Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Fer… Fera…” He tried to grab hold of consciousness but the heat tearing through him made the handholds slippery, “Feral?”.

“C… Cut?” He asked weakly.

“Yeah, it’s me, there are some people who would like to say hello.” Cut’s hand appeared on his forehead, “Suu has let them through, so you know they’re safe.”

“O… okay…” He nodded sluggishly, he tried with all his might to keep his hold but it was hard, he couldn’t see, he couldn’t smell, he was struggling to breathe…

“Kid.” He felt a new hand appear on his forehead, “Can you hear me?”

“H… Hunter?” He could barely think, was the older clone real, was he here and had kept his promise? Or was this a fever dream? “You… you’re here?” He somehow managed to raise his arm, feeling around for his brother’s face, he had to make sure.

“Yes, I’m here.” Hunter replied and that strong hand took hold of his small one and held it to the older clone’s rough cheek, he stubble prickled his too warm skin, “Cut called for us, told us where you were.”

“I… knew you’d come back for me…” He said weakly as he started to lose the fight with consciousness.

“Don’t worry kid, we’ll still be here when you wake up.” Hunter said gently as he rested his hand on Feral’s small chest, just like he used to do, like he did for so long.

“You… came…” He went limp as he lost his hold on consciousness.

-

Hunter had never descended the steps faster in his entire life then he had once they touched down, Shaeeah and Jek met them on the strip so they could bring them to the Lawquane home, to where Cut had said Feral was, “Cut.” He said once they arrived.

“He’s in really bad shape and there isn’t a guarantee he’ll make it through, so… be prepared.” Cut sighed, “I’ll go see if he’s conscious.” Hunter looked to the others, Echo and Omega looked confused by the situation but Hunter couldn’t blame them, “Yeah, it’s me, there are some people who would like to say hello.” Cut’s voice appeared from the room, “Suu has let them through, so you know they’re safe.”

“O… okay…” He felt fear grip his heart at the small voice of his baby brother, he sounded like he was in so much pain, like he was suffering so much.

“Hunter.” Cut appeared in the doorway, “Come.” He didn’t need to be told twice, “Be gentle, he’s pretty out of it… we have him on pain meds but he’s still in a lot of pain.”

“Okay.” He nodded but froze when he saw Feral in the bunk, his head and face were bandaged, as were his hands, neck and torso, “Kid…”

“He can’t see or smell right now, he’s going to rely on sound and touch.” Cut’s hand appeared on his shoulder.

“Yeah… okay…” He moved into the room and knelt down, “Kid? Can you hear me?” He asked as he carefully put his hand on Feral’s head, the heat coming off him was bordering on dangerous.

“H… Hunter?” He almost started crying at the weakness in Feral’s voice and movements, he quickly took hold of Feral’s small hand when it raised, obviously looking for him, “You… you’re here?”

“Yes, I’m here.” He replied gently as he held Feral’s bandaged hand to his cheek, he had to let him know he was real and there, “Cut called for us, told us where you were.” He knew how much danger Cut was putting himself in just taking Feral in, not to mention getting in contact with them.

“I… knew you’d come back for me…” Feral smiled weakly under his mask, which fogged up with each breath.

“Don’t worry kid, we’ll still be here when you wake up.” He smiled as he carefully rested his hand on Feral’s small chest, hoping that would give his baby brother some comfort, Feral was losing the fight with consciousness but he would wake up again and all of his family would be with him, he would meet their new siblings, he didn’t know how Feral would react to Crosshair’s absence but that was a concern for later, because right now Feral had to fight.

“You… came…” He felt Feral go boneless, he couldn’t completely squash down his terror at the sensation but he knew Feral would pull through this.

“Yeah… I did.” He said gently, “I promised after all.”

“Did he have his pack on him when he arrived?” He heard Tech ask.

“He had nothing but his pack.” Cut replied, “Jek, go grab Feral’s pack.”

“Yes sir!” He heard Jek before the boy’s footsteps went further away.

“Hunter?” He blinked and looked to Echo, “Who is he?”

“This… is Feral, he’s our brother.” He replied as Echo moved around to the other side of Feral’s bunk, “He’s the one we were contacting General Plo about… I guess not even someone as strong as General Plo could stop this…”

He watched Feral relax a little when Echo put his hand on his forehead, “He’s so small.” The man said after a moment’s thought and silence, “Why is he so small?”

“He’s been designed to be physically smaller than everyone.” He looked to Feral again, he wondered if there was anyway to save Feral’s sight but would it make his life harder? Or would there be a noticeable difference?

“Hunter.” He blinked again and looked to Wrecker, he wasn’t sure how someone as big as Wrecker could sneak up on him but then again he was very distracted, “She’s here.” He looked to the bantha plush being held in the giant’s huge hand, she always looked so big when Feral held her but she was actually as small as Lula.

“Do you want Minnow?” He asked Feral… no reply… “Okay, she’ll help us keep you safe and warm vod’ika.”

“I brought Lula too, she’ll help Minnow.” Wrecker said gently.

“Sleep easy… we’ll stay with you.”

Chapter Text

“Any change?” Echo looked to Omega as she entered the small room.

“No, his fever hasn’t broken.” He looked back to the small form of Feral, the young clone was coated in sweat, his breathing was short and strained as it rattled in his small chest.

“If it continues… it can be really bad for him.” She said as she went to Feral’s side, taking his bandaged hand in hers, Feral’s hands were almost as small as hers were, the kid was just small.

“Yeah but he’s suffered a major physical trauma, which was untreated for an unknown amount of time, he’s going to need a lot of help through this.” He knew how much danger Cut and his family were putting themselves in just helping Feral but their farm was far enough from the nearest town that they had some form of privacy but not far enough that they couldn’t get help if needed.

It was some miracle that Feral had managed to land on the exact planet Cut and Suu had relocated too, “I wonder what happened to him?” She moved Feral’s arm around his plush bantha so he was hugging her more and pulled the blanket up over his small frame.

“Hunter was saying that they had left him with General Plo when he took medical leave from active duty, so in all probability he was with the Wolfpack when they turned, if he wasn’t effected by the order then he might have been seen as a traitor.” He sighed, “They turned on him, how he got out of there is another question.”

“Oh…” She looked back to Feral, who was shivering and squirming as the fever tore through him.

“How much physical damage they caused him will be nothing compared to the mental damage he’ll suffered at the hands of brothers.” Echo hated the idea that someone like Feral, whom Hunter said didn’t have a fighting bone in his body, who couldn’t fight a direct order from a superior, had been put in a situation of fighting for his life when he was on the bottom of the ladder.

“We’ll help him.” Omega smiled to him.

“Course we will.” He smiled in return, “That’s what family does.”

“I… I can’t… where…” Feral muttered as he tried to raise an arm, “He… he said…”

“Feral?” Echo stood quickly and went to Feral’s side, resting his hand on the young clone’s forehead, the fever was in his brain, “Easy vod, you’re okay… Omega, go get help.”

“Mm.” She nodded and left.

“Shh, you’re okay.” Echo said gently as he tried to smooth the lines of pain from Feral’s features, “No need to be scared, you’re safe.”

“Echo.” He looked to the door as Hunter and Cut entered.

“Fever’s taken hold in his brain.” He explained.

“Suu is contacting a medic in town.” Cut said, “Should be here soon.”

“His brain is overheating and it’s making him scared.” He said to Hunter when the Sergeant went to Feral’s side.

“Kid? It’s okay, I’m here.” Hunter said as he rested one hand on Feral’s chest and the other took hold of Feral’s hand in order to bring it to his cheek, letting the young clone know he wasn’t alone.

“You… you came…?” Feral slurred.

“Yeah, I came back for you kid.” Hunter replied gently, “Your family is here with you, you’re not alone.”

“I’m… scared…” Feral replied weakly.

“And that’s okay, this is a scary situation for you, you’re allowed to be scared… right Echo?” Hunter looked to him.

“Absolutely.” He smiled and rested his hand on Feral’s head again, “Right Cut?”

“I’d be terrified if I was in your situation.” Cut smiled gently.

“Do you want something to drink?” Hunter asked, “It’ll help you feel a bit better.”

“M… mm…” Feral managed a weak nod.

“Okay, Echo, a little help.” Hunter looked to him and he nodded, between the two of them they managed to get Feral up far enough that Hunter could get behind him, using himself to support his brother, “There we go, can you breath better?”

Feral’s breathing did sound better now that he was elevated somewhat, “Here, water.” Echo handed over the tumbler, which had a straw in it for some reason… but if Feral was permanently confined to a mask, then it made sense that he would need a straw to get fluids into him.

“Thanks Echo.” Hunter smiled as he took the tumbler, “Easy kid, small sips.” Echo couldn’t remember how many times Hunter and the Batch had done this for him when he was in the throes of night fevers, maybe they learned how to do it with Feral? “There we go, feel any better?” Hunter asked softly and he noticed that a lot of tension bled from Feral’s frame at the sensation of the older clone’s frame rumbling when he talked.

“M… mm…” Feral managed, he probably didn’t even know which way was up right now given his brain trying to cook itself but he clearly knew who Hunter was, who Cut was, he didn’t know Echo but Echo hoped to rectify that once the young clone was better, he hoped Feral would associate his scent as safe, as a brother’s scent. Hunter explained that it had taken them a long time to get Feral to trust them completely, that because of his first squad and the other regs he was with, the young clone couldn’t trust anyone, he couldn’t feel safe because he was waiting for the abuse, the pain and horrible words… which made Echo feel all kinds of negative emotions.

“The medic will be here soon.” Suu said as she appeared.

“Great to hear.” Cut replied with a firm nod, Echo hoped Feral would associate him with safety, that he would associate Omega with safety, to be Feral’s brother… he associated Cut and Suu as safe and he hoped that it wouldn’t take as long as it took the Batch to gain his trust.

Feral would survive this.

Chapter Text

“Hunter, we need to move.” He looked to the door as Echo appeared with Wrecker, “Tech’s picked up comm chatter, Empire’s looking for us.”

“Kark, okay, Wrecker help me with Feral.” He looked to their baby brother, he was in no condition to move but they couldn’t leave him with Cut and Suu, that would put them in far more danger than they needed.

“H… Hunter?” Feral asked weakly as he moved the small clone enough that Wrecker could pick him up.

“Easy kid, we have to make a grand escape but don’t worry, you’re coming too.” He replied gently.

“M… mm.” Feral nodded slowly, “C… cold…”

“We’ll wrap you up when we get home, okay?” He smiled softly.

“O… okay…” Feral nodded again.

“Here, bundle him up in this.” Suu said as she arrived, producing a green jumper that was identical to the blue one she’d given him before, “His blue one is in his pack but he could do with a spare.”

“Doesn’t your husband need it?” He asked with a small smile.

“It’s too small for him.” She replied with a smile, “Which means it will still be too big for Feral.”

“True.” He chuckled, “Okay, help me put it on him, then you can pick him up Wrecker.” Wrecker nodded and between the three of them they wrapped Feral up in the thick green fabric and bundled him into Wrecker’s waiting arms. He knew this was a karking terrible idea, Feral was still in the grip of a debilitating fever and moving him could cause more harm to him but they were being hunted, Cut and Suu had each other and their children to think about, keeping Feral here would put them in a lot of danger.

“I have his pack.” Echo said, “Here’s… what’s her name?”

“Minnow.” Hunter replied as he helped Feral hug her to his chest, “You ready to go home kid?”

“M… mm…” Feral nodded weakly.

“Stay safe, all of you.” Suu said.

“Hunter, take this, it’s the contact information for a man on Naboo, he’s a medic and will help you with Feral.” Cut placed a code cylinder in his hand, “I was going to contact him but…”

“Will he help us? He doesn’t know us?” Hunter was cautious and confused.

“He and his cyar’ika help any clone fleeing the Empire, they may not be able to keep you long term but they will do everything they can to help Feral get better.” Cut nodded, “I trust him whole heartedly.”

“He’s a clone?” He blinked.

“Yes, served with him in the first battle, saved my hide… now go, get to Naboo and stay out of trouble.” Cut put his hand on Hunter’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze, “We’ll be okay, we’re survivors.”

“Okay… stay safe, both of you.” He nodded, “And thank you… for saving him and keeping him safe.”

“We never turn away those in need.” Cut replied, “We always help anyone we can.”

“Hunter, we need to bail.” Wrecker said from the top of the steps.

“Keep them alive.” Cut gave Hunter’s shoulder another squeeze.

“You too Cut.” He nodded and ascended the steps quickly, watching the two as the ramp came back up.

“We have Feral bundled up on the bottom rack.” Echo said and Hunter looked to the racks, to the small clone bundled up on his side with a cold pack on his still bandaged head, which was resting on Lula and was hugging Minnow tight in his arms.

“Okay, Cut gave us a contact… says he’ll help us.” Hunter looked to Echo as they took off, “He’s on Naboo, Cut says he and his partner help clones trying to escape the Empire.”

“He trusts him?” Echo asked with a raised eyebrow.

“With his life apparently.” He replied with a frown, “Tech, set a course for Naboo.”

“Oh? Why Naboo?” Tech asked in confusion.

“Cut has a contact there, said he’d help us.” He replied and handed over the code cylinder.

“I have heard of this man, he was a medic stationed on Kamino.” Tech said after a moment, then looked up from his datapad, “Many trainees have called him the hardest taskmaster on Kamino…”

“He doesn’t sound nice…” Omega said in a small voice.

“Cut trusts him so we have to too if we’re going to help Feral.” He looked towards the racks again, Wrecker was with Feral and helping him drink something, “His condition isn’t going to get better with our non-existent medical supplies, we need help.”

“Okay… but we bail at the first sign of trouble.” Echo frowned.

“That’s the plan.” Hunter nodded, “Suu told me that the town medic said that there’s little chance Feral will be able to see again…”

“Given how poor his eyesight was before all of this, I do not believe it will hamper him too much.” Tech explained, “It may be a shock but he at least knows the layout of our ship… who is going to tell him about Crosshair?”

“We’ll deal with that once he’s better…” Hunter sighed, he wasn’t looking forward to that conversation but once Feral recovered he was going to realize that Crosshair wasn’t with them and that Hunter hadn’t kept his promise to never leave any of them behind, “No point in trying to talk to him in this state, he barely knows which way is up right now.”

“Hunter.” He looked back to the young clone and Wrecker when the giant called for him.

“What’s wrong?” He asked once he’d closed the distance in far less steps than he figured possible.

“He’s scared.” Wrecker replied as he stood up.

“Kid?” Hunter asked as he knelt down in front of Feral, “Don’t worry I’m here.” He carefully placed his hand on Feral’s small shoulder… he’d almost forgotten just how small Feral actually was, “See?” He held Feral’s hand to his cheek to show his brother he was still with him.

“H… Hunter?” Feral asked weakly.

“Yeah, don’t worry… you’re safe.”

Chapter Text

“Where’s it gone!?” Hunter was dragged from his datapad by the pained and panicked voice of Feral, “Why did you take it off!?”

“Kark.” He hissed as he moved towards the workshop.

“What… what are you talking about?” Omega’s voice appeared, “You need to lie back down.”

“No!” Feral replied as his voice cracked.

“Kid.” Hunter said as he entered, stopping when he saw Feral standing with his back to the wall, his hands around his throat and sweat sticking his tank vest to his body like a second skin, “Easy kid… you’re okay.” He knew what this was, the fever was so close to killing him at this point that he was hallucinating and falling back in time.

“Where’s… where’s it gone!?” Feral repeated but didn’t fight when Hunter carefully took hold of his small bandaged hands and moved them away from his neck, then put one of them against his cheek, “H… Hunter?”

“Yeah, I’m here kid.” He replied gently, “Don’t worry, it’s gone and it’s never coming back.”

“R… really?” Feral asked weakly, his mask was fogging up with each exhale.

“Yes but you’re hurt and need sleep, okay?” He smiled because even though Feral couldn’t see it, he could hear it, “And when you wake up we’ll be on Naboo.”

“N… Naboo?” Feral didn’t fight him when he guided him back to the racks.

“I think you’ll love it there, I’ve heard it is beautiful and one hundred percent guaranteed to smell amazing.” He chuckled, “But first you need to sleep some more, okay?”

“O… okay…” Feral nodded and lay down on the bottom rack, his head resting on Lula and Minnow was hugged tight to his chest when Hunter helped him take hold of her.

“Sleep easy kid…” He placed another cold pack on Feral’s head and with a weak nod Feral stilled.

“What happened?” Echo asked, “Didn’t want to jump in… he might’ve freaked out at a reg voice.”

“We need to get to Naboo as fast as we can… his brain is starting to fail…” He sighed, he couldn’t stand the idea of losing Feral so close to finding him again.

“Tech said we’ll be exiting hyperspace soon, we just need to make sure he’s alive when we get there.” Echo sighed also and placed his hand on Hunter’s shoulder, “What did he mean?”

“What?” Hunter blinked and looked to the other man.

“He… he asked where it was and where it’d gone…” Omega said once she’d finally left the workshop.

“Oh…” He sighed again and went to the galley, he didn’t like the fact that they’d kept it but he felt that it was part of Feral… even if it was a vile and disgusting part of him… “When we met him, he was welded into this.” He opened the small case and showed them the collar.

The first one…

Commander Wolffe had gotten rid of the second one…

“His first squad did it to him and when we first met him he was so convinced that he deserved to be in it and that he deserved the name they gave him.” He hated it, the fact that that bunch of wasted genetic data had done this to a brother, a small and scared clone that just needed someone to love him and accept him, “When we managed to get him out of it he freaked out and asked those questions before we had to sedate him.”

“So he’s falling into fever induced flashbacks?” Echo asked after a moment of silence, his voice hard and angry.

“Yeah.” He hated this, “As to why he was protecting his neck… it’s the first place he knows a reg will go for because that’s how it always went when a reg turned on him… thankfully he hasn’t started asking where Crosshair is… if it wasn’t me beside him when he woke up in medical… it was Crosshair.”

“We’ll deal with that when the time comes, okay?” Echo smiled to him.

“Yeah!” Omega said with a nod, “Until then we’ll keep him safe from the scary medic.”

“Dropping out of hyperspace!” Tech called from the cockpit.

“He okay?” Wrecker asked in a small voice.

“For the moment…” He sat down and ran his hand over his face, “Any information on these medics?”

“Cut’s main contact is CT-8434 under the name ‘Stitches’, he was based out of Kamino and is a gen one medic who was amongst the first medics to make landfall on Geonosis…” Tech replied, “The man Cut referred to as Stitches’ cyar’ika is CT-1901 ‘Sawbones’, he was a medic based out of Coruscant and it appears that he has his batch with him also.”

“What about Stitches’ batch?” Omega asked and Hunter saw Tech’s form change as he read the information.

“They were marked as KIA a few months into the war, he was the only survivor out of the five.” Tech fixed his goggles even though they weren’t falling down.

“Right… sore subject then.” Echo replied his mouth a thin line, he knew what it was like but he at least had one brother left after losing the others and was out of commission when Fives died.

“Let’s not poke the scary medic then, don’t even want to know what he’ll do in retaliation…” Hunter grumbled as he massaged his forehead, “We need their help…”

“Don’t worry Hunter, we’ll get Feral help.” Wrecker nudged him, Hunter knew that there was a reason he was the one to go to Feral and not the others, as Echo said it was because Feral would probably freak out at the voice of a reg, Tech and Wrecker probably believed that Hunter was the best option in getting Feral to calm down again…

“I hope so…” He replied, he didn’t want to lose Feral, he didn’t want to lose any of his brothers but he’d just gotten Feral back and he refused to let his brother go even if he had to fight death…

“I really do.”

Chapter Text

“This place is so pretty!” Omega said excitedly as they touched down on the platform, it wasn’t the capital but it was no less beautiful with the sea of grass that made up the lake country surrounding it on three sides, “I don’t… I didn’t think there was so much green in the whole Galaxy.”

“We’ll explore after, first we need to get Feral treatment.” Hunter sighed, it was moments like these that forced the realization that Omega was a child that had never been off of Kamino in her life…

“Regs on the platform.” Wrecker frowned, “No armor… civvie clothes.”

“That must be CT-1901’s family.” Tech replied as he fixed his goggles.

“Okay… Echo, with me.” Hunter looked to their ori’vod, who nodded in reply, “You three get Feral ready to move.”

“Affirmative.” Tech nodded.

“They don’t look like a threat… no weapons that I can see.” Wrecker looked to him with a weird expression.

“Wish Feral’s nose worked right now.” He frowned in return, then sighed and hit the steps, they weren’t in danger… he really hoped they weren’t in danger but these regs were in civvie clothes, they didn’t have weapons but that didn’t mean they weren’t a threat because a soldier needed to know how to fight without weapons.

“Sergeant Hunter?” One of the men asked.

“Yes…?” He blinked.

“Sergeant Grim, well, we don’t go by rank here so Grim will do and these are Speedy and Madcap.” The man nodded as he motioned to his brothers, “Cut was in touch with us and gave us the run down on the situation, the clinic isn’t far so is your brother able to be moved or…”

“At this point moving him won’t make it any worse for him…” Hunter sighed, then looked to Wrecker as he appeared holding Feral in his arms, the young clone was shaking and shivering despite the warmth of Naboo and the double layer of jumpers he was wrapped in.

“Damn… Cut wasn’t kidding…” The man called Speedy said, “We need to get a move on!”

“Agreed, follow us.” Grim nodded and motioned for them to follow.

“Hunter… he’s scared.” Wrecker whispered to him as they moved quickly through the streets.

“Easy kid, no need to be scared.” He replied gently and carefully moved Feral’s hand so he could put it against his cheek, he needed Feral to know that he wasn’t alone, “We’re here for you.” He smiled when Feral’s form relaxed a little, the young clone was running on sound and touch for the little environmental input his brain was registering.

“Emergency has arrived.” Grim said as they entered the small clinic and Hunter saw two regs standing in the main area clearly waiting on them.

“Sergeant Hunter I assume?” The reg with very non-regulation head and facial hair asked with a raised eyebrow and it took Hunter a brief second to shake the stun out of his head at the sight of a massive scar running across the man’s face.

That must be Stitches…

“Y… yes and this is Feral, he’s the emergency.” He motioned to Feral, who was still shaking in Wrecker’s arms.

“Oh dear!” The other reg, presumably Sawbones, said and moved to Wrecker, giving Feral a quick once over, “He needs treatment quickly.”

“Let’s get him seen to.” The man Hunter assumed to be Stitches said and motioned for Wrecker follow him, “You follow as well Sergeant.”

“Y… yes sir.” He nodded and moved with Wrecker.

“I’m Sawbones by the way and this kind and loving man is Stitches.” Sawbones smiled to them as he motioned to the man who didn’t look that way but very much looked like he ate nails for breakfast, “Don’t worry because as Colt used to say, he’s tame.” Sawbones chuckled when Stitches grumbled.

“H… Hunter…?” Feral asked in such a small voice that if Hunter hadn’t been paying attention he wouldn’t have heard him, “I… I’m…”

“Don’t worry kid, I’m with you.” He said gently to Feral, carefully holing his hand to his cheek again.

“In here.” Stitches said as he opened a cubicle door, “Place him down and tell us what you know.”

“We don’t know anything really… we had left him with General Plo and the 104th due to him taking medical leave… how he got away from them with his life none of us know because he hasn’t been able to tell us, his fever hasn’t gotten any better and as of two hours ago his brain is making him fall into the past.” He hated not knowing, he hated not being able to tell the medics anything concrete.

“Easy vod’ika…” Wrecker said as he carefully placed Feral down on the bunk, “We’re still here.”

“Cut mentioned that he and Suu had Feral treated when he arrived.” Sawbones frowned as they eased Feral out of his two jumpers.

“Yeah but the Empire was breathing down our necks and they had themselves and their kids to think about, harboring Feral alone was dangerous enough but when Cut contacted us they were put in more danger.” He sighed, “So we all made the decision to get him off world, that’s when Cut gave me the information on you guys.”

“Don’t grumble at Cut cyar’ika, you know as well as I do that he couldn’t chance keeping them with them.” Sawbones frowned at Stitches as they undressed Feral, Hunter hadn’t seen the full extent of Feral’s injuries but now that he had… he wished he could take all the pain in his brother’s body and take it into his own, Hunter was bigger, stronger… Feral was so small and fragile.

“Okay… blaster injuries to his face and torso…” Stitches said as they removed the bandages, “Some shrapnel injuries… whatever happened there was a firefight.”

“Is his mask compatible with oxygen tanks?” Sawbones looked to him, shaking him out of his shock at the injuries his baby brother had sustained.

“Y… yeah.” He nodded quickly, “Yeah it is.”

He was so small…

Chapter Text

“Which explains why he always lived at Kanga’s house afterwards, and had Extract of Malt for breakfast, dinner, and tea. And sometimes, when Kanga thought he wanted strengthening, he had a spoonful or two of Roo’s breakfast after meals as medicine. “But I think,” said Piglet to Pooh, “that he’s been strengthened quite enough.”…” Wrecker smiled as he finished the story, he wasn’t sure Feral was awake enough to hear him talking but there was always the chance, he looked to his baby brother and sighed a little, “You’re okay vod’ika.” He repositioned the blanket over Feral’s small frame because no matter how many layers or how high the cranked the heating…

Feral just wouldn’t stop shaking.

The medics said that the fever had messed up his brain and nerves and it would take time for the shakes to stop once he’d healed, it had taken more work than anyone had either anticipated or wanted but they’d finally managed to get his fever down, “Do you want another story?” He asked gently.

“How is he?” He looked to Tech as he entered the room.

“Not sure how aware of the environment he is right now but I’ve been talking to him, letting him know I’m here.” He sighed again then watched as Tech took hold of Feral’s small hand, “Tech?”

“I am… afraid.” Tech finally responded after a long moment of silence, “The medical staff here have done far more than we could ever have hoped to achieve but… I am afraid it may not be enough.”

“Tech…” Wrecker felt his heart break a little.

“I am afraid that because we had to move him in such a condition may have cause more harm to his already fragile state.” Tech sank into a seated position on the bunk beside Feral, “I am not a medic so I don’t know but…”

“Hey… come on… this is Feral we’re talking about.” He reached over and put his hand on Tech’s shoulder, “He’s survived other so called life-threatening injuries, he’s just going to be like a bobblehead in turbulence for a while.”

“I hope you are correct…” Tech replied, “We have just gotten him back and I do not want to lose anyone else…”

“He’ll be okay and we’ll figure something out about Cross, okay?” He smiled to his brother, who nodded and fixed his goggles.

“Oh… I do hope I’m not interrupting.” They both looked to the suddenly there form of Sawbones, Wrecker liked the man because he was so kind and warm and he didn’t even need Feral’s nose to tell that the medic was genuinely like that.

“Nah, we’re just talking to him, making sure he knows we’re with him.” He grinned to the medic as he walked over to the bunk.

“That is wonderful to hear.” Sawbones smiled to them before checking all the things attached to Feral, “Hm… his temperature is a little high.”

“Is the fever back?” Tech asked quickly.

“No, I think he’s just too warm in all this fabric.” Sawbones replied with a warm smile, “It is rather warm in here after all.”

“Wasn’t going to say anything but I think I might be glued to the seat here doc.” Wrecker laughed, earning a chuckle from Sawbones.

“Oh dear, we’ll have to get the whole team in here to pull you free.” Sawbones replied, “Could I have a hand Tech? To get him out of all these jumpers.”

“Y… yes, of course.” Tech replied and helped the medic carefully unpack Feral from the mountain of jumpers holding him hostage.

“There we go, that should help.” Sawbones smiled as they eased Feral back down, “Oh? Who’s this?” The medic asked as he picked Minnow up.

“She is called Minnow, she is Feral’s first sister and bestest best friend.” Tech explained.

“The tooka is Lula and she’s my sister.” Wrecker motioned to the plush Feral was using as a pillow, his baby brother needed her much more than he did so she was going to stay with him for as long as he needed her.

“Well it’s nice to meet you both, here, let’s return your sister to your care.” Sawbones said gently as he helped Feral hug Minnow to his chest, then noticed that the two of them were looking at him weird, “Oh don’t give me that look, everyone needs someone they can turn to for comfort and from what Hunter has been telling myself and Stitches… I’m not surprised he looks for comfort from non-organics.”

“Yeah… we were wondering if we could let Gonky come visit at some point.” He replied, trying to break the tense atmosphere, “He’s probably pulling his circuits out wondering if Feral’s okay.”

“Just don’t tell my cyar’ika, he might have a meltdown.” Sawbones’ smile returned.

“He… does not like droids?” Tech asked after a moment.

“Nothing like that, though he does have a slight distrust of them but then again he was on the front-line for a lot of his service…” Sawbones frowned, then chuckled “He’ll just have a meltdown over the fact that this Gonky works on a ship and as such probably has dirty feet because despite Stitches’ outward appearance might say he is a bit of a neat freak, his office on Kamino had nary a memory of dust and was so organized that he could tell someone was in there by something being even an inch out of place.”

“Damn, thought Cross was bad.” He chuckled, “If we make sure he wipes his feet, can he come visit?”

“Of course.” Sawbones replied with the warm expression Wrecker was beyond happy greeted them when they came to visit Feral, “I’ll keep my cyar’ika from having a meltdown in the interim.”

“Thank you Sawbones.” Tech nodded.

“Oh hush, we’re brothers and brothers help each other after all.” Sawbones moved to Tech and cupped his cheeks, “Even if those brothers don’t look like we do.”

“Y… yes… thank you.” Tech blushed wildly.

Wrecker liked Sawbones…

A whole lot.

Chapter Text

The sound of birds chirping, of people going about their day… his brain finally registered the comforting weight of a hand on his head, like Hunter used to do when Feral couldn’t sleep properly, “H… Hunter?”

“Kid?” Hunter moved and Feral relaxed when his ori’vod placed his small hand against his stubbled cheek, “Hey, welcome back.”

“I… it’s dark…” He swallowed thickly, his brain knew why but he didn’t want it to the be why, “I… I don’t… I’m… scared…”

“I’m sorry kid, there was nothing any of us could do… even the medics say there’s nothing they can do…” Hunter sighed, “But hey, at least you’re here with us.”

“Were are… we?” He asked weakly, his body hurt like crazy and he was shaking like a leaf, “Why… can’t I smell? I’m… shaking? Why…? I’m… I’m scared.”

“Come here kid.” Hunter said and soon Feral against Hunter with his ear pressed above his brother’s heart, it was so calm and steady, “See? Nothing to be scared about.” He relaxed a little again when Hunter continued talking, his chest rumbling against Feral’s small frame that wouldn’t stop shaking, “The medics say that your magic nose will come back once your body has had time to stop freaking out, which also explains the shaking.” He swallowed thickly as he nodded, “Your body was so close to shutting down because of the fever that it just started sending all the wrong signals to all the wrong places but it will go away and you’ll be right as rain soon enough, do you trust me?”

“M… mm.” He nodded, a little more confidently this time.

“I’m sorry it took us so long to reunite… the Galaxy went to crap and we…” Hunter sighed again but this time he sounded really muted.

“I… I understand and I… I’m glad you found me.” He felt himself drifting off again, he was tired and sore but he knew that his brother was there with him and Hunter would never let him be hurt.

“Get some more sleep kid, then when you’re up and functioning you can meet your new siblings.” Hunter said gently, his thumb making soothing circles on his scalp which was helping his headache somewhat.

“New… new siblings?” Feral asked as he started to lose his hold on consciousness.

“Yep and they’re excited to meet you.” Hunter’s voice carried a smile and Feral nodded again, “Sleep easy kid.”

“Okay.”

-

“How is he?” He looked to Echo as the man entered the room a minute or two after Feral fell asleep again.

“Scared, sore… doesn’t know what’s happening or anything…” He sighed a little as he looked to Feral, his baby brother couldn’t really curl up against him, not when his muscles were probably screaming at him but Feral was making a valiant attempt none the less.

“That’s understandable.” Echo nodded as he walked over to them and put his hand on Feral’s head, which made Feral relax a little more, “He doesn’t know me… why is he relaxing?”

“You aren’t a threat, trust me, even out cold he knows when a threat is nearby.” He sighed then smiled, “We call it assessment mode, he doesn’t fully come out of sleep but his brain wakes him up enough to get a scent report on the environment.”

“Bullying and abuse will do that.” Echo frowned, their older brother hadn’t failed to notice the scars that littered their baby brother’s body, even Hunter hadn’t seen all of them but now that he had… Wolffe had given those shabuir’e a mercy by killing them.

“Yeah…” He looked to Feral again and hugged him a little tighter, “Him not being able to see is going to be a bigger issue than Tech thinks it will, even when Feral’s eyesight was karking horrible he could still see light…”

“We’ll help him through this, all of us.” Echo said with a firm nod, “Omega and myself will help him as much as you will.”

“Thanks Echo.” He smiled to their ori’vod.

“Oh dear, I seem to keep interrupting.” They both looked to the suddenly there form of Sawbones, to the warm smile on his features that made everyone feel safe, “First your brothers and now you two.”

“It’s alright.” He smiled to the medic as he walked up to them.

“I hope he wasn’t too anxious when he awoke?” Sawbones asked as he checked Feral’s temperature and the drip feed.

“He was scared and didn’t know what was happening, hence why he’s sleeping like this.” It had always worked before when Feral couldn’t think or relax, listening to Hunter’s heart seemed to ground him and let him sort his emotions out, “He doesn’t want it to be dark…”

“There isn’t much we can do for that.” Sawbones sighed, “He will need all of you to help him overcome the fear he’s experiencing.” Hunter blinked at the way Sawbones said that, like he was speaking from experience, “But that’s something for later, right now my brother Madcap has made enough food to feed the entire GAR and was wondering if you would like to share some?”

“W… what?” Hunter looked to Echo but Echo looked just as confused.

“Don’t worry, he does this for every group we help… though the amount of food might be because of your brother Wrecker.” Sawbones looked thoughtful but had a smile that tattled on the joke he wasn’t trying to effectively hide.

“Wrecker loves food.” Hunter smiled, he was glad Cut had pointed them to the two medics, “Aren’t you scared that the Empire will arrive because you’re helping?”

“Not at all.” Sawbones smiled, “We have contacts all over the Galaxy and if one of us gets found out then the others will bail them out and off their chosen world.”

“That… doesn’t sound like a fun time.” Echo frowned a little.

“Fear won’t stop us from helping.” Sawbones smiled, “We only have one life after all.”

“Yeah… thanks Sawbones.”

“You are most welcome ade.”

“Ade?”

Chapter Text

Echo sighed as he looked to Feral, his new baby brother still needed so much rest because his brain and body were still trying to right themselves after almost being cooked, the shaking had lessened somewhat but he was still shaking like a leaf… just in a slightly less fierce wind… Hunter tried to be here as much as he could but even he needed to sleep and it took everyone to make him get some rest, Echo had told him that if anything happened he would call for him but he hoped that he himself alone could help Feral.

He wanted to be able to do it alone.

He looked out the window and watched the birds flying around, listened to the hustle and bustle of the people outside, to the goings on in the clinic and he felt at peace for the first time in a long while, Sawbones had said that if they were willing to work then they were welcome to stay with them, “It would be beneficial for you since you have both Omega and Feral to take care of.” The medic had explained and Hunter was thinking very strongly about taking them up on the offer.

“I see that Hunter has finally done as he was told and has gone to get sleep?” He looked to Stitches as the man entered the room, looking at him and Sawbones was like looking at night and day because they were nothing alike which made their relationship very confusing to the whole of the Batch, Sawbones was kind and warm while Stitches looked like he ate nails for breakfast and knocked people out for fun.

“Yeah… only took five of us to do it.” He frowned in return as Stitches moved to Feral’s side.

“Color me shocked.” Stitches replied dryly as he gave Feral a once over, it would always be surprising how gently Stitches could be when interacting with Feral, maybe his horrible bedside manner was solely geared towards stupid people and once someone proved to not be an idiot then he was less snarky…

He and Crosshair would have been lethal in the same room.

“Speak your mind.” He blinked as he looked to Stitches again, the medic wasn’t looking at him, “Thousand yard stare… and I can hear the gears in your head turning from here.”

“We lost a brother to…” He wanted to believe Crosshair wasn’t doing it of his own choice… but it was hard to do it because they had been betrayed and injured by him.

“If what Hunter was telling is to be believed… then I imagine that witch did something to his chip to make him act as such.” Stitches sighed through his nose, “His temperature has finally come to an even keel, his sense of smell should be…”

“Feral?” Echo moved to the small clone when Feral’s whole form froze, “Hey, you…?”

“N… no!” Feral said quickly and tried to make a mad dash to the door but only found walls, “H… help!” He couldn’t find the door and this just made him freak out more, “G… General! Wh… where are you?! The… they’re h… here!”

“Stay back.” Stitches said to him, “Call for one of your brothers, quickly.”

“What’s happening?” Echo asked the medic as he complied.

“We’re normal clones… this is a clinic with two normal clones… we’re unknowns to him and he’s probably smelling nothing but normal clone… what was his last experience with one of us?” Stitches replied and Echo paled.

“He… I need to stop him before he does damage and… and I have the best chance here because he probably doesn’t realize I am a normal clone, I don’t smell like one anymore.” He whispered, he knew he didn’t because of his cybernetics and the stint in cryostasis.

“Be very careful.” Stitches looked to him and he nodded slowly.

“Okay.” He picked up Minnow and carefully moved to Feral, who had finally stopped running into walls and was now just pacing and hyperventilating, he hoped that Minnow’s scent would help in masking his reg smell. He swallowed thickly before talking, he pitched his voice so it wasn’t the normal reg voice, “Feral?” He asked gently.

“W… who? Where?” Feral tried to find the source of the voice but only found the wall again, Echo bit his lip because the young clone was hurting himself in an attempt to get away from the reg smell.

“Right here.” He said when Feral finally found him and his small hands came to rest on Echo’s prosthetic arm, he knew that if he used it as the first thing Feral came into contact with then it would help him realize that Echo wasn’t a reg, “See? My name is Echo.”

“E… Echo?” Feral hiccuped.

“Yeah, I’m one of your new siblings, was Hunter telling you?” He asked gently and Feral paused for a second as his brain tried to update itself.

“He… yeah…” Feral finally replied, “I… I smell a… a…”

“That’s Stitches, he’s a friend.” He explained, “He’s not going to hurt you like the ones before, okay?”

“Does… does Hunter… like… like him?” Feral gripped Echo’s arm like it was the only thing grounding him to reality.

“Yep, we all do, even Tech and you know that’s a big thing.” He explained, he had to keep Feral calm, had to keep him from hurting himself more, “Here’s Minnow.”

“M… Minnow… scared…” Feral hugged the bantha tight to his chest and it was clear she was conversing with him because he was answering questions that weren’t asked by anyone else.

“Does Minnow like us?” He asked as he carefully guided Feral back to his bunk.

“M… mm.” Feral nodded and carefully sat on the edge of the bunk, “Not… not enemies… friends…”

“May I see your arms Feral?” Stitches asked in a gentle voice, “You running into walls has probably caused bruising.”

“Minnow… says you are… a safe person.” Feral nodded, “Echo too…”

“Thanks vod’ika.”

Chapter Text

“Hey Feral, you have a visitor!” Wrecker said as he opened the door to Feral’s room, his baby brother was healing very well all things considered, sure he was still shaking and had moments when his brain stopped working correctly… but he was alive and that was all that mattered.

“Gonk!” Gonky cut of any reply from Feral and it took Feral a second or two to find where they were but as soon as he did he was wrapped around Gonky.

“G… Gonky!” Feral hugged the droid tight, “I… I missed you!”

“We managed to convince Stitches to let him visit, which he could as long as he wiped his feet.” He grinned.

“Gonk!” Gonky bounced, then paused when Feral didn’t let go, “Gonk?”

“I missed you…” Feral repeated in a small voice.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be with each other for a long time yet.” He went to them and carefully placed his hand on Feral’s head, like Hunter did, he hated the fact that Feral was shaking so much but the medics were confident that they would lessen to the point he could function normally, “Do you trust me?”

“M… mm!” Feral nodded… well… as much as he could with Wrecker’s hand on his head.

“Good to hear.” He smiled and removed his hand so Feral could at least move, “You up for another visitor?”

“Wh… who?” Feral shakily stood up, carefully reaching out to find Wrecker’s arm with one hand while the other stayed on Gonky’s chassis.

“She’s called Omega and is our sister.” He replied and moved so Feral could find him, he’d almost forgotten just how small Feral was, sure he was visibly on the smaller size but when his hand was on Wrecker’s arm it was like looking at Omega’s hand.

“Our… sister?” Feral asked in confusion, “Like…?”

“Apparently the long necks made a girl clone and she escaped Kamino with us.” He explained as he and Gonky guided Feral back to the bunk, “She’s really excited to meet you seeing as the last few times she’s checked up on you you’ve been unconscious.”

“I’ve… never met a girl clone…” Feral’s brain was doing the slow updating thing again but the medics assured them that with care and patience then he would come back around.

“Well you’re about to.” He grinned, “Don’t worry, she’s a great kid and will be very nice to you, right Gonky?”

“Gonk!” The droid replied with another bounce.

“Hey Omega?” He activated his comm as Feral picked up Minnow, they were all a bit weirded out by Feral having full blown conversations with her like she could reply but Stitches said that once he was well enough, then he could have a psychological evaluation but for the moment they couldn’t say anything to Feral about it because it could have very bad consequences.

Like him completely shutting down.

“Wrecker?” Omega asked, “What happened?”

“Nothing but Feral says it’s okay for you to visit him.” He looked to Feral again, who was now talking to both Minnow and Gonky, at least they could hear Gonky’s side of the conversation… he felt sad… his baby brother went to non-organics as his first port of call for comfort, with the others being there for him if they couldn’t ground him.

“I’ll be right there!” Omega closed the channel.

It was a moment before Feral stopped his conversation to smell the air, he wasn’t one hundred percent back in terms of his smell but it was still better than any normal persons, “A… girl clone…?” He really wasn’t updating very fast, “Omega… yeah…” Obviously Minnow was reminding him.

“Hey…” He looked to the door as Omega slowly walked to them.

“Hey.” He smiled, “Feral? You want to say hi?”

“M… mm.” He shakily stood up and with help from Gonky he made it over to them again.

“Should employ Gonky as your seeing droid yeah?” He chuckled as Feral felt around for one of them.

“I’m here.” Omega said and held Feral’s hand in hers, his hands really were as small as Omega’s, “My name is Omega and it’s really nice to meet you.”

“Hi… hi Omega.” Feral nodded, his grip was tight on her hand as though he was trying to make sure she was real, “I’m… I’m F… Feral.”

“Nice to meet you, I hope we can be good friends.” She smiled and gave his hand a gentle squeeze, “What do you think?”

“M… mm!” Feral nodded again, “M… Minnow says you’re safe and… a friend.” Wrecker smiled warmly at the sight because even though they were weirded out by Feral’s brain making Minnow real and capable of talking with him, they were all going to try and help him feel normal about it because there was no way they were going to make him feel less than, make him feel like he did when they first met him.

He wasn’t crazy or feral.

He was a scared little clone who just wanted to be loved and accepted.

“Thanks Minnow.” Omega smiled warmly, even though Feral would never see it he could hear it on her voice and catch it on her scent, “Sawbones said that soon you’ll be able to have outside time, they have a really nice garden here that patients can wander around but the medics can still keep an eye on them, what do you think? Would you like to visit it with me?”

“Yeah!” Feral bounced a little, almost copying Gonky’s expression of happiness, “I… would like that.”

“Can I come too?” He asked and Feral nodded excitedly.

“Mm!” His baby brother had perked up a lot, he seemed to be better at remembering when he was feeling good emotions and that made a bit of sense to Wrecker, good emotions were ones a person wanted to remember more than bad ones, “I… I like trees and… and flowers… they smell really nice and… and alive!” Even though he couldn’t see…

He just wanted simple things.

Chapter Text

“That’s it kid, just follow my voice.” Hunter smiled gently as Feral tried to find Hunter in the room, it was hit and miss on whether Feral would be able to find him but he was getting better as his sense of smell kicked back in fully, “And my scent because I really need to shower.”

“I…” Feral stumbled when he found Gonky instead of Hunter but managed to keep himself upright, “Oh… hi Gonky…” His memory retention was getting better as well, both Stitches and Sawbones said it was probably because, again, his sense of smell was getting back to normal and it was the sense most connected to memory.

“Gonk!” Gonky replied, bouncing when Feral put his hand on his chassis.

“M… mm.” Feral nodded and started his search for Hunter again.

“Omega said that you’ll be allowed out into the garden once you’re more confident in your ability to move around.” Hunter had been correct in his assumption that Feral would be far more affected by his complete blindness, he was terrified of this new dark because even though his vision was bad before, he could still perceive light.

“Mm!” Feral nodded again, happier in his response, “And… and Wrecker said he’d come too! I like… flowers and grass and trees! They… smell alive and… good.”

“I’m glad.” Hunter was happy Feral was okay with the addition of Omega and Echo, Echo particularly because he was more reg than they were but he’d said that Feral hadn’t realized he was one once, he only knew that Stitches was one but not Echo, “What do you think of Echo?”

“I… he’s nice.” Feral replied as he carefully made his way towards him, “He… he smells like someone put a… reg and a droid in a freezer…”

“Well, you’re not exactly wrong about that, he used to be a reg before he was captured by the Techno Union and had cybernetics slapped on.” He sighed, “They used him as an organic computer to steal the strategies he and Rex had created…”

“R… Rex?” Feral asked in confusion, “Like… like Captain Rex…”

“Yep, same guy.” He smiled, “Bit rough around the edges but does right by his men.”

“Oh…” Feral replied, then seemed to think about something, “Did you… meet General Skywalker?”

“Yeah… didn’t need your nose to realize he was a shady character, gave us all the heebie jeebies.” None of them said anything about the General but they had all found him untrustworthy to some extent, he sighed at the memory before smiling as after another moment of searching Feral’s small hands appeared on his arm, “Hey kid.” The shakes in Feral’s form had lessened considerably, enough that he could actually move around without having to stop multiple times to reorientate himself but he was still shaking like a leaf.

“H… hey.” Feral replied and Hunter saw the small smile on his brother’s pale features, he was still covered in bandages but at least Hunter could see his smile again.

“Think you’re up for the others to visit?” He asked gently, “Tech is really eager to talk with you again.”

“H… he… I think he was scared…” He blinked at his brother’s words, “That I…”

“Yeah, he was scared that we might lose you.” He sighed, “That’s why he hasn’t been to visit, he’s trying to work through his own emotions in a way he feels comfortable in doing.”

“Oh… I… I know you’re also scared… but I don’t know why…” Feral gripped Hunter’s arm tight, as though trying to ground himself to reality.

“I…” He started but stopped to sigh, he didn’t want to talk about it when Feral was still so fragile.

“It’s about Cross… Crosshair isn’t it?” Feral sounded so small, “I… I know he’s not with you because… his scent isn’t on you.”

“He was taken over like the Pack were… he shot Wrecker and tried to stop us from fleeing Tipoca.” He replied after a moment of hesitation, “I didn’t want to leave him but he didn’t give us the option…”

“I… I believe you because you would… never do it… willingly.” Feral nodded slowly, “Promises are made to keep but… Minnow says that… that sometimes the Galaxy makes it its mission to… make sure promises aren’t kept, like 99 made one but couldn’t keep it even though he wanted to with… all his heart and soul.”

“Being with General Plo has made you all philosophical, should have stayed myself.” He tried to joke, to take away from the oppressive atmosphere, “So, what do you think? Want to talk with the others? Maybe show them that you have somewhat mastered the art of not walking into obstacles?” Feral blushed at the wording, his baby brother had bruises on his legs and hips from walking into things in his search for either Hunter or Wrecker but at least he wasn’t running into walls again.

“I… it’s getting a bit easier but… that’s just this room…” Feral replied, his small voice returning as his confidence left.

“Hey, you’re doing great and I’m sure you’ll master it in no time, okay?” He asked gently and Feral took a moment before nodding.

“Mm!” The smile returned, “Can… can we meet outside? In the garden?”

“I’ll have to ask the powers that be but I’m sure they’ll let you go…” He started but was cut off by the door opening.

“Oh, I apologize for interrupting.” He looked to the kind face of Sawbones and felt Feral’s hands tighten their hold on his arm, “My name is Sawbones, you already met my cyar’ika, Stitches.”

“O… oh…” Feral replied but didn’t seem confident in his reply, he paused for a moment with his head turning slightly, “Um… Minnow says that you’re… a good and kind… person.”

“Oh? Why thank you Minnow.” Sawbones smiled his kind smile that made every one of them feel safe and warm, “I caught that you want to go outside? Are you sure?”

“M… mm!”

“Okay.”

Chapter Text

Feral held onto Hunter’s arm as they moved through the building, he could smell all types of things as they moved, he could smell people, trees and flowers and water and… he stopped walking and started to panic, why were there regs here?! His body hurt and his panic made him hiccup, were they here to hurt them? To capture them and make them… “Kid, kid I need you to breathe okay?” A voice made it into his head, “Hey, focus on my voice and only my voice, okay?”

“I… I smell…” He tried to talk but his hiccups and panic made it hard to get words out.

“That’s just Sawbones and Stitches, the nice regs… remember?” He finally clocked Hunter’s scent, which meant he was the one talking, “Your brain is just doing the slow update thing again, no need to panic, okay?”

“They… they’re not going to… hurt us?” He asked quickly, he didn’t want them to hurt his family!

“No, they want to help us and help you feel better.” Hunter’s scent was soft, there was no fear in him.

“Are you alright vod’ika?” A reg voice asked, the one attached to… his new brother?

“Don’t worry Echo, he just had a slow update moment.” Hunter explained for him and Feral knew he said the man’s name just to update Feral.

“I had a few of those before.” His new brother replied gently and he felt the man get closer, he shakily reached out to where he thought the man was, “Don’t worry, I’m here.” Echo said as he moved to where Feral was reaching for.

“You’re… Echo… my new b… brother?” He asked once his hand found Echo’s arm, his brain was getting sluggish.

“I am, let’s get you into some fresh air, I think it will help your brain a lot.” Echo chuckled, it was a kind sound, warm and friendly.

“We’ll find out if your brain is air cooled or not.” Hunter chuckled also and between the two of them they guided him out into the warm and fresh air, he stopped to smell the air, catching so many new smells that he didn’t know, some were warm… some were sweet… some smelled like animals, “Catch something nice?” Hunter asked.

“N… new smells.” He nodded, “Nice… nice smells.”

“That’s good, you can tell us all about them in a minute… the others are just over here.” Hunter’s voice carried a smile and they helped him walk through the outside that seemed so much bigger to him… it was a wide open space that…

“Easy vod’ika, I’m…” A reg voice said and he flinched away before tripping over something and landing on his back, he let out a weak sound of pain as the impact made his body hurt really badly!

But he had to get away, they… they were in the hanger and the Pack were going to… “Easy kid, you’re okay.” A voice said and he felt a strong hand come to rest on his chest, like Hunter used to do.

“H… Hunter…?” He asked as he tried to find his brother… was he real?

“I’m here kid, you had a brief flashback but you’re okay.” Hunter said as he put Feral’s small hand against his stubbled cheek.

“I’m sorry for scaring you vod’ika.” The reg voice said, “I’m Echo, remember?”

“E… Echo?” He asked, then the sounds returned and he realized he wasn’t in the Venator hanger, he was outside in the air on… Naboo?

“You guys okay?” He heard Wrecker’s big, booming voice appear.

“Just had a bad moment.” Hunter explained as both he and Echo helped Feral sit up.

“Did you hurt yourself?” A girl voice asked, she smell like a clone did but… she was a girl… “My name is Omega, do you remember me?”

“O… Omega…?” He asked, “Y… yeah, I remember you and… Echo…”

“Did you hurt yourself?” She asked again, taking his small hands in hers and he had to think about it because the pain was there but he wasn’t sure if that was… “We’ll have one of the nice medics here take a look, okay?”

“O… okay.” He nodded, he liked her scent.

“It may be that the open space has triggered a memory of something, possibly of an open hanger or some…” Tech’s voice made it into his head and he perked up because he hadn’t talked to Tech yet!

“Tech?” He asked and reached out to look for his brother.

“I…” Tech paused before he took hold of Feral’s hand, “I am here.”

“I missed you!” He said happily because he was the only one who hadn’t been to visit yet, the others had all been to visit except Tech but now he was here and that made him very happy!

“I have missed you also Feral.” Tech replied and his ori’vod took hold of both his hands, all his brothers had strong hands but each of them were a different kind of strong and Feral was happy because that made them all even more unique, “I am glad you are back with us.” Tech’s voice carried a smile and his scent was gentle, he missed his brothers and was really glad to be back with them too!

“I… I missed you guys so much…” He bounced a little from his seated position, “I… I thought I’d never ever see you guys again!”

“Well you weren’t wrong.” Wrecker laughed and he giggled at the joke.

“I… like it here, it smells… really safe and warm and…” He started but stopped when a scent hit his nose.

“Don’t worry kid, it’s just Sawbones and Stitches, the nice regs remember?” Hunter explained and he nodded slowly.

“I saw you go down, are you alright?” The kind scent asked… Sawbones… which meant the stern one was… Stitches?

“M… mm.” He nodded, “Just a… little sore.”

“We can give you a check up if you feel safe with us?”

“O… okay!”

“Thank you for your trust.”

Chapter Text

“You’re doing so well honey.” Minnow said gently as he moved around the room, “Soon you’ll be able to go outside by yourself.”

“The… the nice regs said that… too.” He nodded, then found Gonky, “S… sorry Gonky.”

“Gonk!” His friend replied and he smiled.

“I… I missed you.” He hugged the droid tight, the nice regs said that the shakes would go away eventually but he’d have to deal with them until his body stopped freaking out, he didn’t like that he was shaking but he trusted Hunter and all his brothers… and they trusted the nice regs! “Do you think I’ll be… able to go outside Gonky?” He asked earning a bounce from his friend, “Maybe… maybe I’ll be able to go with the others again!” He had overheard that Sawbones said that they could stay planet side if they wanted too, that his brothers would be able to get them work if they wanted too… he didn’t know if Hunter would because Crosshair was…

“Are you alright Feral?” He bounced happily at the voice.

“Tech!” He searched around excitedly, trying to follow Tech’s scent and voice.

“I am here.” His older brother said gently when his hands found his brother’s arm.

“I missed you!” He hugged Tech and was bounced happily when the hug was returned.

“I missed you too.” Tech replied, “You are moving with more confidence.”

“S… soon I’ll be able to join you guys again!” He was scared of his new darkness but he knew that his family would keep him safe until he could do all the things he used to do, “I’m really happy you all found me.”

“I am happy to have you back with us.” Tech’s voice and scent carried a warm smile, “I am thankful that I have another brother back.”

“We… we’ll find Crosshair…” He knew that having to leave Crosshair behind was the hardest thing his brothers had ever had to do and even though Tech had trouble showing what he felt… Feral always knew because his scent carried his emotions, “I know we will because families stick together!”

“Like glue.” Tech’s scent and form softened, “Are you going outside today?”

“Mm! Sawbones says I need to work on my… spatial awareness and being outside helps me a lot.” He hadn’t been out a lot but he was getting better about not falling back in time, “Do… do you want to come with me?”

“If you will have me.” Tech replied and he bounced happily.

“Yeah!” He hugged Tech again, he’d missed Tech a whole lot and was so happy that his brother was visiting him because he hadn’t been but now he was and they could be a whole family again! He was sad they didn’t have Crosshair, he was really sad about that but Hunter was really honest when he said that he didn’t want to leave him behind, he was too big a danger to them… why did only Crosshair turn?

“Easy Feral, you are okay.” Tech said and hugged him a little tighter.

“I… I’m sad Crosshair was taken…” He didn’t want anyone to be hurt by the bad smell but he was so sad that it was one of his brothers!

“As… as Wrecker said, we will figure something out.” Tech sighed, “I am sad too, I wish to have my whole family back also…”

“Do… do you want to hold Minnow? She… she gives the best hugs in the whole Galaxy and helps me feel happy!” He didn’t like when any of his brothers smelled so sad but Minnow was the best for helping anyone feel much better, “S… sorry Gonky.” He said as he found his friend in his search for Minnow.

“Right here honey.” Minnow said gently once he’d found the bunk, “Now, let’s find our way back to Tech yeah?”

“She… she gives the best hugs…” He started his return trip but stopped dead when he caught a scent, “N… no…”

“Easy honey, it’s just Stitches remember?” She explained, “No need to…”

“…Feral…?” He heard a voice but he couldn’t think, they were here to finish him off, to finish what they started but… but General Sandul wasn’t here and… and they didn’t have any…

“Feral.” He realised he was on the ground the second reality came back to him, “Are you alright?”

“T… Tech?” He asked shakily, where was he?

“You had a brief flashback, I think it is because of the appearance of Stitches.” Tech replied and Feral finally clocked the other scent in the room.

“I apologise if I scared you, it wasn’t my intention.” The other scent said.

“You… you’re Stitches… right? He swallowed thickly, he was shaking worse now.

“I am, are you in pain?” Stitches asked gently.

“M… mm.” He was sore, he knew he had been badly hurt from the Pack and that it would take a while for him to fully heal physically… and that falling down while still healing wouldn’t help the healing process, “A… a little.”

“Tech, can you help me sit him up?” Stitches said to Tech and together they helped him sit up, “We’re just going to bring you over to the bunk but Minnow is with you, she will keep you safe.”

“They’re helping, don’t worry.” Minnow said with a smile on her voice, “Stitches won’t hurt you.”

“Just sitting down…” He was safely placed back on his bunk, “There, is the pain in one place or all over?”

“All… all over.” He fidgeted with Minnow’s horn, “S… sorry for…”

“You do not need to apologize Feral.” Tech said.

“He’s correct, you suffered a massive trauma at the hands of my reg brothers, it’s okay to be scared.” Stitches explained.

“I… I don’t want to be bad…” He hiccuped, he didn’t want to be bad!

“You are not bad Feral.” Tech replied quickly, “You are hurting but that is not the same thing.”

“Can… can I have a hug… please?”

“Of course you can.”

“Yay.”

Chapter Text

Omega smiled as she walked with Feral through the clinic’s gardens, she wondered how different his way of experiencing the Galaxy differed from everyone else’s, Hunter said that his eyesight was poor even before he’d lost it completely and relied nearly entirely on his nose to get him places, now he was relying on it and them, especially Gonky because according to the others it was because he loved that droid above everyone and everything save for his sister, Minnow. It was weird that he was having full conversations with her as though she was talking to him but she knew that traumatic injuries could cause a lot of mental issues and the others said that he’d been suffering before the Order went out and he was injured but now that his sense of smell was kicking back in fully his ability to remember things was getting better, the shakes were lessening also and they only got bad when he had flashbacks, these were usually caused by him not remembering who Sawbones and Stitches were and completely freaking out. Not only was she learning about her new brothers but they were helping her learn about the Galaxy, somewhere she’d only dreamed of venturing out into, she really liked learning about how Feral experienced it because humans didn’t really pay attention to their sense of smell all that much, she could tell how it looked and how it felt but to know exactly how it smelled was the best learning tool she had, “H… Hunter says you’re a clone.” Feral said and she looked to him.

“I am.” She smiled, she knew her new brother couldn’t see their smiles but Hunter said that he could hear them and smell them, “I have been Nala Se’s assistant for a long time.”

“O… oh… um… how old are you?” Feral asked, his hand gripping hers like it was the only thing grounding him.

“I’m a little bit older than you all but I wasn’t aged up.” She explained.

“So… the same as… the regs?” He asked and she nodded, “Oh… I’m not that age yet, I’m only nine… was seven when I went out to… war.”

“You…?” She was floored by that, she’d been told he was of age when they sent him out, like the others had been but apparently Nala Se was keeping secrets from even her.

“Mm.” It was his turn to nod, “My… ninth decanting day was the day the war ended… and the day the Order went out and I got hurt…”

“I’m sorry that happened.” She gave his hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

“My… me and Crosshair celebrate the same day…” Feral’s hand started shaking as his whole body shakes got bad again, “Why isn’t he here?”

“Because they made him turn bad.” She explained, “He’s not bad but they did something to his chip to make him act bad… don’t worry though, we’ll help him and get him back, okay?”

“O… okay.” He replied with a bounce that was so similar to Gonky’s bounce she wondered if he’d learned it from the droid, Wrecker said that Feral’s first port of call for comfort was Minnow and Gonky, two non-organics but if they couldn’t calm him down then and only then could one of the Batch go to comfort him, only then could he accept that he deserved their help.

“You bounce like Gonky does.” She smiled, did he learn a lot of his mannerisms from Gonky? Or did he also learn from people?

“He… he’s my bestest best friend and he helps Minnow take care of me.” Feral replied with a smile of his own, “She’s the best at making me feel loved and safe.”

“I’m glad she helps you.” She wondered if he’d always talked with Minnow or was it caused by the traumatic injuries?

“She likes you Omega… she says that… that you’re a good person.” Feral smiled and bounced again.

“That makes me very happy.” In all probability it was his brain making her up but even if that was the case then that meant he knew deep down who was and wasn’t a good person and she was happy he felt comfortable in her presence.

“She likes Echo too… says he’s safety.” Feral’s smile softened, they were all glad he liked Echo, given he was the most reg out of all of them but Echo said that Feral generally didn’t know he was one until he talked, so when Feral was relying on his sense of smell he could tell a reg from one of his brothers.

“He likes her too and he’s happy she’s helping you feel safe and loved.” They all were, even if they were all a bit weirded out by the fact he could talk with her.

“Did… did you have siblings growing up? Or… or were you like me?” He asked as they sat down on one of the benches.

“I had one but we didn’t spend a lot of time with each other… our donor took my brother as his own kid but not me.” She sighed, she wished she was loved the same way as her brother was but Nala Se was at least nice to her and did try to raise her.

“Oh… well… you have us now.” She smiled again as she looked to her brother’s face, he was still covered in bandages because they wanted the blaster burns to heal enough before exposing them to the air, “And… and I think you’re really cool.”

“Thank you.” She replied and held his hand, “I think you’re really cool too.” She didn’t know a lot about the Galaxy or what the war did to it but she knew she was going to learn everything she needed to know and then some, with the help of all of her brothers, with help from Sawbones and Stitches and their family, they weren’t alone and they could face this Galaxy as one unit.

As a family.

Chapter Text

“This is everything you should expect from us and everything we expect of you should you all decide to stay here.” Hunter looked to the medic in front of him, to the semi-permanent frown on Stitches’ face, then to the datapad the medic had put in front of him, “We will help you find a permanent residence here, finding you all work shouldn’t be too difficult, especially with Wrecker.” The man continued as Hunter started reading what equated to a contract.

“We… will be helping your network?” He asked in confusion.

“You have an attack shuttle and are fully competent in urban and guerrilla warfare, should one of our connections go dark, we will ask that you provide assistance.” Stitches leaned back in his chair with hands clasped over his stomach, “And should you need assistance in any way, we will do anything in our power to help, well… as long as it poses no threat to us, understood?” Hunter sat straight at the glare the man was giving him and he nodded quickly, “Very good, any other questions?”

“If we have to leave… will you all take care of Feral?” He knew his baby brother wouldn’t want to be left behind but he was so fragile now, that and no one had any clue as to how long it would take for him to acclimatize to being blind, “And Omega?”

“We will and we will care for any of you should you sustain injuries here or further afield.” He smiled a little because even though Stitches was a hard ass and looked like he ate nails for breakfast… he was a kind man and Hunter didn’t need Feral’s nose to know that.

“Thank you Stitches.” He nodded.

“Hm.” Stitches frowned, “In other news, myself and Sawbones are very pleased with Feral’s treatment, he is doing better than we thought he would and with more care he will be able to go for walks outside the facility.” He felt happiness blossom in his chest at the information, “Once we acquired you some housing, he will be able to live with you full time at this rate.”

“Will we need to do anything to make it… accessible for him?” He wondered how fast Feral would adapt to a new situation like moving to a permanent home.

“We will make sure that any house we look at will be suitable for him, as for you, you just need to help him adjust and get used to it.” Stitches replied with a frown.

“Can I… can I ask something?” He knew he had to ask at some point, maybe he should have tried talking to Sawbones.

“Of course.” Stitches’ eyebrow vanished into his hairline.

“He keeps asking about Crosshair, about why he’s not with us and I don’t know if it’s him not understanding that Crosshair isn’t with us or he’s in denial…” He looked down at his hands, he had tried his damnedest to keep the team together but something went wrong with Crosshair after he was taken away from them, the long necks did something to him to make him act that way.

“He knows, he understands and he’s not in denial… he is hurting both physically and mentally and he wants his normal back.” Stitches sighed, “And that normal includes Crosshair and his eyesight, he won’t get his eyesight back but there is a chance that he’ll get Crosshair back.”

“What?” He looked to the older clone in confusion.

“From what you’ve told me, it seems his chip didn’t activate fully, which means the long necks will have to continue doing whatever they did to him the first time, just to make sure he stays loyal.” He blinked in confusion and Stitches sighed in irritation, “It means that if he’s taken away from it and has his chip removed then there is a higher chance of him being suitable for rehabilitation.”

“And he’ll be there for Feral?” He knew Crosshair loved Feral, that even though he did his normal try to help by bullying at the start, he did warm up to the small clone and even showed his softer side to him, maybe it was because of Feral’s temperament or because Feral always knew that Crosshair was defensive not aggressive and as such knew Crosshair was longing for affection but just couldn’t ask for it.

“He may not be there for you all but if what you told me is correct then yes, he will be there for Feral.” Stitches replied, Crosshair wouldn’t accept help from them because he actively attacked them and watched them leave Kamino without him, he wouldn’t accept help from a group of regs but Feral hadn’t been with them on Kamino and had been hurt by regs so Crosshair would more than likely accept the help of their baby brother because Feral was going to help him whether he wanted him to or not… Feral was quite stubborn in that regard, “I am only going on information you’ve given me but I think that yes, he will return to you but it will not be a quick process nor will it be an easy one.” The medic continued, “You will need to get him away from any group he’s been assigned to in the Empire, forcefully I imagine.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it but right now we… have to get better, all of us.” He smiled, there was no point in fighting a battle they would lose given their current status.

“A smart decision.” Stitches smiled a little, “Right now you should be there for Feral and all of your siblings but don’t put all the weight on your shoulders, it will reverse the work you’ve done with Feral, he can tell these things from what I can tell.”

“Yeah… he can tell a lot about the Galaxy and the things living in it.” He replied gently, “He knows a lot about us too…”

“Be there for him.”

“I will.”

Chapter Text

“Just a few more steps kid.” He held onto Hunter’s hand tight, he knew he was safe with his brothers… even if he was outside in the wide open… it smelled nice and warm and the people said hi to them as they passed by, “Okay, mind the lip.” He stumbled a little when he found the lip and once he was through the door he stopped moving to smell the air.

“It… it smells like…” He hiccuped.

“This is our new home kid.” Hunter said gently, “We’ve been in here for a week, so we could at least make it smell like us… not hard when none of us have showered in, give or take, two weeks.”

“Our… new home?” He asked, they had a home? A physical home that they could live in and not have to fight to stay alive?

“Yep, Stitches and Sawbones helped us secure it and helped get us jobs.” Hunter gave his hand a gentle squeeze, “From here we can help keep you and Omega safe, Stitches and Sawbones said that they would help keep us safe from anyone sent after us.”

“But… but what about Crosshair?” He didn’t want to leave Crosshair out there all on his own!

“Don’t worry, we’ll work something out but right now we need to show you around, yeah?” Hunter’s voice carried a smile and he nodded, “There are four bedrooms and a converted attic that can fit two people, we haven’t really chosen rooms so you can choose to bunk alone or with someone else but Omega has been sleeping in the attic because she likes looking out the skylights to look at the stars.”

“O… oh…” He nodded.

“We’ll show you the rooms and you can decide which is the easiest to get to.” Hunter chuckled and Feral felt better because if Hunter was laughing then it meant that he was safe! “Take your time on the stairs, don’t want you to fall back down them, you’re just out of medical.” He giggled and slowly followed Hunter up the stairs, one hand on his brother’s arm and the other finding the railing, “There we go, welcome to the second floor.”

He let go of Hunter’s arm to try and find the wall so he could move down the hall on his own, he was surprised there wasn’t anything in the hall that he’d bump into, “This… Wrecker has been in here?” He found a room that smelled like his brother, then followed the trail to find the other rooms.

“Yeah, we’ll get showers once you settle in and get used to the layout.” He knew his brothers were doing that so he could more easily find them through scent because his sense of smell wasn’t one hundred percent back but it would soon, then he’d be able to follow their scent easier, “Though, even with a shower you could smell Wrecker a klick away.”

“E… everyone smells loud to me, that’s how I know where you are!” He bounced, “I… I don’t like this new dark but… I’ll be able to move better once my nose gets back to normal.”

“Until then we’ll help you.” Hunter’s hand appeared on his head and he bounced again with a squeak.

“Okay!” Hunter seemed to like those sounds, he always relaxed when Feral squeaked and he could feel the smile on his brother’s face like a sun beam.

“So, want the rest of the tour?” He nodded, he wasn’t going to be good at it but he should at least try, he wondered what the house was decorated like, was there nice colors on the walls? What decorations were there? Would they get some over their time here? Had his brothers decorated their rooms yet or were they waiting to see who was sleeping where?

“I… is Gonky staying with us too?” He asked as they started walking again.

“Yep, he’s helping Echo today but they’ll be back soon, he’ll be really happy you’re home.” He liked the sound of that.

“I… like that.” He smiled as he stopped walking again.

“Like what?” Hunter asked in confusion.

“The way you said… home.” He replied, it sounded right for his brother, this was what they deserved after fighting for the GAR, they deserved a home and safety and family, “I like it.”

“Home is where your family is kid and here we can be a proper family.” He nodded, “And with help from Stitches and Sawbones’ network we can work towards getting Crosshair back.”

“Yeah!” He bounced and hugged Hunter, “Mm!”

“Hunter! We’re back!” He heard Wrecker call into the house as the door opened.

“Don’t rush it kid, you’ll fall.” Hunter chuckled once he’d started feeling around to go back down the steps and helped guide him down the stairs.

“You’re home!” Wrecker laughed as he wrapped his arms around Feral.

“Yeah!” He giggled and hugged Wrecker once he’d stopped swinging him around.

“Hope you haven’t been deterred by the smell in here.” He felt around for Echo when he heard his new brother speaking, “It’s almost as bad as their bunkroom in Tipoca, almost.”

“Gonk!” He bounced happily at the sound of his bestest best friend.

“See, even he agrees and he doesn’t have a nose.” Echo chuckled as Feral wrapped himself around Gonky, he was so happy he had Gonky back, he loved Gonky so much!

“We’re back.” He heard his new sister say as she entered the home.

“I like it here, don’t you?” Minnow said as he accepted her from Omega, hugging her tight to his chest, “This is a good place to call home.”

“H… home is where your family is.” He repeated Hunter’s words because he liked them.

“Hunter is a good man honey, as are all your brothers.” Minnow replied with a warm smile on her voice, “And your sister is going to be the best sibling you could ask for.”

“Mm!” He nodded and smiled because they were a family!

Chapter Text

“Hello young man.” Feral froze when a voice made itself known, he had decided to sit out in the front garden while he waited for his brothers to come home, the air was fresh and it helped his head feel better, the smells were so nice and warm and he could hear the ducks and other water birds down on the river behind their house.

“Oh… um… hello.” He said as he stood up before moving to try and figure out where the voice was coming from.

“Gonk!” His friend said and helped guide him over to the source of the voice.

“Oh I apologize son, didn’t know your limitation, I’m your next door neighbor Davin Mier.” The man replied, “Said hello to all your siblings and thought I’d introduce myself to you.”

“It’s… it’s nice to meet you Mr Mier.” He replied, “I… my name is Feral… not a nice name but… it wasn’t given to me by nice people.”

“Not your siblings then?” He shook his head, “Well it explains why your brother Hunter calls you kid.”

“I’m also… the youngest so… I am a kid.” He smiled a little.

“Oh yeah, you clones have weird aging don’t you?” He nodded, “So unaltered how old are you?”

“I’m nine!” He bounced, then paused at the smell coming from the man, “If… if I was the age my brothers are I’d be twelve, clones are usually classed as of age when they’re ten because we’re double aged so they’d be twenty… but my brothers were sent out at age nine and I was sent out at age seven.”

“Right… well as I said to your brothers, if you all need anything you can come to my door.” The man’s kind smell returned, “Especially if you’re here alone.”

“Oh… Omega’s just gone out to get milk because we’re out.” He blushed, he knew they’d be back and that Omega said she’d just be ten minutes but that was fifteen minutes ago… “So I won’t be alone for long.”

“Oh is this our new neighbor?” An elderly female voice asked and he caught her scent approaching.

“Sure is, Feral, this is Winnifred Oda.” Mr Mier explained and he waved shyly.

“H… hello Mrs Oda.” He said.

“Oh please, no need to call me that, everyone around here calls me Winnie.” She replied with a laugh, it was a nice laugh that made Feral feel warm, “Your brothers were telling us all about you.”

“Didn’t mention the lost eyesight though.” Mr Mier said, “Or your horrible name.”

“It… it’s becoming less of a bad name when my… brothers call me it in kindness.” He smiled slightly, “And soon it… won’t be a slur at all.”

“That’s great to hear.” Mrs Oda said gently, “How are you getting along here? I hope you like the house and the neighborhood.”

“Mm!” He bounced, “I… I’m still getting used to not being able to see and my family is helping me a lot in trying to figure out where everything is in the house but I still need someone with me so I don’t hit anything.”

“Apparently Omega has gone to buy milk.” Mr Mier explained.

“I… I out here to get some fresh air, it helps me feel better and thanks to Gonky I won’t hit anything!” He put his hand on Gonky’s chassis, earning a bounce from his friend, “It smells really nice here and I don’t smell any bad people.”

“Smell?” Mrs Oda asked a little confused.

“Oh, well… we’re what’s called enhanced clones, meaning we’re clones with desirable mutations…” He explained, “Hunter can detect electromagnetic frequencies, Wrecker is super strong and Tech is super smart, like really, really smart, he knows everything!” He was sometimes jealous of his brothers because they all had really cool mutations, “And Omega is a girl clone, which is weird because our donor was a guy… but mine is my sense of smell, Tech said that I can smell on a chemical level and I can tell everyone apart!”

“That’s very interesting son.” Mr Mier said, Feral wondered why he called him that but maybe it was like Hunter calling him kid but he’d only just met Mr Mier so why would he already have a nickname ready to go? Maybe it was like Hunter, who called him kid from the start? Whatever it was it made Feral feel better in himself and he could tell that these were good people!

“Ah, here comes your sister.” Mrs Oda said with a smile on her voice.

“Sorry Feral!” Omega said quickly, “Got distracted!”

“T… that’s okay, Mr Mier and Mrs Oda came to say hi to me.” He replied, she hadn’t abandoned him and she came back!

“Thank you.” Omega said to the two adults, they sounded and smelled older, maybe they were? He wouldn’t ask them that but they were older than them and they deserved respect!

“Think nothing of it, we’re happy to help.” Mr Mier said with a smile on his voice, “If either of you need us or anyone here, you just have to ask.”

“Thank you.” They both replied and Feral waved to them as they walked off.

“I’m really sorry Feral.” Omega said as she took his hand to guide him back to the bench, “I didn’t mean to take that long.”

“It… it’s okay, I knew you would come back.” He nodded, obviously the others had told her about his… fear of being left behind, alone and scared like he had been on Ryloth, “You… you just took a detour.”

“Something like that.” She sighed, “But I got you something, me and Wrecker found a sweet shop and we think you’ll like to try these.”

“W… what is it?” He asked as she placed a small thing in his hand.

“It’s called Tepasi taffy, it’s candy.” She explained.

“Oh…” He frowned and sniffed the thing, “Smells… interesting.”

“You should try it, Tech really likes it.”

“Oh… okay.”

“Well?”

“M… mm!”

Chapter Text

Hunter was getting used to Feral wanting to stay with him at night because while he had initially chosen to sleep in the room between Hunter’s and Echo’s, the nightmares and panic attacks were always worse when he tried to sleep, the memories coming back full force when he tried to sleep alone… sometimes he could sleep through the night on his own but in the month he’d been here, he’d spent maybe a week sleeping in his own room, “We can prescribe him sleep aids if it’s really bad.” Sawbones smiled when he went to their house to get some kind of reassurance that this was completely normal and it would go away with time and patience, “But the fact that he has slept in his room without issue means there is a trigger present somewhere.”

“What would trigger it in a house?” He asked the kind medic as they sat drinking tea, Stitches was working that day so it was just Sawbones at home when Hunter visited, which was good for Hunter because while he did appreciate the aid of Stitches… there was just something that made Sawbones so much easier to talk to about these things.

“Could be anything, a smell, a sound, something small that the rest of you don’t notice.” Sawbones replied, “Could be as simple as him catching our scents on clothing.”

“That… makes a lot of sense actually.” He blinked because he hadn’t thought about something like that, then with a sigh he ran his hand through his hair, “This was so much easier with Echo.”

“People react to trauma differently, some people fight, some freeze and some flee, Echo was telling me that he freezes during his nightmares, which may be a byproduct of him being kept in stasis.” It was Sawbones’ turn to sigh, “But Feral’s reaction is to flee, to get as far away from the threat as he can, which is showing as him getting away from his room to stay with one of you, someone who will fight for him.”

“So… what would you recommend?” He asked when he spotted a sad, knowing smile on the medic’s face.

“He has Minnow with him but I would suggest that you let Gonky sleep in the room with him, that way he has his two supports with him at night.” He replied, “As such, if he panics then he has the two of them to help him.”

“Have his best friends in with him?” Hunter was surprised he hadn’t thought of that, “That makes sense… Feral used to sleep in the workshop with no one but Gonky and Minnow.”

“That was his safe place I take it?” He nodded because it really was, “Give him back some form of his safe place and it should help him in staying in his room at night… I’m sure Gonky will be more than happy to keep his friend safe.”

“I might ask Tech if he’d be willing to put some of his tools in the room, make it smell a little more like the Marauder.” He looked down at his tea, it was such a weird drink compared to caf but it was nice none the less.

“Small things can help him get more comfortable in this new environment, give him safety back and it will help him tremendously in this healing journey.” Sawbones smiled warmly to him.

“How do you know so much?” He asked with a small sigh, he wished he knew all these things without asking.

“Stitches is a psychologist, everything I learned I learned from him.” The way he said that made it seem he learned it a different way, not that it was any of his business to pry, “How are you all getting along in this new life?”

“It’s… it’s really weird not having to fight for food and shelter, even weirder having to do a normal job to earn a living.” He replied with a small smile, “I’m not complaining it’s just… not something we ever thought about during the war.”

“I understand, though me and Stitches talked for hours about where we’d go when the war ended, I’m glad we got out of that mess ourselves.” Sawbones smiled sadly.

“How did you get out?” He’d been wondering about that for a while.

“Stitches, the scar on his face goes through where the chip is, so his was deactivated a few months into the war.” Sawbones replied, “He got off Kamino with two other medics but they got split up on Coruscant, they’re now part of the network.”

“How… big is this network?” He asked.

“We have people all over the Galaxy, including Coruscant, we know what the Empire will do before it becomes a problem for any of us.” Sawbones’ smile grew happier, “I hope you’ll help us if we’re called to aid someone?”

“We will, at least you’re kind enough to ask, Stitches just told me point blank with a contract and everything.” He smiled when Sawbones chuckled.

“That man… he’s insufferable.” Hunter knew how much the two medics loved each other and someday he hoped to find someone he loved even half as much as the did, “But we’re thankful that you’re willing to help.”

“Stitches said that if we do have to leave, that you all will help take care of Omega and Feral.” He looked at his tea again, both of them would want to come with them but they couldn’t, Omega was a child going out into the Galaxy with absolutely no training or experience and Feral… Feral wanted to do what he used to but he wasn’t able to, he wanted to come with them, maybe someday he would but as of right now he could barely move around the house unaided.

“Of course we will and once he’s more comfortable in moving we can introduce him to more of this town.” He nodded, Feral was interested in all the smells wafting from town.

“He’d really like that.”

Chapter Text

Echo was both happy and sad that the plan to let Gonky sleep in Feral’s room as a source of comfort actually worked, happy that Feral now slept in his own room and Hunter could get a full night sleep without interruption but sad that it worked, sad that just having Gonky and Minnow helped Feral feel safer, not his organic siblings but two non-organics with one being a plush, “It makes sense though…” Hunter sighed as they drank their morning caf, “The workshop was his safe space in the Marauder, he’d stay there unless we coaxed him out with food or if we did mission planning.”

“Right… hopefully myself and him get on okay today.” He wasn’t working today and had chosen to stay with Feral so Omega could go out to the market and hopefully meet new people and make friends.

“Mr Mier said if you need him, just call in.” Hunter replied as he sipped his caf.

“I’m really glad we got good neighbors.” He replied, he knew it was because of the medics that they got the house and they obviously chose a house in a good neighborhood, “But we should be okay, I don’t seem to be a trigger anymore.”

“I think it’s because you don’t really smell of a reg, you smell like us.” Hunter smiled to him.

“Of course I do, the smell from your room on Kamino seeped into my clothes.” He frowned at the chuckle that left Hunter, “It will never leave.”

“It’s not that bad.” Hunter replied.

“I have no idea how Feral could stand anywhere close to you.” He grumbled.

“Be… because it’s a… safe smell.” They both looked to Feral, who was standing in the kitchen doorway, fidgeting with his fingers and blushing as though embarrassed.

“Did you even smell their room on Kamino?” He asked with a bigger frown but clearly Feral knew he wasn’t attacking because Hunter laughed, “You shouldn’t condone their lack of hygiene.” He knew that they’d done it to help Feral find them as his sense of smell kicked back in but it was rather gross and thankfully they all showered after Feral had begun to settle in.

“He cheats, he doesn’t have hair so he can just in and out shower.” Hunter said with a smile, “Have a seat vod’ika.”

“M… mm.” Feral nodded and with help from Gonky he made it to the table and sat down.

“So, have you and Echo come up with a plan for the day?” He smiled at the small happy sound that left Feral, he was very happy his new baby brother was comfortable in his presence, comfortable enough that he would spend the day with him.

“Sawbones suggested we visit the market, says there will be a whole host of new and amazing smells.” Echo said, they wanted to get Feral used to the outside as well as the new house but they were taking it slowly so they wouldn’t overwhelm the kid.

“He… he also says they have a small farm thing that takes in injured and trafficked animals, so they can… get better and go home!” Feral replied excitedly, “I… I would like to visit it but… small steps!”

“Exactly, I’m sure that if we all get a day off we can go visit it.” Hunter replied with a gentle smile, “Now, we all put aside some pocket money for both you and Omega to have, so if you go to the market you can buy something nice.”

“O… oh…” Feral’s mood changed as Hunter placed a small pouch in front of him.

“Don’t worry about it kid.” Hunter said gently and rested his hand on Feral’s head, “You can get yourself some more of those sweets you like or even try new ones.”

“And hey, if we find new sweets we can bring some home for the others to try.” Echo continued, they had to encourage Feral because he was so beaten down that he didn’t think he deserved anything given to him, “Sound like a plan?”

“M… mm!” Feral nodded and the small smile returned to his features, it was a gentle smile… like 99’s were.

“Well, I’d better head, work commitment and all that.” Hunter stood up and placed a kiss on the top of Feral’s bald head, “Have fun today kid.”

“Okay!” Feral replied with a bounce.

“Don’t you dare kiss my bald head.” He frowned at the chuckle that left Hunter, which earned a giggle from Feral.

“See ya.” Hunter waved as he walked out.

“Bye!” Feral waved after him, obviously following where his scent went, then turned back to Echo, “I… I didn’t know you had… no hair…”

“Not like you but being in cryofreeze has done absolutely nothing good for my ability to regrow my hair.” He replied, “Still have eyebrows and other things just no head hair.”

“Oh… that makes sense.” Feral nodded in understanding.

“So, do you want to get dressed? Then we can go exploring.” He smiled and Feral nodded, it had been a struggle getting Feral to accept the clothes they’d gotten him, they weren’t anything fancy but they were civvie clothes that were better than blacks and armor in terms of comfort, to be honest it was a whole lot easier getting clothes in Feral’s size than Wrecker’s… though a few of Feral’s items were from the women’s section but he liked them regardless.

“Can… Minnow wants to know if she… can come too?” Feral asked when he slowly reappeared from upstairs.

“Course she can.” He replied with a big smile, “You ready to go Gonky?”

“Gonk!” The droid replied, Feral remained a lot calmer when he had the two of them with him and though it made Echo feel a little sad for the kid he was happy he had someone to talk to, even if it wasn’t them.

“I… we’re ready to go sir!” Feral bounced happily.

“Good to hear trooper.” He smiled gently.

“To adventure!”

“To adventure.”

Chapter Text

Echo smiled as he watched Feral happily smelling the market and streets, “Something good vod’ika?” He asked the young clone, he wondered what it was like experiencing the Galaxy through a sense others didn’t.

“It… smells really warm and nice here.” Feral replied with a big smile, “So… so many things I’ve never smelled before!”

“I’m glad you’re having a good time, are you hungry?” He asked, moving closer to Feral as a large group came against them.

“M… Minnow says I have bad days when I don’t eat so… so I probably should…” Feral started but was cut off by the group roughly shoving their way past.

“Out of the way metal man.” One said as he shoved Echo out of the way.

“Sh…” He started but realized he’d lost sight of Feral, “Feral? Vod’ika?” He asked quickly as he looked around, he started to panic until he heard Feral’s distinct crying and moved to the origin of the sound, rounding a corner he spotted Feral in the midst of a complete panic attack and one older lady trying to calm him down, thankfully Minnow and Gonky were still at his side, “Hey, there you are.” He said as he came to stand with them but the second he put his hand carefully on Feral’s shoulder his new baby brother just completely broke down and sank to the floor.

“Gonk!” Gonky said and nudged his friend to show he was there for him.

“He was saying something about people out to get him.” The lady said.

“Yeah… he has some trauma from the war.” He sighed before kneeling down in front of Feral, “Hey, can you smell me?” He asked gently and Feral nodded slowly as he hiccuped and sniffled, “Who am I?”

“E… Echo?” Feral replied as he started to calm down.

“Yeah and this nice lady is…” He looked to her.

“My name is Lana Mabey.” She said in a gentle voice, “Are you okay?”

“I…” Feral was still hiccuping quite badly despite calming down.

“The guys who hurt you won’t find you here… okay?” Echo smiled and carefully put his hand on Feral’s head, hoping that it wouldn’t send Feral into another panic attack, Feral nodded again, “Thank you Mrs Mabey.”

“I have a grandson about his age and I would hate to see him suffer all alone.” She replied, “Here, bring him over to my stall, I’ll get him some water.”

“Thank you.” He nodded as she went over to a stall and looked to Feral again, “Hey, the nice lady is going to get you some water, can you stand?”

“I… I’m sorry Echo…” Feral said in a small voice as they moved over to the stall and the chair she’d readied for him.

“What are you apologizing for?” He asked with a blink, “I know what it’s like vod’ika, so never apologize to me for these things okay?”

“Gonk!” Gonky said as he helped guide Feral over.

“See, Gonky agrees.” He smiled when Feral smiled and put his hand on the droid’s chassis.

“Here you are.” Mrs Mabey appeared with a tumbler of water.

“Do you have your straw with you?” He asked and Feral nodded, taking the implement out from under his sleeve, he wanted to keep it where it had always been even if he wasn’t wearing his bracers, so Tech designed a small holder for it that would fit under any of Feral’s sleeves, “Drink your water, it will help you feel a lot better.”

“He’s awful young to have been a soldier.” Mrs Mabey said with a frown.

“Yeah… but the war wasn’t kind to anyone involved.” He replied he wondered if anyone knew from looking at him that Feral was a clone, it was one of the perks of being unique apparently, “Especially the young people.”

“That’s true…” She replied, then smiled to Feral as he sipped the water, “Feeling any better?”

“M… mm, yes Ma’am.” Feral nodded shyly, “Thank you… for being so kind.”

“Think nothing of it dear.” Echo was glad someone nice found Feral and was willing to help him, “Those men who shoved you aren’t from here, so don’t let them paint a bad picture of us, okay?”

“M… mm!” Feral nodded with a smile, from what Hunter had told him when Feral wasn’t in complete panic mode he could tell good people from bad people very easily, “I… I got scared because there were… a lot of them and…”

“You had flashbacks?” Feral nodded, “Yeah, they aren’t fun.” He knew all about them, he had moments when he was convinced he was back in the pod, that everything he was experiencing was made up by his brain to keep him going mentally, “Do you want to continue the adventure or do you want to call it a day?”

“I… I would like to continue.” Feral nodded again, he did a lot of nodding apparently, “If… if that’s okay Echo?”

“Course it is.” He smiled gently and hoped Feral could hear it on his words and catch it on his scent.

“If you need me you know where I am.” Mrs Mabey said, “Don’t forget to visit me even if you don’t need me.”

“Of course we’ll visit Ma’am.” He knew that there were more good people than bad people here and he was so glad that there were so many people willing to help a small, scared young man, “What do you think vod’ika?”

“Mm!” Feral replied with a bounce.

“Gonk!” Gonky bounced in reply.

“He… he says he’ll come too!” Feral said happily, “And… and so will Minnow!”

“Minnow?” She looked to Echo in confusion.

“A very dear friend of his.” He explained, they were all getting used to the idea of him conversing with a plush but they didn’t say it to others in case they were less receptive to the idea.

“She’s my… my bestest best friend and helps Gonky keep me safe!” Feral continued.

“That’s nice to hear dear.”

Chapter Text

Feral liked the market now that it had opened up a bit more from the narrow street they’d just left, at least now the mean people had room to go around them and not force their way past them, “So, what do you want to eat vod’ika?” Echo asked with a smile on his voice.

“I… don’t know.” He replied, “There’s so many food smells that I can smell but I don’t know what is supposed to be one thing.”

“Hm… how about some noodles.” He tilted his head in confusion, “Wrecker likes them, so does Tech.”

“Oh… okay!” He bounced, he had no idea what a noodle even was but he was willing to give it a go, as long as he could get it into his mask it was okay!

“Will I order you what Wrecker gets?” He nodded, if Wrecker liked something then it was something that was good and Feral knew he’d be able to eat it, he hated his nose sometimes when it interfered with his sense of taste and the foods he could find palatable but there wasn’t much he could do, “Okay, I’ll guide you to the table and go order.”

“Okay.” He replied and they went to a table with chairs which Feral could smell water close to, there were animals nearby too, were they by the river he’d heard the others talk about? The one that ran behind the house?

He wondered how pretty it looked, he wondered about how everything looked on Naboo, things he could smell that he wished he could put an image to, “How are you feeling now honey?” Minnow asked as they waited for Echo to get back.

“I’m okay, I’m glad Mrs Mabey was so nice.” He smiled, he knew the people here were nice because they smelled like good people and Mrs Mabey said those guys weren’t from around here so he wouldn’t let them paint a bad picture of the people here, “I hope Omega is having fun.”

“I’m sure she’ll have adventure stories to tell you when we get home.” Minnow replied with a warm smile on her voice, “And we’ll have some to tell in return.”

“Are you excited Gonky?” He asked his best friend.

“Gonk!” The droid replied with a bounce.

“Here we are, careful, they’re hot.” Echo said as he arrived back, placing something down on the table in front of him, “And don’t worry, I’m eating too.”

“What… what are they?” He asked as he sniffed it, they smelled good whatever they were.

“Corellian buckwheat noodles with nerf nuggets.” Echo replied, “The owner is from Corellia and her husband is from Alderaan and breeds nerf while she mans the stall.”

“Oh!” He’d never even heard of a nerf before, “What are nerfs?”

“They’re a type of large herd animal.” Echo explained, “Big, hairy and incredibly smelly, taste great but smell terrible.” He nodded in understanding before feeling around for the fork, luckily he was good at eating with little vision so at least he could find his mouth with little effort, “Oh, got some more water for you to drink.”

“Thanks Echo…” He nodded with a blush as he placed his straw in the tumbler, “You’re so nice to me…”

“Well of course I am, you’re my baby brother after all.” Echo replied warmly, “And what kind of ori’vod would I be if I was a sheb to you?”

“Oh…” He blushed more but smiled a little.

“How about we go find the sweet shop once we’re finished our food and then we can head home?” He nodded happily because he’d never been to a sweet shop before!

“Can I… really buy anything I want with my money?” He asked, he knew Hunter wouldn’t have given him the money if he didn’t mean Feral could use it as he wished, he knew this but didn’t want to assume anything and get yelled at.

“Of course you can, it’s your pocket money, so as long as you stay within budget you can get anything you want.” Echo smelled a little weird when he said that but Hunter and the others obviously told his new ori’vod about the bad times… he hated the bad times and was so happy he was with people who loved him and wanted him around.

“Yay!” He bounced.

“Now, eat your food before it gets cold.” He nodded happily and carefully started eating.

“Mm!” He said after a moment of chewing, “These are… really tasty!”

“Glad you like them vod’ika, Wrecker has good taste yeah?” He nodded excitedly, he’d never had anything this tasty before and was so happy he got to taste them now.

He was happy here.

“I’m so glad you’re happy here honey.” Minnow said gently, “And that you have all your siblings to help you.” He smiled again and hugged his bag, he was so happy Minnow had come into his life and helped guide him through the dark times, “I will always help you honey and I will always love you.”

“So, let’s find the sweet shop and get you some treats.” Echo said as they stood up after eating, “Omega said you like the taffy she gets, you up to try more things?”

“Yeah!” He bounced, he really wanted to try more things and was looking forward to it!

“Hello? Anyone?” He stopped when he heard a small voice from somewhere, turning his head he tried to find the source of the voice.

“Feral?” Echo asked as he moved away, hand going out to find the wall.

“Hello?” He asked then stopped when he found a dumpster, “Are you okay?”

“Hello?” The voice asked as he opened the bin.

“Feral? You okay?” Echo appeared with Gonky.

“Is… is there someone in here?” He asked.

“There’s a plush… why?” He froze a little, “Here, I’ll get it out.”

“Thank you both for saving me!” The voice said as Echo placed it in his arms.

“What is she…?”

“It’s a purrgil…”

Chapter Text

“We’re back!” Hunter called into the house, he could hear Feral talking upstairs probably in his room and more than likely to Minnow, he watched as Echo walked up to him with a weird expression, “What happened?”

“He had a good time, minor hiccup with some shabuir’e but we met a nice lady to help him.” Echo explained, “Had food and went to the sweet shop.”

“So why the weird face?” Wrecker asked.

“He made a new friend…” He was going to ask why that was weird face worthy, “With another plush, he heard it from a trash bin.”

“He didn’t know it was there and still heard it?” He felt his heart go weird, “Did you talk to Sawbones or Stitches?”

“No but I don’t think this is an issue.” Echo sighed, “From what Feral was saying she seems like a nice voice for him.”

“What kinda plush is it?” Wrecker asked with a raised eyebrow.

“She’s a purrgil.” He blinked in confusion, “And she’s very happy we saved her from the bin.”

“I… I’ll go say hi, see how he is.” He sighed and looked to the stairs, “Omega back yet?”

“Came back twenty minutes ago, she’s having a shower.” He nodded in understanding and moved to the stairs, “Be calm Hunter, don’t blow this out of proportion.”

“I will.” He smiled as he walked up the stairs and moved to Feral’s room, “Knock knock.” He said as he tapped on the door.

“Hunter!” Feral said excitedly and stumbled a bit running to the door, “I made a new friend!”

“So Echo was saying.” He smiled.

“She says her last friend’s parents were mean to each other and didn’t stay together so he’s gone with his mother and his father dumped his stuff like a meanie.” Feral was talking a klick a minute, “So I asked Echo and he said she could stay with us, I hope that’s okay!”

“Of course, does she have a name?” He knew he couldn’t tell his baby brother anything other than that, that he couldn’t ask or say anything about the young clone talking to another plush that wasn’t Minnow.

“Not yet she said her friend was too small to give her one but she’s hoping we’ll give her one.” Feral bounced happily, “Here, let me introduce you!” He somehow managed to get back to his bed with minimal effort before picking up the new plush and making his way back to Hunter, “This is my new friend!”

“It’s… very nice to meet you ma’am, my name is Hunter.” He smiled, “I hear you don’t have a name yet.”

“She was telling me she has a super power but I can’t see it…” Feral said with a sigh, “But you can!” He watched as Feral pressed her nose bump and soon there were trickling lights doing down her tentacles.

“That’s a really cool super power.” He replied, earning a happy squeak from Feral, “How about… Nau? It’s the mando’a word for light.”

“Nau…?” He asked and seemed to listen to the plush, “She likes that name! Thank you ori’vod!” He froze a little when Feral hugged him tight, “Mm!”

“No problem vod’ika.” He replied and returned the hug, up this close he could see that Nau had dirty patches on her fabric, he didn’t know how long she’d been in the bin but they should probably give her a bath.

“Is Wrecker here? I need to introduce him too!” Feral bounced when they broke the hug.

“I’ll send him up to you, need to make some caf for myself, long day at work and all that.” He replied gently.

“Okay!” Feral replied happily, his mood was much better with the addition of this new plush, he knew no one would ever hold a candle to Minnow in his heart and it was sad to think he was finding comfort and love with none organics but they would need to work on that.

“Feral wants you.” He said to Wrecker as he descended the stairs, “Wants to introduce you to his new friend.”

“What new friend?” He spotted Tech in the living room as Wrecker went up to talk with Feral.

“Long story…” He sighed and went to the kitchen where Echo was sitting at the table, a cup of caf in his hand.

“We were walking to the sweet shop and he apparently heard a voice asking for help and found a plush in the bin, she talks to him and is very thankful we saved her.” Echo explained with a frown, “How is he?”

“Very happy that I gave her a name.” He replied and poured himself some caf, “She is now called Nau.”

“Light?” Tech asked in confusion.

“She has a super power, her tentacles light up like a real purrgil’s do when you press her nose bump, so I thought why not call her Nau.” He shrugged, he was happy Feral liked the name.

“We should talk to Stitches about this development.” Tech said with a frown, “This is now two plush that can talk to him and I am beginning to wonder if he smelled the plush in the bin and his brain put a voice to it to make him help it?”

“That… makes sense actually.” Echo said after a moment.

“We won’t know until we talk to Stitches but until then don’t say anything about it, just accept it and move on.” He sat down beside Echo, “Other than this development, how did the adventure go?”

“It went well, only one hiccup when a group of shabuir’e decided they owned the pathway and shoved past us, there were too many and he had flashbacks.” Echo replied and sipped his caf, “We had help and then we went to get food, he likes the noodle place.”

“Great to hear.” He knew Wrecker loved it too and wondered if Feral was going on that but maybe he did like it on his own.

“Food is the best.”

“Yep.”

Chapter Text

“I can see why you are concerned.” Stitches frowned at them from his seat.

“Tech said it might be because he smelled it first and put a voice to it.” Hunter explained, he was surprised that Feral wasn’t freaking out at the smell of a reg but maybe he was getting used to it, “But this is not normal…” He sighed and ran his hand over his face.

“Some people like Feral can hear a multiple of voices at any one time.” Stitches replied, “But we are very lucky that both Minnow and this Nau are good and kind voices, had they been bad… making him think or do dark things then we may have had an issue.”

“I’ve heard him saying things to the two about worms, not sure what that means though…” Echo frowned as well.

“Hm…” Stitches fell silent for a moment as he leaned his arms on the table, “It will be beneficial for me to get that assessment done sooner rather than later, he is getting more used to us and our scents, so it will be easier than if I tried in the clinic.” Hunter and Echo looked to each other then back to Stitches, “I don’t think this will be temporary, this is going to be a permanent thing… and we had better understand what this is going to entail if we are to help him effectively.”

“Should… should I go get him?” He asked after a moment.

“Ask him if he would prefer the assessment done here or in the clinic.” Stitches sighed, “If here then ask where he’d prefer.”

“Okay.” He nodded and stood up, “Back in a minute.”

“Be gentle.” Stitches said.

“Mm.” He nodded again before making his way up the stairs to find Feral, “Knock, knock.” He carefully knocked and after a minute the door opened to reveal Feral, “Hey, you got a minute?”

“Y… yeah, did… did something happen?” Feral looked concerned, “I… I smell Stitches, did I do something… bad?”

“You did nothing bad kid, he just wants to talk to you about some things, if that’s okay?” He smiled, he had to let Feral know that he that he hadn’t done anything bad.

“Oh… what does he want to talk about?” Some of the tension left his baby brother’s frame, clearly the scent report backed up Hunter’s claim, “M… Minnow says it’s about her and Nau?”

“She’s a very smart woman, yeah he just wants to ask about them, do you want to talk to him here or in the clinic? He says he doesn’t mind which you pick.” He hadn’t actually said that but clearly they needed Feral to feel safe if he was going to talk about personal things with a medical professional.

“If… if we do it here will you all be nearby? And can my friends be with me?” Feral fidgeted with his fingers, “Like… like can Minnow be with me? And Nau… and Gonky?”

“I don’t see any reason that they couldn’t be with you and of course me and Echo will be nearby, ready to jump in if things go wrong.” He smiled gently, “Though I don’t trust my face with Stitches, he seems to be a punch you lights out kind of guy if pissed off.” Feral giggled at that and bounced happily.

“Thanks Hunter.” Feral said with a smile of his own.

“Right, grab your friends and I’ll meet you downstairs?” Feral nodded happily before feeling his way back to his bed to grab Minnow and Nau, Hunter felt weird about the idea that the attack on Feral had cracked a chip off of his brain, he wasn’t broken but he wasn’t whole either, on one hand he was happy Feral had someone to talk too in his dark moments but on the other… he knew this wasn’t normal.

“Well?” Stitches asked when he re-entered in the kitchen.

“He says he’ll talk to you here, as long as his friends can be there with him and we don’t go too far away.” He explained.

“Of course, this isn’t to make him feel like I’m attacking him.” Stitches said gently, it was so weird to hear the medic talk in anything other than unimpressed annoyance, “This is to help and if he’ll talk only with his friends present then that’s how it will happen.”

“We can wait in the living room while you talk to him in here.” Echo prompted, “That way he has the table between you and him.”

“And he can sit close to the door, giving him an escape route if he feels the need to flee at any point.” Stitches nodded and took out his datapad.

“I… we’re here.” They all turned to look at Feral, who was standing with Gonky, with Minnow and Nau in his arms.

“Hello Feral.” Stitches smiled to the young clone, “I know Minnow and Gonky, is this your new friend?”

“Y… yeah! She’ called Nau!” Feral bounced happily, “And she has a superpower!”

“Oh?” Stitches looked to Hunter with a raised eyebrow.

“Can Minnow sit on you Gonky?” Feral asked the droid, who bounced in reply and Feral carefully placed Minnow down, “Thanks… see this is her superpower!” He pressed Nau’s nose bump and the light effect trickled down her tentacles.

“That is a very interesting superpower I must admit.” Stitches replied, “Well it’s very nice to meet you Nau.”

“She says it’s nice to meet you too.” Feral bounced again, he had learned more mannerisms from Gonky and Minnow than he did from his brothers.

“Now, if you could take a seat, we can begin.” Feral nodded and with help from Gonky, made his way to the table.

“We’ll be in the living room should you need us to save the day.” He said gently, resting his hand on Feral’s head, he knew Feral was small but he never really remembered just how small he was until he put his hand on his brother’s head.

“O… okay!”

Chapter Text

“Omega?” Feral asked as he appeared from his room after waking up from a nap, the house was quiet and he couldn’t smell anyone… “Omega?” He carefully made his way downstairs, “He… hello? Anyone?” He felt his panic taking hold, he tried to calm his hiccups but nothing was working and he felt himself spiraling quickly, why was no one here? Did they… did they abandon him? No… no they wouldn’t, Omega just left to get something while he was napping… but she left and… and what if she was never coming back!? He didn’t do anything wrong!

“They left you!”

“No one loves you and now…!”

He started hyperventilating as he started hitting his head and yelling, “Shut… shut up squishy worms! Don’t hurt me! I…!” He jerked away from something touching him, “I… didn’t do anything wrong!” He thought he heard someone try the front door but he couldn’t be sure if it was a real sound or not, “I… I didn’t mean to be bad!”

Suddenly a pair of arms encircled him, holding his arms at his side, “Easy son, easy.” A voice said, “Just breathe, nothin’ gonna hurt you.” He hiccuped and sniffled as he started to just cry.

“I didn’t mean to be bad!” He barely managed, “I… I didn’t do anything wrong…!”

“I know son, I know but you hurting yourself isn’t going to make anyone happy.” The voice replied and as Feral calmed down he realized it wasn’t one of his brothers, their arms were as strong as Wreckers but nowhere near as broad, “Easy, that’s it, just breathe.”

“Feral!” He heard the front door open and felt hands on his face, cupping them as if to make sure he was physically okay, “Are you okay?”

“He just had a panic attack.” The voice at his back said, “Calmed down easy enough once the threat was gone.”

“Thank you Mr Mier… how did you get in?” He realized the voice in front of him was Omega but the person behind him was Mr Mier? The nice man from next door? How did he get in…?

“Tried to get in the front door but it was locked, had to jump the fence and luckily the back door was open.” Mr Mier replied, “You okay if I let you go?”

“M… mm.” He nodded and Mr Mier carefully let go, “I… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay son, nothing to apologize for.” Mr Mier’s hand appeared on his head, a comforting weight that kept him from spiraling again.

“I… I panicked because no one was here and I… I… I thought everyone had abandoned me.” He hiccuped, “I don’t want to be alone…”

“I’m sorry, I thought I had time to got to the shop before you woke up.” She replied gently, “I…”

“Feral!” He heard the door again but this time it was Hunter’s scent that appeared, “Hey, you okay kid?”

“Panic attack.” Mr Mier explained as Hunter replaced Omega in front of him, “Was hurting himself before I got to him.”

“Thank you.” Hunter said as his hands appeared on Feral’s shoulders, “For helping him.”

“No problem Hunter, just glad I could help.” Mr Mier replied gently.

“How did you… know I was in trouble?” He asked the man, he came swooping in like a superhero!

“I heard you from my backyard, your front door was locked so I had to jump the fence.” Mr Mier replied, “Thankfully the back door was open or this could have been a worse situation.”

“What happened kid?” Hunter asked gently.

“I… no one was here when I woke up and I… I panicked.” He blushed a little.

“Oh kid, we’d never abandon you.” Hunter replied.

“I know… but no one was here until Mr Mier showed up.” He wiped the tears dripping down his cheeks, “I couldn’t hear Minnow or Gonky or… or Nau because they’re upstairs…”

“How about you go get them and I’ll talk to Davin, yeah?” He nodded and stood up.

“Th… thank you Mr Mier.” He carefully hugged the man, who hugged him back, he really did have strong arms, maybe he worked in a physically demanding job?

“No problem son.” Mr Mier replied, “Now, go find your friends.”

“Okay…” He nodded again and made his way to the stairs, he heard them talking as he made it to his room but they were talking quietly so he couldn’t hear them correctly.

“Are you alright honey?” Minnow asked quickly, “We heard you but couldn’t get to you!”

“Gonk!” Gonky moved to him and he hugged the droid.

“I… I panicked but… but Mr Mier helped me!” He liked Mr Mier, he was strong but gentle at the same time, he was like Hunter and the others! “He… he’s so nice to me…” He didn’t know why but he was glad someone came to help him.

“I’m glad someone helped you.” Nau said with a smile on her voice, “Would you like a hug?”

“Mm.” He nodded and picked the two up to hug them tight, “I was so scared…”

“I know honey but you had someone to help you not be scared anymore.” Minnow said gently, “Oh honey it’s alright…” He hiccuped as he started crying, he had been so scared that everyone had abandoned him, he knew they hadn’t but he couldn’t stop those horrible worms in his brain from saying bad things.

“Those horrible things only want bad things for you!” Nau said quickly, “They say things that aren’t true only to make you upset and scared.”

“Gonk!” Gonky plopped down beside him and he moved off his bed to sit down to lean against the droid, he loved Gonky and he loved Minnow and Nau.

“And we love you too honey.” Minnow’s voice carried a gentle smile, “Remember that no matter what happens we will always be with you, even if everyone else is gone you will never be alone.”

“Thank you.” He smiled.

No matter what happened…

He wasn’t alone

Chapter Text

“Thank you for helping him.” Hunter smiled to the older man.

“No problem Hunter, happy I could help and that the door was open.” Davin smiled in return, “How did you know something was wrong?”

“Oh… Tech has security systems on the doors electronics, when you tried to open the front door it tripped, then when you came through the back door another tripped.” He rubbed his neck, “Thought we were being attacked… and that the two were in danger.”

“That makes sense.” Davin frowned.

“I’ll go check on him, he should be calmed down by now.” Omega said gently before going upstairs.

“How did you know how to help him?” He looked to the older man again, he knew how to hold Feral without hurting him and how to talk him down from hurting himself.

“Worked in a psychiatric hospital for nearly forty years as a psychiatric nurse or keeper as we were sometimes called by the residents.” He blinked in surprise, that would probably explain why the man was so calm, “My son is very similar to Feral, except the voices are only bad ones… he’s institutionalized currently because he’s a danger to himself and others.”

“Did something trigger it like it did with Feral?” He asked.

“He was a soldier and was caught in an ambush that left him deaf.” Davin sighed, “Meaning the only voices he hears are the bad ones in his brain.”

“What’s his name?” That made a whole lot more sense, it explained why he was so calm but also how he knew what to do.

“Kyle, he’s turning thirty five next week.” Davin smiled a little, “We’re going to celebrate and Stitches says he might be allowed to come home for the day seeing as his meds are holding him.”

“Hunter.” He was going to reply but the sound of Stitches arriving cut him off, he didn’t know why it was the medic and not anyone else, maybe he was summoned by his name… but he wasn’t going to complain because Feral needed more help than they thought, “What happened?”

“Feral panicked because no one was here when he woke up, was hurting himself before I managed to calm him down.” Davin replied.

“He’s gone to find his friends.” Hunter continued, “And Omega’s gone to see if he’s okay.”

“Hm.” Stitches frowned, “Is there a reason he was alone?”

“Omega said she thought she’d have time to go to the shop before he woke from his nap.” Hunter knew Omega meant well trying to go when Feral was sleeping but that could make it worse, as demonstrated.

“I see.” Was all Stitches said in response to that and Hunter knew exactly what he was thinking, she should have known better and waited till he was up before going anywhere, he wasn’t well enough to be left for long periods of time before his brain ran away with bad thoughts, “Will I speak with him?”

“If you think it will help, yeah.”

“Hm.”

-

“I really am sorry Feral…” Omega said as she sat beside him, “I guess I didn’t think…”

“I… it’s okay Omega, did… did they tell you about why I panicked?” He asked and she shook her head, “D… during the war I was sent back to work with my first squad on Ryloth after working with the Batch… and I…” He hugged Minnow and Nau tight and leaned into Gonky more.

“Gonk.” Gonky bounced him a little in encouragement.

“I was left behind by them, in a collapsed building with a superior officer that I failed to save… I… I don’t think I could have done anything else to help him but… they didn’t help him and pinned his death on me…” He sighed, “I was captured after they’d abandoned me to die…”

“I’m sorry Feral.” She said gently and put her hand on his arm, “I didn’t know…”

“I know… but the bad voices said that you had all done what they’d done, that I’d been bad and that you all left me behind.” He hiccuped, “I don’t want to be alone!”

“Oh Feral, we’d never leave you behind.” She gently hugged him, wrapping her arms around his small frame, “We’d never hear the end of it from Gonky.”

“Y… yeah.” He hiccuped a sob, “He’d tell you all right off!”

“Gonk!” Gonky said in agreement.

“And no matter what, you’ll always have us.” Minnow said, “You will never be alone as long as we stick together!”

“Yeah!” Nau continued, “No matter what happens, we’ll be with you through it all.”

He froze when a knock came from the door, “Feral? Permission to speak with you?”

“Oh, it’s just Stitches.” Omega said and stood up, he stood up too and followed after her, “Hello Stitches.”

“Don’t worry he’s not here to hurt us.” Minnow said gently as he hugged them tighter, he didn’t want to hug them any tighter because he might hurt them but he was just so nervous!

“I think he just wants to see how you are.” Nau encourage him, “We’ll be right by your side and Gonky will beat him up if he tries anything.”

“Gonk!” Gonky appeared beside him.

“Omega.” He heard the man nod, “Hello Feral.”

“H… hi.” He waved shyly, he knew Stitches would never hurt him, he was a good reg but he didn’t want his room to smell like a…

“I can stand here if you’d feel more comfortable that way.” Stitches said as though he’d heard Feral’s thoughts, “That way my scent won’t make it into your room.”

“O… okay, thank you.” He nodded, he knew Sawbones was made of magic but so was Stitches apparently! “You… wanted to talk with me? Did I…?” He started but Stitches gently cut him off.

“You aren’t in trouble Feral.” Stitches replied, “I merely wish to see if you are alright? That must have been terrifying.”

“Yeah… but I had help!” Mr. Mier was also made of magic!

“Good to hear ad’ika.”

Chapter Text

“You are listening to the Quiet Moment, your voice on the air and a moment to breathe, we dedicate this next song to the men and women slugging it out on Kashyyyk.” He liked the radio guy, he sounded cool and smooth and kinda like a reg but he couldn’t be sure, “Stay safe and watch out for the wildlife.” He smiled and started slowly dancing to the song playing.

“I like this song!” Nau said happily, he agreed but he liked a lot of music, it helped with his brain and made him feel happy, this was he favorite part of the day because it was the time when the nice voice came on and he could dance to the music, the voice also kept him company when Omega would go out, which she did more often now that he was getting better in himself.

The best place to listen to it was out in the garden with the environmental sounds of living in a neighborhood, he was sure that Mr Mier liked it too, seeing as he always had a small radio with him when he was out in the garden, “It is very soothing.” Minnow replied, “What do you think honey?”

“Mm! It makes me feel safe.” He replied, “Gonky?”

“Gonk!” His friend replied with a bounce.

“We must ask Tech abut finding some of these songs to listen to ourselves.” Minnow continued, “It would be nice to have some.”

“Yeah!” He bounced, “I really like music, it…”

“We’re home!” Hunter’s voice came from inside the house, which confused Feral, they were home early, “Hey kid, you okay?” Hunter asked when he appeared in the garden.

“Mm! I’m… listening to the radio.” He stood up slowly, “I… I like this show, the guy has a really nice voice and the music is really good.”

“You listen every day?” Hunter asked with a smile on his voice.

“I do and… and it’s like he keeps me company for a few hours!” He knew it was silly but he felt like there was another person here with him to make him feel safe, “I don’t know him or his name but…”

“Glad you can find comfort in something kid.” Hunter replied and placed his hand on Feral’s head, he loved when the older clones did it because it made him feel safe, “I hope your friends are also keeping you company?”

“Yeah! They’re the best!” He replied happily, he would be so lost without his friends!

“Gonk!” Gonky confirmed with a bounce of his own.

“Good to hear.” Hunter’s smile always made it to his voice and scent, that’s how he knew it was a good smile, an honest smile.

“Why are you home early?” He asked in confusion, “Normally my show is over before you all come home…”

“Staffing mess up at work, sent us home early.” Hunter explained with a sigh, “How about we go inside and see Wrecker?”

“Okay!” He moved to the seat and picked up the small radio Mr Mier had given him, “Can I still listen to my show?”

“Of course you can, I would like to hear this voice on the radio.” Hunter chuckled and they moved inside.

“That was Al Gatha’s Moonlight Symphony, a beautiful piece that I’m sure all my listeners enjoy.” The man on the radio started talking again and Feral felt the room go weird, his brothers’ scents going really weird.

“That’s a reg.” Wrecker said, “Is this Imperial ne…”

“No!” Feral said quickly, “He’s not Empire, this is outer rim radio! He… he dedicates songs to people and does requests… he…” He held the radio tight to his chest as the man continued talking, “Please… please don’t make me stop listening to him…”

“Kid… we’d never stop you, we just want you to be safe.” Hunter sighed, “And some stations are broadcasting propaganda and that can be dangerous to people.”

“I know… but he doesn’t talk about the war or current affairs… he’s here to play music…” He replied, “And I like the music he plays, it makes me feel safe.” He knew it was silly, he always knew it was silly but on days when it was just him and his friends… he liked having another voice to fill the silence.

“And now, lets listen to the delicate sounds of Mantooine Minuet.” The man’s voice broke the silence, “For all you lonely people who just need something to fill the long silence.”

“See…” He frowned, “He’s not a bad guy.” He knew they were looking at each other, neither said anything but he knew what they were thinking, “I…”

“We’re back!” Echo’s voice appeared.

“Everyone’s home early today.” Hunter said.

“We finished early, so boss said we could head home.” Echo replied.

“You are listening to the radio?” Tech asked him and he nodded slowly, “Is that the Quiet Moment?”

“Yeah! I like it a lot but…” He didn’t want to stop listening to it, he liked it.

“I listen to it too.” Tech replied.

“You do?” Hunter asked in confusion, Feral had to agree because of all his brothers Tech was the last person he thought would listen to the radio and music.

“Yes, Sawbones introduced me to it when I was repairing their computer systems.” Tech explained, “It is very good to listen to when working because it does not distract me and gives me a nice background noise to help me focus.”

“Right… well…” Hunter sounded a little flustered, the sighed, “Okay kid.”

“Yay!” He bounced, “Thank you!” He could continue listening to the nice voice and listen to the music he loved! He was so happy! “Thank you Tech!” He knew the only reason Hunter relented was because of Tech saying he listened too.

“I would say listen anyway, regardless of if he said we could or not.” Nau said.

“I agree, it does more good than harm.” Minnow replied, “But he said yes so we can continue listening.”

“That’s quite alright.”

Chapter Text

“So, how are you enjoying being here?” Mrs Oda asked gently.

“I’m… doing a lot better because this is a very safe place!” He replied happily, “I feel very safe and I feel like I can always ask for help if I need it.”

“That’s great to hear son.” Mr Mier said in a warm voice, “You doing better with Omega leaving you alone?”

“Mm, I have my friends and my radio shows.” He bounced, “And I talk to people when I sit outside in the sunshine!” He liked having this kind of life, this kind of safety and kindness, “I…” He started but stopped when the sound of blaster fire appeared, they’d found him! They were going to finish the job and take him out as a traitor! But… but General Sandul wasn’t here, he wasn’t with a General why would they…?

“Son, I need you to breathe.” A voice made it into his head and he realized he was shaking like a bobblehead in turbulence, “You…” He wrenched himself away from the hand on his shoulder, he had to get away!

“Feral? Can you hear me?” A new voice asked when reality came back to him and he realized he was on the ground, “Hey, welcome back vod’ika.” The scent attached to his new brother followed his voice.

“I… they found…” He tried to talk but his shaking was making it a chore.

“Don’t worry, they haven’t found you.” The voice of Mr Mier said as he and Echo helped him sit up, “It was just some kids playing with toy blasters.”

“Are you alright dear?” Mrs Oda’s hand appeared on his shoulder, everyone smelled so concerned.

“I… I’m shaking…?” He asked, he couldn’t stop it.

“You had a flashback episode.” Echo explained, “Stitches said your shakes could come back if you had a bad one, remember?”

“I’m… I’m sorry…” He said weakly.

“Oh hush, no need to apologize, we’re just glad you’re okay dear.” Mrs Oda said gently, “I can’t imagine how scary that must have been for you.”

“Why… why do I… have to be like this?” He asked, he hated being like this, he just wished he could live a normal life with his family, a normal life where he wasn’t blind and scared and haunted by something he should never have gone through… he should have stayed with his brothers, not with the Wolfpack, he would be safe then!

“Because the war wasn’t kind to you.” Echo explained, “Like it wasn’t kind to me… think you can stand?”

“M… mm.” He nodded shakily and with help from Echo and Mr Mier he was hoisted to his feet, he stayed standing but he wasn’t so sure on walking given the shakes rattling his body.

“Here, let’s get you settled.” Mr Mier said as they guided him back inside the house, where Gonky met them.

“Gonk!” His friend said and bounced as he carefully wrapped his arms tightly around the droid.

“Thank you.”

“No problem Feral.”

-

“I do hope he’ll be alright.” Ms Oda said once he and Davin reappeared from upstairs.

“He just needs to talk with his friends.” Echo replied, “Thank you both for helping him.”

“Just glad we could help.” Davin nodded, “You be okay to watch him or do you want me to stay?”

“We’ll be okay, as long as he has someone he tends to be okay.” He sighed a little, his new brother was a mess of trauma both old and new, “I’m going to give him a bit to talk to his friends before asking him any questions.”

“Good idea, well I’ll be home if you need me.” Davin replied.

“I’ll be over later to see how he is.” Mrs Oda smiled warmly.

“Thank you.” He smiled and watched as the two left, speaking to each other before going separate ways home, he looked up the stairs and sighed, he hadn’t expected to come home to his new baby brother having a trauma episode but luckily he wasn’t alone when it happened and he was with kind and caring people… he sighed again before going to the kitchen to make some caf.

Once he was finished his caf he started up the stairs and listened for Feral, “I hope I can help him someday like… like he helps me.” Feral’s small voice came from the other side of the door, “Y… yeah! Let’s do that!” He wondered what Feral’s friends sounded like, did they have gentle voices? Minnow, even though he referred to her as his sister, seemed to be more like a mother figure so maybe she sounded older? “We… we can asked Hunter to help us! What do you think Gonky?” Feral continued happily.

“Gonk!” Gonky honked in reply, even though he was only getting half the conversation he was just happy to be with his friend.

“Knock, knock.” He said as he opened the door.

“Hi Echo!” Feral said as he shakily made his way over to him and once he was in front of Echo, he wrapped his arms around him, “Thank you for helping me.”

“That’s what a good ori’vod does for his vod’ika.” He smiled and returned the hug, he’d never gotten as many hugs from someone till he met Feral, “Are you okay?”

“I… I’m still shaking but I think that’ll go away soon.” Feral replied, tightening his hug a little, “I’m sorry but… I heard blaster fire and I… I thought they’d found me…”

“Yeah, it was just some kids playing with toy blasters.” He sighed, they should have known he would react to things like that but they didn’t think they’d encounter anything like that, “And you don’t have to apologize for something like this Feral, I know exactly what it’s like, I have bad days too.”

“You… you do?” Feral asked in confusion, “I… I know your scent goes weird but I didn’t think…”

“Don’t worry about it, I have people to help me, you included.”

“I like helping!”

Chapter Text

“What do you mean he’s on Kamino?” He heard Hunter’s hushed voice from where he was sitting at the top of the stairs.

“Just that, he’s on Kamino and is using your emergency frequency.” Echo replied, “He’s luring us in.”

“Right… what do you think we should do?” Hunter asked after a moment of silence.

“You know Feral would want us to go get him and I know you want him back also… but he’s under the chip, there’s no way to reach him.” Echo sighed, “We…”

“Stitches got Sawbones and his brothers free of the chip, we can get Crosshair too.” Hunter replied quickly, “We… we’ll wait for the other two before we decide.”

“Not Omega and Feral?” Echo was frowning.

“They won’t be coming with us if we do go.” Hunter explained, “Feral is just getting used to existing in this space, asking him to remember how to navigate Tipoca is probably more than he’s able for…”

Feral couldn’t hear anymore as his older brothers moved outside to head to work and silently he stood up to make his way back to his room, “Honey? Are you alright?” Minnow asked gently when he entered the room.

“Am I… am I a burden?” He asked in a small voice.

“No! What’s got you asking that?” Nau asked quickly.

“Just Hunter and Echo…” He picked the two of them up before moving to Gonky so he could rest his frame against his best friend, who was down for a recharge.

“You are not a burden honey and anyone who thinks that is wrong!” Minnow said in a firm voice, “You’re doing wonderfully here, you are very close to being completely independent in terms of being able to live here.”

“But… but Hunter said I couldn’t go to Kamino because I… I wouldn’t be able to navigate…” He hiccuped.

“Your brothers are just worried about you, okay?” Nau said, “They don’t mean you’re a burden, they just want to keep you safe.”

“But I want to go find Crosshair!” He hugged them tight, he wanted to save his brother from the Empire!

“We know you do, so do your brothers but honey, being independent here is different to being able to do what you used to.” Minnow sighed, “Your brothers don’t want to put you in a situation where your life could be in danger.”

“I’ll tell you something you could do.” Nau said with a smile on her voice, “You could record a message for Crosshair and ask that one of your brothers gives it to him.”

“Yeah! That way you can help them without being there.” Minnow said happily.

“Y… yeah… yeah! That’s what I’ll do!” He nodded, that way he could say everything he wanted too to Crosshair without being there!

“Feral! I’m back!” He heard Omega call from downstairs.

“Go to her and tell her your plan, that way she can help you record your message.” Minnow said gently.

“Okay.” He nodded again as he carefully got to his feet, placing his friends down on the bed and making his way downstairs.

“There you are.” She said happily, then paused, “Are you okay?”

“I… Echo was telling Hunter that they’ve located Crosshair.” He replied, fidgeting with his fingers, “They didn’t know I was listening but they said if they went neither of us could go with them.”

“Oh…” She replied after a moment, “They want to keep us safe vod’ika.”

“I know… so that’s why Nau gave me the best idea!” He bounced, “If I can’t go then I’ll record a message for Crosshair and ask the others to bring it to him!”

“That’s a very good idea.” She said with a smile on her voice, “Do you want me to help?”

“Yes please!” He replied happily.

“We’re back!” Hunter called as the door opened, they had just finished the recording by the time they got back, it had taken several attempts to get it right because he couldn’t stop getting upset… he just wanted to go and get Crosshair, “Hey, what’re you two doing?”

“I… I heard what you were talking about this morning…” He said quietly, not wanting to make them angry.

“Feral…” Hunter sighed a little.

“I know I can’t go with you… I’d be a liability.” He explained,

“Oh kid…” Hunter started but he continued.

“But… Nau gave me a good idea.” He nodded, his friends were so smart, smarter than him by a long way.

“And what idea is that?” Echo asked gently.

“That I could record what I want to say to Crosshair and that I could give it to you so you can give it to Crosshair.” He fidgeted with his fingers, “I know that you don’t want me to go and that I really want to go and help Crosshair… but I can’t so maybe you could give him this?”

“It took a few tries.” Omega explained for him as she handed over the recording device, “But we got what he wants to say.”

“We won’t know if we’re going until the other two get back but don’t worry, if we do go, then I’ll give this to him.” Hunter’s hand appeared on Feral’s head, it was such a comforting weight, “Maybe it will help us in getting him back.”

“I hope so.” He smiled, he didn’t know if Crosshair would even listen to it, if he was under the control of the chip then it could mean he wouldn’t listen or care for it… he hoped he was wrong and that his words would help bring the brother he knew back to them.

“I take it we can’t listen to it?” Hunter asked and he shook his head, “Secret then?”

“I want it to be him that listens to it, even if he doesn’t react… I want him to hear it and no one else.” He sighed a little, it was meant for Crosshair and no one else, he hoped Crosshair would come back to them.

“Okay kid.”

Chapter Text

“We're loyal to each other, not some Empire.” He said firmly as he stared at Crosshair, he had to get through to his brother somehow.

You weren't loyal to me, I was one of you… you may have forgotten, but I haven't and it's why I'm going to give you what you never gave me…” Hunter flinched when Crosshair fired but was surprised when it took out the nat-borns instead, “A chance.”

“Crosshair?” He asked quickly, “Please, this isn’t you…”

“Still don’t get it do you, I am a loyal soldier of the Empire and we can be together.” Crosshair was still on the path of trying to get them to join him, “We’re above the regs, above the nat-borns… together we can do anything!”

“We aren’t soldiers anymore Crosshair, we donned our armour this one time to speak with you, to try and get through to the you, you really are…” He sighed, “Here, listen to this.”

“What?” Crosshair hissed as Hunter held out the data stick that Feral had given him, “What’s this?”

“Feral sent it with us.” He explained.

“Feral?” Crosshair asked quickly as he took the data stick, “He… he’s alive?”

“He barely made it from the Fifth Fleet, he was gravely injured and has been rendered blind.” Tech replied, “He asked that we bring this to you.”

“Crosshair… ori’vod… you were probably wondering but I made it away from the Pack.” Feral’s small voice came through, “I… I came through but you weren’t there when I got back, I’m not the smartest… not even smart at all but I know things… I know it wasn’t your fault, that it wasn’t Hunter or the Batch’s fault because everything was chaos, it was no one’s fault but the Empire and the long necks.” Hunter looked to his brothers as Feral continued, “I also know that you’re upset and angry that you were left behind and I… I know that you were forced to stay by the chip making you attack our brothers… I know all this but I hope that there’s a little bit of you in there, under the chip smell, just waiting for us to come back for you… we have a life here and I want you to be a part of it, I want my big brother back.” Crosshair didn’t look up from the datapad as it continued, his face didn’t betray what he was feeling, the only thing that gave him away was his eyes, they were full of emotions Hunter hadn’t seen in his brother since they were little, “Maybe we can talk more when you come home? I asked the others if I could have bunk beds so that you have a place to sleep when you come home! I have so many things to tell you and show you! There are ducks and animals all around our house! Oh! Minnow wants me to tell you she hopes you come home too! So… when you come home we can talk and I can… I can give you a well-deserved hug… okay? Oh and Ori’vod? I love you… never doubt that for even a second… bye, I hope you come home…”

“He…” Crosshair found his voice after a long moment of silence.

“Even if you can’t forgive us for what happened… Feral will always be there for you.” He said softly, “He’s waiting for you to come home.”

“I…” Crosshair quickly scrubbed his eyes to get rid of wayward tears that started to fall, “I… I can’t…”

“You can vod’ika.” He moved carefully to Crosshair and placed his hand on the sniper’s thin shoulder, “Feral wants you to come home, he’s waiting for you.” He smiled.

“I’ve… done things… bad things…” Crosshair hiccuped as he continued to wipe his eyes, “I can’t go with you…!”

“Don’t…” He was cut off by the entire building shaking, “What the…?”

“Hunter, there are three venators above the city, they have started an aerial assault.” Tech said quickly.

“They’re attacking Tipoca?” Echo asked and Tech fixed his goggles with a nod.

“There… there are clones on those venators! They’re attacking our home!” Wrecker yelled.

“Kark… we don’t have time to delay, we need to get out of here.” Hunter looked to each of them, Crosshair included, “You included Crosshair, we’re not leaving you behind again.”

“Hunter… I…” Crosshair started but was cut off by the building shaking again.

“Worry about it later, we need to move.” He grabbed Crosshair’s arm and all but dragged him behind him as they all took off running, soon Crosshair took the initiative to run on his own and they started making good headway to the small platform they’d parked the Marauder, away from the eyes of the Empire, somewhere only Omega knew about. “Don’t stop running!” He yelled as they ran out into the rain, he could see shots hitting one of the other domes, they hit the dome they’d just left, causing them to stumble but they kept running, they had to get to the platform, “In here!” He stopped at the door.

“The dome cannot take much more.” Tech said from the front.

“Just needs to hold out long enough for us to get back to the Marauder.” Echo replied firmly, “So keep moving.”

They managed to get into the lab before the corridor behind them cracked and started leaking water, “No time.” He said to Crosshair as they moved to the pod, they’d explain later, right now they had to get out of there.

“Hopefully the tube is not damaged.” Tech frowned under his helmet.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” He sighed as the pod closed around them, they all stumbled almost falling over when a shot hit their section, “Get this thing moving Tech!”

“Affirmative.” Tech replied, they’d just started moving when water pierced the ceiling above them, following them down the tube, shuttling down then sideways, the tube was starting to spring leaks as they passed.

“Nearly there.”

“Hold on!”

Chapter Text

Feral was so anxious, did they get Crosshair back? He knew they were coming home but they didn’t tell anyone anything and that made him feel like Crosshair wasn’t with them, did he fight them? Was he beyond saving and they had to leave him behind again? He hoped beyond hope that that wasn’t the case and his message helped and that he was coming home to live with them, “It’ll be okay Feral.” Omega’s hand appeared on his arm, “I’m sure he’s with them.”

“I… I hope so.” He nodded, “I hope you… you get to see the true Crosshair…”

“I’m sure I will.” She replied with a smile on her voice, which made him smile in return.

“I…” He was cut off by the front door opening and the smells of the batch flowed in with the breeze.

“We’re back!” Hunter called and Feral was on his feet in seconds, moving to wrap his arms around his brother, hugging him tight, “Hey kid, got a surprise for you.”

“A… surprise?” He asked before he caught the scent he was hoping for, “C… Crosshair?”

“Yes kid, Crosshair.” Hunter said with a gentle scent.

“Crosshair!” He started bouncing before he moved quickly to find his brother.

“I… I’m here.” Crosshair said when Feral found him, he smelled of all kinds of emotions but he was here!

“You… you came home!” He wrapped his arms around his brother and hugged him tight, “You…” He froze when he finally registered the other scent, the one he’d been trying to ignore.

“Kid?” Hunter’s hand appeared, “Easy kid, it’s okay.”

“You… you have the wrong smell…” Feral said in a small voice.

“I do… but I’m not like the Pack and we’re going to fix the wrong smell.” Crosshair said after a moment.

“Stitches and Sawbones said they can help him, like they helped us.” Hunter continued, “So don’t worry, okay?”

“M… mm.” He nodded slowly, instinctively tightening his hug on Crosshair, he knew his brother had the wrong smell but he wasn’t like the Pack, he was calm, he was feeling all the emotions but he wasn’t attacking them.

“I’m sorry.” Crosshair said in a small voice as he tightened his hug in response.

“I know…” He didn’t want Crosshair to have the wrong smell but they were going to help him, the nice regs were going to make his scent normal again and if the others trusted the nice regs then Feral could too.

“We’re to bring him to the clinic as soon as we can but we thought you’d like to see him first.” Hunter explained.

“Mm.” He nodded again and let go of Crosshair, his brother was so much thinner now and Feral didn’t know why, “They… they helped me and I know they’ll help you to the best of their abilities!”

“I hope so.” Crosshair replied.

“And… and when you’re all better we can… we can help you think of this as a home!” He smiled.

“Thank you ad’ika.”

-

“Is this Crosshair?” Sawbones asked as Hunter and Crosshair entered the clinic.

“This is he.” Hunter placed his hand on Crosshair’s thin shoulder, his brother had lost a lot of weight since he’d last seen him, maybe he hadn’t been eating all that well?

“Well it’s very nice to meet you, my name is Sawbones.” Sawbones smiled warmly, then motioned to the approaching Stitches, “And this is Stitches, he’ll be your surgeon today.”

“Welcome Crosshair.” Stitches nodded, he was a bit more on edge than Sawbones but then again he had had to go toe to toe with Sawbones and his brothers in order to get their chips out, “Just by looking at you I can tell you haven’t eaten in a while, correct?”

“W… what?” Crosshair asked in confusion.

“We can begin surgery straight away with less chance of you throwing up under anesthetics, come.” Stitches motioned for Crosshair to follow.

“Hunter?” Crosshair looked to him, confusion and caution in his features.

“I’ll be right outside, ready to jump in if something goes wrong, okay?” He smiled to his brother, “These are the medics that helped Feral, so we can trust them.”

“O… okay.” Crosshair nodded and after a moment of hesitation he followed after Stitches.

“I’m glad you got him back.” Sawbones smiled to him when the two had vanished, “How is he?”

“Scared, angry… if it wasn’t for Feral’s note I don’t think we could have gotten through to him as fast as we did.” He sighed, “Feral is scared because he can smell the chip, he doesn’t want Crosshair to have that smell…”

“This will be a trigger for him, he may be calm now but tonight will be a bad one, this I can tell you with certainty.” Sawbones frowned, “So be prepared for him to sleep in your room.”

“He wants to sleep in the same room as Crosshair, had us by bunk beds and everything.” He smiled a little, Feral was so excited for Crosshair to come live with them but now that they had Crosshair… it would take more time for Feral to get acclimatized again, “But this will set us back a few steps.”

“Yes, it will.” Sawbones smiled sadly, his kind hand coming to rest on Hunter’s shoulder, “But he has his whole family to help him through this, like you must be for Crosshair, this is a massive step forward and he will need all of your love.”

“If he accepts it that is.” He frowned then sighed, “I thought I knew what the outcome would be but now that we’re here I don’t know anymore.”

“That’s to be expected, this is not just a massive step for him but for all of you as well.” He looked to Sawbones’ kind face, “We’re here if any of you need us.”

“Thank you Sawbones.” He smiled a little, he could with certainty count on the two medics for support, emotional or physical, they gave it so freely.

“No problem Hunt’ika.”

Chapter Text

Wrong smell!

Feral fell out of bed and scampered to the door, fumbling at the handle he started to freak out completely, “Honey! Honey it’s okay!” Minnow’s voice appeared but he couldn’t get the door open because he was shaking!

“Feral.” A new voice said and he froze, “Hey, it’s me.”

“C… Crosshair?” He asked past his hiccups, “You… you’re here?”

“Yeah, I am.” Crosshair continued, “I didn’t mean to scare you but did you hurt yourself?” He quickly shook his head, “I’m coming over to you, okay?”

“O… okay.” He nodded, “I’m… I’m sorry…”

“I’m the one who should apologize.” Crosshair appeared beside him and a slender hand appeared on his shoulder.

“But… you didn’t do anything… wrong…” He hiccuped.

“I brought the chip smell into the house.” Crosshair sighed, “I made it bad for you.” Feral didn’t know how to reply to that, so he just wrapped his arms around his brother and hugged him tight, “Oh ad’ika you’re shaking.” He didn’t reply, just held onto his brother like he would vanish the second he let go, he didn’t want that, he didn’t want Crosshair to go away again… he hoped the others wouldn’t be angry with Crosshair for scaring him because he didn’t mean too.

“Everything okay in here?” A tired voice asked in a whisper as the door quietly opened.

“Feral got a fright.” Crosshair replied, “He’s shaking.”

“Stitches said it could happen if he got scared.” The person moved to them and carefully placed his hand on Feral’s head, “Kid?”

“H… Hunter?” He asked.

“Yeah, it’s me.” Hunter replied with a smile on his voice, “You got a fright, do you want to bunk with me?”

“But… who’ll stay with Crosshair?” He asked quickly, he didn’t want Crosshair to be all alone! “I… I don’t want him to be all alone again…” He didn’t want that, Crosshair had been all alone with the Empire, he hadn’t had his family with him and Feral didn’t want him to sleep alone again!

“I’ll be okay ad’ika.” Crosshair said gently, “I know my family is there for me, even if they’re not sleeping beside me.”

“I’ll stay with him if that would help you feel better.” Nau said with a smile.

He carefully let go of Crosshair and went to his bed and picked up Nau, “N… Nau said she’ll keep you company.” He held her out to his big brother.

No one said anything for a moment before Crosshair came up to him, “Th… thank you Nau.” He said and took her from Feral’s hands, “I appreciate the company.”

“Come on kid, let’s get some more shut eye before we have to get up.” Hunter said and he took hold of his brother’s hand so he could be lead to Hunter’s room, “Here we go, get some sleep, I’ll keep you safe from the chip.”

“Mm… thank you.” He said as he lay down beside Hunter, he was safe from the smell.

He wished Crosshair was too.

-

“Don’t worry Crosshair, he’ll be right as rain soon.” Hunter said to Crosshair but Crosshair couldn’t stop the guilt settling in his stomach, “We all knew this would cause a bump but it could have been much worse.”

“Doesn’t make me feel any less like crap.” He sighed, he hadn’t done anything but be in the room and he knew it would happen because he probably still had the chip smell, Feral had been so excited to let him bunk with him, had gotten bunk beds and everything for them but the chip smell made everything bad.

“I know.” Hunter sighed, “It’ll be a thing when he’s sleeping, during the day he should be fine with you.”

“Hey, heard the commotion last night.” Echo said as he appeared, “He okay?”

“He’s sleeping in my bed, shaking stopped at some point.” Hunter explained.

“Don’t worry Crosshair, happened with me a few times.” Echo moved to the caf machine and poured himself some caf, “Reg voice and all that.”

“Mm…” He looked down at the half drunk contents of his mug, he was so happy that Feral was excited to have him back, his other brothers were doing their bests but they had been there when Crosshair shot Wrecker, when he had been corrupted by the Empire.

They were acting and treating him like he’d never left but he knew there was tension there… in them… as they interacted with him but Feral hadn’t been with them on Kamino when that happened so he was excited, genuinely excited and Crosshair had to ruin everything by having the chip smell, “The chip smell will go away with time, don’t know how much time but you’ll have the you smell he knows again.” Hunter’s hand appeared on his shoulder, “Trust me vod’ika.” He nodded in silence.

“It should not be long, given the fact that Sawbones had been under the control of the chip but Feral cannot smell it in him now.” Tech said as he and Wrecker appeared, “He just reacts to the reg smell, which he also probably caught on you.”

“Oh…” He sighed, that made him feel even worse now, not only did he bring a chip smell in but he brought a reg smell in too.

“Don’t worry Cross!” Wrecker said and wrapped a massive arm around him, hugging him tight, “It’ll be okay.”

“Morning.” Omega said as she appeared.

“Morning.” They all replied except Crosshair, he didn’t know Omega at all, he didn’t know anything about her and he knew that would be a limitation on his interactions with her… but Feral trusted her so he could trust her too.

“Morning Crosshair.” Omega smiled to him.

“Mornin’.” He nodded slowly, almost shyly but she just smiled warmly to him.

“Feral up yet?” She asked the others.

“Had a rough night so he’s sleeping it off.” Hunter replied with a small smile, “You be okay with Crosshair here too?”

“Of course.” She replied happily.

“You okay with that?”

“Y… yeah.”

Chapter Text

“So what do you do of a day?” Crosshair asked his baby brother, Omega had gone out, which she did a lot and that left him with Feral, who didn’t seem to mind being on his own.

“Oh, I… I just sit in the garden or out front and talk to people, I listen to my radio… sometimes I stay up in my room and talk to Minnow, Nau and Gonky!” Feral replied happily, he wondered how long it took for him to be comfortable being left alone, “If one of the others is off we go to the market, Echo brings me there for food a lot.”

“Are you alone all day?” He asked.

“Omega comes home for a little bit but Mr Mier talks to me a lot and I have my friends and my radio show so I don’t feel lonely.” His brother smiled, Crosshair would never admit that he had missed those smiles, he’d missed all his brothers but he missed Feral most of all, “I’m sorry… I got scared last night and you had to sleep all alone…” Feral sat down on the bench at the bottom of the garden.

“I’m the one who should be sorry ad’ika.” He sighed as he sat down beside Feral, “I scared you.”

“I got scared because I thought the bad smell was here to finish me off… that the pack was here and I wasn’t… that I was going to die…” Feral fidgeted with his fingers, “But then… I realized it was you and I… I knew you weren’t going to hurt me.”

“How could you tell?” He asked gently.

“Because you’re my brother and you’d never hurt me.” He felt his heart hurt at those words, he might have, if Feral had been there when the others were escaping Tipoca he might have shot him like he’d shot Wrecker, “It was the chip that hurt Wrecker… you wouldn’t hurt us willingly.”

“You don’t know that…” He sighed weakly.

“I do because Sawbones was under the control of the chip and it made him do things against his moral code, he hates hurting people but the chip made him do it, it controlled him.” Feral said in a firm voice, “Like it controlled the Pack… I was all alone when they turned so… I understand why I’m so scared but… but you were alone too, turned against our brothers, you were like me but on the other side.”

“Yeah… I guess I was.” He looked out at the garden, to the butterflies and bees that danced around the flowers.

“I’m not smart but I know things.” He smiled a little when Feral’s small hand took hold of his, giving it a small squeeze, “You guys always asked if you smell like you’re lying… so please trust me when I say my scent isn’t lying.”

“T… thanks ad’ika.” He smiled wetly.

“I love you ori’vod… never forget that okay?” Feral gave a big smile and he nodded.

“Okay.” He now knew that at least Feral still trusted him and loved him.

“Good morning son.” A voice said from the fence.

“Good morning Mr Mier!” Feral said happily and waved.

“Who’s this?” The man asked.

“This is Crosshair, he’s my big brother.” Feral replied without hesitation, “He arrived yesterday after a long time away from us.”

“Oh? Well it’s nice to meet you Crosshair, I am Davin Mier.” The man smiled to him, “I help look out for your brothers, especially your little brother here.”

“He came and saved me in a bad moment!” Feral said excitedly and Crosshair blinked in confusion.

“Like before?” He asked, “The bad moments where you hurt yourself?”

“Mm! But he saved me and helped me calm down.” His baby brother bounced, “He’s a superhero!”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Mr Mier smiled gently, “Just someone who wants to help.”

“Oh… thank you.” He nodded, “For helping my brother.”

“No problem and if you ever need help then you just have to ask.” The man nodded.

“Mm.” He smiled a little, it was nice that his family had someone looking out for them, even if it was a nat-born.

“Oh! There’s someone at the door.” Feral said as the sound of knocking echoed out from inside the house.

“I… I’ll go get it.” He didn’t want Feral to get taken away from his conversation with Mr Mier but Crosshair felt a little out of place here… where was the fighting? The fight to survive? To eat? He wasn’t sure of this new life but with help he knew he’d get there, “Hello?” He asked opening the door.

“Oh! You must be the new brother!” An elderly lady said happily, “Feral was enthusiastically telling us all about you.” He blushed a little, “Oh, were are my manners… Winnifred Oda but everyone calls me Winnie.”

“Crosshair…” He shook her hand when she offered it to him, he realized she was holding something in her other hand that he only now spotted.

“It’s lovely to meet you.” Her smile was as warm as the sun, “I baked some cookies as a welcome present, I hope you like chocolate?”

“I… love chocolate.” He replied, he hadn’t had chocolate in so long, not since before the Order went out and the Empire came in.

“Well call me psychic.” She laughed as she handed him the container of cookies, “Here, I hope you enjoy them and between you and me, you don’t have to share them if you don’t want to.”

“Thank you.” He smiled a little as he blushed more, he liked this lady, she was warm and kind and made him feel welcome… he didn’t know why Mr Mier made him more on edge, maybe it was because it was a guy? He was built like a tank and could easily break Crosshair in half if he wanted but Mrs Oda was different and he just felt safe with her.

Motherly was the correct word.

“Welcome to the neighborhood Crosshair.”