The girl with a storm in her eyes: The Bad Batch Fanfic

Order 66

 I'm back with another Chapter! Enjoy <3

   TW: Claustrophobia, Order 66, monsters, childhood trauma, needles. 

   Please keep your arms and legs inside the Havoc Marauder at all times. This is gonna be a bumpy ride! (wORd CoUnT 3375)

 The air is thick with humidity as we wander through the large freighter, water splashing up onto our boots.  Rainwater has pooled inside the ship, causing the lower levels of the ship to be filled with water.  The water seems to have a directional current, as if a river is flowing through the craft.  I wonder if there is a hole somewhere, allowing a barely existing river to move through the metal, coming out at some lower point.

     Rex's voice echo's through the large space as he speaks, although I am no longer following along with his story.  As the light slowly becomes low, the group flicks on their flashlights, the artificial glow filling the metal cavern. 

    Omega stumbles ahead of me, and I see Hunter pick her up, placing her onto solid ground next to the stream.  Echo holds out his hand, helping her onto the rusted path above the water.  Hunter nods to Wrecker, and the giant man pulls himself up, his boots scrapping the rusted surface.  Hunter clambers up after him, holding out his hand to me. I sling my rifle over my shoulder, taking his hand. 

  "Thank you."  I say, observing the narrow pathway that leads into darkness.  A feeling of unease fills my stomach, and I swallow.

  "Of course, Mesh'la."  He returns, his deep voice edited by the helmet.  I follow behind him as the path is only large enough for one, corroded supports hanging from the edge.  The quiet sound of moving water can be heard, the noise slowly diminishing as we move deeper into the ship. 

  As the walls close in around us, I feel as if I am going to vomit.  I slowly reach out a hand to the rusted barrier.  I can't do it. 

  "Hunter," I choke, and he stops immediately, turning to grip my shoulder as I stagger towards him. 

  "I d-don't think I can go any deeper."  I whisper, closing my eyes tightly, trying to ignore panic rising in my chest. 

  The dark closet of my childhood fills my mind. The sound of my mother arguing with Fennec as I sob, curled up in a ball in the corner of the small closet as the walls slowly close in on me. 

  When Hunter yanks off my helmet, I half expect to look up into the face of my sister as she opened the closet door and I tumble out.  But instead, I see the calm visor of the clone Sargent's helmet as he cups my face in his gloved hands.  His thumb runs over my cheek.

  "Hey, listen to me, okay?" 

  I swallow, nodding as I place my hand over his.  Tech calls to him from the front of the group, and he responds. 

  "Go on ahead, Tech," He says, tugging off his helmet. "We'll catch up."   

   He props his flashlight on the ground as I kneel on the platform, trying to return the air back into my lungs.  There are dark spots in the corner of my vison, and I wonder if the walls continue to move towards us, if they will eventually crush us between themselves, so we will be nothing more then dust to throw to the four winds--

  "Ava, listen to me."  Hunter says sharply, giving me a slight shake.  When he uses my birth name I seem to snap back into reality, barely making out his brown eyes through my tears. 

  He grabs my hand, placing it on his chest.  He has removed his chest plate, and it lays next to him, next to the flashlight.  I curl the soft fabric of his blacks between my fingers, a sob slipping past my lips.