A/N: After staring at Edge of the Night for three hours the other day, unable to figure out the next line, I decided to take a break and write this. So glad I did. :) And before I forget, I'm going with the idea that the Bad Batch are actually slightly different ages, just because I love the idea of Tech being the youngest brother.
This takes place at some point after the moon dragon incident, but before Ord Mantell.
For someone born and raised on Kamino, Omega sure liked rain.
Echo leaned against the Marauder's doorway and watched Omega jump from puddle to puddle. He supposed puddles were still a bit of a new concept for Omega. While it rained constantly on Kamino, puddles weren't allowed to form on the walkways, to prevent someone from slipping.
Echo glanced past Omega. The rest of the Batch had gone to a nearby town to restock on supplies. It was, unfortunately, one of the rougher towns, so Omega had been left behind under Echo's watch.
Omega stopped hopping. She stared at the ground, then thrust her hands into a puddle. She fiddled around for a bit, then straightened and ran back to Echo.
"Echo!" Omega held out her hands. "Look at this!"
Echo leaned down, inspecting the lump of mud in Omega's hands. He expected some critter to pop out, but only mud oozed between Omega's fingers to plop onto the soggy ground.
"What were you looking at?" Echo asked.
"It's sticky dirt!" Omega said.
"Oh." Echo chuckled at her innocence. "That's mud."
Omega blinked at him.
"When you mix dirt and water, you get mud," Echo explained.
Omega's eyes lit up. "Cool!"
Her hands having been washed clean by the rain, Omega ran back to the puddle. She knelt on the muddy ground and squished her hands in the mud. Before long, she'd collected a pile of mud, both on the ground and on herself.
Echo grimaced. "Omega!"
Omega looked at him.
"Tech doesn't like mud inside the Marauder," Echo advised.
Omega looked at her filthy arms. Guilt flashed in her face, then she leaped to her feet. She took a step toward Echo, then paused. Cocking her head, Omega brushed her hands together, letting the rain wash them clean. With a grin, Omega moved onto her face and clothes.
Echo smiled. Omega was constantly encountering new things every day, but she learned quickly. He hoped that she never lost her wonder when things weren't so new to her.
By the time Omega was mostly clean, Echo spotted movement in the trees. He straightened and motioned to Omega, who scurried over to the boarding ramp. Echo squinted, then relaxed when he recognized his squadmates.
"It's okay," Echo told Omega.
Omega brightened. She shook her head, flinging rain in every direction but ultimately not doing anything to dry off, considering she was still standing in the rain.
Hunter smiled and Wrecker laughed, telling Echo they'd had a successful supply run. Tech didn't respond to any of them as he boarded the Marauder, aside from a muttered request past his data-pad to not trail water all over.
Everyone filed into the navigation room, and Echo handed towels out. The Batchers who'd gone to town took off their dripping armor, which Echo moved onto the galley table.
Hunter toweled off his hair, then glanced at Omega. The girl, despite her efforts, was still steadily dripping on the floor.
"Go get cleaned up," Hunter said, pointing toward the refresher.
Omega nodded. She didn't move at first, then darted across the ship, probably to avoid dripping too much.
"Omega-" Echo started.
A dull thud told Echo's he'd been too late. He leaned into the galley, where Omega was sitting on the floor, staring at the refresher door in betrayal.
"Don't run when the floor's wet," Echo said, holding out a hand.
Omega sheepishly took his hand and let herself be pulled to her feet. Wrecker tossed Echo one of his spare shirts, which he handed to Omega. Until they remembered to find Omega spare clothes, she wore one of Wrecker's huge shirts while her outfit was dirty or wet.
While Omega changed, Echo grabbed a spare blanket and tossed it on the floor, then used his foot to mop up the puddles. Wrecker, still damp but in dry clothes, entered the galley and set a crate of supplies on the table.
In the navigation room, Tech was dripping and blinking blankly at his empty hands. Hunter, Tech's data-pad in hand, dropped Tech's spare clothes into his youngest brother's hands, then finished getting changed himself. Echo mopped up the last of water, then tossed the blanket and everyone's soaked clothes into the hold to be dried.
By the time Omega -face flushed and absolutely dwarfed in Wrecker's shirt- joined them, Tech was busy logging their new supplies into their inventory log and Hunter was locking down the ship. Echo moved the last of the supplies into the cargo hold, then grabbed a length of cable.
"Watcha doing, Echo?" Omega asked.
"Drying the clothes."
With everyone but Echo's outfits wet, he needed more room to spread the clothes out. He tied the cable diagonally across the hold, then Echo and Omega hung up the clothes to dry. Last, Echo turned on a heat lamp under the clothes.
Echo stepped back to survey his and Omega's work. It wouldn't take long for them to dry, though all the wet clothes would make the Marauder humid pretty fast. He looked at Omega, about to suggest they ask Hunter if they should leave the ramp open to let the cooler outside air into the ship, but hesitated.
Omega was shivering.
Echo didn't think she'd been shivering while she was still in the rain, but maybe she'd been moving around too much to notice the cold. How cold had the rain been, anyway? Echo hadn't thought to check when Omega asked to play outside.
Before Echo could say anything, Wrecker entered the hold. He frowned at Omega.
"You're shivering," Wrecker said.
"I'm f-fine," Omega said, grinning despite the stutter. She sniffed and rubbed her nose. "Just a b-bit cold."
"We need to find you some spare clothes, Omega," Echo said, sliding past Omega and Wrecker. "You'd be warmer."
Hunter leaned out of the cockpit. "What about Omega?"
Echo gestured to Omega's shivering. Hunter's brows creased, and Echo saw guilt in Hunter's eyes. Of course Omega would get cold faster than the rest of the Batch, but they all tended to forget Omega was so much younger and smaller than them.
Echo grabbed a blanket from Omega's room, and wrapped it around the girl. Omega blinked at him.
"What's this for?" Omega asked. "I have to help Tech with the supplies."
Right. Helping Tech inventory supplies was Omega's assigned duty on supply runs. Echo searched for an excuse, suspecting Omega wouldn't sit still if he just told her to.
"I've got a new job for you," Hunter jumped in.
Omega perked up. "Really?"
Hunter gave a solemn nod. "I need you to watch the scanners for me."
Echo smiled as Omega scurried to the cockpit with Hunter. The sensors would automatically alert the team if anyone got close, but there was no need to tell Omega that.
Hunter situated Omega in the pilot's seat and pointed to various screens on the console. Omega responded enthusiastically, and Echo caught sight of her hand snapping up in a salute.
Hunter smiled at her, then rejoined Echo. Tech wandered out of the galley, and Hunter quickly told him that Wrecker was going to help him with the supplies this time. Tech waved a hand in acknowledgement and moved into the hold.
Echo went to the galley and got to work drying everyone's armor. Hunter joined him, and the two worked in silence, listening to Wrecker shuffle supplies around under Tech's quiet direction.
Once the armor was dry and put away, Echo and Hunter gathered ration bars and bottles of water. Hunter went to the hold, while Echo went to check on Omega.
Omega was curled into a ball in the chair, blanket wrapped around her head and body like an oversized cape. She had her head leaned against the edge of the chair, eyes closed and breathing deeply through her slack mouth.
Echo tiptoed to the hold and said, "Omega fell asleep."
This brought a confused glance from Hunter and Wrecker. Tech, interestingly, merely nodded as he clipped his data-pad to his belt.
"I suspected she would," Tech said. At everyone's surprised looks, Tech rolled his eyes. "Omega is still a cadet. In age, at least. And while the cadets on Kamino have daily training more rigorous than life on the Marauder, we have been going nonstop for the last few days and we naturally remain active later into the night. Add in her playing in the rain for several hours, and it really isn't surprising that she's fallen asleep so early."
"Oh." Echo felt another tinge of guilt. "We should probably wake her up to eat something, though."
"That might be tricky," Tech said, moving into the galley with everyone trailing him. "Given her level of exhaustion, she'd likely fall asleep before she could even finish a ration bar."
"Probably." Hunter winced. "But going without food won't do her any favors, either."
"We could give her a nutrition drink," Wrecker suggested. He smirked at Tech. "That's what we do when you fall asleep while eating."
Tech adjusted his goggles. "I don't recall you ever having to do that."
"Because you're always asleep," Hunter said in fond exasperation. "Let's do that, Wrecker."
Wrecker, humming cheerfully, ignored Tech's baffled expression and grabbed a water bottle, one of their metal cups, and a pouch of nutrition powder. After a moment's consideration, Wrecker poured the water into the heating unit.
Remembering how Omega had been shivering, Echo nodded at Wrecker's thinking. Wrecker grinned, handed the nutrition pouch to Hunter, then left.
Hunter finished preparing the drink and headed to the cockpit with Echo and Tech trailing him. Wrecker was already there, kneeling in front of Omega with Lula.
"Omega," Wrecker said in his gravelly half-whisper. "Omega, wake up."
Omega's face clenched in protest, but her eyes opened halfway. She gave Wrecker a sleepy, grouchy frown.
"Wha-at?" Omega drew the word out. "'M sleepin'."
"You can go back to sleep in a minute." Wrecker gently shifted her upright. "Just drink this, alright?"
Omega made a mumbling noise that might have been protest or assent. Hunter knelt and held the cup to her lips. Omega slurped at the liquid, not even reacting to the bitter taste.
When the cup was only half empty, Omega's eyes fluttered shut. The drink spilled down her chin, forcing Hunter to jerk the cup away. Omega didn't react to the warm liquid spilling down her chin and neck or to Wrecker dabbing it with his sleeve.
For a moment, everyone just stared at Omega. She sighed in her sleep and turned into Wrecker's arm.
"Guess that's all we'll get into her tonight," Hunter eventually whispered. "Wrecker, you might as well put her to bed so she'll be more comfortable."
"What if I wake her up?" Wrecker asked.
Echo tilted his head. "I think you'll be fine. She's really out."
Sure enough, Omega never roused when Wrecker hefted her carefully out of the pilot's seat. Echo trailed him while Wrecker carried Omega to her room. Wrecker settled Omega on the floor and tucked extra blankets around her with a gentleness Echo rarely saw in the bigger clone. Lastly, Wrecker put Lula into Omega's arms.
Wrecker climbed out of the turret. He and Echo stood silently, watching Omega squirm a tiny bit, then settle in her nest of blankets with Lula tightly clutched in her arms.
After a minute, Echo realized Hunter and Tech were unusually quiet. He turned, jumping slightly when he saw both were right behind him, also watching Omega.
When none of his squadmates moved, Echo smiled and turned back. Nobody moved for some time, just watched their youngest member.
Their sister.
A/N: This was fun. Anyone interested in a part two, where Omega wakes up with a cold?