A/N: So, uh... remember when I said "barring any disasters, I should be able to post without problem"? I didn't get next week's chapter written last week like I planned (wrote fifteen pages of another fic instead...) so I can't promise another chapter next Monday, but I'll try!
Omega managed to help with the second landing gear before a cough reminded everyone that she was getting sick. Hunter sent her back inside with stern orders to clean up and stay put this time.
Echo watched Omega slog inside with a touch of guilt. All of the squad had a habit of working when they were sick or injured, something Echo suspected Omega knew. They couldn't expect Omega to act otherwise, even if she was so much younger than them.
"Echo, a little help?"
Hunter's voice brought Echo back to the present. He quickly pressed branches in the mud, then stepped back so Hunter could shift to a new position.
"Don't get stuck," Wrecker said with a grin.
Hunter responded with an unimpressed frown.
Well practiced in clearing the landing gear, it didn't take long to get the Marauder completely clear. Everyone was liberally covered in mud by then, but it didn't stop Echo's sense of satisfaction at seeing the Marauder free.
The Batch tramped inside, where Tech immediately called dibs on the refresher. As soon as he did, though, Wrecker shoved past him and ran. Echo heard the refresher door slam shut before Tech had even recovered his balance.
"Wrecker!" Tech complained.
Tech didn't move at first, staring at the floor in consternation. Echo could see he was thinking hard, but couldn't guess what.
"Can we go now?" Omega asked, popping up at Echo's side. She was clean and practically swimming in Wrecker's spare shirt.
"Soon," Echo said absently. "Tech, is everything alright?"
"No," Tech huffed, sounding more annoyed than anything.
Tech headed into the galley, stretching to step very deliberately in the tracks Wrecker had left behind. Echo snorted, realizing Tech was trying to not trail any more mud.
A cough interrupted Echo's amusement. He looked at Omega, wondering if she was more flushed than she had been earlier.
Echo held out his hand. "Can you pull that off?"
"Okay!"
Omega peeled off Echo's glove. Even with the glove, Echo's hand was smudged with mud. Regardless, he put the back of his hand against Omega's forehead.
"Um… what're you doing?" Omega asked.
"You're warm," Echo told her.
"I usually am." Omega ducked away from his hand. "If I wasn't, I'd be dead!"
"That's not what I-" Echo stopped with a sigh when Omega darted away. He looked sideways at Hunter, who'd missed the exchange while he tried to clean his pants off. "Hunter."
"Yeah?"
"Omega has a fever now."
Hunter groaned. "Omega!"
Omega walked hesitantly into the room. "Yes?"
"You're off duty for the rest of the day," Hunter said firmly.
Echo again fought the urge to roll his eyes. He'd spent long enough working with Ahsoka to know that Hunter's order was going to work about as well as ordering a nexu to sit and stay.
Hunter went to the galley, either oblivious to or ignoring Omega's rebellious frown. Echo decided to intervene.
"I could use your help with the rest of my armor," Echo said.
Omega's frown deepened. "You don't need help. You never do."
"This time I do," Echo said. "Otherwise, I'll get mud all over."
Omega still looked unsatisfied, but she stayed to help Echo. It kept her still for a few minutes, at least.
Tech left the galley, relatively mud-free and in clean blacks. He glared at the mud on the floor, and Echo instinctively tilted the greave in his hand to keep excess mud from falling. With an over-the-top sigh, Tech headed to the cockpit.
Echo put his armor in the galley, then put on a clean shirt. He'd escaped most of the mud since he'd worn his armor and hadn't dug at all, so he decided it wasn't worth trying to get a turn at the refresher anytime soon. He went to the cockpit, shooing Omega along with him.
Omega coughed a couple times as she climbed into one of the seats. Echo tried to feel her forehead again, but she pushed his hand away with a grumpy whine.
Echo gave up and sat in the co-pilot's seat, running through a quick series of preflight checks while Tech started the Marauder. When Echo nodded, Tech gently pulled back on the yoke. The Marauder lifted with ease.
Echo relaxed as they headed for orbit. Too many things could go wrong when their ship was grounded, so it was a relief to be back in the air. He turned his chair to check on Omega.
If Omega cared that they were on the move again, she didn't show it. She had her knees pulled up to her chin, staring moodily into space.
Echo started to turn forward, then paused. Omega was shivering again. The Marauder wasn't that cold, though…
Echo stood and went to the gunner's nest. He pulled out the only fluffy blanket from her nest -Suu had given it to Omega back on Saleucami- then took it to the cockpit and wrapped it around Omega.
Apparently determined to be grumpy, Omega wriggled and pushed the blanket away. Echo tried again, not wanting Omega to be cold.
"I don't want it," Omega snapped, then coughed.
"You need to get warm," Echo said, then wrapped the blanket around Omega in one quick move. "Leave it on."
"I don't want to," Omega said, squirming out of the blanket and dropping it to the floor.
Echo put his hand on his hip. "Oh, Omega, you don't want to start that. I've dealt with plenty of sick cadets in the past."
"I'm not sick," Omega said, sticking out her tongue. "And I'm not a cadet."
"You're acting like one."
Echo grabbed the blanket, but Omega spun the chair around and bolted. Hunter made a noise of surprise from the other room. Echo rolled his eyes and walked after her.
"You can't hide in a ship, Omega," Echo said.
"What's Omega doing?" Hunter asked. His face and hair were still muddy, but he was in clean blacks.
Echo couldn't resist quipping, "Isn't it obvious? She's following your orders."
Hunter narrowed his eyes in the direction of the cargo hold. "Omega, we've been over this."
"She's a kid," Echo said as he walked past. "She's not going to sit still because you told her to."
"She did before," Hunter said, following Echo into the hold.
"Uh-huh, well, now she's sick and cranky."
"I'm not cranky," came Omega's voice from above. She coughed. "And I'm not sick."
"You keep saying that, but the cough says otherwise," Echo said, turning in a circle.
Echo spotted a foot poking over the edge of one of the higher crates. He pointed it out to Hunter, who nodded and motioned for Echo to keep her talking. Echo signed back that they should just leave Omega, but Hunter shook his head.
"Your funeral," Echo said.
"...who's funeral?" Omega asked.
Hunter rolled his eyes and moved toward a lower crate.
"Just talking to myself," Echo said. "Come on, Omega, a break isn't so bad. It's not like there's much to do while we're traveling, anyway."
"I don't care, I can help," Omega said sullenly.
"With what?" Echo asked with a chuckle. "I just said there's nothing to do."
"We're always doing something, and I don't want to-"
Omega broke off with a squawk, telling Echo that Hunter had been spotted. Echo leaned against a crate, listening to the shuffling and grunts that followed.
It took an amusingly long time for Hunter to drop back on the floor. He had Omega thrown over one shoulder and was trying -without success- to restrain her flailing feet.
"Now what, Sarge?" Echo asked with a smirk.
Hunter shot him a stern frown that was promptly ruined when Omega's knee smacked his mouth. Hunter's jaw tightened, then he stormed past Echo and to the gunner's nest. He plunked Omega onto her feet, startling her into standing still for a few seconds.
"Go to bed before you get worse," Hunter ordered.
Omega's jaw clenched. For a worrying second, Echo thought she would actually argue with the direct order, but she just huffed and climbed into the gunner's nest. She sat on her nest with a scowl, arms crossed and clearly no intention of resting.
"Good enough," Hunter grumbled.
Hunter stormed into the galley as Wrecker finally left. Wrecker gave Hunter a look of surprise, then he turned to Echo.
"What's up with him?"
"Omega's being insubordinate," Echo said.
"I am not!" Omega said, then coughed.
"Omega, Hunter literally just dragged you down from the supply crates because you wouldn't come down. What do you call that?"
"I wasn't doing anything," Omega huffed. "I was just laying down like Hunter wanted."
Which was Echo's thoughts exactly. Granted, laying on the supply crates would have been uncomfortable, but at least Omega wouldn't have gotten so riled up.
Omega coughed, then scowled and turned her back. Her shoulders clenched, then she hunched over in a series of harsh coughs.
Echo and Wrecker exchanged worried looks. Wrecker climbed inside the gunner's nest and sat beside Omega, rubbing her back until her coughing calmed down. Omega slumped against Wrecker's side.
"What's the matter, Omega?" Wrecker asked.
"My throat hurts," Omega admitted quietly.
"I'll get some water," Echo said quickly.
Echo went to the galley. The refresher door was open while Hunter scrubbed his hair, but Echo didn't say anything as he gathered a couple water pouches from the rations rack.
"What's Omega doing now?" Hunter asked.
"Coughing," Echo said blandly.
On cue, another round of coughing came from outside. The water turned off, and Hunter joined Echo with dripping hair and a worried frown.
"She'll be fine," Echo said. "I think Wrecker will have better luck getting her to bed than us."
Hunter sighed and rubbed his face. "I keep forgetting how young she is."
Echo shrugged. It was easy to do when you were unused to working with children.
Hunter chuckled. "She's worse than Tech and Wrecker combined when they were young. Though Wrecker almost never got sick, and Tech didn't as much as Cross-"
Hunter shook his head, as if he was dismissing the thought. Echo watched him sympathetically. They all missed Crosshair, but Hunter could barely say his brother's name.
"She'll be fine," Echo said, bringing the topic back to Omega. "Let's just leave getting her to rest up to Wrecker, huh?"
Hunter gave him a slight smile. "That sounds like a great plan."
A/N: Crosshair was a sickly kid and Hunter had to drag him out of "roosts" an absurd amount of times. Good luck convincing me otherwise. XD