#bolo and ketch bad batch | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

techtalksfics · 1 year

Text

Just As You Are (Tech x Reader)

Summary: Everyone is a little fragile after the Ipsium incident and Tech wonders if you'd be better off with someone...well, less like him.

Authors Note: Sorry if this is awful.

Warnings: None

Word Count: 3k

When you walked into Cid's parlour, you could feel that something was different. Very different.

The air was uneasy. All the usual happiness, the playfulness of relaxation was gone.

Yet, the bar was quiet as usual. Bolo and Ketch were certainly normal. Their boisterous laughter was the only sound in the room.

Cid was fixing one of the slot machines and the Bad Batch were not speaking to her and she was not speaking to them. There was a painful silence suspended in the air around them all.

Suddenly, you knew what was different. Your favourite clones were silent, contemplative and one clone was missing. Where on earth was Tech.

His usual spot at the end of the bar was empty.

"Where's Tech?" You asked as you made your way around the dirty tables. Hunter had spotted you as you came through the door but he had sensed your approach moments before. He noticed that you were still in your formal work dress and boots. You'd come straight here because you knew they'd returned and Hunter knew exactly why you'd come.

He knew you couldn't resist seeing Tech.

"He's fixing the ship. He didn't seem to want any company so we left him to get on with it." Hunter muttered most of those words, the deep intonation of his voice rumbled through the uneasy air. He took a long slurp of the drink in his hand before he placed it on the bar. Despite this action, his eyes remained fixed on you.

Your eyes drifted to Omega. You had been worried for her since Tech had informed you in a message that he had stayed behind on Coruscant. She looked broken and you knew how much she missed Echo. You also knew how much she feared being left behind by her brothers.

And now that was becoming a reality for her. You felt a paroxysm of sympathetic pain in your chest as you looked at Omega, then Hunter and Wrecker. They all looked disgruntled, tired and a little bit lost and you didn't think that Echo was the only reason. Though his absence clearly did not help.

Truthfully, you were shocked that Echo had decided to stay behind. You understood why but surely he knew the pain that Omega would feel.

As you approached her, she finally looked up at you and offered a tired smile.

"Holding up okay, kid?" You asked with a quirked brow. She always giggled slightly at the odd expression on your face. She nodded her head and as you placed your hand upon her shoulder, you felt her cool hand immediately reach for yours. She kept her hand atop yours.

You wanted her to know that you were there. It wouldn't stop her missing Echo but you could reassure her that she'd never be truly alone.

Your finger gently brushed over the Kyber crystal around your neck. A dear friend gave this to you before Order 66, before the Empire. You also thought it protected you as you fought against the Empire. Omega watched your fingers graze over the crystal gently.

You took hold of the thread that held the crystal around your neck and lifted it off. You held it out for Omega. As she took hold of it, her face lit up.

"Now Omega," you began, bending down onto one knee, your eyes level with hers, "this crystal was a gift from a dear friend who died a long time ago. He saved me when I was scared, when I was alone. He told me that it would protect me and it always has." She looked at you and tried to hand it back to you.

Qui-Gonn has been with me for all these years and now your neck felt empty but you knew Omega needed the comfort of the crystal more than you.

The bloodstone crystal was in her small, soft hand and the thread hung loosely around her sides of her hand. Her index finger reached to softly stroke the crystal and you could feel the force glow around it. Qui-Gonn would be happy with you giving it away. After all, he had given it you when you were only a lost child and now you were doing the same.

You folded your fingers around hers so that she grasped the crystal, "and now I am gifting this to you. It will keep you safe. Keep your brothers safe, even Echo."

"Thank you," she whispered and placed the crystal around her neck. With a nod, you stood and grabbed Hunter's drink from the bar. You took a small sip and smirked at Hunter. Normally he would be bothered by the action but his heart had softened at your kindness to Omega.

"Tech definitely at the ship," Omega quipped as her fingers played with the crystal, "if you want to go see him, do. He may not want our company right now. But I think he'll appreciate yours. He wasn't sure if you were in Ord Mantell so he didn't know if she should contact you."

Omega was far too intuitive for her own good.

With that kind affirmation, you fixed your dress and headed out the door.

------------------------

If Omega believed Tech was in the dockyard, then that is where you wanted to go. As you approached the Marauder, you carefully approached the toned legs sticking out as the rest of the body was covered by the Marauder. When you were close enough, you gently nudged the leg that was raised up. "Hello Tech," you offered as he continued his work.

You heard him mumble a gentle but saddened hello.

For a moment, you stood back and simply watched his nimble fingers rewiring the ship. As his hand took the hydrospanner from his belt, he continued on with his work.

He was unsually quiet.

Even the dockyard felt different. You called out his name gently and he immediately rolled out from under the ship, his eyes fixed on you. There was a melancholy edge to his gaze. Those wonderful brown eyes, which were usually so confident and happy, glistened with doubt and insecurities.

“Are you okay?” You slowly asked as he dropped his head back down, looking at the ship. He didn't continue working, yet he feared looking at you as he couldn't give away everything he was feeling.

He blinked at you and asserted, "I am fine, thank you." He played with the spanner in his hand and pushed himself back under the ship. He began tweaking away. You rested your arm against a metal crate that was beside the ship. You shivered as the cool metal lowered your body temperature. The air cooled considerably as you simply watched him work.

You knew he wasn't ready to talk.

So, you took out your PADD and began looking at your work briefs for your upcoming trial. A case of criminal negligence by an important official in Naboo. A somewhat unpleasant case to deal with but you prided yourself on fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves. You had limited time on Ord Mantell but even a moment with Tech made the trip to this planet worth it.

For a while, you both worked away. You read through the brief and reviewed the submitted evidence. You only stopped to hand Tech the tools he needed that were out of his grasp.

Secretly, you loved these comfortable silences where productivity was valued over baseless conversation and you didn't want to push him into talking about whatever had placed sadness in his eyes.

Suddenly, Tech pulled himself out from under the ship and stood quickly, his eyes fixed on you. He brushed off his blue trousers and adjusted his goggles, as he always did when he was nervous. He sucked in a breath and bluntly asked, “would you not prefer to be around someone who expressed emotions the way others do?”

“What?” You asked, shocked by his unexpected outburst.

“I know that perhaps I do not focus my attention on you the way I should. I upset Omega simply because I could not understand her reaction to Echo’s temporary departure. It led me to wonder if I am capable of being a suitable companion to someone as wonderful as you.”

You are so much more than a companion Tech, you painfully admitted to yourself. Your actual response was perhaps a little more conservative, you'd never really discussed what you were to each other. He had approached you slowly and positioned himself next to you, his back and hips pressed against the crate.

“No Tech,” you reached for his free hand, “I prefer you. I prefer your fascination with everything unexplained, everything technical, everything wonderful. I prefer your mind, your way of speaking. The way you explain everything to me. You are so much more than suitable. You are more than enough. I just…” you gave his hand a gloved gentle squeeze and his cheeks coloured, his head turned away, “I just prefer you.” You pulled at his hand gently, encouraging him to look at you again. You couldn’t help the slight frown that crossed your lips as you were pained by his self-doubt. His eyes remained on the floor. “Why would you ask me such a thing, Tech?”

“On our most recent mission to mine the Ipsium, Omega truly believed that I did not care about the absence of Echo. I –“ he laced his fingers through yours, adding strength to a previously limp connection, “I was unaware that this was the brashness I was presenting. I managed to upset Omega, Wrecker…even Hunter. Simply because I process information and situations differently than they do.”

“There is nothing wrong with the way you process information, Tech.” You raised his hand gently and kissed his fingertips, yet you noticed that his expression remained pained. However, he let out a soft sight as you placed a second careful kiss to his fingertips. You wished he wouldn't wear gloves. Well, pained for Tech. His eyes were lingering on the Marauder and his lips ever so slightly frowned. You looked at the ship which was lit under the soft glow of the moon from above and a harsh glow from the spotlights below the ship fought with the soft light of the moon as the light glimmered on the ship.

“That is not all that happened on this mission.” He sighed gently and you gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” As he began to explain what happened to Omega, the conversation they had in the cave, the ‘failures’ he had encountered from his behaviour to the kid that had stolen their ship, you felt your heart ache for him. Your chest tightened with every snippet of information he discussed, and he discussed many.

He hadn’t let go of your hand. This simple act of affection meant everything to you.

As he finished his tale, you let out a pained whisper, “Tech.” He still didn’t look at you.

“Is there a different way I should be expressing my emotions?”

“No, Tech. The way you are is just fine.”

“But perhaps –“ He began and before you could allow his thoughts to spiral, you interrupted his pained thoughts. “If you think for even one second that you need to change the way you are then you must listen to me.” He let go of your hand so that he could rub at the back of his neck. You place your hand on his cheek, feeling the heat of his embarrassment. “You are magnificent, and you are wonderful, just as you are.”

His expression was still pained. I had better confess it now, whilst I am trying to express my emotions, he thought logically. “I also worry that you may also be unaware of my true feelings at times. That was my true reason for asking.” He said it so plainly that you couldn’t help but experience a bolt of lightning hitting your stomach. Not only did he care; he cared about you in a way that he had never truly expressed.

“Tech, I know how much you care for your brothers. For Echo. For Crosshair. But I also know that you care about me.” The corners of your lips twitched as the heat reached your cheeks. The cool air made the heat of your cheeks tender.

“I was not simply confessing that I care about you. Not in the way I care for my lost brothers.” He countered gently and the dusted pink of his cheeks began spreading to his neck. He looked into your eyes, searching for evidence that he should not continue, that you were uncomfortable with his train of thought. Yet, he only found the usual caring gaze in your emerald eyes. He had always loved the depth of green he saw when he looked into them deeply. “I was referring to my ardent and, at times, amorous feelings for you.”

“The amorous feelings you have for me?” You repeated slowly, as if you were entirely unaware of them.

He hadn’t ever directly mentioned them before, although you had suspected them. He always took the time to explain technical things to you. He sat closer to you than he did anyone else. You had caught him staring at certain revealing outfits you had worn for political events. You noticed the way he smiled when you were heatedly debated things with Echo. Simply put, you had noticed the little things.

“Tech, if you think I am unaware that you care a great deal about me then you are, possibly for the first time since I’ve known you, sorely mistaken.” He looked perturbed at the notion he had been so obvious. He thought he had been discrete.

With a soft chuckle you let go of his hand and hopped up onto the metallic crate that your body had been resting against as you’d spoken to him. As he simply watched you, with a sheepish but doe-eyed expression, you couldn’t help but shake your head with a chuckle. You indicated that he should sit next to you.

With a little pat, pat on the space beside you.

He complied and quickly moved to sit next to you. His shoulders uncharacteristically sagged a little. The pain of the recent revelations clearly weighing on his body. You gently whispered his name as you looked up towards the moons effervescent light. His head didn’t quite face you but you could tell you’d dragged him from his thoughts.

“I meant what I said, my darling clone.” The pink hue reappeared on his cheeks. “I prefer you. I would even say that I care about you more than anyone. Plus,” you chuckled faintly again, “I am hardly an expert on excessive emotion. I am a lawyer, a politician of sorts I suppose. Reason, logic and knowledge are the things I cherish the most. You have all of those things in your marvellous brain in abundance.” With a startled stutter, his eyes finally snapped up to yours. “Did you think I have a wealth of work on Ord Mantell? I don’t come here for legal debate. I come here for you. I will always go where you are. I can’t seem to help myself.”

My god, how could he not know?

You hadn’t noticed the silence that filled the usually cluttered and crowded dockyard. It floated around you both melodiously. But as you noticed that he had no intention of speaking, you continued with your confession, “Tech, it’s okay that you don’t express things the way others do. I understand you and I understand the little things that you do for me. I know what it all means. I know you care. I wouldn’t ask anymore of you because what we have, even though we haven't labelled it, is wonderful, just as it is.”

“Thank you,” he whispered gently, taking hold of your hand once more. You took the opportunity to rest your head on his muscular shoulder. It was softer than you expected.

And then he did the truly unexpected. He rested his head atop yours.

“I am glad that you understand me, meshla.” He said it so gently that you weren’t absolutely sure that he’d said it. He sighed and said, “I have so many repairs to do. We have issues with the skip drive, the power grid is slightly damage from the scrappers who stole the ship and Omega has broken her communications device again.”

“Again?” You laughed as you spoke. That kid breaks that device every time they leave this planet, you thought gently. Tech uttered a yes as he pulled the device out from his belt. The buttons blinked erratically, and you could see the plate was bent out of place.

“Sorry,” he whispered as he lay his back on top of yours, “I suppose I just ruined the moment.”

“Not at all. If anything, you proved that you will always be the magnificent Tech that I care so much for. Fixing everything and impressing the hell out of me.” Your eyes closed softly as you enjoyed the warmth radiating from him. “You could even say that this is romantic.”

“How is this” he gestured to the cluttered dockyard, “romantic?”

“We are sitting together under moonlight.” You laughed and confirmed, “that’s pretty damn romantic to me.”

"You look very... pretty this evening. I -" he smiled softly as his fingers played with the fabric pooled around your thighs. "I find this dress very distracting, it is simply gorgeous."

"Thank you. I had another silly corporate dinner." You feel into a comfortable silence.

“I suppose now would not be an appropriate time to start fixing the comm device.” You laughed at this statement, knowing he was eager to get back work.

“No it wouldn’t,” you lifted your head and gingerly reached towards him, placing a soft kiss to his cheek, “but do it anyway. But let me tell you a secret first.” He looked shocked as his head finally turned your direction. You kissed his cheek again, liking the way it made his cheeks flush deeper. He was almost crimson now. After that little kiss, you were close enough to reach and whisper in his ear. “I find it extremely sexy when you work on the ship.”

He arched an eyebrow and afforded you a true Tech smile. He was calm once more. You always knew the right thing to say.

Sexy, he wondered, how on Earth was it sexy? He realised the why didn’t really matter. What mattered was how he could keep you thinking that.

And so, he reached for his tool belt and pulled out a small hydrospanner. Time to get to work.

#tech bad batch x reader #the bad batch #tech bad batch #hunter bad batch #wrecker bad batch #reader insert #bad batch tech #tech bb x reader

352 notes · View notes

half-truths-and-hyperbole-louk · 2 months

Text

Louk's Bad Batch rewatch part 17 😁

we're getting extremely close now yalls 😳 so I'm going to either shorten my posts or post them a lot closer together ... like I've reserved tomorrow to do nothing but watch tbb 🤫

either way I hope you enjoy 💕

The Bad Batch 1x13

"it's not the first time she has left out key details" ~ Tech @ Cid yeah bud and it won't be the last 👀

pykes 🤢

Omega recognising Ruby the lil lizard thing

Hunter's plan to leave Ord Mantell and do their own thing WE WERE ON THE VERGE OF GREATNESS 😫 WE WERE THIS 🤏 CLOSE

and Cid's just waiting for them on their ship 😡

"I believe she's threatening us" YES SHE IS JUST SHOOT HER ALREADY

poor confused Omega my bby she's using you 🥲

Wrecker wearing his helmet as a hat again 🥺

Cid: "you guys are good at stealth right?" lmao who's gonna tell her

Cid just pulled a Joel Miller with the "we're silent, not quiet, silent" hehe

Wrecker: "we're not afraid of a few bugs" oop-

okay so did Omega name the lizard thing Ruby or is that actually her name?? bc Omega calls it Ruby and after that Roland calls it that too, so is he just copying her or did Omega like force-sense it's name? like how Ahsoka can talk to Grogu?? 🤔

Echo: "ugh and I thought Wrecker was a slob" pls- 💀 stinky boys

bad guys who baby talk to their pets and blow kisses and cuddle them

HOLD UP 👀 Hunter just slammed on the brakes, hijacked the other cart and jumped back off in time for it to move away 👌👌👌

how many times did I watch Hunter jump in the cart? yes

"at least we got rid of the spice right?" ~ Trace Omega + a bonus Tech looking into the camera like he's on the office 👀

I'd trust Bolo and Ketch more than Cid lolol

lmao Cid really thought she did something 💀

they literally all move at lightning speed to get their blasters out when the pyke says he'll keep Omega 👌 then they: 😡😡😡😡

if I was tbb I'd leave Cid at the bottom of the cavern, take the spice to the pykes and leave the planet

they're in the upside down fr

CAN PEOPLE STOP PUTTING OUR BABY IN HANDCUFFS !!!

but she makes friends with everyone 🥺

Roland: *being a spoiled rich kid* Omega: 'do you do crime'

CID YOU NUTBRAINED GECKO IF YOU WEREN'T SO BUSY TELLING WRECKER WHAT TO DO MAYBE YOU WOULDN'T HAVE SINGLE-HANDEDLY WOKEN THE ENTIRE HIVE-

Tech just yeets the light grenade and yells "incoming" I love him sm 🥰

it reminds me of Boba's seismic charge 💕

Hunter's hand on Omega's back when she stands with him and him reaching for her when she steps to Roland 🥺

Omega covering her face when she thinks they're gonna kill Roland 😭

the way I thought Roland was Vizago from rebels when I first saw them cut his horn 💀

Cid says "first rounds on me" and Tech and Echo smile at eachother 🥰

as always thanks for joining my friendsss ilysm 💕

14 notes · View notes

nonhumanhottie · 1 year

Text

The bad batch season 1 rewatch

Infested

Yo the batch all drawing their blasters at once is so hot tbh what kings

Cid is so fucking savage I love her what a bad bitch

'It was an acccideeeEENTT' Wrecker never change

Bolo and Ketch. What a duo

'The child stays here' IMMEDIATELY pulling their weapons out

Cid actually caring about Omega but constantly letting her selfish actions put her in danger ugh I love how even the side characters have depth

Roland arguing with a child. And losing

Also did Omega and Roland name Ruby separately, or did he just keep the name Omega gave her??

The boys fucking running for that free drink they're ready to get sloshed

War-Mantle

Love the slasher film start honestly

Omega copying Hunter's knife skills is so cute

There's something I love about Rex calling the batch (and other clones) 'boys'

Echo is so ride or die for Rex I love him he'll just glare at Hunter until he says yes

The baby clone asking if they'll still be soldiers oh my God these kids better be okay

Kinda live for Echo guilting the gang into doing the right thing

Gregor you little sass king I love you

Ooh Tech messing up for once

Wrecker babes you've got way too much confidence in your brothers

Can't end the episode without Crosshair being a dick to Hunter

#leshi star wars rewatch #tbb #the bad batch #star wars #star wars the bad batch #tbb hunter #tbb echo #tbb tech #tbb wrecker #tbb omega #tbb crosshair #tbb cid #captain gregor #leshi speaks

54 notes · View notes

eriexplosion · 2 months

Text

I have nothing to do this weekend so it is Catch Up On Rewatch time. We're up to Decomissioned!

I genuinely love that this episode begins a very long tradition of the batch making basically Zero goddamn money for Cid because they never accomplish the actual goal she sent them there for

I love the Grime of Ord Mantell so much

Like this? It is a fucking look.

"What if it was shiny" WHAT IF IT WAS GROSS AND COVERED IN DIRT AND RUST AND HAD SOME GUY SLEEPING ON IT?

The woman wandering into Cid's looked drunk already but Omega nearly shooting her in the face sobered her up REAL goddamn quick.

Bolo and Ketch are my beloved boys, crime uncles to go with the crime grandma for Omega. I don't know what their crimes actually are but look at them. They're definitely up to crimes.

This is just a sweet moment though, even if Omega is getting frustrated, everyone gathered around to watch her practice. She's not a natural but SHE'S LEARNING.

Cid: I assume you boys know what a tactical droid is?

Tech:

This is unsurprisingly one of my favorite moments he literally looks like he's going to explode when no one speaks up. IS NO ONE ELSE GOING TO TAKE THIS INCREDIBLY EASY QUESTION?

"You make money, I make money, and I watch your back." You fool. You will never get any money from these people.

CID WITH THE BOW IS HOT OKAY, I AM AN EASY MARK.

You know I'm surprised this facility doesn't sell the tactical droid modules themselves, like I'm sure it's imperial funded to get rid of all the separatist droids but come on, no one in the factory other than the Martez sisters is stealing these things?

BEING THE LOOKOUT WAS CROSSHAIR'S JOB. I'm sure Hunter loves getting that reminder of his Failure to keep his family together.

THE GIRLS ARE HERE <3

DON'T JUST STAND THERE. GRAB A WEAPON. "I had one >:T"

Omega was literally about to shoot Rafa at point blank range though like imagine her first kill was from about 2 feet away

SHOULD I HAVE LET THE DROID SHOOT YOU? Hunter has zero patience right now he is So Grouchy the instant Rafa opens her mouth

No worries just jump over the flaming pit of death Wrecker. Nothing bad can happen when you jump over the flaming pit of death.

LITERALLY STOLE THE DROID HEAD AND LEFT THE CHILD TRAPPED ON THE CONVEYOR BELT TO HELL.

God this moment with Wrecker's chip partially activating is so good.

Trace literally stops and realizes the child is going to be dumped into the slag and does NOTHING ABOUT IT FOR SO DAMN LONG. SHE COMES THROUGH IN THE END BUT GOD HOW LONG YOU GONNA STAND THERE?

I love them, they're disasters.

"Fine but I still don't like you." "I'M USED TO IT." This is very much like Hunter with Phee in season 2 he just gets so fucking cranky.

WRECKER HEARING "GOOD SOLDIERS FOLLOW ORDERS" IN CROSSHAIR'S VOICE IS SO FUCKING MUCH. Love this set up for next episode by which I mean I am horrified by it.

I'm easy, I find it hilarious when Echo makes a dad joke about their name.

THIS WILL HELP ME ACCESS THE PROGRAM. *TECH LITERALLY STABS THE DROID WITH SOME FORM OF SPIKE*

Honestly seeing Rafa again makes me remember those fake leaks when everyone was freaking the absolute fuck out over the idea that Rex/Rafa was going to be a thing in season 2 and honestly I still love the idea. I think that Rex falling for a garbage girl with thieving little raccoon hands is the funniest thing I've ever heard. He found a girlfriend in the dumpster.

Our first real push towards 'you can't just endlessly run away while doing it all for the money' from Trace. Again I am stuck on this, that you can't push for two seasons for the batch to actually stand up to the Empire and fight, to actually push back, and then have it turn out they should have just kept never getting involved anyway if they wanted to live. I'm chewing on the walls and the beams.

"in the end, we all choose sides" anyway this is why I think the very end of the show will be the batch together and actively choosing to go against the Empire, not because they're soldiers but because they're a family and they're fighting for each other. But unfortunately I don't think it will be as simple as retirement even if it's what they deserve, because of bits like this. At the very least, they're active in helping Rex get the other clones somewhere safe, even if they're not diving in to fight directly.

The way they hide who Rex is to make it look like the girls immediately turned on them doijsofd

SOON WE'RE GONNA HAVE REX THOUGH. THE BOY.

#the bad batch rewatch

9 notes · View notes

jedimemery · 2 years

Text

Soooooo has enough time passed for me to say I really love TBB s1 ep 13 “Infested” and I think it was overhated for no reason??

I mean seriously, I know it took a bit of a detour from the main storyline, but I don’t see that as a bad thing at all. In that episode alone, we got…

• The Pykes.

• The Boys showing the lengths to which they’d go for Omega.

• Some character development for Cid (her relationship with the Batch was really built upon in this episode imo. When she said, “I got the kid into this mess; I’ll get her out,” she was owning up to her mistake of getting Omega caught in the middle of crime syndicate affairs and she wasn’t about to let the poor kid pay the price for her mistake).

• Creepy/thrilling scenes with the irlings.

• Bolo & Ketch being idiots. 😂

• Wrecker screaming, “gEt Us OuT oF hErE,” as an added bonus.

All in all, I really thought it was just a fun episode where we could all take a breather and just enjoy an episode full of hijinks with some horror vibes sprinkled in. I’ll defend that episode without hesitation because I personally find it genuinely fun to watch.

#star wars #the bad batch #tbb #clone force 99 #tbb omega #tbb hunter #the best girl #bad batch #tbb tech #tbb wrecker #tbb echo #tbb cid #infested #tbb irlings

150 notes · View notes

minniethemoocherda · 1 year

Text

Sins of the Past: Brown Eyes

Summery: A collection of drabbles set in my modern au where the Bad Batch raise Omega after rescuing her from the abusive hands of their mother. In this chapter, Tech finds himself constantly running into the one and only Phee Genoa.

A/N: I have fallen head over heels for Tech x Phee! Tech deserves some love! And Phee is so cool! I had to write a chapter about them! I hope this fluff makes up for all the previous load of angst as for once this chapter does not contain any warnings! I hope you enjoy! And Happy Bad Batch Finale Eve everyone! I can't believe the season is almost over already! Thank you so much to everyone who's stuck around with this fic since season 1! Or if you started reading in season 2! The amount of support I have gotten from this fic has been unbelievable so again thank you! Xxxxxxxx

Tech had always been good at spotting patterns. Whether that be in art or maths or people. And recently he had begun to notice a pattern emerging in regards to one person in particular.

It all started when he and his brothers were fixing up Cid's bar. Bolo and Ketch had gotten into an argument with another couple which ended up with the two of them getting thrown across the bar into the wall. Cid had brought them in to fix the old wooden panelling.

Whilst they worked, the bar was supposed to be closed. But that didn't stop a woman with dark skin, golden coiled hair and an upturned smile from walking in. Tech was about to inform her that they were currently closed, when Cid brushed him off, saying that the woman was an old friend of hers that had recently moved back into town. Her name was Phee.

Tech hadn't given their first interaction much thought. She had hung around the bar, chatting to his brothers whilst she caught up with Cid but besides calling him Brown Eyes, they didn't talk much.

The bad batch had made a habit of going to Cid's bar for dinner on Thursdays as it was one of its quieter days so Cid gave them a personal discount if they came. Not long after their first meeting, Tech noticed that Phee had also begun to make a habit of appearing on Thursday's, to hang around with Cid and enthral Omega with tales of her exploits as a treasure hunter. At first, Tech assumed that as a close associate of Cid, Phee was also taking advantage of a personal discount.

But then she started making an appearance at their jobs sites as well. Not seemingly on Cid's behalf, just to tell more of her tales whilst they worked. Tech didn't mind her presence as she never distracted him from his work and he had to admit that he did find her stories entertaining if outlandish. At the time his new hypothesis was that she was simply making up for lost time by catching up with Cid after being away for so long.

And then she showed up outside of Omega's school.

Tech was waiting to pick up his little sister when the familiar voice called out across the playground.

"Fancy seeing you here Brown Eyes!"

He turned around and as expected, leaning against the school fence stood Phee.

"Good afternoon. I'm here to pick up Omega. What are you doing here?" He asked, as she made her way over to him.

"Well I'm here for my niece." She replied, "Ain't that a coincidence huh?"

Tech was starting to put the pieces together that their continued meetings were probably more than a coincidence.

But before he could delve deeper into that thought, the school bell rang out across the playground, shortly followed by the hordes of children.

In the past months under their care, Tech had become quite adapt at picking out the blonde head of his younger sister out of a crowd. He soon spotted Omega running across the playground towards him along with a similarly aged girl with familiar coiled hair and dark brown skin who had to be Phee's niece.

The girl leapt into Phee's open arms. Tech was impressed by the treasure hunter's strength. He knew how deceptively heavy growing children could be.

After a spin, Phee settled them back onto the ground.

"Allow me to introduce Lyana!" She said with a dramatic bow. Lyana gave a welcome wave to Tech.

"A please to meet you." Tech said.

Phee, stroked her hand over the Lyana's head. Although her eyes were on Tech, she appeared to be subconsciously detangling some of the girl's curls. Lyana was smiling at her aunts antics like she was the greatest person in the universe.

Until this moment, Tech hadn't fully realised how good Phee was with children. He knew that she was an engaging storyteller with the exploits she would tell Omega about but he hadn't noticed until now all the extra exaggerations and efforts she would put in to make the child laugh. In fact Phee was very good at a lot of things. Tech had seen her off handily complete her brothers' maths without calculator a calculator as she wondered around their building sites. And she was still the only person who gave him a challenge when playing chess at Cid's bar.

And it wasn't until this moment that he found that the rings of gold in her hair, made her eyes shine like amber.

Tech took his glasses off, to ensure that it wasn't just reflections of the glass. But if anything, the lack of glass only made them shine brighter.

He was so distracted by them, that it took him a minute to tell that Phee had continued talking.

"Now we just need to find something to do to until your Daddy is done with his meeting." Phee was saying to Lyana.

"Maybe you could watch a movie?" Omega suggested. "Tech is taking me to the cinema to see the first Pirates of the Caribbean because they're re-releasing it for its tenth anniversary and I've never seen it!"

"Then you are in for a treat!" Phee exclaimed with her usual enthusiasm. "That's my favourite film of all time!"

"Perhaps you would like to join us?"

Tech wasn't aware he had spoken until he found all three sets of eyes turned to him.

Omega was giving him the same look that his brothers often did when they were around Phee that he hadn't quite deciphered the meaning behind yet. So he turned his focus back to Phee who's ever present smile had settled into something softer.

"Oh Brown Eyes, I was starting to think you'd never ask."

#the bad batch #tbb #tech #phee #phee genoa #tbb tech #omega #tbb omega #star wars #sins of the past #lyana #tbb lyana #lyana hazard #shep hazard #techphee #tech x phee #pheetech

35 notes · View notes

graveyardblend · 2 years

Text

I need to talk about EXU: Calamity, but more specifically about Bolo as I have not seen anyone else mention this yet (so forgive me please if someone already has).

We all know that when it comes to Sam Riegal, there are rarely any coincidences, and so when he revealed that the name of Loquatious' date was Bolo, some alarm bell in the back of my head started ringing because I knew for definite I had heard that name before, but at the time I had no idea why.

Flash forward, and I'm rewatching Star Wars. At this point I remember that a new TV series had come out (The Bad Batch) and that Sam and Liam were in it. So, I look it up just to see who they voiced in it out of mild curiosity, and I see how Sam voices a character called Ketch. Pretty normal so far, nothing unusual, sounds like a typical Star Wars name.

That is until I see how Mr. Liam O'Brien voices for a character called Bolo.

Like I said, Sam rarely does things by coincidence, so I just thought this was a really fun little easter egg, but I haven't seen anyone talk about it! And yeah, maybe it was just Sam pulling a random name out of thin air and it just happened to be the name of Ketch's supposed best friend in the Bad Batch, but who cares! I love it, I love it, I love it.

#critical role #cr exu #exu calamity #exu bolo

87 notes · View notes

like-a-bantha · 1 year

Text

Busted Hyperdrive

Chapter Three: Odd Jobs

Summary: Last mission was, well, a definitely a mission. But will it be your last? An unexpected break leads you down a spiral of negative emotions.

Pairing: The Bad Batch & Gender Neutral Reader

Rating: T

Warnings: Mentions of drinking, lots of self doubt and negative thoughts, mentions of canon-typical violence

Word Count: 5.2k

A/N: Hi! I'm back, and VERY sorry for the wait. This sat in my drafts for close to a year, honestly kind of ironic since this chapter is pretty heavy on the self-doubt. As always, I hope you enjoy! <3

Link to AO3 and my masterlist for chapters one and two

Technically, the last mission was a success. You didn’t feel particularly successful, but Cid got her payment and the freedom fighters of Lothal got their thermal detonators, so by all intents and purposes, it was a job well done. But from where you’re sitting, hunched over the bar with your eyes locked on the drink in your hand that you haven’t touched yet, success doesn’t exactly live up to the hype. The deeper you stare into the purple liquid in the cup, trying to focus on the way it shakes within the glass the harder you anxiously bounce your leg, counting the ripples in a lame attempt to repress the still fresh memory of that morning's meeting.

Last night seemed fine, other than the mission ending rather violently you hadn’t a care in the world. You laughed and spent time with these strange people you’re starting to consider friends, albeit, reluctantly (mostly on Cid’s end). Hunter told you to meet back at the parlor at 0800 tomorrow to see if there’s any work to be done. You walked back to your ship and crawled into bed with a sigh. A good end to a bad day, good enough that the day was ready to be forgotten. Really, if you could just keep going like nothing happened you know you would adjust; you’ve put in enough hours at demeaning minimum wage jobs that you could probably get some sort of certificate in compartmentalizing. You can do it. You just can’t seem to figure out what you need to do to prove you can.

This morning the alarm on your chrono seemed louder than usual and your ships overhead lighting is just a little brighter. The sun rises as the painkillers begin working their magic, giving you just enough energy to dig through your cupboard for some instant caf. You’ve never been so eager to go to work before but you’ve also never been so friendly with your coworkers. It’s not even a five minute walk to Cid’s but you decide to head over at 0730. Just in case, you tell yourself.

The parlor is deserted when you get there. Obviously. Cid must be in her office and you’re definitely not knocking on that door until you have backup, she probably wouldn’t answer anyway, why give the newbie the rundown only to repeat it in 20 minutes? Valid. Too early for Bolo and Ketch, apparently. You kinda figured they were permanent fixtures. Probably could’ve killed time back at your ship rather than sit around an empty parlor, not entirely sure what the plan was there. Now you’re left alone with your thoughts in an unfamiliar place. This is becoming a habit. The time passes quickly, however, and yesterday’s events are tucked away neat enough that it hasn’t even crossed your mind.The way your brain practically vibrates inside of your skull has nothing to do with any ships you may or may not have blown up recently, it has to be from the singular drink you had last night.

Five minutes to 0800 and the office door whooshes open.

“Oh good, Y/N’s here,” Cid announces sarcastically, as you turn to greet her you’re met with five additional faces that clearly weren’t expecting you to be the early type, “you guys can tell them, I got work to do.”

“Hey, guys,” you say it like it's a question, “knew I should’ve got here earlier, what’d I miss?” They share a look and make their way over to your table. Something’s off and they’re doing a kriffing terrible job of acting nonchalant.

“Y/N,” Hunter says with a heavy sigh and a lopsided smile as he takes a seat in the chair across from you, “good to see you. You’re right on time.”

You try to not look visibly confused but it’s kind of hard not to, why are they being so weird? Everything seemed so normal last night. Is Cid firing you already? You just started. “So what did Cid not feel like telling me?”

Hunter clears his throat and looks down at the table as he collects his thoughts, he sighs and says, “Listen, we’re happy to have some help around here, and you did a good job on the mission yesterday, but we decided to ask Cid for some light work for the next couple of days. Lay low. Give you some time to recover after yesterday.”

“After yesterday? Why?” You shake your head, now definitely visibly confused, “I thought it went really well!” You look around the group, hoping to no avail that someone would back you up.

You lock eyes with Echo, he gives you a sympathetic look and reassures you, “You’re right, it could’ve gone a lot worse. But you need time to adjust, jumping back in too soon will just burn you out.”

Before you could protest, Wrecker lets out a loud “Yeah!” Laughing loudly, “Been too long since we had a good vacation!”

“It is not a vacation, Wrecker, we will still be doing smaller tasks,” Tech corrects him as he types away on his datapad, “I am making a detailed schedule for the next three days. If we are not making credits, we may as well use this time wisely.”

“Whoa, wait we’re not getting paid?” You finally manage to get a word in.

“We’re still getting paid,” Hunter corrects, Tech makes a face but never ceases his typing, “it’s just not as much as the last job. Lighter work, lighter credits. Cid gave us some odd jobs to keep us busy for the next few days while she finds us something better.”

“Wait, like, we’re getting bottles or whatever?” You ask, “There’s gotta be something we can do besides running errands.”

“Call it what you want,” Hunter shrugs, “it’s still a job. We’re lucky Cid even agreed to do any of this for credits.”

“It’s true, she usually just expects us to do it for free.” Echo sighs, it sounds like he meant it to be a joke but his tone betrays him.

You relent after a moment of deliberation, shrugging, “Yeah, okay, sounds good.” You try your best to put on a smile but you know it looks forced.

“Good,” Hunter nods, you note how tired he looks, “Tech, is that schedule ready?”

“Affirmative.” Tech quickly replies and finally finishes typing before giving each of you a detailed list of tasks while you sink into your seat, hoping the next three days at least go by quickly.

Everyone got to work with their lists of chores, working surprisingly quickly, but you can’t help but feel the time drag. Four hours into cleaning tables and fixing slot games Omega brings you a ration bar and a cup of juice.

She motions you over to the row of barstools, silently asking you to sit next to her while you both take a break from your chores. You sit down next to her, opening the ration bar that you take one look at before resting on the countertop. Omega watches you with visible worry, “How are you feeling?”

The guilt you feel manifesting in anger and sadness, none of which is directed at the girl, or her brothers for that matter. You want to respond but the pit in your stomach is beginning to condense into a black hole of dread. Shielding your pride, you swallow down a lame excuse and opt for a quick nod and whatever you can muster for a smile.

“It’s okay, you know,” Omega looks down, you pray she doesn’t think you’re upset with her, “we’re just worried about you.”

She sounds so sad. You’re sure it’s pity, none of them seem happy to be taking an unscheduled break on your account; no one except Wrecker, of course. But it's clear she’s telling the truth, she’s genuinely worried. “I know, Omega,” you say, trying to force your tone into something more comforting, neither of you are buying it, “and I appreciate it. But I really am okay.” This smile is a bit more convincing.

At least convincing enough that Omega gives a sad smile in return before sliding the now open ration bar closer to you as she hops off the tall stool, “You should eat, Tech said he doesn’t believe in long breaks.”

“Yeah,” You nod, eyes locked on the cup of juice in front of you, “I’ll see ya later.”

So here you sit. Staring blankly into a cup, silently commanding your reflection in the juice to do something. To fix this. In a sad attempt to pull yourself out of this mood you pick at the ration bar, but after a few bites you just feel sick. Deciding to get back to work, you make your way to the storage room to take inventory for Cid but as soon as you enter the door shuts behind you. Outside you hear two voices approach, stopping a few feet away from the cramped storage room you’re currently, technically, hiding in and you just can’t help but eavesdrop. Thin walls. It’s too muffled at first but after you close your eyes and focus, letting your ears adjust, you hear Tech and Hunter having a hushed conversation.

“I’m sure they knew what they signed up for, I do not understand why you would request to be paid significantly less for them.” You can’t tell if Tech is defending you or not but he is right.

“You saw how they handled yesterday’s getaway. Nat-borns aren’t like us, Tech. They need time.”

“Yes, well, we need credits. It appears they do as well.” You nod as if they can see you. “My point still stands.”

“Credits can wait-” you scoff behind the door and the voices on the other side fall silent. You didn’t think it was that loud.

Your cover’s blown so why not press the button to open the door to the storage room. The door opens, regret immediately sinking in as you stand there like a womp rat in a torch light, before looking at Hunter, “He’s right, you know. I know what I signed up for.”

“I’m not sure you do.” Hunter’s voice suddenly became very stern, “What happened yesterday, that’s going to happen again and I don’t think you’re prepared for that.”

While you’re glad he didn’t try to sugarcoat it, you can’t help the pain in your chest. You chew on your lip, looking at the floor while you try to formulate a response. “Listen, I know I freaked out yesterday but I’m over it now. Really. You didn’t have to request grunt work for my sake.”

He just stands there for a minute. Arms crossed and brows furrowed as he considers your response. “We’ll see about that in three days.” Hunter sighs, turning to leave the conversation, “Back to work.”

You and Tech are left in a tense silence for a few moments before he pulls out his datapad to check the schedule. “You are currently taking inventory for the supply run, correct?”

“Yeah, I’m on it.” You turn back to the storage room, “I’ll give the list to Cid when I’m done.”

“No need,” He’s still looking down at the schedule when you face him, your hand hovering over the close button. “I will send you the coordinates to the shop and Wrecker will accompany you to carry the order.” You simply nod, shutting the door to the cramped storage room as he walks away.

You set your bag on a shelf and get to work taking inventory. It’s grunt work, and you’re used to it, but this is why you left Tatooine. As you count all of the backup bottles and boxes of bantha nuggets you find yourself back in that mental loop of self-deprecation. You finish typing out the order on your datapad while you walk out into the parlor to find Wrecker and Omega waiting for you. You’re too deep in that mental loop to know for sure but you think you hear one of them ask if you’re ready to go so you nod and silently make your way up the stairs.

The short walk to the vendor was one filled with silent rage. You walked alongside Wrecker and Omega as they debated whether or not each errand counts as an individual mission and, if so, would that mean they just hit the mantell mix jackpot. While you would love to weigh in on such a riveting topic, your heavy footsteps rang loud in your ears, demanding your full attention; the fall of your right foot echoing my, and your left fault. Your body wants so badly to cry and scream, but it was your tears that landed you in this mess, so you keep on towards the shop silently as the debate next to you goes on.

When you got to the shop and peaked in you were surprised to see several people standing in the cramped storefront. You turned to tell Wrecker and Omega to wait outside but they were one step ahead of you, sights locked on the food stall across the street. Luckily the vendor was more than happy to keep small talk to a minimum, you just gave him the order number and before he retreated to the backroom he gave a quick, “30 minutes." Excellent customer service. When you walk out of the shop the food stall you last saw Wrecker and Omega is deserted, you walk into the road a bit more, scanning all of the other food stalls for any sign of your friends to no avail. Just as you’re about to go searching for them you remember Tech gave you their comm channel but when you reach for your bag to fish out your commlink you let out a string of curses. You consider taking the short walk back to the parlor to get it rather than walk around aimlessly looking for them, but just as you’re about to turn back you spot them heading your way, mantell mix in hand.

“It’s gonna be another 30 minutes, did you guys want to-” before you have a chance to finish your sentence, Omega runs up to you with a third carton of mantell mix.

“We got you some, too!” She beams, handing you the carton.

You can’t help but smile as you accept, “Thank you, guys,” you look down at the food in your hands then back to the two of them smiling, urging you to try it, you grab a piece and to no one's surprise, “not bad!”

Wrecker lets out a loud, “You got that right!” The two seem very happy with your approval, the sound of their laughter now louder than that terrible voice in your head and your mood is starting to shift back to something more pleasant.

“Okay, this is really good, but we still have 30 minutes before the order’s ready and I’m gonna take a guess and say Hunter’s not gonna be too happy if he sees us with all this mantell mix,” you laugh, “what’s the plan?”

Wrecker seems deep in thought, still eating, but definitely weighing your options. Omega lets out a gasp, immediately drawing your and Wrecker’s attention, “They haven’t been on the Marauder!”

The port isn’t far from the shop, just a few minutes of walking and snacking. When the ship is within view they practically take off running towards the open ramp, you laugh and pick up the pace. At least they wait for you at the bottom of the steps, Omega gestures for you to enter first with a little ‘ta-da!’ and you climb aboard their ship. They excitedly begin their tour at the cockpit. As you make your way to the back of the ship while Omega tells you about some surprise you have to see, you stumble over a case that was haphazardly tucked under a chair. As you bend to push it fully under the chair so no one really trips, Wrecker begins to panic, “Don’t open that!”

“I wasn’t planning on it?” You finish pushing it, standing to look up at him, “What, more explosives? You really should find a better way to store tho-”

“It’s Crosshair’s.” Omega cuts you off, shifting your gaze to her frown and back to Wrecker, who’s face went from shock to pain. The only sound in the ship is the hum of the overhead lights.

“Oh.” You don’t pry, whoever this was it was someone close to them, and whatever happened was recent by the looks of it. You look down at the case under the chair, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It’s okay.” Wrecker says, this is the quietest you’ve ever heard him, he shakes his head and his expression suddenly seems less troubled. He lets out a sigh as he takes a seat, crossing his arms, “He’s not dead or anything. Just joined the Empire.” His tone has leveled out, but the way his eyes are locked on the ceiling is setting off the change the subject sensors in your mind.

“So what exactly did you guys want to show me so bad?” You sigh, a tired smile taking over your face as they both look to you with matching grins. Without a word, Omega rushes towards you and grabs your hand as she pulls you further into the ship, Wrecker following closely behind.

You stop at a ladder, Omega looks to it and then to you with a wide smile. You must look very confused, because she points up the ladder as she beams, “That’s my room!”

You grin, stepping toward the ladder, you make your ascent and gasp as you pull the curtain to the side, letting out an audible, “Whoa.”

“Wrecker made it for me!” You can hear their excitement at your reaction.

Glancing back, you see the proud smile plastered on Wrecker’s face. You return your attention to the coziest gunner’s mount you’ve ever seen when you spot a stuffed animal, you reach forward to grab it, “And who is this? Your little soldier has a friend?” You hop down the ladder, giggling, holding the tooka doll by the arms to make it look like it’s doing a little dance.

“That’s my Lula!” Wrecker proudly exclaims before clarifying, “She’s Omega’s, too, we share.”

“I have one, too. Not a tooka, though, she’s a loth cat. Her name’s Jama.” You smile warmly and hand the doll over to Wrecker who immediately pulls it to his chest as one would an infant. Sighing as you laugh, you look around the ship, “I really like the room, I should take a page out of your book. Make my ship feel more like a home.”

The siblings lock eyes immediately, both of them buzzing with excitement as Wrecker frantically nods, Omega looks over to you, “Can we help?”

You’re shocked at first but feel you should’ve seen this coming, left with no choice but to happily nod your head, “Yeah I think that’d be a job for the professionals.”

“Are we the professionals?” Wrecker loudly whispers in Omega’s direction.

“We’re the professionals!” That tense silence a few minutes ago is long forgotten as the two laugh and happily high five. They take you on a full tour of the ship after that, showing off the weapons closet, Wrecker’s special explosives storage, the tally wall next to a bunk in the hallway below deck that Wrecker says are all for successful missions. He happily recounts a few too many, however, he’s halfway through a story about a particularly harrowing fight against a monstrous animal with razor sharp teeth and claws in a pitch black jungle when the alarm on your chrono goes off.

“Ah,” you silence the alarm, hoping no one noticed how you jumped when it started beeping, “order’s ready. C’mon you can finish that story on the way, I gotta know how you guys took that thing out.” Wrecker eagerly obliges, describing the ordeal in depth the whole way back to shop. The man who took your order pushes out a cart with four boxes and sends you on your way, Wrecker grabs the two largest crates and you hand Omega the smallest, resting her unfinished carton of mantell mix on top of it before you did the same with yours as you grab the remaining crate and begin your walk back to Cid’s.

As you approach the entrance to the parlor you remember your joke about Hunter seeing the mantell mix and, after your conversation earlier, you don’t want to seem like you’re intentionally trying to get on his nerves. You come to a stop and after a moment Wrecker and Omega do the same, looking back at you, “Hey, Omega. How ‘bout I trade you my mantell mix for that crate you’re carrying?”

“Why?” The girl, confused, takes the mantell mix from you in exchange for the small crate.

“Wrecker and I will bring these down, then you two are gonna take a walk while you finish that,” you laugh, nodding towards the cartons in her hands.

“What? Really?” Okay, Wrecker’s on board.

You laugh, “Yeah, it’s all yours, big guy. Let’s go put these down.” You both start down the stairs when Omega stops you.

“But what about restocking? We’re supposed to help you!”

“Ah, I got it covered. Used to do it all the time back home.” You shrug with a smile, reassuring the poor kid. She really is worried about you. “Plus, you guys already helped me.”

She looks half convinced but nods anyway and you meet Wrecker at the bottom of the stairs. He’s clearly excited for an unscheduled break and leftover mantell mix. You both leave the crates on the bar, smiling at Wrecker as he turns to leave, “Thanks.”

He’s already rushing for the stairs, grinning from ear to ear, “Thank you!”

The small crate Omega was carrying was mostly stuff meant to be stocked behind the bar so that was quick to sort out. You move on to the next crate, mostly bottles, you leave that behind the bar and pick up one of the last two crates to bring back to the storage room. Just as you’re about to open the door it hisses open and you nearly drop the crate, Hunter, who opened the door, stands before you with a raised eyebrow. You let out a shaky laugh, now that you know they’re all suffering a loss you don’t have the heart to rehash that talk you had earlier.

“You seem on edge.” He shifts in the doorway, not really letting you through, it looks like he’s trying to get a better view of the parlor.

“Just putting these away.” You help up the crate in your arms a little bit, nodding to the storage room behind him.

“Where’s Wrecker and Omega?” He finally looks back to you.

“Oh, uh, I forgot to mark something on inventory,” you lie through your teeth, “they offered to go back out for me.”

He looked like he had something to say about that but dropped it, sighing. You step aside, giving him room to leave and as you turn back to shut the door behind you, you see him heading outside. Hopefully Wrecker and Omega got a head start.

Restocking the storage room went by very fast, glancing down at your chrono you notice you’re surprisingly ahead of schedule and decide to waste a few more minutes in the storage room while you can. You sit one of the crates by the wall and close your eyes, taking a moment to recenter yourself before you take care of the bottles out front. Outside you hear the door hiss open once again followed by footsteps but you don’t bother opening your eyes, why would anyone bother coming in here unless they had to? Then the footsteps stop in front of the door before it hisses open.

“Sleeping on the job, huh?” You stand as Cid reprimands you. “You leave a mess behind the bar and come in here for a nap?”

“Yeah, there’s just something about the smell of wampa jerky that I find really calming.” You laugh, making sure you grab your bag on your way out of the storage closet this time.

“Yeah, yeah, gimme a hand with these.” The door to the back room hisses shut behind you both and Cid picks up the remaining crate, placing it on the counter with a clinking thud. Silently, the two of you get to work restocking the bar. You can tell she doesn’t want to talk but it’s been bugging you since this morning, and at the very least you deserve answers.

“Listen, I know one of them told you,” you say, moving a half empty bottle of shimmery green liquid to the side to put a full one behind it, “but why wouldn’t you try talking them out of this? They’re not your errand boys.”

“You really wanna know? They were just worried about you, after all.” She’s irritated, you can tell by her tone, but so are you so at least you’re on equal ground. “Did you even consider that, maybe, they could use a break, too?”

“Sure, if they need a break then give them a break, why assign them your grunt work?” You grab another bottle from the crate.

“My work is your work, kid,” She looks to you, pointing to the bottle in your hand, “that goes up top.” You roll your eyes, placing the bottle on a high shelf above the bar before returning to the crate for another. “Lemme ask you something,” she says, you put the next bottle in its place and turn to her, “this your first time having friends?” Your eyes go wide, you’re not sure what she’s trying to say but you had plenty of friends at your old jobs. You open your mouth to answer but she interrupts you, “Not coworkers. Or bosses. Friends.”

You think for a moment. Then another moment, and when your eyes drop to your shoes, she knows your answer.

“Thought so.” She says, passing you another top shelf bottle. You almost don’t grab it, just walk out, end the conversation altogether. “A word of advice, when people care about you, it’s nice to care back,” she looks to you, “a little understanding goes a long way.”

“Of course I care. I just don’t want them to miss out on my account, I didn’t ask them to do that, I said I can handle it.”

“You’re not hearing me. You don’t have to ask. They wanted to make sure you were doing alright, they’re not worried about work, they’re worried about you. You got a chip on your shoulder the size of a starcruiser, but they still care. Give and take, kid, give and take.”

She’s not wrong, but you were definitely not expecting to be read so easily. You never saw yourself as an open book, but this conversation only made you feel like there was a giant neon sign pointing to the book that said ‘Read Me!’ in bold, flashing letters. The most jarring part of it all, though, was how warm it made you feel. To be seen. To be cared for. The silence that hangs in the air after hearing Cid’s advice is more comfortable than you’d care to admit, the two of you stocking the shelves as the jukebox plays quietly across the bar.

Once the crate is finally empty, you pick it up and gather the other empty crates before asking Cid what she wants to do with them.

“Just leave ‘em outside, somebody’ll take ‘em.” She waves a hand, heading back to her office.

You nod, making your way to the exit but when you reach the first step, you pause. “So who was it?” You don’t bother turning around, figuring she probably won’t give you an answer anyway. After what she told you, you don’t blame the guys for asking for a break, and the anger toward yourself is starting to subside, too. You just can’t help the curiosity.

“God, you don’t give up, do you, kid?” She sighs, “All of ‘em.” The door hisses shut.

You let out a quiet, warm laugh when you feel your eyes well with tears. Shaking your head with a smile, you propped the crate on your knee to brush them away and made your way up the stairs. You set the crate down and brush your hands on your pants, and just as you begin to let out a sigh a heavy clap to your shoulder nearly knocks the wind out of you.

“Hey, we got a surprise for you!” You turn to see Wrecker holding up a crate, and Omega not too far behind running to you from Hunter’s side with a small bag in hand.

“Hmm,” you try peeking into the top of the crate but find it’s closed, a true mystery, “do they sell mantell mix in bulk?”

Omega catches up and holds the small, half-full bag up for you to take. “No, and the surprise isn’t ready yet. But, we did get candy!” You can’t help but laugh before taking the pouch from her. “We ate some already, but we wanted to share the rest with you.”

“Yeah, sorry, we were practicing that thing you showed us!” Wrecker smiles, shifting the crate to one hand to sheepishly rub the back of his neck.

Your smile couldn’t be warmer, “Well let’s get inside, you can put that crate down and practice some more.”

“Do not encourage him.” Tech sighs, but you catch that smirk as he walks past the three of you and down the stairs.

“He’s just jealous,” Wrecker laughs, following Tech into the parlor, “come on, Omega!”

“Good to see you smiling, Y/n,” Echo nudges you as he makes his way into the parlor.

Just as you’re about to head in yourself, Hunter stops you. “Cid tell you?”

“I wore her down.” you shrug, smiling as you turn to face him.

“We’re just worried, you’re obviously capable, but Echo’s right,” he sighs, leading the way down the stairs to join Tech and Echo at the bar, “it takes a toll. This job’s not easy. Jumping in too fast will only burn you out.”

“I am. I mean, as alright as I can be, after taking down two pilots.” You try to laugh but it sounds empty, and the sad smile he gives you in return makes your heart sink. You’re struck with an overwhelming urge to fix it, to make his smile happy, to ease all of their worries. “Hey, Tech, what’s the rest of the rest of that schedule like? Any free time?”

He scans his datapad for a moment before listing off a number of odd jobs, “However, I can reassign some of your tasks if you’d prefer to use this time to prepare for the next mission, mentally, while maintaining a healthy workload.”

“Thanks, but what if we knock everything out tomorrow, then we can all take a day off,” you propose, looking between Tech and Hunter, “y’know for mental health or whatever. Lean into the whole vacation thing.”

Tech looks to Hunter for approval, and Hunter looks to you with an arched brow before nodding, “I’ll get to work preparing an updated schedule.”

“What are you planning?” Echo asks, trying to hide a smirk behind his glass unsuccessfully.

You grin, looking between Hunter and Echo, “What are your thoughts on camping?”

#the bad batch x reader #the bad batch & reader #hunter tbb #echo tbb #tech tbb #wrecker tbb #omega tbb

11 notes · View notes

hq-screencaps · 2 years

Photo

Star Wars The Bad Batch Season 1 Complete ↳ 31,712 1080p logofree screencaps

#Star Wars #Star wars the bad batch #star wars the bad batch season 1 #omega #clone troopers #fennec shand #bolo #ketch #star wars edit #animation #capped by peggy #scnet: star wars the bad batch

16 notes · View notes

im-no-jedi · 1 year

Text

MLWTBB: Business Is Business

aka the (continued) journey into my self insert nonsense✨

chapter summary: while the Bad Batch is away on a mission, an oddly familiar Devaronian kicks Cid out of her parlor and takes it for himself, causing several problems for Hannah...

notes: this is a continuation of my story, “My Life With The Bad Batch”; I highly recommend reading that first before this one! I created a few new planets for this story. I’m also not 100% versed in SW terminology, so forgive me if some things are labeled incorrectly! each chapter will be rated accordingly, as opposed to the overall fic. lastly, there is romance in this story. hope you enjoy! 💙

add. notes: this chapter was edited and proofread by my sis @jam-n-ham! thanks sis!! 😋💙 also, in case it isn’t obvious, this story is my version of episode 13 “Infested”. I tried to stick to canon as much as possible, while also delving more into one of my favorite side characters in the show (please more of the Durand family in season two 🙏🏻)

Chapter 1, 2500+ words, rated G (there’s mentions of alcohol and that’s about it LOL)

next chapter

✨MLWTBB masterlist✨

______________________________________________________________

It was yet another slow Primeday at Cid’s Parlor. Hannah had woken up a bit late that morning, but thankfully Cid didn’t dock her for it. So far, only Bolo and Ketch were in the parlor, like usual. There was a bit of mess to clean up from the night before, but it didn’t take long for Hannah to get that taken care of. It was an extremely boring time, even more than usual.

All Hannah really hoped for now was that she would finally see her friends come walking through the door again. They had been gone for a few days on another mission for Cid, something Hannah was quite used to by this point. But she was extra lonely this time and missed them more than usual. She thought about how she was going to give Omega the biggest hug ever when they all got back. She imagined Wrecker joining in and scooping both her and Omega up into a squeeze fest between the three of them. She pondered the sort of snide comments Tech and Echo might say about their mission, as they often did whenever they came back to the parlor. She dreamed about seeing Hunter again, the man she loved with all her heart, and telling him how much she missed him as she ran her fingers through his long, dark brown hair. It would be absolutely wonderful.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs towards the parlor. Hannah’s heart leapt into her throat, desperately wishing it was who she thought it was.

But it wasn’t. Not even close.

Several intimidating looking men in dark armor came flooding into the parlor, each of them carrying a weapon. Hannah bolted upright from the counter she’d been leaning against, unsure of what to do. Then another figure came stepping in, quite confidently. It was a male Devaronian with green skin, wearing a nice suit and holding some sort of small lizard creature in his arms. He was obviously the leader of this group. The room went silent as the Devaronian looked around, surveying the place.

Hannah had a moment of panic at the sight of him. Memories of Volruna flooded into her head, with the man in front of her briefly being replaced by the visage of Vin Drazundr instead. She had to literally shake herself back to reality and exhaled deeply. Then she looked to Bolo and Ketch, who were completely frozen in place. With a deep breath, she gathered up all her courage and decided to approach the newcomer. “Uhh, hello! Can I help you?”

The Devaronian adjusted the collar of his shirt before answering her. “I’m looking for Cid. Would you happen to know where she is?”

Cid wasn’t expecting anybody today to Hannah’s knowledge. She knew what she was supposed to do in situations like this. “I might... who exactly is looking for her, if I might ask?”

“Roland,” the Devaronian replied proudly. “Roland Durand. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

The name didn’t ring a bell to Hannah at all. The way he was acting though made it out like he was important in some way. Regardless, she didn’t like the vibe she was getting from this guy at all. It unfortunately reminded her of Vin again. “Yeah, a pleasure. I’m sorry, what is your business with Cid? It’s kind of my job to ask so she doesn’t get bothered unnecessarily.”

Roland chuckled. “Adorable. You’ll be a fun bartender, I’m sure.”

Hannah blinked in shock. “Excuse me?”

Roland then made a hand signal to the armored men, who began searching the entire parlor. Bolo and Ketch tried to avoid them as much as possible, insisting they were just there as patrons; eventually, they just ran out of the parlor altogether. Hannah opened her mouth to try and retort to what was going on, but Roland silenced her. Then one of the men discovered the back room and alerted Roland about it. Again, Hannah tried to speak, but was stopped by Roland.

“Be a dear and whip up some drinks for me and my men, would you?” he said as he walked towards the back room.

Hannah stood in place, completely dumbfounded. She was wrong before; this guy was somehow worse than Vin. “Jerk didn’t even tell me what kind of drink he wanted...”

Despite her curiosity, Hannah kept herself away from the room, much to her discretion. She knew Cid had told her to stay out of stuff like this in case there was trouble, but she couldn’t help wanting to rush in and at least see what was going on.

It didn’t take long before Hannah got her answer. The door to Cid’s room slid open, catching Hannah’s attention immediately. To her surprise, Cid was walking out of the hallway, hands in the air, with Roland and some of the armored men behind her.

“What’s going on?” Hannah exclaimed.

“A simple change of hands, sweetheart,” Roland replied. “Nothing more.”

“More like a hostile takeover,” Cid retorted. She saw the concerned look on Hannah’s face and reassured her, “Don’t worry, Red. This ain’t permanent.”

“You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you?” Roland said slyly. “Get her out of my parlor, would you, boys?”

Hannah scoffed. “Your parlor?”

As the armored men began literally shoving Cid out, she turned to Roland, shouting, “You better not lay a hand on her, Roland! You’re not her type!”

Roland rolled his eyes and scoffed before turning to Hannah. “Congratulations, you’re now a part of the Durand syndicate. You can thank me by getting those drinks I asked for earlier.”

Hannah was once again too dumbfounded to even move. She felt Roland step closer towards her and instinctively backed away.

“Now, now,” he reassured her. “No need to fret. I’m not your enemy, I promise. In fact, I’ll gladly double whatever Cid was paying you before as a show of my sincerity.”

Hannah scowled at him. “Why do I have a hard time believing that?”

Roland chuckled. “You’re a feisty one. Just do as I say, and you’ll have nothing to worry about.” He gave her a sly look before returning to the back room. A look similar to the one Vin first gave her at the Prism Palace.

Now Hannah knew she definitely had something to worry about.

*********************

The following day, Hannah decided to conveniently avoid the parlor as long as she could. It didn’t matter what Roland said, or even what he tried to do, there was no way she was going to work for someone like him. Especially while she was alone. Then again, that entire situation would never have happened in the first place if the Bad Batch were there. Hannah began imagining scenarios where the five of them had put a stop to Roland’s takeover of the parlor, if only just to keep herself sane.

In the back of her mind though, she worried. Any number of things could happen between then and whenever her friends actually came back to Ord Mantell. And Roland’s words from the day before still concerned her. She tried to not think about it, but her worries were too strong. The fact that nearly everything about Roland reminded her of Vin didn’t help either.

Maybe she could just leave. She could find somewhere else to stay until the Bad Batch came back and fixed everything. Mrs Ygreu had always said her place was open if Hannah ever wanted to visit, maybe she could go there.

No, Hannah didn’t want anyone else to get involved in this mess unnecessarily. She had to ride this out on her own, as much as she hated it. Maybe Roland would just leave her alone if she stayed away long enough...

Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. Hannah’s heart skipped a beat. Initially, she thought it might be one of the Clones finally coming back. Nobody ever visited other than them or Cid. Maybe it was Cid. Hannah hadn’t seen her since the day before. Did anybody else even know where she lived?

Another knock on the door. Hannah’s heart began racing. She had to know who it was. Throwing caution to the wind, Hannah went over to the door and opened it without a second thought, hoping beyond hope it was someone she knew.

Unfortunately, it was the one person she knew that she wished she didn’t.

“Ahh, there you are,” said the recognizable voice of Roland. His lizard-like pet, Ruby, was in his arms and two armored men stood behind him. “I was worried when you didn’t come in today. Is there a problem I should know about?”

Hannah almost laughed. “It’s my day-off,” she replied, a visible scowl on her face.

Roland pursed his lips and hummed. “Good to know.” His eyes began scanning the room behind her curiously. “Interesting space you have here. Mind if I give it a better look?”

Hannah’s eyes narrowed. “Depends. What’ll you do if I refuse?”

A snicker escaped from Roland’s fanged grin. “I think you already know the answer to that, sweetheart.”

There was a familiar pang in Hannah’s chest. Her breath caught in her throat, and a shiver ran down her back. It took her a moment to remember that she was talking to Roland and not Vin.

Without waiting for a response, Roland pushed his way past Hannah into the room. The armored men stayed outside, but waited in the doorway.

“Quite the collection you’ve got in here,” Roland said as he walked through the space. “Although I doubt all of this stuff is yours.” He gestured to one of the large crates against the wall and chuckled.

“It was part of our agreement,” Hannah told him, her arms crossed with a stern look on her face.

“How noble of you,” Roland responded. He snapped his fingers and pointed at the crate. The two armored men came into the room and began dragging the crate out of the apartment. “And now it won’t bother you ever again.”

Hannah maintained the stern look on her face. She could see what Roland was trying to do, and it wasn’t going to work. “What do you want from me, Roland?”

The small lizard creature in Roland’s arms began growling happily as her owner rummaged through Hannah’s fridge. “A drink would be nice,” Roland responded, pulling out a piece of food for Ruby to munch on. “But apparently, it’s your day off.” He sat down on one of the kitchen stools with Ruby in his lap, happily munching on the snack she’d been given. “That’s alright though. You’ll have plenty of time to make up for it tomorrow.”

The hairs on the back of Hannah’s neck were beginning to stand on end in anger. She walked up closer to Roland from behind the kitchen island with a mighty scowl on her face. “I’m not coming back tomorrow. Or the day after that. Or ever again.”

A small smirk grew on Roland’s face. “Defiance will get you nothing but trouble, dollface. And really, what reason do you have to be that way anyway? I haven’t done anything harmful to you.”

“You stole Cid’s Parlor from her!” Hannah exclaimed, nearly slamming her fist on the counter.

“So?” Roland bluntly responded. “How does that hurt you, exactly? You’ve still got your job. Your home. I’ve even helped clean up this place a bit for you.” He snapped his fingers again, and the armored men returned to carry out another one of the crates from the room. “There, I just did it again. You’re welcome.”

Hannah shook her head, the scowl still firmly in place. “I don’t care. I know how people like you work. You’re not the first crime boss I’ve encountered, and I doubt you’ll be the last.”

“Living here on Ord Mantell?” Roland said with a scoff. “That’s for certain.”

Hannah took a few steps closer, now standing directly in front of Roland from behind the counter. Her tone was laden with malice as she spoke. “You can try to sweet talk me all you want, but it won’t make a difference. I work for Cid, not you.”

Once again, Roland snickered behind his fanged grin. “Quite the loyal employee, aren’t you? A good quality to have.” He took Ruby off of his lap and placed her on the counter between himself and Hannah. The little lizard creature looked up at Hannah and growled before snuggling up to Roland’s hand. “You’re better off putting that tenacity of yours to good use down at the parlor than trying to intimidate me.”

Hannah’s hands came slamming down on the counter so hard, it spooked Ruby. “Quit messing with me, Roland! I already told you, I’m not coming back! I don’t care what you do; take my whole apartment away if you want, I don’t care! I’d rather live on the streets than work for someone like you.”

The entire time Hannah was yelling, Roland’s expression remained calm. If anything, he seemed entertained by her outburst, with the small smirk returning to his face again. Once Hannah had finished, Roland chuckled to himself and began petting Ruby to calm her down.

“I wonder if Cid feels the same way,” he slyly responded. “I wonder if that’s why she’s stuck around.” He looked Hannah directly in the face, still smirking slightly. “I wonder... how things might change if she suddenly wasn’t around anymore?”

The serious determination on Hannah’s face began to fade. Her eyes went wide with realization, and she began to slink back away from Roland.

“I’m really not asking for much, sweetheart,” Roland said, shaking his head. “Just keep doing what you’re doing, and you’ll be fine. Cid will be fine too. It’s that simple. Or, we could make things more difficult, if that’s what you really want.” He slid off the stool and came up beside her, almost uncomfortably close. Hannah could just feel the smirk spreading across his face. “I don’t know about you, but I much prefer when things aren’t so complicated.”

Hannah said nothing and just stood still, absorbing Roland’s words and practically shaking from the weight of it all. Roland left her side and told her to enjoy the rest of her day off as he headed for the door with Ruby still in his arms. He paused in the doorway briefly to turn back to Hannah and said, “See you bright and early tomorrow, dollface.”

And with that, he was finally gone. Hannah was left alone in her kitchen, still shaken by the entire experience. She felt like crying and throwing up at the same time. With shaky hands, she leaned over the counter, resting her head in her hands and breathing heavily, with small sobs gradually creeping out.

In the back of her mind, she could hear Cid’s voice berating her for being so foolish. She wasn’t worth the trouble, is what Cid would tell Hannah. Save yourself, she would absolutely say. But Hannah couldn’t do it. She wasn’t going to sacrifice Cid’s life just so she could avoid working for Roland. Even Irridas back at the Prism Palace hadn’t been that cruel.

If working for Roland is what would keep Cid safe, then she would do it, no questions asked.

#the bad batch #star wars the bad batch #would y'all believe that I wrote this over a YEAR ago??#well the first half of it anyway LOL #I wrote most of this story before ever finishing the og MLWTBB #cause that's just how my brain works haha #star warz #my storiez

3 notes · View notes