Archive of Our Own ^beta

***

“Another successful mission!” Wrecker bellows as he climbs up the ramp of the Marauder.

Carrying with him a cage housing three very unhappy Kowakian monkey-lizards, screeching at the top of their little, but powerful lungs.
Why were they retrieving three monkey-lizards? They do not know. All they know is that they are getting paid for obtaining these angry creatures. Of course Cid forgot to mention that they were in fact monkey-lizards. She described them as “three princes were stolen from their palace by pirates.” leaving out any more specific, or useful details.

Echo and Hunter are running at full speed, shooting over their shoulders at their oncoming attackers. Blaster fire wizzes past, just nearly missing them. Clashing with the haul of the ship as they hurry up the ramp behind Wrecker.

“I wouldn’t call triggering the security alarm and blowing up half a building, successful.” Tech remarks as he gets the ship airborne. Closing the ramp as soon as Hunter and Echo are aboard.

Omega sat in the copilot's chair, assisting in the take off. Tech recently started her flight training. She was still too short to see over the ship’s consul and reach all the controls. So they’ve fastened an extra crate to the chair for her to sit up on. Maybe not the safest solution, but it was sufficient enough for now.

“We got the monkey-lizards didn't we?” Wrecker walks to the back of the ship, setting the screaming cage down.

“Cid didn’t say they were monkey-lizards.” Omega looks over her shoulder to see one of them aggressively biting the steel bars of its cage. The creature glares back at her with a look so evil, even Omega didn’t want to go near it.

“Of course she didn’t.” Echo mutters removing his helmet. Wearing a more annoyed scowl than usual. He’s getting real sick of these kinds of earrends. Was it so hard to tell them exactly what they were getting themselves into? Altho he’d have to hand it to Cid for leaving out details, if she told them everything up front they wouldn’t have taken the job at all.

Hunter doesn’t add to the conversation. Breathing heavily, he holsters his blaster back on his belt. Stumbling as he leaves the cockpit, with one hand against the wall for support as the ship continues to gain altitude. He is the only one with his helmet still on.
Once at the row of emergency crash chairs, he pulls the retractable bunk down from the side panel. Dropping his gear backpack to the floor with a loud thud. He lays down, folding his arms over his chest, without saying a word.

Omega watches with concern, whispering she leans over to Tech. “Is he okay?”

Tech took note of his brother’s behavior from the second he boarded.

“His heightened senses are probably overstimulated. This happens from time to time. He’ll be fine with some rest and quiet. Now do you remember what I showed you?” His tone is even and calm.

Omega’s brows furrowed with worry but she gave Tech a nod anyway. She performs what he showed her earlier, flipping the right switches and typing in the correct coordinates back to Ord Mantell.

“Very good. Would you like to do the honor?” Tech offers her a small smile gesturing to the hyperdrive.

Omega can’t help but grin back at him, she’s always wanted to do this part. She reaches over, taking hold of the correct lever. She looks at Tech for his signal. He gives her the go ahead and she excitedly pushes the lever up, successfully launching them into hyperspace for her first time all on her own.

“Nicely done, Omega.” Echo comes to stand next to her. His annoyance melted away being replaced with a proud smile.

She basks in her brother’s compliment for a minute before turning her attention back to the silent Hunter. He lays motionless on the rack. Wrecker looks a little afraid, as he avoids getting too close to him while retrieving the case of rations.

“What exactly happened out there?” She asks Echo.

In the months she’s been traveling with them they’ve all experienced some pretty extreme things together. Crash landings, blaster fights, falling from an ion engine, almost drowning in a sinking city… What could have happened retrieving three monkey-lizards to have affected Hunter this way???

“Well, alot. But nothing we couldn’t handle.” Echo reasurs her, placing his hand on her shoulder. “He’s going to be okay. Just give him some time to himself.”

“Okay…” She’s still unconvinced that Hunter is actually okay.

Echo helps her safely down from her seat. Moving her booster crate under the council and taking his usual role as copilot again.

Omega makes her way over to Wrecker who was munching on a ration bar while lifting Gonky with one arm. The monkey-lizards or “princes” are still screaming in their cage, jumping up and down.
But Hunter doesn’t seem to be phased by them. Omega looks between the crate, Hunter, and Wrecker.

“Is he... sleeping?” She asks.

Wrecker studies Hunter for a second before shrugging.

“Could be. I think he’s just turned the audio in his helmet off. He can’t hear anything right now.” Wrecker takes another bite of his ration bar.

Omega didn’t know his gear was engineered to do that, but she guesses it makes sense. She knows he has heightened senses that allow him to be able to track anyone or anything. But now she’s wondering just how much of everything is heightened for him? All the others don’t seem to be concerned about his behavior. How often does this happen to him?

Omega could tell how run down he was getting these last few weeks. They've been busy as usual, but along with the jobs Cid sends them on, they’ve been doing things on the side to help Rex lately. Needless to say, they've had a lot of action the last few days. Hunter is always putting everyone else first, now it’s catching up to him.

Omega looks at her brother with sadness. She wishes she could do something more to help, but the best thing to do was to leave him alone like Echo said.

She knows this, and that’s why she’s been holding back asking him about something for a while now. It’s nothing important or eurgant. She doesn’t want to bother him with it, they’ve always got so much going on. It’s just that, she really wants to get her ears pierced. She feels silly for even thinking about it. They need to put their credits towards things they actually need. She doesn’t need jewelry to survive, it’s just something she’s always wondered about.

Back on Kamino she wasn’t allowed to do anything. Especially anything that would mark her in any kind of way. Now she knows why. She was the last raw source of Jango Fett’s DNA. After learning this Omega thought about it a lot, piecing together her past. It explains so much of Omega’s earlier memories. Keeping her a secret for so long, the constant evaluations Nala Se would run on her, and the very little freedom she was allowed. But that was all behind her now. Losing Kamino was and still is hard. But with time she’s starting to realize how it also freed her. She never has to worry about going back there or being used by the Kaminoians ever again. She was free to live her own life now.

Which brings her back to wanting to get her ears pierced. She doesn’t like asking for things, especially if it costs money. Omega casts a long glance at the concerningly still Hunter.
Maybe tomorrow will be a better time to ask him about it… or maybe next week.

She turns to climb up to her room when Wrecker speaks up again.

“Something on your mind, kid?” He asks over the ear splitting screeching still coming from the cage.

“Nope!” She chirps back. Her voice is higher than it normally is. She scurries up to her room and pulls the curtains closed behind her.

“Hmmm.” Wrecker finishes his ration bar in deep thought, switching Gonky to his other arm.

He can tell there’s something eating at her. Every time her voice cracks like that it's a telltale sign of her not being honest. When she first joined them she did it alot whenever a conversation would steer towards her life on Kamino, and clearly still does. She’d scurry up into her room just like she did now. Wrecker knows he can’t force her to share what’s on her mind. Out of all of them Hunter is the one who’s been able to get the most out of her. Even then, they are still in the dark on the details of her life before meeting them.

Rubbing the back of his neck with his hand he watches her hide away. He’s convinced. They need to have a family meeting later.

***

Hunter has mastered the art of suffering in silence. He has an incredibly high pain tolerance, but this migrain was putting that to the test. He knows he was rundown, and not taking care of himself. He’s guilty of over working during the war and even more so now. After a while his body physically can’t keep up with him. His senses will go into overdrive, everything would become too loud, too bright, too strong, just too much. Once he’s hit that point it's nearly impossible for him to regain control.

That’s what happened today. What was so post to be a simple stealth op, quickly escalated into a full front war with pirates. Echo accidentally triggered the alarm when hacking into the cryptid software to locate their objectives. The blaring sirens and electrified walls tipped Hunter’s already dangerously low scale of what he could handle. Screaming animals, explosions, and blaster fire didn’t help either.

If he wasn’t trained in how to fight through overstimulation, he would’ve been killed in action a long time ago. Thank the Maker for his modified gear. His helmet helps filter out light and sound in times like these, it was the only thing keeping him from a complete nervous system failure.

There’s an unspoken routine between his squad when this happens to him. Without saying a word everyone knows what's happening. The best thing to keep him from falling off the edge is silence and stillness. He muted all outside noise the second he was back aboard the Marauder.

Under his helmet his face is scrunched in pain. His eyes squeezed tightly shut as the ringing in his ears only intensified, pounding into his brain. He’s trying to breathe through it but that is getting harder to do. At this moment he couldn’t do anything but lay as still as humanly possible.

After years of training, testing, and experiments, his overstimulation episodes have been recorded and categorized into stages. To see just how far he could be pushed and still proven effective. Hunter would call this right now a stage 4. Not the worst, but still too close to a full 6 for his comfort. He’ll be fine as long as nobody moves him.

Hunter’s not sure how long he’s been lying there. Either he eventually fell asleep, (unlikely) or blacked out. Which has happened to him before and more likely is what happened now.

He awakens to the view of a dimly lit Tech peering down at him. His lips are moving but Hunter can’t hear him. With his vision still blurry his brother looks more like a buffering holo-vid than anything real.

Groaning, Hunter brings a heavy hand up to press a small button on the side of his helmet to filter sound back in.

“What?” His voice is hoarse from his dry mouth.

“Oh good, you’ve made it.” He can now hear Tech say. His datapad was in hand as he was typing away on it.

“How long was I out?” Hunter asks, slowly sitting up. His head was still spinning but at a much less intensity than before.

“Five hours. It’s been awhile since that’s happened to you. How are you feeling now?” Tech helps him into an upright position on the bunk.

“Not great, but better than before.” Hunter takes a few deep breaths before daring to remove his helmet. Slowly opening his eyes.

All the lights were off, the normal humming of the ship's power gone. Tech powered everything down so there would be no electromagnetic vibrations for Hunter to feel. Leaving him and Tech in a calm silence. Hunter lets out a sigh of relief.

After a minute of regaining his barings he notices how empty and quiet the ship is.

“Where is everyone? Did we land already?” He scans the ship, noting the absence of shrieking monkey-lizards. Good riddance, if he never saw another one of those vile creatures again, it would be too soon.

“Echo, Wrecker, and Omega left to deliver the monkey-lizards to Cid’s buyer. I also sent them out for more supplies. I figured it would be best for things to be quiet when you woke up.” He’s rummaging through the medical kit as he fills him in. Finding the last of their painkillers he passes them over to Hunter, along with a full canteen of water.

“Thanks.” Hunter gratefully takes the meds and water.

“I suspect you will make a full recovery, going off your scans.” Tech picks up his datapad again. “But I am going to strongly suggest that we take a break. You haven't had an episode like that since…” He’s scrolling through his files. “The fourth battle of Fulicia.” Tech adjusts his goggles on his nose.

Hunter sighes, he vaguely remembers that assignment, but not much. One moment he was fighting an army of droids, the next he was in a medical bay, not knowing how he got there.

“You’re probably right. Can we even afford not to work for a while?” Hunter throws a few pills back, taking a long swig of water to wash them down.

Tech pulls up a new file with their current finances. “I’ve constructed a new budget for us after analyzing our spending. After we are paid for the last job we can go approximately… two days before we’re in the red again.” Tech turns the datapad for Hunter to take a look.

His eyes take a minute to focus on the bright screen but they adjust. Hunter chuckles in spite of himself as he reads over their impossible financial situation.

“Approximately two days.” He repeats with mirth. “Hell of a retirement plan.” He jokes handing the datapad back to Tech.

Tech’s sense of humor is more practical, like everything else about him. He doesn’t find the state of his brother’s health to be a joking matter.

“Two days off is still better than you going into a coma from a full overstimulation episode.”

“That’s true.” Hunter looks down at the cantine in his hands. Suddenly it hit him. Omega has never seen him like this yet. Meeting his brother’s eyes he looks at him with worry. “Is Omega okay?”

“Well, I think you scared her a bit. We explained to her what was happening but she still worried. By hour four she was convinced you needed a hospital.” Tech started putting away the medkit. “I don’t need to remind you how much she needs you.” His tone cuts through the space with more precision than Crosshair’s sharp shooting.

Hunter hung his head with guilt, focusing on the canteen in his hands. Tech’s right, he can’t keep pushing himself like this. He needs to be there for Omega.

“Okay, let's take the next two days off.”

Tech doesn’t try to hide how pleased he is to hear this. “I think that will prove most beneficial.” He gives Hunter an approving nod before leaving his side.

***
The whole time they were out Omega worried about Hunter. Everyone kept reassuring her that he’d be fine but it didn’t ease her anxiety.

Echo and Wrecker did their best to keep her mind distracted while gathering the few supplies Tech sent them out for. She was standing with Echo, helping him carry the items as they waited in a short line to pay.

“Hey kid!” Wrecker comes up behind her, tapping on her shoulder.

She turns around to see him kneeling, presenting her with a crate of their favorite Mantell Mix. After their debt to Cid was repaired, Hunter sat them down and made it very clear they are only allowed to get one carton of the candy at a time.

“Ta Da!” He presents the colorful snack to her with a flourish.

Her spirits instantly lifted, she smiles and takes a handful, popping a few pieces into her mouth. Mantel Mix could make anything better, she was sure of it.

Echo’s comm blinked with a signal sent from Tech. He finishes paying for the supplies and rejoins Wrecker and Omega.

“I just received the all clear from Tech. We can head back to the Marauder now.”

He kneels down, opening the backpack they used on their supply runs. Omega places the items inside of it. Eager to get back to check on Hunter. Wrecker hands her the carton of popcorn to hold, while he offers to pick her up. Another time she’d love to ride on his shoulders, but right now she just wants to get back to check on Hunter. She’s already fast walking back towards the port before Echo even has the bag back over his shoulder. Leaving a trail of red and purple popcorn behind her.

“Come on! Let's go!” Omega ushers them to move faster.

The men glance at one another with a shrug. Looks like she’s giving the orders.

***

As soon as Omega climbed up the ramp she sought out Hunter.

“Hunta…” She cautiously calls. Not wanting to be too loud.

“In here, Mega.” His voice comes from the back.

She sets the carton of Mantell Mix down on one of the seats in the cockpit. Quickly making her way to the other end of the ship. She’s relieved to see him up and working at the Nav-computer. A little surprised though to find him wearing his blacks instead of his armor. His signature red bandanna was still in its rightful place.

He turns to face her, giving her a soft smile. Omega’s shoulders relax. He’s okay, just like everyone said he would be.

“Come’er.” Hunter extends his hand for her to take. She immediately does.
“I’m sorry for worrying you. I-”

Omega cuts him off with a hug. “All that matters is that you are feeling better.” She pauses and looks up at him with concern. “You are feeling better, right?”

A soft chuckle rolls from his chest. He returns her hug, pulling her into him.

“Yes, Omega I am. You don’t have to worry about me.” He reassures her, patting her back.

“Okay, good.” She nestles her face against the soft fabric of his shirt. Taking a moment to breathe him in before letting go.

Omega has really come to love hugs from her brothers, but they're always a little better without all the hard armor.

“Welcome back to the living.” Echo greets Hunter as he enters the room, carrying the bag full of supplies. “How does it feel?”

Echo has a great sense of humor actually. You’d have to after everything he’s gone through. When first joining the Bad Batch he’d crack a few dark quips about himself fairly often, always earning a smirk from Crosshair.

“Ehh, you know how it is. I have a good headache.” Hunter jokes back.

Echo chuckles, patting him on the shoulder on his way to store the supplies they just picked up.

Wrecker is the next to enter. He pokes his head down the corridor to the other half of the ship.

“Hey buddy, how’s it going?” He asks with a hushed tone. Well, however hushed Wrecker can be. He didn’t want to be too loud until he knew where Hunter was at in his recovery.

“I’m fine, Wrecker.” Hunter finds his brother’s caution both amusing and endearing.

“Ah! That’s great!” Wrecker goes back to his normal volume. “We need to have a family meeting. Where’s Tech?”

Hunter and Omega share a side glance. A family meeting?

“Umm- he was repairing something outside last I checked.” Hunter responds.

“On it!” He disappears behind the wall. “TECH GET IN HERE NOW!!!!”

Wrecker’s booming voice vibrates against the haul of the ship. Half the city could hear him yelling from the top of the ramp.
Proud of himself he turns to join the others.

Seconds later Tech comes rushing into Marauder, blaster in hand. What could've possibly happened in the five minutes he was outside? He scans all of their faces. No one seemed to be bleeding and nothing was on fire. He lets out an exasperated sigh.

“What is it?” He puts away his blaster seeing there was no danger, just Wrecker being himself.

“Family meeting! Come on!” Wrecker waves him over to join them.

“You know we have comlinks for a reason, right?” Tech reluctantly joins the group. Taking the other seat by the Nav computer.

“Okay, Wrecker. What is it?” Hunter turns to his brother.

With everyone’s attention on him Wrecker starts to fidget. “Right. Well Uhhh-” He scratches his chin as he thinks of what he wants to say.

“If this is about Hunter not taking care of himself I’ve already convinced him to take the next two days off.” Tech says a little annoyed. He’d like to go back to what he was working on before Wrecker yelled bloody murder.

“No that’s not it.” He brushes Tech’s comment off. “Although that's good. You really do need to take better care of yourself.” Wrecker addresses Hunter.

Hunter huffs a sigh as he pinches the bridge of his nose, feeling his migraine starting to come back.

“Okay, what else then?” Echo is leaning against the ladder to (the gunner's pit) Omega’s room.

“Omega has something to say!” Wrecker announces.

All eyes turn to Omega.

Suddenly the air in the room became much warmer to her. She knows that Wrecker is just trying to help, but this attention wasn't what she wanted. He knows her, and he knows when she’s keeping something from them. She feels her cheeks start to flush under the pressure of the situation.

“Go on, Mega, we are here to listen!” Wrecker gives her an encouraging smile.

Omega looks away from him, casting her eyes down on her boots. This was silly, she doesn’t need something like earrings that badly. They didn’t all have to stop what they were doing for her. Hunter’s already had enough to deal with today. She doesn’t want to bother him with that now.

“Is there something you want to talk about?” Hunter gently asks her, tilting his head to catch her eyes.

Omega doesn’t even notice she’s wringing her hands. She shakes her head still focused on her shoes.

“It’s silly, It’s not important.” The flush on her cheeks now creeping up to her ears.

“It can’t be that silly.” Hunter squeezes her shoulder.

“Whatever it is, you can talk about it.” Echo kneels at her level giving her a kind smile. “This is a safe space, Omega.”

Omega takes a deep breath, hiding behind her hands in embarrassment. She can’t get out of this now.

“I- I wanted to ask if I could maybe get my ears pierced.” She confesses all in one breath. Her flushed face hidden behind her hands.

The boys look at one another in surprise. Is that all?

For clone soldiers things like piercings, tattoos, hair, and armor design was a right of passage. It was an unspoken sentiment that they all followed in creating their individuality. Appearance and expression was important to them. In fact during the war many Jedi generals encouraged their soldiers to do so, along with using names instead of their numbers.

Hunter’s face softens, he lightly pulls Omega’s hands back so she’s looking at him.

“That’s not silly at all.” Hunter looks around at his brothers. “Right, boys?”

Wrecker crouches down to be closer to her. “Are you kidding me? I think our Mega would look awesome with earrings!”

“It is very common for preadolescent females to start wanting to wear more jewelry.” Tech states. He’s already on the computer, looking up places in the area they could take her.

Omega’s eyes widened. She wasn’t sure how they would react, but she was prepared to be told no.

“So can I? Get my ears pierced?” She hesitantly asks, just to clarify.

“Well I don't see why not. If it is what you want to do we’ll take you to get them done. It’s your choice, Omega.” Hunter is still holding her small hands in his. A part of him knows this goes beyond simply wanting to wear jewelry.

He tries not to think too hard of what her life was before she found them. But he does, he worries about how she was treated, where she was kept, and how she was raised. Even though he literally had no idea she existed at the time he curses himself for not finding her sooner.

Growing up on Kamino he and his brother’s didn’t have it easy, but they had each other, they had a purpose, even if it was just to fight and die in a war. They had some amount of freedom to express themselves. To be their own person, more so than the regs did. But Omega wasn’t allowed that small freedom. She was isolated, kept secret, her only purpose behind her creation was to be a backup host for their cloning operations. Nala Se kept her in that lab for so long, it was all Omega knew.

But now here was Omega smiling from ear to ear. Her excitement bubbling inside of her. She looks as if she might burst.

“Yes! I do want to do it!” She bounces on her toes.

“Here. This one is on world, and it has decent reviews.” Tech points to the screen where he had the coordinates to a tattoo and piercing parlor pulled up.

“Looks seedy.” Echo studies the information closely.

“Everything on Ord Mantell is. My main concern is it being staril.”

Tech and Echo continue banter/bicker over the appropriateness of taking Omega somewhere like this. Omega is too giddy to fully listen to them. She was really going to get her ears pierced! It was really happening!
Hunter makes the final call, stepping between his brothers.

“We’ll go over tomorrow morning and check it out. I’m sure it’s fine.”

“See, kid! It’s okay to ask for things!” Wrecker lifts her up onto his shoulder. “Now where’d you put that Mantell Mix? I’m starved!”

Omega giggles up on his shoulder, pointing back to the direction of the cockpit. He carries her off. Omega turns around to meet Hunter’s eyes.

“Thank you.” She mouths to him.

Hunter smiles and gives her a wink.

Tomorrow was going to be a very special day.

***

Omega is usually the first one to wake, and today was no exception. She was too excited to fall asleep last night despite her best efforts. The sun was just starting to rise in the early morning, and Omega was already dressed and ready. Picking today to wear one of her newer tops, the fabric was a light blue, she wore the shirt tucked into her favorite dark gray pants with her boots. She smiles with pride at her outfit, still getting used to having more than one.

Now all she has to do is wait for the others to start to wake up. The Marauder was still quiet, minus Tech’s snoring.

Sitting criss-cross in the gunner’s chair in the center of her room, her “bad batcher” dolly lays in her lap. Omega was trying to catch her reflection in the glass of the viewport in front of her. Trying to picture what she’ll look like with earrings. Lightly pinching her lobes where she’s imagined getting them pierced for so long.
I’m really going to do this, she thinks to herself. Her chest tightening with pure giddiness.

Hunter was the next to rise. He goes about his morning routine silently and sufficiently. Instinctively he made to put on his armor, stopping halfway when the realization hit him. I don't need it today, he muses. A small smile tugging on his lips.

Switching out his military blacks for his undershirt he wears under the green tunic Cut had given him. Pulling it over his head, covering his inked torso. The common fabric still feels forin against his skin, but everytime he puts it on it starts to feel a little more natural. Lastly, after combing through and detangling his brown curls he ties on his signature bandana. That he’ll never give up wearing, not even for a day. Hunter makes his way to the cockpit, datapad in hand to get caught up on whatever new changes he missed made by this rising New Empire.

Echo has been up for a while now, the majority of the night as usual. Sleep never lasted long for him, not since he- well, blew up.
Spending two years in stasis, between consciousness and death keeping him alive just enough to be useful. After one goes through that, one is bound to have a hard time falling asleep again normally.

Also having your mind neurologically experimented on and turned into a database doesn’t help either. There’s always some sort of chatter or static, headaches are so common for him he doesn’t even notice anymore. That’s the main reason he wears the cybernetic headgear that Tech helped him modify. Instead of increasing mind productivity like its original design, it filters data out for him, separating the feed so he still has control of his own mind.

Needless to say, no Echo wasn’t sleeping. He’s lying on his back up in the top storage compartment above the corridor connecting the cockpit to the rest of the ship. Shortly after joining the Bad Batch he claimed this space as his, Hunter was more than understanding. It was small, he couldn’t fully stand up there, but at least it was private. Up here he doesn’t mind taking his armor off, or his prosthetics.

Usually even if sleep wouldn’t come he’d at least rest his eyes for a while, but this morning he has a lot on his mind.
Yesterday they all promised Omega that they’d go as a group to get her ears pierced. Simple enough, but at the time he didn’t think of what that outing would require of him. They’d all have to go out in civilian wear to blend in.
Blend in yeah right, Echo thinks darkly. He knows what he is, what he looks like. Without his armor (that is obviously from the lost Republic) he sticks out too much to blend in.

It’s not that he doesn’t have any civilian clothes, he does. He just hasn’t worked up the courage to wear them yet. If they had to go out outside of a job or mission, he’d go to his default droid disguise. Somehow he was more comfortable behind a mask he couldn’t breathe in than soft, common, everyday clothes.

“You’re overthinking this, Echo.” He mutters to himself rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes with his left and only hand.

Omega wants him there, and he could never go back on a promise to her.
Forcing himself to sit up right he lets out a long deep sigh. He can’t stay up here forever.
Echo crawls over to his old GAR backpack that held his very few belongings. He pulls out the clothes he’s yet to wear, anxiety already spiking inside him.

Something so simple shouldn’t be so hard, but yet it was. As he awkwardly works in the small space to get dressed he accidentally knocks over the backpack.
In order to get the top half of his blacks off he had to detach his scope arm prosthetic. Even alone in the dark he feels exposed.
Unpleasant memories of his time on Skako Minor flash across his mind at the sight of the scar tissue left on his chest from the Techno Union’s implants. Deep holes now healed over covered his body. Six marks scattered his chest, two more under his ribs, three around his arm where a cable once was connected, and the entire length of his spine all the way up his neck. With the top half of his blacks off, he could see all of them, and he hated it.

Given he was in much better condition than he was almost a year ago when they rescued him, but he’s far from the man he once was.

Echo wads up the discarded shirt and tosses it into his bag, that's when he catches sight of the holophoto that fell out of it.

Echo hesitates to pick it up, he knows exactly what it will show him.
Another time, another life, another man.

Turning the holoframe over the image blinks to life in front of his eyes. It was taken the day he and Fives became ARC troopers, Cody and Rex saw to their promotions personally. They’d just come back with their brand new armor, He had asked Rex if he could recreate his handprint on his armor plate. He’d got attached to the symbole, and was recognized for it. The look of pride in the captain’s eyes will be a memory he will hold onto forever. Life was simpler back then, at least they knew what they were fighting for. Or they thought they knew.

His light brown eyes linger on the image of his long lost brother. Fives, he says his name in his head.

After he was rescued and brought back to the Republic he was foolish enough to hold out hope. Rex told him that Fives died almost a year prior, but didn’t go into the details. A part of Echo was grateful for that. He didn’t want to know how his brother, his best friend, died. It’ll just make surviving all the harder.

Rex had given him this holophoto of all of them, of this memory frozen in time. Echo realizes that means that Rex had held onto it, had kept it with him.
Clones weren’t allowed many possessions outside of armor, gear, and weapons. But his old Captain kept this with him, kept his memory alive when he was presumed long gone. And he came back for him.
Echo doesn’t take that lightly, not many soldiers get a second chance, or get to be remembered.

As painful as it is, Echo is glad he has at least one reminder of his past. The last time he saw Rex was to remove their inhibitor chips. He mentioned that Fives tried to warn him about it, but he didn’t understand at the time.
Of course Fives would've been the one to figure it out. To undercover a conspiracy that not even the most powerful Jedi were aware of. That’s why he was the ARC trooper… Although Rex didn’t confirm it, Echo has a sick feeling that Fives died because of it. Died for the truth, died trying to save them all from this nightmare. But no one listened, and it was too late. The Republic was gone, just like the men in the picture he held. All but a memory of a time that was never meant to last.

Echo blinks and forces himself to look away from the face of his brother. Sitting up here in the dark, mourning won’t serve the sacrifice he made.

“I wish you were here.” Echo finds himself whispering to the image of his brother.

He switches the holo off, tucking it back inside the backpack. That’s enough of that, he shakes his head. Fives couldn’t come back, not like he did.
He’s alive, by some miracle, and he gets the chance to choose what he’s going to do. And today he has a promise to a little girl to keep.
So Echo puts aside his discomfort and anxieties, and gets dressed for the day.

***

Hunter sits reclined in the copilot's chair, one leg up on the dash as he endlessly scrolls through the latest holo-news. One galactic disaster after the next. Imperial occupations continue to grow within the core and midrim. He has to hand it to whoever fabricates these stories, they do a good job making the Empire look somewhat decent. Of course they leave out all the details of assassinating senators, arresting peaceful civilians, terminating whoever stands in their way, destroying an entire city… Hunter stops scrolling when he comes across a story about the missing city of Kamino. He knows he shouldn’t open it, he was there, he lived it, he knew the truth. But he couldn’t help himself.

The sudden disappearance of the intergalactic famous Cloning operations on Kamino explained!

Over a hundred years ago the world of Kamino experienced a climate change like many worlds have. The great flood brought from the permanite storms in the atmosphere caused the Kaminoians to adapt to their new watery terrain. Famous for their floating cities and advanced cloning technology, the top scientists of the Empire warned the Kaminoians of the oncoming climate change. To aid our old allies we evacuated the cities in just enough time before the second great flood the planet has faced took effect. The Empire saved-

“Bullshit.” Hunter mutters, exiting out of the news article.

His pulse rising, enraged by the lies of it all. What’s even worse is that it's believable to any outsider. All of these articles are! The galaxy became the Empire versus everyone else. How many worlds, villages, cities, sectors, and lives have been “saved” by the Empire?
How many have Crosshair been a part of? He can’t help but wonder. He saw what his brother took part in on Ryloth, he knows he assassinated the old Senator, framed the Syndullas, arrested innocent civilians, and hunted down a little girl. What else has he done since he last saw him? Hunter is too busy fuming to notice his grip tightening on the datapad.

The whine of the top hatch doors sliding open pull him back from his silent seething. Following with the light mechanical clunk of Echo dropping into the haul. He joins Hunter in the cockpit, taking note of the passed out Tech on the floor under the dash. Exactly where he left him the night before.

“Guess he didn’t finish upgrading the hyperdrive yet.” Echo smirks.

Just as he says it, Tech chokes out another loud snore from under the panel. Out of the five men who have been a part of Clone Force 99, he’s the only one who actually snores, although he’ll never admit to it.

Hunter chuckles softly under his breath, still scrolling through the news.

“Doesn’t look like it. We’re going to need to get some caffeine into him.” Hunter responds, his features and spirits falling at another appalling article.

Echo leans over his shoulder to read what his Sergeant was glaring at. He sighs, taking the datapad from him.

“I wasn’t done reading that.” Hunter protests.

“We have two days off. I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like spending it by being reminded how the Empire is nothing like the Republic.” Echo turns the datapad off. “There’s nothing we can do about it today.”

Hunter knows he’s right, he turns in his chair to face Echo. Slightly surprised to see him finally wearing his new civilian clothes. He looks like a completely different man.
Instead of his usual dark gray armor and arc skirt, he was dressed in all natural tones. A dark brown tunic with wide long sleeves wrapped around his torso, tied with a leather belt. He wore a tan high collar shirt under it, covering his scars. The only amount of armor that remained was his boots, which are a part of his prosthetic legs, mostly covered by loose fitting trousers. The look suits him, but Hunter knows how forin it must feel.

“Hey, the new gear suits you.” He offers him a kind half smile.

Echo shakes his head. “Honestly, I feel like I'm dressed like General Kenobi.” He jokes, but the uncertainty in his eyes says what he’s really feeling.

“You look good, vod.” Hunter reasuress his brother.

He’s proud of how far Echo has come in just a year. There’s not many people who’d be able to survive what Echo has, let alone overcome and live with it. He’s watched him reclaim his humanity, he knows this is a big step for him.

“Thanks, I didn’t want to let Omega down.” Echo shifts uncomfortably. Rubbing the back of his neck.

Upon hearing the others up, Omega climbs down from her room. She tiptoes past Wrecker on the rack, still deeply asleep with Lula in his arms.

“Good morning, Echo! Good morning, Hunta!” She cheerfully greets them in the cockpit.

Taking her place in one of the back red chairs. Turning it side to side as she sits. Her energy is already brimming inside of her despite it being still so early.

“You’re up even earlier than usual.” Hunter welcomes her, mirth behind his gray brown eyes.

“I was too excited to sleep. When do you think we can go?” She asks, still spinning in her chair.

“Whenever the other two are ready. I was thinking we’d stop for breakfast on the way.” Hunter shrugs, hiding his grin.

Omega gasps. “Can we please go to the stall with the sticky buns?” She pleads with her big brown eyes.

“Of course. It’s a special day isn't it? Why don’t you go wake up Wrecker.” He nods in the direction of their sleeping giant of a brother.

“Yes!” Omega cheers and hops off her chair.

Sprinting in the direction to wake up Wrecker, she stops half way before skidding back. Stopping in front of Echo she throws her arms around him in a quick hug.

“I like your new outfit.” She smiles up at him. Still hugging his lower half.

Echo was taken aback for a moment but is quick to recover. He runs his hand over her blonde curls and smiles back at her.

“Thanks kid.” He was still unsure about going out like this, but the way she looks at him is enough to convince him to go through with it.

Omega lets go of him and returns to her mission. “Wrecker wake up! Hunter says we can get sticky buns!” She calls down the small hall.

“Five more minutes.” Wrecker yawns. The mettle hinges squeak as he shifts on the pull out bunk, rolling over to go back to sleep.

Omega is not discouraged. She clambers up onto the shelf with him like a lizard-monkey.

Hunter and Echo can’t hide their amusement from watching her struggle climb on top of him.

“All for sticky buns.” Echo chuckles and crosses his arms.

“We should get there before they sell out, or they’ll be hell to pay.” Hunter stands and walks over to Tech. Who is still snoring under the navigation panel.

Lightly kicking the sole of his boot to wake him up. Tech is not only the loudest sleeper, but also the heaviest. It takes a few kicks from Hunter before he stirs awake.

Choking on his snores as he comes to. “I’m awake.”

Tech almost bangs his head before he remembers why he was under the dash to begin with. He yawns as he adjusts his goggles, resuming his project. Less than two minutes later he finishes and a new system blinks to life on the council.

“That should do it, I- oh... It’s morning.” The realization hits him as he stands and looks out of the view port.

Tech almost always falls asleep while working on some project, never on purpose, and always at ridiculous hours in the night. He pushes his goggles up onto his forehead to rub his tired eyes.

“Why don’t you get ready, then we can get some caff into you.” Hunter pats him on the shoulder.

Tech nods as he disoriantly steps over his tool box. “Caff would be sufficient.” He yawns again. “Maybe two.” He holds up two fingers as he shuffles out of the cockpit.

“How about the whole pot?” Echo jokes.

Although it could very well be a possibility. If given the chance, Tech can and will down an entire pot of caff in one sitting. It became a problem when they were still cadets. His caffeine addiction would make him study and work in a burst of hyper focused energy, staying awake through the night, drinking more caffeine all the while. Only for him to be dead tired during their training in the morning. It became unsafe, so Hunter had to cut him back, limiting him only to 1-2 cups. It’s also why they don’t carry it aboard the Marauder.

“Yeah, don’t tempt him.” Hunter snorts.

Hunter goes over to assist Omega in weakening Wrecker. Who has now replaced Lula for a wiggling Omega in his arms. Holding her to his chest as he pretends to still be sleeping. Her giggles echoing through the ship as she fights to break free from his hold.

***

The walk across town was colorful. As this part of Ord Mantell always is.
Drunks stumbling out of hole in the wall bars, shady characters meeting to do business, normal folk on their way to work, and wamp-rats fighting to the death over half a ranoto wrap. As seedy and uncharming this backwater planet is, it’s started to grow on the squad.
They’ve become regulars around the market, some shop owners even knew Omega by name.

The promise of sticky buns was fulfilled, along with the much needed caff. They ate their breakfast on the way to the coordinates of the tattoo parlor they were searching out. Mainly because Omega couldn’t keep still. Perched up on Wrecker’s large shoulders the two of them ate their favorite pastry.

“The more sugar the better!” Wrecker held up the big round cinnabon dripping with icing to Omega’s.

Omega happily cheers her sticky bun against his. “Sure is!”

Hunter was in front of the group, as usual. He glances behind his shoulder at his two sugar addicts, a soft smile resting on his face. He takes a moment to really look at his squad, his family.

Sure they’ve been in this pattern before many times. Omega on Wrecker's shoulders, Tech with his nose in his datapad, Echo always looking out for them, and himself at the front leading the way. But today felt different, because it was. Never have they’ve all been out together in civilian attire at the same time. They looked just like any other family in the galaxy, for the most part. Hunter could get used to this feeling.

“The establishment we are looking for should be just up ahead.” Tech says, already sipping his second cup of caff. He insisted on ordering two cups, “one for now and one for the walk.” He had said it was the most logical solution.

The establishment was yet another hole in the wall business. Much like Cid’s Parlor, and the rest of Ord Mantell, it was tucked away in a dilapidated alley. Garbage and graffiti littered the area. A feral tooka-cat hisses from behind a turned over crate as they approach the store front. The light up neon open sign flashes in the window. “Saul’s Tattoo Parlor '' was painted in fading arubesh above the doorway.

“How charming.” Tech comments looking around at the filth of the ally.

“What else did you expect for Ord Mantell?” Echo scoughs in a I told you so, manner.

“We’ve gone to much dirtier places.” Wrecker playfully shoves Echo after helping Omega down.

“Yeah. Our old barracks for instance.” Echo suppresses the gag that comes every time he thinks about the awful smell of that room.

“Let’s check it out first.” Hunter steps in, defusing the argument before it could even take form. “You ready, Mega?” He asks, turning to her.

Hunter sighs, instinctively he wipes the leftover frosting from her sugary breakfast off her cheeks with his thumbs. Omega scrunches her nose up at him, using the back of her own hand to clean off the rest of her face.

She looks the store over with excited wide eyes. It’s perfect, she thinks to herself.

“Yes!” Omega bounces on her toes. She’s really going to do it! She’s getting her ears pierced!

Hunter laughs softly through his nose. “Alright, let's move.”

He’s used to leading his squad into battles, but today he was leading Omega to an important milestone of her childhood.

A bell sounds as the automatic doors slide open. The inside was much cleaner than the outside would have led it on to be.

Red painted walls with various art and tapestries decorated the inside. Cases with jewelry on display shining under a light, and stacks of tattoo designs lined the whole right wall.

The smell of rubbing alcohol and the distinct buzzing from a Tattoo pen marking someone’s skin reminds him of the many hours spent on Kamino getting his own done.

It’s nicer than I expected, he thought to himself. His eyes absentmindedly wandering over the open tattoo books.

“What can I do for you boys today?” Came the voice of an older man.

Emerging from behind a tapestry that separated the storefront from the back. An older Torguta male steps out, taking his place behind the counter.

That’s most likely Saul of Saul’s Tattoo Parlor, Hunter figures.

His dark orange skin is weathered and wrinkled from a life of work and sun, his montral horns arched high over his face, decorated in various tribal piercings of his culture. What looks as if a thin animal horn pierced through his nose, hanging over his upper lip. There were many things to notice about this man, but his kind lavender eyes were hard to miss.

“Actually, we are here for her.” Hunter motions for Omega to join him.

She was hiding herself behind Wrecker, standing directly behind him.
Suddenly all of her excitement from earlier was replaced with meekness. Omega doesn’t scare easily anymore, no she’s tough now, so why was she feeling so nervous?
Omega gives a shy wave to the Torguta as she comes up and grabs onto Hunter’s forearm.

“Oh a youngling!” The man’s face lights up when he sees Omega.

Saul steps around the counter and takes a knee to address her directly.

“What will it be, little one?” His voice is lighter and softer than just a moment before.

“Um- I,” she looks up at Hunter for his approval one more time.

Hunter gives her a reassuring nod to continue.

“I would like to get my ears pierced.” Omega finishes, lightly pinching the middle of her earlobe to emphasize what she wants.

His orange and wight face wrinkles as he breaks into a warm smile.

“Well you came to the right place.” Saul extends his hand out to her.

Omega studies the older man before her. Trusting her instincts that he was good, she carefully takes his hand, letting go of Hunter’s forearm.

He leads her to the other side of the counter. Unlocking the jewelry case he pulls out a large padded box with rows of earrings to pick from. Studs of all shapes, sizes, colors, and rocks.
Omega’s breath catches upon the dazzling sight. Her excitement returns in her chest.

“Pick whatever you like.” The nice man holds the display out for her to look at.

Omega’s eyes go to a small set of ruby studs immediately. The sparkling red gemstone was one of the prettiest things she’s ever seen. She can’t help but think of her squad's colors.

“I like the red ones.” she points at the earrings.

Her choice didn’t go unnoticed among her brothers, all of them watching with pride. She’s a Bad Batcher, there’s no questioning it.

“Lovely choice. I’ll hold them aside for you.” Straightening up he sets the box down on the counter. Reaching for a datapad. “I just need a legal guardian to sign a few forms, and we can get you set up.”

Omega finds this interesting. Didn’t Hunter say it was her choice? And what’s a legal guardian?

Saul passes the datapad with the documents pulled up to Hunter.

“Would that be you?” He asks with a smirk.

Hunter stifins, locking eyes with Omega. Is he? Legal may not be the right term, he kind of just took her from Kamino. He has no official proof of being her guardian.

“Yes...” He accepts the datapad. Hoping he sounds more convincing than he feels.

“Why does he have to sign?” Omega asks, looking between Hunter and the datapad.

The older man finds her question very amusing and starts to chuckle.

“Intergalactic law. A kid like you can’t get something like a piercing done without consent from a parent. At least until you are 16.”

As Hunter reads through the document he realizes just how underprepared he was for today. Clones never had to do this, he thinks as he signs his messy signature. Handing the datapad back.

“Well technically speaking.” Tech pipes up, his two cups of caff starting to kick in. “She’s actually-” He’s cut off by a hard elbow from Echo.

Echo gives him a glare that says to “shut the kriff up.”

For as smart as Tech is, he’s not awake enough yet to process the covertness of this situation. Technically speaking, they kidnapped her from Kamino when deserting the Empire. Technically none of them are over the age 16, and technically she’s older than Hunter who was signing for her. Technically there is nothing about them that is legal because they are all clone fugitives.

Hunter silently curses when he hears Tech start to run his mouth.

The owner arches his white marking eyebrow, studying the group. He’s seen people of all species and walks of life. But still, they were an odd looking bunch. Four hardened men all accompanying one little girl to get her ears pierced.

Hunter clears his throat, a warning for Tech to watch it. Noticing the Togruta’s eyes looking over their squad.

“We’re her brothers.” Hunter clarifies, at least that much wasn’t a lie.

“Ah, how nice.” The older man nods, accepting the datapad back.

A part of Saul was slightly suspicious, there was something oddly familiar about these men. But he brushes it off, every family’s got their quirks. Returning his attention back to the now signed document, submitting it to his records.

“Omega,” he reads off the waiver, grinning at her unique name. “Come with me.”

His orange hands pull back the tapestry, revealing a narrow hallway. Saul leads the group down the hall. Omega is right on his heels, the butterflies in her tummy start to return the further they venture. She holds onto Hunter’s hand as they follow.

The back of the parlor consisted of four small separate rooms, one of them being occupied by a Nautolan getting a rather painful looking tattoo. Wrecker has to walk on an angle for his shoulders to fit.

“Bantha shit!” The Nautolan curses at their tattoo artist. Fresh ink on their green skin mixes with a thin layer of blood over the raw design covering their back.

“Ah stop your bitchin, you’re almost done.” Replies the artist. She’s a Zeltron with a steady hand and a stern voice.

Wrecker gulps at the scene unfolding in the room next to him. The tip of the tattoo pen is enough to send him back like a skittish tookacat. His retreat causes Tech to walk right into him with a grunt.

“Hey boss, I think I’m gonna wait outside.” Wrecker nervously runs a hand over his head, trying to squeeze past Tech.

Hunter turns with a raised eyebrow. “You alright?”

“Yeah, these rooms aren't made for a big boy.” He lightly jokes, sending Omega a wink.

Wrecker would say he’s not afraid of anything… but if he had to choose he’d say he’s afraid of heights, the dark, blood, needles and or other sharp pointy things coming at him. He didn’t want to ruin the kids' day, but there was no way he could be back here any longer.

It was a weak excuse but not too far off from the truth, this hallway was certainly not Wrecker sized. As he backs away he knocks things off the walls with him, trying to catch the objects as they fall. The togruta man visibly winces as his large shoulders knock over a whole shelf of sculpted figurines, the art would have shattered to the floor if Tech wasn’t there to catch them.

Echo and Hunter sigh deeply in unison. Omega tries to stifle her giggles behind her hand at her brother's clumsy exit.

“I’ll accompany him to make sure he doesn’t break anything else.” Tech dryly states as he awkwardly positions the shelf back into place. Returning the art to their rightful spots.

Hunter nods in approval, grateful that he didn’t have to give an order. This shouldn’t take too long anyways. He turns to follow Omega into the small room they were escorted to.

Inside the small room there was a table similar to that found in a med bay. A countertop and cabinets lined one wall, leaving room for a chair in the opposite corner. It was probably the cleanest and sterile place Omega’s been in since she left with them. It actually reminded her a lot of Kamino, especially the smell of the disinfectant.

“Khloe will be right in to do your piercings. If you need anything I’ll be up front.” Saul spoke more to Omega than to the two adults accompanying her.

She smiles and nods, thanking him silently. He leaves to let Khloe know of her next appointment.

Everything is perfectly fine, you can handle a little needle, Omega tells herself as she hops up onto the table with Hunter’s help. Yet the first sight of the piercing equipment out on the counter spikes her anxiety. She can’t take her eyes off the sharp tools. She knows what to expect, so why was she feeling so nervous? This isn’t like the lab, this isn’t like the lab, Omega repeats in her mind.

Echo notices her fixed gaze on the needles. Her eyes are glazed over as if she was looking far beyond the little room. He knows this look all too well, gently he places his hand on her shoulder. Omega stiffens at the touch, her big brown eyes meet his.

“Feeling okay, Omega?” Echo asks, he can’t hide the concern in his voice.

“I guess I’m a little nervous.” She shyly admits, looking between Echo and Hunter.

“It'll be so fast you’ll barely feel a thing.” Hunter reassures her with a soft smile.

Omega takes a deep breath, looking for something to distract herself with. She thinks back to the person they passed getting their tattoo. She’s never seen someone get a tattoo before. Now looking up at Hunter she feels like she’s really noticing his tattoo for the first time.

“Hunta, why did you get a tattoo on your face? Didn’t it hurt?” Omega tilts her head to one side as she examines his face.

“Um, well…”

Hunter was caught by surprise with this question. He’s not exactly sure how he should answer it. Clones don’t really ask one another about personalization tattoos, but for Hunter his was more than wanting to be different. His tattoos were a part of his training in building his pain tolerance. Genetically modified scenes were great for tracking on their own, but to be sufficient in battle he had to get a hold of his overstimulation and overcome sensitivity.
Half of his body was inked in the outline of his skeleton, though he only shows the skull on his face. Some sessions he didn’t feel a thing. Others, depending on training he had that day and where the placement was… it did a number on him. He remembers the most burning when he first started on his ribcage. His skin felt like it was on fire. He couldn’t wear clothes over it for a week. At that time he couldn't lay down, walk, let alone run simulations or train in physical combat. He was miserable. It was some of the most intense pain he’s ever felt. But it all paid off in the end, the more tattoos he got, the more control he gained. He graduated from his cadet training shortly after finishing his face tattoo. Thus the symbol of their squad was adopted.

“I’ve gotten lots of tattoos, I got used to the feeling. It was a part of my training in order to graduate. An experiment to see how well I could control my senses and build up my pain tolerance.” Hunter shrugs casually. It wasn’t a big deal to him, he can hardly remember a time without his tattoos covering his skin.

Omega’s mouth hung open. “They experimented on you like that?” Her voice wavers, coming out small and quiet.

Experimented, for the first time he truly felt the weight of that word. Hunter looks to Echo and is met with a similar expression to that of Omega. He didn’t think too much of his upbringing, a lot of it he blocked out of his memory. Hunter did what was required of him. Just like any clone, he went through extreme lengths to be a worthy soldier for the Republic. But the sadness in Omega’s eyes struck guilt to his heart, there was something unspoken between the three of them in the room. Each one of them knew what it was like to be experimented on.

“It wasn’t all so bad.” Hunter attempts to lighten the mood. “It was originally my idea to do a skeleton outline. Besides, it looks pretty cool.” He jokes stroking his inked jawline.

Omega snorts, “sure it does.” She teases to shift the tension in the room.

Echo chuckles at Hunter’s shocked expression.
Hunter knew she was only following along with his joke, but somewhere in the back of his mind he was genuinely a little offended.

“Omega doesn’t think I’m cool anymore.” Hunter mocks a hurt look, clutching his heart. “She’s not even a teenager yet. Echo, what are we going to do?” He addresses him seriously, they can only hold the act for a second before both men crack up laughing.

Omega’s rising anxiety is forgotten as she’s laughing along with her brothers. Omega loves silly moments like this. It’s been a while since she’s heard her brothers genuinely laugh.

“I still think you’re cool, Hunter.” Omega says once her giggles subsided.

“Good, I was worried I was losing my touch.” He smirks and playfully ruffles her hair.

Omega swats his hand away with a smile and fixes her tousled blonde curls.

“Knock, knock.”

Hunter turns to face the newcomer in the doorway. Leaning against the door frame is a striking female Zeltron. Every visible part of her fuschia pink skin was tattooed, from the lengths of her arms going all the way up her neck. Hunter’s never seen so many piercings just on one face before. Her sapphire blue hair was braided down her back, falling over her shoulder. Perhaps Hunter was taking a little too long to respond, and was staring a little too hard. The wicked smirk growing on her face snaps him out of his observations.

“The name’s Khloe, and I professionally stab people for a living.”

An accurate description of her profession, but her joke didn’t earn any merit with this crowd. Hunter and Echo share questioning glances.

“It's a joke. Yeesh, lighten up fellas.” Khloe steps into the room, purposefully brushing against Hunter’s arm as she passes. “Nice tattoo.” She offhandedly remarks.

Hunter stance stiffens from the unexpected contact and complement. He moves to the other side of Omega in an attempt to make more space. He mutters an ineligible “thank you” crossing his arms over his chest. Khloe snickers at his reaction before turning her attention onto her datapad.

“So Omega is it? First piercings, that's cool.” She smiles at the little girl. She starts on sterilizing her instruments, placing the earrings Omega picked out on the tray with the other equipment.

Omega watches her carefully, each tool she pulls out is longer and sharper than the last. Omega’s ever rising anxiety spiking with each one.

Khloe proceeds to tell Omega a bunch of rules about caring for her piercings, keeping them clean, dry, not touching or twisting the earrings as they heal. Omega was listening and nodding along, but her eyes kept going back to the tools behind the women.

“So how long will these take to heal?” Khloe quizzes Omega when she finishes her spiel.

“Three to four months.” Omega answers, snapping her focus back onto her.

Khloe grins. “You got it. Now you seem like a responsible girl. I trust you’ll take good care of them, but I’ll also give your dads here a copy of everything.”

“Dads?” Omega quizzingly looks at Hunter and Echo.

“I don’t mean to assume but…” Khloe gestures between the two men. “Brothers or husbands?” Her bluntness hits its targets.

Echo and Hunter are at a loss for words. This was never a question asked during the Clone War. They stare wide eyed at her for a minute before Hunter breaks the silence.

“We’re brothers.” He clears his throat. “We’re her brothers.” gesturing to Omega.

Khloe smiles at him with a shit eating grin. “You can still be my Daddy.” She winks at him, this was all too easy for her.

Hunter’s brows raise impossibly higher on his forehead. “Excuse me?”

Surprised was an understatement for what Hunter was feeling. The woman has no filter, or if this was her filter he’d hate to find out what she’d be like without it. Omega didn’t seem to notice her attention elsewhere. But Echo’s failed stifled snorts of laughter didn’t help the situation. It’s been a long, long time since Hunter has been flirted with, and never so openly, or with a kid present. Let alone his kid! Hunter fixes his face into a resting scowl as a warning. It’s clear she isn’t phased by him. If anything it fuels her more.

Happy with the reaction she got from him she drops it. Turning her focus back on prepping the instruments she needs for the piercing.

“Okay big girl.” Khloe addresses Omega pulling on a pair of medical gloves.“You ready for this?”

Omega takes a second to respond, bringing herself and thoughts back to the room. Unaware she was wringing her hands. “Mmm hmm.”

Hunter has picked up on her nerves, he can practically hear her heartbeat accelerating. Gently resting a hand around her shoulder he gives her a comforting squeeze.

“Nervous?” He asks her softly.

Omega wanted to say no, wanted to look tough. But there was no point in lying with Hunter, he already knows the truth.

“A little.” Omega admits, her voice just above a whisper.

Khloe kneels in front of Omega on the table, offering her a kind smile. A toothpick and small ink pot in her hand. “This is the easy part, kid. I’m just going to mark where we want the piercing to go, okay?”

Omega nods to show she understands. Calm down Omega, everything is fine, she thinks to herself.

Once she was happy with the placement, Khloe switches out the harmless ink and toothpick with the first set of needles and jewelry posts. Omega fights against every instinct in her that's telling her to run.
“Okay Omega. I’m just going to line the needle up with the mark. When you’re ready, and only when you’re ready you tell me. Your job is to take a deep breath in, and a deep breath out as the needle goes through.”

Her steady hands come up to Omega’s right. The moment the slightest bit of pressure is added Omega pulls away. For a brief moment she could've sworn she felt Nala Se’s hands. Her eyes blown wide, she doesn’t know what to do, she just knows she has to get out of that room.

“Woah there kid.” Khloe pulls away giving Omega space.

Omega uses the opening to jump off the table. She looks between Hunter and Echo unsure what to say. Their concerned expressions only made her feel more trapped.

“I- I ‘ll be right back.” She inches out the door before taking off down the hall.

“Omega!” Hunter moved to follow her but was stopped by Echo’s hand on his arm.

“Let me talk to her.” Echo releases his grip on his brother. Meeting his eyes with a knowing look.

Hunter nods and gives him the go ahead. Knowing that this will be a conversation Echo is better suited for.

Echo steps out of the room to follow Omega.

“I’ve seen people squeamish around needles, but not like that.” Khloe could be heard saying.

Echo has a feeling he knew where Omega’s anxiety was coming from. The distant fear in her eyes back in the room was the same he’s seen in his own eyes. He thinks back to the medical bay on Kamino when he came too from being knocked out by a lunch tray. He remembers the panic that coursed through him, seeing a place different from the room he was in, feeling the pokes, zaps, and slices of sepertist machinery that was long gone. Above all he remembers Omega being right there at his side.

“I understand, I don't like being hooked up to these machines either.” She had said to him.

There weren't many places for Omega to have run off to. His search in the hallway ended as soon as it started. At the very far end of the hall Omega sat with her knees to her chest, her face hidden under her folded arms. Echo sighes, taking a seat next to her on the floor.

It’s quiet for a moment before Omega says anything.

“I'm sorry Echo. I really wanted to do it. I just… I didn’t think I'd still be afraid.” Her voice is muffled from her human ball.

“I know, adika. If you’re not ready you don’t have to do it today. It’s okay.” Echo lightly rubs her shoulders.

Omega lets out a shaky sigh pulling her face up to look at him. “Why am I so scared? We’ve done way scarier things than this? What's wrong with me?”

“Sometimes our minds play tricks on us. Even when everything is fine, it’s not something you can always control. Nothing is wrong with you, it’s okay to be afraid.” Echo searches her face.

Omega blinks hard to stop her eyes from threatening to water. She crawls into his lap and hides her face in his shirt. He instinctively holds her close.

“The needles remind me of Nala Se’s lab… I know this is different, But I can’t get myself to calm down.” She whispers, clinging onto the soft fabric of his tunic even tighter.

Echo knows what she means all too well and hates it. He hates that she ever has to feel this way. He hugs her a little tighter. She hasn’t said a whole lot about her past. She’s been opening up more since the destruction of Kamino, even so Echo can piece it together on his own. Being the last source of their host's DNA he could imagine the surveillance those long necked scientists kept her under from the earliest stages possible.

“It’s okay. You are in control now Omega. If you don’t want to get your piercings done right now you don’t have to. The choice is up to you. We will all support whatever you decide.”

“I want to do it today.” Omega takes a deep inhale before pulling away to meet his golden brown eyes. “I can do it.”

Echo smiles down at her. “I know you can.” He helps her stand up and she offers him a hand to get up. He graciously accepts her help off the floor. “There's not much you can’t do.”

Omega holds onto his scope attachment in her hand as they head back.

“Thanks for being here Echo.” She holds onto him a little tighter as they approach the room.

“I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.”

They step back into the room to a sight neither of them expected…

“What’s going on here?” Echo’s voice rose with alarm. He fought the urge to push Omega behind him.

Hunter was lying on the table with the Zeltron women leaning dangerously close over him. Her cleavage practically hangs in Hunter’s face. She looks up with a mischievous grin, revealing the equipment she was holding.

Hunter lifts his head up to see them. “Ah, good you came back. I figured I’d get something done while we waited.” He says casually, motioning to the fresh industrial piercing going straight through the top cartilage of his right ear.

“You didn’t.” Echo’s mouth hung open. He never thought of Hunter as impulsive, but this might change that.

Omega ran over to him as he sat up right. “What? Hunter, why did you?” She steamers in disbelief.

“We’re in this together now.” He smiles down at her, brushing one of her stray curls behind her ear. “Are you ready to try again?”

Omega can’t believe that Hunter really did this just for her. She grins up at him. “Yes!”

“That’a girl.” He lifts her up to sit on the table with him.

“Alright tough kid. Just like before, you are going to feel a slight pinch as I line the needle up. I’m going to tell you when to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.” Khloe pulls on a clean pair of gloves.

“Okay.” Omega nods, scooching even closer to Hunter. You can do this Omega, She repeats the mantra to herself but her face must be showing how nervous she still felt.

“Do you want me to hold you during it?” Hunter offers, his warm gaze calming her speeding heartbeat.

Omega nods, allowing him to sit her on his lap, turning her to the side so Khloe could have clear access to her ear. He takes her small hand in his and gives it an encouraging squeeze. Omega squeezes back with all of her might as the needles come closer to her skin.

“Okay, big breath in for me Omega.” Khloe orders.

Omega does as she’s told and takes a deep inhale through her nose, her eyes closed.

“Ready?” She asks.

Omega can feel the prick on her ear, her body wants to wiggle away but with Hunter holding her steady that’s not going to happen this time. Omega forces her eyes open and finds Echo’s eyes. With her free hand she reaches out to him. In an instant Echo was there holding her hand. Now she was ready.

“Ready.” Omega says with all the confidence she can muster up.

“Breath out for me.” Khloe instructs her.

As Omega exhales she feels the dull stab going all the way through her ear lobe. Before she knows it it's over and the new earring is in.

“Is it over?” Her voice comes out a little shaky.

“Yup, just one side left. You are doing so good, Omega.” Khloe reassures her while she prepares the next earring.

“It wasn’t that bad.” Omega admits as she switches directions on Hunter’s lap to face the other side. “I thought it would hurt more.”

“You’re tougher than most. You should've seen your big brother. Whined like a baby.” Khloe quirks her pierced sapphire lips in a smug smile.

“I don’t whine.” Hunter’s voice drops into a defensive tone.

Echo doesn’t even try to hide his laughter. He’s been around long enough to know when his brother is bluffing. Omega giggles along, earning a defeated sigh from Hunter.

In the matter of minutes Omega’s other earring was in and she was finished. She let out a breath she didn’t realize she was still holding. I did it, it’s over.

“Take a look.” Khloe holds up a hand held mirror to Omega.

Omega studies her reflection as if it were the first time she really saw herself. The difference the jewelry made was small as far as how she looked when she woke up that morning, but it made her feel like a whole new person. This is me, she thinks to herself.
Her ears were a bit red from the new piercings but they didn’t really hurt too bad. The red stones shimmered in the fluorescent lights, Omega couldn’t hold back her smile even if she tried.

“I like it!” She beams at her reflection before turning around to look up at Hunter.

A sense of pride reserved just for her washes over him. Before life with Omega the days blurred together, time felt irrelevant when one was going from war zone to war zone. But now these days are precious to him as he gets to watch this little girl grow up right before his eyes.

“It suits you.” Hunter smiles sincerely.

Omega slides off his lap and bounds over to Echo who was waiting for her with a proud smile of his own. She lightly tugs his sleeve for him to bend down. He kneels next to her for her to whisper.

“I did it, but I was still thinking of… her.” Omega whispers only for him to hear.

Echo’s heart pulls at her confession. He knows that this was perhaps Omega’s first true step to healing her past. He takes her hand in his and meets her gaze.

“You are doing the right thing, sometimes it might feel scary, and you’ll never really forget, but we are always here for you. I’m always here for you” He whispers back to her.

Omega nods, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from getting emotional. This is supposed to feel like a win, and she doesn’t want to spend anymore time remembering the past.

Once Omega slid down, Hunter moved to stand himself. When he got off the table he found himself face to face with a set of the prettiest, and most unsettling pair of eyes he’s seen.

“So do you live around here.” Khloe drawled on her words, forcing him to keep eye contact longer.

Hunter felt very claustrophobic, not to mention all he could smell was her perfume mixed with whatever it was she smoked. He covered his cough by clearing his throat, but in all honesty that just made him feel all the more awkward.

“We come and go a lot for work.” He decided it was the best answer, didn’t give any details, and wasn’t a total lie. Because the force knows Hunter was not a convincing liar. Almost as bad as Wrecker.

“Hmmm,” She practically purs, taking another step closer to him. “Well the next time you find yourself on world again and want to get some.. work done, here’s my comm channel.” She holds up a small card in between her index and middle finger.

The closeness was more than Hunter could handle, he kept telling himself it was because of yesterday's episode, and nothing to do with the fact of her being attractive… Wait? Did he really think she was attractive? Usually he didn’t go for… edgy women with half their face pierced. What a kriffin hypocrite that made him. He also didn’t appreciate her emphasis on “work done” with Omega in ear range. Karabast, kriff, kark, Hunter silently curses as he accepts the card from her fuschia fingers.

“Thanks.” Was all he managed to say and not nearly at his normal vocal strength.

Before he registers what he’s doing his hands were on Khloe’s shoulders moving her a good four steps back from him, maybe a bit more forcefully then he meant to. She doesn’t seem to mind his “handling” at all. She just peers back at him with an all too confident smirk.
Okay time to go, he thinks to himself.

“Ready, Omega?” He turns all his focus back to his sister. Khloe had successfully distracted him enough that he didn’t notice Omega and Echo’s hushed conversation in the corner of the room.

“Ready!” Omega chirps back, bounding up to Khloe. “Thank you for everything, Khloe.”
Khloe drops her pursuit to mess with Hunter and addresses Omega. “It was my pleasure, kid. Make sure you take good care of your new piercings now, keep them clean.”

“I will!” Omega promises, taking Hunter’s hand in hers as he leads them out the room, a little quicker than necessary Omega thinks.

“Ma’am.” Echo nods to the Zeltron as he exits the room last to follow his family.

Khloe doesn’t try to hold back a snort as she repeats “ma’am” to herself. She can’t remember the last time she got “Ma’amed”. She was going to let them just leave, but the dark and broody one was all too much fun to mess with. She leans ever so slightly from the door frame and calls out after him. “Take good care of your piercing too, daddy!”

Hunter stops short right before the tapestry that'll lead him to freedom and away from Khloe. He’s pretty sure the building's AC motivator just went out because it was suddenly hot in here.

“Yup.” Hunter half replied, not even giving her the satisfaction in turning around. He pushed the colorful tapestry aside and ushered Omega along.

“Wow.” Echo breathed out, he almost felt sorry for his brother…almost, wait till Tech hears about all of this.

“Why does she keep calling you daddy?” Omega looks up at him with confusion. Her question was an innocent one, but not one he was going to answer, maybe ever.

Her question also didn’t go unnoticed by Saul from behind his desk. He takes them in with raised eyebrows for a moment before he reminds himself who took their appointment. He at least took pity on Hunter and distracted Omega.

“My, look how pretty!” The gentle old Togruta complimented the young girl. “Oh and I see you got something yourself there, big brother.”

Omega smiles, she liked feeling pretty. Hunter leads them to the front of the counter, getting his credits out in the process.

“What’s our total going to be?” He had a feeling civilian piercings not covered by the Grand Army Of The Republic were going to cost them more than they had. He knew that going into this and already was planning on stopping by Cid’s tonight for another job. One day off was better than nothing, right?

Saul rubbed his chin in thought. “You know I forgot to mention that Tuesdays younglings get any pick of jewelry free, and today just happens to be a Tuesday!” He winks a violet eye in Omega’s direction.

Omega was surprised, she didn’t see that listed anywhere on their holosite or in the parlor.

“And seeing I owe you fellas my life, well I can discount the industrial piercing too.” Saul types up an estimate of 40 credits, half the price of his normal service fees.

Echo and Hunter starred in confusion…. What did the man mean by “owe his life” to them?

“Come again?” Echo cautiously asks.

The Togruta looked at them thoughtfully, a hint of sadness behind his eyes. “I’m old, I’ve seen and been through a lot like many in the galaxy. I don’t remember much these days, but I’ll never forget that it was the Republic, the Jedi, and the Clones that saved me from a life of slavery.”

The three of them were silent, Echo internally blaming himself for them being figured out, he was the one with the closest reg face out of the group, next to Hunter but even then his nose was different. Saul understood their silence.

“I thought there was something familiar about you boys earlier, it just took a minute to place it. Don’t worry, I don’t make a habit of speaking with the majority of my clientele.” He reassures the two former Republic soldiers.

Hunter could tell that this man was honest, and he was going to have to take his word. There will always be people in the galaxy who will identify them as clones, but at least this man did so out of gratitude.

“Thank you.” Hunter handed over the credits due. The amount far less than what he initially thought, they'd still have enough to get by for another day. Maybe an actual meal other than ration bars.

“It was my honor to serve you today.” Saul replies.

***

“Wrecker! Tech! Look!” Omega runs through the automatic door in the direction of her brothers where they waited outside. “I did it!” She cheers, more for herself than anything.

Wrecker stops his improvised workout (bench pressing an abandoned rusted speeder bike) to greet his sister. Tossing the bike to the side he sits up to gawk at her as she runs over.

“Woah! Look at you! You’re so fancy!” He catches her in his arms. “Much braver than I am, I could never have done that!”

Omega looks at him quizzingly, “You mean you are afraid of needles?” She has a hard time imagining that someone like Wrecker is also afraid of something as tiny as a needle. She knows he doesn’t like medical attention, treating his injuries is always a hassle. He’s made it known he does not like heights.

“I’m not scared of anything!” He bluffs, but adds quietly “except for needles, blood, heights, and the dark. But only you are allowed to know that.” He winks with his cybernetic eye.

Omega giggles, she could always count on Wrecker to make her laugh.

“What did you do?” Tech is addressing Hunter as he and Echo joined the group.

“Is that another cup of caff?” Hunter tries to dodge his brother's question with another one.

It was indeed Tech’s third cup of caff but Hunter was in no position to question after what he’s done.

“My question first.” Tech demands, “I thought we’d agreed to never getting another piercing.”

Wrecker gasps dramatically at his brother’s scandal.

This piques Echo’s interest. “Another you say? What was the first?” He asks with a raised eyebrow and a growing smirk.

“We,” Hunter heavily emphasizes on the we. “Are not discussing this.” He fixes a glare on Tech.

“Oh well now I have to know.” Echo walks over to Tech and drapes his arm around his shoulders. “Spill it.”

“Tech…” Hunter warns him.

“Come on! I want to know!” Omega chimes in.

Hunter knew he was going to lose this fight the minute Tech’s face breaks and he starts grinning madly. Yup, he was going to tell them.

“Hunter got a nipple piercing losing a bet to Crosshair.” Tech blurts out, enjoying every minute of watching Hunter’s face.

Echo’s mouth forms an O as he looks at his sergeant with newfound disbelief. Today was a very revealing day for Hunter, Echo has only really known him as his usual serious self, there would be times they joke around, but Echo can now confirm there is an impulsive side to him he didn’t think was there before. But at the same time it makes perfect sense.
Echo starts laughing, what starts as a chuckle turns into a full on howle of laughter filling the street they were on. Tech, Wrecker, and even Omega laugh right along with him.

“Why, why would you do that?” Echo wheezes out, wiping a tear from his eye.

“We were still cadets okay! Crosshair set me up!”

“What side?” Echo asks.

Exasperated Hunter throws his hands up. “Why does it matter?”

“It was the right breast.” Tech answers for him.

“Oh I remember! Our commanding officer got so mad at you when you showed up to training without your gear on.” Wrecker chuckles at the memory. “Didn't Cross bet you to vandalize the mess hall?”

“For the record we both were supposed to. He said he’d be on the lookout, not lead the general herself to the mess hall!” Hunter defends his younger self. “I only went through with the bet to prove a point.” He folds his arms over his chest.

“And what point was that?” Echo asks all too amused.

“I-” Hunter for the life of him couldn’t remember what possessed him to go through with it. To prove to Cross that he wasn’t soft, wasn’t too sensitive? That bit him in the ass at training the next day when he couldn’t even put on his chest plate.
“It doesn’t matter! Look, it was a long time ago, we were punk kids, and I didn’t even keep the piercing, it closed up right away!”

“You also swore off getting another piercing.” Tech adds.
He looks closer at Hunter’s fresh piercing going straight through his cartledge. The first thing that comes to Tech’s mind is that A, that's the most sensitive part of the ear, and B, his brother wears a helmet everyday of his life that will definitely be uncomfortable with the placement of the earring.

“You do realize you wear a helmet right? Or did the function of armor slip your mind again?” Tech loved to be right, it was his favorite thing.

Hunter, still on the defensive, hesitates. He’ll admit it to himself he didn’t think this through all the way, he just wanted to show Omega that it was okay, to be in this with her. So the thought of his armor slipped his mind, in the moment all he was thinking about was Omega, and that is something he will never regret.

“I did this,” he gestures to the earring, “for Omega, and I don’t regret it.” He places his hands on his hips.

“Why would you regret it?” Echo rolls his eyes in good humor. “You got a good view.”

Hunter’s stance stiffened, he was hoping Echo wouldn’t go there.

“Oh!?” Both Tech and Wrecker exclaimed in unison, and both with shit eating grins. They weren't in the back of the parlor for long but they both took note that the only other person working there was the attractive Zeltron female.

Tech couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add a,
“I didn’t think she was your type.”

“This conversation is over. While we are out we should gather the supplies on our list.” Hunter attempts to regain some amount of authority, but his brothers were having too much fun.

Especially when Omega asks, “what does he mean?”
She was genuinely confused but equally amused at her brother's teasing. She’s never seen them mess with Hunter this much, she didn’t think they dared, he was their Sargent after all.

“Didn’t you all used to listen to me?” Hunter was getting tired, this was not the direction he thought their day off would go. He doesn’t mind being teased, that he can take, but what he does mind is the suggested themes being brought up with Omega around.

“Sorry it’s our day off. Which means you aren't the Sargent, just our brother.” Wrecker laughs as he pulls himself up to standing, placing Omega on his shoulders once again.

Part of Hunter’s pride should be bruised by that, but truth be told, it wasn’t. He was fine with giving up the title and role for the day. Honnord in fact that his men, his brothers give him the chance to do so without consequences. Well except for their retelling his embarrassing teenage mistakes and relentlessly dragging him.

“You know what. I’m okay with that.” Hunter smirks as he comes up to Tech. “I can be just a brother.” He narrows his eyes.

Tech was about to say a witty comeback, but stops as he watches in shock as Hunter grabs his caff right from his hand and downs it himself. When Hunter finishes it he hands the cup back to Tech so casually, like nothing had just happened. Tech glances down at the empty cup and back to his brother.

“So it’s war then, brother.” His usual bright voice turned ice cold.

Hunter leans into his ear, calmly and even toned, he replies. “I believe it is, brother.”

“No one is safe.” Wrecker loudly whispers. He’s both thrilled, and slightly unnerved at the start of another sibling war. It’s been a long, long time since one of those happened. Let’s just say someone lost a mattress and someone might have thrown out another's blacks while they were in the shower…. And someone might have blown a hole through their barracks window letting the rain in for a week until it got repaired…. That definitely wasn’t his fault.

“What do you think is going to happen?” Omega leans over from Wrecker’s shoulders to ask Echo. They were both newer additions to the squad and neither of them have experienced a clone force 99 level sibling rivalry before.

“Nothing good.” Echo mused and shook his head.

“Choose wisely.” Hunter “threatens” Tech.
“Wrecker and Omega are with me.” He knew that only left Echo, as he planned. They both were going to pay for their betrayal.

Echo and Tech share a weary side glance, they both knew they were about to become Hunter’s prime targets for revenge.

Who’d thought their day off would turn into strategizing pranks to take the other down. Tech was confident that he could match and deflect whatever Wrecker and Hunter could come up with. But he didn’t take into account Omega's imagination, she provided their team with fresh strategy and all but dominated by the end of the day.

Long past sunset Echo and Tech make their way into Cid’s parlor. Exhausted would be an understatement.

“There they are.” Echo grumpily growls and points to the other half of their squad enjoying themselves around the Dejarik game table.

“I can see that.” Tech sharply replies. Well now he can see after he just finished cleaning the grease and oil off his glasses.

They stalk over to the game council, grim and serious. Echo slams down a piece of paper in the middle of the holo-protected figures. All three heads look up at them.
Both Tech and Echo looked worse for wear, dirty, soaked , and defeated.

“You win.” Tech slumps on an empty stool nearby in defeat.

The said piece of paper was actually a cartoon drawing of the two of them, illustrated by Hunter himself. The drawing featured a mini Echo with Xs over his eyes and a mini Tech crying a river of tears. Omega and Wrecker both had input on that final taunting design. But Hunter didn’t let Omega read the part where he wrote some particularly colorful curses. All in good fun of their “game”. He picks up the paper before she has the chance to read it now.

“It wasn’t that hard. I had Omega on my team.” Hunter grins smugly as he folds the paper tucking into his pocket.

“How? When did you have the time to set it all up?” Tech asks flustered.

He’s never one to lose at any game, he’d always win their sibling wars as cadets because he new all of their behaviors and could calculate how the other would react. But clearly he didn’t know how sly Omega was capable of being until today.

“Actually it only took a few minutes.” Omega turns her stool around, her leg crossed over the other and her hands folded sinisterly. “We we’re all together when we passed Ketch and Bolo’s flat on fire. After we put it out I saw the opportunity. The fire started from their old stove, obviously, but both of your weaknesses are fixing things, and needing to be right. So that’s when I had Hunter plant the seeds for you two to disagree.” She nods towards Hunter.

Chuckling he took another sip of his drink he’s been nursing. All he said to them was that it could’ve been faulty wiring behind the wall. They did the rest.

“While you two were bickering Wrecker and I talked Ketch and Bolo into hiring you two to fix things around the apartment.”

“I might’ve added a few extra repairs to the list for y’a before we left.” Wrecker proudly stretches his arms over his head.

“Wait let me get this straight. They let you break the fresher?” Echo asks dumbfounded.

“Ah no that was already broken, I just jammed the door panel.” Wrecker took note of his brother's wet clothes and laughed.

“We did pay them off to keep you busy tho.” Omega holds her chin up high.

“We figured as much after ten hours of repairs and they paid us with a credit case full of your exotic rock collection.” Tech pushes his goggles up on his forehead to rub his eyes tiredly. “We rewired the whole flat.” He weakly admits, more to himself than the others. He got so caught up in his own plans to take down Hunter that he didn’t even realize he fell right into their trap.

Echo blinks several times as he processes Omega’s mastermind plan. “You are devious.” He fixes her with a stern stare.

Omega just straightens in her seat, suddenly seeming a bit older now with earrings. “And you two are predictable.” She says coolly.

“Omega, I Will never underestimate you again.” Tech shakes his head.

“Good.” She grins. Turning back to Hunter she asks, “shall we call truce?”

Hunter nods. “I think we put them through enough for one day.” He says setting his glass back down on the table.

“How merciful of you.” Echo pulls up another stool and sits with a squelch from his soaked robes.

Tech finally pulls his head up from his hands to say “I, need a drink.”

“I got you buddy.” Wrecker playfully hits him in the back as he gets up to fetch another round.

“So while we were duped into a holo-episode of home makeover, what did you guys do?” Echo asks.

“Oh we had so much fun! Wrecker and I went to the creature stall and played with the loth-kitties for a whole hour!” Omega bounces in her seat, always excited to talk about lothcats.

“I went back to the ship and took a nap.” Hunter leans back smugly just to see the looks on his brothers faces.

“Then Wrecker took me to the faileds for some training, I finally completed the obstacle course on my first try!” She smiles widely, proud of her accomplishment. A few weeks ago they had set up a training course for Omega just outside of the city. She’d fallen on it many times and struggled with the free climbing aspects.

“Good for you.” Echo gives her a tired but genuine smile. He and Wrecker have coached her the most on the course.

“I cleaned, did the grocery shopping, and got the laundry done. So you two feel free to do your own laundry tonight.” Hunter motions to their soiled attire with all too much joy. He’s still basking in his team's win.

“Will do.” Tech says dryly, still glaring at Hunter, who got to take a nap while he himself was going on three hours of sleep from the night before.

“Then we dropped off your “payment” to Bolo and came here to play a few rounds of Dejarik.” Omega turns back to the game, punching in a combo to move her player.

Hunter expertly matches her, gaining more ground. The two of them often play together, and never go easy on the other.

“Drink up boys.” Wrecker gleefully hands his brothers their drinks. “To the losing team, if it wasn’t for your defeat, winning wouldn’t be this fun!” He held out his own glass to toast.

Tech and Echo just glare at him unamused but Hunter happily clinks his glass against Wrecker’s.

“To two days off.” Tech muses.

“Don’t worry, tomorrow will be your turn to rest.” Omega pats Tech’s hand resting on his knee.

As if on cue to disturb the peace Cid shuffles out from her back office. “Hey!” She barks at them. “What do you think you boys are doing around here when you're not working for me, the drinks ain’t free you know!”

“I can assure you we are paying tonight, and you’ll have us back for work this Thursday.” Hunter was in such a good mood that not even Cid could ruin it. He should really take naps more often.

“Good, time is money, and right now you are wasting mine.” She shakes her scaly head as she goes to pester the new bartender she recently hired.

“She’s a joy as always.” Echo mutters into his drink.

Omega giggles, she likes Cid but she understands Echo’s dislike. “You know we have dinner saved for you two back on the ship.” Omega tries to cheer him up. Now that she’s done gloating from her triumph in her first sibling war, she feels bad for her brothers.

“Yeah, we got your favorite!” Wrecker nudges Tech.

This does get Tech to perk up. “Somked Kaadu ribs?” He asks hopefully.

“Obviously.” Hunter glances up from his game with Omega to give Tech a genuine smile. An official olive branch of peace between the two.

Tech finally smiles, he finishes his drink with gusto and stands up, leaving a grease stain on the chair he occupied. “Well if you’ll excuse me I’m hungry and in need of a shower that isn’t broken beyond repair.”

That last bit was directed at Wrecker who can’t help but laugh as Tech sloshes away.

“I’ll take my leave as well.” Echo stands but stops. “Can we please never do whatever this game was again? I know for a fact I can not win.”

Hunter chuckles. “Believe it or not this is the only time I’ve won, it’s usually Tech who bested us.” He glances at Wrecker and then to Omega. “I have a feeling he won’t want a rematch.”

“Good, let’s hope so because I’d really like a day off.” Echo finishes his own drink and leaves for the Marauder.

“I hope they still had fun today.” Omega says as she watches Echo leave.

“They got to spend a whole day fixing things of their own free will. Secretly they’re happy.” Hunter reassures her. “Your prank was perfect. Right Wreck?”

“Yeah! Nobody even got hurt!” Wrecker added. “It was a win win!”

Wrecker and Hunter seem to be sharing a specific memory together the way the two of them started laughing. A story Omega mentally reminds herself to ask about later.

She has thought about it all day. Her brothers all had so much history together, funny stories, embarrassing secrets, inside jokes, and a deep understanding of one another. Growing up alone She didn’t have anything to compare it to. But luckily she wasn’t done growing yet. If today showed her anything it was that she’s not the little Kaminoan girl she used to be. She’s overcome fears, obstacle courses, and sibling rivalry games. She has four big brothers that love, support, and play with her. Her long lonely days are far behind her now. She might’ve only been with them for a couple months, but that didn’t seem to matter at all. Because now she's a Bad Batcher. Just like them.