Work Text:
“Teeeech.” Omega says, shuffling on the crate she was sitting on outside the Marauder, elongating his name in a way Tech knows she’s about to ask him for something, likely something his brothers have already declined. Tech doesn’t respond straight away, holding out his hand and Omega passes him the exact tool he required.
Omega waits patiently, seated opposite Tech, as Tech finishes fixing the device in front of him. Once complete, Tech sets the tool down and looks at Omega, giving her his full attention. “Yes?”
“Can I have a pet?”
Of all the things that Tech had been expecting Omega to ask, this was not one of them. “Why do you wish to have a pet?” Tech asks.
“I don’t know, something to play with I guess? Ill be responsible and take care of it, I promise!” Omega begs.
Tech purses his lips. He supposes that Omega didn’t really get a chance to be a child and he and his brothers weren’t the best at providing that for her since they didn’t have one of their own. These types of things were usually delegated to Wrecker, who could play with Omega proper, but for the last several months they had been busy with missions and avoiding the Empire and such things had all but disappeared. He should have seen this question coming, now he had reviewed the circumstances. “What did Hunter say?”
Omega pouts. “Both he and Echo said no.”
“And their reasoning?” Tech asks.
“Said the ships not big enough, we’re on the move too much and we don’t have enough credits for an extra mouth to feed.”
The fact that the argument of responsibility didn’t come into it was of no surprise to Tech; Omega had proven herself time and time again after the initial adjustment period. It appeared that in the time Omega had spent with their squad, she had absorbed some of their best qualities: Hunters leadership, Echos ability to be steadfast in ones beliefs, Techs technical skills and Wreckers kindness and empathy. She was the best of all of them.
“Hunter and Echo are correct,” Tech says and Omega deflates in front of him. “However,” Omega perks up again as Tech lifts his finger, “It does not mean that you cannot have a pet; it simply cannot be one that requires sustenance or constant attention.”
“What do you mean Tech?”
“I am suggesting that we build a small animal together, out of the spare parts I have acquired. We can program it however you like. This way you can have something to play with whilst the rest of us are busy, but it can be powered down between missions. We can also program it to be useful if we want.”
“That’s a great idea Tech!” Omega says enthusiastically and Tech feels warmth flood his body at the compliment. “When can we start? And can I build it?”
“Yes, with my guidance. I believe this will be a good project for you to work on.” Tech stands up and his back twinges from being hunched over his project for so long. He bends back, rolling his neck to get out the kinks. “The others are on a supply run so they should not be back for several hours. We can begin now, if you’d like.”
“Yes please!”
“Very well.” Tech says, gesturing with his head for Omega to follow him as he heads back inside the ship, Omega following dutifully. “Have you considered what type of animal you would like to build?”
Tech throws a glance over his shoulder to see Omega clearly thinking very carefully about what she wanted. “Something like a charhound?”
Tech nods, mentally running through his inventory of parts. He should have the right pieces necessary to build something similar to what Omega was imagining.
Tech pauses underneath the hatch in the roof that led to their extended storage (or hiding place, if required). He reaches up to remove the grate, setting it carefully on the ground next to him, crouching slightly as he cups his hands together and Omega steps on to them and Tech boosts her up into the hatch. She turns around so he head is hovering over Tech as he looks up at her.
“I will call out the parts I require. You will pass them to me.” Tech says and Omega nods. Tech begins to call out all of the bits and bobs he would need, Omega finding them quickly, passing them off to him as he sets them in a crate they had lying around. Tech had just finished listing the last piece and after setting it with all the others he looks up, expecting Omega to be there so he could catch her when she jumped down.
“Omega?” He calls when she doesn’t appear after a few moments, the sound of rustling above him, then the sound of her moving against the roof. Her head pops out into the opening, her hand waving an object.
“Can we use this for the head?” Omega asks, brandishing a B1 battle droid head, something Tech had forgotten was even up there, likely stolen from battle by Wrecker. He would often bring droid heads and other parts on board, mostly to annoy Crosshair and they often ended up being reused, or in the case of this droid, left in storage and forgotten about.
Tech considers it. With the circuitry already inside the droid, it would be easier to re-program than starting fresh. Omega clearly didn’t have any aversion to the droid, but she wasn’t fighting against them every day to develop such a reaction. “I don’t suppose why we couldn’t.”
“Great!” Omega responds, tossing the head to Tech who catches it easily and sets it with the other parts, Omega shuffling so her legs were dangling over the side, hand hands either side of her. Tech raises his hands and Omega drops.
Tech catches her easily and steadily and sets her back on the ground. She skips back outside to the little workbench they had set up outside earlier, the one they were working at when Omega posed this all to Tech. Bending at the knees, Tech grabs the box of parts and heads outside, wishing Wrecker was there to carry it instead since it was quite heavy.
With a thump, Tech drops the box on the ground and rummages around for the parts, unclipping his toolbelt and passing it to Omega who hoists it around her shoulder and chest, since it was far too large to fit around her waist like it did Techs.
The others return a little while later, but Omega and Tech don’t notice, too engrossed in their project, making steady progress.
It’s a hand to his shoulder that breaks his concentration, carefully soldering two wires together, the main body of the droid most of the way built, wires hanging out from where its neck would be, once they reached that stage.
“Tech, it’s getting late. Omega needs to eat, and sleep.” Hunter says, nodding at Omega who fails to stifle a yawn.
“I’m fine, I promise! We can keep going!” Omega protests.
“If you don’t yawn again in the next thirty seconds, I might believe you.” Echo tacks on, looking up from where he was sorting the supplies, directing Wrecker where to store them.
Tech counts twenty-seven seconds before Omegas lets out another yawn and Hunter smirks.
“You don’t need to say it!” Omega says, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff.
“I wouldn’t deny Echo of that pleasure.” Hunter replies.
“Give her a break Hunter.” Echo shoots back and they begin to bicker.
“Come on little one!” Wrecker says, walking over to Omega and bending down to be at her level. “I saw a river not far from here. How about we go and I’ll give you some privacy to wash.”
“I don’t want to.” Omega says with a wrinkle of her nose, her arms crossing tighter against her body. It reminded Tech of Crosshair when he was a cadet, and how stubborn he could be over the simplest things.
“I guess me and ducky here will just go play in the water ourselves.” Wrecker says, opening his palm to reveal a bright yellow duck and he squeezes it and it makes a quacking sound, Omega trying to stifle a laugh. Wrecker grins at her and Omega breaks, smiling broadly back at Wrecker.
“Okay.” Omega says and Wrecker hoists her up onto his shoulder and heads off in the direction of the river, only a few hundred meters away past the tree line. They were in a safe spot, far away from everything.
“Don’t forget this!” Echo yells, tossing a towel at Wrecker and it lands over his head, Wrecker yanking it off him with his free hand, looking over his shoulder to poke his tongue out at Echo which causes Omega to laugh, and everyone smiles at the sound.
“You’re good to do this with her.” Hunter says to Tech, sitting down opposite him and passing him a ration bar and Tech realises he hasn’t eaten since that morning, his stomach rumbling to remind him of that fact.
“It is a good exercise for her. She is learning new skills.” Tech says between bites, dusting his hands on his thighs once he had finished eating, taking a drink from the canteen that Hunter had passed him.
“So are you.” Hunter says with a wink. “Goodnight Tech, don’t stay up all night.” Hunter gets up and heads into the ship, Echo following soon after. Tech tidies up a bit, waiting for Wrecker and Omega to return and they do a short while later, Omega resting in Wreckers arms.
“She fell asleep on the way back-” Tech opens his mouth to interject, but Wrecker cuts him off. “-I made sure she ate while we were there. Brushed her teeth, too.”
“Did you?” Tech asks and Wrecker looks a bit sheepish.
“I will, promise!” He replies and Tech simply raises an eyebrow at him, Wrecker ignoring him and heading to put Omega to bed.
Despite the peace and quiet he was afforded when his brothers went to bed, Tech didn’t feel like continuing with the project without Omega there, since she had done majority of the work. His other projects feeling too complex to do without proper lighting or Echos helping hand, Tech decides that maybe he should get some rest and instead of going to sleep inside the ship where he will surely get another crick in his neck, Tech lays down in the grass a little way from the ship, hidden and protected by it and looks up at the stars before finally drifting off.
“Tech!” Omega rouses Tech in the morning, shaking his arm to wake him and Tech comes to quickly, sitting upright suddenly which takes Omega by surprise. “You weren’t having a nightmare, were you?” She asks quickly, hand resting on Techs shoulder.
“No.” Tech replies. “I am used to rousing quickly.”
“Yeah, Hunter used to make use practice all the time in case we needed to be on the move at a moments notice during a mission.” Wrecker says, joining them, holding his hand out to Tech to help him up.
“Naturally, I had the fastest response time.” Tech replies.
“Who had the slowest?”
Echo rounds the corner and snorts. “Who do you think?”
Wrecker holds his thumbs towards himself and grins.
“Pretty sure he slept through a bomb going off a klick away once.” Hunter says, joining everyone else. “And that was before the hearing loss.” Hunter puts his hands on his waist. “Crosshair was next though, although I think that was because he was ignoring me, not the fact he wasn’t awake.”
“It lost its touch when you would do it at four am when we were on shore leave.” Tech says, lifting his hands above his head and stretching. He really needed to get back into the stretches the Kaminoans had taught him; his posture was atrocious and required correction before it caused serious health problems.
“Had to keep you on your toes.” Hunter replies with a head tilt and quirk of his lips.
“We’re going back into town. Someone forgot a whole bunch of things.” Echo says, side-eyeing Wrecker.
“Hey! It was a long list!” Wrecker protests.
“There was less than ten items on there Wrecker.” Echo replies with a gentle shake of his head.
“That’s on us; we know how distracted Wrecker can get.” Hunter says, patting Wrecker on the back before turning to Omega. “Omega, would you like to come with us? The offer is open to you too Tech, but we all know how you like to avoid other people.” Hunter says with a chuckle.
Tech nods. “I will remain here.”
“Omega?” Hunter prompts and as Tech looks at Omega he sees her looking at him, deep in thought.
“I’d like to stay with Tech please.” She replies.
“Why is that?” Tech questions.
“Because I like spending time with you?” She says as if it were obvious. “I thought maybe we could finish our project?”
“If we have time after your studies.”
“Fine.” Omega sounds slightly dejected at having to complete her studies first, but Tech knew if she had something she wanted to do afterwards she would work diligently to get her schooling done as quickly as she could.
“We’ll see you later.” Hunter says.
“Hopefully with everything we need this time.” Echo mumbles under his breath and Wrecker shoves him playfully as the three of them head off in the direction of the town.
“Studies first.” Tech says, turning to Omega.
“Yes sir!” Omega replies, saluting Tech and running off to the ship to get her datapad to do the days studies, Tech having put together a program for her after testing her abilities. He was unsurprised to discover that Omega was above average in the sciences and scoring lower in what the Kaminoans would deem ‘useless’ knowledge; history, basic grammar and language, text analysis.
They sit in companionable silence, Omega working through her texts while Tech worked on a prosthetic arm for Echo, to replace the scomp. Tech was hoping to surprise Echo on the anniversary that he joined their squad all those years ago. As expected, he was right on schedule.
“Done!” Omega declares, setting the datapad down and looking at Tech expectantly.
Tech glances at her but does not engage until he has finished wiring the fingers, needing to concentrate other calibration would be difficult when assimilated with Echos complex mechanical system. To her credit, Omega waits patiently, moving her boot along the ground, drawing a pattern in the soil.
She stops when Tech sets down his tools. “I am ready to assist.” Tech says and Omega immediately bends down to pick up the body of the pet they had completed yesterday, setting it on the crate once Tech had cleared away his project. Omega then grabs the B1 head and sets it on the crate nect to the rest of it.
“I suppose we can finish this today if we work diligently. Once the head is attached, we will then need to program the droid. Have you given thought as to what sounds you wish for it to make?” Tech asks Omega, who ponders this seriously.
“Will it be finished quicker if we use the current programming?”
“Yes, but I do have millions of species sounds recorded from my helmet. It will not be difficult to port these across to something more organic.”
“I’d rather it be finished quicker so I can start teaching it tricks, and to fetch.”
“Very well.”
Together they begin work on attaching the head to the body, Omegas delicate fingers coming in handy when putting the fiddly connections together.
“What do you wish for it to be called?” Tech asks as the finished droid sits between them, Tech slightly disconcerted by the droid head staring back at him, but oddly, it worked with the rest of the droid anatomy and found himself not put off by it. It didn’t really look like a charhound, but it was close enough.
“Roger.”
“That’s not very original.” Tech chides lightly.
“His name is Roger.” Omega says a bit more firmly. Tech concedes with a tilt of his head. It unlikely didn’t matter to him what this droid would be called. Omega presses the power button on Roger and he comes to life, Omega beaming as it moves its head from side to side, Omega reaching out to stroke the protrusions at the back of its head that Tech supposed could look like droopy ears.
Omega picks up Roger and sets him on the ground. “Roger, sit.” She commands.
“Roger, roger.” Roger says, his back legs going down into a sit.
“Good job!” Omega praises and Roger warbles happily in response.
Omega walks off, calling Roger to go with her and he does, and Tech sits back, watching Omega smile and laugh as she played with Roger, finding himself smiling as well, not wanting to do anything but enjoy this moment. Omega had earned it with her hard work in making Roger.
Techs comm chimes and he checks the message from Hunter, Hunter advising they’d be back shortly. Tech calls out to Omega to tell her this but he’s not sure she heard him, off running around in field, chasing Roger.
Tech hears Wrecker booming voice as they get closer as does Omega, who pauses, asking Roger to stay in a standing position which he does obediently. Omega calls out Wreckers name.
A loud rumble, like the sound of several large logs being dropped could be heard by both of them, the heavy footsteps of Wrecker racing towards them and Omega heads for Wrecker to show him Roger.
As Wrecker breaches the tree line, Roger speaks and in a blur Wrecker has stepped in front of Omega and sent off a blaster shot, piercing Rogers head right through the side, the bolt flying through the entire casing and dissipating in the ground in a spray of dirt.
Omega races to Rogers side, catching him as he falls over, tears in her eyes. “You killed him!” She yells at Wrecker who slows down to a stop, looking incredibly confused. Echo and Hunter clear the treeline in that moment and when they realise they hadn’t been ambushed by droids, they re-holster their weapons and head over to Omega, sharing a look.
“You killed him.” Omega sobs, scooping up Roger and running off to the Marauder.
Anger flares in Tech at Wrecker for ruining the project that he and Omega worked carefully on, taking away the joy that Omega has at having something to play with. Tech stalks over to Wrecker, stepping right in his space, raising a finger in front of Wreckers face.
“Do you realise what you have done?” Tech seethes.
“I thought-“ Wrecker starts, but Tech cuts him off.
“You thought, but you didn’t think, did you Wrecker?”
“She could have been in danger!” Wrecker yells back.
“Do you have such little faith that I could protect her? You ruined her new toy, Wrecker. Are you happy?”
Wrecker looks bewildered, perhaps at the situation or Techs response. Tech takes a step back, breathing hard as Hunter steps between them, hands outreached towards each of their chests, intercepting before it could escalate, Hunter a little surprised at Techs outburst.
“Can you fix it?” Hunter asks Tech.
“Perhaps.” Tech glares at Wrecker. “I have to at least commend Wrecker on his accuracy; however, it may be salvageable.” Tech says drily.
“Go do that Tech, I’ll come in to talk to Omega shortly, okay?” Hunter says calmly to Tech who nods in response and heads off to the Marauder himself.
“How are you?” He asks Omega, finding her cradling Roger in her room, tear tracks down her cheeks and anger flares in Tech again at Wrecker causing their sister distress.
She holds him out to Tech. “Can you fix him?” She asks weakly.
Tech takes Roger from Omega and inspects the head. The shot went clean through and had fried a lot of the electronics. Techs mind turns over with all the possible solutions until he realises Omega was waiting for him to answer. “Yes, I believe I could.”
Omega smiles wetly, wiping away some of her tears with the sleeve of her shirt, climbing down and throwing her arms around Tech, Tech unable to do them with the droid in his hands, but he finds he doesn’t mind it.
Omega pulls away and looks up at him. “I’m sorry, I know how you don’t like physical affection.” Omega ducks her head slightly in shame.
“I find that I do not mind when you hug me.” Tech finds himself admitting.
“You don’t?” Omega says hopefully and Tech nods, setting the droid on the ground and opening his arms slightly like he’d seen Wrecker, Hunter and on occasion, Echo do. Omega flings herself into them and Tech wraps his arms around Omegas shoulders as she pressed the side of her head against his chest.
“Thanks Tech.” Omega says after a few seconds, pulling away and smiling at Tech.
“You…are welcome?” Tech says uncertainly.
“So when do you think you’ll have Roger fixed by?” She asks and Tech finds himself smiling at her tenacity.
“By the time you have finished tomorrow’s studies.”
The next day, Tech is watching a newly repaired Roger, stickers covering the patch job where the blaster holes were, racing after Omega. If a sticker had made its way onto one of Echos prosthetic legs without him noticing, Tech certainly wasn’t going to point it out to him.
“I’m proud of you.”
Tech looks up to see Hunter standing next to him, leaning against the hull of the Marauder.
“I do not know what you mean.” Tech replies and Hunter tilts his head, looking at Tech.
“You know what I mean, or are at least smart enough to figure it out.” Hunter sighs. “I should have realised she needs more than us. I keep wondering if maybe we should settle down somewhere, find her some friends. For her to be a kid.”
“You know she would find no enjoyment in that, at least for the long term. As Echo keeps telling you repeatedly, we are soldiers. We are incapable of ‘settling down’.” Tech replies.
“I’ve thought about it. A lot. I never really thought about what I wanted after the war since I could see a future beyond it. But now, we’re free. I love Omega. I think I want a kid of my own.”
Tech takes in sharp inhale, surprised by Hunter. “Perhaps you need to consider what you want, versus what we need. It is not a decision to be take lightly.” Tech places a hand on Hunters shoulder. “But remember Hunter, we will be with you ninety-nine-point-nine percent.”
“Not one hundred percent?” Hunters says with a huff of a laugh.
“There is always room for a margin of error.” Tech replies with a half grin and the two of them lapse into silence, watching Omega round up Wrecker with Rogers help, her joyous laughter like music to their ears.