The Bad Batch: One Shot Collection

From Visit to Rescue

Wrecker goes to visit Sami shortly after her return home, and he finds her life is very different than he thought, and she needs his help.

Oh, Wrecker is not good at patience. Never has been. Crosshair never hesitated to rub that in, and it's one thing that's never changed. Neither his little brother, nor the truth of his words, or the unwanted-ness thereof. Apparently, the fact that he's been standing out here for an entire half hour doesn't change, either, and wrecker's running pretty short on his patience, and sanity.

His worry is skyrocketing.

Is Sami even still here? What if they loved? What if she was hurt? What if it was something worse? The kid is – well, she's adorable, and he would never forgive himself if something happened to her.

Maybe they should've kept her on Pabu a little longer, maybe he shouldn't have let Emerie drop her off, maybe...

A very, never-ending list of maybes.

"Just knock," Hunter tells him, pointed.

"Y – yeah, sure, Sarge." Easy for him to say, but Wrecker hesitantly lifts his hand to knock again. Are they afraid of him? Wrecker used to like scaring people. Now he just hates what he looks like, his size and strength that's brought nothing but pain, and the twisted, jagged scarring on his face that's a definite sign of who he is.

A clone. A soldier. Things he's tried to leave behind.

Now, he hates being scary.

"Are we sure anyone's alive?" That's Crosshair, leaning on the wall. He would be leaning on his rifle if Hunter hadn't made him leave their weapons on the ship. They need to look like civilians, and they do, for as weird as that may be.

He wishes Omega had come. She wanted to, but someone had to stay with Tech.

The door creeks again, opening just an inch, big enough for the Pantoran woman's face to show. "I told you already, you're at the wrong address!" And she makes to slam it, but Wrecker's faster, desperate, wedging his hand in the way and catching its force easily.

It is Sami's mother. Wrecker recognizes her. "I'm just here to see Sami," he protests, "I told you, I'm Omega's brother."

She must have talked about them, right? Did something happen? Are they –?

"Get out," she repeats more fiercely, but then a soft gasp from behind her has him looking past her to... another girl? Sami's younger sister – she talked about her a lot. Lyzi.

"Wrecker?"

She knows his name. Right now, he thinks he could cry.

"I said, stay inside!" the woman yells sharply over her shoulder, and the kid scrambles back out of sight.

Wrecker lets her close the door, blinking in honest, genuine confusion, and entirely overwhelmed. Partly, that he really wants to cry – all he wanted was to make sure the girl was safe and their parents just threw him out, and that Sami told her sister about him. She talked about Lyzi all the time when she was brave enough to mention her sister again, about how their parents were refugees, and were away most of the time, and that she did most of the caring for her sister.

Eva always talked about her parents with joy and longing, even if it hurt her to leave. The boys were happy to at least see their parents again, and Bayrn now lives permanently on Pabu, which Wrecker is overjoyed about.

But Sami had always bene quiet when the others shared stories. He can see why now.

"Did we ever yell at the kid like that?" Wrecker asks finally.