It Started With a Vacation

Chapter Six

**the picture on top is a reference for a description in the beginning of the chapter**

It stormed hard that night. Not even you could ignore the loud crashing of thunder from outside the palace walls. It had shaken you from your sleep, startling you slightly. It reminded you of a time you had woken up to a surprise assault by the Separatists. It was one of your first missions with the 17th, and one of the first in the war. The Separatists had started to shoot their cannon towards where you and your men had been resting. Luckily, no one had been injured, but it definitely became a new nightmare for them.

You knew you wouldn't be able to fall back asleep again, so you got up and stood in the doorway to your balcony. You watched as lightning streaked across the sky, then waited for the loud boom that was sure to follow. You knew the regs all had nightmares, usually fueled by storms, and you wondered if the Batch was the same. You looked over to their balcony across the grounds, wondering if they were alright.
~~~
Hunter woke up in a thick sweat. His heart was pounding and ears ringing. It took him a second to readjust to his surroundings. Dohbar, he thought. He was safe. He was with his brothers. He was far from Kamino and the battlefield. He heard groans coming from Wrecker's bed, and looked to see him tightly clutching Lula in his arms. Tech was thrashing slightly, mumbling incoherent words in his sleep. Hunter could only imagine what Crosshair might be experiencing in the room next door. He quietly climbed out of bed and began walking over to his brothers when he heard a soft knock on the door. He turned his direction and went to answer it, surprised to see you standing there.

"Y/n," he said, "what are you doing over here?"

"I wanted to check on you, I know how storms affect my men, and I wanted to make sure you were all okay," you said quietly as you stood in the doorway. Hunter glanced back into the room before moving to the side to let you enter. He heard your breath catch when you saw Tech.

"Is he...okay?" You questioned, concern lacing your tone.

"We usually wake him up so he doesn't hurt himself," Hunter replied. He watched as you nodded and crept over to Tech's bed.

"Tech," you said gently, reaching a soft hand out to him. "Tech, it's okay. You're okay." You let your fingers lightly graze his cheek, careful not to startle him.

"I'm here, Tech. You can relax now." You put more of your hand on his face as his thrashing stopped. The only sign of his distress was his tightly furrowed brows, but even they were slowly coming apart.

"That's it, Tech. You're safe. Just breathe." His eyes slowly opened, and he stared drowsily back at you for a second. You watched as the fear in his eyes slowly faded away.

"Th-thank you," he stuttered out. You gave him a small smile before turning to Wrecker, who was still groaning while keeping his death grip on his stuffed animal. You left Tech's side to go comfort his bigger brother.

"Wrecker," you called gently, knowing that the risk of disturbing his sleep was greater because of his size. Scaring Tech would have likely earned you a punch, which would have hurt, but with Wrecker, only the Maker knew what would happen. You didn't care though, you just wanted him to be okay.

"Wrecker, I need you to come back to me, okay? I need you to wake up." You let your fingers trail his hand and arm, hoping the soft touch would be somewhat soothing for him. His grip only tightened on the stuffed animal, so you thought for a second about what you could do.

An idea came to your mind, and you gently placed a finger on either side of his temple. You closed your eyes and pushed warm feelings towards him. You felt the tension in his body slowly drain as he soaked up what you were giving him. His groans turned into mumbles, and then snores. You opened your eyes and held his cheek with your hand, turning him to face you. He opened his own eyes as you did, and he smiled at you.