Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hunter probably should have noticed earlier that something had shifted irrevocably in Omega. But to be fair he was mostly just relieved that they had been able to get her back. 

It had taken a sleepless 36 hours to track her down since Omega had been captured by a lucky bounty hunter who had brought her to an obscure planet and placed her in a cell next to a woman bound in silver chains. Hunter didn’t really want to think about how Omega almost hadn’t made it out. If the woman hadn’t blocked the falling duracreet with her own body when the building collapsed they would have been too late. As it was Omega had gotten away mostly injury-free, though she had a rather deep bite mark on her shoulder. Omega had been in shock when they pulled her out of the wreckage clutching her shoulder and had been mumbling the instructions the woman had apparently shared in their last panic-filled minutes together over and over: “Find people who love you”, “Never bite someone without their consent”, “Don’t let yourself be alone”

Tech had done a quick checkover of their youngest member (“The bite on her shoulder already looks days old even though we know it wasn’t there when she was taken and it seems to be healing at an incredible rate.”) and had found some irregularities but nothing that he could define without more advanced equipment which they no longer had any access to. Normally, Hunter would have made sure they would at least be able to find a place to do a more thorough scan later but they had needed to vacate the area immediately due to both the empire and the local governor who was apparently VERY upset about the woman who had died. So upset that the local garrison had managed to shoot and hit their hyperdrive leaving them planet-bound. 

Needless to say, it had been a very stressful evening as they flew around the planet trying to lose the garrison (as well as a ship from the empire that Hunter was worried would contain his missing brother), and find a place to hide that also had at least some resources for Tech to be able to fix the hyperdrive. Trying to figure out what was wrong with Omega had been pushed down in the face of their immediate problems especially as Omega seemed to shake off her shock and began helping in her usual determined fashion.

When they finally found a place to settle it had been nearly 40 hours since any of them except for maybe Omega had slept. They weren’t out of danger but with how tired they all were Hunter knew they wouldn’t have been able to fix much anyway, so he had called for a watch rotation he had almost gone to bed right then but then remembered with Crosshair… gone he would have to take first shift instead. Watching the same realization come over Echo and Tech when he didn’t join them on the way to the bunks (from the snores coming from down the hall it seemed Wrecker had already passed out) made something in Hunter’s chest constrict. 

He blamed that constriction for his distraction when he turned around and nearly jumped high enough to hit the ceiling when he found Omega behind him looking up at him with her soulful eyes. 

“Oh, sorry Hunter I didn’t mean to scare you,” She said sheepishly.

“It’s okay kid,” Hunter said trying to get his heart rate to go back down. It was rare that anyone was able to sneak up on him and he cursed himself internally when he realized how tired he must really be. “Just caught me off guard for a second. Are you okay? How’s your shoulder?”

“It’s okay,” She shrugged as if to prove it, her sleeve was still ripped but the skins underneath didn’t look damaged or even inflamed, in fact now that he had a second to think about it, it was odd that the wound hadn’t left any blood on her clothes. Like the bite had been sealed before it could bleed, “It’s just…” She paused and ran her tongue across the inside of her mouth, “My teeth really itch.”

That hadn’t been what Hunter had been expecting. “Your teeth?” He asked after a moment just to clarify, if he was tired enough for her to sneak up on him then it was possible he was tired enough to miss-hear her.

“Yah!” She nodded “I just really want to bite something and they itch kind of like they did when I was a little and they started to fall out but that was different right now it feels like a physical itch like on my skin but on my teeth instead. Like, I know that’s weird because teeth are just bone and enamel but I just want to bite down-”

She continued talking occasionally pausing to run her tongue over her teeth and Hunter just stared. He was tired, he needed to stay awake for two more hours in a state of semi-hypervigilance, and while he remembered being a little and having a biting phase himself, he seemed to recall being physically younger than Omega was currently, though he could never be completely sure about how the accelerated aging worked. He vaguely remembered the Kaminoan scientists giving him some sort of leather to bite down on when some of the instincts that came with his extra sensory organs got bad. That actually wasn’t a bad idea if he sanitized one of Wrecker's resistance bands-

“-and that’s why you should let me bite you.” Omega ended her speech which had mostly consisted of why it was weird from a medical standpoint that her teeth were itching with such a non sequitur that it took a long moment for Hunter’s brain to catch up. 

“Let’s not do that.” He finally stated, normally Hunter might have been more worried about why Omega’s teeth itching made her want to bite him but with everything else that happened that day… well, “Why don’t you go to your bunk and I’ll get something for you to chew on after I set the sensors.”

“Oh, okay,” She looked so disappointed that Hunter almost took it back but common sense caught up to him first. He bent down and gave her a brief hug, she melted into it and breathed deeply against his neck but didn’t say anything else as he ushered her off to bed. Setting up the sensors only took a few minutes and finding one of Wrecker’s synth rubber stretching bands took even less time due to the distinct smell. Getting the smell off took some time but he was able to do the cleaning from the top of the Maurader and was grateful the Kaminoan antiseptic smell would blow away in the wind instead of staying inside the ship and bringing back bad memories. By the time he was satisfied with the band’s cleanliness his watch was just about over so he got back into the ship and crept up to the nest where Omega was sleeping. He didn’t want to wake her so he left the band by her head and went to the bunks to wake up Echo for the next shift. 

It was only when he finally was drifting off to sleep that the thought occurred to him that Omega’s desire to bite him might be correlated with the strange bite she had gotten from her time while captured but he was so tired that the thought slipped away till morning. 

Tech, of course, knew that something was different right away. Even with everything that was going on, he was an excellent multi-tasker, and despite some of the more extreme flying maneuvers he had to implement to get them away from what was likely Crosshair and the local garrison, he hadn’t forgotten the readings he had gotten from his brief scan of Omega the increased metabolism and strange energy fluctuations would be important to keep track of later. Omega was… important to him and while she had taken up the role of medic on a couple of occasions he and Cross- he had been one of the Bad Batch’s primary medics for a long time and that now included Omega and thus keeping her healthy was imperative for the function of them all. 

It was heartening to see Omega recover from her state of shock and begin helping out as she could and while he didn’t forget his readings he relaxed his immediate worry and when it came time to rest so they could be back up to maximal functioning, Tech let his list of things to do take a break. 

When it was his turn for the night watch he forewent his usual place inside the cockpit where he could boost the sensors manually and went to the open hatch leading on top of the Maurader. Based by the warmth still clinging to the metal he wasn’t the only one of the batch who was going to Crosshair’s favorite spot. 

During the day he did his best to keep his mind focused on the problems he could fix, but at night it was much easier to let his thoughts drift to the things he couldn’t fix. Crosshair was gone, he had shot at them and attempted to capture them all more than once. The news about the chips had been a relief but Tech could not be completely certain of the chip’s culpability over Crosshair’s actions, not when Crosshair had still seemed like himself when conversely Wrecker had not been. He had pictured the scenario multiple times, where they managed to convince Crosshair to get his chip removed in the best outcomes he had little to no memory of trying to kill and capture them and the Bad Batch was able to fold their youngest brother back in without a hitch. In the worst, the chip wasn’t there at all and Crosshair had simply grown past them and no longer wanted to be with them at all. 

Logically neither of those scenarios was going to happen. There was likely a mixture of factors going on that Tech simply couldn’t see and due to his own ignorance, he would be unable to predict the actual outcome of their eventual reunion. 

Tech closed his eyes for a moment in frustration, such thoughts were useless. Just about as useless as trying to be close to Crosshair simply by being in his preferred lookout position. Sighing he opened up the hatch to get back into the ship only to find two dots of reflective light staring back at him.

Tech froze a brief flash of primal terror holding him in place. 

“Tech,” Omega called out cautiously, “are you okay?” 

Tech let out his breath in almost a gasp and quickly tried to rationalize the situation, “Yes, I am fine. You simply startled me. I did not realize you had a form of tapetum lucidum. Actually, most humans have a very low level of reflection in their eyes though interbreeding with other species has brought it out more prominently in certain genome expressions, especially on certain planets. In fact, Crosshair also has a form of tapetum lucidum as part of his enhancement.” Tech felt his mouth snap shut as he forced himself to stop rambling even as his heart finally started slowing down from its racing beat. 

“Oh, that’s cool, umm… I can’t really sleep mind if I join you?” Her voice was hesitant and she was wringing something in her hands around and around in an anxious manner. Tech had no heart to tell her he was about to head inside when she looked so bereft. 

“Of course you may.” He scooted to the side while she grinned and scampered up the ladder at an admirable pace. “What’s that you have there,” He asked as they maneuvered the hatch back to the closing position.

Omega smiled at him and it only surprised him a little when she snuggled up to his side. It wasn’t unusual for her to seek out physical comfort, though Hunter was the usual target. “It’s some sort of exercise band. I told Hunter my teeth were itching and he got this for me,” she finished the sentence by putting the band into her mouth and biting down in a rather vicious manner. 

Tech blinked slowly going through the information she had just provided, “And does it help?” He asked, “With the itching?” 

“Yeah kind of, like the itching doesn’t hurt as bad but like… I don’t know I still want to bite something else you know? I thought maybe I was hungry but the ration bar I took didn’t really help.” Half of her words were muffled by the fact that she was periodically biting down on the band which Tech now recognized as one of Wrecker’s heavy-duty resistance bands. Their primary function was to be under pressure and while they had no designed resistance knives and viroblades they were still an inch and a half thick and not prone to breaking. 

The band she was holding had several holes along the edges in the shape of Omega’s teeth. 

“Perhaps the itching sensation has to do with the bite you received while in captivity.” Tech postulated while trying to ignore the calculations about how much pressure she would have needed to apply to make such holes. 

“Oh yeah,” Omega stated as if she had already forgotten her time incarcerated and her near-death experience, “I never did get that lady’s name, she was really nice mostly. We talked for a long time but then she told me not to bite anyone without their permission right after she bit me!”

“Do you know why she bit you?” Tech asked, hoping for more data.

“Not really she said she was in prison for refusing to bite someone and she really only bit me when the ceiling started coming down.” Omega paused and for the first time looked properly traumatized by the experience. “We didn’t think we were going to make it. I guess she didn’t.” 

Tech didn’t say anything his mind still caught up on the possibilities. The woman had looked base human but context clues stated that she probably wasn’t. The biting was the primary clue, he’d have to do some research. 

Before Tech could plan too far ahead Omega spoke up again. “It really was rude of her to tell me I couldn’t bite people without permission right after she bit me. That makes her a hypo-hippo,” She paused trying to get the word correct. 

“Hypocrite,” Tech provided absentmindedly.

“Hypocrite!” She shouted, triumphant, “Like she could have asked first! It’s not that hard. Like this: Tech can I bite you?” 

Her eyes were suddenly boring into his and even though he knew the effect was just the planet’s moons reflecting off of her tapetum lucidum for a second he thought her eyes were glowing. 

There was a pull deep inside, something that felt like reaching out for help and being frozen by a predator at the same time. A deep and instinctual longing mixed with terror and adrenaline. And then she blinked and the moment passed. 

“Ah, perhaps at a later date,” Tech said, making a note to start researching right away, “I don’t think biting me would be conducive to my continued health while we are stuck on this planet.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll ask later then,” she said, sounding disappointed. She stuck the band back in her mouth and leaned against his side. He was tense for a few minutes but she showed no signs of disregarding his desire to not be bitten. And he further relaxed as her biting slowed to chewing and then to a slow gnawing and her breathing deepened into sleep. 

Tech carefully pulled out his datapad and started connecting to the local holonet. He had only had four hours of rest during Hunter and Echo’s watch shifts but he doubted he would be able to get back to sleep anytime soon.

“Psst, Wrecker? Are you awake?” a small voice whispered near his head.

Wrecker yawned but turned towards the sound dutifully though he didn’t open his eyes yet. “Wa’sit,” He vaguely realized that it was probably his turn for watch but it wasn’t Tech’s voice he was hearing. 

“I’m really hungry but Tech says I can’t bite him until we get off planet, so I took a nap and when I woke up again I asked how I could help fix the ship and he says he needs a part from the nearby town. He seemed pretty distracted but he said that I couldn’t go alone and I should ask you since Tech took your watch shift anyways.”

“Tech took a double shift?” Wrecker asked still feeling blurry, “‘S that why you can’t bite him?” he opened his eyes barely even registering what he was saying. “Ya know Crosshair bit me a couple o’ times.”

“He did?” The little voice said, sounding excited, “Can I bite you?” 

Wrecker’s brain finally finished turning on and he stared at his little sister. Had Tech been teaching her to fight behind their backs? Was that why she was talking about biting? (Which was a valid tactic in brawling thank you very much)

“Did Tech say you could bite people?” Wrecker asked feeling a bit left out. He loved fighting and he loved his little vod’ika and he knew how to be gentle after years of training with his brothers, he could be extra gentle with Omega but she DEFINITELY needed to learn with how often the Empire was sending people after them. But instead of asking for his help his brothers had started teaching her without him. 

“No,” She said with a frown, “And Hunter said no too.”

“Hunter too?” He asked now feeling betrayed, it was one thing if Tech had started teaching her, he often forgot to tell them what he was planning especially if they weren’t on a mission Wrecker could see Tech just randomly starting to train their littlest vod without realizing he forgot to mention it to everyone else but Hunter? Hunter was their planner. If he had started training Omega to fight and hadn’t told Wrecker then it was on purpose. Wrecker took exactly two seconds to feel hurt before he turned that hurt into determination. If Hunter and Tech didn’t think he could spar safely with his little sister then he would SHOW them that he could. 

“Yeah,” Omega pouted, “But you said Crosshair bit you so can I?” 

“Crosshair always was a biter.” Wrecker said with a nod, “But when I bit him back Hunter said that we weren’t allowed to bite each other. Completely unfair since he started it but Hunter is usually right about safety reasons.” At Omega’s downcast look Wrecker nudged her lightly, “But he ain’t always right, if anyone ever grabs you and tries to take you away again you bite them as hard as you can. Okay.” 

Omega nodded seriously, “Okay,” Then she smiled and the dim lights in the room glinted off her teeth, “But Tech did say that he needed that part so we should go!”

“Sound good, Hey do you want to learn how to throw an opponent on our way back?” Wrecker asked as he grabbed his loose armor and started placing it on while Omega bounced around him.

“Sure!” They had both been getting slowly louder as the conversation went on so it was unsurprising that Echo gave a groan from his hammock in the corner. 

“Wrecker, you aren’t allowed to throw Omega,” He grumbled.

“Don’t worry, by the time we’re done Omega’s gonna throw me!” Wrecker stated, Hunter and Tech may have started without him but she was going to improve the most under his watch.

“There’s something wrong with that sentence but I’m too tired to try and correct it.” Echo yawned as he rolled back over. Wrecker shrugged and went to share a grin with Omega only to find her staring holes into Echo’s side.

“Echo,” She said her voice had an odd double-ringing sound to it and Wrecker blinked in surprise, “Can I bite you?” 

Wrecker wasn’t sure exactly what he was feeling but it was like Omega had suddenly gotten bigger or maybe the room had gotten smaller, nothing had really changed but the focus of the whole room seemed to point towards her and Wrecker had to stop himself from leaning in and getting closer. 

Whatever he was feeling though it obviously had no effect on his Cyborg brother, who snorted lightly and broke the whole feeling with that one noise, “There is also something wrong with that sentence, but the answer is no, you would hurt your teeth.” Echo let out a yawn, and a brief grumble obviously more awake now than he was earlier. “Now can we wait for Hunter to make breakfast in peace, or were you two going somewhere?” 

“Oh, right!” Omega started perking back up from her disappointed look, “We need to get Tech that part.”

“And I’m going to teach you how to throw someone,” Wrecker said with a nod and he appreciated how Echo finally seemed to register the words as the two of them started out the door. Echo finally sat up and looked like he was going to object but Wrecker only got to see his brother open his mouth before he was practically pushed aside by a manic-looking Tech barging past him and Omega to get into the room.

“Echo!” It wasn’t often that Tech got riled up. He liked to keep calm so his words would come out slow enough for everyone else to understand but sometimes he could get really excited when he found something new. “Someone has actively been trying to hide information about a subspecies of sapient beings on this planet for decades! Maybe even centuries, and they’re good at it too! If I didn’t know that there was a hole in the information network here I never would have suspected! I’ve never been so blocked in my search for information before! False leads, hidden servers full of traps, hints of information found in double meanings, legends that have been subtly changed over time to obscure the facts! It’s GENIUS!” Tech’s left eye was twitching like Wrecker hadn’t seen since his brilliant Brother had decided to recode the entire Marauder's computer system in his own coding language to make it unhackable and had accidentally stayed up for five days straight. He shared a look with Omega who also looked wide-eyed and worried slowly the two of them started down the corridor, though they both did their best to keep Tech in their line of sight. “I need your help, I’ve been looking for the last four hours and all I’ve found is a couple of possibilities that what I’m looking for actually exists! But I think that the Governor might have his own stock of information on a private hard drive and if we can get you hooked up to the right counter system-“ Tech’s voice faded as they put more distance between them and Wrecker finally turned around and picked up Omega to set he on his shoulder so they could get out of the ship faster.

“Woah,” she cheered and Wrecker laughed.

“We better get out o’ here, Tech can get scary when he goes on a research bender.” 

“Tech’s on a bender?” Hunter’s voice cut in from just outside the entryway. Wrecker fought down the renewed surge of hurt at seeing his brother but clearly didn’t hide it fast enough based on Hunter’s suddenly worried look. 

“Yeah, he’s been weird since I woke up,” Omega piped up before Hunter could say anything else, “When I asked him how we could help fix the ship he barely even looked up from his pad. He seemed pretty distracted.”

There was no hiding the worry on Hunter’s face and Wrecker felt a brief flash of satisfaction, Divide and conquer was the way to get things past their leader and whether she realized it or not Omega had just split Hunter’s attention.

“He did start wording on Echo,” Wrecker said trying to turn the worry even more solidly on his brother’s inside the ship, “I ain’t seen Tech talk that fast in a long time.” 

Hunter looked truly alarmed now and Wrecker didn’t even let a twitch of smile come out. 

“I better go see what’s going on-” Hunter started and Wrecker with Omega still on his shoulder took a step to the side opening the way forward, “But where are you two going? I just brought back some fresh tubers we can grill up for breakfast.” 

Oh, Wrecker really liked it when Hunter made fried tubers for breakfast. Those things were great. As far as apologies went, it wasn’t a bad one… It didn’t quite make up for being left out though. 

“‘Parently we need a part for the ship so Omega and I are gonna go find it in town.” 

“Tech said he needed a flux cord in the B size and a C size coupling,” Omega added with a nod.

Hunter barely paused as he took that in before replying. “If he needs something I’m not so sure the two of you should go get it,” He raised a hand as Wrecker opened his mouth to protest, “We’ve flown around the circumference of this planet twice and only managed to get away from the garrison because Tech and Echo managed to scramble our signal while we were looping back on our own trail. What I’m trying to say is that there are people looking for us and just because we went the night without interruptions doesn’t mean we are in the clear.”

“But doesn’t that mean that we should get the parts we need sooner rather than later?” Omega asked making her eyes all big and shiny in the way that had Hunter folding faster than wet flimsy more often than not. 

Sure enough, Wrecker watched in real-time as his oldest brother’s eyes softened, “Omega,” Hunter started before taking a deep breath and pausing, “did you change up your soap ration?” 

“What?” Omega and Wrecker asked at the same time.

“No, sorry, that’s not important, what I meant to say is that we only just got you back, and we haven't really escaped from the people who took you in the first place. So right now it's important to keep you safe."

Was that why Hunter and Tech had started teaching Omega without him? No that didn't make sense, there hadn't been any time yesterday between digging Omega out of the rubble and setting down for the night. Actually, it would have been really difficult for anyone to train Omega without his noticing… hmm… something was off. Wrecker knew that he should probably look into it but Omega was now sending the same pleading look towards him so he guessed he’d have to figure it out later. 

“Come on Sarge,” Wrecker said holding Omega closer to his face so the two of them could turn the tooka eyes on their leader at the same time, “We won’ be alone, and having Omega along means I won’ stand out as much. It’sa win win!”

Hunter gave them that look that said he knew exactly what the two of them were doing but his shoulders did relax so Wrecker shared a grin with Omega as he slid her off his shoulder and onto the ground. 

“You two need to keep your comms on you at all times and I want you back in half an hour, no delays.” 

“Yessir,” He and Omega replied. Wrecker and his youngest vod’ika hurried away both knowing that it was better to get out of sight fast before Hunter changed his mind. 

Echo had not wanted to wake up until Hunter was done cooking and the Marauder smelled like breakfast. Unfortunately with the Bad Batch, it was always a toss-up on whether they were all going to be able to lie in or if someone would wake up and drag the rest of them into the morning.

If Hunter woke up first Echo’s preferred scenario was most likely to happen and honestly, it was usually the best for everyone. 

When they were in mission mode and therefore had a watch rotation Wrecker always had the last watch but that was because unless there was adrenaline or explosions involved it took Wrecker the longest to really wake up. He was a good soldier and like all of them knew how important watch was but scouting was NOT his calling in life he was a bit too distractible so it was best for everyone if Wrecker was in the half-energy state that came from waking up while doing his watch. That way by the time his watch was done he was fully awake, didn’t have to try and force himself back to sleep, and was running on full cylinders. 

If Wrecker woke up first while they didn’t have a watch scheduled he would either be grumpy until he got some food in him or prone to go off and experiment by himself. There had been a few more explosions from Wrecker’s experiments than from Tech’s during Echo’s time with the Bad Batch, though they all claimed that Tech still held the record for most explosions because of their time as cadets. 

When Tech woke up first it was common that he would immediately wake someone else up as he would get started on one of his various projects nearly immediately. Tech was conscientious of the people around him but he did tend to hyperfocus and forget that they didn’t all sleep with noise-canceling headphones on. 

When Crosshair… Well, when Crosshair had been with them and had woken up first he tended to wake them all up one by one in the most obnoxious way possible. Hunter got first treatment because Hunter would make breakfast and because freshly awake Hunter often picked the path of least resistance in the morning and let Crosshair run rampant in what Echo was convinced was revenge for the way Hunter had to wrangle the rest of them. Crosshair would then proceed to flick whatever he could get his hands on at all of them the larger the item was the more annoyed Echo could tell his youngest brother was and then if he was really mad there was often water involved. Echo wasn’t sure where Crosshair’s water blaster was but he could almost guarantee that it was still around based on how they all moved around Crosshair’s stuff rather than clear any of it out. 

Still for all that Echo had analyzed the Batch’s patterns over time, they were still proudly made up of chaos personified and so while they did fall into patterns that Echo could predict to some effect there was always the possibility for mornings like the one he was currently experiencing. 

“Tech,” Echo finally interrupted, “I’m going to need you to slow down, you want me to break into the data center of the Governor we just fled from because why?”

His polymath brother had always been one of the more stable members of the Batch but at the moment his eyes were wide and were barely blinking as he stared down Echo like he hadn’t since Annaxis. It might have been intimidating once upon a time but Echo had seen far worse than a hyperactive, maybe overstimulated Tech. 

“The only reason I was able to pick up on the data trail is because the Governor’s efforts to obscure his data trail were much less sophisticated than that of whoever was responsible for moving the existence of this subspecies into myth. I was able to isolate the data that he was trying to obfuscate and was able to reconstruct all of it and it made a pattern! The Pattern really, it points to Legends being real, and who to talk to if you’ve actually figured it out! It’s brilliant! Unfortunately, it leads to who I believe was Omega’s cellmate and she is no longer a reachable source. Though if she was in fact a member of this subspecies then we are quite fortunate that she decided to place Omega’s wellbeing above her own. If she had drained Omega she could have healed herself and escaped easily.”

“Drained?” Hunter’s voice broke in, he already sounded a bit frazzled so maybe Wrecker had been serious when he was talking about teaching Omega to throw him. 

“Yes, drained,” Tech stated sounding just a tad annoyed, “I can’t figure out whether that means drained of the force, drained of energy, or drained of blood, due to the way that some of the legends are phrased but I am quite certain that the subspecies we are studying has additional either dietary or psychic needs. Really Hunter, I thought you would be paying more attention since we’ll need to know this for Omega’s continued health and well-being.”

“What does this subspecies have to do with Omega?” Hunter asked cutting to what mattered most immediately.

Tech gave Hunter a look that Echo knew meant he felt like something was extremely obvious and he was unsure of how his brothers had missed it. “Because Omega is now a part of said subspecies.” 

Echo stared at Tech while Hunter tried to say a lot of question words all at the same time. 

“How can someone change into a new species?” He asked, as part of his brain started trying to follow Tech’s reasoning, “I’ve never heard of a transformation like that outside of a holo-drama.” 

“Well to start off with, the fact that such a thing does show up in holo-dramas means that the idea was out there somewhere, but you are correct, before today I would have stated that without serious genetic manipulation, it would be nigh impossible to change species particularly once a being has moved out of an embryo state. I am still unsure on how such a process came about but there is enough evidence that I am sure that it IS possible, but in order to know more I need Echo’s help to break into the governor’s security system. It seems we will need a double-pronged attack to get in and Echo and I would be uniquely qualified to get around such a security measure.”

Echo nodded in understanding while it was possible to set up a bot to run a simultaneous attack when a database needed a double entry point things went much faster when he and Tech worked together. It was always a fun bonding experience too. He didn’t feel as alone when he was ‘running’ alongside his brother’s programs. 

“Do it,” Hunter said, his eyes hard after recovering from his shock and catching on to Tech’s train of thought, “It was that bite on her shoulder wasn’t it?”

“Yes I believe so,” Tech replied with a nod.

“Then we’ll need to get that information before we get off planet. Though speaking of which how are repairs going? I heard you messing with the Hyperdrive during what was supposed to be Wrecker’s shift.”

There was censure in his tone but Tech didn’t react to it at all. “Yes, I figured I’d get some repairs done once I realized my research task was going to take time parsing through my code. As soon as Wrecker gets back with the parts I need we can go.”

“Well considering he was talking about sparing with Omega afterward I’m not sure how quickly they’ll come back,” Echo said as he looked around for day clothes and armor and started getting ready for the day. 

“Wrecker’s going to spar with Omega?” Hunter asked at the same time that Tech’s head snapped up to look at Echo.

“Omega went with him?” Tech asked looking alarmed.

Rather than slow down in his morning preparations Echo sped up double time. Worried brothers meant he would rather be in armor than not. 

“Yes, I thought you both knew, Omega seemed to think that Tech told her to go with Wrecker and Wrecker was talking about throws.”

“Omega isn’t big enough to start on throws!” Hunter exclaimed.

“That’s not important right now,” Tech snapped, “As part of the transformation Omega is going through she is far more likely to bite someone and either kill them or infect them as well.” 

“What?” Echo asked even as he fastened the last piece of armor and started herding his brothers down the hallway and towards the entry. Tech could impart information while moving, especially if this was as urgent as Tech was implying. Hunter and Tech quickly matched his pace picking up on his silent cues.

“Like I said I don’t know the exact mechanics due to lack of solid information but everything I could find points to an increased need to ‘feed’ during the change, considering she asked if she could bite me earlier, which is outside of her normal behaviors, she is clearly already craving whatever her subspecies actually needs.”

“So blood, or lifeforce?” Hunter asked grimly as they sped up down the landing ramp. 

“Possibly both, I cannot ascertain if this subspecies craves energy and takes it through blood or if the craving is for blood itself. Either way, the longer she goes without, the stronger the cravings will get, and while she seemed to have enough willpower to resist when I said no, there is no guarantee that she will continue to show such restraint when faced with people she doesn’t know.” 

“If the cravings are that bad why did she ask us at all?” Echo asked as they hit the forest following the trail towards the nearby town, “And yes she did ask me too,” he stated before Tech could ask the follow-up.

“Don’t bite people without permission,” Hunter stated with his eyes narrowed, “It’s one of the things she kept repeating after we got her out of the rubble.”

“Exactly,” Tech nodded, “From what I’ve been able to piece together the subspecies has some form of compulsion, if the woman who bit Omega used that compulsion to get Omega to internalize her last instructions it would explain the state that Omega was stuck in after we rescued her.”

“How long will the compulsion last?” Echo asked.

“I have no idea, which is why it is prudent for us to find her before we find out.” 

Hunter looked like he was going to ask something else when the sound of blaster fire ahead made them stumble for half a moment as they all shared a wide-eyed glance before sprinting towards the sound. 

The moment Echo spotted the armor he let himself slip into his mission mindset. He couldn’t freak out seeing Wrecker wobbling like he did when he was clipped with a stunner but still standing determinedly in front of Omega, he couldn’t let his heart ache at the sight of Crosshair standing confident with his helmet off ready to capture them, he couldn’t let his hands shake at the blasters pointed at his little sister. 

What he could do was pull out his own blaster and get positioned by a thicker tree. Crosshair had already noticed them, of course he had, but so far it looked like there were only seven other stormtroopers with him. Omega wasn’t captured yet, and with their arrival the odds had evened out just a bit and Crosshair would know that. 

“Well, well, look what we’ve got here,” Crosshair’s drawl got the other troopers to raise their blasters away from Wrecker who had fallen to his knees but still had his arms outstretched keeping Omega behind him, “The whole band is here, and for a moment I thought you might have abandoned these two like you did me.” 

The empire never did half-measures so it was likely that there were at least two more squads on their way and Crosshair was simply stalling for time but Echo could see the tension radiating from Hunter and Tech, Crosshair knew them more than well enough to get them to slow down. 

“You know that’s not what happened,” Hunter started but he was quickly cut off by a rather unexpected source. 

“Crosshair, can I bite you, please?” Echo had never heard Omega sound so desperate, he couldn’t see her face due to the angle but her whole body was drawn toward their wayward brother, and she had slipped just out of Wrecker’s reach as she leaned towards the very people most likely to shoot at her. 

“Omega-” Echo tried to get her attention but Crosshair spoke first.

He snorted, “Sure kid, if you think you can, you can try and bite me.” 

“Crosshair don’t-” Tech tried but it was too late. 

Echo had spent over a year working closely with the Jedi and yet the feeling that descended over the clearing when Omega growled was just as electric as General Skywalker before a battle and twice as terrifying. Everyone flinched, the stormtroopers especially as they turned their guns to what they realized was the biggest threat.

“What?” Crosshair said as he took a step back involuntarily, but it didn’t help. Omega was a blur of speed, her movement startled several troopers enough to send their blasters off but she was long gone before anything could hit her. 

Echo was in mission mode, he really couldn’t freak out about how he had never seen ANYONE move as fast as Omega did in that moment, so when the blasters discharged he let his ingrained responses get his gun in position and fired off his blasts in conjunction with Hunter and Tech firing off theirs, six of the storm troopers went down with the seventh being shoved down by Wrecker. 

Crosshair had been knocked down as well. Omega had tackled him to the ground and had gone for the neck as the only part of him not covered in armor. Echo sprinted over to where the two of them had landed Omega clinging to Crosshair with her legs around his torso and one hand on his head and the other on his shoulder to give her best access to what Echo assumed was his blood. 

No matter what species Omega was now, Echo knew that she would be devastated if she accidentally killed Crosshair. And Crosshair was still under the Empire’s influence and wouldn’t hesitate to kill any of them as shown by Bracca having the two of them so close together was dangerous for the both of them. He reached out and tried to pull Omega off but the motion of pulling her just rolled them both over as her hold was so strong. Echo went to try and position his scomp link to get between the two of them but he paused when the new position gave him a good view of Crosshair’s face. 

Echo had expected the shock and there was plenty of that but there was also a haze of what looked like confusion and peace. Crosshair should have already been fighting back he could have shoved Omega off and started shooting at all of them. Hell, he could have knifed Omega with any of the four hidden blades that Echo could see and probably three more that he couldn’t. Instead, Echo watched stunned as Crosshair’s arms slowly wrapped around Omega as if giving her a hug. If Echo ignored the fact that Omega’s teeth were currently in Crosshair’s neck it could have been a warm embrace between family long parted. Instead, there were little droplets of blood welling up around Omega’s mouth. 

“Omega,” Hunter called out as he dropped to his knees to the right of Echo, “Omega you need to let him go.” 

Omega let out a little whine but didn’t move, Crosshair on the other hand tightened his grip and drew her a little closer.

“Well, that proves that the compulsion parts of the legends are true,” Tech stated his voice rather high. 

“Umm, what’s goin’ on?” Wrecker asked, and Echo felt for the absolute horror in the big guy’s voice because he had been warned that Omega was craving blood and he was still shocked and a bit disturbed.

“Omega is evolving into a new subspecies,” Tech said like that would mean anything Wrecker.

“She’s what?” Crosshair’s voice was quiet, but it quickly grabbed all of their attention. 

“Ah, well, Omega seems to have been infected with a transforming venom that has changed her on a biological level. She may have also infected you, assuming you survive and we can get her off of you before she drains you dry.” Tech was clearly panicking but Echo wasn’t sure he blamed him given the situation. 

“I wouldn’t do that!” Omega protested as she pulled back and licked bright red blood off of her teeth and lips. 

“Oh look her fangs finished growing,” Tech commented.

“Omega, are you okay?” Hunter asked.

“Yep! Just a second,” She said cheerfully as she leaned in, licked the blood off of Crosshair’s neck, and sealed the bite mark closed in the same motion, “Now Crosshair, this is important,” She had all of their full attention but Crosshair’s eyes especially seemed glued to her face, “Don’t be alone. Stay with people who love you. And don’t bite someone without their permission.” 

“Okay,” He said, and then Echo watched as Crosshair’s eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he passed out. 

There was silence for a long moment but Omega didn’t seem worried, she turned towards all of them and gave a big smile the sun glinted off her sharpened canines. “He said yes when I said please, if I had said please when I asked you guys would you have said yes?” 

Echo opened his mouth, realized he didn’t have anything to say, and then closed it again. 

“Tech, Echo,” Hunter said obviously trying to ignore Omega’s question, “We need to find a new hiding spot but getting that information is our new top priority.” 

“Yes sir,” Echo said. The Bad Batch was chaos personified he reminded himself, mornings like this one were bound to happen occasionally. 

Chapter Text

Crosshair tried not to think too hard about the ‘whys’ anymore. He never had been much of a why person before anyway. He was a made-and-bred soldier, it wasn’t ever his job to wonder about the whys. He worked off of targets. First the Kaminoans, then the Republic, then the Empire they each pointed him toward a target and he proceeded to hit the target. 100% success rate, there was no room for error.

Error would get him killed.

Errors were found in looking at whys.

So Crosshair didn’t look at the whys, not consciously anyway.

Why wouldn’t his brothers follow orders? Why did they choose to leave? Why did it hurt that they left him? Why were his brothers the Target? Why was he shooting at them? Why wasn’t he shooting at them?

So when the girl had asked if she could bite him he hadn’t thought to ask why. It was only when her pupils widened in excitement before shrinking down and focusing on him that he wondered if maybe he should have asked first before responding.

The bone-chilling sound that ripped out of her throat only solidified that thought.

“What-” He managed to get out before she pounced. (The wrong question, always the wrong question)

He barely registered shots going off, she slammed into him with enough speed to knock him to the ground. She was so small the iron grip of her hands on his shoulder and head shouldn’t have been able to hold him in place. He reached for his pistol as her head dipped down towards his neck. He didn’t have time to figure out what she was doing before there was a sharp stinging pain and then-

Then there was quiet.

He hadn’t realized how loud trying not to think could be.

There was someone else with him in the quiet.

He hadn’t realized how alone the noise in his mind made him.

She was wrapped around his torso with her teeth in his neck.

But she was also sitting with him in the silence.

Time seemed to slow down. He was aware that things were going on outside of the hush. He was aware that something was entering his veins nearly as quickly as blood was draining out. He was aware that the squad he had been sent with was falling fast. He was aware that his brothers had been in a state of panic even before they realized that he had almost captured Wrecker and the girl. He was aware of the fact that their panic probably had to do with the girl’s desire to bite him. But all of that was like distractions on the edge of a scope.

The target was himself. And the quiet had hit him dead on.

“Last time I was here I thought I was going to die.”

Crosshair remained on the ground teeth in his neck.

But he also turned towards his companion in the silence.

Hunter had always been the best at reading others' moods, some mixture of smell, heartbeats, and vocal fluctuations, but Crosshair was just as good and sometimes better. The micro-expressions that a sapient’s face made could tell him volumes of information. The thing was he wasn’t actually seeing with his eyes in this place of quiet and yet the information he was getting felt just as real perhaps even more ‘truthful’ than just seeing in real time.

She loved him deeply and personally, but also distantly and wistfully. He couldn’t actually see her but flashes of her memories, or maybe herself were everywhere. There was hero worship, years of following his and his brother’s training, and then missions. It was startling to see how close to them she had been through her whole life. She had been there sometimes in the very same room as them, though in those memories he was knocked out more often than not.

He watched through her eyes as she got to know more about him through his absence, and how his absence hurt his brothers. A part of her blames herself, he can’t figure out how that makes him feel though, not when a part of him has blamed her too.

But before she left Kamino there was the order… she had felt a change, (and there’s something important in the fact that she felt the sudden shift in the universe), and that had given her enough courage to actually go and face them. She had always wanted for their happiness and with the universe suddenly so much darker she had to go and make sure that they were safe. (She had tried to warn them that Kamino wouldn’t be safe anymore)

“Do you still feel like you’re going to die?” Crosshair asked more to distract himself from how much her (love) worry for him seemed to sink under his skin.

(There was something flowing under his skin, he could feel it distinct from his blood the moment it had hit his heart he knew there was no going back.)

“No, but I’m not sure I’m completely okay either.”

The Silence shook, and for a moment the real world was stronger than the quiet, someone -Echo- had tried to pull Omega away from his neck away from him -and that wasn’t right, if she wasn’t okay- the real world still felt far away but he couldn’t let her leave if she wasn’t okay so he reached up to grab her keep her next to him just until he figured out what was going on.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, trying to let the quiet soothe him again. It only partially worked but the silence did stabilize even if he felt like he couldn’t just float like he did when it first hit him.

“Well, I’m currently drinking your blood.” She said in a dry tone that he could hear and feel was a copy of Hunter’s exasperated voice. (She loved them, she wanted to be a part of them) “The thing is I KNOW that’s weird but I can’t seem to focus on it when I’m not here.”

She paused and more image-memories seemed to flow around them. One in particular caught his attention. She watched him back when he was even smaller than she was now, he remembered the day of his first serious marksmanship test, and apparently so did she. She had been so proud of him, so delighted in his success. The fact that they had probably been about the same size at the time made his insides squirm uncomfortably so he let the memory fade.

“If you had asked me how I felt about biting someone two days ago I would have been confused, not hungry,” She continued, “Even now I know that I should feel disgusted or worried or something, but I don’t.”

“It’s like you want to think about it but you can’t,” Crosshair finished feeling the echo of loneliness that he had only just ‘realized’ was there, “When you’re out there you can’t just focus on it, because it doesn’t exist. Or if it does, it’s so normal such a constant that it feels pointless talking about it.”

Somewhere in the silence, the constant mantra whispered: good soldiers follow orders. He and the girl shuddered at the same time.

“I don’t think it’s quite that bad, it sounds weird but when I was here last the woman who bit me told me Three Things. As soon as I get those Three Things done I feel like… No, I know that I’ll be okay again.”

“Well good for you,” Crosshair snapped, “But for me, the mission never ends. There’s always going to be another target.” a part of him was hurt that she wasn’t the same as him -Jealous that she had a way out- another part was so, so grateful that she wasn’t stuck.

The quiet shook with his emotions and the real world got close again.

“Omega, Omega, you need to let him go.” That was Hunter’s voice. Hunter was telling the girl to let Crosshair go. Just like Hunter had let go of him.

“He doesn’t mean it like that,” the Omega next to him said while the girl on the outside whined in distress both at the thought of letting go of the silence and Crosshair’s own raging emotions that were slowly eroding the quiet away, “You’re his brother. He loves you, he doesn’t want me to hurt you.”

“You won’t hurt me.” Crosshair snapped back both surprised and not by the surety in his voice. He knew she wouldn’t hurt him just like he knew he wouldn’t hurt her. The silence had made that clear and immutable. Not even the constant beat of ‘good soldiers follow orders’ would ever touch her, he wouldn’t let it.

(just like he hadn’t let it hurt his brothers?) (No this was stronger than that) (stronger than years together? Was the silence stronger than orders?) (He wasn’t sure and that scared him)

“Do you know why I bit you?” Omega asked even as the real world edged slowly closer he could hear voices from far away. “I can hear the heartbeats of every person in this clearing and smell each of them individually. But one of the Three Things was to not let myself be alone, and another one was to find people who love me. You’re my brother Crosshair if I’m not supposed to be alone then I want to be with my brothers more than anything. Your orders go against what you want so I know that no matter how it feels like out there, you wouldn’t have been trapped forever.”

“Such confidence,” Crosshair hissed but the last dregs of the quiet rang with her conviction with her truth, “but hope for some distant future where what I want matters doesn’t change the now where neither of us are acting completely in our own power.”

“I don’t know what’s happening to me-” she started but paused when the outside synced up with the hush.

“Omega is evolving into a new subspecies,” Tech's voice came through clearly like he was answering her question and the two of them in the silence perked up.

“She’s what?” Crosshair asked for the both of them.

The quiet was almost gone now. But one last memory passed between the two of them as Tech opened his mouth to explain what he knew. Crosshair had suspected distantly that Omega was older than him and his siblings but seeing-feeling her wonder when Omega as a small four-year-old child held him just minutes after his decanting was like falling into the ocean. She didn’t say anything in the memory but her instant love conceptualized every memory-feeling that had come before. Older or younger didn’t matter to her. He was her brother and that was a truth that couldn’t be changed by orders, or Three Things, or by changing into a new subspecies.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” She repeated quietly, “But your wants do matter, maybe giving you Three Things to support your wants will help you figure out your Orders.”

There wasn’t time to think deeply on it and even if there was he had never been a why person.

“Do it.”

“-before she drains you dry.” Tech’s voice finished.

“I wouldn’t do that.” The girl stated an echo of his own previous conviction. His brothers kept talking but Crosshair couldn’t focus, he needed to complete his mission. He had his targets that he needed to capture but the girl, (Omega) she was her own mission. Something important, something vital, something to protect. He had to follow orders but with every beat of his heart and the burning something in his veins, he knew that she came first.

“Yep! Just a second,” She said in response to something said as she leaned in and sealed the bite mark closed, “Now Crosshair, this is important,” Orders, he had to follow orders, “Don’t be alone.” She was there, he wouldn’t be alone with her, “Stay with people who love you.” Stay with her, and maybe his brothers if they would forgive him, “And don’t bite someone without their permission.”

“Okay,” He said. Good soldiers followed orders. He had to obey the Emperor but the girl (Target-Mission-Sister-Sire-Omega) had just given him different orders. His head hurt. He didn’t ask why… but maybe he wanted to. He blacked out.

The sound of far-off engines spurred Hunter into action.

“Crosshair must have sent out a signal when he first found Wrecker and Omega. We've got drop ships inbound about 2 minutes away.”

“That’s not good,” Omega said as she stood up. And just like that it was like she was completely back to normal. Hunter really didn’t want to think about it at the moment and there were bigger things to worry about so he just nodded in agreement. He’d deal with the fact that Omega had just taken down Crosshair like it was nothing later.

“Wha-wha’ jus’ happened?!” Wrecker’s voice was practically a shout. His eyes were wide and he was still a bit shaky from being hit by a stunner round, but his finger pointed true, “Did you jus’ suck out Crosshair’s blood?”

“He said I could bite him,” Omega responded, sounding a bit defensive, “and I didn’t take all of it!”

“You did not and that is a good thing but right now we need to go,” Tech said as he moved away from examining Crosshair.

“But why?” Wrecker wailed even as he followed Tech’s hand signal and picked up Crosshair, it made something in Hunter’s heart soften as he saw how carefully their largest brother picked up their youngest with no hesitation like he hadn’t been gone for months now.

“I told you Omega is evolving into a new subspecies,” Tech snapped even as they started running back to the Marauder.

“What does that even mean?” Wrecker asked before turning his head to Omega, “Are you going to drink my blood too?”

“You don’t have to say it like that,” She replied, “it’s not weird, it just… is! I don’t know, I mean I guess it’s kind of weird when I think about it but… It’s just not!”

“It probably doesn’t feel any different than preferring red rations to green,” Tech said as they sped up into an actual run and the incoming drop ships closed into normal hearing range. “Seeing as biting people is now a biological instinct for you. I was a bit worried, but now that we’ve seen you have enough self-control to stop feeding once started I’m more reassured and I now know what information I’ve gathered is more accurate. There is obviously a lot missing but knowing that you aren’t going to go crazy and bleed us all dry is a relief.”

“That was an option?” Wrecker’s voice went up much higher than his usual range but he notably didn’t shy away from Omega who simultaneously shouted: “I would never!”

“We don’t have time to deal with this right now,” Hunter reminded his team just as the Marauder came into sight, “Tech, Echo get us off the ground as fast as you can, Wrecker you’re on turrets. Omega, keep an eye on Crosshair, you may need to strap him in, please don’t bite him or anyone else until we figure out what’s going on.”

The ships must have spotted the Marauder as they flew past the clearing the ambush had taken place in, and were heading straight toward them, Hunter could hear the sound of warming up laser cannons and they piled into the ship heading to their positions with Hunter bringing up the rear slamming the emergency quick close button on the loading ramp as the first shots hit the trees and started moving towards their ship. Echo had managed to bring up the shields even though it would slow down the engine start up and Hunter was grateful as the ship shook but didn’t blow up.

He took over the shielding station and Echo moved to the side to add his efforts to Tech’s in getting them up off the ground. Hunter did his best to focus on the familiar task of optimizing the shielding as they fluctuated with the continued blasts, but his thoughts drifted toward the back of the ship where he could hear his siblings. The loudest being Wrecker who was making his usual commentary as he returned fire, it sounded like Omega had just finished strapping Crosshair’s unconscious body in time for Tech to pull up off the ground and into a rather tight spin around one of the larger trees. She let out a surprised ‘whoa’ as the gravity in the ship spun and he winced when he heard her land on the opposite wall from where she had been.

She didn’t let out any noises of pain though and he heard the click of a second harness closing a second later.

And then there was the sound of Crosshair. It had been long enough since he had been on the ship that the sound of his youngest brother’s breathing and heartbeat back with them brought a lump to his throat.

Crosshair was there, he was with them…

Hunter was relieved that they were all together.

Hunter was terrified that it wasn’t going to last.

They had to get the chip out and this was honestly closer to the ideal situation that he thought they would ever get. He had always hoped to get Crosshair away from the empire but with everything that had been going on… he wasn’t even sure if they would ever have had a better chance than they did in that clearing with only seven other soldiers with Crosshair.

The fact that of all of them, it was Omega who had taken Crosshair down was still hard to swallow though.

Omega’s whole situation was something that he was struggling to wrap his head around. She was his responsibility and yet she kept getting taken from them. And now because he had failed in protecting her she had been turned into a whole different species. Or subspecies. Whatever that meant.

(Apparently, it meant the smell of contentment in his brother who was the most contrary. It meant the smell of something enticing, warm, and safe but also dangerous like ozone that floated off Omega in intermediate waves that he could sense on the electromagnetic range. It meant the smell of his own stress as he desperately hoped that everything would be okay.)

He hadn’t been able to protect her and now her life would be forever changed if the way Tech was acting was any indicator.

The Marauder shook and Wrecker let out an enthusiastic cheer as one of the ships following them exploded, Omega let out a sigh of relief, and Crosshair continued to breathe deeply in his unconscious state.

To his left Tech let out a pleased hum, and while Hunter couldn’t see Echo’s expression he knew it was bared in a tight grin.

They may have been caught off guard but they were still some of the best. It was satisfying to see the results of that as the second ship slowed and moved farther back out of range.

“Hey Sarge,” Wrecker called out, “Tha’ other ship didn’t look much like it belonged to the empire.”

“It was likely the local garrison,” Tech said as he started up a new course, “They were quite persistent yesterday and it would stand to reason that they will continue to be so.”

“All the more reason to get off this planet,” Echo stated grimly, “who knows what they want.”

“Well, whatever it is they aren’t willing to die for it,” Hunter said, “But they are still following us just at a distance. Think you can lose them?” He asked the two co-pilots as Wrecker and Omega joined them in the cockpit.

“If they were Empire or Republic ships absolutely, but seeing as the local variant of ship is much faster in atmosphere than standard and our hyperdrive is still missing pieces, we will not be able to out-pace them,” Tech said.

“So we’ll need to trick them into losing us,” Hunter said, “Where’s the nearest high population center?”

“We are already en route,” Echo reported, he and Tech having predicted Hunter’s plan.

“It is also an ideal place to break into the governor’s data storage and hopefully get more info on Omega’s new subspecies,” Tech said with a great deal of satisfaction.

“Uhh, Yeah,” Wrecker started as he entered the cockpit, “Can you tell us more about tha’? ‘Cause I don’ know what’s goin’ on.”

“I’m not really sure what’s going on either,” Omega admitted, “Until I bit Crosshair all I could really focus on was making sure I wasn’t alone.”

Hunter turned to her getting a good look at her face and the confusion on it. “Omega,” he started, “You weren’t alone. We’re all here with you, and we won't ever leave you behind.”

She smiled at him and Hunter did his best not to be distracted by her new fangs. “I know you’re here right now, and I’m not alone physically but I was alone,” she paused like she was trying to get her words in order, “I was alone here,” She said holding her hands to her chest.

“Hmm, and now that you’ve bitten Crosshair you no longer feel alone,” Tech stated rather than questioned.

“Yeah,” Omega said with a nod, “I had to find people who loved me and you guys came and got me.” Hunter did his best to ignore how warm that statement made him feel, “And then I couldn’t let myself be alone, but none of you gave me permission to bite you until Crosshair showed up.”

“Okay, maybe I’m missin’ something, but why do you need to bite someone to not be alone?” Wrecker asked.

Omega gave a shrug but Tech spoke up, “I can’t find concrete facts but one of my hypotheses based on the stories and legends that I could find is that the subspecies has specific psychic needs. Those needs would cause those affected to form groups or ‘covens’ that would either have a pack mentality or a master/slave bond.”

“What?” Echo and Hunter asked at the same time Omega gasped, “I don’t want to be Crosshair’s master!”

“I don’t actually know whether or not your bond will appear in such a manner,” Tech tried to soothe, “All I know for sure is that there is a bond. And even that I could only be sure of when I saw the way that Crosshair reacted to being bitten in the first place. I am working off of incomplete data and if there wasn’t proof of the existence of this subspecies right in front of me I would pass all the information I’ve managed to gather as primarily fiction!” He finished sounding extremely frustrated and Hunter took a moment to remind himself that just because Tech was a genius didn’t mean that he had all the answers.

“It’s okay Tech,” Hunter said, “You’ve already told us that we need to get more information first.” Hunter took a deep breath and turned towards Omega who still looked upset, “Omega, I know this is a lot but can you tell me how you’re feeling right now?”

“I still want to bite you,” She started with a faint frown on her face, “I love you guys, you’re my brothers, biting you would make sure that you guys won’t be alone either.”

“Hmm, that’s probably your new instincts talking,” Tech commented but he quieted when Hunter sent him a look.

“But I can't bite you without your permission,” Omega continued, “I started feeling really yucky before Crosshair said yes because I can’t be alone either, but I was also… really hungry? No, I was thirsty. And Lonely. That’s why I was so focused on getting the parts for the ship because Tech said I could bite him once we got out of here.”

“You said what!?” Wrecker asked turning towards Tech in disbelief.

Tech opened his mouth before closing it again and pausing before he finally responded, “I did say she could bite me at a later date, and then implied that said date would come once we got off the planet.”

“Please don’t change your mind Tech,” Omega begged before Hunter could protest, “I know it’s weird and I do love Crosshair but I want you to be with me too.”

Echo gave Hunter a significant look over Tech’s head and Hunter nodded in acknowledgment.

“Omega,” Hunter said distracting her from Tech, “we need more information before you bite anyone else. Even if we leave the planet you can’t bite Tech until he says you can.”

The fact that he was leaving biting on the table at all said something about how weird their lives were. (Or maybe how desperate Omega sounded when she pleaded with Tech not to be alone.)

Omega pouted but she nodded, “I understand, we need to be careful.” She paused, “But once we’ve figured out more can I ask you all again?”

Hunter glanced over each of his present brother’s faces. Echo clearly thought it was a bad idea, Wrecker still looked extremely freaked out but he was doing a good job of hiding it, Tech on the other hand had a look of fascination on his face and Hunter winced as Tech replied without looking at the rest of them.

“Yes, I think that would be for the best. Seeing as both you and Crosshair are part of this subspecies now, once we have a further understanding of the consequences we should consider all the options.”

Wrecker squeaked and quickly tried to cover it with a cough while Echo put his head in his hand. Hunter sighed out loud, “I guess we’ll make the decisions individually then. Only-” Hunter stated with a hard look at Omega who had brightened considerably, “-after we figure out if this is going to have any more negative side effects.”

Omega gave a cheer and Hunter closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead as his brothers let out various overlapping opinions.

Hunter wasn’t sure what was going to happen in the near future, but he already knew that no matter what happened he was going to fight to keep his family together. No matter the species, no matter the food preferences, no matter what the Empire tried as long as they wanted to stay together he would make a place for them all to be together.

(Crosshair was back… Hunter prayed that he would stay.)

(Omega said she already had people who loved her, he would keep up that trust.)

(Wrecker might be nervous but he was also determined to protect them all as a whole, Hunter would be by his side)

(Echo was willing to support them and Hunter would do his best to support him back)

(Tech had a new field of research to dive into and when he got back out he might not be the same anymore. But it wouldn’t be the first time and Hunter would love his brother no matter what path he took)

He would always support their wants and needs and if that meant the future was going to involve getting blood bags alongside ship rations then that’s what he’d do.

“So do ya think when we went into the forest and you heard those soldiers coming before they got into the clearing it’s because of your bite?”

“Yeah, I think so, I mean I can hear everyone in the ship right now, I didn’t really think about it until you mentioned it though.”

“And then when you growled and everything went kind of weird was that you or was that the stunner makin’ me woozy?”

“Huh, I did growl, didn’t I? Umm, I don’t know, I could try again.”

“...”

“...”

“...M’kay. If I know it’s comin’ then I can get used to it. Try it.”

Tech had been listening to the conversation with one ear as he organized his research on the subspecies into a more easily consumable format for his brothers. He himself had been hoping to use the travel time to question Omega but Wrecker had been showing signs of unease and stress so when he had sat down across from Omega and asked her what Crosshair’s blood had tasted like. (“Uhhh, I guess it tasted like if Crosshair was a flower? But good?” Tech would have asked for clarification but Wrecker had just nodded like her vague answer made perfect sense and moved on.) So in difference to his largest brother’s emotions, he let his brother lead the questioning while Tech did his best to pick out new information out of Omega’s answers.

Tech braced himself, in response to Wrecker’s statement, for a repeat of the chilling sound that had filled the clearing earlier that day but instead, Omega made a faint ‘grrr’ noise. There was silence as the two of them stared at each other; Omega’s face slowly got redder and Wrecker’s lips started to twitch upwards until he finally broke.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!” Teck found himself smiling in an automatic response to Wrecker’s mirth and while he didn’t have the best hearing on the team he could still hear Hunter’s laughter from the cockpit while Echo asked what happened. Crosshair, still deeply asleep, didn’t so much as twitch, and Tech made a mental note of the fact.

“It’s not funny,” Omega giggled belying her words even though her face was still rather red.

“I mean it kinda is,” Wrecker laughed, “I can do a better growl than tha’! Go ahead try again.”

Omega screwed up her face in determination but her growl was still firmly placed in the possibility of the human range barely better than before.

“No, no you got to feel it deep in your throat like this,” Wrecker let out a deep growl but seeing as he was four or five times Omega’s size anything he tried was bound to be more impressive than an adolescent’s attempt.

“Grrr!!” Omega tried again.

“GRRR!” Wrecker encouraged.

“Grrr~rrr!!!”

“GRRR!!”

“Grr~rrr~rr!!!”

“GRRR!!!”

“Okay, children that’s enough,” Hunter called out from the front, “We’re about to dock at the city and we need to make a quick plan.”

“Especially since Crosshair shows no sign of waking,” Tech added, perhaps a bit redundantly but there was something pleasing about being able to include Crosshair in their plans as an asset (or at least an unknown) rather than an enemy.

“We’ll take him with us,” Hunter stated immediately, and while Tech understood the impulse behind the words, (he also would rather Crosshair be in their sights) he was also a bit concerned.

“Not that I’m disagreeing,” Echo voiced, “But how are we going to explain carrying an unconscious clone in stormtrooper armor through the city?”

“We could take him out of the armor?” Omega cautiously proposed.

“Yeah, I don’ know if that’d help,” Wrecker said with a thoughtful frown, “We could stick him in a shipping container though!”

“I’m not sure Crosshair would appreciate waking up in an enclosed dark space,” Hunter said before turning his attention to Tech, “Do we know why he hasn’t woken up yet?”

“All my scans say that he should be healthy, a little lower than my preferred average for him but within standards, and the scans I acquired from Omega as a basis for the new subspecies show he is progressing along the transformation at a steady rate. Seeing as Omega was awake during this same point her her transformation I am unsure as to why he fainted in the first place let alone why he isn’t waking up despite our best efforts.”

“He’s exhausted,” Omega stated sadly, “I’m pretty sure he hasn’t been sleeping and it looks like he’s lost weight. That and I think his chip is making him confused.”

Tech stared at Omega and knew that all his conscious brothers were doing the same, “And how do you know that?” He asked.

“I can feel him right here,” She stated while tapping her chest like the information should have been obvious and Tech supposed it should have been based on her former statements about biting changing her ‘alone’ status, “and his chip is really loud. I could hear it for a little while and it's been in his head for so long that his normal thoughts are starting to sound like it.”

That was alarming news to hear and it sounded like the rest of the Batch concurred based on the immediate rush of voices clamoring for clarification simultaneously. Tech found himself joining in once he parsed through the information that had come from her previous two sentences.

“Are you saying you can read his mind?” He asked loudly to be heard over all the other voices.

“Umm, Not really I could only hear him when I was biting him.” She responded looking a little overwhelmed. “I also, don’t really know any of those other questions either. But like… I don’t know for sure but I think I’ll be able to tell when he wakes up, I mean, not tell what the answers are, but like I’ll be able to feel it when he wakes up.”

“Hmm, That could prove useful,” Tech mused, “particularly if we need to split up.”

“I would prefer not to split up but we might need to,” Hunter hummed, “Tech, I’m assuming you’ve already got a map and schematics for the place you need to get your information from.”

“Yes unfortunately we will need to get close to the very mansion that we had to pull Omega out of, I am nearly 100% certain that the governor knows about this subspecies and has some sort of desire to become one.”

“What makes you say that?” Echo asked his eyes narrowed at the information.

“Firstly the fact that he had the woman who bit Omega locked away is a good indicator that he at the very least had knowledge about her nature, secondly the methods that the garrison have been using while pursuing us are aimed more towards capturing, and thirdly his hoarding and tampering of the legends and sources that could give hints about the subspecies means he has some sort of vested interest in the subject. Seeing how Omega’s changes have given her significant advantages for, in comparison, little cost, it stands to reason that the governor has a desire to be bitten.”

“Oh yeah, that lady did say that she was in jail for not biting someone,” Omega mused, “I thought that was really weird at the time but I guess it makes sense. She was Alone so anyone she bit would be part of her.”

Tech was fascinated by all these pieces of information that Omega kept dropping. So often instinctual knowledge couldn’t be easily quantified but the fact that she had just explained another seemingly arbitrary rule offhand like it should have been common knowledge showed that there was some sort of knowledge transfer during either the bite or the turning process.

He desperately wanted to see what it was like firsthand.

However, the fact that over 80% of the legends he had found had referred to the subspecies by some variation of ‘cursed darkened slaver life drinker mad uncontrolled bestial monster’ made for a good reason to be cautious. (He had been unwilling to call Omega any variation of the names given and anything useful like an actual scientific name was lost)

“If the governor wants to get bit it explains the differences between the garrison’s tactics and the Empire’s,” Hunter mused focused on the plan directly in front of them and Tech reluctantly turned his thoughts back to the present, “But it also means we’ll need to be more cautious when getting the information, it’s possible he’ll be expecting us to return.”

“We also need to grab the missing parts for the ship,” Echo reminded, ever practical, “I’ve been working on rescrambling our codes so we’ll have a window of anonymity when we reach the city but with our tag-along following they’ll find us pretty quick.”

“So we split up then,” Wrecker said with a shrug, “but we got to make sure someone stays with Crosshair.”

“Agreed,” Hunter said reluctantly, “Echo Tech, you two are on information extraction how long do you think it’ll take?”

“The encryption for the information we want is pretty simple the biggest obstacle is that it can only be accessed roughly on-site. However, once we are in the city grid, between Echo and I, we will be able to access the governor's databases from nearly any terminal in the city. Theoretically, we could get the information from the offices in the landing platform.”

Hunter nodded, “That’s good, the less ground we need to cover the better. Well need the flux cord and a new coupling what are the odds we could find those near by the landing platform?”

“Fairly high actually we are fortunate none of the less common parts were damaged there could be a seller in the hanger bay itself,” Tech replied.

“In hanger prices are bound to be high,” Echo said dryly, “but beggars and choosers and all that.”

“Wrecker and I can get them,” Omega said, “We were already going to get them this morning so we might as well finish what we started.”

“And I’ll stay on ship with Crosshair,” Hunter finished, “we’ll grab what we need and then head out immediately to a different landing bay in the city, that should confuse our pursuers long enough to get the hyperdrive fixed. We can worry about working through the information on Omega’s transformation after we leave.”

A part of Tech wanted to point out that if they left before he could make sure he had all the information it was all the more likely that they would need to head back but… But the Empire KNEW they were on the planet there was no possibility that there weren’t reinforcements heading towards them. The longer they stayed the more danger they would face. The more likely that Crosshair would wake up and choose to leave with the Empire. There was a non-zero chance that Crosshair would wake up and attack (whether with his guns or with his teeth remained to be seen) they had disarmed him but he knew the ship just as well as they did. If he woke up antagonistic towards them and chose to leave Tech wasn’t sure that they’d be able to stop him.

He looked over at the brother in question and he wondered if the rest of the Batch were conscious of the fact that they had all gathered in a circle with Crosshair, still strapped in the safety harness, as a part of them. It made sense. For all that it had been some time since he had been with them that time apart did not erase the years of togetherness before that.

Tech did not want to lose his brother again.

He turned his sight towards Omega whose eyes flashed as they looked to meet his.

Tech had always been pragmatic. He did not like the fact that one of his reasons for desiring the transformation himself was the chance that it would make it more likely for Crosshair to stay. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he did wonder if Omega could make him stay.

But that would not be fair to Crosshair.

It wouldn’t be fair to any of them.

But until Crosshair woke up, there was little point in speculating. For now, he would wait. He would do his best to bring out the best possible outcome as he always did. There was very little he wouldn’t do to keep the Batch together and functioning. But he had seen the consequences of forcibly taken free will, he still woke up sometimes with the ghost of Wrecker’s fingers around his neck. Until he found out exactly what Crosshair wanted he wouldn’t consider the darker options.

(No matter how much he might want to)

Wrecker had figured something was going to go wrong. Their missions never really went ‘right’ they got completed sure, but a plan working exactly as ‘planned’ HA! That happened about as often as sunny days on Kamino.

So when they opened the door to the Maurader and Wrecker was able to clock fourteen ‘hidden’ guards who were watching them closely he wasn’t completely surprised. A bit frustrated sure, a part of him had hoped that Omega suddenly being scary would be enough to offset their mission luck but nope.

So he put his helmet on knowing that his brothers who were behind him and couldn’t see the hanger would understand that they had company and be prepared. Omega was right by his side so he nudged her over shielding her away from prying eyes.

She might be scary now but she was still his responsibility, no one would take her on his watch.

While Wrecker didn’t like the fact that the governor was so determined to recapture Omega he was kind of looking forward to a firefight. Fighting was easy, straightforward, Hunter told him what to hit and he hit it. Tech told him what to break and he broke it, Echo told him what to pick up and he’d pick it up, Crosshair told him what to explode and he’d set an explosive. He trusted that his brothers would know what to do and when they were fighting sometimes they didn’t even really need to say anything. Wrecker knew what to break, explode, pick up, hit, and fight because when they were together he knew that they had his back and he had theirs.

Omega might have been newer but she fit in pretty well in that regard too. He kept an eye out for her, they all did, but she did seem to have a good hold on that ebb and flow of battle, and where best to place herself to keep out of the way. Well usually anyway. And now she was really fast too, maybe she would start joining them for firefights more often now.

The memory of how his whole body had flinched when she growled in that clearing floated through his head but Wrecker didn’t want to be scared. So he wouldn’t be. Omega was Omega and he’d grown up knowing that in any specific situation, his brothers could take him out in their own ways. He hadn’t expected Omega to get her own way to take him out this soon but that just meant that she was growing up!

Echo gave a curse behind him and Wrecker felt more than saw Tech pull out his side blaster. Omega was quiet but she was tense by his side looking around her hand twitching as if wanting to grab her bow but that was back on the ship waiting in line to get fixed after it had been snapped during her most recent kidnapping. Instead, she grabbed her comlink and put it on silent alert which would get Hunter’s attention.

Wrecker walked forward confidently making himself the biggest target he cracked his knuckles and rotated his neck. There were a lot of people he assumed were civvies so he grinned under his helmet and announced himself: “If you weren’t plannin’ to get shot today I suggest you go look for cover!”

The civvies all froze at his shout but the shifty-looking ones panicked and started reaching for their guns. Wrecker pounded his fists with a laugh and charged the nearest two. There were screams as people started running and Echo and Tech having maneuvered themselves and Omega into better positions started shooting stunners at garrison members.

The next few minutes were his favorite kind of chaos. He didn’t stay in the center of the firefight for long, that was a good way to get killed. But he had done his part and gotten the people they didn’t want to fight out quickly and made the ‘hidden’ ones show their hands. Hunter joined them pretty quickly which was good as once the civillians stopped crowding the exits as they fled reinforcements started to come in. Not enough to make Wrecker worried but enough to keep things interesting. At one point he saw Omega slipping behind the abandoned Hanger Bay Store (For All Your Emergency Needs! As the sign said) and figured she had that well in hand.

Or at least he did until he heard her scream.

“Let go of me!”

“Negative. You are the new subject VAMP-02 as VAMP-01 is now deceased.”

The droid that had grabbed her looked different from any other droid Wrecker had ever seen and he had seen a LOT of droids. It looked like a commando droid but with a more bulbous head, maybe a bit like the ancient HK designs but a bit more streamlined. But the weirdest thing about it was how soft it looked.

Oh, it was still made of metal but the metal itself had little nicks that he could tell weren’t from normal wear and tear but the actual material being soft. Even protocol droids had durable chassis this thing looked a bit like it would crumple if he gripped it too hard. Which he planned to do. Omega wasn’t a subject, none of them were anymore, even Crosshair was away from Kamino now. Anyone or anything claiming they were wasn’t just going to crumple, but be torn apart.

Or at least Wrecker would tear the droid apart if Hunter didn’t get there first. Which it looked like he would.

Wrecker fell into line with Echo and Tech as they provided cover for Hunter’s dash across the Hanger. The garrison hadn’t been surprised by the droid and Omega’s shout so for the brief moment while the Batch had adjusted they had pressed the advantage or at least the ones still standing had. Wrecker hated to admit they might be a bit smarter than they looked.

Hunter was making good progress but the droid was moving quickly towards an exit and Wrecker could see Omega snarling or at least trying to as that sound she had made that had rattled his frame wasn’t making a reappearance.

Until it did.

The whole hanger stilled like a nuna in front of a predator. Wrecker could feel his heart pounding but he pushed through it. That was Omega he REFUSED to be scared of Omega.

“Good job! That was a good growl!” His voice didn’t shake at all and Wrecker grinned under his helmet in triumph…or at least he did until Omega’s voice, at a normal level that would have been lost in the firefight but was heard loudly throughout the silent hanger replied.

“That wasn’t me.” Her eyes were locked on the Maurader and a smile started at her lips and pulled tight until she was barring her teeth showing off the long fangs in her mouth.

A perfect shot blew the droid that held her captive’s head clean off.

One of the garrison screamed out: “VAMPIRE!” and the whole room descended into chaos.

Wrecker laughed as relief flooded his system. The sound might not have come from Omega but Crosshair was still his brother, things may have been rough lately but it was so easy to fall into a rhythm with him, scary growling or not.

Crosshair only had a single pistol on him but he was making up for his lack of range with speed. It had been one thing to see Omega race across the clearing that morning in a blur of motion but Crosshair was dodging blaster bolts with how fast he was going. In fact, he seemed to be using some of Wrecker's moves; getting in close and knocking them out with his bare hands. In one case literally throwing a soldier across the room.

It looked like fun.

Maybe he should have stayed back like Tech and Echo but the garrison was running scared. Their aiming wasn’t up to Kamino standard before but now it was just shoddy. Some of them were trying to treat their little handguns like automatics and the resulting shots weren’t even leaving blast marks they weren’t charged enough. So Wrecker jumped over his stack of cargo boxes and threw himself into the fray.

He always did love a good old-fashioned brawl.

He trusted his brothers to have his back if anyone with actual aim got too close and he vaguely saw Hunter and Omega slowly maneuvering to join Echo and Tech in a sort of flanking maneuver but Wrecker was having too much fun throwing people around the room. At one point he and Crosshair were back to back and all Wrecker could feel was exhilaration.

This was exactly where he wanted to be.

In seconds the last guard got shot down with a stunner from Hunter as he was running away. And the hanger quieted to just the losers moaning on the floor.

“HA! Now tha’s what I’m talkin’ abou’!” Wrecker yelled as he pulled off his helmet to give Crosshair a wild grin, “Let’s do tha’ again!” he shouted as he gave Crosshair a soft(ish) pat on the back.

Unlike normally Crosshair barely budged at the slap instead Wrecker had about two seconds to meet his youngest brother’s eyes with his pupils wider than Wrecker had ever seen them before there was suddenly a blur of movement and a painful pinch as Crosshair buried his teeth in his neck.

Huh…

That didn’t hurt as bad as he thought it would.

He’d been scared when he had seen Omega biting Crosshair. He never did like it when his siblings hurt each other accidentally or otherwise.

Probably because he was the one with the most accidents in total.

Pain was a part of life but hurting the people he cared about always sucked because when the people he cared about hurt he hurt too.

So it was nice to know the biting thing didn’t really hurt.

He felt kind of floaty actually.

He could still feel the adrenaline from the fight and he could feel Crosshair clinging to his arm so he would be high enough to reach his neck. He could hear Echo’s cry of “No”, Tech’s “How?”, Hunter’s “Stop”, and Omega’s “That’s not fair!”

But mostly he could feel Crosshair.

Crosshair was scared and determined and so, so, so lonely.

That loneliness reached towards Wrecker and it ached like a terrible bruise all over his heart. Wrecker had missed Crosshair so much and the fact that Crosshair had been missing them as well hurt deeply so it was satisfying when Wrecker’s longing hit Crosshair’s loneliness and shrunk the emotion down to quiet whispers rather than the mildly overwhelming power it had been before.

“I’m so sorry.”

Wrecker knew the words weren’t spoken out loud, as Crosshair still had his teeth in his neck. (Something was spreading from the bite, it burned down his veins, not painful but powerful, distinct.) But even so, Wrecker couldn’t help but answer out loud, AND in the strange place that seemed to be made up of the bond he knew he shared with all his brothers but was now a real place rather than just a feeling.

“It’s okay Cross, we missed you so much.”

He shifted Crosshair’s body so that Wrecker was carrying him like he had when they were little hundreds of memories of them doing that exact thing passed between them. Crosshair hadn’t ever wanted to be seen as needy so it was only when he was tired on the verge of passing out that he would let Wrecker carry him back to their room. Wrecker had thought that most of the time Crosshair WAS completely passed out but he was happy to find that more often than not Crosshair had been pretending to be asleep so that he could curl into Wrecker’s hugs and close his eyes and pretend that the whole world wasn’t there.

Both of their perspectives kind of mingled. Of holding and being held and they hadn’t really ever said it. Saying things out loud was always a risk when someone could overhear and use it against them. But Wrecker loved Crosshair, and Crosshair loved Wrecker. It wasn’t complicated. They hadn’t ‘needed’ to say it, it was just a fact. Like Kamino being wet, or stars being hot. They were brothers, it was simple.

Or at least it hadn’t needed to be said until Wrecker was poking absently at the bacta patch on his chest feeling the ache that came from a perfectly accurate shot, even against his reinforced armor. It hadn’t needed to be voiced until Crosshair was staring at their ship flying away and leaving him behind. Wrecker’s surety had been shaken when the ion engine had started to power up with them all in it. And Crosshair’s understanding had been burned away by the same engine. (And by the constant fury that seemed to come at the thought of not following orders)

But now Wrecker was sure again.

This whole place was made up of the fact that they loved each other. Crosshair was still his brother. Wrecker could forgive everything else.

Crosshair was still scared, and Wrecker figured he would be until Hunter, Tech, and Echo were all there with them in the warm, quiet connection. Omega was already there, solid and centered like there was a tie running from him to Crosshair to her. It was electric and comforting at the same time.

Wrecker was confident that they would figure things out. He’d been scared of the whole biting thing before, but if it made it so that Crosshair could know for sure that they had missed him, (If it could make it so that they all could feel the sorrow that Crosshair felt in turn) then Wrecker was all for it! He’d bite them all himself if that’s what it came down to.

Wrecker knew what he wanted, he could tell that Omega wanted it too, and even if Crosshair wasn’t completely sure yet Wrecker was going to make sure that they all got there.

No matter what.

Echo was so done with this planet.

He didn’t often wish for changes in the past, (that led to thinking of Fives and of explosions and limbs that were flesh instead of metal) but Force did he wish they they had been able to get off planet the first time they tried. The governor was annoying, the fact that Empire had just so happened to be there at the same time was annoying, and the whole concept of a subspecies that could spread through biting was especially annoying.

(Though the fact that Crosshair was at least tentatively back with them was nice… for as long as it would last at least)

He was also feeling done with his siblings.

Biting was unsanitary even in the best of circumstances. Battlefields were never places of the best circumstances. But Instead of waiting till a better time, Omega had bitten Crosshair in the middle of a stand-off in the woods. In THE WOODS. Crosshair had then promptly passed out not giving Echo any reassurance that anything was okay. Maybe he was channeling his inner Kix but somehow he found a smidge of gratitude that Crosshair had at least waited until the fight was over. But then the fact that he was grateful caught up with him and he realized how ridiculous it was that he was looking for a silver lining in the fact his siblings were biting each other and drinking each other's blood.

(Crosshair was practically radiating contentment and Wrecker had their normally prickly brother held in a tight embrace… Echo missed that level of closeness. He and the Batch had been getting there and then Order 66 happened and suddenly everything was tense again.)

Yep, he was rather done.

“Crosshair! You bit him without permission!” Omega stamped her foot angrily, and repeated the words she had shouted when they had all first reacted to the unexpected bite, “That’s not fair!”

“I would never,” Crosshiar snarled, and Echo sighed internally. This was literally a repeat of what had happened this morning. He just hoped Wrecker didn’t faint. He was a lot harder to carry around than Crosshair was.

“Wrecker told me I could bite him anytime it would gain me an advantage in a fight.,” Crosshair said with a sniff and Echo almost missed the quick movement where Crosshair licked the wound he had just created. Just like earlier with Omega, the saliva or venom or whatever chemical cocktail that could change a person’s species, healed the incision leaving closed skin behind. Which was good as Crosshair’s bite looked a lot messier than the one Omega had given him earlier. It didn’t look like Crosshair’s teeth were quite as sharp as hers yet.

“I did say that,” Wrecker stated happily, “biting is always a valid tactic for brawling. No matter what Hunter says.”

Echo ignored Hunter’s sigh as Tech spoke up, “If my memory is correct that conversation would have happened nearly six years ago.” His tone was dry and Echo could concur with the annoyed undertones. But Crosshair always did have the ability to push the limits of everyone’s patience.

“That still counts as permission,” Crosshair snapped.

“It probably shouldn’t have,” Echo muttered. He didn’t like the idea of something so small as a bite being able to change him so completely but there were a lot of things like that. A single shot could take a life or save one. A solid plan could change the shape of a battlefield. A simple explosion could steal his limbs.

Small things that had changed his life whether he wanted it or not happened all the time. He could hide behind worries about the unsanitary nature of it all he wanted but that wouldn’t change his real fear.

He’d been changed against his will before.

But he’d also chosen to change before as well.

Echo knew which scenario he preferred. He just wasn’t sure which one was going to happen in this case. Change was coming. He could feel it. He wouldn’t get out of this unbitten. Or at least he wouldn’t be able to continue working with the Bad Batch without future bite marks. He could leave and go work with Rex again. It was a thought that crossed his mind often. But the Bad Batch were his team. They worked well with him and around him in a way that really only Fives had before.

If he left he’d miss them.

He might still get to see them sometimes.

But no matter what the empire claimed in many ways the galaxy was still at war.

And in war, there were no guarantees on reunions.

It was one of the reasons he had stayed with them in the first place. Echo would always put his brothers (and sister) first. But he had a lot of brothers, (So did the batch even if they didn’t realize it) and with the galaxy in chaos, all Echo really wanted to do was help.

So once again his internal question came back to what was the best way to help? (Now with added questions about biting and the pros and cons of changing species… joy. Echo was SO done with this planet.)

“I’m not completely sure how this works,” Hunter started with a sigh, “But Crosshair, would you please tell Wrecker that he has to ask permission first before he bites anyone?”

“Why should I?” Crosshair hissed and Echo just knew that the sniper was being contrary just to hide his own unease with the situation.

“Because it’s the only fair option for them,” Omega said, her voice firm, “I want to bite them all so badly, but it would be wrong if we took away their choice.”

“You didn’t get a choice,” Crosshair snarled even as he slid off of Wrecker’s shoulder, “your sire didn’t have that limitation so why should we?”

“That limitation will only last as long as the compulsion lasts,” Omega stated clearly “And it’s a safeguard against the initial transformation cravings. If I hadn’t had those Three Things, I could have hurt everyone and not even noticed until I was full. You know that Wrecker wouldn’t want to hurt anyone either.” She ended her voice firm and there was a faint staticky edge to it like there was something that wasn’t translating well on his ear ports.

Echo wondered where her knowledge was coming from. She had stated earlier that she didn’t really know what was going on but now she was talking like she did know exactly what was going on. He wished he knew what was going on even with her explanation he felt like he was missing half the picture. Still, it was nice to know that Omega was looking out for them in her own way even if she had new instincts that could cause harm.

That was a con on the list for being bitten.

The way that Crosshair nodded in deference to Omega’s words was another con. Crosshair wouldn’t normally concede that fast but because Omega was the one who asked he had deferred to her.

Though to be fair, they all had a soft spot for Omega but the light in Crosshair’s eyes wasn’t fond indulgence but the look of a loyal subordinate. Echo was a soldier he had worn that look himself. But only after he had gotten to know and trust the leaders he had chosen to follow. Crosshair had barely spent a few hours total with Omega.

That the bite could make that sort of bond was kind of terrifying. He was glad that Omega had gotten it before Crosshair at least. (he supposed that was a pro)

Crosshair turned towards Wrecker who hadn’t looked away from Crosshair the whole time.

“She’s right,” Wrecker stated, “I don’ want to hurt you guys.”

“I know,” Crosshair muttered his voice so soft it barely registered to Echo’s ears before he cleared his throat and spoke clearer, “So stay by people who care about you, you oaf, and don’t bi-”

There was the sound of a shot and some device hit Wrecker in the back before exploding into electricity, causing the giant to give an aborted shout and fall to the ground twitching.

“WRECKER!” Omega screamed as they all spun towards where the shot had come from pulling up their guns in defense. Another shot sounded but nearly simultaneously Echo saw the flash of Crosshair’s gun going off and the electric device exploded mid-air.

“Fall back to the Maurader!” Hunter barked out, he and Tech were pulling on Wrecker’s unconscious form and Echo pushed down the familiar pang of wishing for a second hand to help with but he made do with his one hand to fire back at what looked like several sniper holes higher up in the walls.

“I’ve got him,” Omega said and Echo nearly dropped his own gun when he saw her pick up their largest brother on her own. It was a nearly comical image Wrecker’s form should have been too large for her to even budge and it was an awkward hold but she had grabbed his breastplate and shouldered the majority of his weight to her slim shoulders. His limbs dragged at the ground as they were about as long as Omega was tall but she was already moving away quickly showing no sign of strain.

Echo begrudgingly added increased strength to his list of pros.

He wasn’t the only one surprised by Omega’s sudden display, Hunter made a choked sound and the distraction cost him. A stun bolt hit him straight in the head and Echo cried out as Hunter went down.

Crosshair gave another snarl and in a feat that shouldn’t have been possible jumped up towards the nearest sniper window, gripped the edge, grabbed the barrel of the gun, and ripped it out of the assailent’s hands.

Tech had grabbed onto Hunter and was following Omega towards the ship when Omega suddenly gave out a cry and fell to the ground. Echo continued to blast and did his best to keep all his squad mates in sight. But there was too much happening at the same time.

Another droid that looked like the first one that had grabbed Omega earlier was in her path and it had done something to make physics suddenly realize its error in letting a young girl hold a nearly four-hundred-pound trooper above her head and Omega had collapsed.

Crosshair had been jumping window to window like he was rock climbing a mountain and not a near smooth wall of durasteel but when he went to disarm the next sniper window they were ready and Echo watched with a sense of dread as another electric burst caused his silver hair brother to fall to the ground with a thud.

Echo met Tech’s eyes and they both knew that there wasn’t going to be a way out of this. Echo felt a stun blast clip his side. Not enough to knock him straight out but enough to send him to his knees. He took a second to be grateful that he had gotten stunned rather than electrocuted. That would have been hell on his prosthetics. But it was a bitter silver lining, all it really did was let him watch as Tech also went to his knees in surrender, though apparently not fast enough for their attackers as a stun bolt hit his polymath brother making Echo twitch with helplessness.

Echo fell to his side breathing heavily as he tried to keep his eyes open. The droid had pulled Omega out from under Wrecker and she was struggling too but for some reason, the silver droid seemed to cancel out her extra strength.

“Affirmation: We have successfully apprehended subject VAMP-02 and their accomplices and have confirmed the existence of new subjects VAMP-03 and VAMP-04. Shall I take them to the Gallery Master?”

“Do so,” A male voice said, “I’ll need some time to redirect the empire but that will give our new subjects plenty of time to get thirsty.”

Echo’s consciousness was fading fast but he had enough time to add crazy governors to his con list.