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

Chapter three

It had been a week since Riley met the cadets. It had been raining all day and the boys were getting bored.

"Riley can we play out in the rain?" Wrecker asked, hanging upside down from his top bunk. "You'll catch a cold if you go outside." She told him, wrapping an ice pack onto Crosshair's arm.

"Pleeassseee? We won't be out that long, just a few minutes." Wrecker begged. Hunter and Tech looked at her expectantly. "Fine. But you boys listen to me when I tell you to come inside." She sighed.

"Yes!" Wrecker cheered. He was so excited he fell from the bunk and landed on the floor with a thud. Riley ran over to him and knelt down. "Wrecker, hun are you alright?" She asked him.

Wrecker sat up and held his head. "Ow..yeah I'm okay." He groaned. Riley sighed and placed her hand on the top of his head. "Be more careful next time kiddo." She gently placed a kiss on his head and then helped him stand up.

Wrecker looked down at the floor, trying to hide his embarrassment. "Come, let's go before the long necks catch us." Riley urged. Her and the boys ran through the hallway to the landing pad.

"Crossie, let me take your bandage off real quick." Riley said as she stopped Crosshair from running into the rain with his brothers.

Crosshair grumbled but walked over to Riley and held his arm out to her. Riley smiled at him and removed the bandage, careful not to agitate his sprain.

The boys were running through the rain, they looked so happy. 'This is the childhood they deserve.' Riley thought as she watched them. The boys never got to just be kids, they're constantly training and preparing for war. That's not how children should live.

The boys played in the rain for about 10 minutes before Riley called them in to get dry. "Awww do we have to?" Wrecker whined. "Stop being a baby Wrecker." Crosshair growled.

"Cross, be nice. And yes Wrecker we have to go inside before you get sick." Riley told them. Luckily,
Riley had brought towels with her. She helped dry off each of the boys before stepping inside.

"Ok. We are not to make a scene on the way to your barracks. Once we get there you will hop in the refresher one at a time, make sure to use warm water." She instructed.

After all of the boys were showered and dressed in warm clothes Riley let them play sabacc. They were betting on toys and other things like that.

"Lights out in 5 minutes." They heard the speaker. "Ok you lot, clean up." Wrecker groaned but reluctantly places his cards in a neat pile. Hunter gathered up all the cards and tucked them away in a drawer under his bunk.

Wrecker and Crosshair swapped bunk due to Wrecker's fall earlier. Tech was already sitting in his bunk looking at his datapad. Hunter crawled in bed and slid under the covers.

"Riley can you give us a goodnight hug and kiss?" Wrecker half heartedly joked. Riley chuckled and walked over to him. She tucked Wrecker's blankets under him better and kisses his forehead. "Goodnight Wrecker." She spoke softly.

She climbed up the ladder and did the same to Crosshair. "Night Crossie." She told him. Crosshair blushed of embarrassment but mumbled a 'goodnight' anyways.

Riley climbed down and walked across the room the Tech and Hunter's bunks. "Tech, put that away, you need your sleep." She scolded him. Tech sighed and placed his datapad in his drawer. Riley took off his goggles and put them on his nightstand. "Goodnight Tech." She kissed his head and then climbed up Hunter's ladder.

"There's going to be a thunder storm, isn't there?" Hunter asked her. "Probably. But you should be fine, thunder and lightning won't hurt you." She reassured him. "Actually lightning strikes can be deadly." Tech stated. Riley rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to him." She whispered. She kissed his head and ruffled his long hair.

Riley climbed down and as she walked out the lights flickered off. "Goodnight boys." She called, hearing Wrecker was already snoring. "Goodnight Riley!" Hunter whisper-shouted from his bunk.

Riley left the room, closing the door behind her. By now the lights in the hallway were turned off, so the only light source was the light from the moon outside.

Once in her quarters she hopped in the refresher and made herself something to eat. Once done eating, Riley instantly went to sleep.

[time skip brought to you by Ahsoka pouring sand into Anakin's boots]

The thunder cracked for a 5th time. Riley's door opened with a hiss. She was woken up by someone gently shaking her. "Hmm? Whose there?" She asked, sitting up. "S-sorry to bother you Riley, um, can I stay in here with you?" The voice of a young boy asked. Riley recognized it as Hunter and smiled softly.

"It's ok, kiddo. What's wrong?" She asked. "Th-the thunder. It's too loud." He whispered. Riley remembered Hunter's enhanced senses, to him, thunder is 10 times louder then it is for her. "Oh come here." She held her arms open and Hunter practically launched himself onto her.

"Shh. It's okay honey. I know it's scary, don't worry I'm here." She reassured him, rubbing circles on his back. She looked at the time on her clock, 2:37 a.m.
"Do you wanna sleep with me?" Riley asked, looking down at his shaking figure. He nodded into her chest, "Mhm."

Riley sighed and lay both of them down, with Hunter on top of her. She covered them with her blankets and kissed the top of Hunter's head."W-Why does it have to b-be so loud?" He whimpered. "Don't worry, I'm here and I'm going to protect you." She reassured him.

Riley's door opened once more and Hunter and her turned their heads towards the light. They seen a slightly large figure. Riley put Hunter off of her and walked up to the person. "Oh Wrecker! What's wrong?" She asked upon seeing his face.

"The thunder scares me." He whispered. Riley sighed and looked back over to her bed. "Why don't we go lay down with your brother?" She suggested. Wrecker looked at the bed and seen Hunter sitting up.

"Okay!" He exclaimed. Wrecker jumped onto the bed and tackled Hunter into a hug. Riley laughed a bit and closed her door. "Guys, settle down." She told them.

Hunter and Wrecker lay down and waited for Riley. She got in between them and wrapped one arm around each. "Goodnight you two." She said.

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Word count: 1112