Heres What Ive Been Cooking Up In The Past Month

Here’s what I’ve been cooking up in the past month🙂‍↔️

Credits go to @highgroundanimations for creating 3 of my most favorite characters ever ( and thanks for letting me bring my vision to life 🫶🏻)

Until the Storm Breaks

Relationships: Crosshair & Echo & Hunter & Tech & Wrecker

Content Warnings: Blood and Injury, Hallucinations, Cauterization, Graphic Description of Infection

Summary:

With Wrecker badly injured and hallucinating due to poison, the Bad Batch are forced to take cover in a cave during a storm. A rough night for everyone involved follows.

Written for @summer-of-bad-batch Week 2: Injured and @augustofwhump Day 3: Poison and day 4: Filth, Screams and Open Wounds

I really wanted to fill this prompt for Summer of Bad Batch and August of whump finally gave me the inspiration to do so in a way I liked :)

Word count: 3,121

Read on Ao3

Wrecker's screams echo through the damp cave, making Tech's ears hurt. Tech's attempt to clean the large gash on Wrecker's side is disturbed by the large clones squirming.

“Hold him still.” Tech reminds his brothers.

“We're trying!” Crosshair hisses, struggling to stay atop his brother's legs as Wrecker kicks them. Hunter's holding onto Wrecker's one arm, whilst Tech has to kneel on top of his other one. Far from the ideal position to do first aid from, but Echo's already occupied trying to keep Wrecker from slamming his head back into the floor in his confusion.

“You're certain the poison isn't just killing him?” Echo says. Wrecker's head in a firm grip, he can see their brother's twisted, tear-stained expression, spit running from his mouth and down his neck. Tech has to admit he understands where Echo's concern is coming from. Wrecker by no means looks well.

But Tech's knowledge of the harmful substance in Wrecker's blood is sufficient. “I am certain. It is a hallucinogenic. What gives it its deadly reputation is the following confusion leading to the victims demise.”

“Can't we sedate him?” Hunter grunts as he wrestles Wrecker's arm back to the floor. Their demolitions expert is going to be covered in bruises by the end of this, but that will be a small price to pay for his survival.

“None of us carry sedative on us.” Tech pours disinfectant over the gash, hopping to flush some of the grit and mud out of it. The wound spans from well over Wrecker's stomach, across his side and onto his back. He's losing a worrying amount of blood. Closing the wound up in any way necessary is Tech's priority, but the amount of dirt caked in it forces him to spend some time trying to clean it best as possible. “I wouldn't advise any of you to wander out into the storm to get some from the Marauder.”

Wrecker knees Crosshair in the chest, making him groan. They're all lucky the poison weakened Wrecker. Treating him in his current state at full strength would be impossible.

“I hate this planet.” Crosshair huffs.

Tech nods. The mission has been a nightmare from the beginning. The hostile, damp terrain and native vegetation made traversal unnecessarily difficult. Their mission was set in an are known for its carnivorous plants.

The objective, destroying a separatist outpost, was completed with ease. If only they'd payed better attention to their surroundings afterwards. Hunter especially must be kicking himself for not noticing the plant waiting patiently for its next meal. It had grabbed Tech first. Tech almost wishes he'd been the one to get poisoned.

Not only is he less strong than Wrecker, more maneuverable, but then Tech would also not have to deal with the uncomfortable emotions that come with Wrecker acting as a meat shield for them again.

Of course, their bad luck hadn't ended there. Whilst they'd started moving a now delirious and bleeding Wrecker in direction of the ship, a storm broke out. The ground beneath them became knee-deep mud in moments and with lightning striking close and frequently, they were forced to take cover in a cave.

Wrecker yells, his desperate writhing almost knocking Tech over. Echo puts a firm hand on his chest to get him to quiet down, whilst Hunter hisses his name warningly. Tech opts not to remind Hunter that Wrecker likely can't understand anything going on again, that would only waste time. And they can't afford to do that.

The pool of blood accumulating under their brother on the cold stone floor has reached the limit of how big Tech would let it get. The wound is far from clean, but it's got to be sealed or Wrecker won't make it. Tech bites the inside of his cheek. They'll deal with any infection later, Tech just hopes the storm clears before the contaminated wound kills their vod.

Sharing a look with Hunter seems enough to convey that he's moving to the next step as Hunter nods in agreement. Tech fishes his electric soldering iron from his hip bag. Echo gives him a weird look.

“What are you doing with that?” He asks.

Tech had almost forgotten that Echo's only been a part of their team for a couple months. He wouldn't know that, whilst the crackling electricity at the tools end was usually used to solder wires and small technical parts, it's rather good at cauterizing wounds as well.

“Sealing the wound.” Tech answers.

“Wait a moment.” Echo says, putting a hand on Tech's to keep him from doing his job. “Cauterization is not advisable, it ups the risk of infection as well as the healing time.”

“Got a better idea?” Crosshair huffs. Echo's eyebrows knit together.

“No.”

“The infection risk is already beyond high.” Tech begins pinching the edge of the gash together. “You will have to hold Wrecker down more firmly. He won't like this.”

Electricity crackles loudly and brightly as Tech powers the tool up, pressing it to Wrecker's skin. Predictably, Wrecker responds badly to the pain, fighting against his brothers with as much strength as he can muster. Tech lifts the soldering iron, checking that the edges of skin are fused well enough. When the skin, small blisters forming on the newly damaged area, holds, Tech moves on.

Thin wisps of smoke rise as Tech keeps fusing the edges of Wrecker's skin, making him glad he kept his helmet on. Even with the filter, he can smell the sharp scent of flesh burning. Hunter's senses are likely making the situation a lot worse for him. Maybe that's why he lost his grip on Wreckers arm.

In a surprisingly swift and coordinated motion, Wrecker brings his fist up to connect with the side of Tech's helmet. Tech falls to the side from the force. As he struggles to get his vision to refocus, he can hear the rest of the squad struggle to get Wrecker under control again.

Whilst his head throbs, Tech isn't going to let that make him put his brother's life in danger. He pushes past the dull pain, returning to his work. He'll probably get a bruise from this, even through the helmet.

Wrecker doesn't seem calmer after the outburst, if anything, he seems more distressed. He does however fight back a lot weaker. The futile attempt to break out of his brothers grips likely claimed most of what was left of Wrecker's energy.

As Wrecker flails weakly, his screams die down, replaced by sobbed pleading and apologies. Tech hates this so much more. What ever the plant's toxin is making Wrecker see can't be good and Tech isn't sure he wants to know more.

Echo, not having to hold on to Wrecker's head all too much anymore, has moved his hand to Wrecker's shoulder. He speaks quiet, comforting words. Tech doubts Wrecker hears, let alone understands them, but doesn't have the heart to say so out loud. There's no harm in trying.

Once Tech is done cauterizing the section of the wound he can reach, they maneuver Wrecker onto his front. He barely struggles anymore, an amalgamation of the poison, blood loss and futile resistance having worn him down.

Bandaging the wound almost seems pointless, an infection likely either way. But when Wrecker is no longer held down, he begins weakly scratching at the freshly sealed wound, so covering it is for the better. Tech would rather not have to repeat the process.

“We have to rest, but someone's got to keep an eye on him at all times.” Hunter says. He's right, there's no saying when the hallucinogenic will wear off. They don't need Wrecker doing something to harm himself.

Tech volunteers to keep an eye on Wrecker first, though that turns out to be a pointless discussion. None of them sleep immediately, kept awake by worry and the storm raging just outside their cover. They all sit close to their injured vod.

Wrecker tries to mess with the bandages a couple times, Tech having to pry his hands away from the material. Eventually, Tech opts to just hold his brother's hands.

At the start, Wrecker continues his confused mumbling ans sobbing, but as the poison wears off, so does that. He's still delirious, but shows some awareness of his surroundings.

Wrecker bumps his head into Tech's side. “Hurts...” He hisses between clenched teeth. Tech regrets not being able to give him anything for the pain, but they just don't know enough of how pain killers could react together with the toxin.

“You will be fine, vod'ika.” Tech says, trying to force a smile.

The storm goes on for hours, showing no signs of letting up. That spurs Tech to insist his vode sleep. He manages to convince Crosshair and Hunter, though they both lay close to Wrecker, Crosshair almost on top of him.

Tech watches Echo try to do the same, only to give up and resume staring out of the cave's opening and into the storm. That doesn't surprise Tech, their newest member struggling with both sleep in general and the cold. All their armor and blacks are some degree of damp and muddy, so the temperature is certainly bothering the ARC trooper.

Echo sighs, removing his helmet to rub at his nose bridge.

“You really have a thing for getting into near death situations.” Echo laughs. He pulls his knees closer to his chest, releasing a shaky breath. Tech wonders if the silence combined with the cold is bringing up bad memories. Luckily, Tech is very good at filling silence.

“As you've said many times before.” Tech smiles, removing his own helmet. Wrecker squirms about when Tech pulls one of his hands out of his grip, looking up at his brother. His eyes and pupils are blown wide. Tech wonders if Wrecker even recognizes him right now.

“I'm not called Echo for nothing.” Echo's said that many times before too, but Tech sees no point in highlighting that as well. Echo hisses when he see's Tech's face. “He got you pretty good.” Echo gestures at the right side of his own face.

Tech can't see the bruising himself, but guesses his right cheek bone has gained a new splash of color.

“I'm surprised he hit me at all.” Tech's deadpan response makes Echo laugh.

After a beat of silence, Echo gestures at Tech's hip. “You use that thing on injuries often?”

“That depends both on the mission and if we've had our medical supplies restocked recently.” Echo's commented before on how fast Clone Force 99 burns through supplies. Tech has spent time calculating the amount they'd really need, factoring in the downsides of their mutations and enhancements, but never bothered bringing it up. It's not like they'll be given what they need.

Echo sighs. “We need a medic.”

“We've always survived without one. It wouldn't be deemed necessary.”

“Kix would have a heart attack working with you.” Echo laughs. Tech remembers working with Kix briefly during the mission that lead to discovering Echo's location. From what Tech can recall about the medic, Echo's statement is likely accurate.

Echo runs his fingers along the joints of his prosthetic knees, sighing as they come away covered in mud.

“I will have a look at them for you once we're on the Marauder.” Tech offers. He's become quite familiar with Echo's prosthetic limbs and implants by now and has helped him improve or fix them many times.

“That would be greatly appreciated, vod'ika.” Echo rotates his scomp as he speaks. The dirt trapped between joints crunches, making Echo cringe. “I agree with Crosshair: I hate this planet.”

“We've certainly visited better.”

Echo leans forward. “How's Wrecker doing?”

Tech studies his younger brother. Wrecker switches between staring into nothing and squeezing his eyes shut, curled up tightly next to Tech. He's trembling.

“He'll live.” Tech is certain of that, has to be certain of that. But he's also certain that Wrecker isn't doing well at the moment.

They keep holding quiet conversation as the night goes on, but Tech must have dozed off at some point, as suddenly, Echo is shaking him.

“The storm's calming down.” He says when Tech's eyes fling open. “We should prepare to leave.”

After waking the others and getting Wrecker's chest plate back on him, they're out of the cave at the first hint of clear skies. Wrecker is semi-conscious, but too weak to walk. Tech and Crosshair each have one of Wrecker's arms slung across their shoulders.

The mud is just as bad now, slowing their pace to little faster than crawling, especially with Wrecker unable to muster the strength to drag his legs forwards by himself.

“Where we goin'?” Wrecker slurs, helmet clanking against his shoulder bell as his head lolls to the side.

“We're getting off this planet.” Crosshair grumbles, struggling to pull his foot from the mud as he speaks.

Hunter walks ahead of the group, seeming almost nervous. Tech assumes he's trying not to miss any further danger they might face.

Gradually, the ground becomes firmer as they approach the rocky terrain Tech landed their ship on. They still manage to track masses of mud into the Marauder. Tech groans at the thought of having to clean it all up later.

None of them take the time to shower now, but Tech's still grateful to be wearing dry clothes. They can worry about getting fully clean once Wrecker is taken care of by medics.

They help Wrecker change blacks, keeping his upper body free of clothes. After Tech returns from flying the Marauder into hyperspace, Echo and Crosshair are switching Wrecker's bandages. All three of them pulling disgusted faces prompts Tech to investigate further.

The wound hasn't started bleeding again, which is just about the only good news about Wrecker's condition. The blistered skin at the gash's edge is swollen and caked is drying discharge. Part of the wound has split open, but beside a small trickle of blood, the only thing spilling from it is pus.

No wonder Hunter's standing at the other end of the ship, trying not to gag. Pulling his Helmet back on, Hunter announces that he'll be in the cockpit.

Cleaning the wound goes a little better when they're not kneeling in mud, but unwilling to reopen the gash fully and risk further blood loss, Wrecker's body will just have to hold out against the infection until they can get proper medical help.

“We'd need three patches to cover that fully, but we've only got two left.” Echo sighs, handing them to Crosshair.

When the bacta patches are applied, Wrecker almost relaxes for a moment. But the pinched expression is back immediately. The part of the wound not covered by the patches they spread bacta gel on. Despite both of those measures, the fresh bandages they wrap around Wrecker's midriff are stained yellow and pink in moments.

Laying down, Wrecker gingerly prods the material covering the injury, hissing through his teeth.

“Don't worry, they'll throw you right in a bacta tank when we get you to a medical station.” Echo pats Wrecker's shoulder from his place next to their large brother. Tech's got one of the ARC's detached legs in his lap, occupied with cleaning out the joints.

Wrecker groans. “I hate bacta tanks. Always get dreams about being swallowed by some horrible monster.”

Crosshair and Echo laugh. Tech doesn't bring up that some of Wrecker's dislike of bacta tanks may come from the extended periods of time he'd spent in a isolation tanks as a cadet, not wanting to bring down the mood.

“How are you feeling?” Tech asks.

Wrecker sighs, leaning his head back onto Echo. “Bad.” He groans. “Everything hurts, my side is on fire and I feel a bit sick.”

“Well, please let us know before you throw up all over yourself.” Crosshair has a little grin plastered on his face.

“ Shabii’gar.“ Wrecker huffs, smacking the back of Crosshair's head weakly. He only succeeds in making Crosshair laugh.

“Not seeing things anymore?“ Crosshair continues.

“Not- Not anymore.” Wrecker shudders. “Vision's still blurry, and I feel... Weird, on edge.”

Tech hums in acknowledgment. That seems to track with what he knows of the poison.

Wrecker readjusts the way he lays, making what starts out as a whimper, but then quickly turns to a bitten back cry. He curls up a little more, both Crosshair and Echo moving closer at the noise.

“Can I have something 'gainst the pain?” Wrecker forces through grit teeth, sounding rather small.

Tech puts Echo's leg down in his lap, sighing. “No, you can't. I'm sorry.”

“What?” Wrecker inhales sharply. “One of the few times I want you to stab me with a needle and you won't?”

“It is not that I don't want to. It is simply not a risk I am willing to take. There is no data on how pain medication may react to the poison in your blood.”

“Aw, come on...” Wrecker pleads.

“No, Wrecker.” Tech rubs a hand over his face, straightening his goggles. “I will not be the one responsible when your heart explodes or organs liquefy.”

Wrecker huffs, pulling a displeased expression.

“Do you want more examples of what might happen to you?”

“No, I'm good.” Crossing his arms with a sigh, Wrecker turns onto his side.

“Is there something we can do to help?” Echo asks.

“Need me to hold you, Wreck'ika?” Crosshair adds with a mocking tone, unable to leave well enough alone.

Tech watches as Wrecker thinks, followed by a wide grin spreading on the large clone's face. “Actually, I do.”

Faster than he should, Wrecker sits up and starts pulling Crosshair onto the rack.

“Hey! It was a joke!” Crosshair fights against Wrecker's grip.

“Don't care.” Wrecker laughs. “You offered.

“Let go.” Crosshair hisses. “I'm retracting my offer.”

“Too late for that. Besides, I'm hurt. You're not going to be mean to me when I'm hurt, right?”

For some reason, Wrecker's silly comment makes Crosshair stop. “Fine.” He says as he does what Wrecker wants, ending up squished between the Marauder's wall and their large brother. For a man that just got pulled into a situation he definitively didn't want to be part of, Crosshair looks a little too comfortable.

Tech moves to the spot on the floor Crosshair had previously occupied, continuing his work on Echo's leg. Hunter joins them some time later, presumably once the smell of infection's cleared out somewhat.

It'll take them a few hours to get to the medical station. A long time, especially for Wrecker, who's feeling far from comfortable. But they'll keep him company and will try to distract him, hoping that that's enough to make the journey bearable.

let's see if i can finish this baby tonight. I'm not letting a migrane get in the way of being productive

You: Know why I called you in here?

Wrecker: Errmm… because… I accidentally sent you a dick pic.

You: *Stop pouring two glasses of wine and inconspicuously reach for your sweater to cover up.* Accidentally?

My favorite part of Episode 8: Wrecker getting snippy with Fennec Shand. 😂 Loved that he got more screen time and dialogue.