Title: Roar

Author: Emjen Enla(Fanfiction)/emjen_enla(Wattpad)

Teaser: Something's wrong, if only Hunter could figure out what…

Rating: PG-13/T

Word Count: Approx. 2,800

Canon: Disney or Legends, contains some small details that are technically non-Canon but could probably be ignored

Timeline: After the unfinished animation reel "On the Wings of Keeradaks" but before the unfinished animation reel "Unfinished Business"

Dominant Characters: Hunter, Anakin Skywalker, appearances from Rex, Tech, Echo, Wrecker and Crosshair

Pairings: none

POVs: Hunter

Warnings: spoilers for the Bad Batch animation reels, some vomiting

Notes: Recently, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how the Force works not just what it does. This has (understandably) lead to a lot of new headcanons. Some of them show up in this story, so be aware.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.

Something was wrong.

Hunter couldn't figure out what exactly, but he knew something was. He could feel it with his enhanced senses. Something wasn't right.

He straightened up in his seat and looked across the Havoc Marauder's main cabin to Crosshair who was slouched in a seat cleaning his blaster. There was nothing wrong with him. Hunter rose and headed towards the cockpit. The door opened to Tech fiddling with something on a datapad and Wrecker throwing a metal ball that looked like a dummy grenade against one wall. They were fine too. Hunter looked around the cockpit for their non-Bad Batch companions. "Where's Rex?" he asked.

"Medbay." Wrecker said catching the grenade. "Trying to make Echo more comfortable."

Hunter nodded, lips pursed. Echo had collapsed almost as soon as they'd take off. After being connected to a computer for months, Hunter found it unbelievable that Echo had held up for as long as he had. "And the Jedi? I thought he was up here with you."

"Was." Wrecker shrugged. "Left after we jumped to hyperspace." He threw the grenade at the wall again.

"I think he said something about checking up on Rex and Echo." Tech said without looking up from whatever he was doing.

"Alright." Hunter nodded. "Thanks." And he turned to go.

Now Tech looked up, he spun his seat around to look at Hunter. "Is something wrong?"

"Everything's fine." Hunter lied. "Don't worry about it."

Chances were Tech knew how to tell when someone was lying, but the clone said nothing as Hunter left the cockpit. He walked past Crosshair, who was too engrossed in his blaster to acknowledge Hunter's presence. At the end of the main cabin was a ladder that went down into the lower deck. Hunter slid down it and landed softly on the floor below. The lower deck had four crew bunks on one side and a small kitchenette and a door leading to the refresher on the other. The lights in this part were off, but light was coming through the open door to the medbay on the far end of the narrow hall.

Upon landing on the floor, Hunter was practically knocked backward by the wrongness he was feeling. It was a distracting vibration of someone in distress. Even more worried, Hunter broke into a jog down the hall. He entered the medbay and looked around. Echo was lying on the medbay's single bed, covered in a couple thermal blankets. An IV line snaked into the clone's still-whole arm and Echo's eyes were closed in what appeared to be sleep. Rex was looking at something on the ship's medical datapad in the corner, leaning against a wall of cupboards. He looked up when he heard Hunter come in and held a finger up to his lips.

"Quiet." The clone captain said. "He's finally asleep. He has a headache and the rest of him's not handling suddenly being disconnected from those computer's very well." A scowl crossed Rex's face. "Why in the galaxy don't you have a med droid on this thing?"

"Don't need one." Hunter said. "Tech knows everything a med droid would."

Rex sighed. "Then can you tell him to come down here? I want to give Echo something to make him more comfortable but I'm afraid to try without knowing how it will react with all his implants."

"I'll get him down here to help you." Hunter said. As he spoke he focused on his senses only to find that the wrongness had been stronger in the corridor than it was here. That was confusing. Though he'd never admit it, he was best at noticing and labeling things that would be needed for his missions, things like droid bases. What he was sensing now was harder to put a finger on. If he had to make a guess though, he'd say that he was feeling someone sick, in pain or both. It would make sense that this came from Echo, but the sense wasn't matching up with the location.

Hunter looked around the medbay and noticed that something was missing. "Where's the Jedi?"

"General Skywalker is in the cockpit with Wrecker and Tech." Rex said, putting stress on the Jedi's name. Hunter was a little impressed by Rex's relationship with Skywalker. The captain was loyal but not the empty-minded, pre-programmed loyal that so many Regs were. He was personally, humanly loyal to Skywalker.

However, as admirable as that was, Hunter had other things on his mind. "Wrecker and Tech told me he was down here with you."

Rex frowned, but it was obvious that as loyal as the captain was to his general, right now Echo was his top priority. "I'm sure he's around. He vanishes all the time when he needs some space to collect his thoughts. He'll turn up by the time we get back to Anaxes."

"Alright." Hunter said, far from convinced; Havoc Marauder was a small ship, it was almost impossible to vanish on it. Still, he unwilling to argue with Rex. "I'll go get Tech."

"Thanks." Rex said. "I appreciate it."

Hunter left the medbay and headed back towards the ladder. As he walked down the hall the sensation got stronger again. He stopped by the ladder and closed his eyes, letting the sensation wash over him. He could pinpoint the distress now. Someone had closed himself inside the refresher and was trying desperately to make sure no one realized he was there.

Hunter pulled out his comlink. "Tech." he said into it. "Get down into the medbay. Rex needs your help with Echo."

"Sure." Tech replied. "I'll be right on it."

Hunter put the comm away and walked over to the 'fresher door. He touched the door with delicate fingertips. Yes, there was definitely someone in there, he could feel it clearly now. He knocked, but received no response. Unwilling to keep playing the polite game, he hit the door's open button. It was unlocked and slid open easily. In the dim light from the medbay, he could make out the form of Anakin Skywalker curled up in the fetal position on the floor.

"General?" he asked carefully.

The Jedi shifted slightly, burying his face in the crook of his arm. "Close the door, please," he asked quietly, his voice shaky and hoarse.

Carefully, Hunter stepped into the 'fresher and closed the door behind him. With the door closed the little room was almost pitch black, but it only took Hunter's enhanced eyes seconds to adjust, once that happened he could see almost as well as the average clone could in broad daylight.

The Jedi was curled up, shaking with full-body tremors, free hand clenched in his hair. Sweat was soaking his hair and what little Hunter could see of his face. Something wasn't right.

"Are you alright?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah," Skywalker said, shifting slightly voice muffled by his arm. "I'm fine."

Hunter narrowed his eyes, his senses giving him a wreath of information on Skywalker's current predicament. "That was a rhetorical question. What's wrong?"

There was a very long pause, then the Jedi swallowed hard in the way someone did when they were trying very hard to keep from throwing up. "Migraine," he whispered.

Hunter felt himself relax. Good, it was something he knew how to deal with. "Alright," he said quietly, "no problem, we can fix that. Have you taken any meds?"

Skywalker shook his head slightly.

"That's okay," Hunter said, "I've got some meds that work like magic."

"'Is no magic, just the Force." Skywalker muttered.

Whatever, now was not the time to learn about Jedi culture. "Works like the Force then," he said. "Tech and I get migraines all the time on account of our enhancements, Crosshair gets 'em sometimes too, but not as much."

"Please stop talking." Skywalker moaned.

Good point. Hunter cursed himself for getting nervous. He was the leader of Bad Batch, the presence of a Jedi—even a sick one—shouldn't have any effect on him. He went over to the sink and rummaged through the cupboards looking for a clean cup. When he found one he filled it with water and turned back to Jedi. "Are you nauseous?" he asked.

A mute nod.

"Very?"

Another nod.

"Alright," Hunter turned back to the cupboards and opened the one that contained the few medications that weren't kept in the medbay. He found a container of stomach tabs and shook a few into his hand. He walked over to the Jedi and bent down, putting a hand on his shoulder. Skywalker lifted his head slightly and squinted at him.

"What?"

"Here," Hunter held out the meds. "These should settle your stomach, then I'll give you the real meds."

Skywalker slowly sat up, the hand that wasn't being used to lever his body off the floor pressed to a temple. Once he had maneuvered himself into a somewhat upright position the Jedi seemed to be hit by a wave of illness. Hunter watched while Skywalker curled in on himself, head resting on his knees while he tried not to throw up.

Finally, the Jedi seemed to get himself together and held a hand out to Hunter. "Meds, please."

Hunter dropped the meds into the Jedi's hand and watched as he swallowed them dry. Almost the instant he'd swallowed, Skywalker's body rebelled and he was only able to keep the meds down by what Hunter figured was sheer force of will. Unfortunately for the Jedi, that will only held out for just over two minutes. Then he dove towards the toilet and proceeded to throw up the meds.

Hunter watched as the Jedi sunk back down onto the floor and resumed his previous curled-up position. This hadn't gotten them anywhere. Hunter considered his options then stood up carefully. "I'll be right back," he said and left the 'fresher.

He turned right and headed down to the medbay. Tech and Rex were still fussing over Echo. Tech glanced up when Hunter came in. "What's up?"

Hunter ignored him and began opening cupboards at random until he found the hypos containing an injectable version of the medication he'd been planning to give Skywalker. He picked up the closest temperature regulating hypo and started to leave the medbay.

"What's goin' on, Hunter?" Tech asked again, more worried this time.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Hunter said. "I've got it covered." And he left the medbay and returned to the 'fresher making a mental estimation of Skywalker's mass while he did.

Skywalker hadn't moved from his position on the floor. Hunter knelt down, hands busily programing the hypo to what he hoped was the right dose. He opted for slightly less medication than his estimate called for, just in case he was wrong, then touched the Jedi's shoulder.

The Jedi moaned. "Go away. Leave me alone."

"Yeah, I know I only made things worse last time." Hunter said. "But this is actually gonna help, I promise. Just hold still." He gently pressed the hypo against the Jedi's neck and pressed the plunger down. The medication hissed into the Jedi's veins and Hunter pulled away. He quietly disposed of the hypo and leaned against the countertop to wait for the meds to take effect. They did fairly quickly, and within minutes Skywalker was sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Thank you." He said.

"You're welcome." Hunter answered. "Sorry for not just doing that in the first place. Would have saved you some sickness."

"It's fine," Skywalker said, he was still rubbing his temples but he seemed significantly less pained now.

Hunter picked up the cup of water he'd filled earlier and held it out. "Here. Drink this. Slowly. You need to replace the fluids you lost by throwing up." Skywalker took the cup and took a small sip. They sat in silence for several minutes.

"Do you have migraines often?" Hunter asked.

Skywalker shrugged. "Fairly. They're normally from stress. This one was unusually bad, though."

"Do you know why it happened?" Hunter asked. "Do I need to get Tech?"

"I don't need Tech," Skywalker said. "I know why. Multiple triggers. There was stress and a bunch of stuff I was feeling in the Force piled on top."

"What kind of stuff?" Hunter asked.

"Oh, the usual death and danger," Skywalker said, "compounded with Echo's suffering; the Organic Decimator and the suffering of the being Tambor used it on; and…" The Jedi seemed to think better of whatever he was going to say and stopped.

"And what?" Hunter asked.

Skywalker shook his head. "Doesn't matter."

"I think it does," Hunter said. "Come on. Spit it out."

Skywalker said nothing, so Hunter didn't either. Another, longer silence fell over them until, eventually Skywalker gave in. "It was because of you."

That hadn't been what Hunter had been expecting. "What do you mean me?"

"I don't mean just you," Skywalker sighed, "I meant the entire Bad Batch."

That burned. "Why because we're not Regs?" Hunter snapped. "Is that why?"

"No." Skywalker said quickly then seemed to rethink it. "Well, maybe it is a little bit…" he sighed, then looked steadily at Hunter. "Bad Batch is genetically modified, more so than a normal clone."

"Well, duh," Hunter snapped. "You just figured that out? That's kind of our claim-to-fame."

"I knew that," Skywalker said. "But if I had to pick one reason for this migraine, that's it."

"You're not making any sense," Hunter said.

"I know," Skywalker ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not supposed to explain this to someone who's not a Jedi, but I guess I've already committed to much not to," he bit his lip and stared down at the now half-empty cup of water, seemingly gathering his thoughts. Then he took a deep breath and looked up. "Alright, some background knowledge first: all living beings are connected to the Force whether they can actually call on it or not. Clones are no different but they are created by artificial means."

The Jedi breathed shakily then went on. "Because they're not born normally, all clones have a sort of…well, buzz to their Force Presences. It's like the Force is trying to say that this isn't a natural being. The more genetic modifications a clone has the louder the buzz gets. For the Bad Batch the buzz is more of a roar."

Hunter stared in shock. He wasn't sure if he was angry or not. He wasn't even sure if he should be angry. All he knew was that some things finally made sense. Skywalker wasn't the first Jedi the Bad Batch had worked with, but every Jedi had been weird around them. Hunter and his squad where deeply grateful they weren't Regs but sometimes it was hard not to wish the Jedi they worked with would treat them the same as other clones. Now that behavior made perfect sense.

There was a long, long silence. Skywalker finished the water. He seemed awkward and kept looking everywhere but at Hunter. When the cup was empty, the Jedi stood up slowly and set the cup on the counter. "Thank you, for your help," he said. "And I'm sorry," and he started for the door.

"Wait," Hunter turned. "Where are you going?"

Skywalker turned slightly and gave him a dull smile. "To find a quiet corner. I want out of this 'fresher. No offence."

"Where are you going to go?" Hunter asked. "This is a small ship."

"I'll probably go visit Rex in the medbay," Skywalker said. "He'll want to keep things quiet so Echo can rest, but he probably won't object to me curling up in a chair and taking a nap."

Yes, the medbay was probably quiet, but it was also—assuming Tech had finished helping and gone back to the cockpit—free of Bad Batch clones. The significance of this wasn't lost to Hunter. "Are we still hurting you?" he asked.

Skywalker didn't need him to explain further. "Drugs interfere with a being's ability to feel the Force," he said turning more fully towards Hunter. "The drugs you gave are really good so at the moment I can barely sense anything."

That, Hunter noticed, was different than saying that the Bad Batch's roar wasn't still as strong as ever. Skywalker had just said that until the meds wore off he wasn't going to be able to feel it. That wasn't the answer Hunter had been hoping for, but he figured it was better than nothing.

"I'm sorry."

It took Hunter to realize the voice that had spoken was his own. He was surprised. He'd never been sorry for his modifications before.

Skywalker gave him a sad smile and turned away. "Don't be, you didn't ask for this."

Then he opened the 'fresher door and left Hunter alone in the dark.

Well, I'm back and still torturing poor Anakin, some things never change.

I want to start by apologizing for vanishing off the face of the Earth. In my defense, this fall I took a huge next step in my education and school's taking up far more of my time than it did before. I'm on winter break now, so hopefully I'll be able to update/post a little more, but after break's over, though, I can't make any guarantees.

In other news, I have two more short stories started, one that was requested. I have maybe half a page of Chapter 18 of Running Rampant written (and people on Fanfiction I think you're way over due for Chapter 8). There's also a flurry of other ideas floating around in my head, so we'll see what happens.

So, sorry for the long wait. I'll see what I can do to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Emjen

P.S. I should probably mention that I've seen the Force Awakens. It was…decent…better than I thought it would be, but George Lucas' six are better (which I guess I expected).