Summary : The pale haired batchers bond over a long lost memory in their dire circumstances.
Notes : English isn't my first language so please ignore any errors of grammar or punctuation... I also tried my best with the Star Wars language of object/time/technology but I know it’s not perfect, so if you do find the actual words for what I've tried to say in this small story, feel free to comment it !
Words : 1351
Her words struck him like a blaster shot. Not that he would know how much they actually hurt seeing as he was often found far away from the field, shooting clankers from a safe distance.
« What did you say ? » Crosshair asked as if he didn’t hear her crystal clear.
« I said, I remember when you were little » the young blonde girl repeated.
He didn’t know what to reply to that statement, he wasn’t a man of many words usually regardless. His dumbstruck expression must’ve answered for him because Omega continued her recollection of these events he couldn’t even remember. They didn’t have much to do in Hemlock’s lab anyway. Crosshair often too weak or injured to do anything else but listen to her with no strength to fight back the child’s annoying attempts to cheer him up and help him.
« Nala Se was working on your vitals and charting your growth spurts on some fancy charts. She was busy on her data pad entering numbers and calculating wether of not your were in the normal growing standards she collected on regular clones and on the others batchers too. I guess even back then you didn’t like to be a science experiment because I’ve never heard you as fussy as that before. You kept crying and making those angry noises a baby can manage to make to express their discontentment » Omega remembered the small white haired child screaming at the top of his little lungs with a smile on her face.
Crosshair shot her a look, softer than usual but still trying to hide any trace of humanity behind those chocolate eyes of his. He lost that act long ago, or at least it seemed like an eternity ago for him. The small clone assured him that it’d only been a month since he sent his brothers the transmission warning them of the danger that would follow. A month since Tech-
He swallowed what he though was a handful of Tatooine’s sand, turning his head so she wouldn’t see his remorse filled face and the shine glimmering in his once so useful eyes. They don’t serve much purpose in those dark grey rooms these days, neither does he. Useless in that cell and naive enough to think he was any more special in the eyes of the empire than he was for the republic. His need to climb this falling ladder cost him everything he had… He felt his face distort by all these emotions he hasn’t let himself feel up until he ended in this cursed sarlacc pit, urging him even more to hide it from the young girl beside him.
The oldest batcher carried on with her tale, staring in front of her in respect for her proud brother.
« You were so tiny, smaller than any of other baby I’ve seen before, so I held you in my arms to shush you. I was never allowed to touch the babies before so I wasn’t really sure what I was doing but you stopped as soon as you realized you weren’t on that cold table anymore. I would even dare say you looked happy for the first time ever since you came out of your growth jar » she teased the sniper in hope of calming the tense chemistry they had ever since the guards threw him in her cell.
He didn’t flinch. Something she kept telling herself to expect to relieve any disappointment or embarrassment she might feel with all these monologues she delusionally called conversations.
The blonde cleared her throat and picked up where she left her memories, seeing as her brother didn’t verbally express any opposition to her blabbering.
« We didn’t have any sure way of telling what your mutation would be at the time but I figured it out when I realized you kept stirring and crying whenever Nala Se would turn on the lights of the nursery lab. So I tried holding you with one hand and putting the other on your eyelids but your sudden silent warned Mistress Se of my transgression… She took you away and placed you back into the incubation pod next to your brothers’ »
She paused for a while, concerning Crosshair. It wasn’t in her nature to keep quiet for so long so he looked at her, urging her to continue if she wanted to.
They looked at each other in silence until she broke the small peace they made while sharing this moment drowned deep by the horrors of war.
« I was never allowed to go near the incubations pods again. Nala Se didn’t bring me for a while in that lab either. It was her way of punishing me I guess… » Omega frowned at the memory of her mentor stern face she kept for a couple or weeks.
« When I was finally allowed back, you had already grown into an introverted and cold toddler that formed a strong bond with your brothers. Then, the next time I came you were already off to cadet training… »
She didn’t need to finish off the trail of events, he figured out the rest by himself. Boring medical assistant chores and maddening isolation for years until the « first time » He met her. Hours before his world drowned in the savage seas of their home planet.
Trying to force himself to feel nothing nut anger again at the mention of his brothers and HER abandoning him behind, he found out that he couldn’t feel any of it anymore. Perhaps it was indeed the chip wearing off or that he’s finally starting to accept the fact that she Is the closest thing to a sister he’ll ever have, but no matter how deep within himself he tried to to stir up these emotions, they were nowhere to be found…
Crosshair was never a rational man either but for the first time in his life, compassion and remorse came to him all on their own. No need for Hunter’s long and boring lectures or Wrecker’s booming voice to yell at him to do and feel the right things. Maybe he didn’t have his moral compasses anymore but the small child beside him was a reminder of what he use to have and chose to throw away.
« Im sorry » was all he could manage to say.
He expected her to look at him with round eyes or tease him for this action, which even HE would describe as out of character, so he looked forward not ashamed to meet her gaze.
She didn’t poke fun though. She understood that it probably took a lot of effort for Crosshair to utter those 2 small words and wanted to respect his struggle.
He was surprised to feel her small frame lean on him, like he imagined she does with Hunter. The sniper wasn’t much for physical contact and emotional proximity but in this moment, the small action the young girl gifted him was comforting. Probably for both of them too, he reminded himself before breaking the connection out of habit. He had to remember that, even if this rift between his brother and him might’ve started with her in a way, they all risked everything to come back for him. She lost Tech as much as he did and they were both trapped at the mercy of this lunatic together because of HIS choices.
The grey haired man paused and took a deep breath in before offering the teenager another small piece of solace.
« And thank you… » he whispered, just loud enough to take it off his chest and for her to hear it in the small metal room. She was just a kid in the end, much like him, she didn’t deserve to feel like the misfortunes both of them had face had anything to do with her.
They stayed like this peacefully in the calm silence until some lab assistant came to take away either one of them for the day. That would become their own little soothing routine much like when they were younger.
Holding each other in secret hoping it would lull the other to sleep.
