Chapter 20: Confessions
Omega followed Hunter up the ladder from the hold and trailed behind him as he led the way to her room. She tried to keep her feet from dragging. But exhaustion and worry made her pause just outside the gunner's mount.
Hunter had already clambered up and was sitting, back wedged into the corner to one side of the seat.
"Come on, Omega."
Omega climbed up and sat down slowly, pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms about her knees.
"I discussed a few things with the others," said Hunter, and a frown deepened across his face. "And...I'm going to need to tell you a few things."
Omega held her breath and kept her head ducked to knees.
"The Kaminoan's...well, you're...different than we are. More...special."
Omega blinked rapidly, her confusion mounting as Hunter told her about her DNA, her name, and another clone code-named 'Alpha'.
When he stopped and Omega's distracted mind had finally caught up to everything Hunter had explained, she raised her head and cast him a tentative look.
"So I'm...not...in trouble?"
Hunter's eyes widened and one eyebrow disappeared behind his bandana.
"No - what? Why would you think that?" His eyes narrowed. "What is it, Omega?"
"Well...I knew you'd probably not want me to see...Tech...down there...and..." Omega ducked her head again, heat rushing to her ears.
Hunter didn't respond for a long moment.
Then -
"But that's not everything."
Omega shook her head miserably. Of course that wasn't everything. She had...another confession to make. And she had to do it now.
"I...remember when we were...I..."
Her voice faltered and she wished Hunter would stop watching her. She knew his eyes would be confused and gentle right now. But then they would change once she had told him...
She remembered Tech, restrained and scared in the lab, and heaved a breath.
"I didn't listen to you, Hunter," she blurted out. "You told me to stay hidden and not to watch. But...I didn't listen. I tried! I really did! But Sullo Pria...kept hurting Tech, and he needed help! I'm sorry if I disobeyed, but...I knew it was the right thing...I just wanted to help..."
"Did she hurt you, Omega?"
"A-a little..."
Hunter chuckled darkly. "Don't lie. Sullo Pria never hurt anyone just 'a little'."
Omega grimaced. "And...I've lied to you, Hunter..."
"Hm?"
Omega raised her head, trying to keep her voice under control. "I...lied to you."
"Oh?"
"Remember when we were talking?"
Hunter huffed in amusement. "Which time? Remind me."
"About the...Vagaari?"
Hunter's face went very still.
Omega stared at her boots.
"I...I told you Tech said I could ask you...about what happened to him. Technically...I twisted his words around...because...because I wanted to know."
Hunter did not offer an immediate response, and Omega sniffed.
"I know I was wrong," she gulped. "And I'm...sorry, Hunter. I understand if you don't want to trust me anymore, but..."
"Kid, I..."
Omega looked up at Hunter's soft words. He smiled at her, and she blinked in confusion at the utter lack of the disappointment she'd anticipated in his eyes.
There was only understanding and...affection...?
Hunter crossed his legs and leaned forward, peering at Omega. "Don't worry about it. I can understand why you did it. We all make mistakes. I lied, too."
Omega's eyes widened. "You?" she gasped.
Hunter nodded, mouth drawing into a grim line. "I cheated that Gran on Pantora out of three thousand credits."
He shrugged a little sheepishly.
"Kinda like you, I twisted the guy's words on him. He thought Echo was a droid, and I didn't bother to tell him otherwise."
"But we needed the credits," said Omega, trying to excuse Hunter as much as possible.
"Ye-ess..." said Hunter slowly. "But...it still wasn't honest. So!" He rose and made his way to the ladder at a half-crouch. "As soon as we get up enough credits, we're taking a trip back to Pantora."
Omega nodded, a tiny pinch of worry flicking inside her stomach.
Hunter paused on the ladder. "And we'll make sure no bounty hunters get you."
Omega shuddered. "What if there are too many? You can't fight them all..."
"We can try out darndest," said Hunter. "You don't have to worry. You are never going back to Kamino."
Omega scooted closer to the ladder where Hunter leaned and gripped the corner of her blanket. "Promise...?"
Hunter patted her hand. "I promise."
"Hunter?" Omega looked solemnly at the gloved hand resting over hers. "I really didn't mean to get in the way today... I really did want to help Tech. I...I've always wanted to be brave like you, but...I wasn't thinking about being brave. I'm sorry if it was foolish, I just..."
"Omega..." Hunter pressed his hand down more firmly, pushing hers into the soft cushioning of the gunner's mount floor. "You don't have to be like me. Doing the right thing is all I would ever want you to do. You did good, kid."
Omega smiled, and Hunter patted her hand once more and left.
It was a Kaminoan laboratory. It had to be. CT 9904 had seen these same structural designs too frequently to be mistaken.
The clomp of his boots and the steps of his...the squad behind him sent jarring temors rattling through his brain.
The persistant headache was mounting again, and CT 9904 hissed through his teeth.
"What is it, sir?" one of the elite squad members inquired.
CT 9904 cocked his head at the sudden thought of how pleasant it would be to shoot her.
No. They were all here at his behest, and Admiral Rampart might very well execute him for terminating the elite trooper while not on a mission ordered by the admiral himself. This wasn't following orders, but it wasn't...disobeying either. Not technically speaki-
CT 9904 barked sharply against the sudden lance that stabbed behind his right eye.
"Sir! What is it?"
Crosshair stared through streaming eyes at the huddled mass in the corridor only meters ahead.
"What is that?" he wheezed.
One trooper approached the heap and looked back. "It's a Kaminoan!" he called. "Don't know why she's here."
"You don't?" CT 9904's slithering tones made the trooper back off and return to his place behind the commander...
The commander...their commander...but not my team...
CT 9904 shook his head once and started forward, stepping casually over the body on the floor. Taun We... Why was she here...?
He continued on, gliding around coners and stalking down the hallways until the elite team was fairly trotting to keep up with him.
Something was driving him forward, something was tugging at his legs, forcing them to take long, powerful strides that left the team behind panting for breath.
Left the team...behind...
Crosshair shuddered. He had seen it. Heard it... He clutched the datapad against his side and pushed on. The persistent throbbing in his temples sang out in heavy, blinding tones that made him gasp.
He had to know...he had to know...
CT 9904 growled. He had to learn what had become of the traitor, CT 9905.
CT 9905 - The new designation assigned to CT 33-7641 upon his joining Experimental Unit 99.
The words sounded loudly in his ringing ears and CT 9904 collapsed as Crosshair struggled out of the darkness.
They fought for control, one battling the other, only ceasing when the group entered a medical room...
It was destroyed. The room was a disaster, but the ruination seemed to have taken place fairly recently.
CT 9904 caught some menace in the corner of his eye and, spinning, he sent a blaster bolt punching into it.
He had to kill it...to defend...Tech...? Who was...?
CT 9904 gave way against the intense flood of pain that rushed into him when Crosshair recognized the already lifeless body lying on the floor by the stained examination table.
Crosshair could only stare, shock robbing him of motion and thought. He simply looked in blank comprehension at the Kaminoan, the name echoing somewhere in his empty mind.
...Sullo Pria...
Sullo Pria.
"How did she survive?" he murmured.
"Sir, who is it?"
Crosshair continued to stare, utterly rigid. "A demon," he growled.
Suddenly, his control returned and he whipped about on his heel, squinting his eyes behind his helmet to avoid taking in any further details of the medical room's clutter and tools.
"Let's go," he said.
"But, sir! What about the Kaminoans?"
That trooper never learned.
Crosshair passed him by without so much as a glance. "Leave them," he snarled. "Best they be forgotten."
He felt the squad stop in their tracks, their surprise and fear appearing in his mind as Crosshair paused to snatch up a stun baton from the floor. He hurled it through the window with a violent snap of his arm, and CT 9904 continued on, confused. Why had he done that...?
Why...?
He braced himself against the wall. Whatever sickness was inside of him, it was aware of CT 9904 now. He would have to be on his guard at all times... And simply follow orders...if he obeyed he would be safe...
Yet his suspicions remained, and that something inside him still dozed... But it was slowly awakening...
The strung lights over Omega's bed glinted hyperspace-blue. Omega gazed up at the shifting glimmers on the bulbs, letting her mind wander wherever it wanted to. She didn't remember on what thought it had started, but every pathway it branched onto always led back to the same image: Tech, afraid.
She had seen him as unbreakable - not like Hunter, but more... More of a steady sort of "unbreakable". And yet he had broken. She had seen him.Tech had been...crying.
Omega sat up and tossed Trooper and Lula out of her blanket. She shook out the folds in her covers and stuffed herself down onto the pillow again, squeezing her eyes shut. It was time to get some sleep.
...Sleep didn't seem to understand. Or it simply didn't care. Neither did Omega.
She pushed herself to her knees and slid the curtain aside, looking out into the main area of the Havoc Marauder as she did so frequently.
It was dark...like it was every sleep cycle. The control panel lights blinked slowly, white and red dots speckling the grey metal of the ship's interior...
Echo and Wrecker were still sleeping. Wrecker was curled into a ball on his rack, and Echo was slipping sideways off his seat.
Hunter was in the cockpit. And Tech...
Omega scooped up Lula and, leaving Trooper abandoned on the floor, she made her way stealthily down her ladder. Omega paused by Wrecker's rack long enough to toss Lulla against him, then hurried to the bunk room, wincing at the loud hiss of the door. She slipped inside just as Echo tumbled from his chair.
Omega waited at the very edge of the room. Tech was in bed lying flat on his back. His goggles were perched on a nearby crate and he was staring up, unblinking, at the roof of his bunk.
Omega said nothing. She simply stood there...just being there like Echo did sometimes. But Echo also knew when to speak up. And Omega did not.
She thought briefly that she might have brought Trooper along. But no - Wrecker could do that. It was something he would do. Tech might accept that gesture from Wrecker simply because it was Wrecker. But he would be unlikely to accept a doll from Omega for the simple fact that... Omega wasn't Wrecker. She had a feeling that something coming from another had a lot of meaning depending on the giver. And she wasn't it. Not to Tech.
Hunter had been hugging Tech. Omega had hugged Tech, too, but that had been when she was scared. Hunter had been trying to comfort Tech - and Tech had been holding on.
Omega sighed sharply, sudden loneliness catching in her heart unexpectedly. She wanted to be something to Tech simply so she could make him feel better. Nevermind if she was left outside. It didn't matter...
A sudden thought occurred, tugging the pouting corners of her mouth into a relieved smile.
Crosshair.
Crosshair was the sniper. He would be far away from the rest of the batch during missions, but he was always watching out for them. He was quiet, and he waited...he waited.
Omega could wait, too.
After all, that was how the Batch did things - in these sorts of situations, from what Omega had seen.
That first time when Omega had the nightmare, Tech had waited for Omega.
She would wait for Tech.
So Omega stood there, her chest out and arms folded like Crosshair did, body turned to the side to make herself a smaller target - it didn't matter if Tech saw her or not - and narrowed eyes watching Tech, focusing so as not to miss the slightest alteration in the mechanic's expression should he need anything.
"What...is it?"
Omega blinked.
Tech turned his head to look at her. "Omega? What is it?"
Omega dropped her sniper-stance and picked at her sleeve.
"I was just...waiting."
"Ah."
Tech turned his head back to gaze at the ceiling of his bunk once more.
"Why are you waiting?"
"Because..." Omega pulled at her sleeve faster and one corner of the hem tore. She dropped her arm with a huff. "Well...you were alone. And...you were alone," she finished helplessly.
"I asked to be alone," said Tech.
Omega scuffed her boot and turned to leave, pausing when Tech spoke again.
"But you, Omega?"
Omega leaned against the door and pretended she had a toothpick in her mouth. "I'm fine."
Tech hummed thoughtfully.
"It is difficult to keep the mind under control," he said. His voice was matter-of-fact once more. There was no evidence of the tremulous cries and frightened moans. He cocked his head on the pillow. "Extremely difficult. Especially for one as active as mine."
He looked at Omega for a long moment. There was a hidden weariness in his gaze. His words came so softly Omega almost didn't hear them.
"If you wish, I...would be glad of some company."
He blinked his large eyes once more, and Omega saw a flicker of panic flash through them before the intelligent calm covered them over once more.
Omega dropped the Crosshair act and stepped forward. "Are you okay, Tech?" she whispered.
Tech nodded. "It will pass. But you, Omega...I am uncertain as to how you have been affected by recent events."
Omega swallowed. "I did what I had to, I did my best." She shrugged. "Guess we got lucky."
Tech nodded slowly. "I guess we did."
Omega shuffled her feet, a thousand questions burning in her mind. She looked up at Tech again, her mouth twisting from the effort to supress the sudden surge of emotions and thoughts that swept over her. She silenced them all with a comment.
"I talked to Hunter."
Tech's mouth twitched into a half smile. "Excellent."
Omega pursed her lips and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She would control herself and not ask Tech anything about Sullo Pria. Tech would want to forget and move on just like the rest of the batch. He might send her away if she asked, and...if she did ask and he didn't want to tell her, she would not ask Hunter or anyone else about it. She had no desire to let her curiosity breach trust again. And yet...somehow this wasn't a simple curiosity. It was different. A need to understand something so it could be made better...
"Omega?"
Omega looked up.
Tech held out his hand, and Omega ran across the room and took his hand in both her own.
"Are you sure you're okay, Tech?" she asked.
Tech removed his hand from her grasp and pulled himself into a sitting position. He watched her for a long moment. His eyes looked...sad.
"You can ask me anything, Omega," he said quietly. "I will tell you if I am unable or unwilling to answer."
Now he was waiting while Omega picked at the tear on her sleeve. She couldn't make her voice sound any bigger or any braver, but she knew Tech would understand.
"Why..." she began, voice soft and uncertain. "Tech...why was Sullo Pria like that?"
Tech nodded slowly and reached out. He lifted Omega onto his lap and leaned back against the bunk wall.
"That is a hard question to answer, Omega."
Omega snuggled against him and sighed quietly. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to..." she murmured.
Tech shifted and wrapped his arms around Omega.
"This..." he whispered. "She didn't understand this..."
Omega was quiet and waited for him to continue.
Tech squeezed her again and let go.
"She never had this, she wanted it. And when she couldn't have it, she wanted to destroy it."
Omega nodded. She understood.
"Why didn't she find it?" she asked.
Tech pressed a hand against her head. "Because sometimes, Omega," he said, "Sometimes people don't give themselves a chance - for whatever reason. She...didn't really want it..."
Omega pushed away from Tech and looked into his face. "She was lonely," she said.
Tech nodded once. "Yes."
"Do you think Crosshair is lonely?"
Tech cocked his head, eyes flicking to the side. "Perhaps," he said. "But -" and there was a smile. "The commlink won't be ready in time if we don't get to work on it soon."
Omega grinned and clambered off Tech's lap. She scanned the bunk room for his mini-tool kit, and her smile faded.
"Tech?"
"Hm?"
"Was Sullo Pria brave?"
Tech shook his head. He climbed from the bunk and made his way across the room to the storage racks. "Giving in to fear constantly means finding other ways to attempt to fix the problem. Those usually end in violence and misery. There is really only one answer to getting the best results in life, long term."
"That's why I wanted to be brave?" asked Omega.
"Yes. And that's why you were able to exercise courage," said Tech.
"And that's why I want to be like you all!"
Tech paused, then began to search harder for the tool kit.
Omega shuffled her feet. "But...Tech, I...you all seem so strong. I know you really are, but you were...very hurt and very afraid... Do all of you...get scared like that?"
Tech did not answer, and Omega went on. "I mean, you told me before that you get afraid, but...like that? You are very...in control a lot...and then you weren't..."
"Everyone breaks at some point, Omega," said Tech. "That doesn't mean we are weak, though. If we can try again...that means we really are strong. You did that, right? So, there is no need to imitate my physical tendencies and personality..."
"I suppose..." said Omega.
"I thought you talked to Hunter."
"I did!"
"And what did he tell you?"
"He told me that all he'd ever want would be for me to do the right thing."
"Exactly." Tech spun on his heel, tool kit in hand.
Omega grinned and skipped to the crate where Tech's goggles rested. "But if I'm going to work with you, I need to be able to be like you! At least a little bit!" She slipped the goggles over her head and giggled.
Tech reached over her head and adjusted the band, tightening the goggles over her nose.
Omega stepped away and spun about striking a very Tech-like pose.
"How do I look?"
"Like Omega wearing my goggles."
"Ex-actly!" said Omega, pointing triumphantly at Tech.
Tech smiled. "Well, you are Omega," he said and brushed his fingers through her hair. "And that is how I like you best."
A/N: *Bad Batch theme plays* WOO-HOO!!! ALL DONE!!! Thank you so much for the inspiration from all my lovely readers and reviewers. Special shoutout to wwheeljack! I hope you enjoyed it, my friend! Thank you so much!!!
Stay tuned for the sequel to this fic, "Crosshair, Come Home"!