Chapter Text
They all stand around her sleeping form. "It's been sixteen hours. Shouldn't we wake her up so she can eat?" Tech asks.
Hunter sighs. "She got maybe five hours of sleep on Anaxes. She spent almost two full days in the medbay, not to mention patching up Cody and Echo. We were there for 72 hours."
Echo stands off to the side. "This is normal for medics during campaigns, she's gone days without sleeping. Was she using stims at all while she was there?" He asks.
"Not that I saw, she isn't a fan of them," Tech says.
"Are you really doing this in front of my bunk?" Everyone almost jumps out of their skin when she speaks, eyes still closed.
"We're just worried about you, Speck." Wrecker says.
"'M fine, just tired." She slowly sits up and blinks at them. "If you ever take me into another active campaign I swear-" Her threat is cut off by a yawn.
Echo notices the soft smile on everyone's face. "Go back to sleep," Hunter tells her, smoothing the hair away from her eyes. She flops back down into the bunk and turns away from them. "I'll give her another eight hours and if she isn't up by then I'll make her get up." He crosses his arms over his chest.
"Go awaaaayyyy." She groans into her pillow.
Echo chuckles. He remembers when she and Kix used to crash in the back of the med tents during drawn-out campaigns, one of them sleeping on top of the other, the number of times she had plastoid imprints on her face from his chest plate was astounding.
"She's going to have our heads if we don't leave her alone." Crosshair warns.
Hunter waves them out of the room, leaving her to catch up on sleep.
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She awakes with a start to the sound of clattering nearby. The trooper bending over to pick up the mop he dropped looks at her sheepishly. She places a hand over her fluttering heart. "Relax. It's alright. I should get up anyway." She smiles at him as she stretches. The trooper quickly makes his way out of the room. She wonders what he did to get cleaning duty while he's on shore leave.
The time on the wall chrono suggests that Hunter has probably dragged the team to the training deck to burn off some of Tech and Wrecker's extra energy. She rolls her shoulders and stands, shoving her feet into her boots before slipping on her armor and blasters.
She still isn't used to all of the attention as she moves through the facility. Clones and non-clones alike eye her up and down, whenever they have shore leave there are always whispers about the commando team full of defective clones. Some look on in awe and others in disgust. It's interesting to take in.
When she walks onto the training deck she is met with a small group of bystanders, a squad by the looks of it. She skirts around them to where Echo sits on the ground watching, "What do you think so far?" She asks as she plops onto the mat next to her.
"Tech is so springy." He shrugs not taking his eyes off of the team.
She barks out a laugh. A few of the watchers look back at the noise. "Has Wrecker thrown anyone yet?" She asks him.
"Not yet. You gonna join in on the fun?" He asks.
"In a bit. I wanted to spend some time with you first." She bumps shoulders with him lightly.
A smile spreads on his face. "With me? Are ya sure?" He laughs.
She laughs again and one of the shinies from the group breaks away and makes their way towards them. "You must be Reaper. There's a lot of comm chatter about you." He says.
"My boys talking shit about me?" The lopsided grin she wears widens.
"Quite the opposite." A new voice says. She looks up to see a clone with light purple markings on his armor, the captain's pauldron shines proudly on his shoulder. "My squad would love to see you on the field with them. Rumor has it you have some abilities that are seldom seen. I would like my men to witness them if at all possible."
She stands from her spot on the ground, "Of course, sir." She lifts her comm, "Boys, count me in for the next round. The Captain here wants me to put on a bit of a show." She grins.
She is met with whooping cheers from Tech and Wrecker. "Nice of you to join the land of the living, LT." Hunter snarks at her. She rolls her eyes as she goes back to Echo. She plops back down onto the mat next to him.
"Hey, do you wanna go on a date? With me?" Echo asks softly.
She looks over at him. "Like an actual date?" Her eyes grow wide, she's never been on an actual date before. "Like with civilian clothes, do I have to wear fancy shoes? I don't have any fancy shoes." Her brain moves at a million klicks an hour.
"Hey, hey. Relax, you don't need fancy shoes." Echo says, his face red.
"I would love to go on a date with you." She smiles.
"Have you been to the botanical gardens?" Of course, that's where he would ask her to go. Just like his original plan. It's adorable.
"No, I haven't. I've heard it's beautiful." She tells him excitedly.
"Reaper!" Hunter calls to her as the sim ends.
She stands and puts on her helmet. "We'll talk later! I promise!" She jogs off with a mock salute.
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Echo watches as they get into position. He stands by the terminal so he can hear their comms as each of them checks in. It seems that Hunter chose one of the more difficult sims for them to complete. The onlookers whisper to themselves as they watch the team circle up. "What plan?" Hunter asks.
This is something he was asking the others before Wildflower joined in, he can hear the grin in her voice when she makes her suggestion. "How about 12?"
"I agree, twelve would be effective for this particular situation." Tech chimes in.
"Good, Reaper. You're getting better." Hunter compliments.
One of the commando droids lunge and Hunter starts this round, on it before he can even blink with his knife. He can hear murmuring from Reapers comm before her hands start to glow. He's never seen her use her magic in combat, this might get interesting. She launches herself at a super battle droid, easily scaling it before shoving her fist through its processor. The spectators go silent as they watch her.
She launches herself off of it, rolling and sending a blast at the droid behind her. He can't look away. None of them can. He barely hears the comm chatter as she flits around the training field, taking out droids as she goes, never once pulling either of her blasters.
And then the sim kicks up a notch and a group of B1s and commando droids surround her. Everyone gasps and starts babbling nervously as they watch her. He tries to focus on the murmuring that her comm is picking up but it's too quiet. The air around her shimmers as she crosses her arms into an X. Her murmuring gets louder before she shouts and pulls her hands down sending a wave of glimmering light into the droids that had backed her into a corner. They all fizzle out and drop to the ground.
Nobody moves or makes a sound for several seconds. They just watch as she kicks through the debris before she hauls herself across the field, finally pulling her sidearm to take out a few B1's that are straggling about.
"That is nothing like a Jedi." Someone finally speaks up.
"That's because she isn't a Jedi. She's a witch." The Captain speaks up. "These abilities are something that we might encounter in the field. Jedi aren't the only ones who can manipulate what's around them. Some species can tap into forces other than the Force. She's one of them."
They all nod as they continue to watch the team, his team. It takes a second to really realize that he is now part of this team. Sure, Wildflower hasn't cleared him for training yet but that doesn't stop him from being part of the team.
Tech takes out the last droid and the sim shuts down. Wrecker cheers and pulls off his helmet. She walks over to the Captain, taking off her helmet. She stands with confidence. "How was that, Captain?" She asks with a grin.
"My men and I are thankful for the opportunity to see you and your team train." He turns to Hunter. "Thank you, Sargent." Hunter nods. The squad turns and leaves.
"You guys always a learning experience?" Echo asks.
"More times than not. It's good for the troopers to get exposure to the way we work. It makes them think more critically." Tech explains.
Echo nods, he will have to get used to people watching him train that aren't his brothers in the 501st. It'll be like ARC training all over again.
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"We should go out for a drink." Crosshair says as he tosses the rag he was using to clean his rifle with at Tech.
"Team bonding?!" Wrecker asks excitedly.
She knows where this is going. She will have to drag five drunk troopers back to the barracks, and none of them have the same alcohol tolerance as the regs. "No, no, no, no. Do you remember what happened last time?" She points a finger at Cross.
"Tech throwing up wasn't our fault," Hunter says.
Tech looks down at his boots. "Sorry." He says.
"We'll be good, Speck. We promise." Wrecker gives her the puppy dog eyes.
She sighs. "Fine. But! If anyone picks a fight with any of the regs, especially the Wolfpack, we're coming back to the barracks." She points at Crosshair. "Do not tell Sargent Sinker your hair is better than his. I will let him kick your ass into next week."
Echo chuckles softly and shakes his head. Her eyes narrow in on him. "Don't think I don't remember drunk you, Mr. Clingy." She accuses. His smile drops from his face as she stares him down.
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Echo is surprised at how well this is going. He sips at whatever Tech had put in front of him earlier, some sort of Spicebrew if he had to guess, and watches Wrecker take down yet another reg at an arm-wrestling match. Wildflower stands at the bar conversing excitedly with two members of The Wolfpack, one of which he figured to be Sargent Sinker as his white hair stands out in the colored lights. Crosshair and Hunter down a shot not far from where she's standing and Tech is nowhere to be seen, if Echo had to guess he's the wandering drunk out of the group. Hardcase was the 501sts. He should go look for him.
Wildflower breaks off from her two friends and moves back to the table. "Have you seen Tech? I'm worried about him." She asks him.
"He wandered off awhile ago. Haven't seen him since." Echo shrugs.
"Eh, he'll turn up eventually. His vambrace has a tracker in it. I'll activate it later if I have too." She slips into the booth next to him and laces her fingers with his.
"You've always been the responsible one. Kix used to call you the Clone Wrangler, ya know." He leans down to talk to her.
"I know. I pretended not to notice." She grins at him.
Two members of the Wolfpack walk up to the table, one of them has long hair, the other scars across his face and neck, burns if he had to guess, he's lucky to be alive.
Wildflower's eyes grow wide at the two. "Comet! Bits!"
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She isn't surprised when two more members of the Wolfpack seek her out. She is surprised by who they are. "Comet! Bits!" She jumps up and locks the younger trooper in a short embrace. She leans back to study the scarring on his neck and face. "You healed well. I'm glad to see it." She turns to Comet, "Your hair is longer. It looks good."
She can feel Echo's eyes on her as she talks to the two troopers. When she finally shoos them away she turns back to him. "Sorry." She apologizes.
"You're fine. You worked with them right?" He asks.
"I worked closely with Boost and Sinker when the war first began. Comet was still a shiny when I was first assigned to them. The team worked with the Wolfpack on a relief mission, we had to do some surveillance. Bits actually helped me out with a few patients at the time. We were ambushed and Boost and Sinker managed to rig an explosion, Bits and Comet were caught in the blast." She explains. "I healed them when I made my way to the medbay after the mission, Sinker too, he wouldn't have survived if I hadn't stepped in." She looks down at the table for a brief moment. "That mission was fun. Freezing rain." She smiles. "It stuck to my visor, nasty."
Hunter and Crosshair make their way back to the table, shots in hand. One gets passed to her, and she stares down at the hot pink liquid. Hunter downs his before slamming the glass on the table. "Come on, Princess. For me?" He pouts.
Her face flushes at the nickname, Drunk Hunter is flirty Hunter, handsy Hunter, worse than usual. She picks up the glass and knocks it back, her face scrunching up at the burn. Crosshair hands her a mixed drink with a wink. She knows that wink, she knows not to trust whatever is in this glass, it's extra strong. She takes a sip of the glowing purple liquid and is pleasantly surprised, it doesn't taste like battery acid.
"Did Tech run off?" Crosshair asks, his words just starting to slur together.
"I'll go look for him in a bit if he doesn't show." She takes another sip of the sweet drink.
"Clone Wrangler." Echo nudges her.
She rolls her eyes at him, the alcohol is starting to buzz in her blood, making her feel loose. Cheers erupt from the crowd surrounding Wrecker. "Looks like someone just lost more credits," Hunter says. His dark eyes look her up and down. "Come sit in my lap, Princess." Before she can protest she's being dragged into his lap, her cuisses clicking against his. He kisses the skin right above the collar of her blacks. "Pretty girl." He mumbles. She picks up her drink to hide the intense blush covering her skin, maybe she can blame it on the alcohol.
She lets her eyes flit back to Echo who is staring at her with a mixture of shock and amusement. Princess? He mouths with a wide grin. At least he isn't as territorial as the rest of the team. She takes a drink and hopes that she can stay in control of her men just for tonight.
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Tech stares wide-eyes at the little violet and blue-green fluff ball in the alley, he doesn't remember how exactly he got there, or how long he has been staring at the damp baby tooka, but he knows he loves it and will not let it live out its life in the alley behind 79's. He takes a look around before he scoops the baby into his bucket, Hunter won't make him put it back if he doesn't know it exists. He just has to keep it a secret from the rest of the team.
He wanders back into the bar, carefully cradling his helmet and tries not to draw any attention to himself as he makes his way to the booth where the rest of his team sits at. Hunter sits with Reaper on his lap, and Echo leans against her, a dopey smile on his face as she talks about something using her hands much more than usual. A glass sits empty in front of her, it's not often she drinks and he knows that that will be the only one she drinks this evening. She's just tipsy enough to let her guard down and not notice the little creature as he slides into their booth.
Crosshair squishes in next to him, immediately looking into his helmet. His eyes grow wide and soft as he reaches into the plastoid to pet it's little head. He knows Cross has no impulse control when it comes to small creatures or small children for that matter.
Reaper barks out a laugh and they both look at each other and then at her and Hunter. A silent deal breaks between them, no one says anything about the tooka. The smallest sneeze makes them both look down at the beast.
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When Crosshair looks into Tech's bucket his heart and insides melt. A tooka kitten is staring up at him with wide, dark eyes. He reaches in and pets it's head with his pointer finger, it's so small. So small.
When Reaper barks out a laugh both him and Tech look at each other before their heads swivel towards the other side of the table. A silent agreement comes between him and his youngest brother, don't let them find out about the baby.
A tiny sneeze makes him look back into the bucket. The baby's eyes are runny and his nose is wet, it's sick.
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She knows something is up with Tech when he slides into the booth cradling his helmet gentler than normal. She prays to the gods above that he didn't throw up in it. She had witnessed poor Tup throw up in Dogma's bucket after a rough landing once. It was horrifying for everyone involved.
When Cross looks into it she witnesses the sniper melt. She nudges Echo and Hunter and gets them to look over at the other side of the table. "At least it's not vomit," Echo says, and she knows that the same exact scene is playing through his mind that she saw a few moments prior. She laughs at his expression.
Both of the men look up at them before they look back down at the helmet. And then she hears it, a sneeze. A tiny, adorable little sneeze. One that could only come from a tooka kitten.
She slides out of Hunters grasp and climbs over Echo, something that took way more effort than it should have, but the drink is already starting to wear off. She wedges herself between Echo and Tech, Tech looks up at her in fear as she tilts the bucket so she can see what's inside. The little creature is blinking up at her, eyes runny and nose wet. "Oh, the little baby is sick." She croons.
"Tech, what's in the bucket?" Hunter asks, putting on his best Sargent voice.
Tech looks to her and then to Hunter, his eyes wide. He simply holds up his helmet and tilts it to Hunter with a pout.
"The little thing is sick." She puts on her best 'please don't make me put this sick baby back in the gutter' pout. The wheels in her head are already turning. How can she get this thing better? Where can she get the meds it needs? How much will the meds cost? Based on the crowd Wrecker is drawing she doesn't think credits will be the main issue. No, the main issue would be the stern Sargent staring them down with his best death glare. Oh, but he doesn't realize it's already three to one, and with the way Echo is trying to peer into the helmet, it's about to be four. She picks up the skinny thing and passes it to Echo, who cradles it against his chest plate with his good hand. He coos at it and she knows that Hunter has lost this argument.
"Hey, guys. What's that?" Wrecker asks, pointing at the fluff ball against Echo.
"Sick tooka." Hunter sighs.
Wrecker reaches for the baby, taking it from Echo's hand gently. There are tears in his eyes as he stares at it, "So tiny." Five to one.
When she finally remembers that a seedy clone bar is no place for a baby animal she nudges Tech and Cross off of the bench. "I have a contact who can help. She's proficient in multiple magics. I'm going to go give her a call." She pushes her way through the crowd of rowdy clones before she finally gets through the door. Bars were never her thing.
She types in Miss Estrella's comm frequency and prays that the old woman is still awake. "Flora! It's so good to hear from you, dear. It's late, you wouldn't comm me unless it was an emergency. What's going on?" The woman asks.
"One of my squad members found a baby tooka. It's not doing the greatest, runny eyes and nose, sneezes. I'm not familiar with treating animals. I was hoping you could help." She explains.
She hears the woman root around for something for a moment and then she's back. "Come to the shop as soon as you can. I'll be waiting for you."