Work Text:
Omega looked out the viewport of the gunner’s mount, the garage where they left Echo growing smaller and smaller until it disappeared. Clutching Lula tighter, Omega let the tears she was holding back begin to fall. Her sobs were quiet at first, but the more she thought about everything, the louder she became.
It was like leaving Crosshair all over again. Except this time, Echo had been with them ever since Omega joined the squad. While she loved Crosshair, she didn’t get the chance to spend time with him. To learn from him. To befriend him. With Echo, she’d been able to have a special connection with him even from the start. He was the first one to share a deeper moment with her as she coaxed him back to reality after his panicked outburst in the medical bay. She understood him. The young clone doubted her own experiences compared to his, but she knew his fear of being experimented on because she had felt it too on many occasions.
She thought back to the start of her new life. Omega may have been the first to comfort him, but Echo would provide that same comfort many times in the months that followed. When they’d lost Hunter, Echo was the one who was there for her. She was so frantic she couldn’t even think straight. He grounded her, taking her mind off Hunter by letting her help repair the Marauder. Even in the tunnels on Kamino he tried to help, although Omega pushed him away then.
More recently, she’d overheard and misinterpreted a conversation between Echo and Hunter. It hurt thinking that Echo blamed Omega for their living situation. She’d wanted to do anything to make it up to him, trying so hard to get that silly treasure on Serenno. Echo came back to rescue her then. Told her she had to let it go… just like she had to let him go now. He’d told her afterwards that they made the right choice in taking her off Kamino. That he’d do it all again. Still, if she was just a little older, a little stronger, less helpless, maybe Hunter would work with Rex just like Echo wanted to…
Maybe it was her fault after all. She was the reason Echo had to leave. The tears began to fall harder now. Her head was aching from how long she had been crying, but she couldn’t stop. Suddenly she heard movement outside the curtain. She brought her knees closer to her chest and buried her face there. She didn’t want anyone to see her like this right now, feeling weak and helpless like she was when she first came to them. Unfortunately whoever it was couldn’t read her mind.
The curtain was pulled back softly and a hand came to rest on her shoulder. It was firm yet gentle like Hunter’s, but much larger.
Wrecker.
Omega whimpered but did not raise her head. Wrecker began tracing small circles on her back with his hand.
“Hey, kid.” He said in a surprisingly soft voice. “You need anything?”
She shook her head but let her muscles relax under Wrecker’s hand. After a couple more moments of just finding comfort in each other’s presence, she finally lifted her tear-filled gaze to her brother’s own misty eyes.
“Is it my fault?” She asked quietly. “Did Echo leave because he can’t do what he wants to…” she choked the rest of the words out, “with me around?”
Wrecker climbed the rest of the way up to sit beside her, patting his leg for her to come crawl into his arms. He hugged her tight like she was comforting him more than he was comforting her. Moments passed before Wrecker said anything. She was beginning to think he was going to avoid answering her altogether or maybe he didn’t even hear her question.
“It’s not your fault, ‘Mega.” He fell silent again, trying to gather his thoughts. “You know Echo wasn’t one of us at first, right?”
She nodded in response, head nestled in his shoulder.
“We had to rescue him, sorta like we rescued you from Kamino. But before that, he was a reg. He had his own family just like we do. Remember when you got real mad at Hunter when he didn’t wanna help that kid on Ryloth? You told him she was trying to save her family. That you’d do the same for us.” He paused, letting those words sink in as he stroked her back. By now her crying had quieted down, only a few sniffles betraying her.
“Well, that’s how Echo feels. Those regs out there are his family, and he wants to save them.”
Omega clutched onto his chest plate, burying herself further into him. “We’re his family too!” She practically shouted into his shoulder. “Why does he have to leave us to help them? It is because of me, Wrecker!”
He shushed her, saying soothing things like “It’s alright, ‘Mega,” and “It’s not you,” but it all felt like lies to her. She shook her head as her sadness began turning to anger.
“‘Mega, those regs are Echo’s family. They’re not our family. We… we never got along with the regs. Just a couple, like Rex and Echo. And Commander Cody,” he added. They just didn’t like us, and we sure didn’t like them. You saw how they talked about us, back in the cafeteria on Kamino. You sure didn’t appreciate what they said,” he chuckled.
Omega forced back a laugh but smiled at the memory. She’d never forget the look on that reg’s face after she threw her lunch at him.
“So it’s not your fault, kid. We don’t feel the same need to help the regs that Echo does. We don’t want ‘em to die or nothin’, that’s why we use stun instead of kill on missions. But our job is taking care of our family on the Marauder.”
Bringing her face out of its hiding place, Omega looked at her older brother. He might not always be the sharpest and sometimes he acted more like a kid than a soldier, but he sure knew what to say when anyone was down. Somehow he just understood what was wrong and how to fix it. Like he could feel what the other person was feeling. She knew words weren’t enough, they never were. But they helped. She offered up a small smile as she laid her head against his chest and sighed.
“I know it’s hard, ad’ika. It feels like leaving Cross all over again, doesn’t it?” He looked down at the sweet little girl wrapped in his arms as she nodded. “He’ll be back one day…” He looked up and whispered the last part more to himself as he pulled Omega closer to him, “they both will.”
“You really think so?” She asked hopefully.
“Yeah, I do, kid. They both have their own families now, but they’re still a part of ours too. They’ll always have a place here when they want to come home.”
Omega smiled. Home. They weren’t just a family to her anymore. They’d become her home. They were down two members, but they’d be back. If Wrecker believed in it, then so would she. They might not share the same desires with their other brothers at the moment, but one day they will see eye-to-eye. She’d see Crosshair again just like she’d see Echo again. Because of Wrecker, she would hold onto that hope. She trusted him, and she trusted Echo to hold onto his promise to come back. Deep down inside, she trusted Crosshair to do the right thing too. Her big brother was right. She knew it.
“Thank you, Wrecker. You always know just how to cheer me up.”
“Aww, you’re welcome, ‘Mega!” He brought her in for a hug before pulling her away to face her again. “How about we go chow down on some mantell mix?”
“Yeah, I’d like that.” She said with a soft smile. Now more than ever she was determined to make the most of her time with the brothers she had with her. Her family was smaller now, but not completely gone. “Let’s go!” She fell into a fit of giggles as the giant trooper slung her over his shoulder and carried her down from the gunner’s mount. Tech and Hunter peered out from the cockpit with relieved smiles on their faces. This adjustment would be hard, but they were going to get through it together. As a family.