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thicctails · 3 years

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Summer of Whump Days 17 + 24 [Shackled and Stitches]

NEW CHARACTER APPROACHING

Omega was awake, but everything was fuzzy. She was lying on a padded surface, blurry brightness surrounding her. She can hear people talking, something about her burns. She thinks she hears them say that they’re healing nicely, but she can’t be sure. Their voices are muffled, muted by some drug they’ve probably put in her system. She knows that she should be concerned, afraid even. But the numbness is so nice, so she doesn’t fight it. She feels no pain, something that has been so rare in her life.

She felt pain on Kamino, when the scientists would take samples of her skin and muscle and spinal fluid. She felt pain when she was recovering from her near drowning experience, when her shredded ankle had been stitched back together at the medical centre. She felt pain when the landslide had left her and Tech bruised and battered and bleeding. She felt pain when Wrecker’s chip activated, chasing her through the rust-covered hallways and down into that metal hell.

But right now? Now there was only fuzzy lights and muted voices. There was the cool, padded material beneath her, not quite the floor, not quite a bed. She is cold, but she can’t say anything. So she waits, feeling herself breathe. She waits, because she can do nothing else.

She waits…

Omega blinks, groaning as she comes to. The world is no longer muddled, and the clarity hits her like a slap to the face. Something is nudging her face, soft at first, until she feels the cold shock of metal against her cheek. She starts a bit, rubbing the grit out of her eyes. Smooth white fills her vision, and she shifts her and, reaching out to pet the amphibian she now knows is in front of her. Her hand brushes that cold metal again, and Omega opens her eyes fully.

Pillow is there, staring at her with his soft, violet eyes. A band of metal is snapped around his snout, keeping him from opening his mouth. Omega gasped, and she tries to reach up and try and remove the restraint. However, she finds that her wrists are bound, the sturdy metal keeping her hands together. She moved them, testing to see how much wiggle room she has. The cuffs aren’t made for children, so they’re looser than they should be, but not loose enough for her to slip out of.

“Where are we, boy?” She asked, sitting up.

The room was one that she had seen before, but had never actually been to.

“I… I dreamed of this place.” She breathed, confusion rippling through her. Was that normal? Was it the Force?

Pillow crooned, lifting his mouth open as much as he can as he curls around her. She leaned against him, sinking into his soft belly. Her torso is bandaged well, and although her back is definitely still hurting, it’s less than what it has been.

“Oh Pillow,” She sighed, “we’re really in it this time.”

He snorts in agreement.

She sits forward when a door whooshes open. Two troopers step into the room, and she’s only a bit surprised to see Crosshair coming in after them.

“Finally awake, are you?” Crosshair says, no emotion in his voice. “I’m not surprised you took so long to awaken. Wrecker doesn’t know his own strength, I’m afraid.”

Omega glowers at him. He’s trying to get under her skin, and she hates that it’s working.

“That wasn’t his fault. Just like it isn’t your fault that you’re acting like this.” She says, and she means it, even if he is being a jerk right now.

“Keep believing that. See how far it gets you.” Is his reply.

“What should we do with her, sir?” One of the trooper asks. Omega jolts back in shock. That is not the voice of a clone. Anything these men do, they’re doing of their own free will.

“Take her to the examination room. She has enhancements that the Empire is interested in.” Crosshair says. “Careful, though. We don’t know the extent of her abilities.”

“She doesn’t look that threatening.” The other trooper remarks. Crosshair looks like he wants to shoot the man, but he simply nods towards Omega.

“Fine. You retrieve her then.” He says, stepping back.

The trooper does as he’s told, approaching Omega without fear. “Alright kid, up!”

Omega does not move. Instead, she focuses on the man in front of her. She feels that power form in her palms, feels it ignite in her blood. She opens her hands as much as she can, feeling that invisible grip. She flicks her hand up, sending the trooper up into the air.

He yelps, a high pitch noise that has her smirking a bit. The power feels easier to control, and for that she is grateful. The trooper still on the ground steps back, either in fear or surprise, while Crosshair just arches his brows.

“I did warn you, trooper.” He said, looking up at the flailing man.

“Grrah! Let me GO!” The trooper yells, gripping his blaster. Before Omega can react, he throws it at her, the weapon striking the right side of her face.

She yips in pain, dropping the man and moving her bound hands up to cover her eye. The trooper radiates anger, but before he can do anything else, Crosshair has struck him on the back of the neck. The blow sends him to the floor, kneeling in pain.

“We have orders to make sure she recovers, not to harm her more!” He snarls. “She is very important to the future of the Empire, and that means that she is far less expendable than you.”

The trooper coughs as he stands, backing away from the intimidating clone. He spins and corners the trooper that was wise enough to stay back.

“You. Go fetch a first aid kit and an ice pack. I’ll try and fix this mess before the Emperor has our heads.” He hisses, before rounding on his victim once again. “And you. Get out of my sight before I decide your life isn’t worth sparing.”

The two scramble out of the room, terrified for their lives. Crosshair sneers, before turning to look back at Omega. Tears are coming out of the eye that she isn’t squeezing shut, and she looks unsure as Crosshair approaches.

“Remove your hands.” He commands, and she listens, too hurt and tired to try anything.

Her eye is already swelling shut, the skin above her eye split and bleeding. The whole area is becoming red, and he frowns.

“You’ll need a bit more than ice, maybe stitches…” He mutters, reaching out to examine the wound. Omega looks at him in surprise. Crosshair seems… almost soft in the way he gently brushes aside her hair. For a moment, she thinks she might see a glimmer of light return to his eyes. Is his chip…?

Without warning, a blur of white smashed against the side of Crosshair’s head. The clone went sprawling, grunting in pain. Omega gasps, just now feeling the rumbling growl that is coming from Pillow.

“Pillow!” She scolds, looking at the amphibian in shock. “He was trying to help!”

Pillow merely growled louder, smacking his tail against the floor. He curls tighter around Omega, shielding her with his body. Crosshair had been entirely too close for his liking, especially when he was touching his hurt friend.

Crosshair got back up, wincing as he rubbed at the side of his head.

“Can you control that thing?” He hissed, clearly in pain.

“Not really.” Omega admits sheepishly. “He does what he wants. But if you ask nicely, he might listen.”

Crosshair glared at her and Pillow, before sighing in resignation.

“May I please patch her up so her cut doesn’t get infected?” He growls.

Pillow stares at him in resentment, but slowly releases Omega from his protective hold. Crosshair kneels down, turning his head to look over his shoulder as the trooper he sent away returns with the first aid kit. He takes it, and the trooper backs away when Pillow’s tail raises off the ground again.

Crosshair, to his credit, makes for a fairly good impromptu medic. He makes sure the cut is cleaned and numbed before he starts to stitch the gash closed. Omega’s tears have dried by the time he’s done plastering a bandage on the wound, and she touches it tentatively when he steps back.

“There. That should stop any infection from starting.” He said, producing a toothpick from a pocket. Omega smiled at him.

“Thanks, Crosshair!” She chirps.

“Whatever.” He said, leaving the room.

Omega smile dropped. While Crosshair wasn’t lively or very friendly, he had been company. Now, she was alone with Pillow again, and she found herself leaning against him.

“I know you don’t like him, Pillow, but try not to attack him when he’s trying to help, okay?” She said, rubbing Pillow’s head with her cheek. Pillow honked softly, rubbing against her.

“Good boy.” She chuckled, closing her eyes.

The next time the door opens, Crosshair isn’t there. Four troopers are here now, and one of them is holding something. Something that is actually someone.

It’s a boy, wild eyed and kicking. He looks like he’s only a bit older than her, and his emotions hit her like a solid wall. He is terrified, and she can feel that he has been wounded by a deep loss. The troopers threw him into the room, and he ended up landing near Omega. The room door slammed shut, the troopers leaving without an explanation.

Omega stared at the boy, unsure of what to do. He panted heavily, his eyes closed as tears streamed down his cheeks. His auburn hair was matted to his skin with sweat. He radiated pain and sadness, and she felt her own heart break as she felt his sorrow. On instinct, she reached out to him, using the Force to connect with him. He startled upon feeling her presence, his sobs hitching in his throat when he turned to look at her.

His eyes were a bright, vibrant green. They reminded her of a thriving forest. He sniffed, tears spilling down his pale, spotted cheeks. She’d never seen a human with spots before! They reminded her a little of faraway stars.

“Wh- wha?” He choked, blinking back his tears.

“Are you okay?” Omega asked, scooting closer to him.

The boy retreated back into himself. “N-no. No I-I-I’m not.” He sniffed again, looking at her in confusion. “I don- I don’t recognize you. Were you not raised at the temple?”

“Temple?” She questioned.

“The Jedi Temple? That’s where most- most padawans are- were raised.” He corrects himself, looking down at the floor.

“Oh,” She shakes her head, “I’m not a padawan. I’ve never been to any temple either.”

“You’re not?” The boy raises his head at that. “B-but, you have a really strong Force signature. Everyone I knew who had a Force signature like that was either training to be a Jedi, or already were a Jedi.”

“I was made to be like this.” Omega explained. “I’m a clone.”

“Clone?!” He shrieks, scurrying back. “S-s-stay away from me!”

“Wait! I’m not like the others! I don’t have a chip!” She raises her hands as best she can, trying to show that she wasn’t a threat.

“Liar!” He snarled, backing up to the other end of the room. “You’ll try to kill me as soon as I take my eyes off you!”

Omega stared at him, annoyed. She was not a liar! She held up her hands again, pulling at the restraints.

“I’m not going to do anything, stupid!” She snapped. “I’m a prisoner here, same as you.”

The boy stared at her, distrust clear in his red-rimmed eyes. She dropped her anger, remembering that he had clearly just been through something traumatizing.

“I’m sorry.” She sighed. “You’re not stupid. If I was a padawan, I wouldn’t trust a clone either.”

She gives him her best smile, trying to clear the air. “My name’s Omega. What’s yours?”

She shivers a bit when she feels him searching her emotions with the Force. She’s done it to others, but it feels strange to have it done to herself. After a minute of quiet, he seems to find whatever he was looking for, and his green eyes soften.

“Cal.” He croaks, “Cal Kestis.”

“Cal.” She tried out the name. It rolls off her tongue naturally, and she finds that she likes the way it sounds. “I like it. Cal Kestis, the boy with the starry cheeks.”

He laughs a bit at that. It’s a watery, broken sound, but it’s a laugh.

“T-they’re called freckles.” He says, moving back over towards her.

“I think they look like stars. They’re cute.” She says, turning to look at Pillow. She misses the slight blush that tints Cal’s cheeks. “Right, Pillow?”

Pillow honks, and Omega nods. “See? Pillow agrees.”

“Pillow?” Cal questions, looking at the pale animal.

“He used to be a lot smaller and squishier.” She explains.

“Hi Pillow.” Cal waves as best he can, and Pillow seems to consider the new arrival for a moment, before rubbing his head against the boy’s face.

“He likes you!” Omega laughed as Pillow shoved his head under Cal’s arms, demanding skritches. The padawan obliged as best he could, scratching the space between Pillow’s eyes.

“He’s heavy, but nice.” Cal said softly.

“Yeah, Pillow is the best.” Omega agreed. She moved to brush a strand of hair out of her face, and winced when she accidentally touched her swollen eye.

“Hey, is your eye okay? It looks pretty sore.” Cal asked, frowning.

“It’ll-” She flashed back to her dream. The vision in her right eye was very poor, and there was someone next to her. Another true prediction. “It’ll be fine. I’ve had worse.”

Suddenly, a low growl sounded out. Omega shot a look at Pillow, but the cuddly creature merely blinked at her. Cal flushed pink again, and this time, Omega did see.

“Sorry, I think that’s me. I’m pretty hungry.” He admitted.

At the word “hungry”, Omega’s own stomach made itself known. She frowned and looked at the door.

“Me too. They haven’t fed us yet.” She sighed. “I hope they don’t refuse to feed us because I used the Force on that trooper.”

“You did that?” Cal said, a look of awe on his face. “I was too scared to even think about attacking them.”

“That was probably a smart move. Crosshair might have hurt you if you did.” Omega said.

“Crosshair?” Cal questioned.

“He’s an enhanced clone. There was a group of them, and when the order went out, most of theirs didn’t activate. He was the exception, up until a few days ago.” She said.

“The order?”

“Nala Se didn’t want me to know, but I overheard her talking about it one day. They sent out an order that activated inhibitor chips that were put inside the heads of every clone. That’s what made them go all… murdery.”

Cal looked stricken at that, and he touched a wound on the side of his head that Omega hadn’t previously seen. It looked like a blaster burn.

“They- they didn’t want to betray us?” He asked, his voice broken.

“No. They’re stuck inside their own heads, they know what they’re doing but they can’t make it stop.” She said sadly, remembering how broken Wrecker had been.

“We thought… I didn’t know- oh Maker we killed them!” He sobbed, pressing his wrists into his eyes as he started to cry again. His emotions, wild and unfiltered, struck Omega like a spear to the chest, and she shared his guilt and agony.

She leaned against him, unable to open her arms and offer a hug. He curled into her, sobbing into her shoulder. Even Pillow seemed to be struck by the sudden surge of emotion, and a few tears slipped down his cheek as he curled around the two kids, holding them as they cried for every poor soul that had been lost to that accursed order.

#star wars the bad batch #the bad batch #cal ketsis #omega bad batch #crosshairs bad batch #star wars #summerofwhump #summerofwhump[17]#summerofwhump[24]#we doin two #i stan cal

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