Bad Batch Oneshots

Content: Blood

Hunter cringed as Jaye's screams echoed through the Marauder once more. His hands practically shook while cleaning the laceration on her back, the disinfectant sending bolts of pain through her body with each touch. She leaned forward and hacked out another mouthful of blood onto the floor, her arms slung over either side of the headrest with one knee on the chair. The splatter of blood hitting the paristeel flooring made Hunter sick. Starting to panic, he bunched his scarf up in one hand and pressed it over her wound, then with the other hand, pulled his bandana off and handed it to Jaye.

"Here," he mumbled, trying to distract himself from her whimpering. "Bite down on this."

In her delirious state, Jaye locked her jaw onto the bandana, sweat and grime flooding her taste buds. "Are you karking kidding me?" she muttered around the cloth.

"Would you rather have the bloody scarf?" Hunter shot back, stress raising his voice by several octaves. Said scarf was still pressed against the laceration on her back, just below the tattoo depicting a Corellian banshee bird. Jaye's jacket and bloodied tunic lay on the console to Hunter's right, her gear long discarded in the commotion. Hunter reached for the biggest bacta patch he could find, tossing the scarf to the side and pressing it to the wound. Jaye let out a guttural growl as her hands balled into fists.

"It wouldn't hurt if you would stop moving," Hunter muttered, grabbing a roll of bandages from the medkit.

Jaye spat the bandana onto the floor and turned her head. "I wouldn't have gotten hurt if you were looking where you were throwing your knife."

Hunter's lips twisted in disdain. He wrapped the bandage around Jaye, moving close to her ear as his voice dripped with venom. "If you had stuck to the plan, we wouldn't have been surrounded by Imperials."

"Maybe if you weren't such a terrible leader, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!"

There was a moment of silence as her words sunk in. Jaye listened to the sudden pause, the sharp inhale as he registered what she said, then his body heat moving away as he tied off the bandages. Jaye's hand floated above her abdomen, feeling the bandages, then she turned to a faceful of bunched up cloth. She caught it as it fell, realizing it was her tunic. She looked up to see Hunter moving past her, picking his bandana from the floor.

"I don't know if you've noticed," Hunter started, his voice shaking as he spoke. "but I've been doing the best I can after everything that's happened. Tech, Omega... I don't need this as well."

Jaye watched as Hunter wrung his scarf out, blood pouring onto the floor. Her blood.

"But if you're going to sit there and question my leadership..." Hunter continued, avoiding eye contact as he folded his bandana and scarf. Jaye watched him rub his tired and red eyes as he walked away from her and into the cockpit. Her breath hitched in her throat, anticipating his final words.

"...Then you can be dropped off on the next planet and lead yourself."