The Hidden Secret
Warnings: Transformation, fear, self hatred, wounds, blood, ghost, body horror, mention of canon death, swearing.
A/N: This is our first fic as part of our fic series The Big, Not So Bad Wolves AU. collab with @ahsokatano-thetogruta
Hunter bites his lip as he paces around his room nervously, he doesn’t know what they are going to do. The Marauder had been damaged on their last mission, so Tech had to crash it on a remote planet, unluckily though, this planet has a long full moon cycle. Hunter pinches the bridge of his nose, they can’t leave the marauder until it's over, no one can know that they are werewolves.
It had happened during one of their first missions, Tech had been bit by an unknown creature, he had been fine, until the full moon cycle. As soon as he had stepped into the moonlight, he had transformed into a werewolf, and in his unknowing state he bit the rest of them. It took until the full moon cycle ended for them to come back to themselves, but luckily, that was just the first time. Every other time they’ve transformed, they have been themselves, albeit, with a bit more wolf-like behaviors.
Now they have to stop at a planet with a full moon every month or two to get some energy out, but now that they have Echo and their resident ghost around, it's been two months since that's happened, and they are all getting antsy, Hunter can already feel the pull of the full moon outside, but they all resist it, it's not that they don’t trust Fives and Echo, not at all. It's only that those two are new, and they are just starting to trust them, and if they find out they are werewolves, it could ruin the bit of trust that has been built.
“Hunter?” Hunter turns to see Crosshair, Tech and Wrecker walk in and close the door behind them. “What do we do, Hunter? We are going to need to go outside for repairs, and Echo will get suspicious if we only send him.” Tech tells him, and Hunter sighs. “I don’t know, the best idea I have is to wait it out. But we cannot let Fives and Echo know, at least, not yet.” Everyone nods, and Crosshair scrunches his eyes. “We need to tell them soon, I can’t go much longer without having a run to get rid of this pent up energy.” Hunter nods. “We will, but they don’t trust us yet, especially not Fives.” Everyone gets a look of sadness. “Can’t believe he was killed by a brother.” Wrecker whispers angrily, and Hunter nods. “Yeah, and he has major trust issues, so he might get really scared of us if we transform, especially with what we look like.” Everyone nods, hoping that when they do tell, they don’t lose their new found brothers.
xxx
“What do we do, Fives!” Echo yells as he paces around his room, Fives is hovering over his bed, legs crossed. “I’m not sure, but you need to calm down, Echo.” Echo glares at Fives. “Don’t tell me to calm down, you're not the one who could transform when they step outside and into the moonlight.” Echo's breathing quickens and deepens as he says that and his pupil's dilate, which is a warning sign that he's being pulled and tempted to go outside and into the moonlight, so Fives stays calm to keep Echo calm and starts to distract him from the want. “Echo, hey, come back to me, Vod. You have to resist it, or the others they'll…” He doesn't finish his sentence because it'll stress Echo out even more, but he seems to get what he's trying to say when Fives notices Echo's breathing has slowed down dramatically.
Fives sighs once Echo calms down. “I know, but you know that I would never let anyone hurt you, ever!” Echo nods, tearing up. “It's just that...they will probably react the same way that Shiny did back on the mission on Kashyyyk, when they could've killed me if Kix hadn't treated my wound quickly enough. You've seen how accurate Crosshair's shots are, and Wrecker...well, he can lift a whole Kriffing gunship, there's no telling what he could do to me--” “Echo, calm down, it's going to be okay. I'll be there for you, and I'll never let anyone else hurt you, ever.” Fives had noticed Echo shaking, so he had stepped in before Echo caused himself anymore stress and pain. Echo smiles sadly, but he's thankful that he has Fives right by him, always.
Fives pulls him close and hugs him. “I won’t let them find out, you just have to stay inside, okay? We can say that… that… you're sick!! That's it, we can say that you're sick.” Fives pulls away and smiles, making Echo give his own. “Okay, thanks Fives!!” Fives smiles and pulls him into a Keldabe kiss. “Of course, I’ll always take care of my twin. Now you just lay down and get some rest, I’ll go talk to them.” Echo nods, and with that, Fives phases through the wall. On his way to find Hunter, who's probably in his room practicing his knife skills like he usually does, Fives notices that the air seems eerily tense, not to mention quieter than usual.
The sound of Wrecker's loud and booming laughter couldn't be heard anywhere in the ship. He can't even hear Crosshair's usual grumpy voice from anywhere. Not even the sound of Tech tinkering with a project, or multiple at one time like he usually does. Fives reaches Hunter's room, knocking on the door. He could just phase through, but being a ghost means that there are rules in place like, for example, not phasing straight into someone's room without permission. He wouldn't anyway, but it was brought up during a small meeting and the bad batch had after a couple of incidents when Fives had accidentally phased into a room with no warning.
The first time was in the refresher. Echo had asked Fives to grab something for him, but then he hadn't even thought about the fact that someone could have been in there. But they had. It was Hunter, and what's worse is that he was standing there naked, staring wide eyed at Fives in the mirror, not sure what to do. Fives rushed out immediately while carrying the hair gel, not realising that it can’t phase through with him. As soon as he hears the clatter, he floats as fast as he can back down the hall to his and Echo's room.
Fives had seen for a quick second that the left side of his body is also tattooed with skeleton bones and features. Echo is confused as to why Fives' face is red, but then he chuckles when Fives tells him what happened. A few minutes later, there's a knock at the door, in which Echo answers it and opens the door to see Hunter, holding the hair gel out to him. “I believe Fives came to get this for you?” He sounds a little nervous, but not as much as Fives feels right now, who is hiding and invisible from the guilt.
The second time was when he phased into Crosshair's room and not his own. Crosshair was in the process of getting changed and had nothing on. He was pissed as hell and was the one who wanted the rule of no phasing into private rooms in place. Fives completely understands and respects that rule.
Only a moment after Fives knocks, the door hisses open. Hunter stands in the doorway, smiling. “Fives, what can I do for'ya?” Fives smiles back, seeing that Tech, Crosshair and Wrecker are also there. He doesn't think much of it, about them all being in Hunter's room, but he is slightly confused, but decides not to bring it up. “I've just come to let you know that Echo is feeling sick.” He explains to them, making the others worry.
Tech is the one to ask “He is? Has he tried getting some fresh air? The atmosphere outside is breathable--” “No! Uh, no, he hasn't. But he'll be okay.” Fives interjects, hoping that the others won't suspect anything by the way he just lashed out. Suddenly, Crosshair groans, making Fives raise an eyebrow. “Is something wrong?” Fives asks, but Crosshair just shakes his head. “No, just worried about Echo.” Fives keeps looking at him suspiciously, then he nods. “Okay, then, I’ll go back and see Echo.” they nod and Fives floats off, when Hunter closes the door, Crosshair groans again. “Now we won’t be getting out for sure.” Hunter sighs. “Yeah, but we need to worry about Echo, he’s sick.” Crosshair gets a guilty look. “Yeah, you’re right.” “We can always open the door a bit? Let some fresh air in?” Tech offers and everyone nods. “Sounds good, you go do that Tech, I’m gonna go and check on our sick brother.” Hunter leaves the room after that, followed by everyone else.
xxx
Fives phases back into his and Echo’s room, Echo is laying in his bed, smiling when he sees his twin. “Hey Fives, how’d it go?” Fives smiles. “It went well, they bought it and didn't suspect a thing.” Echo sighs in relief as he sits up, swinging his prosthetic legs over the edge of the bed and stands up, pulling Fives into a hug. “Thank you, Vod.” He whispers softly, glad that he has such an amazing brother like Fives. “You're welcome. Though remember, you're sick, yeah?” He pulls away and winks at him, making Echo chuckle. Fives has always been goofy, but he'll do absolutely anything when it comes to helping his brothers. Echo nods “Yeah, definitely.” He winks back.
Fives pats his back gently “Anyways, I'm going to go and talk about explosives and explosions with Wrecker now, I'll see you in a bit, Vod.” Echo chuckles at that, knowing how enthusiastic the two get about the subject. He knows for sure if they had the chance to meet when Fives was alive, they would be the best of friends and cause chaos together whenever the time came. But it never will now because Fives can't touch any sort of gun or explosive, as it'll mess with his new ghost form. “Okay, later!” Echo calls to him as Fives phases out of their room.
After a moment, Echo decides that he'll just go and read a book with a hot drink, to make his sickness seem more convincing to the others. He leaves the room with a book and makes his way to the common area. While pouring himself some already boiled caf, he sees Tech and Hunter enter. Tech walks over to the door while Hunter walks over to him. “You okay, Echo? Fives told us you're sick.” He asks and Echo nods, eyes a little closed as he readjusts his body language to seem more energyless and exhausted, also using a groggy tone of voice to seem more convincing that he's sick, coughing a little. “Yeah, I am, but some rest will help I think.” Echo says with the best 'I'm not feeling well but I'll stay strong' smile he can muster.
It's fake, yet convincing because Hunter smiles sympathetically, patting his shoulder. “Well, rest up then.” Echo nods, seeing Tech walking over from where he opened the door. Echo's glad that they can have the door open, luckily the moonlight doesn't shine completely into the room. Tech then pipes up “I'll be working on a project in my room, so you know where to find me if you need any help.” Echo nods in thanks as the two walk away to do whatever.
Echo sighs and walks to the couch, facing away from the door. The urge to go outside and into the moonlight is too tempting, but he fights it easily when he becomes too engrossed in his book. Too engrossed that he loses track of time. Too engrossed that he forgets about his cup of caf next to him that's going cold. Too engrossed that he doesn't even notice the danger silently sneaking up behind him. He hears a little bit of shuffling behind him, then he snickers and sighs “You're still no ninja, Fives.” Echo laughs again, but then he freezes, Fives would have said something by now. “FIVES-AAHHH!!!” He yells out, turning his head to see a creature biting into his shoulder, dragging him over the back of the sofa and onto the floor. He panics as it drags him to the ramp of the Havoc Marauder, closer towards-- The moonlight!! “No! No no no, Fives!!!” Echo feels fear encasing his body, as he feels the pull from the moonlight, he wants to go in it so badly, but he also doesn't want to, not at all. “Echo!!
xxx
Hunter hears the yell and goes running as fast as he can, he runs out of his room to see Tech, Crosshair and Wrecker do the same, as Fives floats out. “Echo!!” He goes flying, Hunter and the others following behind. They get out to see a monster dragging Echo to the door of the Marauder, Crosshair grits his teeth, angry that something is hurting his brother. As Fives grabs onto Echo, the beast pulls them both outside, Crosshair takes aim with his rifle and shoots it, hitting its eye. It squeals and lets go of Echo, running off, but the damage is done.
Echo stares up at Fives with fear in his eyes, but then he just feels glad and relieved that he's finally able to have some moonlight shine on him. Though after a few moments of feeling good and satisfied, he groans as discomfort and pain runs through him. The moonlight has made its course through his body, and he’s transforming now. He knows his body won’t be his own,that he won’t look like himself anymore, and it makes him feel so scared and uncomfortable. He can feel the rest of their gazes on him, making him feel way worse about all of this. It has only been Fives with him in the past, but now with four new brothers here watching him too, who he hasn't known for very long, makes him nervous and terrified that they'll hurt him.
xxx
“Fives!! Is he--” Hunter stops mid sentence as they hear Echo groan, they stay back from the moonlight, as they all see Echo start to grow bigger, white fur sprouting. “Wait! He’s… he’s--” “A werewolf.” Hunter finishes Wrecker’s sentence, then Echo looks up at them as Fives stands in front of him, he whimpers and before anyone can say anything, he runs as he continues to transform. “Echo, wait!!” Hunter and the others go to run after him, they know that he must think they hate him, hell, they thought he’d feel the same to them. Fives pushes Hunter back and away from the entrance, blocking everyone's route. “No! I won’t let you hurt him!!” Hunter raises an eyebrow. “Fives, no. We won’t hurt him.” Hunter tries again, but again, Fives pushes him back. He looks angry, but there is another look, a look Hunter knows all too well, protective. It’s a look he has seen on himself many times.
“How can I believe that?! Everyone else wanted to!! I won’t let anyone hurt him ever again!” Hunter doesn’t ask Fives what he means by again, not right now, he’ll ask that later. “Fives, we are werewolves too.” Hunter tells him, putting both hands against his own chest to make a point, his brothers all nod. “I don’t believe you.” Fives growls, making Hunter sigh. “Fives, you need to listen, I’m not lying.” Fives flickers, showing them his appearance with a blaster wound through his chest. They feel sad and horrible for Fives, but for now, all that matters is Echo.
Without another thought, Hunter sticks his arm out and into the moonlight holding it there until the effect of the light has made it all the way through his body, making him groan the same way Echo had done a few moments ago. “F-Fives, let me out. P-Plea-se, now!!” Hunter growls as Fives turns back to his normal self and steps out of the way and Hunter stumbles down the steps, falling to his knees and allowing the full moon to shroud him. Hunter yells and groans. It's not usually this painful because he steps into the light straight away, not like a minute ago when Fives kept on stopping him and he didn't get enough light to allow him to transform as comfortably as possible and not as slowly as he is now.
Fives watches with wide eyes, not in horror as he's seen Echo transform a few times before, but from surprise that Hunter was telling him the truth, that he is a werewolf. Hunter sprouts dark brown fur all over his body as he pulls his bandana off of his head, his bones rearranging and cracking as he grows a tail, long and fluffy. He grits his teeth, bearing them as they become sharper and his face elongates into a snout. Fives turns to look at the others who seem to be waiting. Hunter huffs as the transformation finishes, the shirt of his blacks torn to shreds around him while his pants are shredded and ripped.
He stands and turns to look at Fives with glowing, yellow eyes. “You believe me now?” He asks, his voice deep and gruff with a slight growl. “I don't think that I really have an option there.” Fives chuckles nervously, feeling bad that he didn't believe them, but he also had a reason not to trust them, that they could have hurt Echo. Tech then walks forward, a little closer to the door. “Can we step out now?” He asks as he removes his goggles and Fives doesn't wait before stepping out of the way and letting the other three bad batchers through the door and into the light of the full moon. But before Tech gets out, Fives places a hand on his shoulder. “Do you need me to hold your goggles?” He asks nervously, making Tech smile. “If you don’t mind.” He hands Fives the goggles, and Fives smiles and holds them gently as Tech walks out quickly.
They all fall to their knees and the same happens to them, but instead of the slightly slower transformation that Hunter had, they change a lot quicker, but the uncomfortable feeling still stays. They groan and let the transformation do its thing, growing bigger, faces elongating into a snout, sprouting fur all over their bodies and their voices becoming deeper. Wrecker's fur is a dark brown like Hunters, while Tech's fur is a light brown, whereas Crosshair's is grey. They all stretch out on all fours before standing on their back legs, so much taller than what they were before.
Hunter puts his bandana back on, and Fives floats over and hands Tech his goggles, who adjusts the straps so that they fit on his head. Hunter then turns to Fives. “Any ideas where Echo may have gone?” Fives thinks for a moment, then snaps his fingers. “A cave? Or a large bush, anywhere he can hide really but those are two places I’ve found him before.” Hunter nods, then he turns to Tech, Crosshair and Wrecker. “Okay, Tech, you and wrec--” Hunter freezes as his ears flick up, and he hears soft whimpers, the voice is deeper, but he knows it’s Echo’s. “Scratch that, I can hear him. And he sounds like he’s in pain.” Fives doesn’t understand why Echo would be in pain, but then it hits him. “Shit! His cybernetics, they wouldn’t grow with him.” Everyone gets worried looks, none of them had even thought of Echo’s prosthetics, not even Tech. “Shit, that is not good.” Cross says as Wrecker nods. “Yeah, that's really bad.” he says as Tech sighs. “Okay, we need to get to Echo now, so I can get those off of him. Which way is Echo.” Tech asks, and Hunter nods. “He’s this way.” with that they all go running, Fives floating behind.
Hunter keeps an eye on Fives as they run, making sure he can keep up. He follows the trail of blood and large footprints, so it doesn’t take them long to come to a cave. “He’s in there.” The others can hear the whimpers now, making their ears press back. “What do we do? He might be afraid of us.” Crosshair tells Hunter, making him sigh, then he turns to Fives. “Can you go in first? He might be more comfortable with his twin?” Fives nods and floats in, looking around, then he see’s Echo. “Echo!” Fives flies over as Echo looks up, tears in his eyes, that's when Fives see’s it. Echo’s cybernetics are stuck on his legs, cutting into the skin, making him whine, the blood from the deep cuts soaking into his white fur. “Oh, Echo.” Fives says sadly as he slowly sits down and pulls Echo’s head into his lap, he changes into his form with just his blacks, to make Echo more comfortable. He also looks at Echo’s arm, which is in the same state as his legs.
“Don’t you worry, we’ll get ya all fixed up, I promise.” Fives says and Echo whimpers softly. “Fives.” He nuzzles his head into Fives stomach and starts to sob hard, making Fives himself tear up. “Shh, it’s okay Echo, you're alright.” Fives runs his hand through the white fur on Echo’s head, feeling the little metal nubs underneath. He hears a crack and looks over to see Hunter slowly making his way into the cave, followed by the others. “Hey, look. The others are here too.” Echo whines and keeps his face hidden in Fives’ stomach, Hunter’s ears press back when he looks at Echo’s legs. “Kriff, the transformation did a number on him.” Crosshair whispers, making Echo whine and try to move his legs. “Woah, no moving Echo, at least, not right now.” Fives tells him, then he looks up. “Think you can get them off, Tech?” Tech nods, and goes to come over, but Echo curls up as much as he can, sobbing into Fives.
“No, please don't! I'm a monster, don't touch me.” Hunter’s ears press back, so do the others', but Hunter looks over to Fives and Echo. “How long have you been a werewolf, Echo?” Hunter asks, gently, he knows it couldn’t have been as long as they have been. Echo whimpers so Fives answers. “Only about three, maybe four months at most before the Citadel.” Hunter’s eyes widen, Echo’s only freshly turned, well, technically. “He’s never really been in his wolf form around other people other than me, Rex, Kix and a shiny who almost killed him, still don’t know how Rex managed to keep him quiet, and he’s only transformed a few times.” Fives explains, and Hunter gives Echo a soft look. “He’s new to this, we can help.” Crosshair says, and everyone nods. Then Hunter slowly moves closer. “Hey, Echo. Can ya look at me please?” Echo shakes his head, continuing to hide his face against Fives’ stomach.
Hunter slowly moves closer. “Please, Echo? We won’t hurt you, I promise.” Echo shakes his head again, but Hunter gets closer and goes to place his clawed hand on Echo’s shoulder. “Hunter, wait--” Hunter's clawed hand touches Echo’s shoulder, and he spins around and strikes with his claws. “No!” Echo yells, not wanting anyone else other than Fives to touch him in this form. Hunter yelps from the pain when Echo draws blood on his arm, not able to see it well on his dark fur, but the way that Echo's claws are covered in his blood tells him otherwise. Echo whimpers when he sees four werewolves standing there. He sits up and then pulls Fives close with his one arm. Echo has such a strong bond with Fives that Fives will never phase through him.
Echo growls as he continues to protect Fives. Fives then tried to calm him down. “Echo, Vod, it's okay. It's Hunter and the others, look at them.” Echo scrunches his face and does so, seeing the black fur shaped as a skull on the dark brown wolf, then the crosshair on the grey wolf's face. “Y-You're werewolves too?” They all nod at Echo, making him press his ears back and whine, looking at the claw marks on Hunter's arm. Hunter covers it and smiles “It's okay, don't worry. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have tried to touch you while you're in the state that you're in.” He says.
Echo shakes his head “It's okay, I just...don't like others, other than Fives, touching me while I'm like this because I'm scared. But I'll try and work on it.” Echo smiles but then winces and whines at the pain in his legs and right arm. Everyone frowns as they want nothing more but to get them off and relieve him of the pain. “We can help you, Echo. Just trust us, okay?” Tech says softly, hoping that Echo will let them help him. Echo whines, but then the feel of Fives petting the fur on his head soon makes him relax. “Shh, it's alright, Echo.” He says softly, giving Echo a Keldabe kiss, making him hum and press into it.
When Tech walks closer, Echo tenses but relaxes, especially when Fives takes his clawed hand in his much smaller hands, squeezing it gently to let Echo know that he's here for him. “Okay,” Tech starts, “this is probably going to be painful, so I'm very sorry in advance.” He smiles, then begins to tug at the clasps that are cutting into the flesh on his arm. Echo howls in pain, yelling before hiding his face into Fives' shoulder, whimpering and whining as Tech has to dig his claws in ever so slightly to pry out his droid arm. “There, it’s off.” Everyone’s eyes widen as they look at the bloody mess of Echo’s stub, then Tech sighs. “I’m going to remove your legs now, okay?” Echo nods, and Tech gets to work, he rips Echo’s pants so that they are more like shorts. Then he gets to work prying them off as Echo howls in pain. It takes a few minutes for each leg, since the metal is sunk deep into his skin, but once he’s done everyone can see the bloody wounds. “We should get him back to the Marauder, and get him some bandages.” Tech tells him, and Hunter nods. He turns to Wrecker. “Think you can carry him?” Wrecker smiles wildly. “Of course, he’s easy.” Wrecker walks over and gently kneels down to Echo.
“Am I okay to pick you up?” Echo nods nervously, and Wrecker gently puts an arm under Echo’s stumps, and Another around his back, then he picks him up. “There, you comfortable?” Echo nods, hissing a little when the stump of his arm hits Wrecker’s fur. “Yeah, I’m good.” Wrecker nods, then Fives stands up and blinks his armor back on. “Okay, let's head back to the marauder.” Hunter says, and they all nod. Crosshair stands beside Echo and Wrecker, giving Echo a rare smile. “We’ll take good care of you, Reg. Don’t worry.” Echo nods, and they all walk back to the marauder. Once they get back, the six of them walk up the ramp and into the common area, setting him gently on the floor as Tech runs and grabs some bacta and bandages, then he returns.
“This should help take care of the wounds, do you want me to put it on, or Fives?” Tech asks, and then as everyone figured, Echo asks for-- “Fives, please.” Tech smiles and nods, handing the things to Fives, the others sit around the room as Fives dresses Echo’s wounds, who hisses slightly every little bit. Echo sighs once his wounds are covered in bacta and wrapped, then he looks guiltily at Hunter “I’m sorry, for not telling you.” Hunter looks at him and gives him a smile. “It’s okay, we also didn’t tell you. And we were newly turned once too, we know how scary it is.” Echo gives a small smile, that Hunter returns. “Who tried to hurt you, Reg?” Echo and Fives both look over to Crosshair, who does not look pleased. “Wha--” “Fives said a shiny tried to kill you once, I’d like to know who, and how it happened.” Echo’s ears press back as Fives gets a look of anger.
“It was Echo’s second and last transformation, we were stuck on the planet Kashyyyk.” Fives starts to explain, as the bad batch all listen intently, Echo just looks over at Fives. “We forgot to check the full moon cycle, and Echo ended up transforming after me and him were trapped with a new shiny.” Everyone looks at Fives, then Echo sighs and continues. “I ended up transforming, and the shiny… he knew it was me, he watched it happen and heard me speak to Fives.” Echo takes a deep breath, as Hunter looks at him with understanding and sadness. “It’s okay, Echo. you don’t have to continue--” “No, I want to.” Echo interrupts and Hunter nods. “The shiny then shot me, right in the chest. Fives then captured him as he tried to shoot me again and called Kix, the shot had just missed my heart, if Kix had gotten there even a minute later… I’d be dead.” They all have a look of disgust as Echo finishes.
“That's… that's disgusting, he had no right.” Wrecker says, angry that his new brother had almost been killed before they had a chance to meet him. “What's his name, and number?” Crosshair growls, making Echo flinch. Hunter puts a hand on Crosshair’s shoulder. “Easy, Cross.” Crosshair huffs, and Hunter then turns to Echo. “Please tell me that Captain of yours didn’t let him off scot free?” Fives barks out a laugh, making them all turn to him. “Oh, hell no. Rex was absolutely pissed! Lets just say no one ever found out Echo was a werewolf, and that shiny was transferred to a different battalion, we never saw him again.” Hunter smiles and crosses his arms happily, laying against the wall, Tech smiles. “Thank the force, that shiny was cruel.” Echo smiles, then Hunter looks over to him.
“Don’t worry, we’ll help you out with this, I promise. We are kind of experts now.” Hunter smiles at Echo, but then he frowns. “And you aren’t a monster.” Echo frowns, ears pressing back. “I know, but...it's just sometimes difficult to believe that.” He looks down at the floor, feeling like a Di'kut for even thinking about himself in that way, but deep down, there is something telling him that it's true-- “Echo,” The sound of Fives' voice makes him perk up a little. “Remember what I've always told you. No matter what you may look like, you'll always be you. My Echo. And I'll always be your goofball twin.” Echo smiles and chuckles, his tail starts wagging out of his control, making him grab it nervously. He's still not used to being a werewolf yet, so he's still not exactly sure what is normal and what isn't.
Hunter smiles kindly “It's okay, Echo. There's no need to be embarrassed about it, it's normal, so don't worry.” That gives Echo a little more confidence, enough to make him let go of his tail and let it wag, letting his happiness spill out as much as he wants. He then pulls Fives into another hug, nuzzling and then licking the top of his head gently. Echo freezes, then he groans “This is going to take getting used to.” Everyone chuckles, including himself. “Don't worry, Echo! We'll help'ya!!” Wrecker excitedly let's out a shout, making Echo jump but also feel happy at the same time.
“I’m already coming up with plans to make you cybernetics that we can switch you to while in your wolf form, until then we can transform first, then carry you out and just sit out instead of running.” Tech says, smiling. Echo frowns and his ears press back again. “I’d rather not.” Hunter frowns and so do the others. “It’s okay, it’ll be just us. You’ll be safe.” Echo shakes his head. “No.” Echo refuses. Hunter frowns as he looks nervously at the others. “Look, we won’t force you, but let me tell you, if you go too long without the full moon you’ll get sick.” Hunter warns, then Crosshair huffs. “Yeah, we learned that the hard way.” Echo grimaces. “I’ll think about it.” Hunter nods, then he see’s Echo yawn. “Maybe we should get some shuteye?” They all nod, including Echo and Fives, then Hunter and the batchers get nervous looks. “We usually have a cuddle pile when we are like this, would you like to join? You don’t have to of course, we’ll understand.” Echo thinks for a moment. “Sure, I’d like that.”
Hunter and the rest perk up. “Yeah!!” Wrecker yells out, making everyone chuckle, Hunter smiles. “Okay, Tech and Crosshair, go grab a blanket from each room, including Fives.” They both nod and run off, then Hunter turns to Echo and Fives, who have confused looks. Hunter chuckles. “We need a lot of blankets since we take up more room, and having the familiar smells is nice.” Echo and Fives nod as Tech and Crosshair return, and the four more experienced wolves start to make a little cosy bed as Tech closes the door to the Marauder, Wrecker runs to his room, and returns with Lula, the stuffed Tooka looks so much tinier now, almost dwarfed by Wrecker’s arms.
Echo chuckles as Wrecker walks over. “Can I pick you up again?” He asks nervously, and Echo nods. “Yeah, sure.” Wrecker picks him up, then he carries him over to the blankets and lays him down, as the rest of them lay around him. He’s between Hunter and Crosshair. Fives smiles as he looks at his twin, happy that he’s happy. Then he turns and goes to float away. But suddenly he’s grabbed and pulled into the cuddle pile by Hunter. “Oh no you don’t, you are a brother too, Fives, alive or not.” Fives frowns as he’s laid between Echo and Hunter. “But I only sleep every few weeks, and I don’t think that's now. I’ll keep you up,” Hunter licks the top of Five's head. “We don’t care, no brother is going to be left out of the cuddle pile.” Fives smiles as he’s pulled into Echo, then he looks at Hunter. “I… okay, I trust you guys.”
Hunter’s eyes widen, along with everyone else’s. Everyone is surprised, because they thought for sure that Fives' trust issues would have made him act otherwise. It's a big thing for Fives to say that he trusts them, but it makes them glad and happy that he trusts them enough to cuddle with him and Echo. Fives believes that Echo mixing with other werewolves will be a good thing too, as it'll mean that he'll be able to socialize with his own kind, to embrace his new nature.
Knowing that Echo isn't the only one going through this anymore relieves Fives. He's always, and will still be, there for Echo, but also having others there, who are just like him and understand what he's going through, who know how it feels, is going to help Echo a lot more. Fives listens to the soft snores and gentle breathing filling the room as he notices that the others have all drifted off to sleep. He smiles as he closes his eyes, not caring if he can't sleep as much as he used to, he just loves to relax and pretend he's sleeping, to make him feel normal again.
xxx
Hunter is the first to wake up, groggily opening his eyes to find that his eyes are covered by something. He reaches a hand up to his face and pulls it off and looks at it, seeing that it's his bandana. That's when he notices that he and everyone else are back to their normal selves. He looks over at Echo, seeing that he's hugging Fives close as he sleeps. It's not that it's a bad thing that it was just Echo and Fives, but he needs to know that what he is now, is not a monster. That he’s still Echo, and being around himself and his brothers will help with that, they can help with that. They will help with that.
Hunter hears someone shuffling about, so he brushes the rogue strands of hair out of his face and looks over to see Tech stirring awake, his goggles have slipped off of his head too and fell on the ground in between them both. He carefully sits up, then looks around. His vision is pretty blurry, but he can make out the outlines of his brothers, then he looks at Hunter. He can tell it's him because of the vibrant red colour being put around his head. “Hunter, are we…” He begins to whisper out, trying to find his goggles, but then Hunter hands them out to him. He puts them on and is finally able to see now. “Yep, we're human again.” Tech says, answering his own question. Hunter smiles, then gestures over to Fives and Echo, making Tech look over.
“Fives did end up sleeping.” Tech says with a smile, and Hunter smiles as well. “Yeah.” Crosshair then sits up, followed by Wrecker. Crosshair looks down at Echo and Fives, giving his own soft smile. “We’re human again.” He says and Hunter nods as Wrecker stretches. “Fives is sleeping?” Wrecker asks, and both Tech and Hunter nod. “Yeah, Echo is still sleeping too.” They all turn when Echo mumbles something in his sleep, then clutches onto Fives even tighter, hunter frowns. “We need to help him with this, he was alone before, even though he had Fives.” They all nod. “I couldn’t imagine going through this alone, and I would have too if I hadn't bitten you guys, still sorry for that.” Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair all frown.
Hunter pulls Tech close. “It wasn’t your fault, Tech. You weren’t yourself. We’ve told you this so many times, but if it makes you feel better for us to keep reminding you, then that's what we’ll do.” Tech smiles and cuddles into Hunter. “Yeah, Hunter’s right.” “Yep.” Wrecker and Crosshair say, making Tech smile happily, then Hunter smirks. “Besides, even if you hadn’t of bitten me, I would have had you bite me later. I would never make you go through something like this alone.” Tech smiles. “Thanks, Hunter.” “Ow.” They all turn to see Echo blinking his eyes open, a hand massaging his leg. “We’re human again.” Echo says quietly, and Hunter smiles as he walks over to him and Fives, who’s still snoring away.
“Yeah, how you feeling?” Echo gives a small smile. “My stumps are hurting, but I’m happy to be human again.” Hunter gives Echo a comforting smile. “We’ll get you some painkillers.” Then Hunter looks at Fives. “How has Fives not woken up from us talking yet?” Echo chuckles. “Fives could sleep through almost anything while he was… was alive. It must still be the same when he does get some sleep.” Hunter nods, then Echo places a hand on Fives’ shoulder and shakes him gently, making him wake up.
“Wait! Wha?” Fives looks around and his eyes widen. “Shit, I actually slept.” Hunter chuckles. “Yep! And we are human again, so we should get the ship prepared before tonight.” Fives nods as he stands up, and Tech stands as well. “I’ll get you some painkillers, Echo. You just relax and let the cuts in your legs and arm heal today.” Echo goes to protest when Hunter steps up. “No buts, you rest.” Echo sighs, but he nods as they all go to get dressed, and Echo lays back down, he closes his eyes, happy to know that he and Fives have new brothers they can trust with this secret.
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