Star Wars The Bad Batch: The Runaway

Chapter 13 - Revelations

The Bad Batch stood outside of the hospital room, anxiously waiting for any word on Aria's condition.

After the bike that she and Crosshair had exploded from the blast that came from the gun turret, it was a race to save Callista's life. Crosshair's armor protected him so he only received a few burns that weren't to serious. But Callista didn't have armor and the fact that she had been sitting on top of the fuel tank(the bike was only meant for one rider but under the circumstances she couldn't have her own) just increased the intensity of the explosion. She was knocked unconscious and didn't wake up in the three hours it took to get to the nearest hospital. Tech could barely keep her alive with the limited medical supplies they had on the Havoc Marauder and it was obvious they'd need to get her to a real medical facility.

Hunter couldn't sit still - he'd take a seat but two minutes later would be back to pacing though he'd deny he was worried even when Tech pointed out his anxious behavior. Though truth be told the genius clone was just as concerned about Callista though he reasoned that she was in the best hands and chances of her surviving were not high, but not impossible either.

Wrecker looked just as worried as his brother's and Tech noticed that Crosshair- while not having said a word through this whole ordeal- had gone through a considerable amount of toothpicks in the two hours they'd been waiting. He'd bite down too hard on one and just let the pieces fall to the ground and pull a new one out right away to replace it, creating quite the pile at his feet.

"Crosshair, pick those up would you?" Hunter said in a rather harsh tone, having noticed the broken toothpicks littered on the pristine white floor. The sniper raised an eyebrow.

"Cranky, are we?" Crosshair states, having an edge to his voice as well.

"Don't test me, I'm not in the mood."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Sargeant. Are you really so worried sick of a teenage girl? Going soft on us, Hunter?"

"There is nothing wrong with being concerned for another person. It's our duty to protect civilians and we failed. Aria is in there barely hanging on to her life and you don't seem to care."

"Why should I? That girl was nothing but trouble or have you forgotten what she's done?"

"No I haven't. But she also sacrificed herself so the Senator could get away. Aria's proven that she's not a bad person and cares about other people. Unlike someone else I know."

Instead of retorting with another rude comment Crosshair just looked away, his way of saying the conversation was over. He usually ended an argument if it was obvious he wasn't going to win, so Hunter hoped he had at least got through to Crosshair a little bit. Normally the Sergeant chose to ignore his brother's harsh treatment of others, only intervening even more when an argument threatened to become physically violent. But he couldn't tolerate Crosshair speaking negatively about Aria right now.

He hasn't told anyone, but when they freed Aria and it was obvious she didn't expect them to come for her it made him feel sorry for the girl. It was obvious she had no one to depend on. While the Bad Batch were mostly on their own as well, at least they had each other. They were a squadron - more than that actually. They were brothers and Hunter knew that he could always depend on Wrecker, Tech, and Crosshair for anything and he would do anything for them.

When he heard the door to the room slide open, Hunter's head shot up in that direction, having been staring blankly at the floor while he was deep in thought.

Tech and Wrecker stood up from their seats as a clone walked out of Aria's room, looking tired but hopeful. It was obvious that he was a clone medical officer (certain clones that specialized in medical treatments).