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casual-violinist-fangirl · 4 days

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I Will be Here, Don't You Cry - 4,971 Words

Two fics in one day?! She must have written this instead of doing any work...

Set after the reunion in A Different Approach. This is a Hunter and Omega father-daughter fluff/hurt/comfort fest!

This is pretty much canon compliant, however there is an AU time-hop to the end of Season 3 at the end.

As always, the link to my AO3 is here and the link to my masterlist on tumblr is here.

Thank you so much for reading and for your support! I really appreciate it!

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In hindsight, Hunter should have checked her over before she went to sleep; that had been his first mistake.

Omega had clung to Hunter’s side, still sniffling as they walked back towards the Marauder. Hunter had wanted to bask in the warmth of having her back for longer, but realistically he knew that they needed to leave before the Empire managed to track the ship Crosshair and Omega had arrived in.

Speaking of Crosshair…

The clone had been silent since disembarking the cargo shuttle. He had walked back over to his siblings, trying not to break his cold expression on his approach. Hunter had looked him up and down, nodding his thanks.

After all, despite their differences, he had brought Omega home.

Once on board the ship, it dawned on Hunter that Crosshair hadn’t seen it since they had converted the gunner’s mount to Omega’s room… and they had kept her room almost exactly as it had been left.

This was mostly down to the fact that Hunter hadn’t been able to stomach going anywhere the gunner’s mount during the little girl’s absence. It held too many memories of laughter and smiles and bedtime stories. Even when they had needed the ship’s canons, it had been Wrecker who’d had to enter the turret.

Glancing down to where Omega still had her arms wrapped around one of his, he couldn’t help but smile at the overwhelmingly warm feeling that filled him. Despite it all, she had made it back to them. Back to him.

He choked back his emotion, clearing his throat before asking Wrecker to start up the engines. Crosshair glanced silently around the cabin before his eyes fixed on something. He inhaled sharply, his face pinching in pain. Hunter followed his brother’s gaze and his heart ached when he saw Tech’s smashed goggles still sat on the shelf. Another thing he hadn’t been able to go near. The pain the goggles held still egged down on the sergeant, and he made a point of crouching down in front of Omega.

“You hungry, kid?” he asked as the ship began to power up. Almost on cue, Omega’s stomach grumbled and she laughed shyly before nodding.

“I guess I am,” she admitted. “It’s been a while since we’ve eaten… we just wanted to get back to you.”

Hunter nodded, sending Crosshair a questioning glance. The sniper frowned, but his face softened slightly when Omega turned to him with one of her disarming smiles.

“Batcher needs something too,” he commented, not unkindly. Hunter looked down at the hound, nodding at his brother’s comment.

“We might have something she can eat,” he replied. The conversation was short. Sharp. Tense.

Hunter supposed he should count himself lucky that Crosshair had spoken to him at all… though had he really been speaking to Omega? Who knew… hopefully that would clear up with time.

Wrecker guided the ship into hyperspace before setting the controls to autopilot and spinning around in his chair. The cockpit was still empty apart from him and his heart sank slightly at that; he was happy to have Omega back, thrilled even. The little girl lit up every room she entered and he couldn’t wait for things to go back to how they were… or sort of how they were. Wrecker supposed things would never be the same now that Tech was gone.

Maybe Crosshair would re-join them? He wouldn’t go back to the Empire, not after spending time imprisoned there. Wrecker had missed his brother. He was the only one who would admit it, but he was secretly glad that the sniper was back with them. Hunter was suspicious, Wrecker could tell, but then Hunter had been going crazy ever since Omega had disappeared.

Wrecker had been forced to sedate him once just to get him to rest. Hunter had taken a hint after that.

Sighing, Wrecker stood from his seat and exited the cockpit. He was met by an almost surreal sight upon entering the cabin.

Hunter was sat at the navi-computer, a ration bar in his hand; that filled Wrecker with relief. He hadn’t failed to notice the weight his brother had lost in the past six months (another thing he had constantly nagged him about). As it turned out, Omega had noticed too. She nibbled on her own ration bar, tear tracks clear on her face, glancing up at Hunter every now and then to make sure that her brother (father?) was in fact eating.

Crosshair was slumped in a chair further back and it became clear quite quickly that Hunter had given him two ration bars. Wrecker didn’t blame him, Crosshair looked as though he hadn’t eaten in weeks… maybe he hadn’t. Who were they to know?

The hound… Batcher, sat curled up at Crosshair’s feet and occasionally the sniper would reach down and scratch her ears. He always had been soft when it came to animals (not that he would ever admit it).

The group sat in silence, and it weighed heavily on all of them. Ration bars eaten, Hunter turned to Omega once more.

“Fancy the ‘fresher?” he asked, taking in her mud-stained face and dirty hair. She nodded, hissing as she stood and stretched. As she headed to the ‘fresher, she paused suddenly.

“I won’t have any clean clothes that fit,” she muttered, almost embarrassed. Hunter cringed. How could he have forgotten? Standing as well, he went to his bunk before rummaging around in his crate. Before long he fond what he was looking for and pulled it out.

“These’ll be on the big side, but they’re clean and warm,” he offered out a pair of his old blacks from when he was a cadet. Omega’s face lit up at the sight of them and she grabbed them before thanking him quickly and rushing into the ‘fresher. Before long the sound of water hissing through the pipes could be heard.

The silence that enveloped the three brothers now that Omega was gone felt even worse than before. Wrecker glanced as Hunter busied himself once more with the navi-computer; Crosshair made a point of looking around the ship, taking every tiny change since he had last been on board.

Their silence went on this way until the ‘fresher door hissed open once more and Omega bounded out.

She looked exhausted to put it lightly. Now that the dirt was gone from her face you could make out the dark circles under her eyes. When was the last time she had slept? Hunter mused to himself. He pushed that thought to one side as he glanced over at Crosshair.

“Your turn, if you want,” he said shortly. The sniper nodded curtly before standing and making his own way into the ‘fresher. He swooped by his old crate on the way and grabbed a set of blacks. He had no armour to wear with them currently, but anything would be better than the prison uniform and stolen clothes from Lau.

All of a sudden, Omega let out a loud yawn, making both Hunter and Wrecker chuckle.

“Bed time?” the sergeant suggested with a fond smile that he only ever reserved for her. She nodded, though their was an air of reluctance about her as she padded over to the gunner’s mount and started to climb the ladder. She turned froze in her tracks before scuttling back down and running over to Wrecker. She wrapped him in a quick hug, which he returned, before making her way to Hunter. Wrapping her arms around him as well, she mumbled something into his middle that only he could hear.

“Of course,” he replied, following her as she made her way back to the tower. Omega seemed more relaxed this time, scaling the ladder and clambering into her bedroll. Hunter climbed after her, perching on the edge of the gunner’s mount and reaching over to turn on the string of lights. Wrecker couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as he shifted out of his seat and back into the cockpit. He could give the pair a little bit of privacy he supposed.

Hunter pulled Omega’s blanket up to her chin like he had done six months ago, before before everything had gone so horribly wrong. She smiled like she had done then, shuffling further into the blankets and holding Lula and Trooper close.

“Glad to have you back, kid,” Hunter eventually said, cursing internally as he heard his voice croak. Omega’s eyes filled with tears once more, but she smiled a watery smile.

“I don’t want to wake up and this all be a dream,” she whispered, a hint of fear in her voice; it broke Hunter’s heart that even though she was far away from wherever she was held captive, it was still haunting her.

“You don’t need to worry about going back there,” he soothed. “You’re back and we’re going home. That’s all we need to think about right now.” The sergeant stifled a yawn of his own, making Omega giggle.

“Maybe you should be getting sleep too,” she commented slyly. So her sense of humour had returned… that was a relief.

“Maybe I will,” Hunter replied, pulling face that made Omega giggle even more. She yawned all of a sudden, her eyes drooping as exhaustion took over again.

In a moment of bravery, Hunter swooped down and pressed a gentle kiss against Omega’s forehead.

“Missed ya, kid,” he said quietly as he began to climb back down the ladder. “Sleep well.”

Once he reached the bottom of the ladder, he reached up and turned the string of lights off before shutting the curtain to the gunner’s mount. Omega shuffled quietly before all movement stopped and her breathing began to even out. Within minutes she was sound asleep.

Hunter perched on his bunk, pondering over his own exhaustion; he wasn’t entirely sure when he last slept. Even though Wrecker was constantly nagging him and he tried his best to rest, sleeping had not come easily during Omega’s absence. Perhaps knowing that she was back and safe would help him relax, he pondered as he felt his eyes grow heavy.

Maybe he should stay awake just in case she needed him, he absently thought as his head began to feel warm and fuzzy, sleep inviting him in.

He wasn’t sure how long it took for him to fall asleep, but he was out cold and enjoying a dreamless sleep before too long.

——

Shuffling was the sound that woke him, and he shouldn’t have been surprised really. The Marauder had gone from having only two people on it to having five occupants, of course noise was going to be the thing that woke him up.

Hunter’s head felt foggy and if he didn’t know better, he’d think that he was hungover; realistically he knew that he only felt this way because he had been in a deep sleep after not resting for too long. He had every intention of rolling over and going back to sleep when another sound entered his consciousness.

A sniffle.

Who was crying? Now alert, the clone sat up as quietly as possible. If someone was upset he didn’t want to startle them. Hunter glanced around the dark cabin, glad for his enhanced sight as he did so. Crosshair was the first person he thought of, always one to hide his emotions until he was out from everyone’s watchful gaze. He glanced across at the sniper and was surprised to see him out cold, snoring lightly. He imagined this was the comfiest he had been in a long time, the safest he had felt in a long time… he was probably making the most of it.

Batcher was curled up underneath Crosshair’s bunk, also breathing heavily; of course Omega had managed to gain a put dog during her time imprisoned. Hunter didn’t really know why he was surprised.

He could also hear Wrecker’s familiar snores, which ruled out his other brother as the source of the crying sounds… which only left one person.

“Omega?” he whispered as he quietly climbed out of his bunk and padded across the cabin. He paused before pulling back the curtain, not wanting to intrude on her privacy. Another sniffle, frustrated and desperate made him forget privacy and he pulled the curtain to one side.

The little girl in question was indeed the one crying; she had fresh tear tracks on her face and a scowl across her features. Hunter glanced down at what she was holding, raising an eyebrow when he spotted her hair tie and… her hairbrush. Only her hairbrush was broken, a couple of the teeth missing.

Omega almost looked a little betrayed when she spotted Hunter, but that look left her quickly as her shoulders sagged and a small sob left her. He had been quick to react, taking in the whole situation quickly. Hunter lay two gentle hands over hers, prying the brush and the hair tie out of them.

“Having problems with your hair?” he asked, keeping his voice as neutral as possible. Judging from the broken brush and the scraggly dead hair still attached to the hair tie, she was having more than just ‘problems’ with he hair. She nodded, the offending hair falling around her face as she did so.

“It hurts to brush…” she trailed off in an ashamed whisper. “I thought I could just deal with it but the brush got stuck and I pulled it too hard.” Reaching back into her hair, Hunter could tell she was trying to find the missing teeth from the brush. “And then it broke,” she finished, her eyes filling with tears once more as she began to sniffle again.

Anger coarse through Hunter. He had spent time training Omega on how to look after he hair when she had been with them before, and it seemed as though she had just been neglected and handed a hair tie when she was dumped on Tantiss.

He didn’t let his anger show though, as he offered his arms out she she barrelled into them; he took a small step back to steady himself but caught her and gently pulled her down from the gunner’s mount. With her still in his arms, he carried her quietly through to the cockpit.

Once there, he set her down on one of the chairs. Crouching in front of her like he had when he promised she was never going back to Kamino, he held the sides of the chair and smiled reassuringly at her.

“Want my help?” he asked gently; he wasn’t going to push her into it, but he wanted to help her if he could… and hair was sort of one of his areas of expertise.

Thankfully, Omega nodded, and Hunter nodded before standing and setting to work find what he needed.

He could feel Omega’s eyes on him as he moved around the cockpit, looking for various things that would help him. Eventually he sat down in the chair opposite hers, comb, brush and spray bottle in hand. He gestured for her to turn around in her seat, and eventually she was sat facing the back of the chair. The sergeant examined the back of her head without touching it at first, not wanting to cause her more discomfort than he had to…

… he quickly realised that he had a long job ahead of him.

The top layer of Omega’s hair looked relatively well brushed, even if it had only been with her fingers, but when that was moved to one side, a clump about the size of his fist rested at the nape of her neck where her ponytail had been.

Hunter breathed in slowly, trying not to let on how angry he was at her captors. Taking the clump in his hand, he examined it; it was made up of matted knots, dead hair, dead skin, what looked like leaves and twigs and… the missing teeth of the hairbrush.

“Who did your hair on Tantiss?” he asked gently as he set down his tools and picked up the spray bottle.

“No one,” came the meek reply. “I tried to brush it with my fingers… but that only worked for so long. When it started getting too long, Emerie gave me a hair tie.”

Hunter made a mental note to ask about this Emerie later, but for now he turned his focus back to the task at hand. Once her hair was suitably wet, he put the spray bottle down and picked up the comb. As gently as possible he started to tease the knots out of the bottom of the clump, hoping that he didn’t pull out too much of her hair in the process.

Occasionally Omega would hiss in pain and Hunter would mutter an apology and offer her a break, but other than that the pair sat in comfortable silence as the night wore on. It wasn’t until it was nearly the third hour of Hunter working on her hair that she quietly piped up.

“You look tired,” she commented softly, playing with her hands as they lay in her lap. Hunter froze for a fraction of a second, but it was long enough for the little girl to notice. “You’ve been sleeping, right?”

Kriff, how was this kid so perceptive? Hunter considered how to respond before he realised that he’d left it too long and needed to think of something to say that wouldn’t worry her…

“It was… difficult to relax properly when we were trying to figure out where you were,” he eventually admitted, and Omega’s shoulders tensed.

That was an understatement, really. The truth was that Hunter had driven himself to the brink of exhaustion more times than he was comfortable with and Wrecker had been forced to sedate him at one point. He hadn’t been proud of that moment.

Now that he thought about it, he’d been acting like a mad man over the past six months, driven to crazy, risky actions by his grief and guilt. He really needed to apologise to Wrecker, who had bore the brunt of his pain-riddled temper. He could think of countless moments where he had dragged them into crazy plans that would have almost certainly ended in death had it not been for Wrecker’s sensible thinking.

Omega didn’t say anything for a while, almost seeming to sense his guilt. Just when Hunter thought that she wasn’t going to say anything else at all, she suddenly spoke again.

“You should get some sleep,” she replied lightly, but he could hear the worry in her voice. He almost laughed; he should be the one worrying about her, not the other way around.

“I will once we’re back on Pabu,” he responded, only for Omega’s shoulders to tense up again. She wiggled her head away from Hunter’s grasp and turned to face her brother.

“You need to sleep.” she had a frown on her face now, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. Hunter knew that face; that was the face he used to use to get her to go to bed.

“Omega…” he sighed, resting his arms down by his sides. Sure he had been dead to the world before her crying had woken him, but he had been due a power nap. Now he’d probably be able to stay awake all the way through the rest of their journey.

The little girl wasn’t having any of that, it seemed.

“You’re going to sleep as soon as we’re done here.” It was an order, not a suggestion and the child nodded before turning around once more and allowing him to resume his work.

“Sir, yes sir,” Hunter grumbled as he picked up the comb once more.

——

An hour or so later, and Hunter was working through the last of the knots. Omegas’ hair would need another wash and brush in the morning, but it shouldn’t be anywhere near as difficult or lengthy a process.

“You’re all good, kid,” he said; his voice croaked slightly with exhaustion and his eyes felt heavy again. Maybe a kip would do him some good…

… there was no response from Omega, and Hunter realised that she had dozed off in the chair as he’d been brushing her hair. He sighed and tried to gently manoeuvre her out of the position, only for her to suddenly yelp and start thrashing.

“NO!” she cried, eyes snapping open, but not focusing. “I won’t go back there! Hunter!” Omega collapsed in a heap as Hunter tried grasp her before she hit the floor. Taking a few shuddering breaths, she seemed to realise just where she was and glanced around the cockpit of the ship. Upon spotting Hunter, she lunged for him wrapping her trembling arms around him and refusing to let him go. He was forced to crouch down to her level, joining her on the floor of the cockpit as he held her close; she clambered into his lap allowing him to wrap his arms around her fully and whisper soothing words into her hair.

Eventually, when her breathing had evened out a little more, he glanced down at the child. She was clinging to his blacks, her head nestled into his chest in a way that he’d never really held her before. Sure, she’d given him hugs that he’d awkwardly tried to return in the past but this new sense of closeness was alien to him. Alien and yet it felt as though it should have been this way all along.

“I don’t want this to be fake,” she whispered hoarsely. “I don’t want to wake up and be back there and be faced with another day in that place.”

Hunter nodded before resting his chin on the top of her head.

“You’re safe, ad’ika,” he replied. He’d learned the term from Tech, who had teased him once about how Omega had seemed more like a daughter than a sister.

Omega froze in his embrace and glanced up at him. She knew what it meant, clearly, from the look in her eyes. They shone with yet more unshed tears but instead of a sad look on her face, the ghost of a smile crossed her features.

“You really mean that?” she asked. Hunter blanched, but nodded, trying to remain calm. People had always mistaken him for Omega’s father and he had spent so long denying that he was… it had only been since her disappearance that he had come to terms with the fact:

Omega was his kid.

There was no denying it now, the girl knew what he thought and now all he had to do was wait for her rejection. What was he thinking? He couldn’t be a father to her, he couldn’t promise to keep her safe when he’d lost her.

He was drawn out of his spiral by arms being thrown around his neck.

“I’m glad you do,” she whispered just loudly enough for him to hear, and Hunter found that he was having to blink back tears. Omega pulled away from the hug and smiled at him before a large yawn practically split her face in two. Hunter chuckled.

“Tired?” he asked, and she nodded, though a look of fear passed over her face. Hunter frowned; he never wanted to see his little girl look scared again if he could help it.

“Omega?” he asked, concern laving his voice. The child chewed her bottom lip nervously.

“I…” she trailed off, running her hand through he newly brushed hair. “I don’t want to be on my own,” she said quietly, looking a little embarrassed. Hunter nodded and briefly paused before scooping her up and carrying her back into the cabin. He set her down on his bunk gently before crouching down and putting the hairbrush and spray bottle away.

“You could always stay her tonight?” he suggested, glancing up at his kid. She nodded keenly before shuffling back on the bunk and pressing herself against the wall of the cabin. Hunter ditched the last of his armour before clambering into the bunk himself, pulling the blankets over them both.

The pair shuffled for a moment, adjusting to sharing a bunk designed for one person, but before long Omega was cuddled against her father figure, a handful of his blacks clutched tightly in her grip. Her breathing began to slow as she eased into a (hopefully) deep sleep, but before she did she whispered something just you enough for Hunter to hear.

“Night, buir.”

So Tech had been teaching Omega some Mando’a too, it seemed. Hunter’s breath caught in his throat as he heard the term, but smiled at the warmth that spread through him

“G’night, ad’ika.”

He knew in that moment, that as long as he had his little girl, he could face down anything else that happened to their family unit. Anything at all.

——

Weeks later, he was sore and exhausted as he searched the rubble of Tantiss, desperately searching for signs of Omega. The last thing any of them had been expecting was for the Zillo beast to break loose and collapse the mountain-base. It had made swift work of the labs before running off in search of more chaos to cause… leaving the survivors to search the rubble.

Echo had caught up with them not long ago, battered and bruised but very much alive. He had dragged a bedraggled scientist with him (Hunter learned that this was Emerie), claiming that the pair of them had been trying to free Omega and the other children (others?!) in the vault before the chaos had begun.

The squad were frantically pulling apart the rubble in search of any sign that the children were alive when Emerie let out a pained gasp. Hunter’s head shot up and he ran over to where the woman was standing.

In her hands she was holding what he could only describe as a straw version of Lula, dirty and coming apart…

“This belonged to Eva,” Emerie stammered as she looked around. Hunter realised that this must be one of the children’s names. If Eva was buried under this pile of rubble, maybe Omega could be too. The pair of them crouched and began to dig at the rubble that surrounded the area. Hunter could feel the tears filling his eyes as they got deeper. What if she wasn’t here? What if, after only just realising that he was in fact Omega’s father, he was going to have that ripped away from him?

“Buir!”

Hunter’s head shot up. He yanked his helmet off, looking around as he tried to place the voice. Suddenly, there she was. She was filthy, covered from head to toe in dust and dirt, but she was grinning as though she had just won a prize.

He wasted no time running towards her, vaguely registering the other children that she was stood with. They looked a little startled as Hunter swept Omega into his arms and held her close.

He burst into tears as he held her, gripping onto her like his life depended on it.

“Omega,” he uttered through ragged breaths, relishing in the fact that his little girl held him close.

“Buir,” she replied softly, her own voice thick with emotion. He set her down before holding her at arm’s length and checking her over.

“Are you okay?” he asked almost frantically, looking her up and down. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

She shook her head, tears still streaming down her cheeks. This reminded him so much of when she had found them the first time around.

“It’s over,” she choked out, and Hunter nodded, glancing at the rubble around them.

“It’s over,” he soothed as he pulled her back into a hug.

——

The Marauder was gone. A new ship had taken it’s place, provided by Rex and his men as they turned up to evacuate the Batch, Emerie, the children and any surviving clones. Hunter and Emerie had both agreed to help the children find their homes again, seeing as Eva and Sami couldn’t recall their home planets (they had been so young when they’d been taken) and Jax knew the planet name but couldn’t remember the town. Barryn had no way of communicating his home planet, which presented its own challenge.

The Firebird, their new ship, was… very full at the moment. It had two bunk rooms, unlike the Marauder, and one of those had been allocated to the kids whilst they were staying on board. The other was slept in by Hunter and his brothers. Emerie opted to sleep in the common room, still wary and unsure of her newfound freedom. No one questioned it.

That night, Wrecker was on watch when Hunter heard the soft patter of feet across the short hallway to the cabin he was currently sharing with Crosshair and Echo. He rolled his eyes fondly, knowing exactly who was coming in.

The door hissed open only to reveal Omega stood in Hunter’s blacks (still too big for her) and shivering in the cold night air. She crept across the room to Hunter’s bunk, where he rolled over and shifted, moving the blanket so that she could climb in. Omega still opted to wedge herself between Hunter and the wall of the room, holding not his blacks like they were a lifeline. He pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her forehead as the pair of them drifted into a light sleep.

“Love you, buir.”

“Love you too, ad’ika. Sweet dreams.”

Who knew how long their ship would be more like a boarding house for tiny Jedi, but Hunter couldn’t care less. He would offer to house and feed all of the kids in the universe as long as he got to see his little girl smiling and happy each day.

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casual-violinist-fangirl · 4 days

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The Bad Batch and the Mandolorian really do be propping up and trying to breathe life into this one disaster of a line from Rise of Skywalker:

“SoMeHoW😂

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casual-violinist-fangirl · 4 days

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When You're Hurting I'll Fix What I Can - 2,041 Words

A Tech-heavy fic where Omega is sick!

I always struggle writing Tech so please be kind, I've done my best...

This fic is part of my 'Kaminoans are Assholes' collection that can all be found on my masterlist. It's set in a post-Season 1 AU where Crosshair left Kamino with the Bad Batch.

As always, the link to my AO3 is here and the link to my masterlist on tumblr is here. Enjoy!

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At first it had just been a sniffle, hardly noticeable to anyone… except Hunter with his heightened senses. He raised an eyebrow as Omega wiped her runny nose on her sleeve, but said nothing of it; if she wanted their help, she’d say something to somebody. All the same, he made a point of keeping an eye on her as she went about her usual day.

As the day wore on, it became clearer that something wasn’t right. Omega’s sniffles and sneezes graduated to a rough cough that rattled through her. Echo had noticed now and handed the girl a tissue when she couldn’t stop sneezing. It had been a quiet day for the batch seeing as they were in hyperspace, and before long everyone was aware of the sniffles and coughs that were plaguing their youngest (oldest?) member.

The day drew to a close and now even Tech (who had been busy with repairing AZI all day) had noticed that the youngest member of their group was unwell. She hadn’t wanted to eat much that evening, choking back half a ration bar at Hunter’s pleas. Now she was sat in the arms of her father figure, drifting between a light sleep and picking at a loose thread on her tunic.

“How’re you feeling, ‘Megs?” Hunter asked as he gently carted his fingers through her hair, only to realise that she was fast asleep. He frowned with concern as he felt how warm her forehead was and glanced up at Crosshair, who also looked mildly concerned (which was a rare facial expression for him).

“She’s probably tired, Hunter,” the youngest of the group stated. ‘She’s been running around like an excitable loth cat for the past two days.”

Admitting that Crosshair was probably right, the sergeant carefully lifted Omega and carried her to her bunk. Tucking her in with Lula and Trooper, he pressed a light kiss to her warm brow before leaving her be and trying to get some rest himself.

——

When Tech woke up for his shift on watch, he had been expecting it to be uneventful. AZI was already in the cockpit waiting for him to continue his repairs… Tech was bound to get more done seeing as his brothers and sister were all asleep.

It wasn’t until he was an hour into his shift, and that was when he heard movement coming from the cabin. Assuming it was one of his siblings going to the fresher, he didn’t think much of it; his suspicions were only confirmed when he heard the sound of the ‘fresher door open.

Only the fresher door didn’t hiss shut again, and the sound of someone retching soon filled his ears. Without thinking, Tech let out of his chair and barrelled through the door into the cabin. Hunter, for once, had not woken up (perhaps a true indicator of how worn out he was after their most recent mission), and Tech could make out the silhouettes of Crosshair and Echo resting on a bunk and a chair respectively. Wrecker could be heard snoring, which meant that it could only be one other person in the ‘fresher.

“Omega?” Tech poked his head around the doorframe, only to be met with a saddening sight. The little girl was hunched over the vac tube, retching as she lost the little she’d eaten earlier.

“Tech?” came a pathetic sounding voice as she paused and caught her breath. “I don’t feel so good.” Piecing together what he had heard and seen throughout the say, Tech wasted no time crouching next to his sister and scanning her. He had a rough idea of what the problem was, but it was best make sure.

Omega whimpered and shivered on the floor as her brother rubbed soothing circles on her back in the same way he’d seen Hunter do before.

“As I suspected,” he muttered to himself as the holo pad bleeped. “Miss Omega, it would appear that you are suffering from a fever, which is what has made you…” he trailed off as she surged forward and vomited once more.

“Please make it stop!” she cried as she sat back once more. Tech nodded and darted out of the ‘fresher only to appear moments later brandishing a medkit, a canteen and a blanket.

Once Omega was wrapped in the blanket and clutching the canteen in her shaking hands, Tech set about sorting through the medkit for something, anything that would be useful. Given that clones were designed with heightened immune systems, medicine for illness was not something the batch had needed, but Tech had made sure to stock up on some of the basics. He guessed that because Omega was genetically unaltered she would not have that same protection they did. That added to the fact that she wouldn’t have been exposed to any germs until leaving Kamino… let’s just say they were lucky she hadn’t been ill yet.

Finally finding what he was looking for, Tech produced a small carton and a bottle containing a very pink looking liquid. Omega eyed them, not sure what to make of it all.

“This is a medicine that will help to bring your fever down and soothe the cough you have,” Tech started, raising the bottle to her. “And this,” he gestured to the carton. “Is a drink that will help to re-hydrate you more sufficiently than water will.”

The little girl nodded, trusting her brother as he measured out a cap of the pink liquid from the bottle and handed it to her. Not stopping to think, she knocked it back like you would a shot, pulling a face at the taste but managing to swallow it. Tech smiled sympathetically but busied himself with shaking the canon and piercing it with a straw. Giving that to his sister as will, he sat back content that with the medicine she would likely feel a lot better in the morning.

… that was until she was sick once more, shuddering as whatever she’d just taken left her system.

When she was done, she slumped against the wall one more. Tech frowned.

“I’ll admit,” he stated as he repositioned his goggles. “That was not quite the reaction I was expecting.” The little girl sat in front of him shuddered and wrapped the blanket further around herself. “No matter,” he continued as he delved back into the medkit. “We can simply administer the medication and fluids through an intravenous drip…”

He had barely finished the sentence when Omega inhaled sharply and started trembling even more.

“No thank you,” she stammered out, shuffling so she was wedged between the vac tube and the wall. Her eyes were wide with fear, but unfocused, the fever having truly taken hold. Tech raised an eyebrow, but simply put it down to a well-known childhood fear of injections plenty of cadets experienced. “There is nothing to be worried about, Miss Omega,” he said. “It is the same medication, and you will feel better with it.”

His reasoning was to no avail as Omega’s bottom lip started trembling as her breathing quickened. “No,” she repeated, sounding more alarmed than before and looking a whole lot smaller. “Please no,” she pleaded with her brother, though Tech wasn’t sure it was him she was seeing in her fever-induced delirium. “I’m sorry I was sick. I’ll be good, but please! No needles.”

Her breathing had quickened to the point that she had started hyperventilating and Tech frowned, concerned. No needles? Why…

Suddenly it all slotted into place. Tech found himself cursing the Kaminoans, but pushed all of that to one side so that he could focus on his little sister. Leaning out of the ‘fresher, he threw a small roll of gauze at Hunter’s face to wake him up; this was not going to be a one-man job.

The gauze had the desired affect because moments later a sleep-deprived Hunter stumbled into the ‘fresher. He had been about to ask Tech what the kriff had possessed him to mess about in the middle of the night when his eyes settled on his brother gently encouraging Omega to take deep breaths. Instead of interrupting he glanced at the scene around them; the room smelt vaguely of vomit, he assumed Omega’s and he spotted various pieces of medical equipment scattered around, including the means to set up an IV.

Putting the pieces together, the sergeant crouched down next to Tech, who shuffled out of the way to make room for Omega’s father figure. He was having a better time soothing the child, and for the first time in a while Tech found himself feeling a little inadequate. He had just wanted to help his little sister. Curse those Kaminoans- of course they wouldn’t just leave Omega alone, they had to experiment on her just as they had done with the rest of the batch.

“I don’t w-want…” came the gasping voice of Omega as Hunter nodded understandingly and smoothed her hair back. She was hot to the touch, a true sign of the affects of the fever. “No tests,” she continued to garble as she hurried her face in Hunter’s neck; a look aof devastated knowing washed over the sergeant’s face.

“No tests,’ he replied in a hushed tone. He glanced up at Tech, who was still trying to look busy and give the pair some space. The pair’s eyes met and the look on his brother’s face told him what he needed to know.

Omega was ill. She needed the drip.

Tech had turned his back, trying to act as invisible as possible when someone saying his name snapped him out of his thoughts and back into reality. Omega was now sat curled up in Hunter’s lap and clinging to his blacks, but her breathing has thankfully evened out to a more calming rate.

“Pardon?” he asked, a little flustered. Hunter rolled his eyes.

“I was just saying,” he started. “That you were only trying to help Omega. That you would never hurt her.”

“I know that really,” the girl in his arms cried, still upset. “I… just really don’t like needles… the Kaminoans would never tell me what they were doing and the stuff they put in me made me sick.”

If Tech hadn’t already been angry, he definitely would have been now. Taking a deep breath, an idea popped into his head.

“Would it help if I told you exactly what I was doing as I’m doing it?” he asked cautiously, not wanting to scare her. After a moments consideration, Omega gave a small nod and Hunter helped her to shift into a more upright position. Tech prepared his equipment, explaining exactly what he was doing at every step of the way. Omega had teared up and buried her face into Hunter’s chest as the drip was set up, the older clone whispering soothing words into her hair.

“All done!” Tech declared as he tied off a small bandage that would stop the line from catching on anything. Omega removed her face from where it had been hiding and wrinkled her nose in disgust at the sight of her arm. “You did well, Miss Omega,” Tech continued as he packed his equipment away. “All that’s left for you to do now is rest. You will feel better soon.” He stood and moved out of the ‘fresher, giving Hunter the space to carry the little girl out. He placed her on his bunk and disappeared to retrieve Lula and Trooper from the gunners’ mount. Tech was about to retreat back to the cockpit when a pair of small arms wrapped around his waist.

“Thank you,” Omega mumbled as she drew back from the hug and settled on Hunter’s bunk once more. All Tech could do was smile and nod as he tried to summon the right thing to say.

“Any time, vod’ika,” he eventually replied with a final nod before he disappeared into the cockpit. He gazed into hyperspace as his shift wore on, thanking his lucky stars (not that he believed in luck) that they had managed to get to Omega when they did. They couldn’t scare away all of her demons, but they sure as hell would try their best to do so.

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casual-violinist-fangirl · 4 days

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Just gotten onto Rampage… I genuinely had forgotten that Cid existed 🥴😂

#the bad batch #sw tbb #tbb omega #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb tech #tbb echo #tbb crosshair

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casual-violinist-fangirl · 4 days

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I now know where Omega gets her bribing skills from…

These two can’t bribe people for shit 😂

#the bad batch #sw tbb #tbb omega #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb tech #tbb echo #tbb crosshair

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casual-violinist-fangirl · 4 days

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Omega in Replacements be training space dragons:

#the bad batch #sw tbb #tbb omega #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb tech #tbb echo #tbb crosshair

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casual-violinist-fangirl · 4 days

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Watching Cut and Run…

Yeah, Rampart hasn’t had the same level of transformation as Kallus, but he’s still hotter in Season 3 😂😂

#the bad batch #sw tbb #tbb omega #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb tech #tbb echo #tbb crosshair #sw tbb spoilers #tbb rampart #hot rampart #hot kallus #tbb s3 spoilers

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casual-violinist-fangirl · 4 days

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I’m re-watching the whole show before Wednesday… it actually hurt my heart to see how happy Omega looks when she sees hyperspace for the first time.

BRING BACK MY CHILD WHO THINKS DIRT IS INCREDIBLE 😭

#the bad batch #sw tbb #tbb omega #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb tech #tbb echo #tbb crosshair

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casual-violinist-fangirl · 14 days

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Omega really said to those kids “I’m gonna pull some Great Escape, Shawshank Redemption shenanigans” this episode.

#the bad batch #sw tbb #tbb omega #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb tech #tbb echo #tbb crosshair #sw tbb spoilers #tbb season 3 spoilers #tbb season 3 #tbb s3 spoilers

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casual-violinist-fangirl · 16 days

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All I can do to Keep you Safe is Hold You Close - 2,317 Words

A part of the collection I have fondly named 'Kaminoans are Assholes.'

Omega has been having trouble sleeping because of nightmares and her solution to that is to... not sleep. Hunter's Jango Fett gene has well and truly activated!

As always this fic is on my AO3 account here, and the link to my masterlist is here.

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The first time he had noticed something was wrong was when Omega started asking if she could drink caff in the mornings. Jokingly, Wrecker had let her have a sip of his, him and Echo laughing when they saw the expression on her face. She clearly hadn’t enjoyed the taste. When Tech had enquired as to why she had wanted to try the bitter drink, she had simply shrugged and said that there wasn’t really a reason.

That had been a lie.

Lying in front of Hunter was almost impossible; he could sense even the slightest of changes in a person’s body for crying out loud. To add to that, Omega was an awful liar, making it easy to spot from where he was sat. Glancing around the cabin, it didn’t seem as though any of the others had noticed this, although when he caught Crosshair’s eye he noticed an air of suspicion in his expression. He had noticed too.

The day had gone on as usual and Omega hadn’t asked any more about the caff… Hunter almost allowed himself to forget that she had even lied about wanting to drink it in the first place. She was a little girl, for crying out loud. She was full of energy and the last thing they needed was her pinging about the place before crashing in a heap when the affects ran out. That night, when he had put her to bed, tucking Lula and Trooper into her blankets with her, he had asked how she was. It had come out innocently enough, but clearly he had spooked her because almost straight away her barriers went up, and she was insisting that she was absolutely fine. Not knowing what to do if she didn’t want to talk to him, he had bid her goodnight and climbed back down the ladder from the gunner’s mount.

A week or so later it was becoming more and more apparent that Omega was exhausted. She kept falling asleep on missions at every opportunity she got to rest her legs, and it was getting to the point where Wrecker was having to carry her about. Sheer exhaustion rolled off of her in waves, and the rest of the batch were beginning to be more and more concerned for her wellbeing. She was their little sister… Hunter’s ad’ika (though he would never admit that to his brothers) she deserved to be happy and healthy like all little girls her age.

After one particular mission, Omega had collapsed in a heap in Cid’s bar; the loud music didn’t seem to bother her as she slept, drawing the attention of the Trandoshan.

“What’s with Tiny?” she asked, nodding her head towards the booth where she was resting. Hunter scowled, but that was more because he didn’t know the answer than because she was prying. He went to respond, but Tech stepped in.

“It would appear that Omega has… over done it on the past couple of missions,” he answered in a very reasonable tone. “She clearly needs to go to her bunk when we get back to the ship.”

Cid hadn’t said anything else following on from that, but Hunter could tell that she didn’t buy what Tech had told her, and that even she was concerned for the little girl. “Right…” she responded. “Well you see that she does get that sleep. I can’t have clients coming in thinking I let little kids pass out drunk in my bar.”

Omega had let Hunter scoop her up and carry her back to the ship, her head lolling on his shoulder as she wordlessly took in her surroundings. He had thought there and then that maybe he’d be able to get her into bed quickly when he got back to the Marauder…

He could not have been more wrong.

The moment he mentioned the ‘b’ word, Omega had perked up and started insisting that she wasn’t even remotely tired. “Can’t I just stay up for a little longer, Hunter?” she had asked, her big brown eyes trying to persuade him that he didn’t need to send her to bed. He had sighed, crossing his arms and trying to put on his best ‘dad’ face.

“You need sleep, Omega,” he reasoned as he reached into the gunner’s mount and pulled her pyjamas down. She pouted at him, and for a moment he was convinced that she was going to start crying.

“B-but…” she trailed, and Hunter could see an element of conflict on her features. She wanted to tell him something, he just knew it, but before she could get any words out Wrecker came parading into the room, a little tipsy. So much for talking to her.

"I’m sorry Omega,” he continued, watching her body deflate with disappointment. “I’m not budging on this one.”

She had gone to bed, but he had noticed how she tried to drag out every element of getting ready; she had taken nearly twenty minutes brushing her teeth for kriff’s sake. Looking back on that now, he should have seen just how reluctant she was to sleep and realised that something was wrong. He should have reached out to her.

Other abnormalities in her behaviour should have stuck out to him, and he found himself cursing for not noticing all of this sooner. Especially given what was about to come.

——

(Three Weeks Later)

There were plenty of times that Hunter cursed his enhanced hearing; being on a ship full of snorers when he was trying desperately to sleep was one of those times. As he lay in his bunk, all he could hear was the heavy breathing of Wrecker directly above him, and the light snores of Tech from his chair in the cockpit. He had ear buds for times like these, but whilst the noise irritated him to no end, not being able to hear made him feel vulnerable and he tried not to use them unless he absolutely had to.

Rolling over and resisting the urge to groan, he buried his face into the GAR standard issue pillow. It wasn’t exactly comfy, but being a solider meant that you had to be able to sleep anywhere. This lumpy pillow and hard bunk was a godsend compared to some of the situations he’d found himself in over the years. Distantly, he could hear the tapping of keys on some sort of device… it sounded a little like Crosshair’s data pad. Clearly he had joined Echo on watch then seeing as he couldn’t hear either of them anywhere else. They weren’t sleeping, that’s for sure.

Having Crosshair back had meant a little bit of adjusting for the members of the Bad Batch. For the first couple of days he had been incredibly isolated, not wanting to go near any of his brothers or even his little sister. Then, slowly, little by little he had started to integrate himself back into the lives of those who loved him. He had taken a shine to Omega, although he was loathed to show it to anyone except the little girl herself… now that Hunter thought about it, the only time he had seen Omega sleeping peacefully over the past few weeks was the morning she had been found in her bunk, clinging onto Crosshair’s sleeping form as though it was the only thing keeping her from floating out of the ship.

Hunter made a mental note to ask Crosshair about that in the morning, but his train of thoughts was cut off when he heard what sounded like a muted sob. Sitting bolt upright in bed and suddenly no longer tired, Hunter’s eyes darted around the room as he searched for the source of the sound. Not noticing anything out of the ordinary, he frowned, which deepened when he heard the sobbing sound a second time. Having been ready this time, he climbed out of bed and tiptoed towards the noise. Almost as though she could sense his presence, Omega’s snivels stopped as he reached the bottom of the ladder leading to her room.

“’Mega?” he asked quietly, not opening the curtain… he didn’t want to spook her or make her feel as though he was intruding on her space. There was silence for a moment before a quiet shuffling of blankets could be heard and a small hand reached to open the curtain.

Omega’s face was blotchy and red, her cheeks tear-stained and her eyes puffy from her crying; how had Hunter not noticed her sooner? He cursed to himself, making a mental note to be more aware in the future. “H-Hunter,” a small sob escaped her as she launched herself at him without hesitating and clung to his neck.

To his credit, Hunter reacted quickly; he carefully scooped Omega out of the gunners’ mount, cradling her trembling form as he wondered quietly back to his bunk and sat down. The little girl still clinging onto him, he stroked a hand through her hair and whispered soothing nothings to her as he waited for her cries to subside.

When her breathing eventually did even out and the sniffles came to a stop, she looked up at him with a bleary look on her face. Kriff, she looked exhausted. How long had she been going on like this?

“Ad’ika,” his voice croaked as he used the term for the first time. Omega’s eyes widened at the expression, and if he didn’t know better he was convinced that she pulled him just a little closer. “Have you been struggling to sleep?”

Bingo. He’d hit the nail on the head it seemed, as the little girl in his arms cried even more.

“E-every time I close my eyes,” she sobbed. “I see something different and it’s horrible…” she took a shuddering breath. “I’ve been trying to stay awake at night so that the nightmares don’t come.”

Hunter let out a shaky breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “You’ve gotta get sleep, ‘Mega,” he soothed as he kept stroking her hair.

“I’m so tired,” she mumbled as her tears slowly came to a stop, reduced to small hiccups now as she rested her head against his chest.

An idea occurred to him, something that he hadn’t done since he and his brothers were cadets, all cowering away and petrified of Nala se. “You could always stay here for the night,” he whispered, his suggestion catching her attention. She didn’t move to look at him but nodded, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her new pyjamas (Crosshair had insisted that she have sleeping clothes, though he wouldn’t say why he had become so interested). Shifting carefully, he set her down on the bunk next to him and went to put his back against the wall to make more space for her.

That clearly wasn’t what she’d had in mind as Omega frowned slightly and clambered over him, putting herself between him and the wall. Hunter let out a small chuff of laughter as he rolled over, letting the little girl get comfortable; by the time the pair of them had stopped fidgeting, Omega was curled into Hunter’s embrace, the arm he draped over her clutched to her chest as she hugged it like it was Lula. The sergeant was a little uncomfortable, but any thoughts of that melted away as Omega whispered something that only he could hear.

“Goodnight, buir.”

He just managed to choke back the sudden wave of emotion that washed over him. That was… unexpected. Clearing his throat, he smiled softly at the little girl in his arms.

“Goodnight, ad’ika.”

————

A week or so later Hunter was lying in bed, reading off of his holo pad. Omega’s nightmares hadn’t stopped, of course they hadn’t, but knowing that she could go to her buir when the nightmares arrived made them that much easier to cope with. It meant that he’d had to contend with having Omega, Lula and sometimes even Trooper in bed with him but if that was the price he had to pay for the girl’s comfort? So be it.

Speak of the devil, a sniffle to his right caught his attention and he looked up only to see that Omega had snuck out of her bunk and to his bed. She looked at him with pleading eyes for only a moment before he lifted his blanket.

“Come on,” he whispered, allowing her to climb into the bed and to her usual spot between her buir and the wall. Her head rested on his chest as he continued tapping at the holo pad; he had been doing some research into a new knife he’d had his eye on, but turned that off in favour of a mind-numbing game he knew Omega enjoyed watching him play. It was a game where you had to match three blocks of the same colour in order for them to disappear and for the items trapped at the top of the screen to reach the bottom.

He thought the little girl had drifted off to sleep, but was proven wrong when a small hand reached out and tapped three blocks on the screen. Letting out a small laugh at her antics, Hunter pressed a gentle kiss to the girls’ temple before the pair continued playing the game together, taking it in turns. He knew they’d both be tired in the morning but they had nothing planned for the day, a little lay-in wouldn’t hurt anyone. It was in moments like these that he allowed himself to make the most of the normality of it all, in the vain hope that one day he’d be able to give his little girl the childhood she deserved.

“Love you, buir.”

“Love you too, ‘Mega.”

Yeah, he could definitely put up with sharing his bunk with his kid and her toys if it meant that he got to have moments like these.

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casual-violinist-fangirl · 16 days

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No One's Gonna Harm You - 2,309 Words

Part of a collection I'm going to fondly name 'Kaminoans are Assholes'.

Set in a universe in between seasons 1 and 2 where Crosshair left the Empire and re-joined his brothers!

Omega is struggling to understand that it's okay to be human... and a child. Her brothers are seeking to help fix that.

As usual, the AO3 link is here, and the fic is below!

Link to my masterlist is here.

Crosshair should have been asleep, he knew that much. Unfortunately for him, his mind simply would not let him rest. This was not an unusual thing for him, especially not since his return to his squad. Having his chip removed (finally) had done a number on him, and he often found himself sat up at night regardless of whether or not it was his turn to be on watch. Glancing at the time on his holo, he groaned quietly. He still had four hours left of his sleep cycle. No point in getting up unless he wanted to be subjected to questioning from Echo, who was currently on watch in the cockpit.

A rustle behind his head caught his attention and he sat up in bed. The moving of fabric ceased, and for a moment Crosshair was about to dismiss it as his sleep-deprived mind finally losing it… when it happened again.

The clone raised an eyebrow, trying to identify where exactly the sound was coming from. He glanced at the sleeping forms of his brothers; Tech was passed out in a chair, a holo pad hanging loosely from his hand. Hunter was in the bunk opposite his own, ear plugs in to prevent the noises of the ship from waking him up. Wrecker was snoring above him, dead to the world. No, this sound hadn’t come from any of his brothers. That left one more person…

As though she had sensed him thinking about her, Omega’s head popped out from her curtain; she appeared to be half asleep, and Crosshair couldn’t help but roll his eyes. One of these days she was going to be so tired when leaving the gunner’s mount that she’d surely fall.

She clearly hadn’t seen him awake, as she pulled back the curtain to her bunk quietly and began to descend the ladder. The older clone was about to lie back down and try to sleep when something odd caught his eye.

When he saw Omega leaving her bed, he simply assumed that she was going to the ‘fresher or to replenish her water canteen… he had not been expecting her to start dragging half of her bedding down the ladder with her. Not daring to move, just in case he spooked her, he sat silently as he observed the little girl tug at the bedding as it got caught. She tugged at it a few times, her frustration clear on her face, but then with one mighty tug it came loose.

Omega stumbled, and had Crosshair not lunged out of bed to catch her, she would have hit her head on the floor of the cabin.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed at her, trying not to wake his brothers. Omega looked at him with wide eyes. He noticed that she was trembling, but put it down to being cold. “You could’ve hurt yourself. You shouldn’t be traipsing around the cabin with your bedding like a toddler!” he scowled at her and picked up a handful of blanket to prove that the thing was huge and could easily make her trip up, but dropped it again when his hand was met with a damp patch. That, he had not been expecting.

If it was possible, Omega’s eyes widened even more, the horror evident on her face. Her whole frame was shuddering now, and Crosshair didn’t need to have jedi powers to know that she was terrified… of him? Of the predicament she was in? Both? Sighing, he crouched down to her height. She flinched away from him, a small squeak of fear escaping her as she did so. Crosshair noted the dark circles under her eyes, the way that her bottom lip trembled as her eyes filled with tears that she was too scared to shed.

“Has this happened before?” he asked, trying desperately to make his voice sound as calm as possible. When he didn’t get a response, he took that as a yes and stood at his full height once more. Now that he thought about it, he could vaguely smell the liquid that was the cause of her late-night trip. He made towards the ‘fresher, picking up the bedding with a grimace and nodding for her to follow him.

On his way to the ‘fresher, Crosshair bundled the soggy bedding up and threw it into the small machine they used to clean their blacks. He worked quickly, acutely aware of the trembling little girl behind him and before long, the gentle whir of the machine could be heard. He entered the ‘fresher and washed his hands before turning to Omega. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment and she was desperately trying to hold back tears.

“I-I’m so sorry, Cr-Crosshair,” she stammered out, her bottom lip still trembling. He sighed once more and crouched down again, making himself as close to her height as possible.

“Do you have a change of clothes?” he asked, not addressing her apology. She shook her head and he noted that at least she was responding to him now. Nodding, he leaned out of the ‘fresher and grabbed some of the first clothes he came across; they happened to be an old pair of Hunter’s blacks. Ones that had been shrunk in the washer by mistake. He plopped them in Omega’s arms and stood to his full height again.

“Have a shower, change into these, and throw those clothes out here when you’re out of them.”

He was surprised at the softness in his own voice, but the relief on Omega’s face told him that it had been the right thing to do. He left the room, and moments later the door opened only for a small pile of clothes to be thrown out. Wrinkling his nose slightly at the smell, he opened the top of the washer (how dehydrated was this kid?) and put them in with the blanket. He only moved again once he heard the sound of the shower running.

His first move was to check the rest of the bedding in her bunk; he climbed up the ladder quietly and glanced around. He hadn’t really been up here since returning to the Marauder, but looking around he snorted at how much the gunner’s mount had changed. It definitely looked more like a child’s bedroom than the access to the ship’s canons. There was an odd collection of pebbles, shells, dried flowers… you name it, on one of the shelves. Omega had clearly been picking up little trinkets on her travels, wanting to savour every part of the planets she had visited.

Looking up, his attention was drawn to the various pictures, clearly drawn by the child, stuck on the walls of the gunner’s mount. Crosshair would deny it if anyone asked, but he felt a small smile cross his face as he looked closer at the drawings. There were some of Lula, and various attempts at drawing the other inhabitants of the ship, but there was one picture that caught his attention. It was a clumsy drawing, where the people in it looked a little like potatoes with arms and legs, but the labelling made it clear who it was meant to be. It was all of them, smiling; he snorted at the box that had clearly been drawn to represent Gonky.

Snapping himself out of whatever emotion he was experiencing, he looked to the floor of the bunk; luckily the GAR issue bed rolls had a plastic coating, making them wipe clean. Crosshair set to work wiping down the bed with a cloth and some cleaning spray he had sourced on his way out of the fresher. Once that had been seen to, he descended the ladder to the gunner’s mount and went to his own bunk, opening a compartment and digging out two blankets. One he tucked around the sides of the roll mat, vaguely remembering a conversation he’d had with Hunter about the little girl hating the feel of the plastic mattress because it reminded her of the medbay on Kamino. The second, he draped over the mattress to act as a quilt. Replacing the pillow, Lula and Trooper on the bed, he climbed out of the bunk once more and sat on his own.

As he waited for Omega to emerge from the ‘fresher, he placed a toothpick between his lips. Maker, he missed smoking at times like these. He couldn’t get the image of the child shaking with fear, flinching away from him as though she expected him to lash out at her. Guilt filled him for a moment; was that what she truly thought of him? Reasoning took over a moment later. She hadn’t reacted like this to him at any other point… this was a learned fear. The guilt in his stomach turned to anger. He knew exactly who had made her scared in this way, and it filled him with rage.

The quiet hiss of the ‘fresher door snapped him out of his thoughts, and an exhausted looking Omega emerged. She was dressed in Hunter’s old blacks and had tried to roll them up a little, though she still looked as though she was drowning in them. Rolling his eyes, he left his bunk and walked to hers, opening the curtain and crouching to pick her up. She let out a squeak of surprise when he lifted her and placed her gently at the top of the ladder, her legs dangling over the edge of her room.

Now that she was back in the gunner’s mount she looked around, noticing straight away that her bed had clean blankets on it. The embarrassed flush returned to her cheeks.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, not daring to look in his direction as she shuffled a little further into the bunk, bringing her knees up to her chin and wrapping her arms around her legs. “I should’ve just dealt with it on my own.”

Crosshair was having none of it and he climbed the first few rungs of the ladder, bringing their heads to roughly the same level. “You know,” he whispered after a moment’s thought. “You’re not the first clone I’ve met who ends up in this… predicament from time to time…” he trailed off, hoping that his words had somewhat reassured her. She was looking at him now, her eyes filled with curiosity rather than shame.

“Really?” she asked, and he nodded in response. The truth was, he’d been that clone. Luckily his brothers had always been supportive, and Tech had gone to extreme lengths to inform him that bed wetting was common in children that were suffering, or had recently suffered some sort of trauma. Crosshair wasn’t stupid. He knew what Nala Se and Lama Su had been using Omega for, the experiments they had performed on her on a regular basis. No wonder she was traumatised.

“It usually only happens when I have nightmares… but not all the time,” she commented. “I try not to drink too much so that it doesn’t happen,” her eyes filled with tears. “But that didn’t work today.”

The older clone climbed further up the ladder and perched on the edge of the gunner’s mount. “You need to drink water,” he chided gently. “You’re no good to us all shrivelled up like a prune.”That at least brought a giggle out of the girl. Crosshair made a note to himself to make sure that Omega was drinking enough water during the day. No need to inform the others, not unless it got more serious.

A yawn from the child broke him from his momentary spiral. Her eyes drooped and she shuffled so that she was underneath the blanket he had placed on her bed. In her arms were Lula and Trooper, and it was in that moment that Crosshair was reminded of just how young she truly was.

“C-could you stay with me?” She looked slightly shy as she made the request. “Only until I fall asleep, I don’t want to annoy you…” She looked up at her brother with big eyes and the older clone cursed silently to himself. How could he say no to that face?

Nodding, Crosshair swung his legs up into the bunk and sat with his back against the wall. If that was what she needed right now, he guessed he could do that for her. It wasn’t like he was going to get any sleep anyway. A tired smile crossed Omega’s face as she held her soft toys closer.

“Thanks, Cross,” she mumbled sleepily, and within moments she was dozing off. The man in question couldn’t help the yawn that escaped him as he rested his head against the wall he was leaning on. He would stay for just a few more minutes, to make sure that she was truly asleep. Then he would go back to his bunk…

Echo walked into the cabin of the Marauder, looking forward to the start of his sleep rotation. He looked at Crosshair’s empty bunk and raised an eyebrow. That wasn’t right. The door to the fresher was open, so he wasn’t in there… and unless he was hiding in a crate somewhere, there weren’t many other places he could be.

A light snore coming from the gunner’s mount made Echo’s head snap in that direction. He quietly crept towards the curtain and pulled it back, grinning at what he found. At some point, not long after Omega had dozed off again, Crosshair had fallen asleep himself. Now Echo found him curled protectively around the little girl, her face buried in his blacks as she clutched Lula with one arm and held onto one of his hands with the other. Rolling his eyes, Echo backed down the ladder and shut the curtain again. He supposed he could go a couple more hours before sleeping.

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casual-violinist-fangirl · 20 days

Text

Saving Stardust - 5,174 Words

Set in a world where Omega has been rescued following her second capturing and no one dies! The Bad Batch takes on one final mission and are tasked with delivering the Erso family to safety. Omega, being the traumatised bean that she is, doesn't take too kindly to Imperial scientists being on the ship.

Or:

How Jyn Erso ended up with her Trooper Doll.

I love Rogue One and this was a lot of fun to write! In this, Jyn is about three years old and the Bad Batch are flying their new ship, the Firebird (named after one of my favourite pieces of music ever). I hope you enjoy!

. Link to my AO3 page and Tumblr Masterlist

Thank you for reading!

————

Initially, Hunter had refused to take the job, no matter how well it paid. Their days as delivery boys were over and they had no interest in ferrying anyone about, not even if it was to help them hide from the Empire. That had gotten Phee frustrated with him.

“You’re not too different from this family, Hunter,” she tried to reason as they walked to the Archium. Hunter shook his head, adjusting his jacket as he did.

“We don’t pull jobs like that anymore, Phee,” he replied. He tried to keep his voice even, but he knew he just sounded annoyed. “Especially not since our last run-in with the Empire. We stay where we’re safe.”

The pirate sighed, exasperated. She was definitely beginning to see what Tech had always meant about Hunter being stubborn.

“This couple have a daughter,” she pulled as a last result. Hunter stopped in his tacks at that.

Bingo.

Phee knew it was cruel pulling the ‘they have a child and they’re on the run from the Empire’ card on Hunter, especially seeing as he had shifted the universe to find Omega on Tantiss, but this family deserved to be safe and deserved to be together.

“Ughhhh,” Hunter groaned as he ran his hands over his face in defeat. Phee felt herself beginning to smile. “I’ll talk to the others,” he agreed. “But if any of them say no, we’re not doing it!”

He rounded the corner of the street and made his way back to the home he shared with his brothers and Omega, disappearing from sight.

Of course, Phee had neglected to mention that this family had history as Imperial scientists… not exactly the squad’s favourite type of people. Hopefully the team would be able to see past that, the pirate mused to herself as she reached for her comm and prepared to contact the family.

——

Two hours later, the squad were waiting for Phee to return from collecting the family. Wrecker impatiently tapped his foot and complained every five minutes that this was taking too long only for Crosshair to tell him to stow it each time.

Hunter could feel himself getting more twitchy as time passed. They had been waiting for nearly thirty minutes now, and Phee was usually more punctual than that. He did his best not to let his concern show though, as he was painfully aware of Omega stood next to him, not wanting to let him out of her sight.

This was her first mission since her return from Tantiss for the second time; Hunter had tried to persuade her to stay on Pabu with Lyana and Shep, but she had shot him down quickly.

“I’m not leaving you!” she had practically yelled at him, fear in her eyes and her voice. Crosshair had taken over then, reassuring her that she wasn’t going anywhere and that of course she could go with them. Hunter had only been trying to look out for her.

It was times like these that he caught himself trying to remember how he’d coped with Omega’s outbursts before Crosshair had gotten back.

Out of the shadows, the telltale figure of Phee emerged. She was wearing a cloak with a large hood, and was being followed by three figures. As they appeared and realised that they were safe now, they removed their hoods and relaxed a little; Hunter had been about to introduce himself when he felt Omega go rigid next to him. He glanced at her, trying to figure out what was wrong when he realised she was staring at the man… Galen Erso? Hunter followed his daughter’s gaze only to scowl at what he saw.

Phee hadn’t mentioned anything about the Erso family being Imperial scientists.

He had been about to turn and give the pirate a piece of his mind, but wasn’t able to take the opportunity as she had disappeared back into the shadows as quickly as she had arrived. Hunter growled and made a mental note to talk to her when they got back. How could she be so senseless?

“Thank you for rescuing our family,” the woman, Lyra, spoke first. She had kind eyes and a soft smile on her face as she spotted Omega clinging to Hunter. “I’m sure you understand more than most how important it is to keep your family safe.”

Crosshair, who had also clocked the uniform now, rolled his eyes and stalked back onto the ship He clearly wanted nothing to do with this mission then. Wrecker followed him, but took a seat in the cockpit to help get ready for takeoff. That left Hunter, Omega and the Erso family stood next to the Firebird. The little girl, Jyn was her name, skipped onto the ship, seemingly unaware of the situation unfolding around her.

Omega started trembling, something she hadn’t done out of the blue in a long time. Hunter gently slung his arm around her and held her tight. He pulled a face and sniffed dismissively in the direction of Galen before turning and heading towards the ramp of the ship. The couple followed him in silence, their confusion clear. Hunter, quite frankly couldn’t bring himself to care. They had a job to do and he would be glad when it was over and they could go back to their safe haven.

He sat in the pilot’s chair before glancing over at Omega; she was sat stock still in the co-pilot’s seat, re-living something that he didn’t know about. Hunter sighed quietly before turning his attention back to the controls.

He was definitely going to have words with Phee when this was over.

——

The sleep cycle came around, but Omega protested against sleep. “What if you need me?” she asked, her eyes full of worry. Hunter sighed, not for the first time that day, but this time it was full of affection for the girl he’d come to call his daughter. She had been sat in silence up until this point in their trip, just staring blankly out of the port window or eyeing up Galen Erso warily.

“We’ll be fine, ad’ika,” he soothed as he opened her arms. She went to him and wrapped her arms around his middle. She squeezed him tight before retreating to her room - unlike the Marauder, the Firebird had two bunk rooms, each with four beds. He and the boys shared one, and Omega by default had her own room. This was a little different today as she was sharing with the Erso child and her mother. The three year old had found Omega’s string of lights fascinating and had giggled as they twinkled. She had also taken up an obsession with Omega’s new trooper doll; the young clone hadn’t gotten around to decorating this one.

Hunter was a hypocrite; he had already decided that until the Erso family were dropped off at their destination, he wasn’t going to sleep. They were Imperials, even if they were ex-Imperials, and the panic on Omega’s face as she saw the scientists’ uniform had been the final nail in the coffin. Hunter needed to be on lookout so that his kid felt like she could have a full night’s sleep without having to watch her back. The look of fear had gone unnoticed by Jyn, who had tried to surgically attach herself to Omega, had not been missed by Galen and his wife.

Once Hunter heard the door to his little girl’s room close, he sighed quietly and turned to the nav-computer.

Slowly, everyone began to settle down for the night. Wrecker had been the one to crash first, mumbling a “g’night” to Hunter and Crosshair and nodding at Galen and Lyra. Lyra had been second, saying that she didn’t want to disturb the girls any later than she had to. She had thanked Hunter and Crosshair one final time and bid her husband goodnight before creeping into the room currently being shared by Omega and Jyn.

Hunter had listened intently as the door opened, but noticed no change in the steady heartbeats and heavy breathing coming from the two children within. Good, he thought as he carried on his work.

Crosshair had retired an hour or so later; he had spent a minute having a silent conversation with Hunter.

Want me to stay?

No, sleep.

You sure?

Go, Crosshair.

The sniper had grumbled about getting a stiff back as he stood from his chair and moved towards the bunk room. As the door opened he glanced at Hunter one last time. His look said it all.

If he gives you shit, you come and get me.

That left Hunter and the scientist. Galen Erso. Hunter knew enough to know that the man wasn’t in cahoots with Hemlock, and he hadn’t had his hands on Project Necromancer… but that still didn’t being him comfort.

It had been six months since Omega’s second rescue and it was safe to say that she had been nothing short of traumatised. It had taken weeks of sleepless and tearful nights, screaming episodes and panic attacks before she began to show her true colours again. He was worried that something as small as Galen’s uniform would send her all the way back to square one, and he wasn’t sure if he was prepared to deal with that.

“I noticed your little girl has an aversion to scientists.” It was as though Erso could read his mind. Hunter scowled, trying to look busy for a minute or two before realising that it was going to be no good. He swivelled in his chair to face the other man; for some reason Hunter had been expecting to see some kind go smugness in his eyes, but he saw nothing but curiosity and… sadness?

“You've had dealings with the Empire before?”

Hunter snorted before he could help himself. Had they had dealings with the Empire? Of course they had. They were clones for crying out loud. They had been there when the Empire was born. Instead of saying anything, he simply nodded. He wasn’t sure how much he could trust this man, regardless of his departure from the Empire. The squad had learned the hard way that sometimes giving up information was a dangerous game. Information was priceless, and deadly if left in the wrong hands.

“I don’t expect you to trust me, sergeant,” Erso continued speaking when he realised that Hunter wasn’t going to say anything. “However I can try to express just how far removed I am from the Empire. I have no desire to go back to them, not after the chaos and destruction they have caused.”

There was a pause as Hunter eyed the man, leaning back in his chair as he tried not to see the similarities between them. In reality, Galen was a man trying to protect his family as they went on the run from the Empire. He was trying to forge a life for Jyn and Lyra that didn’t involve looking over their shoulders… Hunter could see a little bit of himself in the man, especially in the way he doted on his child.

“Omega has been experimented on since she was a toddler,” he conceded, his throat tightening at the thought. “She… she was kidnapped by Hemlock about a year ago and held captive whilst…” He couldn’t carry on. The thought of Omega being trapped on Tantiss made him want to be sick. Galen nodded, a look of horrified recognition in his eyes at the mention of Royce Hemlock. It occurred to Hunter then that Erso must have had some contact with Hemlock, even if it was only in passing… even if it was only at conferences when all of the scientists updated the Empire on their progress.

“I’m sorry,” he replied eventually and even though Hunter would have scoffed at that normally, he could feel the weight behind those words. He nodded at the scientist once more; Galen Erso couldn’t undo the past, but him leaving the Empire was a step in the right direction. A movement that would damage the vile dictatorship that sought to destroy all that was sacred.

“We’re recovering…” he trailed off with a small huff. “She’s recovering, but it’s been a long journey.”

And it wasn’t over yet, it the Bad Batch knew this to be true. Whilst Omega didn’t wake up screaming as often, didn’t shy away from going outside, she wasn’t the cheerful little girl she had been before. She was more withdrawn and still favoured being glued to Hunter’s side on missions. He had heard her pacing her room at night more times than he could count, but didn’t intervene; if she needed him, she would go to him. He knew that.

As if their conversation had triggered it all, he suddenly heard a change in Omega’s heartbeat. Her breathing picked up, only loud enough for him to hear with his capabilities, but before he could stand and move towards her room, she let out a sharp cry.

Galen’s head snapped towards the door of the room, his guard immediately raised but Hunter waved him down. “It’s Omega,” he whispered before a light patter of feet could be heard and the door to her room hissed open.

Omega appeared in between the two rooms, her breathing still rapid as she trembled; Hunter put her out of her misery by leaving his chair and crossing the room to greet her. He crouched down so that he was in her line of sight.

“B-buir,” she started, shaking as she reached for him. He grasped her hands, running his thumbs over her knuckles in a gentle, soothing motion.

“I’m here, ‘Mega,” he soothed, plastering a small (albeit fake) smile on his face. The little girl’s breaths came out in short, sharp huffs as she tried to gain control of herself. “Just breathe with me, ad’ika,” Hunter placed one of her small hands over his chest so that she could feel the rise and fall as he modelled the way she should try to breathe.

“I-I was…” Omega glanced at Galen, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her breathing was beginning to even out again, but she was clearly distraught. More distraught than Hunter had seen her in a while. Hunter hushed her, instead encouraging her to just focus on him. On her breathing. On staying calm.

When eventually her breathing had slowed to a sensible rate, Hunter opened his arms. Omega collapsed into them, trembling and sniffling. The sergeant carted his hand through her hair; it was brushing her shoulders now and hung loose on this particular evening. They said nothing as he scooped her up and carried her to one of the chairs in the cockpit, ignoring Galen (who had the presence of mind to take interest in his holo pad).

Omega was wearing her pyjamas, a short sleeved top and shorts that came to just above her knee. Hunter remembered when he’d found her on Tantiss, how her arms had been mottled with bruises and marks from when needles had pierced her skin. Now her arms were clear of bruises (save ones she’d obtained from being clumsy) but the scars she bore from her time as an experiment remained. She had been hooked up to more machines, tested on over and over again more times that she could count and the abuse showed on her skin. She still bore a scar hidden under her hair from an attempt at implanting a chip to monitor her brain activity. Hunter had seen red when he’d first discovered it there.

Hunter rocked the child as he cradled her, swivelling the chair back and forth in slow, calculated movements. He remembered a time when he had done this for nights at a time, switching between rocking her and swivelling the chair to try and lull her into a slumber. When she had been much younger, he had paced back and forth with her in his arms on board the Marauder. He had been exhausted, falling asleep in the middle of the day a lot of the time, but he had never said no to her when she sought his comfort.

——

(Six Months Ago, Just After Omega’s Rescue)

It was relatively quiet on the Firebird, Hunter mused to himself… except for the crying child in his arms; he knew Crosshair and Wrecker had opted to go to the bunk room this time. They had all learned quite quickly that Omega didn’t enjoy an audience when she was struggling.

This was the third night in a row that the girl in question had dissolved into tears at the mention of going to bed. They had tried everything, including setting up Hunter’s pillow and blanket in the bunk room with her. It hadn’t worked.

Hunter knew that if Tech was there, or Echo to be fair, they would recommend sedating Omega. A light dose that would ease her into a dreamless sleep and allow Hunter to get some rest as well.

The sergeant was determined not to resort to that - Omega had spent enough time being prodded and poked by needles. The damage done whilst she was on Tantiss was there for all to see. Her arms were wrapped in gauze and plastered with bacta. She whimpered in his embrace, clinging to his shirt like it was a lifeline.

“I’m not going anywhere, ad’ika,” he soothed in a hushed tone, noting how the little girl nodded but still clung to him.

“You’re safe now,” he continued. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”

Omega didn’t respond verbally, she simply stared absently into the void, blinking slowly. She must have been exhausted but Hunter knew that she was plagued with horrible sights every time she closed her eyes. He didn’t think she’d actually slept since leaving Tantiss, which had been three days ago… she needed to rest.

“I can hear you thinking,” she croaked. Her voice sounded void of emotion, not like her at all. Hunter swore that if Hemlock hadn’t been killed by Crosshair, he would have taken joy in doing ti himself. The psychotic doctor had broken his kid. His little girl, who used to have the galaxy in her eyes.

“Sorry,” he looked down at the child in his arms. “I’ll try to think more quietly.” This got a small snort out of Omega, and Hunter’s heart skipped a beat. For a split second it was like she was back with him before she drifted away again, distant and remorseful.

“You’re forgiven,” she replied, a ghost of a smile on her face as she glanced up at her Buir. “I know you think I need sleep,” she carried on, snuggling further into Hunter’s embrace.

The sergeant hummed in response, not committing to a verbal answer. There was a slight pause, neither of them breaking the restful silence.

“I just don’t want to wake up and all of this be gone. That happened enough times when I was… there.”

Hunter nodded, still looking down at the little girl. There were dark circles under her eyes and she was pale; telltale signs that she was running on empty.

“I know you’re worried, ad’ika,” he replied. “Want to run through it again?” A small nod and he smiled genuinely this time.

“What can you see, kid?”

“The stars.”

“What can you hear?”

“Wrecker. He’s snoring.”

Hunter snorted at that. “What can you feel?”

This exercise went on for a while; it was one they had rehearsed and whilst it had never been successful in easing Omega to sleep, it had definitely soothed her and reassured her that this was reality to start with.

This time, however, Hunter could feel her head slowly growing heavier on his chest. He could hear her heartbeat slowing down and her breathing beginning to even out. Had the exhaustion finally caught up with her? He wouldn’t be surprised.

“Don’t leave me,” came a tired whisper, Omega taking one final, feeble grasp at his shirt. He nodded, gently kissing her forehead.

“Never, ad’ika. I promise I’ll be here when you wake up.”

The little girl nodded the tiniest amount before she was no longer awake, falling into a deep (hopefully dreamless) sleep. Hunter could have cried in that moment; he had hoped that him refusing to sedate Omega would have paid off in the end, and here she was. Sleeping… it may not have been a completely sound sleep, and she might wake up screaming for him in an hour but for now she was safe. She was resting, asleep in his arms.

As slowly as he could, Hunter reclined his seat slightly and rested his head against the headrest. Knowing that she was resting meant that he felt as though he could do the same and before long, he too was was in a deep sleep.

When Wrecker and Crosshair found them later, they had slowly retreated back into the bunk room. They had, of course, taken a photo of them before they went.

——

(Present Day)

Luckily, it hadn’t taken long for Omega to be soothed into a light sleep this time; Hunter had whispered a quiet “I love you,” to her as she’d dozed off again, tear tracks clear on her face and her breathing still a little stuttered from her crying. Resting his chin on top of her head, the sergeant glanced over at Galen. The scientist had a hard-set frown on his features as he watched the pair, his eyes glancing over the scars that littered Omega’s arms.

“The Empire did this?” he asked, his voice full of trepidation.

Hunter simply nodded, not needing to verbalise his response. He could see Erso mulling over this fact, clearly thinking of his own daughter.

Out of habit, Hunter tuned into the sounds coming from the bunk rooms - Crosshair and Wrecker both slept soundly, and he could hear two gentle heartbeats coming from Omega’s room. Everyone was safe. He whispered as much to Galen, who nodded in thanks.

“She’s been so brave,” Hunter said quietly, looking down at the child in his arms. “I don’t know half of what they did to her, she doesn’t like to talk about it, but I won’t let anyone lay a finger on her again.”

Another nod from Galen, whose eyes were still fixed on Omega’s scars. Had she been awake, she would have glared at him and grabbed her jacket. She would be marked by the Empire for the rest of her life, and Hunter had to live with knowing that he hadn’t been able to help his little girl.

“Please,” he started after a long silence. “If you’re found…” he trailed off, not wanting to think about Jyn being snatched by Imperials. “Don’t tell them about us.”

It came out as more of a desperate plea than a stern request from a soldier. He didn’t think Omega would cope if the Empire caught wind of her again. He certainly wouldn’t cope if he had to search half of the galaxy for her. She was his kid and in the time they’d been separated, he’d felt as though he couldn’t breathe properly. He looked up at Galen Erso, his eyes tired and desperate. The scientist regarded the clone before nodding.

“You have my word, they’ll never know of your involvement in this,” he stated. Hunter believed him.

Galen had stood and bid Hunter goodnight not long after that, suggesting that the sergeant should get sleep as well.

“I know what it is to love your child so much it hurts, Hunter,” Erso had said. “But you need to be functioning to be able to look after her.” With that final statement, he headed into the bunk room that held Crosshair and Wrecker. Hunter was left alone with Omega, still swinging his chair gently. He supposed resting his eyes for a little while wouldn’t hurt. Resting his head against the back of the chair, Hunter closed his eyes and allowed himself to join his daughter in sleep.

The following morning they were halfway through their time in hyperspace… and Jyn was bored. The little girl had never been on a long-haul flight before and it was safe to say that the novelty of it all had well and truly worn off. Galen and Lyra had tried their best, and in fairness they had come prepared for a long trip with a small child. Jyn had played with some small figures in her backpack, drawn multiple pictures of the Bad Batch and her family, and had tried playing a game with her father. She was now out of new things to do, and was making it the problem of everyone on board.

Crosshair had scarpered first, claiming that his rifle needed cleaning; this had made Hunter laugh. He had forgotten that even though his brother adored Omega, he was uncomfortable with smaller children. Especially excitable ones. Jyn had steered clear of Wrecker, slightly intimidated by the clone’s height. Hunter had expected Wrecker to be more upset by that then he was, but he had busied himself elsewhere in the hold of the ship. Hunter was sat in the pilot’s seat, his feet propped up on the dashboard when he felt a small tug at his arm.

“Are you Omega’s daddy?” A small, curious voice asked and Hunter turned to the tiny child with a small smile on his face. “I saw you cuddling her this morning. She looked happy.”

Slightly unsure of what to do, Hunter tried to recall what he had done when interacting with Cut and Suu’s children when they had been little. He clambered out of his chair and crouched down to make himself as close to Jyn’s height as possible.

“I guess I am, yeah,” he replied with a nervous chuckle. Usually people just assumed that he was Omega’s father. He wasn’t used to inquisitive children asking him that question. Hunter glanced up at his kid; Omega was tapping at a data pad, pretending that she wasn’t listening to the conversation. It made him smirk; the kid thought she was so sneaky.

Jyn nodded, taking this information on board. Hunter could practically feel her gearing up to ask more questions.

“Omega’s daddy?” she started. “Is it okay if I play with Omega?” The question stumped him a little. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Omega glancing up from the data pad.

“Well that’s not up to me, kid,” he started, his eyes flickering over to his daughter. She looked a little uncomfortable, but plastered a convincing smile on her face as Jyn approached her.

“Omega, can we play?” There must have been something about her pleading tone or the look on her face, because Omega crumbled and nodded. She allowed herself to be pulled by the hand to her room.

In the back of his mind, Hunter held a small, nagging worry but he squashed it. They were on a ship in hyperspace for kriff’s sake! There was no way that anyone could get to Omega here. He really needed to relax.

Trying not to think about it too much, he busied himself checking the nav computer and the ship’s vitals…

… he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard something he hadn’t heard in a long, long time.

Omega had laughed.

Not just a snort of laughter or a small chuckle, she had full on laughed. Laughed like she was the carefree child she should be. Hunter’s head shot up at the noise, and tears sprung to his eyes unbidden as he heard it again.

Galen and Lyra had been sat talking quietly to one another but stopped their conversation to glance at the sergeant.

“Are you okay?” Lyra asked, a small look of concern on her features. Galen, however, only had a look of understanding on his face.

“I’m okay,” Hunter managed after a few seconds. “I just… I just haven’t heard her laughing like that in a long time.” He smiled, making it clear that he actually was okay. The couple nodded, Galen sharing Hunter’s knowing smile before going back to the conversation they had been having previously. Hunter allowed himself to tune into Jyn and Omega’s game, smiling every time he heard his little girl laughing and playing along with whatever stories Jyn was making up as she went along.

————

One day later, when the Firebird finally reached it’s destination, everyone had disembarked. Wrecker had been first, stretching and declaring loudly that he was happy to be back on solid ground; it was no secret that out of all of Hunter’s brothers, Wrecker was the one who liked flying the least. Jyn had been quick to follow him, her fear of the gentle giant no longer present.

Hunter stood on the ramp of the ship, watching as Lyra and Galen spoke to a local tradesperson… something to do with transport to a nearby farm. Wrecker was playing with Jyn and Crosshair was sat watching, teasing Wrecker as Jyn managed to evade his capture.

Light footsteps approached behind him and he turned to face Omega. She looked more relaxed than he’d seen in a while and it warmed him to see her smile at him. She came and stood next to him before fidgeting and wriggling so that his arm was wrapped around her.

“You good, kid?” he asked softly and she nodded. Her hair was loose again and it bobbed as she nodded.

“Just… taking it all in,” she breathed. “I’m looking forward to going home.”

Home. For a long time, Hunter was convinced that his family would never had a home, but Pabu had proven to be the sanctuary that they needed.

“I’ve got a present for Jyn,” she carried on a moment later, fiddling with a small bundle in her arms. Hunter recognised one of Omega’s card games and something else.

“You’re giving away Trooper?” he asked, surprised. Admittedly, this trooper wasn’t the same as her previous one, and it still hadn’t been painted in Bad Batch colours. Omega nodded again, shrugging her shoulders lightly.

“I have Lula,” she started. “And besides, sometimes it’s the small things that comfort you when you’re living the life that she’s gonna be living.”

Hunter had to blink away proud tears. Omega knew what sort of life the Erso family were in for and in typical Omega fashion, she wanted to help where she could. The child padded down the ramp and headed over to Jyn. She crouched down to the girl’s level and spoke to her softly; once she had presented the presents, Jyn had squealed and thrown her arms around Omega. She wobbled under the attack but recovered quickly and held her back. Galen and Lyra glanced over at the scene, warm smiles on their faces before they called Jyn to them.

It was time to go.

The squad had stayed, waving the family off as they travelled into the distance towards their new life. Then, one by one they had made their way back onto the Firebird.

It was time to go home.

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