(Cover by StarPotterNerd on Wattpad)
War does not spare anyone, not even the precious souls known as the boisterous, considerate, and huggable Wrecker of the infamous Bad Batch, or his outspoken, compassionate and enchanting twi'lek tattoo artist for a girlfriend, Skylar Tiima.
They met right after after the Battle of Geonosis, when the Bad Batch wandered into Skylar, her twin brother, and her best friends' shared parlor on Coruscant, the newly deployed enhanced clone commandos wanting to enhance their appearances with tattoos to further set them apart from the boring regs.
Sparks flew at first sight, and if you truly know clumsy Wrecker, that is meant literally too. But neither of them could have predicted what was to come, what evils were hidden beneath the hypocrisy already blatantly obvious of the Republics faulty government that would eventually change both their lives as they knew it.
It can be hard to see the positive in a situation with so much past and present suffering, which is why Wrecker and Skylar relied on each other for reminders that despite all the darkness around them, you could find the light in a wierdest and unexpected places.
(WRECKER x FEMALE OC FANFIC)
~(in order for this storyline to make sense, you'll have to read my main book - PROJECT SAC-1)~
A/N:
We never see how the Bad Batch look when they're younger, but since they haven't been in battle I imagine Wrecker with actual hair when they are cadets and first deployed before his apparent accident XD I've seen some pics where he has light hair like Crosshair and Tech, and others where it's the same as all clones... I leave that to your imagination
Picture it:
️ Coruscant ️
22 BBY
Shortly after the outbreak of the Clone Wars
Four young and inexperienced deviant clone commandos fresh off of Kamino, with the physical maturity of twenty years but nowhere near the emotional and mental maturity of that age.
And despite being exceedingly different in appearance then their reg counterparts, one even having silver-toned hair and the other roughly the size of a wookie and even had the strength of one, the squadron still thought themselves looking very plain, very dull, very BLAH...
(NIK'S PARLOR - LATE MORNING - DAY 7 SINCE DEPLOYMENT)
Good thing was, during his cadet years Tech had researched the various ways to enhance one's appearance through the HoloNet, and now they were in a position to make them look more unique, more dangerous-looking and the cherry on top, more rebellious.
Bad part was, they didn't know you had to pay for these sorts of things too, and had spent almost all the money they didn't have on their very first meal that wasn't gross Cafeteria food, or the tasteless ration bars they'd supplied with.
Well, by now they had an inkling about having to trade credits for things, but they didn't expect the prices they were hit with when entering the five-star reviewed tattoo parlor this side of 79's.
Hunter was going to be the example of strength and set the foundation for him and his brothers getting over their needle phobia, and all Hunter wanted was a black skull tattoo on the left side of his face, the badass symbol of their badass squadron they dubbed as 'The Bad Batch.' The tattoo would be odd pick me up of sorts, after that awful experience at the drinking establishment last night, and all dishwashing they had to do that still didn't pay off their exorbitant tab yet, the bartender said.
... But Hunter did not want to pay hundreds of credits for the skull tattoo, especially since he didn't have hundreds of credits.
Misunderstanding their apparent lack of credits at first, the co-owner of this place known as Nik's Parlor, Nik himself stood behind the counter with his arms crossed and said with a no-nonsense tone, a stark contrast from how he enthusiastically treated the rest of his paying customers, "No money = no tattoos, guys."
The Parlor got stragglers all the time who wanted to weasel cheap, sometimes outright FREE tattoos out of him and his co-owners. Or haircuts. Or piercings. Or clothes.
It was only to be expected that he would immediately assume this band of strange misfit soldiers in strange armor, standing in front of the pay counter with discontent looks, were exactly the same, 'meekly' saying they didn't have the estimated number of credits to buy their Sergeant a tattoo.
But Nik's suspicions were quickly expunged when the difference between those sleemos and these guys is when Tech did hold out the pitiful amount of the measly dozen credits to their name their mouths were pressed in hard lines instead of mock pouts, and their droopy eyes gleaming with not only embarrassment but shame and confusion and misery and they just looked so LOST.
The people who tried to weasel freebees out of them could never be this sincere, a mischievous glint always giving them away. And there were exaggerated stories about a family member suffering a grave illness that's treatment sucked them dry of every spare cred they had, or how they knew the owner or manager and this downright disrespectful treatment would cost them their job, yada yada yada...
With these batch of strange looking soldiers, it was just a few humiliating mumbles amongst themselves.
"I don't understand." By the goggled one to his frowning leader, the subordinates' eyes timidly rounded and looking for guidance.
"They didn't tell us 'bout this." By the burly one directed at the leader too with the same expression and unsure tone.
"They could have told us you have to trade money for everything out here." The silver-haired one snaked to no one in particular.
The glints in their eyes now weren't lively and excited like before, even or the awaited mischievousness - it was only bitter resentment.
The leader merely sighed, "We're uh, we're very sorry we wasted your time." He apologized with a red face and dodgy eye contact, then turned and made brisk gesture for his soldiers to follow him out the Parlor, wanting to leave behind this humiliation ASAP.
"It's all good," Nik ended up saying kindly to their retreating hunched backs, forgoing the matter-of-fact approach as curiosity took over, "Hey, I gotta ask -" He called after them and they paused their exit, "Where you guys from, anyways?"
The three youngest looked apprehensively down at their shortest member, and ever the strong Sergeant it made him nod in an okay before they turned back towards the twi'lek owner with guarded expressions.
Who now wore a playful grin to lighten the dreariness while leaning against his hands on the counter. "See, everyone knows you have to pay for a tattoo, or anything in life basically, unless you lived under a rock or something?" He chuckled that last part, not having the slightest clue it was far worse than that.
"We have just been deployed from Kamino." The goggled one recited quietly, exchanging an uneasy glance with the burly one to his right.
Kamino.
Nik and his family had obviously heard of the outbreak of the war through the Net, and how this army of CLONES created by this freakishly smart race known as the Kaminoans that were the stuff of nightmares, to be honest. These clones were now being spread thin across the galaxy to fight against the new threat to the Republic - the Separatists. He'd seen some pics on the Net too of these brave men with identical faces and identical white armor, so it was only to be expected he'd not been able to realize at first that these UNIDENTICAL guys with BLACK armor were also CLONES.
"We are Experimental Unit: Clone Force 99," The goggled one introduced themselves as when they were invited back to the counter and questioned further, the burly one proudly adding, "But we go by 'The Bad Batch!'" Which was admittedly a very fitting name when it was explained why they looked so different and why they were made to be so different. It was pretty cool, what their capabilities made them able to do, the goggled one, 'Tech' enthusiastically spewing forth every fact he knew about their genetic differences.
And yet, Nik couldn't get past the fact that these scientists 'made' them this way, literally messed with their very DNA to make them these exceptional soldiers. It seemed a tad invasive, that they didn't get a choice as to who they were and what made them unique.
So, he commed in his sister and his girlfriend to consult on the matter.
His twin sister was very rowdy and very outspoken when Nik told the best friend duo that these guys didn't have enough credits to buy what they wanted done.
Hands on hips, blue eyes sharp and cold as ice daggers that caused the urge to recoil three steps out of claw reach, Skylar colorfully asserted (threatened), "Listen, buddy boys: no money - NO TATTOOS! That's how it works, that's how it's ALWAYS worked, so if you don't flash some shiny creds for the expensive body art you want, I'm gonna kick your sorry asses so far from here you'll be crapping on Ryloth -!"
Nik interfered just in time, and told her that he and his brothers weren't a bunch of credit pinching lowlifes trying to scam them. "They're from Kamino - they're the soldiers we saw on the 'Net!"
Skylar eyed them all suspiciously, "They look nothing like those -" They lingered on the long-haired one, and tilted her head while pondering him, "Well... except for him, actually." And just like that, the colorful threat of was replaced with the opposite end of the spectrum - delight!
Because the Bad Batch were the first group of clone troopers to visit their humble establishment, and after a mild interrogation it was decided these poor deprived souls and grossly underpaid brave soldiers of the Republic needed that pick me up they desired at a large discount price, though were given lectures on how tattoos were permanent. There was no way they could ever afford to remove the ink if they decided it was not actually a good idea to ink half their face with a skull as their first tattooing experience.
Sergeant 'Hunter' was impressively unwavering as the trio of artists gave him pointed glances while saying that warning.
After, he was whisked away to a station by the twi'lek and his mirialan girlfriend, the tattoo artist asking for his bandana to get a closer look at his unique skull design and complimenting him on his art skills. And once Hunter's brown locks were free to his extreme agitation the woman started messing with his wavy hair, offering to give it some layers instead of it being boringly cut straight across, and to also teach him how to maintain it himself, minimizing cost for haircuts later on and the big win was that he'd always be rocking those luscious layers no matter where he was.
Tech stood nearby the workstation where Hunter was being prepped for his first tattooing experience, the brainiac spouting every fact he had acquired about tattoos with or without being asked and also asking questions about things he wasn't sure about without drawing a breath; 'Crosshair' occupied a chair nearby, so tense his back was ramrod straight while he trying to subtly squeeze his hands into fists, trying getting rid of the numb yet tingly feelings while Nik showed the various needles, the sniper overcome with wooziness and nausea that was masked behind an almost convincing bored expression; Wrecker wandered off, checking out the various viewscreens that displayed totally wicked tattoo designs the shop had done over the couple of years it'd been open.
If there was a contest for curiosity Wrecker would win second prize, hands down. He didn't record everything he saw, but touched - touched the bright viewscreens and art outlines in awe; trinkets and decor resting on the infinite number of shelves or hanging on the walls; touched the soft and cushy couches and pillows in the waiting area; next came the unoccupied and dangerous looking tools minus the sharp needles -
"Hey there." Someone voiced behind him as he was about two centimeters away from picking up a bottle of ink THAT GLOWED! :D
And like a frightened loth-cat Wrecker jumped with a comical yelp, stumbled sideways in fright and ungracefully landing into the unoccupied reclining chair.
From his strength, several bolts yanked from the ground upon impact, and thankfully having a job where she had to dodge punches quite frequently, Skylar's lightning quick reflexes saved her from a bolt that flew in her direction at lightning speed.
So instead of impaling her head it impaled one of the viewscreens on the wall behind her.
No biggie, sparks still flew, and not just from the shattered mess of the destroyed screen.
After gaping at the shattered mess for a sec, Skylar had to giggle over her shoulder, "You know, curiosity killed the loth-cat." Which made him feel all sorts of weird things inside.
I could tell you that when Wrecker first really looked at Skylar Tiima, the first thing he noticed was her infectious smile.
Or her literally SKY-blue orbs that twinkled more like stars.
Or that how she dressed in an exotically patterned leather skirt with a bright red one-sleeved sweater, which proudly displayed her totally awesome glowing tattoos and complimented her body shape gorgeously.
Or even the unmistakable confidence she radiated through her manner of determined strides, loud and full voice, even standing with her chin held high and good, high posture and her never shrinking back from eye contact.
I mean I could say that, but then I'd be lying straight through my keyboard.
The only thing running through his mind was - 'Girl.'
'A girl is talking to me.'
'No, a woman is talking to me.'
'A very BEAUTIFUL woman... IS TALKING TO ME!'
Sky was the first woman Wrecker had ever interacted with besides female Kaminoans, female Kaminoan Doctors, the odd female trainer or two, so basically, Skylar was the first female who didn't just have orders or instructions to bark at him.
So, it was to be expected he was a bit nervous. He no doubt looked like a blithering idiot, from his sitting position gaping up at her intimidating yet captivating form, the metal armrests of the chair groaning in protest as his fisted hands around them seized, and he was dumbly unable to think of anything else but what was stated above even as she asked the general pleasantries that came along with making small talk with a stranger.
Wrecker couldn't remember what exactly the next few minutes of small talk included after her original question - 'What's your name?' - only thinking how stupid he must've looked as it took a few prods on her end to knock him out of his stupor, once waving a hand over his face, then snapping her fingers which did the trick.
Next on Wrecker's mind was how self-conscious he felt about the fact he hadn't showered since... resupplying on the new reg base here a couple of days ago? His hair, while very short, still must've looked like a mynocks nest. At least his armor was new and clean, but that didn't do much for his depressingly low self-confidence.
Then his face wouldn't ease up on the beet red tones even as the minutes passed.
And he kept massaging the back of his neck in agonizing nervousness.
And he couldn't look at her straight 'cause he feared his eyes would burn from her goddess-like beauty. Or the... butterflies?! And the puke-y feelings?!
Yes, that was corny, but he'd discovered holovids and as such, only had the corny terms those people spoke to go by, to accurately describe how he felt inside.
Lacking all life experience, Wrecker had no idea that Skylar was unconsciously dropping subtle hints she found him appealing as he did with her, especially with all the stated above happening to him. Yes, she was chatting him up when there was over a dozen other people in the shop who could have been much more interesting to talk to, but he immediately assumed Skylar was either insane or just being nice because she felt sorry for him after seeing their less than humble lifestyle.
Though, Skylar did end up saying something funny that his sheltered self actually understood, and this loosened Wrecker up quite a bit in the end.
And what happens when Wrecker gets comfortable with you, and overcome with hilarity or excitement or happiness?
Enhanced Muscle Man really thought he'd restrained himself to a mere, little, harmless, playful tap to the shoulder, somewhat knowing his own strength and really not wanting to hurt this nice person-
But he'd grossly miscalculated the g-force behind his SHOVE, and Skylar was flung backwards into the ink cart he'd been gawking at earlier.
The parlor echoed with the sound of crashing metal and breaking glass and liquid splattering and her pained 'OOF!'
Her brother, best friend and squadmates whipped in their direction with widened eyes and tense frames with the first two, ready to come to their loved one's defense needles and scissors blazing at seeing her fall to her backside after impact, several more bottles of ink falling onto her then the ground, exploding even more ink all over her.
Deafening silence mortified Wrecker as she processed the shock of her crash, blinking dumbly, then scanned the added pops of unwanted color on her clothes and shoes and the exposed flesh on her legs and arms and even her face-
Ever the supportive brother, Crosshair snickered after seeing Wrecker frozen in shock, grimace in denial, then groan 'Aw man' while a running his hands over his red face twisted in regret and self-loathing while his chest tightened in embarrassment.
Only several seconds later for the sound of hearty laughter to reach his matching, red-tinted ears. Wrecker's hands dropped so his astounded expression, consisting of rounded eyes and jaw back on the ground, was clearly seen as he watched Skylar bursting out with laughter over this incident, shutting Crosshair up real quick.
This is what stuck with Wrecker for the next two years, even meeting lots of other women after that, from many different species, circles in life, rank in the army. None could hold a candle to her, because when he made innocent mistakes like this, instead of going on a rampage or shaking her head with an annoyed frown and belittling words or just plain ignoring him completely, Skylar Tiima merely laughed it off, even though her fancy smancy clothes were ruined and there was a couple of bumps and scrapes from the impact to be treated.
When she was able to contain her jolly laughter, next came the wave of a hand in her family's direction to let them know she was okay, then untangling herself from the various tubes and cables before trying to stand with the slippery ink all over the floor and severe case of jelly legs from the fall.
Without thinking Wrecker went to help, reaching out to literally pick her up by her upper arms like she weighed nothing and carefully, this time actually carefully set her back onto the unslippery, undangerous floor to his left.
While Skylar gaped up at him, Wrecker again without thinking lifted the fallen cart and turned right side up again, grabbing a halfway clean rag and muttering some incoherent apologies while trying to wipe away some of the ink on her only sleeve. It only spread though, so next he looked up to apologize again only to finally notice her slackened jaw and general shock all over again.
Mistakening it for complete appalment at him for having the daring nerve to touch the goddess, he recoiled a step backwards and the rag was just shoved in her direction, and Skylar barely caught it as shamed Wrecker pouted down at his boots while muttering, "- 'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
In reality, Skylar was just not expecting him to be that STRONG. Mighty Zabraks had come into the shop, even once a curious Wookie, so she was no stranger to freakish strength but was not expecting this Human to possess it, even with his freakishly huge muscles, and briefly considered herself lucky there was no broken bones on her end.
She nearly fainted when he lifted that cart which no doubt weighed hundreds of pounds.
From Skylar's perspective, she found the big lug adorable on first sight. Very expressive, and upbeat, and very adventurous, and the cherry on top not shamefully flirting with her to try weaseling free body art out of her, very refreshing compared to a lot of the unwanted attention she'd gotten over the years while running this shop. He couldn't really look her in the eye now or before, but at least his eyes weren't wandering like with all the others.
It was exhilarating for her, that she could make a guy who looked as intimidating as him nothing more than a puddle of nerves. But in the end, she just chalked it up to him not used to being around devastatingly beautiful women. Seeing him so in awe with anything and everything here in the shop, even their waiting area couch and pillows, Skylar correctly assumed he knew nothing about, well, anything, and felt it would be unfair to say, ask if he wanted a tour of the local sights since he was new in town... To the whole galaxy, really.
If he possibly had no idea what a date was or how it was supposed to even work, it would only agitate him instead of being an enjoyable event if they got along well. That's why there was the hesitation.
That was one of the first things she learned about clone troopers - they severely lacked knowledge about anything other than what would benefit them on the battlefield. They knew nothing about life.
Skylar chose to stay silent for now, and depending on how long this new war lasted, as Wrecker's life experience hopefully developed and if she still felt a little crush as time went on and didn't happen to meet anyone else, maybe the two of them could amount to something? She trusted her instincts, and she had the distinct feeling this wouldn't be the last time they saw each other.
Didn't mean Skylar couldn't merely giggling in good nature again at his antics to ease his discomfort, and when that didn't work her grin turned into a soft smile and tilt of her head when his eyebrows furrowed, maybe thinking she was laughing at him instead of with him, and considering he wasn't laughing-
Situating the rag in her fingers, Skylar chose to close most of the distance between them, and reached up to lovingly brush clean the tip of his nose, having a tiny splatter of the glowing ink.
Slightly widened and bashfully gleaming eyes flicked up to her face to the hand now leaving behind his clean and burning face, then he looked back down to his boots with lingering doubts for a sec, before he dared another peek up at her, where he was rewarded by another encouraging bright smile.
"I tried to warn ya." Skylar teased with a playful wink as she wiped the rag over her own, unnaturally glowing hand.
Thankfully, once it was seen there wasn't going to be a rampage, his brothers had quickly grown bored of the twi'lek and clones' interaction and didn't see the stupid, dopey grin appear on Wrecker's face when she alluded to her 'Curiosity killed the loth-cat' warning phrase.
On the other hand, her twin bro saw the whole thing and when Skylar passed him by on the way to get different clothes, Nik threw her a smirk and waggled his eyebrows at her, earning him a flustered smack and a muttered 'Shut up!'
And so it began.
Update: that quote from Skylar everyone loves, should probably clarify its a play-off of a quote from favorite TV show of mine: HEARTLAND: S1E1Jack Bartlett to TY Borden: "If it were up to me, I'd kick your ass so far from here you'd be crappin' in Montana."
- Ella ^^
