The Bad Batch - One shots

Touch starved

Omega wasn't familiar with human touch.

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Omega wasn't familiar with human touch.

On Kamino, she was sparsely spoken to by anyone with a beating heart- especially by the clones who saw her as nothing but a defect. Nala Se was the only person to touch her shoulder to guide her 'curious mind' along, and besides that, all she had was AZI-3.

The Bad Batch weren't the touchiest squad she'd seen. Some of the cadets on Kamino were connected at the hip- always pushing each other playfully and messing up their vod's hair to make them smile. In fact, the Bad Batch hardly spoke the whole way to Saluecami, hence why she sought out Wrecker to show her around the ship.

It was better than sitting around in the cockpit.

Echo was the most isolated- not even letting people sit within a foot of him on the Havoc Marauder. Omega knew he spent a while in the hands of the Techno Union, and whether it was the constant body modifications that made him anxious around others, or just the lack of human touch whilst he was held prisoner on Skako Minor, something had obviously scarred him.

Crosshair also limited his contact with the others, which probably made it easier on the rest of the Batch when he turned his back on them. Tech's similarly socially awkward, except he didn't seem to mind Hunter putting a hand on his shoulder when she first met the squad. All he wanted to do is play on his datapad- not involve himself in mindless chatter.

Wrecker and Hunter seemed to be the most forward with touch. The former was simply too energetic and sociable to be contained, whilst the Sergeant would confidently pat her shoulder whenever he checked in with her.

Apparently, he was worried about her getting travel sick. In reality, she knew he was busying himself with her wellbeing to cover his own confusion and grief about everything that had happened since the Chancellor ordered the clone army to kill their Jedi officers.

Omega quickly grew to admire the squad she travelled with- even in the dire circumstances. Everyone had their quirks, and they all appeared to enjoy her company- already telling her stories and teaching her some basics to life outside Kamino.

Rule one: don't play with the wildlife.

She felt frozen as the nexu stalked closer- feeling like she'd been caught in the Bad Batch's barracks by the shock trooper all over again. Dread wrapped around her heart in an icy fist, and she was strikingly reminded that despite her seemingly confident and tough persona, she really was just a kid with no idea how the galaxy worked, let alone how to survive an animal attack.

The second emotion to rush through her- following the flood of fear- was regret. Not only had she endangered her own life by being foolishly ignorant, but then Hunter was suddenly shielding her with his body- knife out and slashing at the beast's face whilst Suu shot it from the rooftop.

He risked his life for her.

In his protective state, Hunter pushed her a little too roughly back through the fence, and Omega winced at the sting of barbed wire pricking the back of her leg. Her grip on the ball was white-knuckled, and she was sure that if she let go, her hands would be shaking.

"What were you doing out there?" Hunter demanded, anger radiating off him in waves. Omega cowered away from him- not being used to this side of the Sergeant. Nala Se was a calm mentor- always speaking in a low, soft tone that Omega found soothing, if a bit patronizing at times. "Do you realise you could've been killed?"

Omega shielded her face away- shame bubbling through her. She felt her vision go blurry, which only made her panic more. Had she hit her head at some point in the chaos? Why did her throat feel so tight?