary. And if Specter felt uneasy about the recent turn of events, he could only imagine how the rest of them were doing, especially Omega. But he would protect her and keep her safe, no matter what it took.

[an-anticlimactic-bass-drop]

Tall Part 2/?

Prompt: Tech is too tall for his own good. Constantly hitting his head on objects and desks as he works on projects. The other bad batchers make fun of him for this but you find it endearing.

Tech X Reader

Slow Burn/ Angst

Warnings: Mild 1.11 Spoilers, Deviates from canon

Word Count: 1.5K

Part 2/?

partly inspired by this gif 

(it won’t let me put it in but its the one of tech catching omega)

Omega nudges you awake from where you are napping in the pilot’s seat. The small girl’s blonde head peeks over the arm of the chair as she looks out the window. 

“Look!”

The sounds of explosions and blaster fire are erupting from the city center a few klicks away. You quickly lean forward and start firing up the takeoff controls for the Marauder. You are sure your boys are the ones behind the explosions and you smile gently as you imagine Wrecker’s gleeful expression as you see a cloud of smoke rise into the air in the distance.  They can’t be too far off if the nearing sounds of blaster fire are any indicators. Omega rushes to the landing ramp as Hunter’s voice crackles in through the comms. 

“Omega! Get ready to bring the senator aboard!” Hunter sounds a little winded and Wrecker cackles in the background as another explosion rocks the tunnel they were in. You remember the new security system Tech put in place and shake the last cobwebs of your nap out of your mind as you recall the specifications that he had told you about before leaving. Your hands fly across the panels as you disarm the system and lower the landing ramp. You head to the ramp as Omega jumps up and down waving at the men as they trek towards the ship. 

“Ladies! Meet the newest passenger of the Havoc Marauder, Senator Avi Singh.” Hunter introduced you to the senator and you looked him up and down. The senator doesn’t look like he’s all that happy to be leaving his planet in the hands of the Imperials. Singh is wringing his hands and has a look of worry on his face. 

“I should not leave my people. They need me here!” The senator says quietly. Echo leans in with a hand on the senator’s shoulder. 

“If you stay here you will be hunted down and murdered. It is better to live to fight another day than to die unnecessarily.” The clone looks almost defeated as he tells the senator this. Singh’s shoulders slump forward as he takes one last look around his planet before boarding the ship, nodding in agreement at Echo’s words. 

The trip back to Cid’s bar was uneventful to say the least. The senator and his droid are quietly sitting in the cargo hold. You offered him a cup of caf earlier but he graciously declined. The men are scattered around the ship as hyperspace speeds by. Echo and Hunter are attempting to sleep in the bunks while Wrecker and Omega are playing Saabac on the box that functions as a makeshift table. You just poured yourself a piping hot cup of the precious brown liquid that keeps you going through bouts of insomnia caused by the nightmares and the general lifestyle of the Bad Batch. Wandering up towards the cockpit, you aren’t expecting to trip over Tech’s long legs that are stretched out into the aisle. 

“Kriff!” Tech curses as your cup spills slightly onto the top of his blacks. He slides out from the wall he was buried in and starts looking around for a towel to wipe the hot caf off of his shirt. 

“Sorry! I didn’t see you there!” You frantically bend down to help him. You grab one of his grease rags from the toolbox you notice off to the side and dab at the stain on his shirt. 

“No worries. I will be fine.” Tech strips off his shirt and you swear you can feel the temperature of the air heat up several degrees as you realize just how close you are to the taller clone. “There. No harm done. Would you mind putting this in the laundry for me? I need to finish this last bit of wiring before heading back to check on the flightpath.” You flush as you tear your eyes away from the bare chest of the man in front of you. 

“Hm? Sorry! I’ll just get right on that.” You hurry away with the stained shirt and a blush on your face. You left your cup of caf on the floor near where Tech was working. He let out a small chuckle as he steals your drink. Not his fault if you left it in your hurry. 

The ship lands back at Cid’s bar without incident. The senator thanks you all graciously and departs into Cid’s office to discuss payment. Wrecker and Omega not so sneakily sneak off to get Mantell mix and Echo follows them at a distance to make sure they stay out of trouble. Tech goes to the bar to get a drink and you sit beside him to discuss the mission. You flush as you think about the previous night on the ship and you clench your jaw to avoid licking your lips at the thought of the bare chest of the taller clone next to you. You aren’t ashamed to say you dreamed of the expanse of skin and what it might taste like while you were in your bunk after that episode last night. 

“Am I boring you? I can stop if you would like.” Tech looks concerned as you zone back into reality and realize you have been watching him with a blank expression for a beat too long. You blink in surprise as you shake away the untamed thoughts that have been plaguing your mind. You really can’t be anymore obvious in your crush can you? At this point you might as well have a giant sign that follows you around that says “This person has a crush on the tall nerdy one!” 

“No!” You exclaim a little too loudly and get some irritated looks from the other patrons of the bar. “Sorry I'm just distracted today. The mission has me a little rattled. I am not used to being that deep into enemy space.” You say in a quieter tone.

“We are also not used to it. I always knew we would make it to Raxus someday however I never thought about it being to save the seperatist leader. Echo was most displeased about the idea and protested greatly. I tried to convince him that it was just a job and we need to pay off our debt to Cid but he does not see it this way.” Tech seems saddened at his brother’s inability to see the mission without the politics. You can see Echo’s point of view and point out to Tech that Echo’s trauma probably makes it hard for him to trust the separatists seeing as they had kidnapped and tortured him for 2 years before he was rescued. 

“The Techno Union treated him like a computer! An algorithm! Barely even human! I really don’t blame Echo for not trusting the separatists. He has barely recovered from the trauma of being in that machine for so long. He is still really pale and frail and you haven’t finished working on his new limbs yet so he still has the prosthetics they forced on him. Speaking of which, if you need help working on those I am always available. He has every reason to be upset about this mission.” 

You are fully involved in the discussion and don’t hear Echo and the others enter the bar as they make their way over to you and Tech. Echo catches the tail end of the conversation and tries to announce their presence with a small cough that turned into a hacking one that left Omega looking concerned. Her big round eyes are full of unspoken worry as she gazes up at him. Echo glances down at the young girl and forces a smile, patting her head. 

“I am fine little one. Don’t worry about me.” He says reassuringly.

Hunter leaves Cid’s office with her and the Senator. He comes over to where the group has gathered and steals Tech’s abandoned drink. He chugs the rest of it and gestures for the group to follow as he heads back to the ship.  Tech stands up and offers his hand to you to help you off of the bar stool. He has a habit of making sure none of the Bad Batchers fall over, a habit he has picked up from their upbringing on Kamino where the other 3 clones were not the best balanced due to their enhanced abilities. Your face flushes again as you become uncomfortably aware of how close you two have gotten during the conversation. He leans away from your touch as if he also hadn’t realized how close you two had gotten. Tech turns to follow Hunter out the door and has to stoop a little to avoid hitting the door frame, Echo cracking a quiet joke about not having to worry about hitting the top of door frames since he lost a few inches. Only Omega and you caught the joke and you give a chuckle as Omega just looks confused. 

“The legs you see? Lost a few inches? Oh well.” Echo gave up on explaining the joke to the kid and followed Wrecker out the door towards the ship. 

Once back on the ship Hunter announces that they have been given a few days off courtesy of Cid since the mission went so smoothly. The other bad batchers glance at each other, not sure of what to do with their new time off.  You were pretty sure they have never had free time in their entire life.

“We could visit Cut and Suu? See how they are settling in!” Suggests Omega. 

“Too dangerous for them. We attract too much attention. The last thing they need is to be recognized as republic sympathizers.” reasons Tech. 

“I think we deserve a few days of downtime! We can take a well deserved vacation and rest up before the next mission.” you say as you pour a cup of caf from the pot Tech started when you arrived back at the ship. “We can get some repairs done on the ship and maybe even explore the city! I know Omega has been dying to go to the museums in the city center since we got here and I'm sure you boys would enjoy it too.” 

Hunter thinks for a moment and nods in agreement. 

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

Taglist: @haloangel391 @m-o-o-n-s-g-o-o-n-s

[zoeykallus]

Hi!!! This is my first time requesting and I hope your open to it; could you writhe some HCs of the bad batch and Rex with a reader who has a chronic pain condition like fibromyalgia? I hope you have a wonderful day 💖

Aloha my dear!

Don't think I've ever done anything like this before, but let me try :)

The Bad Batch x Reader With Chronic Pain Condition

Don't think you need Warnings. Titel says it all.

Hunter

He will be patient and attentive from the beginning. He will accompany you to every doctor's visit and support every therapy and rehab. He is considerate of your sensitivities, always ready to help you when you need it. He quickly finds a routine of how to best help you on your good days and your bad days.

He brings warmth, patience and understanding to this relationship, a good partner, especially for someone like you. Hunter does worry a lot, but gives you the space to breathe that you need. You can also let yourself go at any time, he catches you and takes care of everything. If you feel so bad that you can't do anything, you don't have to worry, Hunter takes care of everything as best he can, practically nothing is left undone.

Echo

Is the most worried of all, he will always suffer with you on your worst days, he can not help it. Echo cares for you in an incredibly loving and attentive way, carries you on his hands and hardly lets you do anything on your own. If this bothers you, you have to be quite direct with him, otherwise he will definitely not stop.

He takes care of you around the clock to the point of exhaustion, you probably won't be able to avoid asking him to slow down and take care of himself a little. Echo means well, but he forgets that maybe he should take care of his own needs once in a while.

Wrecker

He hates the thought that you are in pain, every time he sees you suffering, his heart tightens painfully and he gently strokes your head. He wants to help you so much and he does it as good as he can. By now you have worked out a kind of routine and he knows what helps you the most and takes your wishes and instructions into consideration.

He wants to be your support, but what takes a lot out of him is that he can't help you permanently, he can't heal you, and that wears him out. You must create a balance for both of you to relieve his worrying mind or it could happen that Wrecker roughly speaking is going to break in this relationship, the same goes for Echo. You need to do things on a regular basis that will empty your minds and bring you to completely different thoughts, practically as a rest.

Tech

Tech knows all the key data, all the statistics, everything that has ever been learned about your condition. He cares too, and he cares sacrificially, but he has a different approach, he seems more clinical, more orderly, but that doesn't change the fact that he only cares about your well-being. He has plans in place for every eventuality, lists of the best doctors and therapists always at the ready, he regularly reads up on every new drug study on your condition.

You can always rely on him, if you feel really bad and don't know what to do anymore, don't worry, Tech is there and has everything under control.

Crosshair

He is a bit more difficult, as is often the case. He tries to understand what's going on with you but it takes a little longer, he's quite annoyed at first and doesn't behave very considerately because he doesn't really understand the matter. You have to take him aside and talk to him openly, give him examples and describe exactly what is going on with you. Only then will it dawn on him that he's been acting like an ass and you're not just pretending to be miserable to get his attention.

He finally makes an effort, he is not perfect but he does what he can, he takes work off you when you are not well, he asks you more often how you are doing and he actually really informs himself about what is actually going on with you, among other things he asks Tech for help. He has difficulty accepting that such a condition can be chronic, this annoys and worries him, but that is not your fault, he knows that too. He cares about you, if you are really miserable, you can count on him to support you.

Rex

Rex is partly similar to Hunter, very patient, very sensitive and attentive. You are always safe with him. He is happy to accompany you to any doctor's visit, look at new methods of treating your condition with you. With Rex you are never alone. He is a rock and is always there for you to lean on when you need him.

You need anything specific, just say the word, anything at all, Rex will do what he can to get it or take care of it for you. Don't worry about the housekeeping, Rex is an independent guy and can take care of those things when you are having a bad day and he actually likes to do it, mainly because he knows he is taking the weight off your shoulders. Reliable, Strong and Sensitive, Rex will not let you down.

@rintheemolion

@andyoufollowyourheart @clone-whore-99

@brynhildrmimi @kaliel2310

@misogirl828 @tech-deck

@meshla-madalene

@chxpsi

@thebahdbitch

@nahoney22 @ladykatakuri

[donkey-rider]

The Bad Batch and Cooking

--------------------------------

Hunter: 50/50 some of the stuff he makes is amazing, some of it is indigestible. He is the king of barbecue though. Will judge you for food choices.

Wrecker: Wrecker is learning in the kitchen. Sometimes it can get quite messy or Wrecker forgets something, but its not actually too bad. He makes a great spaghetti though. Will judge you for not liking something, but not for liking something

Tech: This man makes the strangest, most unconventional food choices. Man is picky as hell. That does not mean his food is bad. He has perfected what works and what doesn't. Will not judge you for any food choices.

Crosshair: Man can use a toaster, an oven and can boil pasta. That is it. Doesn't really care what you eat.

Echo: Chef 100. Best cooker out of all of them. Always knows how to make balanced, healthy meals or the most unhealthy guilty pleasure food ever. Will not judge you for food choices.

Omega: she knows how to use the kettles. Has seen Echo's frying pan spitting at him and had the "Dont touch the gas taps!" talk from Hunter, and doesn't go anywhere near the kitchenette. Won't judge you for food choices, expect for coffee. "It's so bitter Crosshair h o w can you drink that?!"

[whatanoof]

How the Bad Batch Says "I Love You"

So I've been working on my characterization of the Bad Batch and I've seen a few clusters of headcanons flying around my dash and was inspired. Here's how I think that Bad Batch would either confess their love, or show it through their actions if they don't want to say it just yet.

Warnings: fluff, nsfw at the end, these are my opinion not canon

Crosshair shows his love by sassing and snarking at you. Most people who interact with the Bad Batch would be horrified at the verbal abuse that they hear you undergo. But Crosshair issues his challenges, then smirks when you turn around and give as good as you got in return. In order to be Crosshair’s SO, you have to be able to both give and take the banter and understand that he doesn’t mean to offend. He shows his affections for others by teasing them, as seen with his teasing Wrecker after the droid competition.

Crosshair has a filter, he just doesn’t care enough about others’ opinions of him to use it. So he’ll say that he loves you, with almost the most normal timing out of the entirety of the Bad Batch. He’ll say it just as soon as the topic comes up and it’s an appropriate setting, because while he doesn’t care about others’ opinions of him, he cares about your opinion just fractionally more than the general population.

Wrecker

Wrecker falls fast and he falls hard. I mean, he's going to say, “I love you” early in your relationship, so early that it almost staggers you and makes you hesitate. Almost.

Let’s face it, this man is so sweet and innocent, he’ll fall in love with you for the smallest things. If you help to clean and service his armor and gear? Bam, love proposal. You’re going to need to be able to balance this man and slow him down, allow him to get to know you and you to know him before anything with a huge commitment comes into play. Because jumping in headfirst may work in battle, but Wrecker needs to learn that it doesn’t apply to everything in normal life.

But he’s so kind and loving, his love language is totally physical touch and quality time. I already know he gives the best hugs ever, and that he is willing to do anything for you to get you to smile. This is the softest and strongest boi of the batch.

Tech

Tech’s love language is totally acts of service and gift giving. We see in the show that he absolutely pours himself into engineering and tinkering needed on the Marauder. He works so hard on the scanner for the chips in the hopes that he could use it to save Crosshair and his other brothers.

He’ll make you little trinkets, like those bracelets that light up whenever one wearer touches the center gem. He’ll fix whatever tech you bring to him, he’ll make your favorite caf in the morning without you even telling him your order. All of this will make the Bad Batch pause and see how you two work together like a well-oiled machine, and immediately know that this relationship is long term.

In your relationship, he’s not going to be the first to say “I love you.” I shit you not, he waits so long that your hand is forced? The conversation will go something like this:

You: Tech? I think I love you.

Tech *nods and turns back to whatever task he was doing before*: Okay.

*a long silence while you wait for him to say more and he doesn't*

You: “...Do you love me too?”

And he stops and takes his goggles off and peers at you, blinking because he’s near sighted and trying to focus his vision without the glasses but he wants to see you without anything between you two.

Tech: “Yes? I thought it was obvious?”

Echo

The hottest take on Echo I have ever seen is that this man does not give a single flying fuck after the Citadel. He doesn’t care about others’ opinions of him, and I think he’s a lot like Cross in that way and I wish we got to see them interact more. But anyway, he realized just how short life was when he was trapped in the lab, and so he will tell you that he loves you just as soon as it occurs to him. It could be in the most random moment, like when he’s watching you fix something or when you’re laughing at one of his jokes, and he’ll say it without a second thought.

But at the same time, after his captivity he knows the value of having his mind be his own. So he’ll enjoy the process of learning to love you, of realizing what this feeling is in his chest, and knowing that he has the ability to keep it to himself or to get it out in the open. And in the end, his base nature of not caring what others think will win out and he’ll confess, because he’s so aware of himself and his feelings that he won’t see any point in keeping it from you.

Hunter

Shit, you’re expecting him to say “I love you”? Hunter didn’t even realize that he had become a dad when he was on Felucia, you think that he’s going to be the first to recognize his feelings? All jokes aside, Hunter feels his love and emotions incredibly deeply, he’s just not so good at identifying them, much less gathering the bravery to confess the love. There’s a certain vulnerability in taking the chance that the other person doesn’t feel the same way, and as a soldier he has been trained up in the duty to avoid such vulnerability. But he still expresses love in more subtle ways. Hunters loves you by trusting you, whether with Omega, to care for his brothers, or even just himself. He shows his love by spending time with you when he’s not the fearless leader, after a long and hard mission when the only thing he wants to do is curl up and sleep to forget. Before you, he never slept around anyone except his brothers. It’s a survival tactic: to always be alert around strangers. It’s deceptively small when he’s willing to fall asleep in the same room as you, but to Hunter it’s like painting a target on his back and handing you his sidearm. And the first time you cuddle together, he swears it’s the best sleep he’s had since his growth tube. He'll say that he loves you only after you've said it for the first ten times, and it's going to be in the heat of the moment. Consider(NSFW!!) :

You've just finished a steamy makeout session and you're straddling his lap and he's caught off guard by how gorgeous you look with your hair mussed and the confession just slips out

He's on top in missionary style and railing into you, and he's about to cum and he starts babbling and confesses

One of you were just in danger and are saved by the skin of your teeth and he's just holding you and appreciating the fact that you're both there and alive and he whispers it into your hair, so quietly that you almost don't catch the three words

In conclusion, they may be clones but I will argue nurture over nature here because they are each so different in characterization.

Taglist: @alucas528, @azem-thefourteenth, @spp2011, @parkotedarasuum, @salsafrattale, @my-awakened-ghost,@perpetual-fangirl900, @pastelpanda19, @sackstiel, @wondergal2001, @raeshinfandomblog,

@itsamaizeing