Chapter Text
The clock ticking, the TV in the background, the clock ticking again, Wrecker laughing as he talked to Echo in the kitchen, the sound of pans clanging as Echo started getting the kitchen ready to prepare dinner, that bloody clock ticking…
Hunter wasn’t having a good day. It was a Friday night, he had just got off a shift at the station that overran by two whole hours, the traffic on the way home was a nightmare, and to make matters worse, he could feel a migraine brewing. That was just how he wanted to spend his weekend. He sighed and opened the small cupboard of medical supplies to rummage through and find his medication and swallowed a few pills dry. He took a few seconds to ground himself before returning to the living room, though he barely touched down on the sofa before the landline rang. With a groan, he got up, despite his knees’ complaints, to answer it. On the other side of the line was his half-brother, Echo’s brother Rex.
“Hunter,” he said, his voice crackling slightly over the line, “I need you at the station. Now. Whatever you do, don’t bring Crosshair, he’ll make the situation so much worse than it needs to be.”
Hunter groaned for what feels like the 50th time today. “Rex it’s…” he checked the clock, “eight o’clock on a Friday night and I’m already clocked out for the weekend. Whatever it is can wait until Monday morning, like I’m paid for.” He knew he was being short and rude, but he was exhausted and he wanted to spend some time with actual people over the weekend rather than being hunched over the same unsolved police case.
“It’s not about work,” Rex replied before Hunter could hang up, his voice sounding rushed and almost panicked. “Look, it’s sensitive and I’d really just rather I tell you in person rather than over the phone where I can’t gauge your reaction.”
Clearly Hunter’s unimpressed look made itself clear even without him saying anything, because Rex sighed and started explaining. “After you boys were found and put into foster care, apparently the police stopped monitoring Nala Se’s activities since the jury service found her guilty but not deserving of too harsh a punishment. Well, as it turns out, she was… pregnant.”
Hunter felt every single muscle in his body clench. “Pregnant?” he repeated, the word itself leaving a foul taste in his mouth.
Rex continued gravely. “We recently started monitoring her again. Fifteen years ago, she gave birth to a daughter, Beatrice. And seven years later she had another daughter, Omega. Now Hunter, I’d really rather you come to talk in person for the rest-” He was cut off as Hunter abruptly put the phone down, suddenly feeling sick to his core.
Echo came into the living room, intending to ask if there was anything that Hunter fancied for dinner, but stops at the pale and panic-stricken look on his face. “Hunter, are you…?” he started, stepping forwards to see if he’s okay. But Hunter was a hundred miles away, a thousand childhood memories running through his head at once as his face paled and his rising nausea worsened. He didn’t even register when Echo gently guided him to the sofa and started to try and get through to him him.
His bad day had just gotten a million times worse.
+----------+
One of those family meetings was called once Hunter regained his nerve, the sort that was only had in a crisis or family emergency. Wrecker and Echo occupied the sofa with Hunter sat across from them in the old armchair their adoptive father 99 left them. Tech sat on the specific area of the floor that he always insisted was more comfortable than the rest, and Crosshair perched himself on the arm of the sofa next to Echo.
“Nala Se has two more kids,” Hunter announced, not leaving them much time to prepare for any news. He was too on edge to bother waiting for them to settle. There was an explosion of varied reactions: Wrecker cried out in confusion, Echo made a noise of pure shock and disgust, Tech immediately started talking Hunter’s ear off with questions and possible outcomes of this as a way to hide his panic, and Crosshair simply limited himself to letting out a loud explicative, forcing Hunter to hold his hand up to silence them, though he couldn’t exactly fault them for their reactions.
“She was pregnant when we were taken from her. She has a 15 year old and an 8 year old. I couldn’t listen to anymore, but Rex wanted me down there tonight but I don’t think that’s going to happen, so I’ll go first thing in the morning. And he said not to bring Crosshair,” Hunter finished before he could be interrupted again. Crosshair bristled at the last bit but was ultimately too tired and hungry to argue. Given that there was no information besides the existence of the two girls and their names and ages, the men had no other option than to hold off any discussion and continue with their evening.
Dinner was a quiet affair; it was a simple tomato pasta dish made by Wrecker served with some bread and salad. No words were said, simply the sound of cutlery and the stupid clock ticking filling the room. Each man departed from the table one by one without a word, leaving Echo to do the washing up as usual before he was called out to an emergency at the vet clinic. It was much earlier than usual when Hunter decided to go to bed, not even half nine, but he was too tired emotionally and physically to stay up and around even his brothers any longer.
He fell asleep to the faint sound of the clock ticking downstairs, his sleep light and restless.
+----------+
Hunter checked the clock. Still not 8:30 yet. He and Echo were in a waiting room in the police station he and Rex, along with a few of Rex’s brothers, worked in. He had been waiting for what feel like hours for his ‘scheduled appointment’ with Rex, though he’d only really been there for ten minutes, checking the clock every fifteen seconds.
Five minutes to go… four… three… two… one…
Rex walked in and directed them to sit down in his office before he sat down at exactly 8:30 with quite an impressive amount of paperwork that he slammed down on the desk in front of him. He slid two photos across the table to face Hunter and Echo.
“These are the girls,” he said simply. The first picture showed a rather sweet but timid looking girl, clearly Omega. She had a small smile on her face as the picture caught her waving at the man behind the camera despite the sunken-in, gaunt look in her eyes. She had light blonde hair cut short and kept up and out of her face with a plastic headband, and her brown eyes were the spitting image of all the other children of Jango Fett, a man locally famous for being the sperm donor of countless children that all grew up to look exactly like him. To Hunter, she looked the spitting image of Tech at her age before he required glasses.
The second image, however, showed the 15 year old, Beatrice. She looked a little more… how should he put it nicely? Cold, hardened, the exact image of Crosshair at her age actually, but somehow worse, which wasn’t something Hunter ever thought he’d see. She was incredibly lanky, more limbs than anything else, and her thin body was littered with different sorts of scars and injuries: some clearly surgical, some from restraints, and others from various other sources. Her face was set in a firm scowl with an almost threatening element to it.
It was clear which child had been Nala Se’s favourite. Beatrice had clearly been used as a medical punching bag while Omega still had that childlike quality about her. She had a mess of curly ginger hair, visibly thick and untamable with its length, and she had dark green eyes… she looked nothing like a Fett.
Clearly both Hunter and Echo’s confusion at her appearance showed, since Rex sighed. “Nala Se didn’t go to Jango that one time for whatever reason, she went to a clinic to receive from an anonymous donor, so Beatrice is the only child with no potential father to contact about emergency custody,” he clarified.
That statement hit Hunter and Echo like a punch as they realised why they’ve been called in. Echo looked back down at the photo of Bea, trying to imagine her in a single situation in a domestic setting that would end well.
“A- I- Are you sure we’re the best fit to house her?” Echo stammered, not entirely sure he wanted Beatrice in the house, even if he knew he shouldn't judge her by her appearance.
“Hunter is her eldest next of kin, and Omega’s,” Rex explained. “We’ve already contacted Jango about Omega’s custody and it was a pretty firm no from him, so the idea is you’ll be taking them both in, unless you have any objections?”
Hunter was pretty much speechless. Yes, he’d always wanted to be some kind of father, but this was too much for even him to handle. He looked back down at the photos to try and find any real reason why he shouldn’t take them in. He wasn't ready for children even if they were his sibling and half-sibling, there wasn't enough room in the house for both, he wasn't sure it would go well… and yet, his thoughts came to a halt when he looked into the eyes of the photos. No matter how hard he tried, all he could see were the eyes of two children who needed to be loved, and goddamn it was hitting his soft spot.
Against his better judgement, he sighed and said, “we’ll take them.”
Rex took the photos back with a reassuring smile. “You can meet them next week.”