Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hey there!

Sorry for the confusion for new readers!

This weird little short chapter is there to simplify linking each chapter to each POV chapter!

Since the Batch does not meet Omega until HWMFF’s second chapter, this one is a little cheat to keep the same Chapters’ numbers.

This work is only the Batch’s POV because my brain couldn’t easily add their POVs to the (currently) 25k I have written down already. A side fic it shall be! Apologies for the ones who expected those POVs directly in the main story, they might have worked if I hadn’t received the delightful request by its_about_the_acethetic … after I was already 5 chapters deep in the writing process.

BUT ENOUGH TALK! BRING OUT THE FEELS!

Chapter Text

Echo

Everything had been so blurry and uncertain for so long, Echo felt himself crack slightly as warm hands cradled his face, touching familiar and unknown at the same time. Only Domino Squad had ever really held him so gently, but no matter how long he had been plugged in oblivion, these hands weren’t Fives’. Too small. The callouses at the wrong place.

The helmet facing him had a circle of orange around one eye with some lines like a scope, a skull on the forehead, a red band of chipped paint that looked to go around the circumference, and little dots of grey to each temples. None bringing any kind of memory to his slowly rebooting brain.

“Who-“

One hand left his face, suddenly feeling cold at the loss, so the helmet could slide off. It was a woman, blonde, young, unfamiliar. But her eyes? He knew those. Clones all had the same. She said something to him about a sister before he was being held. The panes of armor not really what he would call comfortable against his bare skin. How long had it been since someone had held him? Fives before the Citadel? Farther in the past? His questions couldn’t answer the most glaring one so far.

“I’m sorry I do not remember you and-”

“It’s okay.”

Again, when she pulled back, cold seeped back in. His one weak flesh hand almost rising to pull her back. But her hand was back on his face, her expression so loving, so painfully familiar. It hurt not to be able to understand who she was to him.

“I’m getting you out of there.”

He believed her.

Tech

When they finally breached the door to the signal’s ping, Tech had been ready for droids, maybe an overseeing Techno Union technician.

The young blonde woman crouched in front of a form who looked like a heavily modified cyborg was not at the top of the list. His blaster was in his hand before the first shot was sent by the stranger. She showed impressive coordination, her shots barely missing the Captain beside him while hauling both herself and the limp-looking man over the console. Quite a feat he would sadly have to invest at a later time.

Without any line of sight, both of them, blasters drawn, could only curse the limited amount of cover the room offered. They had to stay behind the corner of the entrance, behind the door panels. A ping of light made him raise his blaster. A mirror. Crosshair used one just like that. All he could see in it was a widening eye before Rex could shoot it.

“Get out with your hands out!” Rex yelled, fury in his voice as his helmet tilted towards the opened stasis chamber that seemed the exact size to fit a human… Or a clone.

“I assure you, coming out of your cover with your hands up will make this discussion statistically safer for you.” Tried to reason Tech, knowing that the rest of his team wasn’t going to be as patient. And if the woman had come here for the same thing as they had, why not use the advantage?

“You shouldn’t have used my brother’s voice, assholes. This isn’t going to end well for you. You’re going to die for that.” Barked the woman without following his very logical request.

“I am not aware of who you could be nor of your familial situation. I am simply asking.” He calmly added, unsure about the anger in her tone.

“Stop sounding like Tech!”

Well, that was unexpected. Even the very logic of the situation eluded him. It was rare. The woman looked entirely unfamiliar as did her voice and armor. He would have blamed her words on being a clone, but he was aware of the 99’s… Variations. She did not growl at Rex. She growled at him . Then used his name, not his code. His eyes fell into her helmet. Into a certain etching to the side. 99.

“I- This might be difficult since you seem to know who I am. I do not think I am able to speak in a voice different from my own.” He finally explained a bit awkwardly, eyes roaming over the various symbols on the discarded helmet. They would mean nothing to anyone else. For Tech, it was as if his brothers had signed themselves. All except him. Odd.

“Tech, this sounds like a trap.” Mumbled Rex beside him as they slowly and quietly began their approach, blasters drawn.

He had a moment to recognize one of Crosshair’s reflectors before using one hand to push Rex back as a shot of golden light bounced off the disk and landed directly in front of them. They took a step back. A breath. And the woman was jumping out from the other side, an energy bow of some kind in hand, drawn as quickly as their blasters rose.

Her face wasn’t familiar. And yet… Something… The first hypothesis his super-engineered brain made was thrown out quickly. No clone was old enough to father such an old child. The idea of female clones seemed more plausible but… Didn’t click enough. The absolute grief and horror that filled her face and the broken whimper of his name definitely did not fit with anything other data he had gathered.

“You know me.” He nodded to himself, filing up the facts about his new discovery. “I do not remember you and I have an-“

“-extensive database to remember faces stored in my helmet.” She finished up for him, tearing up.

There was a very painful twinge in him. Sudden. Unexpected. New. This face looking at him wasn’t supposed to cry . Something was incredibly wrong , he could feel it deeply within his bones, in his decanted cells.

“You can’t be here.” She whispered, barely loud enough to be heard over the electric crackles of the poles.

“I do not plan to stay. We are here to extract someone…” His eyes momentarily went to where she had previously vanished with the cyborg. “You seem to have gotten ahead of us on this specific front.”

What was wrong with him? What was wrong with her? If she was a female clone, was she engineered to be attractive to him? She definitely wasn’t. The mere idea of it twisting his stomach in disgust. Not that she was ugly but… Something was screaming at him to figure her out. To stay by her side. Mostly, and most urgently, to stop her crying.

“You’re- You died.” She sniffed, knocking another arrow that seemed as unstable as her voice. “I saw you fall . I- You…”

Tech blinked. She didn’t show any sign of lying. Of course, there was the probability of being a very good liar, but this annoying spark in his chest refused it viciously. “As unlikely as it is, you might be confusing me with someone else. I am breathing and my-”

The arrow landed a bit over his shoulder. By reflex, he raised his weapons that had lowered without him even noticing. Kriff! Who was she?

“I won’t let you take my brother. You’ll die first.” Hissed the girl through her teeth, eyes still wet but holding a focus Tech had only truly seen in Crosshair’s eyes.

Rex’s comm blinked to life and he turned slightly. “I didn’t know Echo had a sister. Have you met him here? Is that why you call him your brother?” He cursed when she snarled. “Watch it! We’re on the same side!”

Tech took a breath.

And lowered his blasters. This was a horrible idea, but she did turn to him when his helmet slid off his head. Her eyes widening and filling with tears so big they cascaded down her face immediately. The view made the little spark roar in his chest. She wasn’t supposed to cry . But the little aborted move she did, as if about to run to him, made him shift. Not to stop , but to catch . He shook his head slightly to focus once more.

“I do not remember you, but somehow I do believe you know me.” He offered quietly, moving closer to pick up her helmet and cataloging all the expressions that careened on her face as he offered it back to her. “We at least seem to share the same goal. To extract this clone from this station. Maybe we could work together and exchange information at a later time once we are all out of harms’ way?”

“Tech.” growled Rex, his blaster still high.

“This one drops the blaster and we’ll chat.” The woman answered tightly, her aim still true despite the waves of emotions seemingly rolling through her.

With a bit more insistence from him, Rex lowered his blaster and raised his hands. Trembling hands lowered her weapon and took her helmet again, not wasting a second before hiding her face behind it. Tech took a deep breath as she did, feeling something wrong about not being sure, not seeing that annoyingly familiar face.

“Fine. But Echo goes on my ship as well as you, Tech.” She hissed. “We can arrange to meet at another set of coordinates, but I will not agree to anything less.”

“Deal.”

“No kriffing deal.”

“If you think I am letting my brother’s safety into anyone’s hand but my own, you will learn how wrong you are by having a hole directly in your forehead. Helmet or no helmet.”

The situation finally seemed to calm down, to settle. The whole thing approximately costing them thirteen precious minutes. 

The General walked in, she shot, and Rex was tacking her backward, making Tech’s heart lurch into his throat. He reached for the two a moment too late, looking over the console to watch the viciousness of her fighting style. Hunter’s . Intriguing. He had expected a normal GAR training considering her status as a clone. Maybe something entirely new learnt from a bounty hunter somewhere in the Outer Rims… Not his brothers’ stance.

The General roared behind him, dashing towards the scuffle, but she sprinted out like a blaster shot, holding on tight to the cyborg until she reached what one could barely consider cover, and turned so her own body would be. Blue light arced down, Tech didn’t have a good angle to see anything, was he killing her? No. No he shouldn’t. She needed to be alive and they had just made a deal.

He yelled.

She stopped.

So completely and so quickly it was almost scary. So did the Jedi, a beat later.

“We had made a deal. She is here with the same objective as us. There is no reason to fight.” He explained in a rush. His heart beating so fast for a moment he almost thought one of his own brothers had been about to be cut down.

“He charged at my brother. If he wanna kill Echo, he’s gonna have to go through me.” The woman hissed through her helmet.

Alive.

What had she been calling him?

Brother?

Interesting.

Wrecker

She was tiny .

Granted, everyone was tiny to him. But, as always, he couldn’t help but notice the tiny factor.

Especially when she threw her helmet at his, bouncing so perfectly back into her hands it had to be rehearsed. A weird thought. He had never met her before.

“She appears to know us all.” Unhelpfully said Tech beside him. That did not explain who she was nor why he wanted for her to bounce her helmet on his again. It sounded very fun, the tone echoing nicely in his ears.

But he couldn’t ask nor linger much when his sneaky brother asked out loud how to climb to the ceiling and gave him the bestest idea. Happily, he pushed Hunter towards the centre of the room, calculating roughly how he needed to throw and…

“A head’s up could have been nice!” Hunter immediately snapped once he had been thrown up to the vent in the ceiling.

Crosshair didn’t seem happy about being thrown either, but his little sound of surprise did make Wrecker laugh.

Next was the tiny lady. He reached for her, ready for the hilarity of the surprise being thrown would be for her.

His hand fit very nicely on the back of her armor, the opening wider than it would need to be for her body but almost hugging his hand. Uh . She didn’t even react when her feet left the floor, already balancing just right for him to throw her easily. Uh .

It was weird .

He hoped that the tiny lady would follow them for a while. She was fun.

Hunter

The newcomer hadn’t gathered much of his attention at first.

Of course as soon as he was aware of the additional bodies in the room, he had been on high alert, but considering Rex and the General hovering behind a clone that looked almost more droid than man and Tech with both blasters lowered, it didn’t seem to be a new threat. The cyborg was Echo, it was obvious. But the other armored soldier was entirely unexpected.

Not a threat, but unexpected .

He couldn’t get any kind of read on the woman until she grabbed his offered hand to pull her out of the vertical tunnel.

A wave of smells hit him. His brothers’. His own.

The familiarity of it almost made her crash into him. His hand tightened slightly before she slipped away, allowing him to help Tech and Echo out.

How?

He was engineered to differentiate fake scents from the underlying ones. To track people across distances droids couldn’t. But this woman, whoever it was, was smelling like family . Cross’ way of drinking caf hanging to one of her sleeves as if some had splashed on it at some point. Wrecker’s favorite snack seemed to be hers considering the small crumbs stuck to the fabric near her neck, even after cleaning cycles. A small hint of metal that fit like a puzzle piece with the Cyborg walking with them.

But the worst was his own mark. The red line around her helmet was painted with his hand, he was sure of it, her clothes had been washed with that one cleaner that didn’t hurt his nose, her hair smelled like he had stroked them… She kriffing smelled like Hunter himself had hugged her less than two hours prior. And none of those were fake. It was the first time any of them met her so how?

She let out a broken sob somewhere behind her.

The sound ripped his heart apart.

What was wrong with him?!

He followed Crosshair as her voice raised in volume. Chest tight with uncertainty.

Crosshair

“Stop talking! Don’t you fucking dare keep using his kriffing voice and face! You- You’re not him! Get away from me!”

Here went little miss sunshine. Crosshair couldn’t understand why she was so angry at his brother nor why Tech seemed unable to let her know where she stood. Surrounded by possible enemies if she didn’t stop being so kriffing annoying, that was for sure. Sure, Tech could be a lot and jumped into long tirades about insect kinds the moment someone pointed out a leaf. Not everyone used to tuning him down. But never had a stranger’s reaction been… That intense…

He walked closer, jaw clenched tight and eyes appraising the annoying little thing “Is there a problem?”

“She does not appear to enjoy my voice nor my presence.” Tech sighed, sounded disappointed of all things. One day he’ll understand his brother. Today was not that day.

Especially not when the girl raised her blaster on Tech’s head . He could feel Hunter raising his own weapon too. Anyways, if her finger was going to even curl on her trigger, there would be a pretty little hole in her brain.

“I suggest you lower your weapon if you don’t want your dead body to get cold very, very quickly.” He warned after she had the gall to look surprised at the barrel of his rifle.

“Crosshair? Do… Do you not know who I am?” She asked, hand shaking and tone absolutely broken.

Something tickled unpleasantly down his back. A feeling of wrongness that he shrugged off as best he could while the painted helmet of the girl took him in. To better take him down? To find flaws? Only she knew.

“What… Is… Are we in the clone wars?”

“Yes.” Tech nodded, the idiot not even holding his blasters.

“You… None of you know me… Do you?”

“I fear not.”

Whatever that kind of code word was, it made the woman drop down to her knees, allowing him to quickly kick the blaster back towards Hunter. There were more weapons on her he could see and probably another few handful hidden away. His rifle lowered so he could reach for his brother, pulling him away.

“Come on, Tech. Let’s leave.”

“I do not believe leaving her here is a good idea.” He said, not bulging until Crosshair had to pull harder. Even then, he just freed himself to stand dumbly like a jawa in front of a scrapyard.

“She pulled a blaster on you, Tech. We can’t have her walk around ready to shoot you at every stop.”

“She won’t.” Tech said while shaking his head.

Crosshair almost hurt himself by how hard his eyes rolled, watching his brother crouch down like he usually did when faced with a new species of bugs.

“Because she’s our sister.” He added “Aren’t you?”

The woman looked up at him, expression hidden by her helmet. Somehow, Cross knew she was crying and staring in shock. Crumpled form accepting Tech’s offered hand and curling her fingers around his. Following like a puppy as he led her farther down the corridor.

What was wrong with his brother?

And how could he fix him before he got more attached to the trigger-happy twerp?

Chapter Text

Wrecker

The little one, the one Tech designed as their sister, was very funny.

He could look at her arguing with a Jedi General and his Regs for days. Her hands on her hips, never doubting the mission, only the ones in charge. Some fierce protectiveness for the cyborg clone made him remember his own feelings about his brothers.

Seeing her, with that familiar skull drawn on the forehead of her helmet, a 99 on her shoulder pauldron. The colors of her armor did not match theirs, but everything else did. How she walked. How she talked. How she stood. How she moved.

How seamlessly she worked with each of them.

Keeping Crosshair’s sight clear.

Not talking too loudly close to Hunter.

Ducking away from his big gestures without missing a step.

Tech… She kept away from Tech. But Wrecker noticed, while on that horrible beam, how she kept looking his way. How her body seeked his every word, as if they pulled her closer, before she could straighten up and make distance once more.

She did it with all of them.

Even him.

The weirdest thing was how much he wanted her not to abort those movements. How it felt like she would fit against his side as much as his hand did on the upper part of her back plate. It would be so easy to pull her into a hug. But she never quite got within range. Not before she was back in her ship, flying away to follow Hunter’s plan.

Wrecker turned back into the upcoming battle.

Maybe, after this, she’ll agree to spar with him.

Hunter

The plan when they left Anaxes with the General and Captain had never included her. But she had stayed, backed them up, made sure not only Echo, but also the Batch stayed safe. She had their back.

He watched her ship take off and vanish over the ledge of the cliff. Smoothly. A bit of Tech’s flying style, but not enough. As if faded by time.

“Eyes on the mission, Hunter.” Came Crosshair’s long drawl from his side.

Instead of answering, he nodded, turning back to Tech’s translating the General’s words.

Just in time for blaster fire to start.

A wave of droids dropped on them, the ones which had followed. While the first wave could be taken care of easily enough, he tapped his comms when the second appeared.

“Blondie, come in.”

“I’m here and call me- Nevermind. You can call me… It’s fine. Blondie is fine.” Came the woman’s voice, hesitating on the moniker.

He had expected her to give him her name. Instead, he swallowed through his disappointment, ducking away from a blaster shot. “Blondie. It’s your cue.”

“On it, Hunter. See you soon.”

Right on time, her ship appeared from the cloudy cover, mowing through waves and waves of droids, clearing their way so they could take the walkers down. Efficient. Out of the way. Timed almost perfectly. Following each of their movements as if she had been used to fight by their side.

Hunter was far from the only one of the Batch who noticed. As soon as the battle ended, he spotted Wrecker and Crosshair looking in the direction the ship had last vanished.

“Eyes on the mission, Crosshair.” He taunted, taking his own helmet off as his brother sighed.

“Very funny, Hunter.” Mumbled the sniper, slipping his own headwear into his arms. “I don’t trust her.”

“I’d be surprised if you ever began trusting someone before five rotations working together.”

“Well, that keeps us safe. Especially when the one you imprint on is a weird kid with our marks on her kriffing armor.”

“You heard Tech-”

“We don’t have a sister . Hunter.” Snarled Crosshair, glaring at the ship when it reappeared to make its descent. “We barely can call regs brothers . Keep that in mind before you get attached like Tech.”

They both joined up the group, Hunter shaking his head at Wrecker when his eyes went to Crosshair then him. When the woman got close enough, he looked at the red band on her helmet. “Oh, good timing. If you were up for it, we’d be thankful for a lift back to our ship. The local leader is ready to fly there, but we’d rather not test the lizards again.” He allowed himself a playful smile, small, but she clocked it. He was certain of it. “Not everyone is a fan of heights.”

Without a word, a fact that made him frown slightly, she backed back into her ship. With great self-control, he kept his steps slow as a new wave of familiarity hit his nose. Wrecker had been there, had moved things around, had tied the far crates with a net after piling them up, and had taken a nap on one of the seats. Crosshair had gone up into the hidden cargo hold, had grabbed the ceiling panel to slip in, had placed every weapon in their storage box hidden behind a fake wall towards the back of the hull, metal and energy core humming lowly. Echo, even if he barely knew him, had tinkered on the multiple panels, and had slept in the folded hammock tied at the back of the ship. Hunter himself had walked this ship recently, had checked every single wire with great care, had been in the cockpit and what he assumed was the bunk rooms and refresher, had taken every precaution to make sure the ship was safe.

There was nothing of Tech.

Not a step.

Not a touch.

Not a breath.

And that scared him more than how it seemed like they had all lived on this ship for years. That they had done so without one of their brothers.

Tech

Hunter looked almost sick as he headed to and collapsed into one of the seats, mechanically clipping the seatbelt closed.

Tech would have to check on him, but for now, the seats seemed insufficient for all of them to stay within the hull. He turned to the woman who was almost as stiff as his sergeant. Fingers on his datapad to find if it could be sliced into easily. “Would you enjoy a copilot?”

“Sure.” She answered with a voice so tired and rough with the tears she had seemed to shed for them since they met.

He followed her, looking down at his screen to find the firewalls holding strong. With a nod, he looked up, helmet placed under his free arm.

His goggles.

He almost reached for the ones on his face to make sure, but those, standing on the dashboard, were broken. One transparisteel lens smashed, the other missing less pieces, the frame worn by time , not use . “You died.” She had said. “I saw you fall”. The break did look as if they had either fallen from great height or got smashed by a fast or heavy projectile. It matched her story. It matched so well, he could almost imagine it. Falling from a cliff, a ship, a platform. Wind whipping around his limbs. Breath leaving his body from the shock, the crack of bones, the taste of blood.

“I really died, didn’t I?” He asked, one hand moving towards the narrow focus of his vision, breath so tight in his chest.

No one could have built those except him. He knew. He had scanned them almost absentmindedly, finding his own signature, an exact copy of the ones he was wearing, down to the smallest decimals.

His brain snapped back into focus, sight widening and sounds crashing back in, as her hand snatched them out of his grasp, holding on as if they were a child she was hiding from harm. Carefully. Filled with love and grief. He took a breath and chuckled to push away the weird tightness within his lungs.

“Apologies. I- You said that he, well, I died in your… reality. But I did not expect you to hold a token that would make me face my own mortality…” He had to stop to attempt to clear the tightness away once more, but the result was painfully hoarse. “Again, I apologize. I shouldn’t have tried to touch them without asking.”

It didn't matter.

Not when his gaze fell on the second piece of unlived history in the cockpit.

His brothers.

Old.

Happy.

Kriff, he hadn’t seen Crosshair smile that wide in years.

In the middle of them, her , the sister . Surrounded by love impossible to miss. Each brother and Echo make sure to have one point of contact with her. A shoulder touching, a hand on her arm, a touch of her head. She was theirs . They were hers . And siblings didn’t seem to be enough .

Before he could open his mouth, the door hissed open behind him.

Crosshair

He had waited long enough. Rex had been the one to keep him seated for longer than a few seconds after Tech had vanished into the cockpit, Hunter seemingly overwhelmed by whatever he could sense in this obvious trap. Not that he wasn’t feeling uneasy himself, he just hid it better.

The whole ship felt too perfect for the batch. And that was enough for the sniper to be on edge. After a few minutes without takeoff, he jumped to his feet and to the cockpit.

Tech wasn’t even sitting down yet. He was going to give his brother a cutting remark about wasting time when the light of a holo caught his eyes.

Them .

With Echo, a weird hound, and the girl.

Old.

They were old.

And they were smiling.

The girl seemed to see his next step before he could take it, turning the thing off and shoving it into a compartment next to her, locking it a moment before he could slam his hand into it, heart hammering into his ear as he tried to force it open. Without managing to do it by force, he turned to her stupid painted helmet.

“Open it.” He heard himself order, feeling as if a thousand needles pierced his skin.

“No.” She breathed out, voice changed by the bucket.

He ripped it off, not minding the scratch on her cheek that began to bleed down. The roar behind his eyes at the sight of the wound wasn’t as loud as the raw need to see the image once more. To make sure. To find every detail. To spot the lie, the trick. His hand took hold of her jaw, keeping her focus on him. Snarling when her eyes filled with longing and not fear. As if the violence in his eyes was reassuring.

“Open it.”

“Cross, what’s happening?” Asked Hunter, finally out of whatever trance the ship had put him under.

“Hey, what are you all doing? Is it a party?” Added Wrecker who, of course, had followed the sergeant through the door.

He gave them no mind, tightening his grip as if it could squeeze the truth out of her. “Open it.”

“You’re hurting me.” She whined, cutting a line through his heart he shoved away again like all the other things her pitiful state did to him.

“Show me.”

“That’s enough. Let her go.” Hunter’s hand on his arm wasn’t welcome in the slightest. But his eyes weren’t angry at him. They were confused, somehow understanding, steady .

With great difficulty, he let go, eyes pinned to the red marks of his fingers that she attempted to rub away. The bead of red on her cheek. The beast in his chest roared furiously at the sight, at the mere idea of him hurting her. His mouth felt dry.

“She has a holo of us.” He hissed through his teeth while Hunter pulled him back. “We’re old .”

“He’s telling the truth?”

Crosshair’s head whipped to his brother, anger and annoyance flaring at the doubt. “Of course I’m-”

“He is.” Tech answered, sounding just as shaken as the sniper.

The girl’s face made a weird grimace, tears filling her eyes without allowing them to fall. Retreating a bit into herself under the sergeant’s stare. After a bit, she opened her mouth.

“You need to get to your seat. The local leader is waiting on us.”

Hunter shrugged. “Alright. Let’s do just that.”

“Hunter she-”

“Will talk to us later. Come on. We need to get out of here.”

Hunter enlisted Wrecker’s help to make Crosshair leave the cockpit, leave his brother with the oddity , and leave that haunting holo locked into a compartment he had no time to get into.

He sat in one of the seats silently, fingers digging into his thighs, heart beating in his ears.

The memory of a metallic hand behind the girl’s head haunting his thoughts even after they landed.

Echo

After whatever Clone Force 99 had seen in the cockpit, the ride back to the Marauder was tense. The General attempted to lighten the mood. Rex sat by his side to update him on Fives’ fate. A warm hand pressing on his shoulder as emotions flowed through him without spilling over. Not yet. Not until he was back to the 501st. Around his brothers. Where he would be able to mourn the Domino Squad. Each and every one of them.

He hoped to get some reassurance when Rex guaranteed him he could come back to the GAR at his old post. As if nothing had changed.

All he got was a stone in his stomach.

He watched his Captain walk into the ship, a clone like all of them despite the hair, the personality, the strength and title.

Echo, standing still on the dusty ground of his prison planet, felt alone. Utterly alone.

A touch on his bare arm startled him so bad he had to bite down a scream.

The woman, the one who had promised to get him out and held her word, the one with the warm hands and kind eyes, the one who called him brother . She looked guilty, helmet off and brown eyes wide.

Without really thinking about it, he grabbed her hand before she could step too far with her apology. She froze.

Rex had mentioned that she might have been stuck in the same city for a while, deciding to call him brother for some reason. But it didn’t fit. Not with the aching in his chest that seemed to only unfurl when her hand closed slightly around his.

“You keep calling me brother. I have no memory of you… Should I?” He asked as gently as he could, eyes searching for an answer within her eyes.

“No. You haven't met me yet.” She answered, voice broken as she gripped his hand tighter.

“Yet?”

“Yet…”

The whirling of emotions the improbable answer brought to his chest only allowed him to nod. Nothing had really felt real nor made sense since she had woken him up. The request to fly with her burned his lips. To stay by her side since, somehow , she understood things no one else seemed to yet. The Batch were strangers that barely looked like clones, Rex and the General kept looking at him like he was made of glass. But her hand held his as strongly as it could. An anchor. Steady.

She let go when they called out to him, slipping her helmet that had grey dots at the exact spot he had seen some on his own head when using her ship’s ‘fresher. Every piece of paint he could link to one of the 99. His own fit so seamlessly with those. The orange-yellow of Tech’s goggles, the sniper scope of crosshair, the skull of Wrecker, the bandana of Hunter, his cerebral connectors. One of the Batch. One of them.

He hadn’t met her yet.

But he could figure out who he would be with when he would.

Chapter Text

Wrecker

As soon as it was possible, after landing on Anaxes and getting Hunter’s debrief, Wrecker made his way to the other odd ship in the landing bay.

The little one was there, looking around with her helmet hiding her face, looking deep in thought.

He managed to give her one whole minute before he took the final step closer and opened his mouth. “So, you have a holo of us?”

The skull on her helmet turned to him, tilting when her head did. “What tells you your brother didn’t lie?”

He couldn’t help but smile at the question. “Crosshair never looked that scared of a holo before.” When she nodded, he kept the questions going, itching to know more about the little spitfire. “Tech said you’re our sister?”

“I am not.” She finally said after a long pause, looking back to the other clones, the action sending a ping of annoyance in his chest.

No. He needed to be calm. Not spook her. One question at the time. “Oh, did something happen?”

“You haven't met me yet.”

“So I’m not your brother?”

That made her look at him again, hands squeezing her arms where they were crossed. Her voice was unsteady, taken aback. “I- I don’t know.”

“What’s your name, then?”

“Omega. My name is Omega.”

It was a weird name for a nat-born. But he didn’t mind. It sounded like a clone’s. And if she was his sister, then it was fitting perfectly within their little family.

“Oh, I’m Wrecker… You already knew that. What’s your ship’s name?”

“New Marauder.”

He couldn’t help his smile. “Hey! That’s like our ship! But new!”

“Y-Yeah, that was the point.”

The edge of pain in her voice brought his mind to a stretching halt. The name wasn’t supposed to be sad. Not if the Marauder was still around. Therefore… His hands closed into fists and released a few times before he could find his voice again.

“Tech is going to be sad that the ship broke.”

“It’s… Fine.” She croaked out weirdly.

He observed her for a second, hands tight around her upper arms, body shaking slightly. Then came her breaths, quicker, too quick. She curled into herself a bit, becoming smaller.

“Hey! Omega, are you okay?” He quickly reached out to steady her when she wobbled. “Omega?”

With no answer, he looked around. There were some regs walking around, a few eyeing them curiously, but none reaching out to check on the girl. Girl who didn’t seem able to slow down and whose breathing became dangerously fast. Quickly, he placed her in his arm, the right moment when she had begun to collapse, one of her hands pressed against her chest, breath quickly turning into muffled fast sobs.

Wrecker’s view narrowed into this moment. How light she was despite the armor. How well she fit there, in his arms. How each wheeze and whine the panic made her make ripped his chest apart.

Fear.

He was terrified.

He couldn’t breathe correctly himself.

He turned around, screaming his brother’s name as he cradled her closer and began a mad dash towards their ship. “Tech help! She’s having an attack! The panicky kind!”

His brother couldn’t get out from under the ship quickly enough as Wrecker slowly and carefully lowered the wheezing girl down. As soon as she whined and reached for him, he was sliding down to his knees, pulling her upper body against him, one hand holding one of hers tightly.

“Wrecker, you need to breathe too.” Said Tech almost harshly. “You will make her panic worse.”

With that threat, he quickly began taking deep breaths, calming down when not only Tech, but Crosshair and Hunter crowded around them. They’ll keep the regs away.

“Is Omega going to be okay?” He asked, looking down at the now bare face of the girl with tears on her face.

“Omega? Is that her name?” Crosshair hissed quickly.

Wrecker nodded, squeezing the small hand in his.

What were muscles for when he couldn’t save her from those monsters?

Crosshair

Little miss sunshine wasn’t doing well.

He had been chatting about her with Hunter, in the safe space of the Marauder cargo hold, when Wrecker’s voice had cut through their conversation. Both dashing down the gangplank to meet their brother and the young woman before her helmet was even off.

The annoying beast howled in pain in his chest, the feeling so loud he barely realized what he was doing before he had pulled her knees down and got into her face.

“Breath!” He snapped loudly, eyes searching hers for any recognition. When it didn’t work, he grabbed her chin. Brown eyes, so familiar yet so different from his brother’s, from his own, finally met his. “Breath, Omega. Slow. Follow me.”

Her hand, fingers still bending weirdly, attempted to grab at his wrist but didn’t seem able to get any hold on him. It was a stain not to reach for it, to hold it tightly, to make it an anchor, but she was still breathing too fast. So he slowed his own breathing despite the desperation howling behind his ribs. Wetness touched his fingers but he gave her tears no mind, not when she was finally getting less oxygen in her lungs. Fingers uncurling gently.

“Good. Keep going. In, hold, out. In, hold, out. Focus on me. Good.” He breathed softer than he would have liked, keeping his eyes on hers, forgetting where they were, who she was. All that mattered, during this moment, was that she became normal again.

As soon as she went boneless into Wrecker’s hold, he turned to his other brother. “Tech. Is she alright?”

Crosshair’s hand kept the girl still as she cringed from the bright light shone into her red-rimmed eyes.

“Her vitals are stable again. She should be good for the time being. A check by a medical droid could be a good idea while the resource is available. I did not expect you to volunteer to bring someone down from a panic attack. Especially Omega.”

With a scowl towards his brother, he let go of the twerp to wipe his hand from her disgusting tears and snot, but she surprised him once more. A small noise, something like pain at the loss of contact. Before he could bring his brain to compute how someone would ever miss his touch, especially that rough, she apologized.

When the other crowded again around her, Crosshair grabbed his rifle and stomped away to the shooting range.

He shot the bullseye until his heart calmed down from the frantic beating it had reached and until his hand stopped burning from the feeling of her tears sliding over his knuckles.

He stayed there a while.

Hunter

“I believe you owe us a talk and a holo.” Hunter said, her colorful helmet under his arm.

She… Gave them quite a scare. None of his brothers had managed to calm their heart rate until half an hour had passed and she finally looked human again. Crosshair had rushed away, probably to the base’s shooting range, which told Hunter enough about the state of his brother. There were two reasons why he would ever go to a Regs’ base range. The first, to practice when too many missions in a row did not allow him to do so. The second, to steady himself when he wasn’t sure how to handle things. And the second one so rarely happened, Tech was bound to place it within his calendar to note the occasion down.

With Tech back to his work to drown himself into it and Wrecker looking a moment away from running inside the Marauder to get Lula, Hunter stepped in. Omega, her name, finally, was slowly getting up, with his strongest brother helping her as if she was made of precious porcelain and hadn’t 1v1 a GAR Captain and won. After grabbing her helmet from the floor, he stood by and followed her to her ship where his words hovered in the air for a moment.

“I don’t think it is a good idea. It- Tech and Crosshair shouldn’t have seen it.”

He shrugged at her attempt to change his mind. “I don’t really care. But I do believe that being in it gives me some kind of right to see it, don’t you think?”

Her eyes pinned him in place as soon as they met his own. Strong determination swimming in them. “Fine. I’ll show all of you and answer your questions. Under one condition.”

He raised one eyebrow. He had expected more of a challenge. “Well, now you got my attention.”

“You all have to get your chips removed first.”

He blinked. “Our what?”

“Your chips. Every clone has one.” She explained, hands moving without her noticing to give images to her words. “You- The other version of you took it out. I need you all to do the same.”

The other version of him. It was so weird to walk down this road so he stopped before he could. “Is it dangerous?”

“Not if I get access to a med droid and a decent med bay. Done it before. I can do it again. I know where they are.”

“And I need to trust you on that?”

“You think I would ever ask you to do something to hurt you?!” She said almost in an accusatory tone. No, not almost, this was an accusation. As if the idea was inconceivable to her. Maybe it was.

“The chips get out and you answer everything?” He asked, hearing his brothers, Crosshair excluded, come closer from the volume of their conversation raising.

“Yes.”

“No matter what.”

“Everything linked to the Batch.”

“How long does that removal take?”

“A dozen minutes, but we did it without a droid and in a shipwreck. So probably quicker.”

Without a droid? On a shipwreck? Why? Did the Republic kick them out because of their difference? Were they going to throw all the clones out? Or did they lose the war? With a deep breath, he offered his hand for her to shake. “Deal.”

Tech

Omega was… Fascinating.

Not only did she make everyone in Clone Force 99 act like complete buffoons, himself included, but she kept surprising them at every turn. Those chips he had already researched and found a surprising amount on, were now going to be taken out. Omega almost ordered the Jedis to agree to the procedure, after all.

He had watched her input codes and directions into the operating block, working quickly but allowing Tech to see and note down everything without hesitation. Odd. But not really.

The real problems with her project were the Jedis crowding the room and Crosshair’s foul mood.

“So, those chips…” Began General Kenobi, a line of worry on his forehead. It wasn’t hard to know he was thinking about his own men. The 212nd were some of the best taken care of clones of the whole army with the 501st and 104th. “The Kaminoans told us that they were harmless. There to avoid… Revolts…”

“A lie. Not their first nor their last.” The poison in Omega’s voice took Tech by surprise, making him look up from his datapad.

“And why should we believe the words of a stranger?” General Windu added. He had been the one the most unsure about her request and matched her suspicious energy quite well.

“Because that stranger saw what happened next.”

“And what does that-”

“You all die!” She snapped at last, voice rough and incredibly angry. “You all die and then my brothers all get used as tools! They stop laughing, they stop smiling, they just… Stop! Until they die or get used in experiment, twisted for the kriffing Emperor! Is that what you wanted to hear? How they were told to shoot you dead even if you were friends and they had no choice but to do it?!”

If he wasn’t focused on writing down everything she had said, maybe Tech would have seen the horrified shock on his brothers’ faces.

“The Emperor?” General Kenobi finally asked, cutting the thick silence.

“Your beloved Palpatine!” Omega spat like an insult, it probably was. “Here, I-”

Tech looked up halfway through typing the Chancellor’s full name in his notes when he heard the girl make a wheezing sound. She was above the ground, hands to her throat. He didn’t feel his hand raise his blaster until Hunter slapped it back down, looking at the Jedis with boiling rage. Thankfully, it ended quickly. With Kenobi’s scream, Omega dropped directly into Crosshair’s arm where he had rushed to catch her. Like a mother Loth Wolf, he backed away with her, sliding down against a wall with Hunter and Tech close behind, creating a wall between the duo and the Generals.

“Hey, look at me.” Whispered Crosshair harshly. A look showing Tech his brother’s trembling hands as he held her still. “Are you alright?”

When she curled into him, Tech finally looked back towards the Generals, ready to step in if one of them tried the same thing on his brothers. Kriff, Wrecker was still being operated on. They better allow him out.

“She’s a liar! Let me-” Roared Skywalker before his mentor snapped at him again.

“What proof did you have about the Chancellor becoming Emperor?” Asked Windu, looking towards their sister through the small gap between Tech and Hunter.

“That’s what he called himself.” She whined weakly, voice almost a croak from the rough force choke hold she had been under. “I never met him… He- He wanted to meet me. I ran before...”

“Stop talking. You’re going to hurt your throat even more.” Mumbled Crosshair angrily.

“We need a better answer.” General Windu tried to resonate, ignoring the three clones’ glares.

“Test it, then.” She growled, immediately coughing and being shushed by Hunter.

“How?”

Tech was about to go on a long rant about her needing to rest her voice before their questions brought long lasting damage to her vocal chords, but she was quicker.

“Let my brothers get their chips out first… Then… I’ll show you.”

He wouldn’t be against that.

Especially if they let him check the chip in the meantime.

He still had a lot to learn.

Echo

His armor didn’t fit anymore.

That was the first thing Echo noticed.

And how this realization hurt.

It was reassuring, in a way, to have such physical proof to what he felt so deeply inside. Out of place, out of time. Like he had missed several lifetimes. Like he had been so broken by circumstances, the mangled bits that the Techno Federation left could never be Echo again.

Yet he put it on. He walked through the corridors of the base. He saluted Rex.

“Good, you’re here.” Sighed the Captain with relief. “Let’s go. We’ve been called to the Med Bay.”

“Is something wrong?”

Seeing the worry on Echo’s face made Rex grimace. “Fine. The General called me there and I don’t want to go alone. Come on.”

The humor lightened his mood, making the walk to the medical bay easier. While no real conversation was exchanged, they walked side by side and it was enough. Until they reached the door, at least, and as soon as he walked in, Mace Windu pointed him towards the bed.

“Echo, isn’t it? Please, lay down so we can be done with this.”

He shared a look with his Captain and nodded at the Jedi. He would have rather ran away than shared a room with a needle again, but the tension was already so high in the room, the 99 Force all huddled around the girl as they glared at the Generals. Probably the weirdest thing happening in the room, which was saying a lot considering the hushed argument between General Skywalker and Kenobi.

He went under quickly, willing himself to stay calm and reminding his rushing thoughts over and over that he would be fine and was out of the Stasis Chamber. He woke up with panic in his veins. Shooting up with wide eyes.

Almost immediately, a warm hand was in his and another cupped his face.

“You’re okay, Echo. See, I’m here. You’re out.” Said the girl so gently. Just as she did when he was freed from Skako Minor. He melted into the touch, his breathing evening out.

A moment later, when his mind wasn’t screaming in panic anymore, the sound around him came back. Kriff! He was in front of three generals, his captain, and a sergeant. And they just saw him go boneless because a weird woman cupped his face.

He stood up, face aflame, and quickly scurried to the edge of the room, hiding behind his General. Not a bad spot considering the incredibly confusing and worrying scene that followed.

Rex. Captain of the 501st. GAR soldier. Proudest to stand by his Jedi General’s side.

Rex who also punched General Skywalker and reached to strangle him before the 99’s sniper stunned him. He fell almost directly into his General who seemed eager to get to his side despite the quickly forming bruise on his jaw.

Echo’s brain felt like a short-circuit. Muffling the General’s worried screams and the girl’s answers.

A chip?

Like Fives spoke about before he was shot down?

That one?

Crosshair - Bonus

The kid dozed off in his arms for a while. Not even stirring when Wrecker came back to himself and Tech took his place. Not when Tech switched for Hunter.

He was uncomfortable, unused to the weight of her, to the feel of her breath against his clavicule. He hadn’t held anyone like this since Tech had become a teenager.

He had forgotten how warm it was to hold someone like that.

And how kriffing uncomfortable it got after a few minutes.

He would have kicked her away the moment her face had gotten close to his neck, but that annoying beast had been there, only shutting up when she was in his arms, safe. Its roar turned into an embarrassing contentment, the weight lifting from his shoulder as she nuzzled closer.

Clones didn’t have family. The ones who did were traitors to the Republic. But there, in the safety of his own thoughts, as Hunter and Tech spoke with the Jedi and hid him from view, he allowed his heart to slow down. Allowed his hand to gently pass through blonde curls as if he had done so all his life.

He closed his eyes and thought about a metal hand making bunny ears.