I am so much more than what you made me

“I don’t know about you guys, but I could use a drink!” Wrecker hollered as he busted through the doors leading into the Bad Batch’s barracks on Kamino. Hunter and Tech each patted you on the shoulder as they passed you going inside; Crosshair not far behind.

You had all just completed a rather lengthy mission on Kaller, and while there weren’t any serious injuries among the squadron during the assault, there had been many days of planning and preparing which meant very few nights of full sleep for you or for them leading up to it. But you had the feeling they were already used to that.

The boys had made it very clear to high command that they were nothing but exceptional. You still couldn’t believe that this rag-tag group of outcasts were one of the most effective weapons the Republic had on their side.

You had been put on as the crew’s medic only a few months ago, but you were very grateful that the clones had been very accommodating and kind towards you. Going into the Republic’s army you weren’t expecting anything other than brutality and the harsh reality of the ensuing war, but coming back to Kamino after every battle and getting to spend time with the clones, particularly the Bad Batch had almost made you forget that you were all two years into one of the worst wars the galaxy had ever seen.

Rain was streaming down the windows, but that wasn’t anything new. If the rain was ever not coming down on this ocean of a planet, that’s when things would be extremely out of the ordinary.

What wasn’t out of the ordinary, however, was the room’s odour hitting you point blank in the face.

“Oh god,” you spluttered, opting to breathe through your mouth for the remainder of your visit. “Don’t you guys EVER clean in here?”

Hunter removed his helmet with one swift motion, his dark chestnut locks resting just above his shoulders. He looked at you, eyebrow arched mockingly.

“And when do you think we’d get the time to do something like that, Bones?”

You scrunched your nose back at him, trying to match his teasing energy. “Then why is my room always spotless?”

“Because you never really spend time in there,” Wrecker called back. “You’re always hanging with us for some reason!”

The giant of a clone had lumbered over to his storage crates under his bunk and appeared to be rummaging about for this drink he had proposed earlier.

“Well, that’s true,” you shrugged. “But there aren’t many other options. You guys are more entertaining than any of the holovids I got.”

“I’m not sure where you get entertaining from,” Crosshair murmured as the lanky sniper rested his gun down on the counter. That was probably the first time since they arrived that he had spoken.

“Well I think after Wrecker breaks out whatever it is he has in mind, I think you’ll understand what I mean. You guys are always hilarious when you’re drunk.”

“I still say I must apologize for my horrendous actions at 79s the other week,” Tech had finally looked up from his data pad to join the conversation.

“Oh Tech,” you giggled. “Please don’t ever apologize for that. That was one of the funniest things I’d ever seen.”

“I’ll say!” Wrecker exclaimed. “I feel so bad for that poor girl. She was looking at you like you were speaking in code!”

“All I was trying to explain to her was that she could maximize her alcohol intake if she mixed the Correlian wine with the gin. I know I’ve tried it many times and it’s by far the easiest way to get decently intoxicated,” he concluded matter-of-factly.

“Tech, honey,” you put your hand on his shoulder. “I believe you, but that’s not the event I was talking about. I was thinking about the time the DJ broke a bottle over your head for pestering him the whole night.”

Tech had been leaning against the counter with all of their weapons piled on top but being reminded of the event, he leapt up.

“I swear, I don’t know why the hire the type of people they do,” he huffed. “I point out a couple of issues with how he has his gear set up, and he gets a little defensive. I still didn’t see why.”

“Might have had something to do with you calling him an incompetent prick,” Hunter mused.

Tech rolled his eyes. “Possibly. Still, I don’t see why he had to go and do that. He almost short-circuited my translator module.” He tapped the side of his goggles.

“I just cannot believe one of you got into a fight and for once it wasn’t Crosshair,” you smiled, turning to look over at the stoic sniper.

Crosshair’s mouth turned up in a smirk at the comment. “First time for everything.”

You felt incredibly content at this moment, as well as warm and included. It was enjoyable being part of the stories and jokes the gang shared. For once you weren’t sitting outside of the circle listening in, but now a contributor.

“I found it!!!” Wrecker blurted out. “Here’s that bottle of rum we snagged from the 501st after those arm wrestling matches!”

“I don’t know what they were thinking,” Hunter said. “One look at you, bug guy and I would have been sure my arm would be off in the first round. And that’s coming from me.”

“Well it’s their loss!” Wrecker ripped the cork out of the bottle with his teeth and then took a large swig.

“Ahh,” he sighed. “That was worth the wait! Here, Bones! Your turn.” He then passed the bottle to you, and you in turn took a sip. The liquid was warm, but had hints of honey and lemon. It was very pleasant and you knew that if you were left alone to it it would be downed in a very short period.

You then passed it to your team leader, who took it gracefully, but not without winking at you.

“You know,” he said, before bringing the bottle to his lips. “Maybe we should make this into a bit of a game.”

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, wanting further information. “What kind of game?”

“Well,” Hunter explained, “you’ve only been with us for a few months, Bones. We don’t really know too much about you. Maybe we could use this as an opportunity to do just that.”

You couldn’t help but blush at the suggestion. You really weren’t a fan of being the centre of attention, even though there were only four men as the audience. You also didn’t particularly consider your history or life interesting enough to base an entire game around it.

But you had an idea to lift the weight off of yourself.

“Alright, but only if I get to ask you boys questions as well.”

You looked around at your squad’s reactions. Hunter stood in front of you with a cheeky grin spread across his lips.

Tech had actually abandoned his data pad upon hearing of this new game. His fingers were caressing his chin, most likely thinking up questions he was going to ask you during his round. Despite the colour of his lenses, you could see right through them into his pupils which were fixed on you, sparkling gently.

“I’m in!” Wrecker shouted, slamming his hand on the table. His good eye was bright and he looked as excited as when he’d gotten to blow up those towers on Ryloth. You released a large chuckle at his response. Wrecker was always able to make you forget about any tension you retained; he really was a teddy bear of a human.

Crosshair on the other hand was much more difficult to read. His eyes were distant, a toothpick protruding from his mouth. He shrugged; attempting to look disinterested. However his masking of his true emotions wasn’t very effective, as the more you stared back at him the more you could swear his cheeks began to change colour.

“Well it looks like we have a deal,” you confirmed.

Hunter reached out for your hand which you gave without a second thought. Your breath was suddenly sucked out of you as his chapped lips pressed a warm kiss to your knuckles. You could feel the energy in the room change with Hunter’s gesture.

You had had moments of casual flirting with them over the weeks, but it was never meant to be taken very seriously. You had never been very good when it came to flirting, but for some reason with these men it came to you very easily. Very naturally.

“I just wanted to seal the deal properly,” Hunter explained innocently, letting your hand drop to your side, settling the bottle back into your grasp as he did so.

“Uh huh,” you replied, stepping over to sit on Tech’s bunk next to where Wrecker was.

“So how is this going to work?”

Tech took his seat on a chair next to the bunk. “I suggest that we go in a circle. One of us will ask a question to you, then you can ask one to any of us and then we’ll ask you one, and so on and so forth.”

“That sounds good to me,” you agreed. “But what if I don’t want to answer the question?”

“Then you take a drink!” Wrecker boomed. The others nodded in consensus.

“Oh I see,” you giggled, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “So this is just another mission to get me wasted.”

“Now that we’ve already seen,” Crosshair snickered. You half glared back at him.

Now that the whole group was situated in a makeshift circle, it was time to begin.

“Let’s start off with something easy, please,” you chuckled, pulling your legs up onto the bed to cross them.

“Alright,” Hunter said, his voice cool and collected. “Where were you born?”

“Dantooine,” you answered easily, passing the bottle back to your sergeant. “And I’m very glad I left.”

“Why’s that?” Crosshair asked, shifting his toothpick between his teeth.

“One question at a time,” you berated him. He rolled his eyes begrudgingly and continued to lean against the wall.

“Hunter,” you proceeded with the game. “What is the worst injury you’ve ever gotten?”

The rest of the boys looked to their leader, likely already knowing his answer.

“Oh that’s easy,” he chuckled raspily. “Back during some of the last battles on Geonosis. I was probably only three or four missions in at this point. There was a massive blast on one of the gun towers near where I was dug in for cover. Blew debris right across my head and back; my back got the worst of it. I was in a batca tank for weeks afterwards. Wrecker wouldn’t let me forget it.” Even though he had answered the question, the tattooed clone took a large drink from the bottle.

“I wouldn’t have even needed any bacta!” Wrecker bragged.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t, big guy. You are so strong after all,” you charmed, putting a hand on his knee. Wrecker’s cheeks warmed and he began to rub the back of his neck in bashfulness.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he flirted, completely shattering his shy illusion. You lightly smacked his chest and he laughed back at you, pulling you in for a side hug.

“My turn!” He bellowed, taking the bottle from Hunter’s hands. “How many boyfriends have you had?”

Now it was your turn to be shy. Your heartbeat quickened at the question and after looking at Hunter you could tell he knew exactly just how fast it was pounding. That man’s senses were unparalleled.

“Now that’s a difficult question,” you spoke carefully; feeling your whole squadron’s eyes on you.

“You do know you don’t have to answer if you don’t wish to,” Tech assured you, his hand gracing your knee. You nodded.

“I’m just trying to decide which of them were actual boyfriends and which weren’t,” you explained. Crosshair whistled at that, his mouth quirking up in a larger smirk. “Didn’t know you were so experienced, Bones,” he drawled.

“Well, I wouldn’t say experienced,” you delayed. “It’s more I would get lonely and just look for whoever was closest. Some of them I don’t even remember the names of.”

“But do you have an estimation of the amount?” Tech inquired.

“I would say… twenty?”

The boys began to whistle and clap at the answer. Your cheeks turned even redder, but you weren’t by any means uncomfortable. And if you were, you know they would stop the game immediately with no hesitation.

“Damn, Bones,” Hunter said, leaning back in his chair and clasping his hands behind his head. “I think you got us all beat.”

“How is that possible?” You questioned. You knew that clones were mostly kept to Kamino between missions and invasions, however they weren’t prevented from having personal days or nights out on the town in Coruscant. The infamous 79s was known to attract a lot of socialites who would try their luck at taking a soldier of the Republic home with them.

The fact that whenever you went out with the Batch and none of them ever went home with a woman was very suspicious to you. They were all admittedly very attractive men who could easily have their pick of any one.

“It’s not really something we go out looking for,” Tech explained.

“Well, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t need much convincing,” you giggled. It wasn’t until the words were out of your mouth that you realized the extent of your flirting.

You blamed the liquor finally kicking in.

But the boys were already intrigued by this comment. Maybe a little too intrigued.

“Oh really?” Hunter queried. He was now back to leaning forward, his hands folded together. “Out of curiosity, which one of us would you be so inclined to take first?”

You were dumbfounded by the question and by the massive shift of mood in the room.

Crosshair was now reaching over to pull up a chair, his eyes fixed on you as if you were a target he was trying to pin down. Your stomach filled with butterflies as his eyebrows eased up from a scowl into a devilish grin, but he remained silent.

“Hunter, you already had your turn,” you chided. “Besides, it’s my turn to ask a question. Wrecker?”

The colossal man decided to then flip you around so you were laying across his lap, one of his hands supporting your back, the other squeezing your knees. You felt so comfortable that you almost forgot it was your turn.

“Since we’re going down this path anyways, how many girls have you kissed?”

“Oh, that’s easy, five!”

“Aww,” you smiled, putting a hand on his face near his massive cranial scar. “Those must have been very lucky women.” You meant it. Wrecker was large and imposing at times, but he was also absolutely adorable and was very quick to come to your aid if you were ever feeling sad.

You thought back to that day when you had lost ten clones in the med bay and you were absolutely distraught. Wrecker had picked you up and held you close as you cried. Just allowing you to completely unravel all the pent up despair and anguish you had felt under your failure. The two of you had been inseparable since that day.

A low chuckle rumbled in Wrecker’s chest as his eyes locked with yours. “Well, to be honest, none of them were as pretty as you, Bones.”

“Oh, stop it,” you said, releasing his face and leaning back against the wall of the bunk, your arms crossing over your chest as a shield.

You’d been called many things in your life. But pretty was not one of the more common ones. You had no real reservations when it came to your looks, but still whenever you were complimented in that manner, you had no idea how to respond.

“Is it now my turn?” Tech asked, sounding mildly annoyed.

“Oh yes! Tech, please go right ahead,” you composed yourself.

“As Hunter said, which one of us would you take home first?” He looked so smug that you almost wanted to punch him. But you knew you could never.

Tech was by far one of your best friends. He was always wanting to show you new gadgets he had created for the team to use in combat, as well as making you strange little metal sculptures made from junk wires and old welded pieces. You always thought of them as trinkets of friendship or as something to help add some personality to your quarters.

But now that he was asking you this question you knew would lead the four of you down a path you didn’t even know they wanted to go down in the first place. They had always been nothing but kind and gentlemanly to you, even Crosshair in his own peculiar way.

But now they weren’t just looking at you as a teammate, or even as a friend. They were looking at you with something in their eyes that made your senses flare up. You shifted in your seat on Wrecker’s lap, trying to simmer down a very familiar ache beginning to form between your legs.

“If it’s alright with you, I think I’ll take a drink,” you responded and you could see Tech’s expression dampen as you brought the bottle to your mouth.

“I really hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable,” Tech mumbled.

“Oh Tech,” you pleaded, reaching over to put a hand on his cheek. His skin was surprisingly soft, with little patches of scruff left from his recent shave. “Please don’t worry about it. It’s just an impossible question to answer. It’d be easier for me to win against Master Skywalker in a duel than it would for me to choose one of you.”

Tech nodded and bit his lip. He didn’t seem satisfied with the answer, but he knew he had to respect it.

“Okay, now it’s my turn,” you said, rubbing your hands together. “Tech, my dear, if you were to take me on a date anywhere, where would you take me?”

Hunter groaned at the question.

“Really? You couldn’t ask me that?” He expressed, jokingly frustrated.

“Next time,” you assured, winking at your leader. You then turned your attention back to Tech, who had sat up much straighter than usual.

“Well, I would definitely bring you some flowers, then I’d take you to a dinner, possibly near the water. I remember you saying you quite enjoyed the ocean.” You grinned at that. He really was just the sweetest.

“After that, we’d pick up some fruits from a stand, then maybe take a walk along the water. And then I would probably take you home, and after that whatever happens… would happen.”

His eyes shone through his lenses and your heart melted at the incredibly lovely date idea.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been on a date as beautiful as that,” you admitted.

“But I thought you’d been with twenty men,” Crosshair spoke up finally.

You frowned at his bluntness and was about to snap a retort when Hunter butted in.

“You sure you want that to be your question, Cross?”

The sniper slyly removed his toothpick from his mouth and flicked it towards the wall. He then leaned forward, his focus completely on you and you alone.

“Since nobody’s going to ask it, and I’m just curious,” his raspy voice curling over each word, “how many of those twenty men showed you a good time?”

You were very lucky that you hadn’t been taking a drink at that point, because you almost choked on your own saliva at the sniper’s scandalous question.

The other boys seemed unsure, but also curious about your answer. None of them berated Crosshair for his question (except for Tech clearing his throat), and they also waited patiently for you to speak.

“Depends on what you mean by “good time””, you used air quotations.

“I think he means how many you slept with,” Wrecker explained, shifting his legs underneath you.

“Well, that would be all of them,” you said in a final tone. But Crosshair wasn’t finished.

“That’s not what I meant,” he said, cocking his head to the side but his focus never leaving you. “I meant, how many of those twenty made you orgasm.”

If your eyes could get any wider they would pop out of your head. Your mouth fell open and you couldn’t summon any words from your vocabulary. You knew Crosshair had a habit for having little to no tact for situations, but this wasn’t like anything he had ever said to you.

You tended to butt heads with the stoic sniper, but you also sensed he enjoyed your banter. He would always think he’d get the last word and then when you snapped back at him, thus taking away his win, he’d look at you not with anger but with an impressed expression.

There would also be the odd nickname of “doll face” or “sweetheart” that would make you subtly blush; but you wouldn’t dare let him see that.

“I…” you stammered. “If I’m being completely honest?”

You knew the answer to this question was just going break open a dam of all other kinds of queries and you braced yourself for the impact.

“None.”

Sounds of disbelief broke out among the men. Hunter shook his head, not believing it. Tech even resorted to lifting his goggles up in awe, his eyes as large as his lenses. Wrecker had shifted so much so that you were almost falling off of his lap. His hands on both sides of his head.

“What???” He cried.

Even Crosshair looked offended on behalf of you.

“What kind of men are you dating, Bones?”

“Again,” you paced yourself. “I was mostly bored, I was looking for a distraction and just grabbed whoever was closest. It meant nothing.”

“But how is that even possible?” Hunter asked.

“I guess I was just never communicative enough,” you shrugged. You knew to an extent that was the truth. You never wanted to make any of your previous partners feel bad about their performance, but you had certainly suffered because of it.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these men were regs,” Crosshair quipped.

You sucked in some breath. “That’s… kinda true.”

The sniper scoffed at your admission. “I knew it.”

“So you’ve… never?” Tech asked tentatively. You could tell he was worried about your response.

“Oh yeah,” you assured your friend. “I definitely have. It was just done by… other means.” That brought upon a wolfish grin on Tech’s face.

“Well,” he stated “if we get more liquor in you, maybe you’ll tell us how you were able to do so.”

You shoved Tech back in jest. “Oh hush,” you laughed.

“So you haven’t been on a proper date, and you haven’t even had a boyfriend who could make you feel good?” Hunter shook his head. “I’m sorry, Bones. I had no idea your history would be THIS sad.”

“Hey, it’s not that bad!” You crossed your arms grumpily.

“If it’s so sad, why don’t we do something about it?” Tech proposed.

You took a double take at him. “I’m sorry, what?” You were now very concerned the boys were filling their heads with naughty ideas.

“Sorry, I should have been more specific,” he elaborated. “This mission was one of our last for a bit of time. We won’t be needed again for a few weeks, and we are long overdue for some time off.”

Your eyes lit up in excitement. “Are you thinking of a vacation?”

“Well, yes,” Tech replied. “But I was more so thinking we each get a chance to take you out on a proper date. I mean, I don’t think we’ve had the most practice-”

“-but you’ve been so helpful to us since you started and it would be our way of thanking you,” Hunter cut Tech off. “It’s really the least we can do.”

“I know exactly where I’d take you!” Wrecker bellowed, pulling you back in for his bear hug. You unleashed a flood of giggles at the physical affection.

“I suppose I could think of something,” Crosshair slurred. You stuck your tongue out childishly at him in response. He winked back and your cheeks turned warm.

“I don’t really know what to say,” you smiled. “You boys really don’t have to.”

“We wouldn’t have suggested it if we hadn’t wanted to,” Tech pointed out.

“Are there going to be any rules?” You wanted to be sure to lay some structure to these lightning rounds of dates.

“Whatever rules you want to make, Bones,” Hunter said comfortingly.

You sat and pondered for a moment. You heard the bottle of liquor making its way around the group as you came up with your list.

“Okay,” you orated. “First rule, I have to initiate every move. That means goodnight kisses are up to me.”

Crosshair groaned at that. Wrecker also growled in annoyance. “But that’s the best part!” He complained.

“Wrecker,” Hunter snapped. “Let Bones finish.”

“Second rule,” you smiled gently, knowing the boys would appreciate this next one. “You get to decide everything we do on the date otherwise. Where we go, what we eat, what we watch; everything. I’ll be completely at your disposal.”

The four men settled in their seats. You weren’t as observant as Hunter, but even you could tell the gears in their heads were turning, planning what they were going to do with you.

“And final rule,” you slapped your hand dramatically down on your thigh. “ Wherever we go to stay for this vacation, I get my own room. You boys will probably bring your stench from this place with you wherever we go.”

“She might have a point,” Tech conceded.

“Alright, Bones,” Hunter reached his hand out to you, “you’ve got a deal.”

You took his hand and for some unknown reason, brought his calloused knuckles up to your lips and pressed a kiss to them. The clone’s tattooed face dropped in shock as your mouth pulled away. You smiled, feeling rather pleased you could conjure such an expression from the soldier.

“Well, this has been fun boys,” you said, getting up from Wrecker’s lap. “But I gotta go to bed now.”

“G’night Bones!” Wrecker waved as you made your way to the door.

Crosshair nodded at you, his mouth still stuck in a mischievous smirk. “Sweet dreams, doll.”

“Have a good rest,” Tech patted you on the back as you walked by. You said the same back to him.

You stood in the doorway, but just before leaving you turned to look at them all one last time.

“Oh and you four get to decide who takes me out first,” you beamed.

As you spun on your heels to depart, you heard the men then break out into debate, which as you shut the door with a hiss escalated into full on bickering.

You pressed your hands into the pockets of your uniform and felt your body tingle in excitement at what this coming week would bring you. You knew that you had made it clear to them that nothing serious was likely to happen, but you also hadn’t completely dismissed the possibility.