Fixing Our Broken Pieces || The Bad Batch

Chapter 14: A Good Friend

Orla asked Rex to drop her ship off at Ord Mantell so he could go off on his journey on his ship. Orla would have to sleep on the Marauder with the rest of the squad so they could leave tomorrow when fewer scrappers will hopefully be around.

She watched her ship take off while it was still dark but after that, she couldn't fall asleep. Hunter had offered the bunker on top of his that once belonged to Crosshair, she accepted but still lay wide awake. It was the middle of the night though it seemed like it could be the afternoon. She was careful not to make too much noise as she tossed and turned. Maybe it was because she missed sleeping in a hammock on her ship? She spent time with very few people for a long time and now she's on a ship with 5 others, maybe it was a lot to handle? Even in the temple she slept alone, in fact, she was only ever really around Caleb and one or two others and that only started when she was 17.

She made a fist in her hair, accepting that sleep wouldn't be possible tonight. Very carefully she jumped to the floor without making a sound or waking Hunter, who was peacefully resting below her. Starting to creep up to the front of the ship, so that maybe she could sleep on the pilot's chair or make herself useful by scouting for scrappers. From the darkness, noises were coming from the cockpit. She held a hand on her lightsaber, had someone broken in? The sounds cleared up as she stepped closer and the noises turned into heavy breathing. She took a hand off her lightsaber, recognising not the person, but what the breathing was for. Was someone crying? Stepping into the light, she lowered her guard. It was Echo, he was crying.

"Echo?" it seemed his deep breathing was from trying not to cry. His body was shaking uncomfortably and he was having a hard time breathing in and a harder time breathing out. He hadn't heard Orla say his name or when she sat down next to him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, hey Echo," she said with a calm tone, "Echo?"

He jolted out of his trance, not expecting anyone to have found him.

"Are you having an attack?" she asked instead in a hushed tone. The only words Echo could form was, "what?"

"A panic attack. It's alright, deep breaths I'll get you some water."

She came back with two glasses in her hands, keeping one eye on Echo who has calmed down. He sat forward with hands on his head as she placed the drink down.

"Hey, sit up," she pats him gently on the back, getting him to sit properly, "here."

He sips on the cup and sighs, relaxed.

"You know, I would offer tea but it's on my ship with Rex. I also have some natural ingredients like plants that are good for anxiety. There are a lot of different scents that can help with an anxiety attack."

"What?" he repeated.

"You know PTSD, you're showing signs of trauma, it's alright I get it too. I started to get it after I left. Got all sorts of terrible nightmares but now I don't have dreams at all for some strange reason. I started having difficulty breathing because I cried so much but my close friend Zelda was with me. She's the one who gave me all the good advice. Have you told the others?"

"No, no I can't bother them with this. I've had it ever since I joined them. It's fine it's only a dream," he tried to push it off but Orla wouldn't have it.

"Echo, that's not healthy, you can't ignore something like this. It will only get worse, not better. You're a soldier just like them. You're no less of a human being than they are, doesn't matter what the statistics say. You deserve help, I can help you."

"I don't know what you mean," he gripped the glass she had handed to him. Echo still held on a very tight grip on what he believed to be his dignity. A soldier can't be seen as weak, Echo refuses to be seen as a weakling. He will not hold back his group over something he thinks can be ignored.