Work Text:
“Focus up, Omega!” Echo calls from the sidelines when Omega’s gaze drifts again to the sparkling white beach and frothing surf.
Omega turns her head to look at Echo and misses Hunter’s quick sweeping motion that knocks her legs out from under her, sending her sprawling forward across the soft, silty ground. Pushing herself up, Omega spits out a mouthful of grit. “That isn’t fair,” she growls, “Echo distracted me.”
“You distracted yourself,” Hunter chides gently. “Do you think your enemies will wait for you to be focused before they strike?”
“No,” Omega huffs, rolling over into a sitting position. “But why do we have to train today ? I’ve never been on a beach before, and Wrecker promised he’d show me how to build sandcastles.”
Hunter smiles at her and holds out a hand. “There’ll be time for fun after training. C’mon, let’s go again.”
Omega takes his hand and Hunter hauls her up to her feet.
“Get in position,” Hunter says.
Halfheartedly, Omega changes her stance. Hunter adjusts her left elbow and right shoulder, and lightly kicks the heel of her boot to make her bring her foot up. “Good. Now bend your knees a little more, keep your center of gravity low.”
“Will my enemies wait for me to get into position?” Omega snarks irritably.
Omega is slightly annoyed when Hunter chooses endless patience instead of reacting. “With enough practice, getting into position will be second nature.”
Once her brother is satisfied with her posture, he stands in front of her, slipping into his own familiar placement. “Start!”
Omega is a flurry of frustrated movement, going through the maneuvers she’s been taught while Hunter easily blocks each strike. With a surge of adrenaline, Omega decides to try something different, wanting to catch Hunter off guard. She goes for an uppercut, which Hunter starts to block; however, she aborts the movement just before making contact and dives for his knees. Hunter isn’t ready for the sudden attack, and is nearly toppled; however, he moves to recover his balance. As he disentangles himself from Omega’s grip, his knee comes up and catches her hard in the nose.
Omega lets out an involuntary yelp of pain, her vision going black for a moment as her body registers the blow. Falling back, she cups her hands over her nose, already leaking blood. She isn’t crying, but tears run down her face and blur the image of Hunter kneeling in front of her.
“Move your hands, let me see,” his voice is saying over the roaring in her ears. She gives a tiny shake of her head, but Hunter gets more insistent. “I need to check if it’s broken, Omega.”
Gingerly, Omega lowers her hands, being careful not to touch them against her clothes. Not that it matters with blood dribbling down her chin and neck.
Hunter inspects the damage, gently prodding the cartilage. “Doesn’t seem to be broken. That’s good. Here, lean forward a bit and pinch here.” He guides one of her hands up to do as he says. “Echo’s getting a cold pack.”
Omega groans, closing her eyes as tears continue to escape without her permission. “I’m not crying,” she tells him, her voice sounding funny with her nose plugged.
“I know you’re not,” Hunter soothes, patting her shoulder.
“That’s one way to get out of training for the day,” Echo’s voice says beside her.
Something soft and chilled presses lightly against the bridge of her nose. Omega hisses in surprise. “I didn’t do this on purpose!” she protests weakly.
“We know, kid,” Hunter says. “And good job. You almost got me there.”
Echo chuckles. “Getting an injury during training is like a right of passage.”
“Yeah, sorry about that, Omega,” Hunter mumbles.
Omega grins behind her hands, peeking one eye open to look at Hunter. “But I almost knocked you down? Really?”
“You should’ve seen his face,” Echo says. “If I had taken a holo, we would’ve gotten a good laugh out of that for years to come. I guess we’ll just have to settle for describing it in great detail to Wrecker and Tech later.”
Hunter frowns over Omega’s shoulder where Echo is situated. Omega giggles, the pain and tears of her injury nearly forgotten.
Omega adjusts Eva’s left elbow and right shoulder. She nudges Eva’s heel to prompt her to shift forward. “There,” Omega whispers. “Keep your knees bent. Good.”
“This will help us to fight?” Eva whispers.
Omega can’t train these children as her brothers trained her. She can’t teach them to throw a punch, or hold a blaster, or how to avoid detection. However, she can give them a foundation, as small as it might be. She can teach them to slip into position until it’s second nature, until her brothers find them and rescue them.
Smiling grimly, Omega puts a reassuring hand on little Eva’s shoulder. “It’s a start.”
END