Hunter unfastened the seat restraints, and Omega tumbled from his lap, tripping over his ankle as she rushed to the door.

Echo grasped her wrist as she reached for the controls.

"Hold up, Omega. Let Tech land the ship first."

Omega listened impatiently for the sounds that accompanied the Marauder's landing sequence to reach the correct portion of hisses and beeps so she could safely open the door.

Hunter's hands wrapped around her shoulders from behind, and he pulled her back.

"I think you should stay here, Omega."

A flare of anxious worry pushed up Omega's throat and came out as irritation. "But Hunter! Crosshair could be hurt!"

"That's precisely why I want you to stay." His features twitched, and he added, "I need someone to get the medbay ready if Crosshair is hurt."

Omega knew Hunter had added that last bit to soften what his first response had been. But she also knew that worrying wouldn't help Crosshair or the others at all. Obeying quietly would keep things as smooth as possible, so she nodded.

"I'm sorry, Hunter. I'm just worried."

"I know, kid. We all are."

Omegaheard the final hisssssssshhhhhh that said the ship was fully secure on the landing platform. The door opened, and Echo, Wrecker, and Tech slipped by them and hurried down the boarding ramp. Hunter squeezed Omega's arms once more and hurried after them.

Omega paced up and down between the rows of flight seats. It had been nearly ten minutes since the others had left. The medbay had been made ready in five, and now there was nothing to do but wait.

Finally, Omega left the empty seats and clambered into her room. She supposed she could tidy it up again, but all that would mean would be to refold her blanket.

Lula and Trooper sat limply in one corner, flopped against the new communicator Tech and Omega had made for Crosshair. The stuffed dolls guarded it day and night. Wrecker had even told Omega she could keep Lula there as back-up for Trooper - the communicator was too special for just one guard, even though Trooper was excellent at guarding things.

Mantell Mix for example, Hunter's razor (that had been a scary adventure. Hunter wouldn't let Omega use his knife so she took the next best thing - but she 'fessed up when Echo told her it was wrong to take things without asking. She hadn't thought of that at all) and even the drawings Omega had made to decorate the Marauder. (Trooper had to act as a paperweight for those until a suitable place to hang them had been found. Tech said the pictures were very nice, but he needed to see the screens in order to work.)

Omega picked up the communicator and turned it about, brushing her hands over every part of it. She had liked helping to put it together, and for the first week after it had been completed, whenever she saw it she thought, "I really hope Crosshair likes it!"

Tech had even shown her holos of Crosshair, explaining how he was using the pictures to change the outside pieces of the communicator so they would "exactly replicate Crosshair's original communicator" as Crosshair was "quite proud of how - 'unshiny'" he appeared. Tech explained that this was because the Bad Batch's reinforced armor took quite a lot to earn any dents and marks. And as Crosshair was the sniper, any scratches his armor received were few and far between.

"Add to that the general skill level we share, and the chance of him getting any is almost nonexistant!" Tech had said.

Omega smiled and tapped her finger along a big scratch that Tech had let her cut, right on the side of the speaker's mount. Hunter had let her use his knife for that and -

The communicator's light blinked once, and Omega blinked back.

"Omega!"

"Hunter?" Omega called, scrambling down the ladder, the comm clutched in one arm.

"Omega, get out here. We found Crosshair, but we can't get to him."

"On my way!"

Omega shut off the communicator, and, setting her mouth in a grim line, she bolted out the door.