Call When You Need Me

Call When You Need Me

Fandom: The Bad Batch

Relationship: Echo & Hunter

Words: 1,624

Summary: Echo crash lands on a planet during a mission for Rex. His first instinct is to call someone he hasn’t talked to in a while. (Warning for injury and some blood)

I yapped about Hunter and Echo in a post yesterday and now I can’t stop. This could possibly end up being a scene in a larger fic at some point down the line but for now have this angsty yet sweet little moment between these two.

Alternative summary: Echo, you idiot, call your dad!

Echo’s body ached. The last thing he remembered was the ship exiting hyperspace, engines failing, life support plummeting. Then he woke up, back pressed against metal and freezing. He tried to roll over but a yelp tore itself from his lips. When he looked down he saw the problem. a piece of metal stuck in his abdomen, legs pinned under the navigation computer. The mission had been simple, at least they thought it was. Run into the base, nab the information, steal a ship, leave.

He got caught trying to scomp into the ship.

Rex said it would be better with a small team but they were spread thin, they were always spread thin.

The world above him wobbled, vision tilting as he stared up at the ship’s side. From the angle he knew he was lying on the door.

Outside snow blew past the windows of the cockpit, pelting against the metal exterior of the ship.

Groaning, he typed a number into his comm. He didn’t even know whose number it was until a familiar voice called through the chilly air.

“About time. I was starting to think you forgot about us. How’s it going?” Hunter. Why had he called Hunter? His thoughts couldn’t stitch together quite right. Rex was on a mission, too, same planet Echo was on, but his escape would be just as narrow. Don’t deviate from the objective, Echo thought to himself. It was hard enough to escape with his life, Rex was likely long gone by now, however long he’d been out.

He tried to bury that thought before it consumed him.

“Great. Never better.” He knew his voice sounded strained, heard it echo through their open channel, but he grit his teeth to attempt to settle his breathing. The pain was starting to seep in now, the cold worming its way past his back.

It made his metal ache.

Hunter paused, thought. “You okay? It’s just me right now. We can talk.” The offer had stood every time he called, few and far between. Moments alone were rare.

“Remember the last time I was there? It smelled like,” Echo sucked in a gasp, eyes stinging. Protests raged through his gut while his lungs tried to expand. He’d really fucked up this time. “blooming flowers.”

“Wrecker pressed some from that trip. He still has them.” Shuffling on the other end, standing from a chair, the sound of Hunter’s shoes tapping against stone. He must be home.

“Tell him I kept the one he gave me.” Pressed between flimsy and tucked inside the pocket of one of his bags, strapped to his thigh at all times. Before missions he liked to touch it, just once. A reminder.

“I will. What’s going on?” Hunter’s voice had grown gruffer now, so much less calm then when he’d picked up the phone. Echo’s breath came in harsh puffs, rising like smoke through the frozen air. Vaguely, a throb made his head spin. Thick, as if the air was made of water.

“Echo?” Hunter’s voice urged. Not urgent, not calm, but something deeply in between. Something that almost settled the hot coils in his chest.

Almost.

“I’m here. Don’t hang up.” His hand felt the metal lodged in his abdomen, biting back a cry. The cold had numbed much of his body but this was a hot, searing pain, cutting through the frigidity of the planet’s winter.

“I wouldn’t dream of it. Where’s Rex?” Through the comm he could hear Hunter typing, the click of keys as he typed a message. To who Echo could only guess. To Rex. To Tech. To someone. How disarming must this be? Somewhere deep down he knew it wasn’t fair to do this but the rest of him didn’t care. He wanted someone on the other end.

Just in case.

“He’s just down the hall.” Echo lied, unsure why he did. This felt like a goodbye. A send off so someone at least knew what happened to him. Worrying Hunter would only make him worse. A soft curse on the other end was quickly covered by Hunter clearing his throat.

“Anyone else around or do I have the rare opportunity to talk to you alone?” Sneaky bastard. Echo let his head fall against the metal door below him.

“I’m all you’re getting today.” Echo bit the inside of his lip as his eyes started to burn. This. This was how it was going to happen. After everything he was going to die alone on this frozen planet. “How’s everyone? Omega doing okay?” He tried not to let his voice tremble but he didn’t quite pull it off. By the pause Hunter didn’t buy it either.

“She’s got a whole four inches taller since the last time you were here. Tech is determined to document every beetle on the island. Wrecker hasn’t stopped trying to lift rocks for exercise. And Cross has figured out how to make a bow and arrow out of sticks. I’ve been stabbed in the ass three times already.” Hunter groaned and a smile spread across Echo’s face as hot tears dripped down his cheeks. “I can’t keep him from stealing your bed much longer, ya know. He’s eyeing it.” No one was laying claim to his bed, not on his watch.

“Those are my pillows. He’ll crush them with his big head.” Pain shot through his hips as he tried to move, breath catching in his throat.

When Hunter spoke it sounded tight. “Guess you’ll just have to lay claim to them again. Spend a damn night here.” Silence was punctuated by Echo’s heavy breathing, harsh, sharp. The blood was pooling around his legs now. He could feel the warmth spread, putting a barrier between him and the icy ship. It was so much more than he anticipated. So much more than he thought. The numbness was working its way into his thoughts now, slowing them even more. “We miss you, you know that.” It wasn’t meant to be accusatory, Echo knew, but he grimaced regardless.

“I’ll tell you what, my next opportunity for leave I’ll be there. Those blankets are mine.” Hunter cleared his throat over what sounded like a message being sent. Thirty seconds later his comm lit up.

Rex: I’m heading your way, hang in there.

“I’ll do my best to keep everyone away from your stuff until you’re here but you know how they are.” Hunter commented as another message came through.

“They, huh?”

“Watch it.”

Rex: Stay awake.

Rex: Tell Hunter I said thank you. Why the hell didn’t you call me first?

Echo chuckled under his breath. “Telling on me? That’s what we’re doing now?”

“When you’re being stubborn.” Hunter murmured back. “He’s going to kick your ass when he gets to you. I only wish I was there to see it.”

“He can’t. He needs me.”

“Wouldn’t stop me.”

“Whatever.” COs always tried to threaten him into behaving better. It wasn’t worth it, Echo would always be himself. Regardless of their disappointment in his more reckless antics.

“Let’s talk my terms for saving your ass.“

“Let’s not.”

“You’ll get here and get out of that armor. It probably needs a good wash.”

Echo rolled his eyes. “Rude.”

“Then you’re letting us feed you. Rations aren’t as good as what we’ve got here. You’ll actually relax. Take a cat nap, lay in the sun, terrorize Crosshair.”

“It’s what he deserves.”

“Hit him in the ass with a pointy stick arrow, please, I’m begging.” Echo let out a laugh at that but quickly regretted it as pain shot up his side, ending in a groan despite the presence of a smile.

“Shit. Don’t make me laugh it hurts.”

“Hopefully plenty of that while you’re here, too.”

Echo groaned but the distraction was nice. It kept his mind off of the feeling of pinned and bleeding. “Gross. You’re getting soft.”

“Let’s see how willing you are to run your mouth when you’re not on the other side of a comm.” With his face pressed to the speaker he could almost pretend the voice was in the room with him. Not what felt like a galaxy away.

“That doesn’t stop me.”

“I suffer endlessly.”

The comm blinked again, this time with another message from Rex. Still frantically trying to figure out why he hadn’t just called, dammit.

“Rex’ll be here in five.” He informed Hunter who let out a sigh, relieved.

“I can drop the call once he has you.”

“Don’t. Please. Just-“ He was grateful for the silence while he thought of what to say. Just talk to me. Stay. Don’t leave me alone. It’s too quiet. All things he thought of saying while he pulled in ragged breaths. “At least stay on the line.”

Hunter made a noise, wobbly, pained, then sniffed. “I’ll always be on the other end. You know that.”

Echo didn’t hear the rest. Vaguely Hunter’s voice filtered through the air and eventually someone got into the emergency hatch. He knew it was Rex by the gentle way he handled Echo, by the worried eyes, the scolding in his voice when he talked. He caught glimpses of the two of them talking, bits of conversation as someone else - Cody, it looked like - helped get him lifted out of there. Too dangerous to remove the metal in his gut but the sedative worked well enough to keep him sane.

He’s a handful.

I warned you.

Yeah, well, he’s lucky he’s good at his job otherwise I’d send him back to you.

You better. I need someone to help me wrangle my own idiots.

It wasn’t long until his brain shut down, hiding while his body dealt with the trauma, but while he did he could still hear talking.

Never alone. Never forgotten.