Crosshair was shaken awake, and with an agitated groan he opened his eyes, only to be met with the sight of his former sergeant in clear distress.

"Rough night?" he smirked, glancing towards the door as he woke up enough to hear Omega crying from the other room.

"I need you...need you to take her," Hunter winced as he spoke, "Please."

Crosshair's sarcastic demeanour dropped in in instant, he hadn't seen Hunter in that state for years. Perhaps even since the war.

"Sit down," Crosshair got up and gestured to the bed. Hunter didn't need telling twice. He sat heavily on the bed, holding his head and letting out a pained sigh.

"Hey," Crosshair knelt in front of him, waiting until Hunter looked up to start the hand signals.

No sleep?

Hunter winced and nodded.

Crying. All night. Tried everything.

Crosshair sighed. He'd hoped for a lie in, he'd only gotten back from work just over four hours ago, but there was no one else home to take over. Wrecker was back at work, and Tech and Echo were delivering a repaired set of droids across town. There was no way Hunter could be left to care for her in this state.

I'll take her. Wait here.

Hunter nodded, going back to holding his head as Crosshair rushed from his room to Hunter's just down the hall, where Omega was laid on the bed, blankets unwrapped, crying loudly.

"Oh, ner cyar'ika," Crosshair said softly, "I'll be right back, five seconds, I promise."

He grabbed Hunter's sensory kit from the bedside drawer, bringing it straight to Hunter.

I'll do it, get back to her, Hunter signed.

I'll take her downstairs, Crosshair nodded to him,

And put a shirt on, a small smile appeared on Hunter's face. Crosshair smirked, making a show of grabbing the nearest shirt and leaving the room, just as Hunter put the noise cancellers in his ears.

Crosshair plucked the crying baby up into his arms.

"What's all this about, sweet?" he whispered, stroking her back and bouncing her in his arms, "You've been giving Hunt'buir the runaround, haven't you? Shh, shh, sweetheart, you're alright, you're safe. Maybe some fresh air will help."

Crosshair headed downstairs, continually stroking her back as she continued to cry, "I think you've gotten yourself all upset, haven't you? And Hunt'buir getting all stressed about it didn't help. If it's any consolation, he's stressed because he cares about you, it's all out of love."

He walked her downstairs and stepped outside, checking her feet were definitely covered so they wouldn't get cold. The record low temperatures she had arrived in had since subsided, it was a mild morning, not warm but also not freezing. Enough to cool Omega down a little, at least.

"That's it," Crosshair kissed her head as she began to quieten a little, "That's my girl, you're alright."

The baby whimpered and fussed still, and Crosshair took her back inside before she got too cold.

"You must have worked up an appetite, with all that crying," Crosshair said softly, "And he's put you in that awful grey romper again, which you must understandably be upset about. What was he thinking? What was Tech'buir thinking?"

As the milk packet warmed up, Crosshair took the still grizzling baby upstairs to find her a nicer outfit for the day. After much deliberation – yet another shipment of baby clothes had arrived a day prior, he settled on a blue dress. Blue might just be his favourite colour to dress her in, far better than grey at least. The dress was made of a soft, cosy fabric with hand-stitched stars around the hems, paired with dark blue leggings and little white socks. From the growing knitted hat collection, courtesy of Wrecker, she wore the white and blue striped one, with blue tooka ears. All but a few of Omega's hats had tooka ears.

"Much better," Crosshair said as he lifted her back up, "At least one of your buire knows how to dress you."

He finished making up the bottle and settled on the couch, stroking her back as she started to feed.

"Is that better?" he whispered, "Are you going to sleep for Tech'buir tonight, or...he can stay up all night easily, he'd actually be alright."

Crosshair sighed, "I haven't seen Hunt'buir like that in a long time, though. Since before we even settled here."

He looked down at the big brown eyes staring up at him curiously, as if she were listening.

"It's not your fault, of course," he said softly, "He was made that way...the Kaminoans, they created us with little thought about how these defects would affect anything but performance. As long as we got the job done, who cares about the aftermath."

Crosshair sighed bitterly, his anger towards his own creators resurfacing. He'd been grateful to have shelved them at the back of his mind for the last few years.

"The regs had it so easy," he muttered, "They looked the same, were the same. They were made to not be special or different, while we were walking science experiments. Things were worse when we were cadets, before we learned to bear it and carry on. By the time we graduated, we could put up with it and get the job done like they wanted. It was only after that we'd suffer for it."

"It was rare by the end of the war, but it'd happen. Hunter's senses overloaded to the point he can barely stand, Wrecker in agony from over-exertion, Tech, struggling to even have a coherent thought. Me, my eyes so straight beyond their limits that my head feels like it might explode," Crosshair sighed, "We're still only human. I often wonder how long we can sustain our enhancements. Hunter's vitals go crazy when overloaded, it's like his body can't cope. Tech, can his brain really work that fast forever? We're experiments, prototypes, we weren't made for longevity, not really."

A quiet sound from Omega reminded him where he was, unloading his emotions on a two week old baby. A two week old baby that hadn't taken her eyes off him the entire time.

"You're a good listener," Crosshair smirked, just as Omega yawned and turned her head away from the bottle, "Oh, I see, Cross'buir's boring you to sleep."

He put aside the empty bottle and laid her on his shoulder, stroking her back.

"You're lucky, though, being born rather than grown in a lab," Crosshair chuckled, "Guess I'm jealous."

He fell silent, letting out a quiet sigh and holding Omega a little closer. He couldn't help but wonder if their – whoever had fathered her – enhancements would have passed onto her. Was she inconsolable because all the sensory input around her was too much, was even being touched and held overwhelming in that moment? Or were her eyes hurting from being strained and focused on too much, was she developing muscle faster than average, causing her constant pain? Admittedly, the latter was highly doubtful, Omega was far too tiny for that to even be a possibility. Wrecker had been towering above the rest of them for as long as Crosshair could remember. It didn't rule out any of them, though. For all they knew, she wouldn't inherit them at all. Tech would probably be able to figure it out eventually.

Echo and Tech returned home to find Crosshair having dozed off on the couch, an empty bottle beside him, and Omega close to falling out of his loosened grip. Cursing loudly, Tech rushed forward and scooped the baby up into his arms, hushing her softly as she whimpered and fussed.

"Cross?" Echo shook his shoulder, and Crosshair stirred, pushing his hand away.

"Get off me," he muttered, "You'll wake- Omega?"

"You almost dropped her in your sleep," Tech snapped, "I warned you not to fall asleep holding her, and you...If we hadn't got back when we did-"

"Stow it, Tech, you'll only upset Omega," Echo said firmly, turning back to Crosshair before Tech could protest, "I thought Hunter was looking after her until you got up? You're not usually up this early, especially after getting back so late."

"He was," Crosshair yawned, "But he couldn't settle her all night, he got himself so stressed he had an overload. I think he only woke me to help when he got desperate."

Echo sighed, "Yeah, I heard her. Tried to help a few times without much success. I should have taken her, except I..."

"You can't do night duty," Crosshair shook his head, "I think you're more capable of taking care of her than you think."

"I'm not trying to back out of my share, if that's what you mean," Echo's concerned frown turned into a glare, "Without two hands, I can't trust myself to safely care for her alone. I can't."

"Sure, and you're getting more sleep than all of us combined because of it," Crosshair muttered.

"That isn't true, Crosshair, and you know it," Tech said matter-of-factly, "Echo has been waking up to help us regularly during the night."

"I'll check up on Hunter," Echo said quietly, turning away and heading upstairs without another word.

"Has she been fed?" Tech asked in an accusing tone, all negative emotion disappearing from his face as he looked back at Omega.

"Yes," Crosshair rolled his eyes.

"Good. Then she can join me in the workshop for the time being," Tech said curtly, but he looked back at him with a sympathetic expression, "Catch up on some sleep."

"I'll try," Crosshair muttered, "Is the workshop-"

"It's safe. She will be protected. Echo can tell you," Tech said, lightly patting Omega's back, "Come on, Omega, Tech'buir's going to show you how to dismantle and re-calibrate the medical droid ba'vodu Kix dropped off. I think you'll find it quite interesting."

"Good luck, kid," Crosshair chuckled.

Echo found Hunter sat up in bed, noise cancellers still in his ears, but his visor on the bedside table. These were devised and constructed by Tech during the war with whatever scrap parts he could get his hands on, to help his sergeant when he needed assistance blocking out additional sensory input. They hadn't been used for years, but that hadn't stopped Tech regularly checking and improving their functionality, just in case. The noise cancellers blocked out sound, and were the most frequently used, while the visor blocked out visual input, as well as the sensory dampers in the temples blocking all other stimuli. As Tech's work continued on it, they became more adjustable, and now they could slowly power down to gradually reintroduce sensory stimuli. Echo was almost certain the noise cancellers were doing exactly that.

"How...how long was I out?" Hunter asked, his voice lowered.

"At least a few hours," Echo signed as he spoke, "Are you alright?"

Hunter nodded, Surviving.

"It's not your fault, Hunter. This is still new to us all," Echo sat on the bed, "She's settled now. Kix told us the sleepless nights would come, she just saved an...especially sleepless one for you last night."

Hunter sighed, "It's not about me. She was up half the night crying, and I couldn't fix it."

"She's a baby, she's hardly gonna hold a grudge," Echo smirked, "Babies cry, it's what they do, and you were probably getting yourself stressed out the moment you realised you couldn't figure out what was wrong, which only made things worse for both of you. She picked up on your worry, and you let yourself get overloaded."

"You're probably right," Hunter ran a hand through his unbrushed hair before looking at Echo seriously, "Is this working?"

"What? Hunter, it's barely been two weeks!" Echo gaped at him, "It's not enough time to judge that, we're still figuring this whole thing out. Kix is happy with her progress, though, just yesterday he was telling us how great she was coming along. That has to count for something, right?"

"Can we really be what she needs?" Hunter finally took the noise cancellers out of his ears, "We're not built for this. Just because I could have fathered her, doesn't mean I'm the best chance she has."

Echo sighed, "You four are built for this, Hunter, even if you don't feel like you are. You scoop that little girl right up the moment she cries, she doesn't have to want for anything with the four of you."

"You can't keep counting yourself out like that," Hunter sighed, "We all agreed to this, even you. It doesn't matter how you can and can't contribute...she's lucky to have you, Echo."

It was almost time for Crosshair to head out for his shift, but not without saying goodbye to his ad'ika beforehand. Dropping his things on the couch, he walked across the yard, past Echo's garden, to the workshop in the corner of their land. It didn't appear large on the outside, but Tech had managed to cram a large amount of equipment and tools in there, with a whole storage vault beneath it for spare parts, and other things such as their old armour from the war. There was a small living quarters built in, just a bunk, a small fresher and limited cooking and food storage facilities, which were often utilised when Tech was especially engrossed in a project. With his workshop's live-in capabilities he could disappear for days at a time.

Tapping in the code on the door – something that was changed regularly by Tech – Crosshair entered the workshop to find parts of a medical droid arranged uniformly across the floor, with the main body of it up on the workbench. And then he spotted Omega, nestled up in a seat fixed to the workbench, and unlike Tech's promise, completely unprotected.

"And now I just have to weld-"

"Tech!" Crosshair's voice sounded unusually panicked, which stopped Tech in an instant, "What are you doing?"

"I was just welding-"

"With Omega right there next to you? Not behind that protective screen you promised she would always be behind?" Crosshair snapped, immediately lifting Omega up, "You never listen."

"I..." Tech began, but Crosshair had already walked out, "Crosshair, you're about to leave for work, she has to stay with me."

"Hunter is awake, he can take her, or Echo can," Crosshair said dismissively, "She's not staying in that workshop."

"It was a mistake, just one lapse in memory, it won't happen again."

"And how many times has it already happened without any of us catching you?" Crosshair turned back to face him, "You get your head caught up in whatever contraption you're messing with and all judgement goes away. She's probably had several near-misses you've never told us about already."

"That's an unfair judgement, Crosshair," Tech said fiercely, "This hasn't happened before, I'm conscious of her safety all of the...most of the time."

Omega started to cry from the tense, raised voices, and Crosshair let out an exasperated sigh.

"Shh, shh, sweet, it's alright, you're alright. Tech'buir's not setting you on fire today," his voice softened, bouncing her in his arms.

"Setting her-Crosshair, you're being ridiculous," Tech rolled his eyes.

"What's going on out here?" Echo came to the door, "Tech, is something wrong?"

"Just Tech being Tech, no regard for anyone but himself and his projects," Crosshair muttered, stepping inside after handing Omega over to Echo, "I have to get to work."

Tech sighed, his anger subsiding to reveal shame, "I...I didn't...I don't usually, as dangerous as a weld is, she wouldn't have been harmed-"

"Leave it, Tech," Echo sighed, trying to get a better hold on Omega. As Crosshair handed her over with little warning, and with Echo's scomp not even covered, she didn't feel very secure, "It's just Crosshair-"

As Omega began to whimper and fuss from the discomfort of being held so tightly, she slipped in Echo's arms, and Tech had to dive to catch her before she could slip any further. The baby was wailing in an instant, and Hunter came running, having been sat in the lounge within earshot.

"What happened, is she alright?" Hunter said a little frantically. He looked to Echo, almost frozen in shock, a look of horror on his face, "Echo?"

"I...I almost dropped her," Echo's voice shook, "I told you. I said she wasn't safe with me. I told you."

"I'd say Crosshair dumping her on you didn't help at all," Tech remarked, bouncing Omega in his arms, "Nothing to worry about, ad'ika, you're quite safe."

"C'mon, come sit down," Hunter put an arm around Echo's shoulders and guided him to the couch, "Have the tea. Just made it, but you need it."

"Is she hurt? Have I hurt her?" Echo asked, his eyes sparkling with tears.

"I'm sure she's just fine, Echo, was probably more of a shock than anything else," Hunter said calmly before going back to Tech.

"If you take her, I can perform a simple medscan, just to rule anything out. Her leg was caught for a moment, but I expect it just caused a small discomfort," Tech said, and Hunter took Omega into his arms, "I can call Kix too for his opinion, if it will ease the anxieties."

"Look who I found on the way home!"

Wrecker ducked through the doorway with a young half-twilek boy on his shoulders, with his older sister hanging onto their uncle's hand. Cut and Suu Lawquane followed behind.

"Can we see the baby?" Shaeeah said hopefully, "Please?"

"Hey, you haven't even said hello to your Uncles," Cut chuckled, looking to Hunter soothing the now grizzling baby girl. Tech was watching his datapad closely, "Have we come at a bad time?"

"No, no, it's fine," Hunter said, putting on a smile, "It's good to see you all, it's been a while."

"Can we see her?" Jek said, as he was placed on his feet.

"Be patient," Suu laughed, "They've been begging to see her for the last two weeks."

"She just got a little upset, but she's calming down now, she just needs a moment," Hunter stroked her back, "That's it, cyar'ika, you've got visitors."

"Can I take her?" Wrecker held out his arms, his smile growing tenfold as he took Omega into his arms, "Hey, little tooka. Did ya miss me? Did ya miss your Wreck'buir?"

"That's a beautiful dress," Suu leaned closer to study it in detail, "Where did you get it?"

"That was all Crosshair," Hunter said proudly, "We're not allowed to pick out clothes for her without his approval first."

"And I knit the hats!" Wrecker grinned.

"Can't we see her now? Please please please?" Shaeeah begged.

"Please!" Jek piped up.

"Wrecker, why don't you introduce Omega to her cousins, Tech and I will get some drinks," Hunter said with a smile, beckoning Tech to follow him.

"The medscan hasn't brought up any cause for concern, no injuries. I can call Kix but I doubt he would find reason to be worried about her," Tech said as Hunter poured out some fresh juice.

"I thought as much. Hopefully that can put Echo's mind at ease," Hunter ran a hand through his hair, handing Tech a tray of drinks and loading up a second.

"The likelihood of the same happening again is slim, I hope he knows that," Tech glanced toward the doorway, "If Crosshair hadn't handed her over to him without warning, he wouldn't have had such an unsafe hold on her."

"Right," Hunter sighed, "If you're not already-"

"I'm working on it," Tech said abruptly, "I've been experimenting with solutions since she arrived, and continually working on a cybernetic arm that will respond to a scomp. I'm...I'm not exactly at my optimum level of focus, though, considering..."

"Thank you, vod," Hunter put a hand on his shoulder, "You're doing more to help him than the rest of us, I'm sure he appreciates it."

"There's nothing for him to appreciate yet," Tech shook his head, "But with some time, I hope I can make things easier for him."

They brought out the drinks to find Omega nestled up in Cut's arms with Suu beside him, Shaeeah and Jek both peering eagerly to look at her. Wrecker was watching from the other couch.

"Where did Echo go?" Tech frowned.

"Outside, he said he needed some air," Cut looked up from the baby, "He looked kinda shaken."

"He'll be alright," Hunter had to stop himself sighing, putting down the tray of drinks in front of them.

"She's so cute!" Shaeeah was holding the baby's hand, while Omega clutched tightly at her finger.

"I missed out on all this with you two," Cut said with a hint of sadness.

"Was I that little, Mom?" Jek asked, reaching for Omega's other hand.

"Gentle, Jek. She's not a toy," Suu said softly, "You weren't quite this tiny, though. Omega is especially little."

"Can I hold her, Dad?" Shaeeah asked hopefully, "I'll be careful, I promise!"

"And me! I wanna hold her too!" Jek begged, "Please!"

"One at a time," Cut laughed, "It's not me you should be asking, anyway, you should be asking her buire."

"Can I hold Omega, Uncle Hunter?" Shaeeah looked up at him, "Uncle Wrecker?"

"Well, you're cousins, aren't you? She's got to meet her cousins properly," Hunter smiled, "And you're her only cousins, so that's pretty special."

"Will she like us?" Jek asked.

"Sure she will!" Wrecker grinned, "She'll love you."

"Ready to meet your little cousin, Shaeeah?" Cut lowered his voice, "Sit down properly, so she'll be safe, that's it. Now, support her head, good job."

Shaeeah's eyes lit up in excitement as she looked down at the baby in her arms.

"Hello, Omega," she whispered, "I'm your big cousin, Shaeeah."

"She looks so comfortable with you, honey," Suu said proudly, "She's falling asleep."

"When can she play with us?" Jek clambered onto Cut's knee to get a closer look at the baby.

"She's too little to play right now," Suu said, pulling her son onto her knee and hugging him close, "But in a few months time, she'll be much more playful."

As Jek got his turn to meet Omega, still perched on his mother's lap, Hunter went to head outside to see to Echo. He couldn't help but watch them, though, and it seemed Tech was doing the same. As the family of four sat close together, all fussing over the baby, it was unmistakeable. A mother, a father, and three children. They didn't look like an Aunt, Uncle and cousins meeting a new niece. They looked like one family. A family of five.

Did her buire look like a family? Not particularly, especially recently. All they'd seemed to do was argue or console one another. Echo had clearly lost faith in himself, as had Tech, who was upset with himself for failing to ensure her safety. Crosshair was barely sleeping, and Hunter himself was starting to fear this was a new role he wasn't cut out for. A baby being no match for an ex-soldier, he really had gone soft. The only one who seemed to be coping was Wrecker.

Omega was loved with her buire, there was no doubt about that, but love could only go so far. She needed more than love, she needed a proper family to guide and raise her. She needed parents who knew what they were doing.

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think