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Omega couldn’t help but feel uneasy as she stood in at the edge of the brig. It had taken a lot of work to get everything worked out now that Tantiss was imploding on itself. With Hemlock six feet under, and all members of the Batch more or less intact, the largest next step was getting off the planet.
However, as they were making their way to the rendezvous point, Wrecker said there was going to be a technical difficulty. He and Echo had lagged behind while she, Hunter, and Crosshair dealt with Hemlock. It made sense in the moment, it was easy to do even, but when they called for backup due to extenuating circumstances, something felt off.
Things didn’t feel any better as the group hobbled their way to the location Echo provided them. A building sense of fear was palpable between the three of them. Echo hadn’t been clear on what was going on. Even when Hunter had requested more information all he’d gotten was the same request for extra hands.
It was ominous given the area they were in but it was the only thing they could do. Once they arrived though, everything just blurred together. There was a lot of yelling and arguing between her vods. Hunter was incensed, Echo tried to keep it together, Wrecker was surprisingly quiet, and Crosshair attempted to keep things moving as well. There was a focus on getting to Phee’s ship and then going from there in what she could hear. But all Omega could focus on was the limp body that was in Wrecker’s arms.
It didn’t take long for cuffs and rope to be found and attached once they entered Phee’s ship though. There was a consistent look of fear and panic shared in all of her aliit’s eyes, but it took for it to take hold of her.
At first, all she could do was stare in wonder at the assassin now being held in the brig. His body was limp, for now, but she knew that it wouldn’t take long for that to change. Every single person on that ship knew that it wouldn’t take long for him to get back up. Still, it took time for the inherent fear of the situation to set in. It was inescapable though once she looked at him for long enough.
He’d fallen so far, yet was able to do so much. He’d nearly beaten Crosshair, for instance. It was something the trooper had mulled over afterwards, especially with how angry he’d been, but the idea had never occurred to anyone that it would be one of their own spitting such venom. How had he survived? What had been done to him to achieve this? And why did he suddenly have such animosity toward his own vods?
That was when it clicked for her. That was why she found quickly found herself hovering away from the body. Everyone was clustered up in the cockpit with Phee. Workshopping ideas on how to best handle next steps, but Omega was instructed to rest.
The other kids had been given an area to take naps and get a bite to eat. Omega couldn’t get herself to relax though. It didn’t feel right to be lying down at a time when her vod could wake up at any moment.
Though as she hovered near him she began to see the venom and anger that would start to spill out of him once he was awake. How his eyes wouldn’t be able to recognize her at all and only see a target that Hemlock had ordered him to take out.
The mere idea that he wasn’t her vod anymore, yet still wore the skin of one, was enough to make her breath shudder. It also made it more difficult when yells and screams started to come from the brig.
Her entire aliit streamed into it not long after, but she instead took a few steps back. Phee shuffled her away to be with the other children, but her heart thrummed with too much anticipation to focus on that.
There were too many images in her head about the worst case scenarios. That there was going to be far too much effort put in to trying to get him back, yet it would never net anything. No clear plan had even been set up yet and she could already see where it was going to end up.
Hunter blaming himself for how things turned out. Wrecker forcing himself to keep a smile and determined to hold the group’s optimism. Crosshair following in Hunter’s footsteps and blaming himself for putting the group in that position, when he was only trying to help. And Echo, he most likely would have to appear in and out as he helped Rex with his own endeavors, but he would force himself to be the most realistic of them all.
It was be a dangerous cocktail for all of them to deal with, but it was one that they would all have to endure now that Tech was sitting there. His cries of anger suffocating out all other noise on Phee’s ship.
His presence forced itself down Omega’s throat while she covered her ears, gritted her teeth, and screwed her eyes up tight. His voice already sounded different. It was far too raw for it to come off as the original soft spoken man she’d known before. His screams in and of themselves already came off with an added anger, and the accompaniment of the rest of her aliit joining him didn’t help.
It was a cacophony of pleas and rage. The different voices muddling together until Omega was screaming herself.
She didn’t realize she was until Phee was shaking her. Her cheeks were wet and her chest was tight, but when she opened her eyes again she saw that she was surrounded by all of her vods. All of them looking deeply worried for her, but she couldn’t offer them any explanation.
She could only mumble as small, “It was getting too loud.”
No one tried to argue with her about it though. Instead they asked Phee to go and watch over Tech’s body, and then Wrecker scooped her up and held her close. They all followed suit, wrapping their arms around each other to try and offer a sense of comfort to her. It was a small thing, but after everything they’d endured it genuinely did help her.
There just was still so much that they needed to do now that they had the missing part of their aliit back. Just with a few more extra steps than any of them would have been holding for.
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Omega wasn’t wrong, as she expected, with how her vods began to handle Tech’s reintroduction into their lives.
There were near constant attempts to talk to him and jog his memory. Echo and Rex pitched in with their own attempts to research what the Empire had done to him, and if there was any clear way to fix it. Though at the end of the day it would often come back to Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair talking at the person tied up against the wall.
Omega listened to them explain to her what was going on, but she hadn’t been able to build up the nerve to try and engage with her himself. From all the stories she was hearing her fear of his venom was well placed. He denounced all of his vods time and time again. He praised the Empire near incessantly and constantly went back to how he had to follow orders.
Those orders were of a grim and brutal kind. She didn’t know the whole picture, but Phee had mentioned to her that once Wrecker had messed up and nearly gotten Tech killed. And it wasn’t because Wrecker miss handled him. He just put too much trust in what his vod was going to do with a fork.
There was apparently a lot of blood and medkits after that. A genuine fear that they would lose the part of their aliit that they had just gotten back. Wrecker in particularly refused to visit him after that. He had been the one to find the scene, and he had to be the one to stop the bleeding as well.
He looked so solemn after it happened. Even if Phee hadn’t let her know what was going on, Omega would have been able to figure out that something was off with how quiet Wrecker suddenly got. His eyes had hollowed out and the looks he would give Hunter and Crosshair when they would bring up Tech could kill.
All the optimism that Omega knew he would have appeared to have evaporated with one mistake. Which left Hunter and Crosshair with the burden of keeping up hope that things would work out in the end.
So a cycle kept up for a year.
Crosshair, Hunter, and sometimes Echo would pay visits to Tech. They would help him eat and drink and check on how he was holding up. They would continue to talk to him but it was a struggle to find anything else to say. Occasionally Phee would show up and try to shake things up, but that only caused the major shift that this other version of Tech seemed more aware of what affection was. Hell, he’d even specifically request Phee from time to time.
Though, once more, Omega had to hear about this from Phee herself. Hunter and Crosshair weren’t very helpful when it came to any meaningful information. As though they were concerned that she would react the same way she did on the ship.
She got caught in the crossfire of a few arguments were information would trickle down, but she eventually got tired of holding her breath and hoping that things would fix themselves.
Her vod wasn’t getting any better now. He was stuck dealing with the same desperate, basic, attempts that had been decided on a year ago now.
The fear that had been holding her back for so long now seemed to pale in comparison with the trouble that had befallen her aliit since they continued to fail. She decided, against her gut feeling, that it would be best if she finally payed him a visit. At least she knew something of what to expect. Even if it meant that he would regard her in the same hostile manner he did the rest of their vods.
He’d largely been housed in a spare ship that had been converted to ensure his safety. Rope and cuffs could only do so much when they needed to be building trust, though locking him in a house also only helped a certain amount. It did make it easier, and more reliable, to find him at least.
As she walked up to the building though, Phee following behind her, she felt her skin prickle. Her hand clutched around the goggles she’d nabbed before this visit.
“If you’re not ready to see him yet, no one can blame you.” Phee tried to comfort.
“I know, but it’s already been so long. It’s better to just get it over with, right?”
Phee placed her hand on Omega’s shoulder and squeezed. “No one blames you kid. It’s a lot for anyone to handle.” She stepped in front of her and unlocked the outside. “Whatever you wanna do kid, I’ll be here for you.”
Omega nodded before going through the door. “I’ll be fine, Phee. You’ll know if anything is wrong.”
After that it didn’t take long for her to make her way to where Tech currently was sitting. His attention was already trained on the door she entered through, though it was more off putting than she expected. He lacked his usual goggles, glass was viewed to be too dangerous to trust him with, so all he could do was guess where someone was and stare. His eyes were surprisingly wide as well. It would have made more sense for him to squint at her, but instead he appeared to be trying to gain an extra edge in intimidation.
“You’re different.” He started, his head cocking slightly to the side as he spoke. “Smaller than I was expecting. Are you this “Omega” I’ve been told so much about?”
“I am, I didn’t know that anyone had mentioned me before.”
“Of course they did. They seemed hellbent on trying to remind me of all these supposed “good times” that we all shared. Kept bringing up an aliit that means nothing to me. Though they all seemed to believe that it would. I assume you’re here to do the same?”
“Not necessarily. I just wanted to see what had become of my vod. I see that the Empire’s influence hasn’t left for a second.”
“Calling it a simple influence is an insult. It is the way of life. Something that you all seem to particularly lack.”
“It’s a system of order. One that hasn’t been looking for you in over a year. So it surprises me that someone as logical as you would continue to stick to it’s beliefs. Especially since it’s netted you nothing in this situation.”
She noticed a small smile peak out from the edges of his mouth. “You sound like Phee. I’m going to guess that she’s had some influence over your beliefs.”
“You’re not wrong. She’s the only one who will tell me how you’re doing.”
His eyebrow went up, “The others haven’t told you about me?”
“I didn’t exactly react well when you first woke up.”
“So you were why they rushed out? I knew there was another scream going on, but no one ever bothered to tell me where it was coming from.”
“You cared enough to ask?”
“It was curious. I did think I recognized the scream. A part of me even seemed to twitch when I heard it. But it wasn’t worth mentioning.”
Omega took in a quick breath while her eyes widened. Her hand tightened around the goggles, the glass cracking against the new pressure, while she tried to find the right question. “What do you mean?”
“Just that, this body, or a part of myself as you all seem to cling to, had a reaction to your cries.”
“And you’ve never mentioned that before?”
“I had no reason. They had their way of going through things. They never bothered to ask me any meaningful questions.”
“They asked you a lot of questions!”
“They asked me about memories. None of which I could find. If they want me to answer them accurately, then I have had no return in relation to the memories they seem to believe I have.”
“But you remembered me?”
“My body seemed to, yes.”
Her throat grew tight as she tired to not cry. She looked down at her hand before looking back at Tech. He was still sitting there, appearing more patient than she would have anticipated all things considered. “Can I give you something?”
His brow furrowed, “Why would you do that?”
“Because I want to.”
“But I was told that I wouldn't be given anything after the- fork incident.”
“I’m making this choice. They don’t have anything to do with it.” She walked over to him only to have him recoil slightly. “Please, just let me do this for you.”
“What is it? What is it that you intend to do?”
“I’m going to return something to you. I’m trusting you not to hurt yourself again. Because I want you to be able to see again. Maybe you’ll be able to remember me that way.”
“Don’t get your hopes up.”
“I already have, might as well commit now.”
Tech scoffed, but didn’t draw away again when Omega got up close. Instead his eyes screwed shut while she stretched the band out before letting it snap itself around his head. A light clinking noise emanated from the glass but besides that they seemed to fit just like before. As easy as it had ever been.
His eyes slowly open back up, and his breath promptly shudders as he looks through the remaining pieces of glass. Omega stepped back to give him space while he suddenly stood up. His eyes shooting around the room as he finally was able to take in his surroundings.
“It’s nice to see again, isn’t it?”
He didn’t say anything though. Instead he fumbled his way through out the entire room. His hand reaching out to all the little details he could hold, before returning back to the chair that he was originally sitting in. His head now being held in his hand. His breathes continuing to shudder as he seemingly struggled to keep the veneer of composure he’d been holding on.
“Are you okay?” Omega asked, tentatively she reached out for his shoulder. Her hand was quickly grabbed though. Tech’s hand wrapping itself around her’s and squeezed it tight. Omega tried to pull away, but his grip was too strong for her to get away. Her eyes responded in turn, with a level of panic washing over her that she just couldn’t hide.
However, as she expected to be attacked she instead found his extra hand running along her cheek. She hadn’t noticed it getting wet until his thumb was already wiping it away.
“You are familiar, indeed. To think they thought that without sight they would succeed in anything.”
“You remember now?”
“I recognize now. There is some part in my eyes that causes recognition. I do not know where it comes from, but it is there. It has always been there, I suppose.”
Omega’s hand began to tremble. Her body twitching in turn as she was overwhelmed with the gut reaction to reach out to him. She wanted to be held by her vod again. She wanted so badly to hear his voice comfort her all over again.
He beat her to it though. His hand letting go of her own and using it to pull her into that hug she wanted. “This is what you were looking for, yes? Is this what you were hoping it would be?”
“Yes, yes it is. But why are you the one to do it? I thought you hated us for taking you away from the Empire or something.”
She felt him start to squeeze her tighter, “Perhaps, if I can feel recognition when I see you, your companions weren’t wrong after all. There is more going on here than either of us were willing to entertain.” He sighed as well, “I have clearly been abandoned by those who gave me orders. It would be better to try and move forward. And maybe find what you and your aliit continue to ramble on about.”
Omega rested her head against his shoulder. Starting to sob she nodded her head. “Yeah, yeah, that sounds like a plan then.”
His hand began to run through her hair. It was tentative, confused even, as he did it, but he knew to do it. It was more than she would have expected from him. And a far better display than most that there was still a part of her vod in there after all.
It was a step in the right direction. More than Crosshair, Hunter, or Wrecker could ever have expected.
There was so much more room to improve, but for now it would just have to do.
It was enough to know that he would still hold her. At least, for Omega’s money it was.