Hunter never truly slept.
He supposed it came with being in a command role. During the war, he was so stressed that it was impossible to get a full, uninterrupted night of rest. He could shut his eyes and relax his body, but his mind never entirely switched off.
Tonight, of all nights, it should've been easier.
After months of anxiety and guilt keeping him from getting even a meagre amount of meaningful rest, Omega was back with her family.
And yet, Hunter remained awake as he lay in his bunk.
The rest of the ship was eerily silent. Even Wrecker's snores weren't as prominent as normal. Crosshair hadn't spoken since he boarded the Marauder, but Hunter knew he was also struggling to sleep because he heard the sniper enter the cockpit a few hours ago.
That behaviour probably should've concerned Hunter, but it was actually something that Crosshair used to do even before the end of the war. The lull of the engine and blue streaks of hyperspace were calming to the sniper. Besides, the rest of the squad would be alerted quickly enough if the clone did something as stupid as dropping the ship out of its set course.
It was quiet enough in the hull that Hunter was immediately alerted to the quiet pad of bare feet towards his bunk. The light tread was enough of a clue as to who was out of bed, but he remained somewhat surprised when he opened his eyes to see Omega standing next to his bunk.
He was still shocked by the length that her hair had grown to since she was captured.
It was past her shoulders now, and though she'd obviously been supplied with a hairband to keep it out of her face, he was appalled to discover her hair had hardly been washed or brushed, which led to it becoming matted around the nape of her neck.
Hunter had barely kept his rage under control as he spent the entire evening working through the knots and tangles. Omega was tolerant, but he could sense her embarrassment and pain, though he tried to be as gentle as possible, throughout the entire process.
It would've been easier for Hunter to shave away the matt with the clippers that Wrecker used, but Omega had been stripped enough of her dignity and autonomy for him to be so callous.
She was looking better now, after using all of their hot water to wash her hair and scrub away the grime from the journey back to the squad- not that Hunter minded.
Personally, he found himself slightly smug that Crosshair had to wash with cold water.
"Kid," he pushed himself to lean on an elbow, noting the way Omega was clinging onto Lula and looked somewhat sheepish. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
She'd overindulged at dinner, which also fuelled his anger as it became apparent that she had hardly been fed whilst imprisoned.
He'd warned her that filling her unprepared stomach with a lot of food might make her feel poorly (all too familiar with how Echo struggled to adjust to a normal diet after being held by the Techno Union), but she hadn't taken his advice on board.
Apparently, that wasn't the problem.
"I can't sleep," Omega admitted, averting her gaze, "I'm tired, but I just…"
Hunter understood.
He'd been held captive before- granted not for months as she had, but he knew how it felt the first few nights back in a place that was supposed to be safe.
The nagging sensation of waking up back in a cell could keep even the most fatigued person awake.
Tech had practically sedated Echo to ensure he got at least a few hours of sleep in the immediate aftermath of his rescue. His insomnia and nightmares were so painful to witness that Hunter had Rex's frequency on hand in case they couldn't soothe the ARC trooper themselves.
"Okay," Hunter scooched over in his relatively narrow bunk, patting the space on the mattress, "Come up here."
Omega's eyes widened, "You don't have to-"
"It's alright," he assured her, taking Lula so she could climb onto his bunk. "We used to squeeze the four of us onto one bunk on Kamino, granted we were a lot smaller then."
It was a common scenario for them to find themselves in after a particularly difficult training simulation or a draining day of experiments.
The pressure of his squad members against him could ease the sensory overload that Hunter often experienced. For Crosshair, the closeness of the others allowed him to feel secure after the Kaminoans conducted so many experiments to boost his sight that he couldn't open his eyes for days.
It didn't work for everyone. When Echo joined the squad and experienced frequent bouts of full-body pain, he couldn't stand the touch of his newfound brothers. He'd rather curl up on the fresher floor and be left alone than coddled between them all on a bunk.
Omega smiled as she got settled. It was somewhat of a squeeze, but if he put his back flat to the wall and rested his arm over the pillow, then at least she wasn't at risk of falling onto the floor.
"Thank you," Omega murmured, tucking Lula between them. Hunter laid his thin sheet over them both. "It's warmer down here."
He furrowed his brow, quickly realising the reason for the temperature difference. "We turned off the heat up in the gunner's nest to save power. I'm sorry, we forgot to switch it back on."
The extra power saved by switching off the heat was put towards their efforts to cross the galaxy as many times as it took to find her.
"It's okay," Omega instantly forgave him, "You guys kept my stuff, that's better than the Empire. I made my own Lula doll and they threw it away."
Hunter's chest ached with hurt. Firstly, for the reason that Omega had made her own Lula doll. Secondly, by imagining the girl's distress as her only comfort was thrown away like garbage.
Having personal possessions was frowned upon during the war. Clones hardly owned their armour and weapons, it was ridiculed to own anything more precious. That was one advantage of working on their own.
"You know," he said, keeping his voice low even though Wrecker had always been a deep sleeper, "that's why the clones decided to adopt Mando'a. It was something that the Kaminoans couldn't take from us because it wasn't physical."
"That's nice," Omega replied, sighing as she relaxed some more. "Nala Se said I shouldn't learn any of it."
That wasn't a revelation. Omega might've developed a trauma bond with the woman, but Hunter knew that the scientist's attachment to the girl relied heavily on manipulation and isolation tactics.
The longer she kept her segregated from her brothers, the more easily influenced Omega could be.
"We can teach you," Hunter promised, lowering his hand to rest against the back of her head, gently running through his fingers through the blonde strands. It was an old trick at soothing the girl, and it also allowed him to check for any remaining knots.
"It's important that you can communicate with your brothers without Basic."
The dialect wouldn't only serve as a way for her to connect with other clones. Learning the language would also prove to be a valuable bonding exercise. Hunter remembered the nights when Cody taught him odd words and phrases fondly.
"We're going the help the clones that are still prisoners, right?" Omega asked, her voice somewhat desperate.
"Yeah," Hunter sighed, having already thought of ten different planets the girl would be safe on whilst they carried out such a mission. He'd be an idiot to take her to the same sector as Hemlock. "Yeah, of course."
The Marauder was headed for Pabu. It was a secure place for Omega and Crosshair to recover and adjust. The people were kind and generous, they would never put any of them at risk.
Echo would meet them there in a few days, having been thrilled to hear that Omega was back with the squad. He'd promised to make the journey alone, aware that Hunter was being extremely cautious about who knew of the girl's whereabouts.
Not that Hunter didn't trust Rex, but he wanted to keep their circle small for now, still revelling from the wound of Cid turning against them.
When Omega didn't respond, Hunter glanced at her. The girl's eyes were closed, her breaths even. He would've thought she was asleep if her hand wasn't reaching for his free one.
"I'm glad I'm home," she murmured, her voice heavy with sleep.
Hunter let her intertwine their fingers, inwardly surprised at how her hand wasn't as small as it had once been. By making her way back to them, she'd certainly proved that she wasn't a kid anymore, but it was strange to see her as older.
Their interlocked hands laid over Lula, Hunter's thumb smoothing over the worn fabric. Wrecker had slept with the doll every night in Omega's absence, and had been delighted to return it to her custody.
"I'm glad you're back too," he replied quietly, aware that she was already asleep. "And I'm not letting you get taken ever again."