A/N:

🚫Trigger Warnings: Angry Tech scene, some gore, Bad Batch Family Drama🚫

🎁Presents: Soft Wrecker, Soft Tech, Soft Hunter (if you squint really hard),(Crosshair is still not there yet) 🎁

- Ella ✌


Chapter 7: If Your Given a Second Chance, Take it with Both Hands

A fraught silence took place after they failed to establish contact with SAC-1... because it only meant one thing.

Tech was having trouble comprehending the thought that SAC-1 - someone he had already considered a comrade, who he respected deeply, who actually listened to him - wouldn't be returning. This reality thrust upon him with zero mercy shut down his mind, and he ended up swiftly leaving the bridge so he could try and process this successful but at the same time failed mission... and how he had failed her by supporting this he thought brilliant plan that led to her demise.

Wrecker hung his head with a crestfallen frown on his face. He tried to focus on the fact that she completed the mission and died a hero, but that honestly didn't help in the least bit. He wished they could have created more memories together, preferably in battle - he would have liked to include her in the game of who destroyed the most clankers, thinking that she could have knocked Crosshair off his high bantha.

Crosshair, well, he was surprised when he felt a small measure of sadness pool in his chest - no one deserved to die, especially someone so young and innocent. But the mission was completed, that was what was important and that was what he would choose to focus on.

Ahsoka keenly felt the loss of her friend, even though they had only known each other for just over twenty-four hours. They had just clicked and while SAC-1 was very inexperienced about life in general despite being, in a way, four years older than her, she had the same liveliness as the young Jedi, something Ahsoka found refreshing as well after being surrounded by stiff Jedi and troopers all day, every day.

Anakin sensed his Ahsoka's heavy heart, and he promptly walked up to his young padawan and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. He felt terrible for thinking so badly of her and was sorry to lose such a good soldier; Obi-Wan and Cody shared in this thought process.

But shockingly, it wasn't Tech or Ahsoka who felt the worst about SAC-1's demise. It was the man who had figuratively bitten her head off, reattached it, and then repeated the gruesome action after the failed mission attempt... Sergeant Hunter.

Much like SAC-1 yesterday, Hunter was paralyzed in self-reproach over the situation, only his was actually deserved. I could've prevented this! I should have warned her about the bad side effects enhanced senses had sometimes. SAC-1 would be alive right now if I had done this; her death is my fault.

Death was something not new to Hunter - they were in the middle of a war after all - but he had never lost a squad member. There were many close calls, but he had always managed to keep them all alive, and since he had a disdain for regs he was of course sad when they dropped like flies around him, but not crushed with grief - he barely knew them, after all. And while it was the same for SAC-1, only knowing her for like two days, he felt like he had failed to protect his squad, and that was a terrible thing to feel.

Obi-Wan finally broke the silence with attempted words of encouragement, "Well, we shouldn't let SAC-1's efforts go to waste, so I'm going to inform the Council about what she discovered and make sure they know that Silva has been liberated because of her."

Anakin nodded in agreement, then looked down worriedly down at his weary student. "We should get you back to the med bay, you need to rest."

Ahsoka tiredly hummed in accord to his 'suggestion', and Anakin helped her get up and led her out of the bridge, Obi-Wan behind them. Wrecker, knowing when Hunter wanted to be left alone, asked Crosshair if he wanted to go get some food and the sniper, in a rare moment of graciousness, agreed.

Now separated from his squadmates, Hunter remained where he was for a minute, eyes glazed over as he was lost in his bitter regret, but eventually he exited the bridge as well, the clone personnel wandering around the area making him claustrophobic.

The Sergeant stumbled aimlessly around the cruiser at first, having to mutter sorry's when he bumped into one reg after another, probably receiving some scathing remarks except he wasn't coherent enough to register them. His feet seemed to have a mind of their own and somehow, he ended up at SAC-1's door on the ship three hours later. He hesitated before pressing the access button and letting himself in and was taken aback when he saw Tech was already there, his hunched figure standing in the middle of the room.

The slicer flinched upon being discovered, but then was relieved when he looked over his shoulder and saw it was only Hunter - Crosshair would have made some snide remark about finding him here, and he didn't want to deal with that right now. But he was still irked at the Sergeant and his usual flat tone, in a rare moment where he allowed himself to express his emotions because he felt it would benefit him in some way, was now laced with venom and grief.

His voice was choked but trembling at the same time, "I'm surprised you came here."

Hunter was still so out of it that he didn't pick on the not-so-subtle nuances of his brother's monumental rise in temper, "You're not the only one." Hunter grumbled in disbelief, stepping into the dimly lit captain's quarters, stopping at Tech's left, and he noted the piles of crates still full of all her possessions. Upon closer inspection, he saw nothing was different in the lavish room except the wolf toy resting on her bed. A new wave of guilt rushed over him. "She never unpacked, did she?" He murmured remorse.

"Obviously not - she felt unwelcome -" Tech stated tersely with no regard for how it would make Hunter feel. He was pissed, and it was justified! "- By her own squad." By Tech's definition, squadmates were supposed to have each other's back and in their case, be a tightknit family that didn't need anyone else because no one else would ever really accept all of their ways, behavior, etc.

Hunter's face twisted in pain and hung his head in utter regret. "I know and believe me Tech when I say I'm regretting my actions." Tech scoffed in derision, and Hunter's head whipped in his direction as an enraged sound like that had never come out of the emotionally detached and impassive mentally enhanced clone, his eyes beholding a fire that was usually just burning curiosity, but now were resentful and furious. From the heat in that gaze, they could have seared a hole into the wall across from them where they were ferociously trained on an invisible spot. It was as if he did not think Hunter was sincere, so the Sergeant reiterated his feelings of sorrow. "I know I could have prevented her death if I had just looked past my dislike for the situation and just helped her like I was supposed to, and for that I'm really sorry."

Instead of easing Tech's ire, his tone turned almost mocking, "That is a lot of sorry... too bad it will not bring her back."

Hunter's jaw would have dropped to the floor if he didn't have a reputation to maintain of being the calm, cool, and collected leader of this squad, so his lips only parted slightly in shock. "I... I don't know what else to do."

As Tech rambled, Hunter felt his heart break piece by piece as it was not his usual factual rambling, rather an angry rant where he barely drew a breath and ended with distraught shouting, "There is nothing you can do to make me recover from the tragic loss of the only person - besides 99 - who actually heeded my chattering with a willful listening ear and courteous words when it happened to become overwhelming, and she started doing this after only knowing me for a minute and a half. As I've explained numerous times before to my own brothers who should understand me more than anyone else in the whole galaxy, I cannot control my babbling because it's a side effect of my enhanced mind, just the same as your sensory overloads and more frequent migraines with the enhanced senses or Crosshair's excruciating eyestrain and severe red eye after every single a mission that requires treatment with artificial tears and a warm compress to soothe relentless symptoms because of his enhanced eyesight or even Wrecker's fear of heights due to his hulky build and clumsy tendencies from his enhanced strength but as you've all made abundantly clear none of you have even listened to my rebuttals after whatever scathing interjection you choose to impart on me when really, all that is needed for 'Tech to shut his trap' is a kind request which I will effectively and graciously shut up unless it's something life-threatening or life-altering!"

Under normal circumstances, a person wouldn't get upset over the death of a person they had only met two days ago, but Hunter now knew that it was deeper than that - his brothers didn't handle his rambling well, Tech was introduced to someone who did and actually understood the tendency, and then that little glimmer of happiness in his life was brutally taken away from him.

Needless to say, it took Hunter a bit to find his voice. "... I didn't know it bothered you so much when they -"

"Well, it does."

"... But I try to be -"

"You still rebuff me quite a bit," Tech lamented, not letting him finish his defense for once, "Maybe not with cutting remarks but you still only half listen, and I have concrete proof because sometimes you even get up or leave when I'm in the middle of a sentence, meaning you started letting your mind wander at some point during the conversation and eventually dissociated yourself completely."

Welp, if Hunter wasn't feeling crappy before, he certainly was now. He tried and thought he succeeded at be this fearless, selfless, honorable leader for his squad and family but in reality, he had screwed up on all fronts, now realizing he needed to also be encouraging and attentive, things he thought he was doing well as the oldest sibling but apparently his efforts were subpar - and that was putting it lightly. He needed to build up the soldiers entrusted in his authority off the battlefield and also... adopt a good bedside manner when it came to dealing with stuff that annoyed him.

Hunter may not have been able to bring her back from the dead, but he could at least make sur Tech was clear about his deep remorse over what he had caused, and tentatively reached up to place a firm hand on his shoulder, who tensed but to the Sergeant's relief didn't rebuff his lame attempt at physical reassurance. That was more Wrecker's territory. "I'm really, really sorry that because of my stupidity you lost a friend who was, truly, one in a billion." Receiving comfort from his big brother, Tech's ire was immediately replaced with sorrow as the pain of losing the Clone Agent took control again, and he accepted the comfort he so desperately realized he wanted and Hunter was encouraged by this positive response, "I don't know yet how I'll make it right, Tech, and I know no matter what I do it won't bring her back even though I wish it did so I could actually apologize to her too, but I don't want us to lose what we have over this, and I will do everything I can to fix our friendship, I promise."

Just as quickly as the anger manifested, it was gone, though there was still some annoyance at Hunter's actions. Tech's shoulders still slumped in grief which alarmed Hunter as he thought it meant his efforts were rejected, but then a weak nod made some of the tension leave his shoulders, so the stoic and gruff leader - it seemed that all the members of Bad Batch were experiencing uncommon behaviors - shifted so that he pulled his equally awkward squadmate into a clumsy half-hug as Tech was four inches taller than him, making Tech have to hunch slightly at the movement but it elicited the smallest of smiles from him, which Hunter declared his greatest victory.

Tech, somewhat back to his old self, was about to helpfully spew facts he learned about how to handle grief when his comlink shrieked as a call came in. Hunter speedily released him and the sought after brainiac cleared his throat to steady his wavering voice before pressing the answer key. "Tech here."

"Tech?" A female voice said weakly.

Hunter and Tech's gasped. "Agent?!" They exclaimed simultaneously.

"Yeah, it's me."

"What's going on?" Tech asked breathlessly, though the sweet relief was absolutely welcomed.

"Are you alright?" Hunter fretted, not liking the sound of her feeble tone of voice.

"I need a pickup." She informed them, then they heard her give a long wince. "And a medpac." It sounded like the wind was knocked out of her.

"Are you hurt?" Hunter demanded, though it was not out of a place of anger but a place of concern.

"Why else would I need a medpac?" She retorted, thinking it was the former, then hissed in pain again. "Just please hurry."

"I don't suppose you can create a power surge so we can track your location?" Tech asked hopefully.

"I can't." Their hearts sank, "All I can do is tell you that I think I'm in a cave upriver from where the base used to be."

Tech nodded, knowing they could work with that. "Hang tight, we are on our way." He reassured her, and Hunter was already contacting the generals to tell them to turn the cruiser around.


Hunter protested Cody's insistence that he and the generals help look for SAC-1, but much to his annoyance they came along anyways. Tech told him that more people meant that more area could be covered in less time, thus giving SAC-1 more of a fighting chance against whatever injuries she sustained, and deep-down Hunter knew he was right. But he wanted to be the one to save her, for it was his fault she was in this situation in the first place.

Him, Crosshair, Tech, Wrecker and Anakin searched the forest around the river for SAC, each carrying a medpac, while Obi-Wan and Cody went to the destroyed base to make sure they wouldn't run into any trouble.

It took ten minutes before Hunter finally sniffed out her trail, but he felt a wave of panic when he it happened to be blood, and he practically flew along the path she had no choice in creating and discovered a cave two minutes from the trail's start.

Hunter whipped out a flashlight and turned it on before rushing into the cave, which happened to be sizable, and shined it around only to find a truly horrific sight.

He found the hunched figure of SAC-1 in burnt, cracked and in some places completely shattered clone armor sitting at the back of the cave, the white stained brown and red from dirt, mud, and blood, her helmeted head hanging and a blaster in her limp hand, the complete lower half of her left leg sliced clean off and a pool of the thick, red, life-sustaining substance around it.

Hunter suddenly felt it hard to breathe but he still activated his comm. "I found her - Tech, get here now, her injuries are more than I can handle." He sputtered his location.

He heard Tech's cautious steps turn into full on sprints. "On my way!"

Hunter carefully stepped up to SAC-1 and kneeled down next to her. He placed his flashlight on a rock nearby so that there'd still be light and took off his own helmet to see better and set it aside before reaching for her cracked helmet, hesitating for a moment before gently grasping it and slowly taking it off her head, praying he didn't aggravate any neck or head trauma. He tossed the piece of garbage aside then gingerly pushed her shoulders back against the wall which raised her head, and he saw that her eyes were closed, and a deep frown was set on her battered and bruised and dangerously paled face, a large gash over her right eye - through the blood, it seemed that her eye survived, or maybe it was just because he didn't think he could handle any more lost body parts.

He felt his chest constrict, sensing her weak pulse, and began trying to wake her with little shakes. "Hey... Hey." Still no response, so he shook slightly harder, and wished she had a real name so he could be more personal with his pleas. "Come on, soldier, wake up!"

Suddenly, her body tensed and with a gasp her eyes shot open, and a blaster was shakily aimed at him, to which he quickly held up his hands to show he meant no harm. "It's just me! It's just me." It took a few seconds for her usually crystal-clear eyes to somewhat focus, but once it registered that it was just Hunter she relaxed against the rock wall again, the blaster dropping in the process as her hand became limp once more. After a beat, Hunter tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder again in an attempt to comfort her. "How, uh, how are you feeling?"

Her droopy eyes found him, and he detected a hint of a glare among the haze. "Do you not see that half of my leg is gone?" She pointed out through gritted teeth as the searing pain began to manifest there again... and in her ribs... and in her head.

Hunter dared another glance at the severed limb with and felt his stomach churn. "Yeah... I saw that." In a moment of clarity, he suddenly remembered he had a medpac and quickly unstrapped it from his back and dug into it, looking for the symoxin. When he found the painkiller injection, he went to apply it but she latched onto his wrist with what little strength she had to stop him.

"No needles." She seemed to plead, coherent enough to see what he was going to do.

"But you need the pain relief." He insisted with as much softness his gruff demeanor could come up with.

SAC-1 blinked several times, trying to make sense of what he was saying, before promising, "Give me the capsules, I'll take the capsules."

Hunter made a noise of frustration, thinking that there were more important issues at hand than her apparent needle phobia, but just put the injection away and pulled out the bottle of painkiller capsules, pouring out several and handing them to her with the water bottle her had also retrieved. She mustered up the last of her strength and gulped down all the pills at once like it was nothing, thankful for the cool water that eased her dry throat, then accidentally dropped the bottle when she was spent, spilling it everywhere.

"Sorry." She muttered tiredly.

Hunter shook his head in amusement and picked up the bottle, screwing on the cap. "I think there's more serious things to worry about than some spilled water." He then remembered what he had said to Tech, how he wished he could have actually said sorry to her for everything he put her through and looked at her pitiful form with a pit in his stomach. He was presented with the opportunity to apologize, but he found himself hesitant.

What if she didn't forgive me? Her current bad state was because of him, so it would only be natural if she rebuffed him, and for some reason he didn't think he could handle that.

She deserves an apology. His mind insisted.

Hunter briefly pressed his lips together in apprehension before putting a hand on her shoulder yet again in an attempt to reassure her, mentally cursing at her lack of a real name. "Agent?" She groggily looked up at his face twisted in anxiety and self-loathing. "I'm... I'm so-"

Before he could properly declare his remorse, Tech and everyone else in the search party burst into the cave and Tech quickly found his place on SAC-1's other side with bioscanner in hand, cutting off Hunter who looked down in shame. The rest of the search crew held their lights up so he could see what he was doing, and everyone's eyes widened when they saw the extent of her injuries.

SAC-1 tossed a tired grin to her brainy friend. "Hey Tech, how's it going?" She kind of slurred.

Tech focused on the life-saving task at hand and blatantly ignored her, immediately the blue hue of the scanner searched her body for any internal injuries. The results came back milliseconds later. "You sustained some serious blood loss from your lost limb, have three cracked ribs and a severe concussion." Hunter rubbed a hand over his face in exasperation over this whole situation while Tech assessed the lost limb. "Oh good you used a tourniquet - that probably saved your life."

At that comment, Hunter's eyes sparked with frustration while Tech ordered Crosshair to prepare the stretcher. "Agent, why did you do something so reckless? Do you realize that you could have been killed?" It came out more harshly than he intended, but he was so upset over the awful situation.

It took a few seconds for the questions to be processed through her muggy brain due to her concussion. "If I hadn't done it, I'd have been killed anyway."

"What are you talking about?" Hunter demanded, and everyone also listened closely.

Her head nodded a few times, signaling that she was trying to remain alert as her body threatened to shut down again. "I... I know about the deal with Nala Se, Sarge..." His frown deepened and he looked away guiltily. "Nala Se also told me that... if I was returned to Kamino they'd be forced to rethink my usefulness to the army."

"She meant that you'd be trained in a different way, a more effective way." Hunter stated firmly.

SAC-1 gave a sharp shake of her head in disagreement, which caused more dizziness and her face screwed up in discomfort. "No, that's not what she meant -"

"Let's stop talking about this." Tech suggested. "This is aggravating your injuries, SAC."

"The stretcher is ready." Crosshair cut in, wanting to also stop SAC-1's stress. Not able to say another word on the subject, Hunter was promptly told to move so that Tech and Wrecker could get her on the stretcher, the impromptu medic motioning for the sniper to bring it over. They waited a few more minutes for the painkillers to fully kick in, so she wasn't in too much pain when they finally moved her.

Then began the long trek back to the ship. It wasn't long as in distance, but long as in they had to stop multiple times to ease SAC-1's nausea, her concussion making her feel sick at any type of movement. It took a couple of hours to go a few miles on mostly flat land, and the ship ride wasn't much better. Tech tried the best he could to ease her discomfort - putting a cold compress to the back of her neck, applying pressure to her inner wrist in circular motions, making her focus on her breathing and encouraged her to take sips of cool water - all things he had researched that was said to help with nausea. SAC-1 definitely appreciated all these efforts and tried to minimize her complaints, but Tech reassured her that her reactions were completely normal and that no one was judging her for it. Hunter felt more and even more horrible every time she whimpered, and he hoped with every fiber in his being that she would be okay.

When they reached the cruiser, SAC-1 was immediately taken to the medical bay to be treated for her wounds, and the hyperdrive was set to the nearest planet with major clone hospital (which was on Coruscant), where she would be transferred to be treated and complete her recovery.


(Day 7 w/ the Bad Batch)

SAC-1 woke with a start, then squinted as a bright white light momentarily blinded her. When her vision grew used to the bright lights after a few hard blinks, she looked around and her eyes widened, while heart sank to her stomach when she saw the pristine white walls, heard the beeps of monitors and smelled the antiseptic.

She was in the lab again.

No! Not again! Not another experiment!

SAC-1 breathing quickened but found it difficult to draw in such sharp breaths and realized there was a breathing mask attached to her face. Her hand flew upwards and she tore it off her face with a grunt and chucked it away as hard as she could, hearing the clang of the plastic colliding with small metal objects and clanging to the floor while bolted upright in bed, only to groan when a wave of nausea and dizziness hit her. When she went to hold her throbbing head, she saw that her arms and, upon further inspection, other extremities were also hooked up to various machines around her, including an IV. Another wave of nausea made her almost vomit and she was quick to tear them away, again almost throwing up from the sting it caused and she a violent shudder coursed through her body.

Suddenly a blaring alarm sounded, and her face screwed up and she held her head as her senses became overwhelmed and a sensory overload was well on it's way to paralyzing her. A river of hot tears ran down her cheeks and she began crying out, "No! NO! NOT AGAIN PLEASE!" Her ribs were aching terribly from her ragged breathing and her head was killing her.

A pair of hands firmly grasped her shoulders to try and still her frantic movements, but it only succeeding in making her shriek as Nala Se's picture appeared in her mind and she blindly hurled a punch at that despicable woman, sending her flying across the room while the female clone fisted her hands into her hair, almost tearing out chunks by the roots.

Then, suddenly, everything became eerily silent, but her ears were still deafeningly ringing and she her hyperventilating continued from the sensory overload.

A voice managed to cut through the chaos, "Agent, you're fine!" Someone tried reassuring her, and after a few more whimpers she finally raised her tear-stained face and managed to put forth enough to see Tech rigidly standing by the now deactivated heart monitor with a very concerned facial expression.

"Tech?!" She shrieked in fright, "They're experimenting on you too?!" She asked frantically.

This panic-stricken question surprisingly didn't faze Tech. During the journey to Coruscant, Ahsoka had him brought to the medbay to have a chat with him, and she let him in on how SAC-1 acted during her tour of the ship - the severe trauma response to a simple tease, her panic at apparently revealing a deep, dark, secret about her Anti-Trauma De-Programming, and now what she had learned from her master: it revolved around the Chief Medical Scientist, Nala Se.

Well, Tech knew precisely what had gone on in that remote lab, having been subjected to it himself, as did Wrecker, Crosshair, and Hunter, but he did not disclose his grim knowledge to his commanding officer, furious at himself for not suspecting it earlier. Rather, he agreed to Ahsoka's request to help her out with whatever was going on, and promised not to let her be subjected to more ill treatment, which he immediately reeled his squad into the promise after filling them in with his suspicions.

Tech kept his tone even and soft, "No one is being experimented on, you're just in a medcenter on Coruscant."

It took several blinks for his words to be computed in addition to a few shaky breaths before she repeated the location, he gave her. "Coruscant?" He nodded in reaffirmation, "I'm-I'm not in the lab on Kamino being experimented on?" She couldn't control what came out of her mouth, unable to think of the consequences for revealing Nala Se's rotten habits.

Tech's expression became sad, and he stepped forward to kneel by the bed and gently reached up to make her release her poor hair before it was ripped from her scalp. "No. You're being treated for the injuries you received on Silva."

Recognition dawned on SAC-1's face, and she remembered it all. The mission. The bomb. The rescue.

SAC-1 took another pensive peer the room, slowly allowing Tech to lower her hands from her head, but she clutched onto his before they pulled away, still needing some form of grounding. This place wore the same white walls and blinding white lights, but that's where the similarities ended. The machinery was from different manufacturers, there were no Kaminoans anywhere, and the big window her bed was in front of had a view of a bustling skyscraper filled city, no stormy clouds or raging ocean in sight.

Her panic began to subside by leaps and bounds, so she sniffed and finally released Tech to wipe her tears away, then noticed Hunter crumpled on the floor in the corner clutching his ribs, his face twisted in pain as Crosshair tried helping him to his feet without hurting him further.

When she recalled punching 'Nala Se', the panic came back as the illusion turned out to actually be Hunter. "Sergeant!" She exclaimed, "Are you okay?!"

"You have enhanced strength: do you think he's okay?" Crosshair hissed rhetorically as he released Hunter's arm when he was upright, albeit a bit shaky.

If Hunter had been wearing his armor, perhaps he could have been protected from SAC-1's unnatural strength, but he and the rest of the Bad Batch were wearing civvies. They each had variations of cargo pants and belts so that they could still carry weapons on them, and each had their wrist guards to keep their commlinks on them, but Tech wore a simple black turtleneck, Crosshair had a simple long sleeve black shirt, Wrecker wore a poncho over a black short sleeve shirt and Hunter sported a black tank top, and each wore their combat boots.

SAC-1's hand fisted into her hair again as another freak out threatened to overcome her. "I'm sorry, I thought you were - and - and I thought I was being - and then the alarm went off - !"

Hunter held up a hand to silence her apologies. "It's fine. Don't apologize." He tried taking in a deep breath, but that sent a wave of pain through his middle, and he grunted while clutching his throbbing side again. "But I may need a medic." He groaned.

Wrecker barked a laugh from his position in the corner of the room.

As if on cue, a clone medic rushed in, having seen the commotion through the security cams. "What's going on here?!" He demanded, seeing the now alert, disheveled SAC-1 and suddenly injured Hunter.

SAC-1 blushed and murmured in embarrassment, "I may have panicked just a smitch."

"That's the understatement of the millennium." Crosshair quipped, which made her feel even worse.

The medic eyes flitted between SAC-1 and Hunter several times, trying to decide who to examine first, and ended up deciding on his first, more seriously injured patient. He approached her and with a disapproving frown saw that she wasn't hooked up to the monitors or IV anymore. "What happened to your -"

"I refuse to have needles in me." She asserted firmly.

"Those needles have kept you alive these past three days while you were unconscious." He retorted unsympathetically.

I was out for three days? I don't even remember passing out. "Well I'm awake now, so I'll do whatever treatment necessary to recover from my accident, except be jabbed by pointy needles."

The medic heavily sighed. "I suppose since you're stable you can use the bacta tank, but some needles will still be necessary to administer antibiotics for your infection."

Her heart almost skipped a beat, "What infection?"

"From your severed leg." Her eyebrows snapped together, and she looked at her covered legs for the first time since she woke up, and felt her stomach twist in knots when she saw only one little foot lump. "Due to it not being treated immediately, the stump became infected and -"

SAC-1 ripped off the sheet covering her legs and gasped when she saw the bottom half of her left leg gone, a bacta tourniquet over her stump to aid to treat the gaping wound and prevent further infection. "Wha-?" She almost heaved at the sight... MY LEG IS GONE! Then, NALA SE IS GOING TO KILL ME!

"You didn't remember that your leg was chopped off?" Wrecker bluntly asked in disbelief.

Dizziness made her sway as the memory of what happened resurfaced in her mind, and she began rubbing her aching temples. "Yes - I mean, no - I mean, yes, I do now."

"Can you walk me through what exactly happened?" The doctor requested, getting his lightpad from his stand by the door to type in her explanation, and everyone listened intently to her heroic tale.

"I... was jetting out the window from a Separatist base... and had just barely made it out when the bomb went off." She winced as stills of the accident flashed through her mind relentlessly. "A piece of shrapnel from the explosion sliced my leg off in midair." She felt very nauseated now due to the sickening memory of gruesome sound of flesh and bone against metal, and the concussion didn't help at all.

The medic typed her tale down in the lightpad, then set it aside to checked her vitals.

"You are definitely more stable than you were three days ago." He announced happily. "So you don't have to be hooked up to the machinery anymore." He then grabbed a bioscan and scanned her stump. "But you will still need doses of antibiotics for the infection." She whimpered, not wanting the needles. "The bacta tank will speed up the healing process though, so that means soon you won't need them."

SAC-1 nodded grimly.

After an awkward moment, the medic turned and walked to Hunter, bioscan in hand. "Now let's see what's the matter with you." He was scanned and the results came in. "You have two cracked ribs?" He looked incredulously at the Sergeant, "How did this happen?"

Hunter didn't look him in the eyes. "I fell down a flight of stairs on the way here." He lied, surprising SAC-1 at his protecting her.

The medic obviously didn't believe that story but decided not to press. "Let me go arrange the bacta tanks for you two." Was his promise before marching out of the room.

Presented with the perfect opportunity, Tech decided to orchestrate a situation where Hunter could privately make amends with the Clone Agent, "Wrecker, Crosshair, why don't we get something to eat in the Cafeteria?" Tech suggested seemingly out of the blue. "And Hunter, you can stay here and rest with SAC-1 while you wait for the bacta tanks." He forcefully suggested, pointing to the empty chair by the desk.

Everyone in the room blinked at this rather abrupt suggestion.

"I'm not hungry." Crosshair informed him grumpily.

Tech was not deterred in the slightest though, "Well, I'm sure Wrecker is - right Wrecker?"

"I'm always hungry!" Wrecker stated the obvious, then lumbered out of the room while saying happily to SAC-1 over his shoulder, "It's good to see you up and at it, Agent!" Which greatly befuddled her.

Tech pointed to the back of his retreating comrade. "See? And... I cannot handle him on my own, so you must come as well, Crosshair!"

Crosshair steely eyes bore into his brothers twinkling ones for a long moment, then he sassily rolled his eyes for show and relented, following Wrecker, who was making a beeline for the magical place that provided actual meals not of the ration variety. Tech, before also exiting the room, gave Hunter a secret pointed look, which the sheepish Sergeant understood exactly what it meant.

Bashfully avoiding her questioning gaze, he slowly lowered himself onto the empty chair by the desk, groaning as his ribs fiercely protested the movement.

It SAC-1's turn to become ruddy from embarrassment, expecting more severe discipline for her careless actions. "I'm really sorry about your ribs, sir."

Hunter immediately shook his head to release her of the undue guilt, briefly glancing at hunched figure her but still unable to meet her eyes. "Don't be... I deserve it." He murmured, the self-reproach deafening in his mind.

SAC-1 tilted her head, not understanding why anyone deserved to be hurt - deep down she knew the pain Nala Se inflicted on her was wrong. "Why would you deserve cracked ribs?"

Hunter let out a sharp breath, trying to steady himself, and finally met her curious gaze with a determined one, "Because... your injuries are myfault." SAC-1 was baffled at this reasoning, so he explained further. "I should have warned you about the sensory overloads that come with first interactions with a bomb, so I'm sorry... about everything."

"You're... apologizing?" For some reason she wasn't comprehending this very well.

"Yeah."

SAC-1 was rendered speechless, becoming thoughtful for a moment - she was not used to someone apologizing after inflicting pain on her. Any pain she received was deserved, said Nala Se, whether she had done something wrong or not. She was created for scientific purposes, and nothing more. Except here Hunter was saying she screwed up, but she didn't deserve this fate of severe bodily trauma. It was an odd counter thought... but not unpleasant. But the two extremes greatly fought in her mind and gave her migraine like symptoms.

"Why are you all here?" She blurted out of blue, and nonplussed he tilted his head. "I thought you'd be off on another mission by now."

"We've made it a habit to not take any missions if one of our own is recovering from an injury." He stated as if it explained everything.

SAC-1 raised a brow. "Since when am I that?"

Hunter attempted to shrug, but regretted that action when it gave him stabbing pains. "You've been out for three days - a lot can happen in that amount of time." He revealed after he recovered.

A scoff in derision was his unexpected answer as he thought it's what she really wanted. "So what, in order to be accepted into your squad one has to almost get themselves killed?"

A ghost of a smile came onto Hunter's lips, which startled her - she'd never seen him smile. "No, us stubborn men just have to open our eyes and see what a good soldier they are."

The fire in her gaze disappeared into a hopeful twinkle. "You think I'm a good soldier?" It's what she wanted to hear her whole life!

He nodded firmly. "I do. Probably one of the best I've ever fought alongside with - I've never seen one clone take on an entire seppie base on their own before." He chuckled lightheartedly, again startling her. "You have a death wish, which means you'll fit right in."

The corners of SAC-1's lips at the attempted humor, but she still was somber. "What if I don't want to fit in anymore though?"

His demeanor became dejected, and his voice was small. "You - you don't want to stay with us?"

"Well, why should I?" The Clone Agent rightly asked, becoming brave enough to speak out since it was clear he wasn't going to chew her out again, "You guys assumed I'd be a terrible soldier just because I was wide eyed and innocent, treating me with unfair contempt. And I'm still very innocent when it comes to the warfront, so who's to say that you won't ship me back to Kamino if I mess up again?"

Hunter briefly pressed his lips together, a nervous habit that had recently developed... Since she showed up, apparently. "You're absolutely right, we haven't given you a reason to stay." He sighed in despair over his mistakes and thumped his head against the headrest. "I'm sorry, I really am, about how you were treated. I don't blame you for not wanting to stay." He looked her in the eye though, to show he meant his next words with everything he had. "I know my word doesn't mean much to you, but if you stayed I promise we'd never bring up the deal ever again. It was a downright stupid and hypocritical mistake, treating you like property that could be discarded, and we'd like to forget it."

His words about her were like nothing she had heard used to describe herself - all her life, she was reminded of her place in the galaxy - Kaminoan property used to aid the Republic in their defenses.

Instead of focusing on his strange wording, throughout the whole speech, SAC-1 searched his eyes. For the whole time she'd known him she always detected hostility in his features when he talked to her but now, throughout this whole interaction, there'd been none. His whole demeanor was sincerely friendly now, and of course guilty. All the hostility was gone.

This made her say, "Oh who am I kidding, of course I still want to be a part of the Bad Batch!" Hunter perked up, and she decided to make clear, "But that doesn't mean I fully trust you. It'll take a while for that - I still don't believe you won't get rid of me the first chance you get. Your squad is very exclusive, and doesn't like outsiders."

"We all agreed that we want you a part of the team -"

"Even Crosshair?"

"What makes you think he didn't?" He tried dodging while shifting his eyes, not confirming it but not denying it either.

"Lucky guess." She retorted, recalling the snide remarks he made after her freak out. "I've proved I won't be a burden, and he still isn't nice to me."

Hunter opened and closed his mouth several times before finally admitting, "He's... Well, it's going to take some getting used to. Other clones don't treat us very well because we're different, so he has a hard time believing that you're not like them."

"He said that?"

"Yeah. But honestly even though he's kinda bitchy -"

"That's the understatement of the millennium." She repeated snidely.

Another chuckle escaped Hunter's lips at her mockery. "- once he warms up to you, he's the most loyal clone you'll ever know. He'll still be crude, but you'll know he's just playing with you."

She hummed in acknowledgment, but her face fell as a thought dawned on her. "That's nice and all, but I can't allow myself to hope I'll even be allowed to stay with you all." Except instead of this being said in her mind, it was actually said out loud, and Hunter's posture stiffened.

"We won't let Nala Se hurt you ever again." He swore with a dark undertone in his voice.

She flinched, then became frightened at the potential punishments warranted for not one, but two slip ups. Pathetically she tried retracting her statement like with Commander Tano, but her sputters revealed the truth behind her statement, and Hunter held up a hand to silence her, his face thunderous but his words were meant to be reassuring, but the medic returned before he could have this hard conversation with her.

"The bacta tanks are ready." He announced cheerfully, trying to diffuse the tension he sensed the moment he walked in.


"That was the most uncomfortable experience of my entire life, and I've had half my leg sliced off." SAC-1 remarked to Hunter with her arms moodily crossed as he wheeled her back to her room, his cracked ribs now fully healed after four hours in the bacta tank.

"You're the one who refused the sedative." Was his unsympathetic but teasing reply.

"Why haven't scientists created a sedative in capsule form?" She truly wondered as it was a simple concept, "I just can't possibly be the first one to hate needles."

"Well, maybe you can be the scientist to do that." Hunter jested, turning into her assigned room.

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm a soldier not a scientist." She retorted in a 'duh' tone, not realizing this was also a joke.

Hunter shook his head with a small, amused grin on his face as he stopped her wheelchair at the foot of the bed under the part with the window, then went and relaxed into one of the spare chairs that the hospital provided, leaning comfortably against the cushioned back now that his ribs were healed.

SAC-1 wasn't done complaining though. "The slimy texture made me want to vomit, and I felt like I was being swallowed alive by some gooey creature."

He lazily threw her a glance, his sedative still wearing off some, "But you feel better, right?"

SAC-1 sassily tossed a hand. "Yeah, yeah." Their heads turned to the door when they felt three people coming their way, and saw Tech, Crosshair and Wrecker walk into the room.

"Hey guys!" Wrecker greeted them cheerfully. "How were the tanks?"

"Slimy." SAC-1 disclosed with a shudder and a gagging noise.

Tech shared a secret questioning look with Hunter, the latter alert of to understand his meaning and nodded back to let him know he'd apologized, and Tech lightened up.

Wrecker laughed at the Agent's comment, plunking down next to Hunter. "Yeah. But you look a lot better!"

SAC-1 smiled softly at him. It was true, she looked a lot better. The cut over her right eye was completely healed and was like it wasn't even there, her ribs ached less and her leg was no longer throbbing, the infection gone, and a healthy color returned to her cheeks.

Tech, sitting down next to Wrecker, held up his signature pointer finger. "Bacta may be gelatinous, but it is fascinating. Made up of a mixture of kavam and alazhi bacteria combined with ambori fluid and a type of barley known as Vratixia renanicus -"

"Those are a bunch of five credit words." Crosshair remarked under his breath, sitting at the desk chair and pulling out a toothpick.

"- it promotes rapid regeneration of organic compounds and can heal any type of injury." Tech finished, only acting unfazed by Crosshair's sarcasm.

SAC-1 sighed in defeat. "Yes, I admit I do feel better. But I'm still not looking forward to my next session tomorrow morning."

Three more presences could be felt outside the room, and Hunter and SAC-1 turned to see Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka walk into the room.

The Bad Batch - minus SAC-1 - stood up from their chairs in respect.

"Generals. Commander." Hunter said with a curt salute that his subordinates copied.

"You're awake!" Ahsoka exclaimed in relief, bounding up to her and grasping her shoulders good-naturedly, and SAC-1's nod was accompanied with a genuine smile. "You look great!" She complimented, taking a seat on the edge of the hospital bed to be close to SAC-1.

"Hello boys." Obi-Wan greeted the squad, hands behind his back. "We came to check up on the health of Silva's liberator." He clarified brightly, smiling warmly at SAC-1.

SAC-1 was flattered they'd taken the trouble to see little ol' her. "I'm better since the bacta tank. The Kaminoans have given permission to have me fitted with a prosthetic - of the synthflesh variety! - after tomorrow's bacta session."

It was a surprising piece of news the two of them got after emerging from the tanks, which made SAC-1 feel infinitely better about everything that had happened - she was going to stay with the Bad Batch! Why else would they go through so much trouble to make her look completely normal and unblemished again if they weren't going to continue using her?

Ahsoka beamed at the good news. "That's great!"

"You'll be pleased to know that Moralo Eval was found on Denon just like you said," Anakin informed her, "And he was arrested, so the Chancellor is safe."

SAC-1 lifted her chin proudly, but kept her words humble. "I'm glad to know I found the right information."

Obi-Wan hummed in agreement, then said, "Agent, after a soldier does something so valiant there's usually a medal or a promotion that comes their way, but we're not sure how that works with special agents."

"I'm the only clone in this new division, so there's really no set protocol yet, but I don't need a medal, sir." She shrugged dismissively. "It was really nothing."

"Nothing?" Anakin repeated in incredulity. "You took on an entire Separatist Base by yourself, and succeeded."

SAC-1 simply shrugged again. "Just doing my duty General - sacrificing my life for the greater good. It was what I was created to do." SAC-1 said automatically, as if it was pre-programmed... Which it was.

To cut the tense silence after her monotonous, self-depreciating words Obi-Wan finally revealed his hands, which held a wooden box, and stepped up to her. "Well, I'm sorry to give you something you don't want," He opened the box, and inside was a golden medallion with a purple ribbon, "But Chancellor Palpatine has asked me to bestow this upon you."

SAC-1's eyes bulged at the sight of the shiny medal, and she gaped up at him. "That's a Chancellor's Service Medal!"

The Bad Batches' jaws dropped as well. Medals and ceremonies weren't really their thing, but they knew how much of an honor it was to receive this particular medal - it was the most prestigious one to earn, the highest honor.

Obi-Wan nodded and beckoned for her to take it. "You've definitely earned this medal, soldier."

SAC-1 looked down at the medal now in her plan and grinned like she had just won the lottery, which was basically the same thing! All in all, the 'ceremony' was very anticlimactic - she understood why the Bad Batch didn't participate in these ceremonies - but just knowing that she had finally done something right and was recognized for it, it felt good.

"How'd you do it?" Wrecker eagerly asked when Obi-Wan stepped back, loving a good story that involved explosions.

Everyone became eager for details as well, so she obliged them now that the whole event had resurfaced in her mind. "It's really not that interesting of a story - it wasn't easy of course, and it took a lot of patience. I had to search for weakness or vulnerability in their security throughout my infiltration into the base. I was on my toes the whole time, but thankfully I have a lot of endurance. My vibrosword also helped my being stealthy, being able to swiftly take out any stragglers without raising the alarm."

Anakin hummed thoughtfully. "You sound like quite the stalking little wolf."

Ahsoka's eyes lit up as an idea came. "You know, on Lothal there's a name that means stalking wolf - Talla."

SAC-1 didn't quite catch on to her meaning. "And...?"

"That should be your name!" Ahsoka proposed enthusiastically.

Confusion seemed to become a constant emotion the Clone Agent felt since emerging from her sheltered life. "But I already have a name: SAC-1."

"That's your birth number, but all troopers like to give themselves actual names to express their individuality."

This information made SAC-1 blink in realization. "Wait, really?" She blindly pointed to each of the Bad Batch members as she connected the dots. "So, that's why he's called Hunter (because of his tracking skills) and he's called Tech (because of his exceptional technology skills) and he's called Wrecker (because of his dire need to destroy enemy property) and he's called Crosshair (because of his sniper skills)?"

Crosshair face palmed while Ahsoka confirmed her phycological breakthrough. "Troopers give themselves unique names based on their personality, their skills, or just because they hear a name they like and want for themselves."

SAC-1 nodded slowly, the same speed she was processing this new information about her fellow soldiers that went against everything drilled into her since infancy, despite getting a glimpse at the other end of the thinking spectrum. "But we're Kaminoan property, so shouldn't we stick to the names - er, birth numbers - given to us by the masterminds behind our very existence?"

Everyone made a face of annoyance, but it was not directed at her. The Bad Batch, most other clones and the Jedi despised the fact that the Kaminoans treated clones like organic droids

instead of real people - hence allowing and using the naming system in their protocol.

"We're more than Kaminoan property - we're people." Hunter schooled her firmly. "We clones may not have the same rights as regular folk, but we're still people." Hunter educationally gestured to himself and his brothers. "Giving ourselves names helps us feel somewhat normal." Tech, Wrecker, and even Crosshair made noises of agreement with that statement.

Pursing her lips, SAC-1 pondered this information for a moment, then hummed approvingly. "Well, I do like wolves, and stalking... the enemy, that is!" She added quickly. "That name is... I like it - it perfectly captures my profile!"

Ahsoka simpered and put a welcoming hand on her forearm. "Welcome to the fight, Talla."

SAC-1 - now Talla - grinned with shining eyes, liking better the sound of being called by that name than simply 'Agent.' "Thank you, sir. And I'm glad to see you so well recovered from the... incident."

"It's going to take a lot more than a blaster bolt to take Ahsoka out." Anakin remarked with a teasing sideways glance.

"And apparently it's going to take more than a bomb to take Talla out." Obi-Wan praised.

Talla poked her bandaged stump out and grimaced at it. "It only made me a cripple."

Anakin, the perfect comforter for this issue, tried putting her mind at rest, "Don't worry, having cybernetics isn't so bad." Her eyebrows snapped together as he pushed up the sleeve to his right arm and took off the glove that covered his apparently droid-like hand contraption.

"Huh." She breathed, "I... had no idea you had a cybernetic hand!"

"That is because cybernetic technology is so advanced it works like the real thing." Tech said. "With a cybernetic leg, I am confident that you will be able to perform at the same level as before your dismemberment."

Talla felt a huge weight off her chest at that confident prediction. "That's a relief. I was afraid that I'd be eventually decommissioned due to my injury."

"No, I'm certain you'll be slicing clanker heads for a long time to come." Ahsoka encouraged.

Talla nodded, then felt her head sway as exhaustion suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks and she covered her mouth as a big yawn came.

Obi-Wan shot Anakin a knowing look. "Well, we better get going. It's getting late."

Talla's eyelids seemed to weigh ten thousand pounds now and she struggled to keep them open but straightened as best she could in her chair and drunkenly saluted in a respectful parting. "Thank you for visiting, sirs, and the medal."

"You're welcome, Talla." Obi-Wan replied politely. "I hope you're up on your feet soon."

Her grin of response was lazy. "You and me both, General."

Once they were gone, Talla tried to wheel her chair to the side of the bed, but her strength had been wiped out from the day of treatment and eluded her now, rendering her completely helpless. Wrecker, who was unfortunately not the most perceptive man in the world, actually did notice her struggle and came to her aid before his brothers did, all of them hesitating to get that up close and personal with their new female squadmate.

With a gentle push she was in reach of the bed and, despite being in such a groggy state, knew she wouldn't be able to heave herself onto the bed by herself and looked imploringly up at the big lug, who obliged her. With such gentleness that you wouldn't suspect by looking at his huge frame, he gingerly took tiny by comparison Talla into his massive arms, raised her from the wheelchair and she gripped onto him as he carefully, carefully transferred her onto the mattress, to which immediately curled up on her side into a tight ball and conked out within seconds, not even stirring when Wrecker snugly tucked the blanket that had been shoved to the bottom of the bed around her shivering frame.