Chapter Text
“Ow.”
The others turned to their youngest, technically oldest, sibling.
“You okay, kid?” Hunter asked, confused.
“Yeah, just… I think my teeth hurt again?”
“Again?”
Across the cockpit, Tech’s face lit up and he shot up from his chair.
“Is it consistent pain in your back teeth?” He asked, a bit excited.
“Um… yes? I-it keeps happening every time I chew.”
“Is it becoming increasingly worse with time?”
“Yeah.” Omega said, a bit impressed by the accuracy of his questions. Not to say that his excitement wasn’t also cause for worry— after all, the last time she’d seen him this excited to presumably explain something was when she got her first period.
“It was fine before, but now it really hurts.”
“Do you mind if I take a look inside your mouth?” Tech asked.
“Uh… no?”
“Why?” Echo asked, mildly concerned and very, very lost.
Omega sat down in one of the cockpit’s chairs and leaned her head back, opening her mouth as Tech took out a small pen light and began scanning the set of teeth.
“You have wisdom teeth!” He exclaimed with a fascinated surprise.
“What does that mean?”
“Open again.” He instructed, waving the light around the same area as he inspected it closely.
“Yeah, this is exactly something I want to be seeing at dinner.” Crosshair grumbled, finishing his ration bar.
“At the angle in which they are developing, your other teeth should be rather uncomfortably impacted. Without intervention, that is.”
“Okay, how do I… intervene?”
“Surgery.”
“Surgery?!” She echoed.
“Hang on, is that really necessary?” Echo questioned, eyebrows knitted.
“Yeah, come on, you’re scaring the kid.” Wrecker disapproved with a frown.
“Do not worry. It’s not a very complicated procedure. It’s just an extraction. I should be able to do it right here on the ship.”
“You what?” She questioned.
“Don’t you think the kid needs an actual medical professional?” Crosshair asked, crossing his arms.
“It’s not like we can go to an imperial medical center.” Hunter frowned, putting a hand to his chin as he attempted to think of a better option.
“Maybe Cid knows a guy?” Wrecker offered.
“Absolutely not.” Echo quickly shut down. “Some off-the-books doctor is no better than Tech doing it right here in the Marauder.”
“You really think you can do it yourself?” Hunter asked.
“I am confident that once I complete a bit more research and gather a few necessary tools, I should be fully equipped to do so.” Tech said confidently.
“Then let’s just do it here, right?” Omega concluded with a shrug.
The rest of the Batch— excluding Tech, of course— exchanged a mix of worried and semi-convinced glances that either said you can’t be serious or it’s worth a shot.
“Uh… I guess if you’re sure—“ Hunter began.
“Excellent. I will be right back with supplies and then we can get started.”
“Wait, you’re gonna do it now?!” Omega asked, eyes widened.
“Good luck being an experiment.” Crosshair offered.
“Cross.” Echo hissed.
“I don’t see why not.” Tech shrugged, already starting to leave the ship with the datapad in-hand. “I can do it as soon as I return.”
And, true to his word, Tech was ready to perform an oral surgery that he’d only read extensively about on his youngest sibling. The rest of the Batch crowded around the Marauder’s version of a medbay— which was really just a corner of the ship with extra space, medical supplies, and a chair that could be flattened to a bed if necessary.
“Relax.” He advised the blonde who sat shaking in the chair, lifting her hand to her eye level to watch the tremor.
“I’m just a little nervous. Y-you’re going to put me to sleep right?”
“Of course. It would be excruciatingly painful without any form of numbing agent and anesthetic.”
“Tech.” Hunter warned.
“But your experience will not be painful.” He corrected, earning a nod from Hunter.
“O-okay.”
“This is how we’re administering anesthetic.” Tech explained, strapping the vaguely triangular mask over her face.
“Uh-huh.” She nodded anxiously.
“And now—“ he paused, noticing her slight tremble.
“You will be alright, I promise. I would not be doing this if I was not certain.” He added with a sympathetic smile. She nodded shakily. “Now, I need you to count down from 10 and take deep breaths.”
“Ten…”
“Nine…”
“Eight…”
“Seven…”
“… six…”
~~~
“‘Mega.” Echo whispered. The young clone sharply inhaled and let out a sigh. Stirring awake, she slightly groaned at the numbness and dull pressure in her mouth.
“Hads ith?”
“That’s it.” Tech confirmed with an audible smile.
“There’s goth in my mouf.” She reached a slow hand up to her face, before it was gently pulled away.
“And it has to stay there.” Hunter informed. “How’re you feeling, kid?”
“I theel great.” She moaned.
“The painkillers are a bit strong.” Tech said. “But an appropriate dose.”
“Does it hurt that bad?” Wrecker asked, wincing.
“To have four teeth pulled in the back of a shuttle?” Crosshair asked, scoffing.
“Oh come on, she was asleep the whole time.” Echo retorted.
“Of course. The procedure was successful and painless.” Tech explained. “Omega’s wisdom tooth related pain should be gone after about a week or so.”
“A week?” Hunter questioned sharply.
“It was an oral surgery, what did you expect?”
“Where… where’re my blathsers?” She wondered aloud, muffled by the gauze damp with bacta— and surely covered in blood— stuffed in her mouth.
“She has priorities.” Echo noted with a laugh.
“You… don’t need blasters right now.” Hunter said with a raised eyebrow.
“My knife?”
“We had to take some kind of precautions for Tech in case the anesthesia didn’t work.” Crosshair explained.
“No.” Echo clarified.
“‘M in my backs.”
“In your blacks, yeah. You don’t need armor for surgery.” Hunter continued to explain. “I think it’s probably about time for you to go to bed, yeah?”
“I can go ta bed?” Omega asked groggily. “Souns good.”
The young clone cautiously stood up from her chair, raising her eyebrows and shutting her eyes at the still sudden feeling of being upright.
“Woah.” She said with a bit of a loopy giggle. “My mouf hurs. Did I say tha before?”
When she began to sway, Hunter put one of her arms over his shoulders, letting her lean rather heavily on him.
“No.” Wrecker answered, with a laugh close to a giggle of his own. “Hey ‘Meg, what’s my name?”
“Wrackah.” That earned a poorly stifled laugh from the rest of the batch, with only Hunter and Echo wearing poorly hidden smiles instead.
“And him?” He asked, pointing in Hunter’s direction.
“‘Undah.” She answered.
“Ha! Her accent’s thick like when she was a kid.” Wrecker observed with a grin.
“It’s worse than when she’s just tired.” Hunter said with a smile and an exhaled laugh he didn’t even bother attempting to hide.
“I wanna go ta a beach. ‘M gonna live on a beach.” Omega noted.
“Good to know.” Hunter nodded with a smile.
“Did’yuh know tha I love dirt? An’ sand. Dirt an’ sand are the coolest. They’re stho soft, just fall right out of your hand, an’ they’re everywhere.”
“Uh-huh.” The sergeant nodded along, starting to walk the loopy blonde to his bunk— the gunner’s mount was certainly not in the cards.
“I love you.” She slurred.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” Echo questioned, following closely behind.
“The girl just said I love you and you said okay?” Crosshair recapped.
“Yeah, uh… that’s not great Sarge.” Wrecker weighed in.
“I thought it was a sufficient response.” Tech shrugged.
“She’s completely out of it.” Hunter explained, shaking his head as he helped set her down on the bunk. “She doesn’t even know what she’s saying.”
“I love you so much.”
“Hunter.” Wrecker urged.
“She doesn’t even know who she’s talking to.”
“‘Untah.”
“I guess it’s a mystery.” The sniper sneered.
“I wanna be like you. I wanna… be smart. An’ I wanna care a lot about stuff an’ be strong an’ good at shooting, an’ I wanna be cool.”
There was a pause at that, the rest of the batch silenced by the realization.
“I love you all so much.” She mumbled.
“See?” Hunter said, finally breaking the silence.
“We love you too kid.” Wrecker spoke for the group, smiling.
“I love you.” Omega repeated.
Hunter stared at the face of the drowsy younger sibling. Her eyes were now closed, head sunk into a stack of two pillows— Tech advised that her head remain elevated.
He couldn’t remember the last time any of his brothers had ever said that to each other. He wasn’t sure if they had ever said it aloud.
At least they’d been fortunate enough to have a family that understood their bonds despite never formally acknowledging them. It was funny that Omega had been the first to say it. He thought, at the time they’d left Kamino, he loved her first. But she had been waiting his whole life to meet him. He wondered where Omega got the word from, given it certainly wasn’t something they were taught on Kamino. But Hunter always knew she was smarter than him anyway.
He sighed and formed a small smile.
“I love you too, kid.”