A/N: Massive credit to
A Crutch by Webtrinsic on A03
And More than a Squad Chapter 1 by MaestroMB
And also from Episode 9 of Season 1 of The Bad Batch
Omega had been too occupied with the thought of the Kaminoans being after her to register much of the conversation between Hunter and Echo. She only registered that the conversation was happening when Echo removed her restraints.
"We'd better get you to bed Hunter, you need to rest. You're still hurt" Echo reminded Hunter, and, after he made sure Omega was OK, he allowed himself to be steered to his bed by Echo.
Omega tried to climb the stairs to her room, but she felt her leg wasn't entirely stable, and her Shoulder didn't feel all that secure.
"You alright kid?" Wrecker asked, obviously concerned. Omega turned back to Wrecker and responded "I'll be OK. Just, my limbs feel like jelly. I don't think I can climb the ladder safely"
"Understandable Omega. How about you rest in my bunk?" Echo asked, to which Omega replied "Sure. Thanks, Echo"
"Do you want me to get your bedding, Lula and Trooper?" Wrecker asked, to which Omega just nodded, and allowed herself to be guided to Echo's bunk, and she carefully climbed into it.
A minute later, Wrecker came back with a pillow, blanket, Lula and Trooper. Wrapping Omega up, he said "Good Night Omega"
"Good Night Wrecker" Omega replied, and Wrecker and Echo both went to their bunks, while Tech went back to the cockpit.
An hour later, and with the adrenaline has worn off, Omega is in agony. Her Back, Leg, and both Shoulders are aching, and her cheek feels tingly and sore, which she couldn't figure out how she'd got it.
She couldn't begrudge herself for this, after all, she had been thrown around by the Bounty Hunters all day, and she'd gotten into a fight with Bane's droid, fighting and falling with a malfunctioning droid, and suffering a hard landing and awkward roll would do that to someone. It was then that she realised where she had gotten the cut on her cheek from.
The Droid, while confronting her on the ladder, had managed to scratch her
She let a tiny whimper out and curled in on herself a bit. She couldn't go too far, or she'd make her back hurt even more than it already did.
Tech, in the cockpit, heard a pained whimper coming from one of the bunks. Turning around, he saw Omega curl in one herself a bit. She was in a lot of pain. Knowing that Omega tended to downplay how injured she was, plus a bit of reluctance to say what's wrong, Tech suspected that she only felt the pain now that the adrenaline had worn off. Walking over to her, he checked her over quickly.
"Ad'ika" Tech stated, and the strength with which he says the word causes Omega to slowly turn over to look at him.
"I can tell you're hurt. If you tell me where you're hurt, I'll do everything I can to help rectify it" Tech stated. Omega took a few moments, then said timidly "My leg hurts. So does my back, both shoulders, and my cheek". Knowing what he was dealing with, Tech went to grab the Medkit.
When he returned, Omega explained "I hurt one of my shoulders and back while I was being thrown around by Bane and Shand. I got scratched by Bane's droid trying to escape it on the ladder, and I hurt my leg and other shoulder trying to get away from said Droid".
It was enough for Tech to nod and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, like Hunter always did. He then realised the implications. Omega was potentially going to have to fully undress to allow Tech to properly treat her.
"Omega, can you please tell me where specifically your back hurts?" Tech asked, to which Omega pointed about halfway up her back.
"At least she'll be able to keep her undergarments on," Tech thought to himself, pushing the associated awkwardness down so he could treat her properly.
"How about I carry you to the refresher. It's a more, private place. Also, you may have to partially undress for me to fully treat you" Tech stated, slightly nervously. Omega nodded and allowed Tech to pick her up and carry her towards the Refresher. Being able to carry her with one arm, Tech picked up and carried the medkit in his other hand.
When they got the refresher, Tech set Omega and the medkit down. Before getting Omega to undress at all, he decided to tackle the cut on her face. Knowing that she had been scratched by a metal droid, Tech carefully cleaned the cut, earning several tense winces from Omega, then he carefully patched it with a batch patch.
After that. Tech carefully helped Omega undress until she was in just her undergarments. When her long sleeve shirt came off, Tech saw things on her upper arms, that enraged and sickened him.
IV Scars. Lots of them. Omega's upper arms were covered in them. Fighting to push this newfound rage down, Tech set to work.
For Omega's part, sitting in just her undergarments wasn't as awkward as it could have been. Tech didn't seem to care, and in fact, seemed to react more to seeing the IV Scars that covered her upper arms instead of her being only partially dressed. Part of Omega suspected that Tech wouldn't show any signs of awkwardness or embarrassment even if she was in her birthday suit. Tech carefully took her leg in his hand, applying pressure. Omega winced repeatedly and had to resist the urge to pull her leg away with how much it hurt.
"Hyper-extended knee, to the point of strained ligaments, sprained ankle, partially torn hamstring, and exasperated calf. You've done a good job with your leg Omega. For treatment, we're going to compress and elevate your leg, and ice your knee and ankle" Tech stated, and Omega was relieved that Tech was so straight-up with the diagnosis. The others would have sugarcoated this, but Tech being straight up told Omega exactly what was wrong, which, since she had been a medical assistant, meant she could even picture the injuries.
Omega grabbed the bandages, and Tech took them in his hands. Having more experience with them, as well as being stronger, Tech was able to strap her leg and foot more tightly than she would have alone. She felt the bacta soak into her leg and felt quick relief.
Once again, Tech and Omega carefully got her pants back on, before Tech moved to her back and shoulders, still fighting to keep the rage he felt at seeing the scars on her upper arms at bay.
Thankfully, it seemed like her back was just jarred a bit, though he did gently wrap a bandage around her midsection as a precaution. He then goes to check on her shoulders, running his hand over her shoulder, as well as on her collarbone, even being able to check through her tank top. Once again, Omega winces a few times, the pain evident in her shoulders,
"Doesn't feel like you've got any dislocations or collarbone fractures. That's good. It seems like your right shoulder is just bruised. But, it feels like your left shoulder is pretty badly sprained" Tech stated. He grabbed the medscanner and scanned her shoulder. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as he'd feared.
"Looks like a minor Shoulder sprain. That should heal in about a week or so" Tech stated as he started to bandage up both of Omega's shoulders. Omega didn't mind, even as she had to move the sleeves of her tank top around a bit to accommodate the bandages. Tech then grabbed a tablet, and cut it in half, before giving it to Omega to take. Once she'd taken it, Tech helped get her shirt back on, hiding the IV scars covering her upper arms, then Tech gently picked her up and carried her back to the bunk.
Omega certainly felt the relief, she was in a lot less pain now than she was.
Tech grabbed a pillow and rested Omega's leg over it to keep it elevated. Finally, he grabbed two ice packs and put one on her knee, and the other on her ankle.
"Good night Omega, and rest up. OK?" Tech asked, to which Omega nodded, and replied "I will Tech" before doing her best to drift off to sleep.
Tech went to the cockpit, shut the door, and started raging to himself. Nala Se had abused Omega with those Medical experiments, that much Tech knew. But he had at least thought that kriffing Long Necked chunk of Bantha Crap had at least wiped those parts of her arms with bacta afterwards. That psychotic bastard hadn't. And those scars were probably keeping the trauma of being abused for years fresh in Omega's mind. He had to discuss this with the Batch. But how to broach the topic, was the question.
The other problem was that Omega was not going to be able to go on any missions, in the condition she was in, for at least a week. The type of injuries Omega's leg had, however, could take up to four weeks to heal. And for that time, she wouldn't be able to go on any missions. Not that they would, with their leader out with the blaster wound for another week at least. But they had to know. And they needed to know, without Omega overhearing them.
Before heading to his bunk, Tech went to check on Omega. She still seemed a bit uncomfortable, which was understandable, but she did seem at least to be sleeping. Which was a relief.
Hunter took over, and soon, he was joined by Omega, who limped to the chair and sat in it, curling effectively into a ball, or as much of a ball as her Leg would allow.
"You can't sleep?" Hunter asked, to which Omega replied "I, keep thinking about the Kaminoans. Seeing that place. I don't want to end up an experiment in a tube"
"That's not gonna happen" Hunter stated flatly, to which Omega replied "If I'm as valuable as you say, Lama Su will keep sending Bounty Hunters after me"
"He can send everyone in the galaxy. You have us" Hunter responded. Omega turned away a bit, and
said "You can't fight them all". Seeing that Omega was on the brink of a breakdown, Hunter races over and carefully pulled her chair around to face him.
"Omega" Hunter started, and as Omega looked up, Hunter continued "You don't have to worry. You are never going back to Kamino"
"Promise?" Omega asked, to which Hunter replied "I Promise". He then continued with "Now, come over here. You can stay with me, and you'll have somewhere to rest your leg", and he adjusted the seating arrangement so Omega could keep her injured leg straight. Setting a pillow on the chair, he returned to his and brought Omega over to rest against him. Omega carefully laid her legs on the pillow, and someone soon revealed to be Echo, wrapped a blanket around both of them.
"Good Night, ad'ika," Hunter said, to which Omega replied "Good Night Hunter, Good Night Echo"
"Good Night Omega" Echo responded, and he headed back to his bunk, while Omega and Hunter both drifted off to sleep.
The following morning, Tech spots Wrecker going to wake Omega, and walked up to him, and put his hand on Wrecker's shoulder, shaking his head.
"It would be beneficial for her to rest longer," Tech said, to which Echo pointed out "Aren't you the one who doesn't like it when she oversleeps?"
"Normally that is the case. However, Omega's been pretty banged up. Her leg's got several afflictions, as do her back and shoulders. Her recovery would progress with rest" Tech stated, to which Echo asked, "Why didn't she say anything Yesterday?"
"I should have known she was hurt. She tried to ascend the stairs but said that her limbs felt like jelly" Wrecker admitted, feeling terrible that he hadn't picked her injuries up.
They went into the cockpit and saw Omega resting against Hunter, her breathing light and her face slightly slack.
Tech wasn't impressed, and he looked to Hunter and quietly asked "When did she move here?"
"About an hour after you went to bed. She still struggled to sleep, thinking about the Kaminoans" Hunter replied, patting her gently.
"I think her Ice Pack needs changing," Echo said, to which Tech corrected "Packs. She needs two ice packs. One on her Knee, and one on her Ankle"
"On it" Echo replied, leaving Tech to awkwardly stand there. When Echo returned, they moved the blanket, and replaced the ice packs on her Knee and Ankle, before replacing the blanket.
"How did she get so messed up?" Wrecker asked, to which Tech stated "Getting thrown around by the Bounty Hunters, and her fights with one of their Droids"
"Poor girl" Echo replied.
"We need to support her, this is going to affect her," Hunter said, to which Wrecker replied "I'll be sure to make her recovery as fun as possible"
"We're all going to have to carry her around, you know that right?" Echo admitted, to which Tech stated "Well, that's what we'll do then"
At this, Omega awoke and groaned.
"Are you OK, ad'ika?" Hunter asked, to which Omega shook her head and replied "I'm still sore"
"It's OK. We'll take care of you until you've recovered. How does that sound?" Wrecker asked, to which Omega replied "Thanks".
Over the next week, Omega was carried around by everyone, allowing her to rest and recover.
"How does your leg feel?" they would ask now and then over the next week. Slowly, Omega's response changed from "Sore" to "Stiff" or "Cramped".
Tech, however, had not forgotten about the IV scars all over Omega's upper arms. He resolved to inform the other Batchers when they had time. Maybe, on a mission that Omega couldn't join them.
Eventually, the Batch returned to taking Missions. And the reason Omega didn't go on the mission to Raxus was that her leg hadn't fully healed, despite all the exercises that Omega was doing to help with recovery, her leg didn't seem to be healing and working properly as fast as Tech would have liked. As a result, Tech had an opportunity to talk to the others about what he'd discovered while treating Omega after Boro Vito.
Tech's chance came on their way back from the mission to rescue the Separatist Leader on Raxus. A mission that Omega hadn't been allowed to go on due to complications from her injured leg.
"What's got you so agitated lately Tech?" Echo asked, to which Tech stated "Well, I was treating Omega after she escaped from the Bounty Hunters"
"And?" Hunter asked, and Tech continued with "She, had to undress to just her undergarments for me to fully treat her. And, I saw, something, that got me so angry, that I was barely able to stop it exploding out of me"
"Get on with it. What did you see?" Hunter enquired, now a look of concern on his face. Tech sighed, then stated "Omega's upper arms are covered in IV Scars"
"They're WHAT?" Hunter yelled, rage temporarily overwhelming him. Tech took a moment to adjust his goggles, then continued with "Nala Se has been medically abusing Omega for years before we got her out. When I was treating Omega, I saw that Nala Se hadn't been cleaning up after herself and that Omega's upper arms are covered in scars from those tests"
"Unbelievable. What an absolute bastard" Hunter growled. Echo sighed, then stated "It explains a lot. Omega hates being hooked up to the Kamonoan machines"
"And she stated that she doesn't want to become another experiment in a tube" Hunter growled. Tech then stated "It makes sense that she was abused by Nala Se. It seems like the scars are keeping the trauma fresh in her mind. It would also explain why she wears long sleeve shirts, to hide them"
"When I get my hands on Nala Se, I'm going to make her pay for this" Hunter growled. Wrecker stated "I'm going to tear her limb from limb. Nobody abuses our ad'ika like that and gets away with it"
"I know how you all feel. Trust me, I feel the same way. But we're going to have to make a game plan if we want to take her down. She's highly valuable, so she's bound to be well protected. If the Empire hasn't already moved her off-world, that is" Echo sighed, to which both Tech and Hunter nodded. He then added "I can't believe this. Under that excitable, happy, wondrous exterior, she's as traumatised as we are. If not worse"
"That is true. But, it's different to most of us. Perhaps you could talk to her about this Echo, and help both of you work through your trauma, as you two have similar experiences" Tech suggested, to which Echo replied "That's, not something I want to talk to her about at the moment, especially after everything she's been through"
"Agreed. But even so, at some point, it is something you two are going to have to talk about" Tech stated, to which Echo sighed "I know. And it will happen eventually. The million credit question is, how to approach it. It's something I don't like talking about at the best of times. At a time like this, I'd rather not think about it"
"Understandable. I recommend thinking on it" Tech stated, to which Echo nodded. Tech then turned back to Hunter, and added "What are we going to do about Nala Se?"
"We'll have to figure out a way to get inside her lab before we can punish her. And we've got to find out if she's still on Kamino. I think, for the time being, we just focus on our missions for Cid. In any spare time, we can try to use a few spare credits to see if we can get any information about her whereabouts"
"Sounds like a plan" Tech stated, and he returned to the controls of the ship, while the rest headed back to the main section.
But now, they had a name for Nala Se, For what she had done to Omega. Nala Se was a demagolka.