Chapter Text
Up until a couple days ago, Omega thought she'd been an only child. After all, she'd spent the entirety of her short life living alone with her mother. But after eavesdropping on a phone conversation her mother was having with a fellow doctor, she learned that she had not one, but four older brothers.
Hunter.
Tech.
Wrecker.
And Crosshair.
The names were a little strange to her, but she figured her name probably sounded weird to the average person.
Omega.
Oh-mee-gah.
Yeah, definitely weird sounding.
It seemed that her brothers used to live with Nala Se, long before Omega was born, and she'd spend days trying to imagine what they'd look like.
Based on her mother's conversation, her brothers were still alive and well, living in a city with a name Omega didn't recognize (Ord Mantell, if she remembered correctly). She had no idea where their exact location was, though the city her mother mentioned was only sixty miles away when she looked at it on a map. If she could track down an exact address, then the next time her mother left for a business meeting, there was a chance she could actually meet her brothers.
Her opportunity came a few weeks later when her mother had a conference with Dr. Lama Su, the same man from that phone call weeks prior, and Omega began searching Nala Se's office as soon as she was sure her mother had driven away. Buried beneath mountains of paperwork, in a forgotten desk drawer, was a worn unopened envelope that had been returned to her mother. It had one of her brother's names on it, as well as an address. In that same drawer, all the way at the bottom, was an old photo of her brothers. They were no older than her in the picture and they all looked extremely unhappy.
With the envelope sitting securely in her pocket, she turned to leave, only to notice a lengthy letter on the surface of the desk. It mentioned her name in the first paragraph and, unable to ignore her curiosity, she leaned closer to see what it said about her. Her eyes widened in horror at the mention of tests and trials, which would use her as the subject. The blood draws and injections her mother performed on her were bad enough, but going to an unfamiliar place to have complete strangers do things was out of the question.
No, if Omega was going to find her brothers, it was going to have to be today.
Leaving the letter behind in her mother's creepy office, she rushed back to her own room, which was pitifully bare for a little girl's room. Her mother had only given her the "absolute necessities": a bed to sleep in, a dresser for the minimum clothes that she owned, and a desk for her to complete her assigned homework and tests at.
However, there was one thing she owned that her mother didn't know about.
It was a small nylon knapsack with drawstrings.
She'd found it while snooping through old boxes that had been hidden away under her mother's bed and figured it must have belonged to one of her brothers, which would explain why her mother had boxed it up.
She knelt down next to her bed and felt along the wooden floor for that one particular spot. The great thing about living in such an old house was that certain floorboards could be pried up to hide stuff beneath them and, a moment later, she lifted one of the loose wooden boards away to reveal the red bag. It contained a map of the area that she'd found and some money for the bus that she pilfered from her mother's safebox.
With her brothers' address and her travel bag packed, she was ready to make her great escape. The front door was undoubtedly off limits, if the sensor at the top of it was anything to go off of, but Omega had taken a page out of her mother's book and planned for this technicality. She knew the only window her mother hadn't put a sensor on was the kitchen window, because it was the only one Nala Se ever opened. Even her extremely strict and private mother needed fresh air once in a while, especially with some of the bland meals she cooked up. It took only a moment for her to slide the window up and the cool outside air washed over her.
The outside world was right there, waiting for her, but Omega still found herself hesitating.
She wanted this.
She wanted to find her brothers.
All she had to do was climb out that window and close it behind her.
Why was she hesitating?
The consequences.
That's what she was afraid of. If she were caught, the consequences she'd be facing would be extreme. Like nothing she'd ever faced before. The punishment would be worse than the ones she received after failing a test or moving during a medical procedure that required her to remain still.
But that was all the more reason to leave, wasn't it?
With a final clench of her jaw, she made up her mind and scrambled out the kitchen window, easing it shut behind her. She had actually done it. She was outside the house and was going to find her brothers. Any fear she'd previously felt was displaced by the excitement of this new adventure.
She suddenly realized her clothes were growing damp and she tilted her head back, her expression shifting from confusion to awe as she realized there was water falling from the sky!
She'd only seen this a few times from behind the windows of their house, but she recalled a faint memory of her mother explaining it to her.
Rain.
It was raining.
She held her hands out to catch the falling droplets as she skipped around the fence that ran from one side of the house to the other. When she reached the other side, she stumbled upon a leafy wooden trellis set along the side of the house and it stopped just below the roof.
Perfect for her escape.
She gripped one of the wooden slats and hesitantly pulled herself up a short distance, freezing when the trellis creaked under her grasp. However, it didn't show any signs of breaking or tipping over, so she tightened her grip on it and began the tough climb upwards.
Despite their house being only one story, the view she had when she reached the rooftop was breathtaking. It seemed her home was just one of many in this area and beyond that were more buildings that were WAY taller than anything she'd ever seen.
As she turned to see what lay in front of her home, Omega's shoes skidded along the wet tiles and she knelt down to prevent herself from falling onto the slick roof. In retrospect, it might have been wiser to pick a dryer day to run away, but she couldn't afford to be picky with such minor details.
All she had to do was get to the edge of the roof and, once she dropped down, she'd be right outside the front door.
Couldn't be too difficult, right?
Anxiety coiled deep in her gut at the steep slope of the roof and she slowly shuffled down the tiles, struggling to maintain a good grip on the slick stone beneath her small fingers. She was halfway there, when tragedy struck and her feet suddenly slipped out from underneath her. The air was forced out of her lungs as she painfully landed on her side and the skin was scraped from her palms as she tried to slow her descent. Before she knew it, she reached the edge and a scream got caught in her throat as she plummeted off the roof. A lightning sharp pain raced through Omega's wrist as she slammed into the concrete sidewalk below.
Tears involuntarily streamed down her cheeks as she lay on the pavement, clutching her throbbing arm against her chest. When she pulled it away to assess the damage, her heart sank at the deformed bump that had begun swelling and she already knew, without even having a professional medical opinion, that her wrist was broken.
Just the kind of luck she'd have. She hadn't even left home yet and her escape plan had already gone wrong. She wiped the tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her uninjured arm and sniffled pitifully as she pulled herself up from the ground.
She hadn't come this far, just to turn back now. She seriously doubted she'd even be able to get back inside if she wanted to, let alone explain her broken wrist to her mother. Keeping her broken arm cradled against her chest, she followed the path she marked out on her map the previous night. It would take her to the closest bus stop and all she'd have to do then was wait for the one with the route to Ord Mantell. "It's going to be okay, Omega. You can do this."
~
"Hey, kid."
Omega's eyes fluttered open and, unfamiliar with the scenery around her, jolted up in her seat. She had no idea where she was and it took her sleep muddled mind a moment to remember that she'd set out in search of her brothers' home in Ord Mantell. Omega jumped out of her seat, wincing when her broken wrist brushed the seat in front of her, and she urgently looked up at the bus driver who'd woken her up. "Ord Mantell! I should have gotten off when the bus was in Ord Mantell!"
"There's no need to panic, kid. That's where we are right now. Figured I should wake you before I went much further. You were so quiet, almost forgot you were here." He backed out of her way when she stepped into the aisle, so she could easily get by him, and froze in surprise at the brief hug the small child gave him.
"Thank you so much!" She yanked the map out of her knapsack as she left the bus and hurried under the covered bus stop to avoid having it ruined by the rain. She was farther away from her brothers' house than she would have liked, which meant another long walk in the rain, but she was actually in the city now! It was such a vast difference from the tiny house and quiet neighborhood she'd escaped from. There were cars and people everywhere and the cacophony of noises was almost too much for her sensitive ears.
She hurried along the sidewalk, carefully weaving between the people walking down the sidewalk, but she stopped when she came to a corner. The map said she was supposed to cross the street, but that seemed impossible with the cars that were currently whizzing past her. She'd already broken her wrist just trying to escape from her house and trying to cross this road seemed like a death sentence.
Just as she was contemplating turning back to find another way around, something brushed against the back of her leg. She let out a startled cry as she whipped around in fright, only to find a white and black creature sniffing her damp shoes. The boy who was holding the leash seemed to be just a few years older than her with ginger hair and blue eyes. A sheepish grin split his freckled face as he gave a gentle, reprimanding tug on the leash.
"Sorry about him. BD is too nosy for his own good, but he won't hurt you. He's a good dog."
When the dog approached her again, she held a shaking hand out and huffed out a laugh when a wet nose snuffled loudly against her palm. She bent down to pet him and the excited dog happily danced around her, licking her face between jumps.
"I'm Cal. Cal Kestis."
"My name's Omega." She gave BD one last pet before straightening up and gave the busy street another nervous glance, before turning to her new acquaintance. Perhaps, he would be willing to help her. "Hey Cal..... could you maybe.... could you help me cross the street? I've never had to and it looks really scary."
"Really? I have to cross these intersections all the time to get to school." He held his free hand out for her to take as the stoplight and crosswalk light changed and began leading her across. "It's not as bad as it seems. When the light turns red, the cars stop and when the crosswalk light changes, you cross the street."
When they reached the other side, Omega let out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding and looked behind her as the cars began rushing by again. That was not nearly as bad as she thought it'd be and she gave her new friend's hand a squeeze before letting go. "Thanks, Cal."
He flashed her a bright grin and turned towards the opposite direction Omega needed to head, but seemed hesitant to leave quite yet. "Yeah, need anything else?"
It was likely Cal would know where she was supposed to go, he did seem familiar with this area, but she didn't want to pester this poor boy more than she needed to, especially if he had other places to be. "I.... think I can manage. I don't want to trouble you any more than already have."
"Not like I got anything else to do. Only thing to do was picking BD up from the groomer."
Omega pulled the damp map out of her pocket and held it out for him to look at. What she wasn't expecting was for him to hand her the leash in exchange and she looked up at him uncertainly. "Uhh....."
"It's alright. BD may be nosy, but he won't run off." Cal studied the map he'd been handed and noted that Omega's circled destination wasn't too far from his godmother's house. It'd been a while since he'd visited Cere, so he might as well stop by and surprise her while he was in the area. "I know where you're trying to go. I have family that lives over there."
Despite her throbbing arm and soaked clothes, the walk to her brother's house was pleasant and she got to know more about both Cal and BD. Cal didn't know his parents, he'd been adopted by a family friend, and his godmother wasn't actually his godmother. Not officially anyways. She was also the one who'd given him BD.
In return, Omega told him her story, or at least part of it. She had left her house and took a trip to Ord Mantell to find her brothers. She had never met them and only had an address and picture of them from their childhood to go off of. That part seemed to trouble the boy and he voiced his concerns, but she (falsely) assured him she knew they were still living there. They stopped at a street sign, one with a name that matched the address on the envelope in Omega's pocket, and she handed BD's leash back to Cal as she bounced excitedly on her toes. "Thank you for the help, Cal. I hope I get to see you and BD again."
"Next time we meet, you'll have to tell me how meeting your brothers goes."
"Of course I wil! Bye Cal, bye BD!" Ignoring the pain it caused her broken arm, she sprinted down the street, looking from the envelope in her hands to the numbers on the houses and felt her excitement grow as the numbers grew closer and closer in similarity. She suddenly jolted to a stop and stared at the two story house in front of her.
Omega had done it.
She was actually standing at the address that was printed on the envelope in her hands. Her brothers lived in this house and she was about to meet them! Forgetting about the pain of her broken wrist and her uncomfortably damp clothes, she skipped up the sidewalk to the dark wooden door and used her good hand to knock on it.
She waited for several moments, shifting from foot to foot on the slick stone steps, but no one answered the door and Omega knocked a little louder the second time. She strained her hearing, trying to listen for any sounds of movement on the other side of the door. There was still no response and a thousand questions started rolling through her mind. She knew she was being irrational, that all her brothers were probably out at the moment, but a small part of her couldn't help wondering about the what ifs.
What if she had the wrong address?
What if her brothers had moved out of this house?
What if she had the right address, but they purposely weren't answering because they didn't know who she was?
Omega let the knapsack fall from her shoulders and collapsed with it, settling down on the front steps of the house. The only thing she could think to do was wait and hope that someone showed up. The rain drizzling down and her throbbing wrist kept her from getting too comfortable, but she huddled on the doorstep and hoped she hadn't run away from home for nothing.