Bad Batch Whump - Tumblr Posts

Just so you all know I will be participating in Febuwhump! I'll mostly post Bad Batch content but some others will be thrown in there (maybe). I'll try to post every day!

Febuwhump Day 26: Forced to Choose

Fandom: Star Wars

Timeline: The Bad Batch

    The Bad Batch had finally been caught. All that needed to happen was for them to be executed for their crimes. Crosshair walked from the command deck where the orders were given. The empire would give the clones a little less than a day to reveal any secrets that could potentially save their lives.

    As the family's time ran out, Crosshair debated going to see them. It would be the last time he could after all. If not for anything he decided to go for closer. Why the man wanted closer he wasn't really sure but he needed it.

    Only a few minutes were left for the batch to spill some secrets when Crosshair arrived at the cell. The electric shield prevented the family from escaping. Hunter sat on the floor holding a crying Omega. Tech sat on the hanging bench bouncing his leg. His elbow rested on the other knee as he tried to think of a way out. Wrecker sat near Hunter and Omega making sure both were okay and Echo sat over with Tech trying to help him with a plan. All but Omega looked up at Crosshair as he cleared his throat. "Hello."

    "What do you want Crosshair?" Tech asked.

    Crosshair took in the sight. It saddened his to see them this way but is what traitors deserve, right? "Just came to see if you had any information" he hissed.

    "No we don't. We aren't working for any rebel groups Crosshair. We don't have anything." Hunter held Omega tighter.

    The sniper looked down at the little girl. She was terrified. Looking at the others he could see just how scared they were. Most couldn't tell but he could, he knew the looks on their faces. Though he had only seen it a few times during the war it struck some form of fear into his heart.

    "Even if we had information they'd kill us anyway so there's no point." Tech informed the soldier. That was true; no matter what they were screwed.

    "If that's all I'll be leaving." Crosshair started walking away. Behind him he heard Hunter trying to comfort Omega. As the man approached the end of the hall he stopped. Soldiers entered the other side of the hall to execute his batch mates.

    Now he had to make a choice. Does he go back, destroy everything he worked for in the Empire. After all Crosshair thought he agreed with the ideals of the system. He'd already killed so many people for them. Sure the Republic had him snipe a few people but not nearly as many as the Empire.  But could he let his family die? He grew up with three of them and had become rather fond of the other two. The five soldiers had protected each other no matter the cost to themselves. They had fought side by side for so long. Omega had barely gotten to live yet. He would have drowned if it wasn't for her. He would be dead if it wasn't for any of them. Forced to choose between his head or heart; between stability or love, he chose love.

    "Alright it's time" one of the stormtroopers spoke. Hunter grabbed Omega as tight as he could to protect her or at least to comfort her. The others stood ready to at least try to escape their fates. Tech stood on his own while Wrecker and Echo stood close together. Both were fans of physical touch so being so close was comforting. None of them really expected to survive but they couldn't just sit there and wait.

    Crosshair sighed and turned around. Running down the hall he grabbed his blaster and shot. The stormtroopers fell to the ground. The batch looked at each other surprised. The killer skidded to a stop in front of the cell. Echo had gone over to inform Hunter and Omega they were safe. The girl had been buried in Hunter's chest and he only had his eyes on her. The gun shots had scared the two thinking time had run out for them.

    Omega and Hunter stood slowly. The man looked around then looked at Crosshair. "Alright. We need to find our weapons. I assume you know where they are?" He smiled softly.

    Crosshair nodded and the family, now whole again, ran to find the weaponry. From the weaponry they went for a ship. The Marauder had been left on the planet they had come from. Once off world Crosshair looked around at his family fondly. Seeing them all back on the same side made him smile. Still the deserter wasn't sure if he'd made the right choice.

    Back on the Marauder the group greeted Gonky and Wrecker gave Lula a big hug. Finally everyone was able to relax a little. Sitting down, Crosshair watched them interact with each other. Now he knew he'd made the right choice. No one really knew what was next but whatever it was, Crosshair was just happy to be home.

Whumpril Day 3: Rope Burn/"Hold Still."

Fandom: Sta Wars The Bad Batch

Note: Spoilers for season 2 episode 16. This story will make more sense if you have watched it.

Summary: The remaining members of the batch go on a mission on a mountain. Wrecker ends up on a ledge below the other two.

  Tech had insisted that the Bad Batch kept rope on board the Marauder. At first they never understood why. Their cables should be enough right?

    Now Wrecker stood on a tiny, week ledge. They had lost the cables earlier during their mission. Echo had gotten the other two to help with rebel missions while they searched for Omega and Crosshair. The Rebels may be able to aid in finding them and they needed the help.

    The rope had been tried around Wrecker's waist so he couldn't fall. As the ridge started to crumble Hunter prepared to pull him up. However the rocks gave way before any of them excepted them to and Wrecker was dangling.

    Rope slid quickly through Hunter's hands. "Echo!"

    Echo slid in and grabbed the rope and dug his feet into the edge of the ledge the other two stood on. "Hold on Wrecker! Don't look down!"

    "I don't plan on it!" Wrecker responded. The two started to pull Wrecker up. Echo noted that hits of red appeared on the light tan of the rope.

    Hunter was so focused on saving Wrecker that he didn't hear the cracking of their own ledge until it was too late. Now all three fell. They landed on a another part of the mountain below them.

    Hunter woke up first. He sat up slowly and quickly moved over to Wrecker. He was closer to him. The leader assessed the other's injuries and then moved to check on Echo.

    When Echo woke up the first thing he saw was the sky. The blue that previously filled the canvas was painted over by black. The white dots of light looked beautiful. Then the pain from the fall hit him.

    Hunter came into view. The cyborg tried to sit up but was pushed softly back to the ground. "Hold still."

    Hold still? Why did he need to hold still? What was wrong? "What's going on?" Asked Echo.

    "You're alright. Just stay still." A shard of rock rested in the man's side. Unsure if Echo would panic Hunter reframed from telling him. He grabbed some bandages and started to wrap the rock in place. Taking it out right now was a terrible idea. None of them knew what to do for this kind of injury. Tech typically handled this stuff.

     Echo held still. He hated every second of it. "How's Wrecker?"

    "He's alright."

    "And how are you?" It was the first time Echo had finally really looked to see if Hunter was okay. Blood had flowed from some injury on his head. The crimson liquid mixed with hair and made in stick to the side of his face. His eyes and face relayed the message that he was in pain, even if Hunter's voice hid it well.

    "I'm fine." 

    As Hunter finished attending to Echo's injuries he heard Wrecker stir. Once finished he walked back over to Wrecker and asked if he needed anything. He responded with "no" and sat up.

    Hunter sat between the two and finally looked at his own injuries. Looking at his hands he understood why treating his brothers wounds hurt so much. The man's hands had been torn up by the rope; his thin, cloth gloves tattered. Moving them hurt more than he realized. Luckily other then his head the clone had no other major injuries. The brothers stayed the night on the ledge.

    In the morning Wrecker would take Echo back to the Marauder and meet Hunter back at the ridge they rested on with medical supplies and a rag. Gently the large man cleaned his brothers face off and got some of the blood out of his hair. After that, despite Hunter's protest, he would clean and wrap his hands.

    The men finished the mission in spite of their condition. In the back of all of their heads stabbed the question of why they survived the fall while Tech never stood a chance. It was a shorter way down and they all knew it but I just didn't seem fair.

    Back on the Marauder that three set off with a new piece of information for the Rebels and for themselves. Now they were one step closer to finding Omega and Crosshair.

   @whumpril

Whumpril Day 6: Bad Coping Mechanisms

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Warnings: Self harm and slight mentions of suicide.

Summary: Hunter had to find a way to deal with the war.

Finding ways to deal with the war was hard. Wrecker joked or talked about it, Echo walked around or read reg manuals until he felt better, Tech distracted himself with research projects or with tinkering, and Crosshair trained. Hunter however wasn't sure how to deal with the pressure.

After a long and brutal battle the clone found himself sitting alone on the Marauder. Angry at himself Hunter pulled one of his vibro-knifes and stabbed it into the ground. It didn't make him feel any better.

With tears in his eyes he started into the knife. When the idea came to his head the anger in his heart took over and he set down the weapon to remove his left lower arm armor. Quickly it was removed and the blade was right back in his hand.

Almost without hesitation Hunter dragged the knife across his inner arm. The long wound hurt but most of the stress and memories that had been drowning him disappeared.

He stared at the blade and sighed. The pain calmed him in a disturbing way and suddenly Hunter knew how to deal with the war. It was self destructive but at least it could keep him alive.

Over time scars grew. No one could see as the soldier tore himself apart. Armor and long sleeves hid the marks. Hunter chose to get up earlier to change so no one could learn.

The man knew that harming himself was unhealthy but the Kaminoans never taught them how to cope, they had to find their own ways. Unfortunately the thing that kept Hunter alive was actively destroying him.

Small and large cuts littered Hunter's arms, stomach, thighs, and lower legs. No where on his body was safe from himself. Sure the armor and tight blacks hurt when they rubbed the wounds but it almost helped keep him calm.

As the clone walked into the shower the water stung all the open wounds. He winced and looked down at his body. That's when he decided he'd stop after the war. What Hunter didn't realize was that it wasn't his choice anymore. The addition would be something he'd have to fight as hard as he fought the droids that threatened his life. The war he had unleashed while just trying to survive would be a long and hard one. The scars of his decision would forever rest on his body.

When the war ended Hunter fought against the urge at first but as things got worse, gave up, deciding that once things got better he would stop. There was this overwhelming feeling in the man's stomach that this cycle would continue, that he would stop when he was dead. However a bad coping mechanism was better than being dead, right?

Hiding the scars and fresh cuts were harder. The batch was constantly around him and there was no war to blame sore spots on anymore, no battle to fall back on. They no longer had a fixed time to wake up so Hunter couldn't just plan to get up and dressed before the others.

Hunter knew the batch would find out eventually. He feared that day. Injuries on missions that he couldn't just brush off would cause the truth of all the small movements he made away from their touch. One day Hunter would stop punishing himself to stay alive. Today unfortunately would not be the day.

@whumpril

Whumpril Day 11: Nightmares/"I'm right here."

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Warning: Character death

Summary: Hunter has a pretty scary nightmare. Hope someone wakes him up.

 Walking through the cell block Hunter searched for his daughter and brother. They were supposed to be here but he just couldn't find them. All he had left was Crosshair and her. Wrecker and Echo had been killed earlier by stormtroopers.

    Finding Crosshair's cell, Hunter opened it. "Crosshair, let's go." Crosshair didn't move. "Cross, get up." Hunter walked over and shook his brother. After shaking him for a moment he realized the man was freezing. He grabbed Crosshair's face and looked into his cold, dead eyes.

    Startled Hunter jumped back. "Haar'chak!"

    From there the leader hesitantly left Crosshair's body there. He ran until he found where Omega was being held. He skidded to a stop and turned to the door. Sliding the access card on the door, it opened. "Hunter?" The girl asked.

    "Yeah kid, it's me." Hunter fell to his knees and Omega ran up to him for a hug. "are you hurt?" He wrapped his arms around her.

    "No."

    "Let's get you out of here."

    The two exited the cell. On the way back to the Marauder an eerie voice spoke from behind them. "And where do you think you're going Omega?"

    The two turned around to see Hemlock. "Home!" She yelled.

    "Home? I don't think so." With that the scientist raised his blaster and shot the girl. Hunter hadn't seen it until it was too late. His gun had already been pointed at the other so he pulled the trigger. Hemlock fell to the ground.

    Hunter kneeled down beside his little girl. His world stopped turning. She was gone. Everyone was gone. He was alone. What now? Where does he go from here? What does he do? First the clone needed to get off of Wayland.

    Grabbing Omega he started to run. It felt like that was all that he did. The world went dark and Omega was gone.

    In some dark void the words Hemlock had said to him back on Ord Mantell ran in his ears. "Who knew clones were so paternal? Fascinating."

    "Stop." Hunter looked around. "This isn't real."

    "I'm afraid this is all I could salvage. Consider it a gift."

    Broken googles clattered at his feet. Quickly Hunter picked them up and held them close to him. "You're not real." He whispered.

    "To lose one of your own-"

    "stop it." Hunter started to run. It was better than being stuck listening to the conversation he played over and over in his head.

    "Must weigh heavily on you as their leader."

    "Of course it does! They were put under my control and I failed them!"

    "There is no time Wrecker."

    "No. No not again." Hunter stopped running. He collapsed to the 'ground'. He placed his legs under him and pulled his hands up to his head.

    "Plan 99."

    "Tech I'm sorry."

    Tech's sigh sent a chill down Hunter's spine. "When have we ever followed orders?" The clone mouthed along with the words.

    "I'm sorry. God I'm sorry." Hunter whispered. The memories started to mix. It started to overwhelm the clone. He could only take so much of this. "Stop it, stop it." Tears started to trickle down his face. He caught them in his hands. "Stop it!"

    Hunter started to hear a familiar voice, "Hunter? Hunter wake up."

    "Good soldiers follow orders."

    "No." Hunter sat up quickly. Air moved swiftly in and out of his lungs. Tears fell from his eyes.

    "Hunter, are you okay?" Echo looked at his brother, concerned.

    Hunter didn't acknowledge Echo. He's breathing stayed the same. Looking down the man wasn't aware that his brother was there.

    "I'm right here. Talk to me." Echo rested his hand on Hunter's shoulder.

    'im right here.' The room was no longer dark. Hunter realized now that he was awake. This wasn't part of his nightmare and Echo was sitting in front of him. The tears didn't stop.

    "I'm right here." The older of the two opened his arms and waited.

    Hunter leaned into his brother. The two stayed like that until the sargent stopped crying. When asked to talk about the dream, he refused. Maybe one day these nightmares would leave him alone, maybe not. Only time could tell. At least he had Echo to wake him up.

Whumpril Day 15: Isolation

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Summary: Echo is captured.

  Isolation scared Echo. Yet he found himself alone in a cell. He had told the batch to leave him and now he had no idea if they would come back for him. The batch didn't leave there own behind. Part of him hoped they would come and most of him hoped they would leave him.

    The room was cold. That was scary on it own but the silence; the deathing silence was terrifying. It was far too quiet and far too much.

    There was no one to talk to, no one to distract him for his problems. Every terrible memory hit him at ones. Blowing up, all his brothers deaths, the experiments, everything.

    Hoping to be tortured was something Echo never thought would cross his mind. The physical pain that would come would be much better than everything that plagued his mind.

    The stillness of it all almost made it feel surreal; like he'd wake up safe on the Marauder. Echo knew that wouldn't happen.

    The clone tried to find something to occupy himself with. "Hello?" he asked. No answer. He sighed. The man was alone again. It drove him crazy, as mad as Fives.

    Echo tried to escape. He walked up to the door and hit it. The electric shock made him take a few steps back. He sighed and sat back down.

    Talking to himself was the only thing Echo could think to do to keep himself sane. He talked as if there were more people with him. Slowly the words formed into something else.

    "Fives, you would love the batch." Now Echo talked to his dead brothers. If they could hear him, Echo didn't know. Then again he didn't really care. Slowly his stories came to an end and he looked around. He was alone. There were no brothers to talk to. He was alone again. 

    Time moved slowly. Echo didn't really know what was going on, where he was, or if anyone would come to save him. There was only one thing he knew, he was alone. He didn't want to be but you don't always get what you want, do you.

Merry Whumpmas Day 4: Chills

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Summary: As Crosshair reunites with his family he notices that someone is not there.

Seeing his brothers again was a lot for Crosshair. He thought he had told them not to come, to leave him behind like they had before. Even if understood why now, it still hurt. The scar was still a scab.

But then he noticed, Tech was missing. His body shook with a chilling realization. It felt like his whole body went cold and he almost froze in place. It was the only reason he wouldn't be there. Tech had to be dead.

Fear gripped his heart and squeezed. It was almost painful. But maybe he was wrong. Maybe Crosshair was wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.

He wanted to ask but the fear and uncertainty left him speechless. Instead he put one foot in front of the other. He followed the rest of his family outside of this awful place that had broken him. They led him to the light he had long forgotten.

Hope.

Still, Crosshair couldn't be happy. As they walked he realized there was no way Tech could be with them. Was he hurt? Could he be with the Marauder? Why did they look so, nervous.

When they did get to the Marauder, Rex was waiting. Warm blood was replaced with ice water. He was gone. That's why they were nervous; why Omega hadn't said anything when he asked about them. She didn't know how to tell him.

The water froze him. He stood still, staring at the Marauder. He thought about every memory that he had with Tech in it. There was no way he was gone. Not without saying goodbye right?

But hadn't they already? Was their last encounter supposed to give him closer? Was he supposed to be okay? Could he move? Did moving mean excepting?

Hunter put a hand on Crosshair's shoulder and tried to move him along. "We need to go."

"He's not there, is he?"

An icicle plunged into the man's heart. "No. Tech's not there."

Crosshair wanted to cry. The only thing that stood in his way was dehydration.

"We have to go Crosshair" Hunter shook. He put slight pressure on his brother's back, trying to move forward.

Slowly Crosshair moved, Hunter's hand generating enough heat to move his frozen body forward. He was finally home.

Home was different than he remembered. First of all there was room for Omega. Then Tech's bunk had been left untouched. His blanket was still folded over.

Crosshair looked at his own. It had been made. He knew he hadn't made it. He moved the blanket to find a small letter. A chill went up his spine as he grabbed it.

It was from Tech. He gently opened it with shaky hands. He pulled the letter out of the envelope and unfolded it.

It read, "Dear Crosshair, I didn't know what would happen. In truth I didn't expect the mission to go well. But I knew we had to go. If not for anything, to make up for the damage we had done to you. That is not to say you didn't hurt us as well. I hope I will retrieve this letter once I am on the ship. If not, I was told it is best to not leave words unsaid. You were a good brother Crosshair. I was grateful to have you."

Crosshair held the letter to his chest. That was the most affection Tech had ever shown to him. He laid on his bed and let out a sigh. This was going to be hard.

Febuwhump Day 3: "Bite Down on This"

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Summary: Omega is injured and imperials are around. Hunter is trying to help her with the pain as well as keep her quiet.

  Hunter had always been scared of Omega getting hurt. As he got to know her, he knew that he could only handle it so well. She was his little sister but he felt so much like her father. He never even knew he could feel like a father.

    But now he was faced with that. He hadn't been keen on being her on the mission. Phee had said she would keep an eye on her but the girl snuck aboard.  Now she was in front of Hunter, bleeding.

    The clone looked around. Omega was sobbing. Hunter recounted everything that had brought them to this moment, trying to make sense of any of it. A mission for Cid. One bounty hunter with a determination to 'win' and one explosion later his little girl was hurt.

    Now he looked back at her. "Hunter, imperials are heading to the site of the explosion. Be careful." Tech warned. He didn't answer him. Instead he looked around and tried to find an answer.

    Taking off a piece of his armor, he tore a part of his undershirt off. He balled it up and held it to Omega's mouth. "bite down on this."

    Fear rushed over Omega. "Hunter" she said. Her continued to cry as she took the cloth in her mouth.

    Hunter held her wound carefully. The glass was still in her side. He took torn pieces of his clothes and placed them by the glass. He pressed on her side and she yelled. "I know. I'm sorry." He's voice shook.

     The black fabric hid the blood that had started to poll in Omega's mouth. All Hunter could hear was her cries. He tried to listen for the imperials but his mind betrayed him.

    Omega started to cough. She squeezed Hunter's hand as she tried to stay quiet. The man brought his comm up to his face and spoke softly. "Omega's down" he started, "sending you our location." Then he turned off his comm.

    Now Hunter could hear the radios of the enemy. He looked at Omega and realized that the cloth she had been biting down on was filled with blood. He panicked and took it out of her mouth. Her cries became less muffled.

    The man placed a hand over her mouth for a moment. "I know. I'm sorry. You'll be okay." She looked confused.

    Hunter felt like he was going to cry. He didn't want to scare her. If he cried now, she would worry and that was the last thing he needed.

    "You'll be okay." Hunter tried to remain calm. He felt her blood on his hand and realized they didn't have time. Now he didn't care who found them. The empire wanted Omega and alive so if they found them, they would at least take care of her.

    Even if that meant they killed him. She needed help. The voices grew closer. "Over here!" One called.

    Hunter sighed. He had faced things like this before. He grabbed his gun and got ready to fire. As troopers turned the corner they were gunned down by Echo and Tech. Wrecker followed ise behind.

    "We're here." Echo said. Wrecker took one look at Omega and teared up. He placed a hand on Echo's shoulder to steady himself. Tech assessed the girls injuries and Echo took Hunter back.

    "Echo" Hunter spoke. Echo just took him into his arms.

    "She'll be okay."

    Tech picked Omega up and started to walk. "We need to get back to the Marauder."

    The family made their way to the ship and Tech started to tend to his sisters wounds. Later in the evening he would emerge from his room. "She'll be fine."

    "See. I told you."

    Hunter sighed. "Thank you, Tech." He walked back to be with her and sat beside her. He looked at her and rested his arms on his knees. At least she was alright.

Febuwhump Day 9: Bees

Fandom: The Bad Batch

Summary: Wrecker never liked bugs. But now that Tech's gone, he finds some beauty in his brother's favorite insect. Bees.

  Bugs were not Wrecker's strong suit. Most of the time they weren't a problem, but sometimes they freaked him out. After being stormed by 'the hive' with Cid, he decided he simply was afraid of them.

    This included bees. There were a lot of bugs on Padu. There were a lot of flowers on the island. It was one of the things that the clone liked. Their simple beauty was something most didn't expect a clone to love the way he did.

    But he didn't like the bees. The small bugs freaked him out. Even so he would be around them often. The rest of the batch didn't share his distrust of the small insects.

    Tech had loved bees. "Bees are extremely important to every ecosystem. Almost 90% of wild plants and 75% of the galaxy's crops depend on the insects's pollination."

    "I don't care" Wrecker joked. He nudged his brother.

    However Tech did. Trying to continue, Crosshair cut him off. "We don't care."

    Now Wrecker wished he had listened. The clone watched the bees buzz around the sunflowers that were around him. What bothered him was the fact that they shut him up even though he was clearly excited about it.

    The bees flew near him and unlike every time before, Wrecker let them. Instead of shoeing them away, he welcomed them. Tech's voice rang in his head, "Did you know that there is at least one species of bee on most every planet."

    "Does he just do that?" Echo sighed.

    "Yeah" Hunter answered. "Normal one of them tells him to shut up by now."

    "Bumblebees technically shouldn't be able to fly because of-"

    Tech was cut off by Crosshair. "Shut up" the clone growled. Despite being shut up, Tech didn't seem upset. Instead he continued what he had been doing previously.

    "Seems kinda mean" Echo whispered to his brother.

    "If they don't he'll talk for hours."

    Now Wrecker was left wondering what he was going to say. What else had they left unsaid? What seemingly useless piece of information had they missed out on?

    Wrecker would do anything to hear Tech info dump about bees again. Info dump about anything really. He wanted to know why bumblebees shouldn't be able to fly. More than anything he wanted his brother back.

    "Watching the bees?" Phee asked, sitting next to Wrecker.

    "Yeah" he sighed. "I never liked them before. Actually used to be scared of them. Up until now." A sort of sad smile flashed across his face. "They are actually pretty nice" he sobbed.

    "It's gonna be okay big guy." Phee comforted him.

    A bee landed on the clone's knee. Out of instinct, he screamed. Then he just watched it. Putting his finger by it the insect crawled onto his finger. It was smaller than his finger nail. "Hey Tech."