Mother of The Bad Batch-a Bad Batch story (ON HOLD)

Chapter thirteen

Tw: panic attacks
————————————————————
It had been a few hours since Riley and the Bad Batch had left Cato Nemoidia. They had passed the time by playing games or napping. There were still a couple hours until they reached Crosshair's location so they decided to play sabacc.

"If Riley wins I get full custody of Lula." Omega said as she watched the game between Tech, Echo, and Riley. So far Riley had won 3 games, Tech had won 5, and Echo had only won 1.

"Hey you can't just bet Lula like that," Wrecker said, "I-if you get Lula then...then I get your trooper doll if Tech wins!" Omega narrowed her eyes at him and held her hand out. Wrecker grasped it and shook it firmly. "Deal." She said.

Riley looked at Wrecker surprised. "You still have Lula? Does she still have the scorch marks?" She asked. "Yeah but we fixed her up a bit, ya wanna see?" Wrecker told her. "Heh sure why not."

Wrecker stood up from his spot on the floor and went to the bunks to get Lula. "YOU HAD THAT CARD THE WHOLE TIME?!" Echo yelled as Riley revealed her deck, winning the game. Tech stared at her in disbelief,"I...was not expecting that."

Riley shoved the credits that were on the table into her pocket and winked at the two. "Now just one point behind Tech." She said triumphantly. Echo grumbled and crossed his arms. "I kriffing suck at this game." He mumbled.

"Ehh don't worry. I could give you some lessons and tips if you want?" Riley suggested. Echo nodded, and reset the game to start the next round.

"AH HA HERE SHE IS!" Wrecked exclaimed as he walked back into the cabin holding a red and black tooka doll. Wrecker tossed it to Riley, who caught it. She looked at the tooka, carefully examining it. She chuckled a bit before speaking, "Still got the scorch marks." She said. "Heh just like you." Wrecker chimed in, referring to the burn marks on Riley's face.

Riley's breath caught in her throat. She froze, only for a second, but it was noticeable. Her thoughts went to the large scars on the left side of her face, how she got them, how badly they had hurt that one terrible night. She was glad that the burns had healed up nicely, however they were still pretty noticeable. Panic filled her for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"Wrecker..." Hunter warned him. Riley looked up at him,"Hunter it's fine. I'm perfectly healed!" She forced out with a fake smile. "If you are 'perfectly healed' then why do you have a limp?" Tech suddenly asked. "Um I assumed it was just a side affect from the accident." She shrugged.

Omega looked at her confused, "What accident? What happened?" She asked. "Oh I uh..got blown up." Riley said. "Wouldn't be the first person who's been blown up on this ship." Echo commented. Tech rolled his eyes at his mother, clearly annoyed with the false answer she gave Omega.

"She wasn't blown up. She was caught in an explosion—there's a difference." He stated. Riley scoffed and Tech stuck his tongue out at her—which only she noticed. "Doesn't matter. There was a bomb, I was there, I got caught in the explosion, and BAM! Hospitalized." She said, making jazz hands towards the end.

"You seem...perfectly fine talking about this..why?" Echo asked. "Well it happened a while ago and um...I-I dunno I've moved past it...."." She mumbled, looking down at the tooka doll in her lap.

Hunter eyed her strangely, clearly concerned about his mother. Although she acted completely fine he could tell something was off. He had noticed that Riley was lying when she said she was fine.Her body language was different as well, she seemed anxious to hold their hands or to hug them. She became quiet at any mention of her parents and Hunter wondered if they had done anything to her.