Bad Batch: Healer's Heart

Reunion

"And that's how you disassemble a thermal explosive." Wrecker explained to Omega. The two were standing in the scrap yard on a rare piece of ground. Sunlight streamed through the old ships, creating a picturesque landscape of the ruins of war. Before them was a disassembled but active explosive. All the parts were laid out neatly and ready to go off at the right time.

"There's tons of live ordnance buried in this shipyard." Continued the demo man. "If you trip one, you need to know how to disable it."

"Seems simple enough." Omega said as a smirk painted itself on to her expression. With the skills her brother's and Althea were teaching her, she felt confident in her ability to survive.

Wrecker grabbed a pair of wire cutters and tossed them to the curly haired girl. "Well, if you're so sure, here. Disarm it."

Omega's confidence wavered. "Me? But I only watched you once–"

Wrecker ignored her concerns, grabbing the remote and pressing the button. "Ten seconds till we're both goners. Ten, nine..."

Omega fumbled as she looked over the bomb in front of her. "The conductor feeds the coil expander,"

".... eight...."

"This connects to the transmitter." She followed the wires, at a loss for what to do next.

"...seven..."

Omega turned back to Wrecker, panic rising in her chest. "Then what?"

The demo man ignored her, casting a stern stern look. "...six, five, four..."

Omega turned back to the bomb and cut a wire she vaguely remembered Wrecker teaching her about. The explosive began to beep. The blonde turned back to Wrecker. "I don't know which wire to cut next."

"Better get it right."

Omega whimpered lightly as Wrecker's countdown continued.

"Three, two, one!"

Deciding just to go for it, Omega cut a random wire. The beeping accelerated, earning a look of worry from Wrecker.

"Obviously not that one. Too late! Run for it!"

Omega stood and ran as fast as she could for cover, tripping over a metal pipe in her frenzy. She barely made it behind a scrap wall before the beeping halted and a poof! was heard.

Wrecker laughed loudly. "Gotcha!"

Omega peeked behind her cover to see a plume of smoke drifting away. She let out a scoff as she walked over the demo man. "Why didn't it explode?"

Wrecker grinned. "Because it's a smoke bomb. You think I'd let you train with a live explosive? Not after Thea almost singed off my eyebrows." He laughed again. "You should've seen your face."

"Wrecker, Omega," A voice from above said. Echo was standing on top of a scrap pile. "Pack it in. Hunter wants us back at the Jedi cruiser." The ARC jumped down, now on the same dirt as the other two. "How'd the test go?"

Omega clenched her fists, her face twisting into a dispute frown. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Wrecker patted her shoulder lightly as they walked back to the cruiser with Echo. "Cheer up, kid. I failed my first disarming test too. With my help, you'll be a pro in no time."

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Althea flipped her knife between her fingers, lacing it through like a thread. Her brow furrowed in concentration. No matter how much she practiced, the small fear she would lose a finger was always present.