Hello, everyone. This prompt was suggested by The Generic Ficer. Enjoy.
While on a mission, the batch had been attacked by Imperial forces. In the process, Omega had ended up with several cuts and scrapes. When the batch arrived back on the Marauder, Echo noticed that Omega's clothes were torn and on her upper arms, there seemed to be scars.
"You don't look too great, kid. Tech, can you take a look at her?" Hunter sighed.
"Of course. I am concerned about how a few of those scrapes look." Tech replied.
"Perhaps you should fly the ship and let me look at Omega." Echo suggested.
"I am capable of examining her."
"I know, but Fives might need your help."
"Fives do not need my help. But since you seem so eager to examine Omega, I suppose I will let you examine her."
Echo grabbed the medkit and scanner. Everyone walked into the cockpit and Echo looked at Omega.
"I'm afraid your shirt and pants are in shambles. You'll have to remove them so I can fully examine your injuries, but you can keep your undergarments on." Echo stated. Omega nodded and did as she was told. Echo examined Omega's injuries and put bacta patches on them. He examined Omega's upper arms and saw that the scars were extensive. These were the kind of scars that you would see from way too many bad IVs and injections. Echo sighed and thought back to when he had woken up to Omega and AZI talking.
"It's ok. I don't being hooked on these machines either." Omega said when Echo woke up.
Echo handed Omega new clothes and Omega changed into them. She looked at her upper arms and realized that Echo had seen her scars.
"Nala Se would do a number of tests on me. She kept wanting to know my limitations and my strengths. They were almost daily and… she didn't care how much pain I was in or if the needle was bad or even if it was removed wrong. She only cared about her tests and the results she got from them. I never wanted them done and I couldn't tell anyone about them." Omega explained. Echo knelt in front of Omega and sighed.
"I know. No one in their right mind would want to be tested like this. When I was trapped with the Techno Union, they would perform many tests and they didn't care how much pain I was in or whether I wanted it done or not. I still have nightmares. I thought that after Skako Minor, it would be over, but then the kaminoans started experimenting on me. That's when I learned that I wasn't the only one. One evening, I came back to our barracks and found that it was empty. One by one, the others showed up with some physical injuries, but most were mental and emotional. Hunter cared for all of us, but then as we were all resting, he just sat in his bunk. It was obvious what they did to the others, but it wasn't obvious what they did to him." Echo recalled. "But sleeping could be the worst. I used to have a couple of nightmares a night till we found Fives. Now, I have one every few nights. Crosshair has nightmares nightly, but when someone's with him, he seems better. Fives, Wrecker, and Tech have them every so often. I'm not sure about HUnter."
"I used to have nightmares a lot, but since being here with you guys, I haven't had them as often."
"Well, that's good."
"Please, don't tell anyone about my scars. I don't want them to worry."
"I won't, but they will find out. You will have to tell them."
"I know. I'm just not ready to tell them today."
"I understand."
They arrived home and OMega stayed by Echo's side. Echo smiled knowing that Omega needed assurance that she was ok.
A few days later, Wrecker and Omega were playing outside. It was a nice warm day and Omega was wearing a shooter sleeve shirt. As the two played, Omega did not notice that her sleeves had moved up revealing her wounds.
"Hey, what's that on your arms?" Wrecker questioned. Omega looked at her arms and pulled her sleeves down.
"Um, it's nothing," Omega replied.
"That didn't look like anything."
Wrecker knelt beside Omega and gently took a look at her arms.
"Who did this to you?" Wrecker wondered.
"Nala Se. She… used to do all sorts of tests on me. And she never told me why. But it was daily and it would last for hours. She didn't care if it hurt me or not." Omega answered.
"Does it hurt?"
"No."
"If I ever see her, I'll make sure I'm the last thing she sees. No one deserves this, especially not you. Are you… ok? I mean, do you… want to talk about it?"
"Not right now. I talk to Echo. He understands what it's like."
"Yeah, Echo's been through a lot."
"But he's happy now. With us and with FIves."
"Heh, he sure is. If you ever need to talk, I'm here for ya, kid."
"I know."
That night, Omega walked into her room and saw Lula sitting on her bed waiting for her. Omega smiled and looked at Wrecker's door.
The next morning, Tech approached Omega in the kitchen after breakfast.
"AH, Omega. I would like to reexamine your injuries and make sure they are healing properly." Tech stated.
"Echo checked them last night. He said that I was good as new." Omega replied.
"Yes, well, I would like to see for myself. Mainly the injuries above on your arms. All you'll have to do is roll up your sleeves."
"Can't Echo do this?"
"Echo is in town getting supplies. Besides, I would like to make sure you are alright. Now, roll up your sleeves."
"NO."
"Why won't you let me examine your arms?"
"Because I don't want you to. That should be good enough."
Omega ran upstairs to her room and sat at her desk gripping her arms tightly.
"Kid, is something wrong?" Hunter wondered.
"Tech wanted to examine my arms."
"I could hear that from my room. That doesn't quite answer my question."
"I just… don't want him to look at them."
"Why not?"
"He wouldn't understand."
"But Echo does?"
"Yes."
Hunter knelt beside Omega and placed a hand on her hand.
"Omega, we all have scars from our past. Some are larger than others. All different from the others." Hunter stated.
"Tech less than the rest?" Omega wondered.
"No, Tech has just as many scars, but you won't see them. Tech's scars are in his mind. 99 told us that Tech had scars deep inside from what the kaminoans did to us. Thing is, Tech believes that most of those tests were good. I don't think he's quite come to terms with the idea that he was abused. Sometimes, he forgets that not everyone is like him. We don't all handle our scars like that."
"I just don't want him to ask questions."
"Then tell him. If you want, I can talk to him."
"Not now."
Omega looked at HUnter and sighed.
"How did you know I had scars from Nala Se?" Omega asked.
"Because we all do. And you're different… like us. If she experimented on us, then she would have experimented on you and most likely much worse than what we endured. We had ways out. You didn't." Hunter replied. "You don't have to show me your scars. All that matters is that you have people that you can talk to. Echo is a good listener."
Omega pulled up her sleeves and allowed Hunter to see her scars. Hunter looked at them in concern and looked at Omega.
"I have to admit; this is more than I expected. But when I think about it, I know that Nala Se would have been able to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted and you had to deal with it. She would have had time to do all of this." Hunter sighed.
"And more," Omega murmured. "They… don't hurt, but I wish they would go away."
"Who knows other than me and Echo?"
"Wrecker. I want to tell the others, but… I can't."
"Do you want me and Echo to help you tell the others?"
"I think Fives and Crosshair will be ok, but I might need help with Tech. He'll want to examine them and he'll ask questions that I don't want to talk about."
"When Echo gets home, we'll talk to him and then Tech. You can tell the other two whenever you want."
Hunter pulled down Omega's sleeves and Omega wrapped her arms around Hunter.
"Maybe we can find a salve to put on them to hide them better," Hunter suggested. "They won't go away completely, but maybe we can make them fade."
"I hope so," Omega replied.
Omega and Hunter walked downstairs and saw Tech jump up.
"Tech, Omega's fine. She just needs space to clear her head." Hunter warned.
"I would like to be the judge of that," Tech replied.
"Tech, leave Omega alone. Do not make me order you. She needs some time and does not ask why. You don't need to know why right now."
Tech nodded and went back to his work. When Echo arrived home, he started putting all the supplies away. Omega and HUnter walked into the kitchen.
"Omega told me about her scars, but Tech keeps wanting to examine her arms and make sure they're healed. He'll ask questions when he finds out." Hunter explained.
"But I want to tell him. I just… talk about them yet." Omega said.
"Hunter and I will make sure he doesn't. We'll go talk to him when you're ready."
"I'm… ready now."
"Are you sure?" Hunter asked. Omega nodded and looked at her brothers. Hunter and Echo looked at each other and walked into the backroom where Tech was busy with his research.
"Tech, I want to show you something. But you have to promise not to ask questions about them." Omega started.
"That will depend on what you want to show me," Tech stated.
"No, it doesn't, Tech. Please, just promise."
"Fine. I promise not to ask questions about whatever it is you're going to show me."
Omega rolled up her sleeves and showed Tech her scars.
"Nala Se did them to me. My upper arms are covered in scars from various needles and IVs. She never told me why she wanted to run all of those tests. Sometimes, it would be hours before I got a break and those breaks were usually short. She… didn't care if she hurt me or not. She just wanted to run her tests." Omega explained.
"I see. I assume this is why you didn't want me to examine your arms earlier and why you and Echo have grown closer." Tech replied.
"Echo understands what it's like. He's been helping me."
"At least you are talking to someone about them."
Omega rolled down her sleeves and sighed.
"I don't like them. They don't hurt, but they're really visible and sometimes, I can barely look at them. I just want them to fade away. Is there something I could use?" Omega explained.
"I'm sure there is something we can use," Tech answered. Omega smiled softly and nodded.
That evening, Tech handed Omega a container of salve.
"This mixture should help the scars fade," Tech stated.
"Thanks, Tech." Omega thanked.
Omega walked into her room and started rubbing the salve on her arms. She didn't even notice that the door was open.
"What are those?" A voice sneered. Omega looked and saw Crosshair staring at her arms.
"Nothing." Omega lied.
"Who did that to you?" Crosshair sneered as he walked over. Omega tried to hide her arms, but Crosshair grabbed her arms and looked at them."Did she do this to you? Did Nala Se do this?"
"Yes, she did."
"If I ever see her again, I will kill her."
"But that won't solve anything. I don't like her either, but wanting her to suffer or die only makes us suffer, not her. Besides, I want these scars to heal. If I try to get revenge, they'll never heal."
"Heh, you sound like Hunter and Echo."
"But I'm right."
"Does anyone else know about your scars?" Crosshair asked.
"Everyone, but Fives. He hasn't found out yet." Omega replied. "Echo found out when he was examining me when I was hurt."
"Fives won't be too happy. He doesn't like knowing that his family was abused."
"I know."
Crosshair sighed and shook his head.
"What are you rubbing on them?" Crosshair asked.
"Tech found some salve that might help the scars fade," Omega replied.
"They'll still be there."
"I know, but at least it'll make me feel a little better."
Crosshair nodded and left the room. Omega finished rubbing the salve on her arms, got ready for bed, and went to sleep.
A couple of days went by and Omega was starting to feel better.
"Hey kid, it's a nice day out. Want to go for a swim?" Fives asked.
"Um, sure," Omega replied. Omega went and put her swim clothes on and followed her brothers to the lake. When they arrived at the lake, Omega removed her overshirt and looked at her scars. She rubbed them slightly and sighed. Omega played in the lake with her brothers. Fives and Omega were splashing each other and Fives started chasing her. He grabbed her and started tickling her. Then he noticed her arms.
"Omega, your arms?" Fives gasped. "Who did this to you?"
"Nala Se did. Don't worry. They don't hurt." Omega answered.
"But… why?"
"She tested me. And she didn't care if she hurt me. She just wanted to run her tests."
"That demagolka." Fives spat. "And I thought her implanting inhibitor chips into our infant brothers was bad, but this… this is worse."
"What does demagolka mean?" Omega asked.
"It means someone who commits some of the unimaginable crimes. A monster. Many many years ago, there was a man in Mandalore who experimented on children. Now, Mandalorians use the word demagolka as an insult."
"She is."
"Yeah, she most certainly is. I'm sorry, kid. I… I wish I could take them away or do something."
"You've helped enough. Besides, Tech gave me a salve to help."
"Well, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'll listen."
"I know."
THE END
I'm sorry about this taking so long. Life has been very chaotic lately.