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“…and whatever you do, do not, I repeat, do not, leave this ship- are you listening to me?”
Fives took another bite of his ration bar, leaning back in his chair. “Mhm! Loud and clear,” he said with his mouth full, just to irk the sergeant lecturing him.
Hunter rolled his eyes. “Just don’t do anything dangerous,” he muttered, picking up his helmet from the monitor next to the ARC trooper. Hunter walked to the outside door, about to leave, when Omega barreled into his legs, stopping him one last time.
“Hunter! Can’t I please go on the mission?” she begged, for the tenth time in the short hour the squad had been getting ready. Hunter took a glance outside at the speeder Crosshair and Tech were readying that their contact had brought over to their position. Their contact was talking with them now, and Hunter knew they had to leave as soon as possible.
He looked down at Omega, his eyes soft. “Omega, there are too many factors in this mission-”
“But I can handle them!” Omega interjected, stepping back to place her hands on his hips, sticking out her chin. “Let me come too!”
“Sorry little spitfire, you’re stuck with me for the day,” Fives said as he made a show of getting up from his seat, sighing and rolling his shoulders. He flashed them a grin.
Omega groaned, “No, I want to go with you!” She faced Hunter, now whining. Hunter patted her on the shoulder but didn’t budge.
“Omega, I need you to stay on the ship with Fives. It’s safer that way,” he told her, taking a step down the stairs so he was more her height. “Is that understood?”
The girl looked to the side and not at his eyes. “Yes, sir,” she mumbled.
“Alright, let’s gooo!” Wrecker burst in behind Omega, making her jump. “Er, sorry kid, we’ll make sure to tell ya the whole thing afterward!” he said, and then yelled as he started to walk down the steps past Hunter to the speeder. Hunter lingered at the bottom of the stairs with his helmet under his arm, turned up to the Havoc Marauder’s entrance.
Omega didn’t look at him, walking out of his view from the door frame to the center of the ship, then sitting on a chair and picking up her displaced ration bar, taking a slow bite.
“Aw, kid, don’t leave Hunter hanging like that, he’ll call every two minutes now,” Fives berated, trying to lighten the mood. Echo, the last one off the ship, gave Omega a smile that she feebly returned as he went to the door.
“Not like he wouldn’t already,” Echo joked under his breath when he was close enough to Fives. Fives snorted even though Hunter could probably hear them whispering.
“Get out of here,” Fives countered loudly, pushing Echo out the door with a smile.
Echo got halfway towards the speeder before he twisted around to face Fives in the doorway. “Don’t burn down the ship while we’re gone,” Echo jeered.
“Oh, I sure will, Echo!” Fives snapped good-naturedly. Echo grinned before putting on his helmet, giving Fives a wave and settling onto the back of the speeder.
Hunter had slowly edged backward away from the ship, giving it one last glance before hopping in the front of the speeder, placing his helmet firmly on his head. The contact started the engine, and Hunter had to twist his torso fully around and yell to be heard over the noise. “I’ll comm when we’re on our way back!” he shouted towards the ship as the speeder began to turn. “Don’t go into the city, Fives!”
“Okay!” Fives shouted back, waving, as the speeder slowly moved away from the ship before taking off. Fives waved one last time as he watched the Batch grow smaller in the distance. “Alright, bye…” Fives drew out the last word as he leaned forward out of the doorframe, softly trailing off as he tracked the speeder until it disappeared behind a rocky hill. Then he spun on his heel. “Right, they’re gone!” he exclaimed, startling Omega, “I’m going into the city!” He brushed past her shocked face, unbothered.
Omega’s jaw dropped. “Wh- what? But Hunter just said not to!” she squeaked, eyes wide as she watched Fives dig into their walled storage cabinet, humming as he went.
“Yeah, he did,” Fives poked out his head for a moment to give her a cheeky wink. “But he’s not here anymore, is he?” he called from his position inside the wall. “Aha!” He jerked backward with his backpack stuffed tightly in his fist, and he set it on the floor briefly. The ARC trooper reached back inside the wall one last time to whip out a spare poncho and drape it over his shoulders. “Really need to get new civvies,” he mumbled, tying the strap over his chest so it thoroughly covered his red and black armor.
“Fives!” Omega set the remains of her ration bar down and bounded over to tug at his arm in an attempt to stop him. “Hunter will find out!”
Fives waved his other hand flippantly. “Psh, please, not like he’s ever going to know, we’ll be back before we even hear their speeder- just have to pick up some supplies. Besides-” he shook the arm Omega latched onto- “he’d never get mad at you if he did find out.”
Omega let him go and pouted. “What makes you think I’m coming too?” she questioned, trying to sound serious. That only resulted in Fives smiling, who then reached up and fluffed up Omega’s hair as she yelped in surprise.
“‘Cause I’m the responsible adult, and I can’t leave a kid here alone on an unfamiliar planet,” he recited, mimicking Tech as he stuck his finger in the air and closed his eyes as he did so. “That would be very irresponsible of me.”
“I’ve been on my own before,” Omega grumbled, pushing his hand away and walking off, crossing her arms. The girl settled onto her chair and spun it away from him, hunching over.
Fives’ expression sobered a little behind her back. Ah, what to do? What to do? he thought. “Okay,” he shrugged at last, shouldering his backpack and turning towards the main door. He could feel Omega’s eyes snap to him again, but he didn’t look back. “Guess I’ll be going then…” he sighed despondently, exaggerated to make sure the girl caught onto his apparent disappointment. “Who knows,” he continued, taking slow steps to the doorframe, “There may be all kinds of toys or animals I might find looking for my supplies.” Fives felt Omega’s eyes still on him, and he smiled under his breath, tapping the doorframe as he kept talking, “And I’d have to see them all on my own… no one to share it with… all alone…” He took a leaping stride down the first step, taking them one at a time, as slow as he could go. “…so lonely, such a lonely, boring supply run.” Step. “All on my own… seeing all the cute stray tooka cats…” Step. “Alone-”
“Wait! I’m coming! I’m coming!” Omega interrupted, rushing past the top of the steps in the direction of the gunner’s nest to get her sash. Fives laughed, jumping over the remaining stairs straight to the ground. He took a few steps backwards facing the ship as the girl reappeared in the doorframe. “Should I bring my bow?” she asked, looking posed to run back and retrieve it.
“Nah, I got it covered!” he called up to her, settling his hands over his holsters just to double check that he was indeed armed and ready. Omega smiled and skipped down the steps eagerly. Once she reached Fives, he ruffled her hair again and she spluttered. “Alright, little spitfire, stay close to me, ‘kay?”
Omega huffed, but nodded, walking close to his side as they breached the back of the ship. She turned her head to watch the door close automatically before looking back forward, now more solemn. Fives saw her change in demeanor and tilted his head. She had to still be upset about not going on the mission.
They had parked right at the literal edge of the city’s boundaries in order to save money on docking fees, so it barely took them a second to cross into the outskirts. A speeder lane right in front of the main pedestrian walkway buzzed with activity, one vehicle zipping by close to them creating a sudden breeze that smacked Fives’ poncho into his face and made him squawk an undignified noise. That caused Omega to giggle for a long while as they crossed the road and into the pedestrian area, trying to cover her laughter behind her hand.
The market area felt like they had walked onto a whole other planet, an oasis in the desert. Buildings of mud brick and stone seemed to rise out of the dusty ground itself, becoming more densely packed the longer they walked. Soon, it was as if they were walking on Ord Mantell, the buildings were so packed, each with long awnings and gigantic sunshades covering the open spaces at the top. It was a relief, actually, from both the heat of the sun and the wind, blocking out both with the buildings’ closeness.
The shopping district was a long stretch of footpath that seemed to extend for leagues. Omega’s curious eyes took in everything that they passed, stalls of trinkets next to weapons next to fruit stands. Fives had never seen such a bizarre array of goods before- he had certainly never seen or heard of a majority of the blasters or food advertised for sale.
The ARC trooper felt a tug on his poncho. He looked down to see Omega pointing. “Look,” she said brightly, alluding to a wide stand of wood carvings. One of the larger sculptures in the array on the main shelf was shaped like a Phase II clone helmet, cut very meticulously.
“Huh,” Fives mused.
Omega skipped over, Fives following just behind. Closer to the rack of wares, Fives reached out to pick up the wooden helmet, his eyes widening once he realized it carried weight and wasn’t hollow.
“Ack,” he yelped as he adjusted his grip. The carving was unpainted, but its surface was smooth in case its new owner decided they wanted to adorn it with paint at any time, to further copy the real thing. “Would ya look at that, looks just like my bucket.” Omega peered over Fives’ arm to see, and he turned its face to her. “Although this would probably knock me out if I tried to put it on, huh?” He tapped his knuckles on the helmet, grinning. That got a smile out of the girl, and she traced her finger around the edge of the cut visor before turning back to the shelf.
“Can I help you with anything in particular?” a voice sounded behind them, and Fives turned around to see the Sullustan vendor of the stall bending over his curved workspace, looking eager. Fives made a sheepish noise, replacing the helmet back on the rack and walking over.
“Er, sorry for touching it, we really like your stall,” Fives said.
The man chuckled. “That’s quite alright, they’re meant to be handled. Each one is hand-made and unique, from material all across the galaxy.” He swept his arm out and around, gesturing to the wide variety of colored wood that made up each carving. The vendor narrowed his eyes once he looked back at Fives. “I made that helmet almost a year ago, weeks before the Empire took over. Really shows you can’t ever know what’s going to happen next.”
Fives nodded faintly, bringing up his mental walls in case he had to make a quick decision if the vendor called for any sort of authorities. But the Sullustan only rumbled another chuckle, nodding to something behind the ARC trooper.
“It seems your sister is partial to that one,” the vendor grumbled kindly. The ARC trooper turned around, looking as Omega stood in front of a table with the smallest carvings, those that fit in the palm of one’s hand. She had a soft smile on her face as she turned over a carving, letting her thumb catch on the hatchings of its stripes. It was a teeny tiny tooka cat.
“How much for that one?” Fives asked over his shoulder, watching Omega bring it closer to her face.
“Twenty credits.”
“Done.” Fives turned back around and dug his hand into his credit pouch, pulling out a handful and counting it. He placed the required amount in the vendor’s hand, and the man gave a sort of smile under his jowls, nodding.
“Thank you for your business,” he grunted happily. Fives gave him a nod in return before walking closer to the girl.
Omega had reluctantly started to put the carving back once she saw Fives approach, but he stopped her. “I just bought that,” he said, smiling, “It’s yours now.”
Omega’s eyes widened as she turned to him completely. “Really?” she exclaimed.
“Yessir, it’s all yours.” Omega breathed another soft smile as she looked down at the carving, saying a small thank you. “Come on,” Fives said, guiding her away from the stall back to the main walkway. “I have to stock up on some blue paint or no one else will ever buy it.” Omega nodded, entirely focused on her new souvenir. Fives chuckled as they quietly kept walking down the path.
“You want to get something here?”
Fives stopped in front of the entrance of what looked to be a popular restaurant, diners sitting on the outside patio chatting aimlessly away in the pleasant temperature the shades provided.
Omega stopped with him, looking up. Just before this, Fives had been flitting from stall to stall, stocking up on paint and bartering for cheaper ammo and all sorts of raw materials for various things that he just found interesting.
Once they found a hooded stall selling ingots of different metals, with a whole forge in the back, and Fives’ eyes had scoured the merchandise. He bought some durasteel and plastoid for the Batch’s armor repair, and stuffed them in the crinkly bag in his backpack that came with the paints he had bought first.
“Still lookin’ for beskar,” he sighed, adjusting the now heavy pack. “Some rando out there has to have some without knowing it.”
Once they turned the corner at the end of the seemingly endless street, they came across more cafes and restaurants intermeshing with the shops- which were still covered with raised canopies.
“I’m not really hungry,” Omega muttered, shaking her head and looking back down at her tooka. “We just ate on the ship.”
“Nonsense, that was forever ago, and we’re right here,” Fives rebuked, putting a hand on her shoulder to guide her to and through the door. He let go once inside, and Omega let out a breath at the change in temperature. It was nicely cool inside, and fairly packed, most diners at the large tables in the center of the room. Fives made eye contact with the greeter and nodded. “How about sitting over there?” He bent down towards Omega, pointing to the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows facing out to the patio. There was a long counter and stools attached to the transparisteel.
“Okay,” Omega said, and they both went over.
Fives settled his backpack on the floor below the counter and gave a long sigh in relief. “Ah, this is nice, isn’t it?” he thought aloud to no one in particular. He rested his elbows on the counter as a waiter walked up to his side and handed him a datapad for the menu. “Thanks,” Fives said as he moved the ‘pad in between him and Omega. “Want anything from here?” he goaded the girl gently, flicking his finger up and down the list.
Omega didn’t really look for long at the words on the screen, blinking sluggishly. “I don’t know,” she mumbled, bringing her carving up onto the table and moving it back and forth.
Fives furrowed his eyebrows a little, but looked over the menu himself just as briefly before turning in his seat. He managed to catch the waiter as he was walking away and waved him back over.
“I’ll just have a soda, thanks,” Fives said, handing the waiter back the datapad. The man nodded and left with his order.
Omega was silent, not remarking on his change of heart about ordering food. Fives turned his chair back to her.
“So, whatcha gonna name it?” Fives asked, reaching over to poke his finger in between the tooka’s ears. Doing so made it wobble, as if it were also eager to hear its new name.
Omega shifted her grip on the carving’s legs so it wouldn’t fall over. “I don’t know yet,” she mumbled, letting her head rest on her arm lethargically.
Fives brought his hand back, settling it over his other arm, bending more forward. He frowned slightly, now more in concern. This couldn’t still be about the mission, right?
Omega wrapped her hand around the little cat’s back and rocked it side to side, testing its balance on its tiny uneven legs. Her head was glued to her arm while she did, a blank expression in her eyes and face.
Fives shifted in his chair, leaning back. “Is something the matter?” he said, giving her space to respond.
Omega sighed, pausing her hand. She brought her head up, bringing her arms to cross fully on the counter, having her chin fall between them. “No,” she muttered unconvincingly.
Fives harrumphed, “Yeah-huh, you’re mopey like this all the time then?”
Omega sighed again, shortly. She sat back upward. “It’s just… nothing.”
“Is it about the mission?”
“No- it’s not about the mission,” Omega mumbled, shaking her head as she looked down. Fives could see her expression contort as she fixed her gaze to the tiny tooka. “I was just thinking. It’s been almost a year… so it’ll be my decanting day next month.”
Out of all the responses she could have said, that by far was the last thing Fives would have imagined. He blinked. “Your decanting day?” he blurted, turning fully to her.
“Mhm.” The girl nodded, reaching her hand back to bring the carving closer. “Nala Se always told me when it was, when I was growing older.” She fidgeted with the thumbnail carvings nicking the stripes of the cat. “Every year afterward I would get hooked up to a bigger machine,” she mumbled, not looking at Fives. “This will be my first one away from that.”
Fives stared before wincing, letting out a heavy breath as Omega was silent. It was easy to forget that Omega was created for some purpose to the Kaminoans that went beyond his knowledge- but not his anger. Fives sighed long again, trying to keep his countenance from boiling over in front of Omega. No child should have had to go through what she went through.
“I’m sorry,” he managed to say tightly, rubbing a hand over his goatee. Omega hummed in response. The ARC trooper turned back to the window, letting his elbows rest on the counter and clasping his hands together. He traced the red stripes up his dark gray gauntlets and vambraces with his eyes, thinking. He sucked in a breath. “I don’t know my decanting day,” he said in a lighter tone, signaling a shift in conversation away from the heavy topic.
Omega raised her head. “You don’t?”
“Nope!” Fives answered, popping the ‘p’ at the end. He twisted to give the girl a slight smile. “This ol’ code in my arm would probably tell me-” he flicked his hand against his left forearm- “but what’s it gonna say? ARC-5555, decanted CT-27-5555, number 5555 out of ten bajillion.” Fives’ tone dropped an octave as he made fun of an announcer’s voice. “Tree number 27, batch 1,467, date and time the fifth hour of the fifth day of the fifth month-!” Omega giggled, and Fives felt a smile grow on his face. He shrugged. “Ah, at least that’s what it probably is, I know absolutely nothing.” He raised his hand, sweeping it in a cutting motion.
“It would be funny if you were born in the fifth hour of the fifth day of the month,” Omega said quietly, some life returning to her eyes.
Fives chuckled. “It would, wouldn’t it? But I don’t know- then I’d find out if I’m actually older than Echo or not! Whatever it is- I’m still older,” he stage-whispered by the end, leaning closer. Omega laughed more, and Fives grinned. “Hang on,” he said suddenly, pushing away from the counter, standing up. “I’ll be right back, you stay here, okay?”
“Mhm,” was the quiet response, although Omega was now smiling. The girl turned back to her tooka carving, wobbling its back with her index finger.
Fives hummed, keeping the girl in the corner of his eye as he walked through the restaurant. Maneuvering around tables and chairs filled with diners, he reached the long counter used as the waiting stand.
He leaned on the surface with his arm, rapping his knuckles against it. “Hello?” he called cheekily, just as a Mirialan employee walked over to put away some menus. The woman sighed once she looked up, the wrinkles around her eyes and her no-nonsense expression commenting to how many times she had dealt with bothersome customers.
“Yes?” she inquired in a gravely tone, clearly not about to take whatever jokes Fives had stored.
The ARC trooper spied her shiny ‘Manager’ name tag and gave a sheepish grin, taking his arm off the counter. “Hey, uh… I’m not really sure how this works, but my uh,” he turned back around to look at Omega by the window, the girl currently engaged in playing with her tooka cat. The Mirialan followed his look and waited expectantly once he faced her again. “My niece, uh, my little sister- it’s her… birthday? Birthday! Today!” he fumbled, his expression becoming even more sheepish.
“Your niece little sister?”
Fives could feel embarrassment warm his face. “Uh, well, she’s technically my sister, but my uh, brother, adopted her, and I’ve just started to live with them all again so I-”
The manager held up her hand, saving him from rambling any more of his life story. “Save it, I don’t care,” she said tiredly. “What flavor cake you want? Vanilla or chocolate?”
Fives blinked for a second, collecting his thoughts. He didn’t know what flavor Omega liked best. “Uh… surprise me?”
The Mirialan scoffed lightly, but whipped out her datapad for notes and typed something down. “I’ll get that in for you,” she grunted, walking away as Fives nodded.
“Alright,” he affirmed to himself, mindlessly making his way back to the sitting counter.
Once he settled into his chair, Omega looked at him curiously. “What’d you do?” she asked.
“Ah, nothing, you’ll see.”
A few minutes later, Fives got his soda, and he twirled the straw in slow circles as he conversed with Omega. It was as if a dam was broken, and now she started to talk to him about everything that had been bugging her in the past few weeks in addition to not going on the mission. He enjoyed every second of it.
Some more minutes after that, the Mirialan manager came up to their counter.
“Here you go, kid,” she said much more warmly than talking with Fives, setting down a plate with a small round cake. “The guy who normally sings is out today, so I’m not doing that, but I hope your day’s all you ever wanted it to be.” Omega eyed the cake as the woman left, her mouth dropped open.
“What?” she breathed.
“That’s for you, spitfire,” Fives said, yanking her eyes to him. “Nat-borns normally get a cake for their decanting day, er, their birthday- at least that’s what I saw the General do for the Commander…” He shook his shoulders. “Uh, I thought that if you don’t want to celebrate your decanting day next month, we could do it now- have today be your new decanting day.” Explaining it out loud kind of sounded stupid to his ears. Fives reached down to the plate and took one of the two spoons and twirled it in his fingers. “You know, to, I don’t know, not have it be connected with the actual day,” he mumbled, looking away.
Omega made a small noise, which brought Fives’ eyes back quickly. “Thank you, Fives,” she said softly, sounding happy. She took the other spoon off the plate and hesitated, tilting her head to look at the side of the cake. “What flavor is this?” the girl questioned, her blonde curls tickling the countertop.
The cake looked to be a combination of the two provided flavors, all swirled together in a galaxy pattern with light icing and a decorative garnish on top.
“Beats me, they offered chocolate or vanilla,” Fives said, as Omega took the garnish off and cut a piece with her spoon. When she bit down, her eyes sparkled.
“It tastes like both!” she laughed. The girl had really clamped onto her brothers’ sweet tooths in the recent months, the result of each one sneaking all kinds of candies and confections to her.
“Hm,” Fives pondered as she cut more pieces. “Then I think I’ve heard about that, when it’s all swirled like this, it’s called a marble cake.”
“Then I like this one the best!”
Fives chuckled at her enthusiasm. Once Omega got halfway across the circle, she paused her spoon, turning up to Fives. “Don’t you want some?” she asked.
“Nah, I’m good,” Fives answered, attempting to twirl his spoon like Hunter with one of his vibro-knives. He couldn’t do it very well and it slipped in his grip, but he caught it before it could hit the counter. “Heh, no, you have it, it’s your decanting day.”
Omega looked down for a second. “Well… we can just make it your decanting day, too!”
Fives set his spoon down in minor surprise. Omega’s expression solidified into conviction as she narrowed her eyes and pushed the plate towards him, setting her own spoon down.
“Nah, kid, really-”
“No! If it’s my new decanting day, then it can be your new decanting day too! Have some!” she exclaimed, her face not betraying any sort of budging on the matter.
Fives breathed a small smile, taking the plate the rest of the way. He carved one spoonful and brought it to his mouth- it was pretty good. “Then that’s a happy decanting day to both of us then,” he said afterward, offering the wide end of his spoon out to her. Omega picked up her spoon and tapped the stems of the two utensils together, making a quiet clink.
“Happy decanting day,” she said, putting her spoon down and grabbing her tooka. Fives chuckled fondly as he took another piece of the cake.
He didn’t finish all of it, or his soda, so when the same waiter from earlier finally came back around for their bill, he gave Fives a look. “Is… that all you’re going to order?” the waiter deadpanned, nodding to the half-drunk soda Fives had gotten.
“Yep, that’s it,” he said cheerily, as the man gave a long-suffering sigh, and tilted the datapad downward. Fives placed the credits for the drink, some seven or so dollars, onto the screen after looking at it once. The waiter retrieved the money and the device, rolling his eyes once he walked away. “I told you the cake was free,” Fives grinned to Omega, who smiled back.
Fives’ comlink in his vambrace started to beep just as they walked out the door to leave, and the ARC trooper pressed a button to silence it as they retraced their steps back to the market district. It beeped again, then again, multiple times as Fives silenced it or let it ring, content to not hurry their walk down the path until the last second.
At last, once Omega started to ask about the noise, he brought up his arm. It started to beep again, as if on cue, and Fives brought his arm to his face quickly, answering the call.
“Hey, Hunter,” he said the instant he pushed the button, not giving the other side a chance to identify themselves first. Fives knew who it was anyway.
The sergeant on the other end of the line gave a short sigh at Fives’ eagerness. “Fives, thank you for finally picking up. We’re coming back to the Marauder, the mission was a success, get the ship ready,” Hunter stated firmly, as Fives nodded even though the other man couldn’t see.
“Right-o, Sarge,” he quipped, looking at Omega who smiled up at him. “We’ll get it ready to fly. Here,” he leaned his arm down so Omega could talk into it, “Omega, say something so he knows we’re both still alive and can stop worrying.”
Omega had to really stifle the laughter in her voice. “H- hi, Hunter!” she giggled, unable to completely hide her amusement. “We’re alive!”
Fives brought his arm back up to his face. “See? We’re alive. Now stop calling, see you in a few.”
“Wait, Fives-!” Hunter spluttered. Fives shut off his com.
“Alright, think we can beat them there?” The ARC trooper laughed, taking a skipping jaunt forward. His expression grew mischievous. “How fast can you run, spitfire?”
Omega matched the look, narrowing her eyes in determination. “Faster than you!” she yelled, as she started to sprint down the dusty path.
“Oho! We’ll see about that!” Fives exclaimed, purposefully taking longer strides to match her pace, but not overtake it, even though he easily could.
Omega bounded up to the Marauder’s wing after crossing the speeder lane and slapped it hard with her hand, the other clutching her tooka carving tightly. “I win!” she shouted breathlessly as Fives sauntered up to her. He panted, resting his hands on his knees.
“You got it! You win!” he said between breaths, not actually that winded. He pressed another button on his vambrace computer, and the door groaned before the steps folded out towards them. Omega climbed them easily, while Fives took his time as he continued to pretend to be out of breath. “You really do run fast!” he said, eyes twinkling as he dumped his backpack on the floor once inside, walking over to the storage cabinet to put away his poncho.
Omega laughed, taking a seat in one of the chairs and spinning it around, taking a moment to look down at her tooka carving.
Fives had gone back over to his backpack, closing the outside door on the way, and was rifling through it, humming. He took out the crinkly bag of paint cans and miscellaneous supplies, setting it against the wall as he twisted around and up to put the empty pack back in the cabinet.
Omega blinked lazily at the merchandise. “How’re you gonna tell Hunter where you got all this stuff?” she said, waving her carving towards the supplies.
Fives closed the cabinet and scoffed. “He won’t notice. Not if we act natural.” He sighed as he lowered himself onto another chair next to the girl, spinning it with his feet on the ground. That made his black and red striped kama scratch the floor as he leaned so far back, he was practically horizontal.
“That’s natural?” Omega raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
Fives grinned. “You got a better idea, kid?”
“Hunter’s not going to believe we just sat here all day!”
“Who says?”
Omega grumbled, setting her carving on the monitor next to her and crossing her arms. “Logic,” she muttered.
“Ohh, I see, taking one from Tech’s toolbox now, are we?” Fives prodded, spinning his seat to face her. He sat up a little. “Come ‘ere!” Omega yelped once Fives grabbed her off her chair and hugged her close. Now he couldn’t stop his grin once the girl started laughing again, and Fives ruffled her hair. “You’re so smart, you little spitfire,” he fussed.
“Nooo,” Omega’s voice was muffled, but laughing, “my haiiir.”
“Hm? What was that? Something about your hair?” Fives mussed up Omega’s blonde curls even more, fluffing them to frizziness.
“Noooo…!”
Fives laughed, hugging his little sister closer so she couldn’t escape. Her small hands feebly tried to push him away, but he held tight. She huffed, finally resigning to being coddled, and Fives let his face fall into Omega’s hair, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Don’t ever change,” Fives whispered in her hair before letting go.
Omega stepped back and smiled brightly. She turned to grab the tooka off the monitor and bring it between them. “I think I’m going to call him, Marble,” she murmured. Fives reached out to tap the tiny carving on its tiny nose.
“I think that’s perfect.”
Fives’ com beeped again, and he looked down at his vambrace.
“Are they here?” Omega asked, as Fives stood up.
“Seems like it,” he responded, ignoring the call but moving to the cockpit. “Go let them in, I’ll start the ship.” Omega nodded.
She hopped over to press the door controls, and the stairs opened and hit the ground in front of a mildly surprised Hunter, who took a step back, the rest of the Batch right behind him.
“Hi! How was the mission?” Omega called cheerily as the sergeant and the rest climbed up the stairs.
Hunter regarded her once he made it to the top. “You seem to be less disappointed,” he remarked, patting her shoulder briefly as he went to set his helmet down. The ship revved its engines right as the door closed behind them.
“Yeah, kid, you made the right call, that mission was so boring!” Wrecker exclaimed.
Omega smiled. “It wasn’t really my call…” she tried, but overall didn’t feel upset about it anymore.
“It is no matter if it was boring or not, Wrecker, it was a success, and now the citizens of the base may escape the planet safely,” Tech broke in as Wrecker crossed his arms.
“Yeah, I know, but we didn’t get to blow up any of those other speeders like you said we would.”
“You’re really disappointed with that?” Crosshair drawled, shirking off his backpack and rifle against a wall corner to be dealt with later, “We got to blow up the Imperial ship.”
“But that was an accident,” Echo added, as he walked past them with Tech to the cockpit, the others dispersing around the room to put away their weapons and effects.
“Sounds like a fun time,” Fives piped up as he bumped Echo’s side on the way out of the cockpit, his brother smacking him on the shoulder in response. Hunter looked up as Fives approached, taking off his hand gauntlets and stretching against the wall monitor.
“And you two,” Hunter spoke, standing up once Fives was in front of him. The sergeant looked between Fives and Omega. “You sat here all day?”
“Yep!” Omega said, nodding, as she stood next to Fives.
Hunter smiled a little at her sheer happiness, but still asked, “You didn’t go into the city?”
Omega shook her head. “Nu-uh!”
Fives grinned above her. “Nope!” he added. Now Hunter caught him in a stare.
“And you’re not lying to me?”
“Nope!”
“No, sir!”
Hunter took a glance at the bag of supplies now leaning haphazardly against the wall. He turned back to Fives. “And that just… appeared?”
Fives gave him an impish grin. “I had it delivered,” he said in response, as Hunter raised an eyebrow.
“Right, okay.”
Hunter shook his head. If there was one thing that could get past him when it came to the newest members of his squad, it was that they were both terrible at lying- not like he was any better.
“I don’t believe you, but you’re safe, and that’s what matters,” Hunter said. “Did you at least have a more entertaining day than we did?”
“Yep, sure did, it was fun!” Omega smiled. Hunter believed that.
“It’s her decanting day today,” Fives added quietly. Both the girl and the sergeant now looked at him, with surprised eyes. He didn’t back down. “Got ‘er some stuff.” He shrugged, trying to avoid the shock that was now growing on Hunter’s face. “No big deal.”
“It’s your decanting day?!” Wrecker shouted from down the hallway, muscling his way towards them to grab and lift Omega off the ground. “Congratulations on another year, kid!”
“Wrecker, careful,” Crosshair scolded, walking next to him. The Marauder’s ceilings weren’t that high.
“It’s your decanting day?” Hunter mumbled lowly, almost whispering, sounding extremely disappointed in himself for not knowing. Omega finally snapped out of her daze once Wrecker put her down and she immediately attached herself to Hunter’s side. She grabbed his hand to get him to look at her eyes.
“I didn’t really care about it before,” she murmured to him, “I didn’t really celebrate it before.”
Hunter’s eyes softened as they always did around her, and a smile returned to his face as he bent down to meet her eyelevel. “Well then, we can start celebrating it- with us- if that’s alright with you?” He still had her hand caught in his, and he squeezed it. Omega felt her face hurt from smiling.
“That’s all I want,” she whispered, suddenly unable to talk louder. Hunter put his other hand on her shoulder before giving her a hug.
Fives smiled at them, leaning back against the wall monitor and crossing his legs. Omega’s little tooka was still there undisturbed after the Batch had thrown around their helmets and weapons after coming inside, and he picked it up. The tooka, Marble, was shorter than the length of his index finger, its tiny expression as adorable as the real thing.
“I know a place in the city with really good food,” he said lightly, staring at the carving. He brought it down to catch Hunter looking, having just been let go of by Omega. “It’s in the safe part of town, and the delivery guy said it was good,” Fives continued on his obvious lie, shrugging. “It’s got some good marble cake, too.”
“Cake?!” Wrecker exclaimed, his eyes bright. Fives also saw Crosshair now focus his full attention on him, and he had to stifle a chuckle.
“Yes, and-”
Wrecker had already run off to the cockpit. “TECH! Stop the ship! We’re getting cake!”
Fives laughed at that, causing Omega to laugh too. Gently, he handed her the tooka, and she took it with both her hands. “Don’t lose him, now,” Fives mumbled.
Omega gripped the carving tighter. “Never,” she said.
Fives didn’t have to see the manager’s face when the seven of them practically burst down the door of the restaurant, he already knew what her expression would be.
He was right, down to the barely suppressed scowl after seeing him again, but once they all actually ordered food- including several portions for Wrecker- her expression tempered some.
Fives excused himself from the table once Wrecker had started to go off on a tangent about comparing their most recent mission with one from the past that was much more exciting, Crosshair correcting him with one-word add-ins every minute. Fives walked up to the ordering counter and leaned against it in front of the manager cheekily. He grinned before taking in a breath.
“I’d like to order another one of those incredible marble birthday cakes for my niece little sister, please, big enough to share,” he chirped, tilting on his heels like an excited child. He snorted at his own immaturity, barely suppressing laughing in her face.
The Mirialan sighed, but flicked out her datapad once again, shaking her head. “Two birthday cakes in one day… You’re paying for this one, son,” she tutted.
Fives allowed himself to chuckle, looking back at his family crowded around the table. A smile settled on his face as he turned back. “That’s okay,” he said cheerily as he tapped the counter with his palm, moving away. “It’s worth it.”