Nooooo! No Goodbyes!

Nooooo! No goodbyes!

saying goodbye

Detail Work

Read here on Ao3!

Author’s Note: This elderly story is the second Bad Batch fanfic I ever wrote that I only posted on Archive of Our Own and never on Tumblr (except as a link). I’ve decided I wanna cross-post my older works 🫶 More older (read rougher) fics to come 😅

Rated: G | Words: 1204 | Summary: Omega asks for Tech’s help.

Omega sat with her arms folded on the table, her head pillowed on them comfortably, watching Tech work in companionable silence. The others had gone on a supply run earlier that morning, and Tech was using the quiet as an opportunity to delve into some of his lesser important projects. Currently, this consisted of rewiring the comm in his helmet to allow him the ability to switch between frequencies more smoothly. While GAR regulations had not deeply affected his willingness to alter equipment, it had put a damper on it – especially when Echo joined the batch. He never thought Echo would necessarily “tattle” on him, but there had always been a wary glint in Echo’s eye that made Tech keep his more daring improvements secret from the ARC Trooper.

He had no such qualms now.

“You’re really good at twisting the wires around like that,” Omega said suddenly.

Tech acknowledged her with a hum.

“You’re good at detail work, aren’t you?” Omega asked, although it was not really a question.

“I like to think so,” Tech agreed, not looking up from his work.

“Better than anyone else I’ve ever seen,” Omega continued.

Tech finally spared a glance in Omega’s direction, eyes narrowed. He had a feeling that this line of conversation was going in the direction of – as Wrecker called it – attempting to “butter him up” with the intent of getting something she wanted. After a pause, he said, “Thank you, Omega. I appreciate your confidence in my work.”

Omega didn’t lift her head from her arms but smiled at him shyly.

“My hair is getting pretty long,” Omega said, changing the subject abruptly.

“Hmm, yes,” Tech agreed, tossing another glance in her direction. “I suppose we should consider cutting it soon to be a more manageable length.”

To his surprise, Omega bristled, sitting up straight. “I can manage it this long,” she said coldly. “I’m not complaining about it. Besides, Hunter’s hair is even longer than mine and he manages just fine.”

Confused by Omega’s suddenly heated tone, Tech wondered if he had missed something, replaying the brief conversation in his head to find his mistake. Perhaps he had misunderstood her comment about the length of her hair? He should have responded positively rather than try to correct a perceived problem. Ah.

“I apologize, I did not mean to imply that you could not manage the current length of your hair,” he intoned awkwardly.

Omega’s furrowed face smoothed out, and she smiled again, shrugging off the accidental slight. Tech relaxed, appreciative that he had managed to avoid a crisis of emotions without his more emotionally intelligent brothers present.

“That’s alright,” Omega said brightly.

“I believe,” Tech said carefully, “that you were making a point...about your hair?”

“Yes,” Omega agreed readily, “I think that it is finally long enough to braid!”

Tech considered her hair length with his analytical mind. “I believe you are correct,” he said.

“So,” Omega said, seemingly encouraged by his words, “I was wondering – since you are good with detail work – if you could do it? Braid my hair?”

And there it was. The entire point of the conversation, which had, in reality, never diverted from its original course. Tech had to give the girl credit for catching him completely off guard, especially in the fact that he was struggling with denying her simple and trusting request.

Her eyes stared straight into his, sparkling with hope and determination.

“Ah, yes, well,” Tech stammered, his project now completely forgotten in his hands. “Well,” he tried again, “I am afraid I don’t know how to braid hair.”

“That’s okay,” Omega said smoothly, as if she’d expected as much. She held up a datapad she’d had in her lap. “I found instructions. They are very comprehensive." The last word was stilted, as though she were ensuring she said it correctly.

She really had thought of everything.

Tech gave her a wry smile. “How long have you been planning on enlisting me to braid your hair, Miss Omega?”

Omega grinned, averting her gaze to the pad in her hands. “Maybe since I found out the others were going to be gone on a supply run a few days ago?”

He appreciated that she had planned it around their brothers not being present. While he was certain they would not be unkind about Tech braiding Omega’s hair, he imagined that they would feel obliged to lightheartedly rib him a bit on the subject...as brothers do.

“I suppose I had better start reading these instructions then,” Tech said, taking the datapad from her.

***

The smile that lit up Omega’s face made his heart warm with sentimental emotion. No wonder his brothers were so easy to persuade into her whimsical schemes – her happiness was most contagious and addicting.

After some trial and error, Tech was finally able to sit back and admire his work. While Omega had been correct in assessing that Tech was proficient in what she called “detailed work”, hair was a much more delicate medium than he was accustomed to. Hair seemed to have a mind of its own, going every which way while his fingers clumsily tried to reign it in. Granted, his attempts were undoubtedly better than what any of his brothers might have managed given the same task.

“I believe I have finally finished,” Tech said, giving one of her braids a gentle and playful tug.

They were very short at the ends, but since he had started the braids at her hairline, it made the braids look ornate although the tails barely went past the nape of her neck.

“Oh!” Omega breathed, reaching up, her hands carefully touching her hair, feeling the plaits with her fingers, and tracing them down to the ends. “I’m going to look in the mirror!” She jumped up and ran to the ‘fresher, Tech trailing behind her.

She stood on tip toe to peer into the reflective metal plate attached above the sink. It was hardly reflective anymore, dented and scraped to the point that Omega’s reflection was disfigured and dull. She didn’t voice her disappointment over not being able to see Tech’s hard work, but her shoulders sagged a bit at the realization.

Tech quickly came up with a solution. “What if I take a holopic?” he asked. “Then perhaps you might see it in more detail.”

Omega could barely stand still long enough for him to take a clear pic before she was scrambling to take the datapad out of his hands and examine it. “Wow,” she gasped, her voice soft, “they look even better than I imagined! Thank you so much, Tech!”

“You are most welcome,” Tech responded with a smile, and before he could catch himself or think better of it, he added, “And should you need help again in the future, I would be happy to assist.”

Omega put the datapad down on the table and threw her arms around Tech’s waist, hugging him tight. “I’m so happy that I have a brother like you,” she said, squeezing impossibly tighter.

Tech chuckled and patted the top of her head, careful not to disturb the woven tresses. “And I am most grateful to have a sister like you.”

END

39 notes View Post

singingwhilebaking

11 months ago

Yay! I've not seen RDR2 so I don't know that all, but this is adorable and I'm nervous!

Marked Part 1

A Bad Batch x Red Dead Redemption crossover AU (with illustrations :)

This is my first time writing fanfiction!

“Omega” felt like too sci-fi of a name for this universe so I changed it to “Meggy”. Everyone else is the same.

If you haven’t played RDR2 don’t worry, I’m not counting on every reader having done so. All you need to know is it’s about a gang of outlaws in 1899 running from trouble, chaos everywhere. There are also some sci-fi elements to the world that I may or may not implement :) This takes place around the first chapter of RDR2 when the Van Der Linde gang is camped out at Horseshoe Overlook.

Word count: 2045

No content warnings.

The foothills above Valentine were peaceful, densely forested, and rarely traversed. Above the treetops the snowy peak of Mount Hagen shone like a beacon. Below the hillside the earth plunged into the deep and narrow Dakota River canyon. It was a perfect place to lie low for a while. Plan the next move.

Meggy sat on the back of her brothers’ wagon, the horses had been unhitched and were grazing on the small clearing where they had set up camp. The contentedness of the beasts calmed her. The two massive horses simply snacking away and existing, nothing else on their mind. She wished she could escape worry so easily as the breeze blew her short blonde hair and ruffled her skirt.

Swimming in her own thoughts, she didn’t hear her brother's voice calling to her until he was beside her. “There you are!” Hunter sighed with relief as he approached. “Are you… alright?” His tone dropped quieter.

“Yeah, just thinking I guess.” Meggy swung her boots ponderously. She held something in her hands, resting on her lap.

“What’s this?” Hunter came closer, looking at her hands.

Meggy froze. Frozen like she had rehearsed time and time again at the school. Bracing herself physically and mentally to be in trouble, again. She looked down with shame.

Hunter parted her hands, revealing a tiny rabbit kit, its unweaned eyes still closed. “Where’d you find this?”

Meggy looked up and was confused to see her brother smiling. This was wrong. She should be in trouble for touching dirty animals.

“Under the wagon.” She muttered, still not convinced she wasn’t about to be reprimanded, especially now that she had just confessed to a second crime: crawling around under a vehicle.

“We should find its nest, it needs its mother.” Hunter took a step back. Meggy stared at him, her mind was still not catching up to the fact of what was going on. “Pick him up, let’s go look.” Hunter helped her off the wagon so she could safely cup the tiny creature in both of her equally tiny hands.

“Look for a hole capped with fur, there might be tracks of bare earth in front of it, and cropped grass.” Hunters eyes scanned the forest floor for rabbitsign, Meggy watched him and then mimicked his movements.

Hunter noticed that Meggy was uncharacteristically quiet as they searched. Did I do something wrong? Having a kid around had been an ongoing adjustment. In the short time she had been with them Meggy had shown a wide range of emotions, profoundly sensitive and resilient at the same time.. But this was the first time he had seen her freeze up like this.

The kit began to squeak incessantly. Hunter saw a flit of movement near a Boulder. Meggy followed his gaze. A rabbit doe near her burrow.

As they neared she scurried back underground, Meggy deposited the kit near the hole and they watched it crawl inside.

“Nice work, kid!” He held his hand out for a high five, Meggy flinched, almost imperceptibly, but Hunter noticed.

In a moment the worry melted off her face and she grinned, slapping his hand with her new energy. “That was fun! Do you think I can learn to track like you someday?”

“I think you just had your first lesson.”

The next few days were a much needed break from action, for the most part. The gang lived on small game, wild edibles, and what was left of their canned goods. Wrecker showed Meggy how to pick the best firewood. Echo lent her a couple of his books, glad to have a third person around who knew how to read. Crosshair kept his distance, but patiently entertained some of her questions as he cleaned his rifle. Then sent her away after warning her to stay away from their munitions crate.

Tech finally caved to Meggy’s insistence on riding one of their draft horses. He picked Marauder, the slightly less excitable of the two. The chestnut gelding was certainly not a kid’s horse, but as a retired warhorse, he was desensitized at least. Meggy was surprised at how much thinking went into riding, or maybe that was just because Tech was her teacher. He had a lot to say about riding technique. As he lunged Maurauder with Meggy astride, barely able to straddle the barrel chested beast, he rattled on about gaits, position, neck-reining, posting, side-passing, halting, and so on.

Meggy woke on the fourth morning. A wave of bliss washed over her as she sat up in her bedroll. The last few days had truly been the best ever, living off the land with her brothers who she didn’t even know she had until a couple weeks ago. They chose to risk everything to save her.

She was still coming to terms with what they had sacrificed for her. Couldn’t help but feel a twitch of guilt every time she could sense them censoring their usual crass demeanor in front of her (even though Wrecker had already willingly taught her a few of his favorite curse words). She didn’t want them to change for her, but also didn’t want to be anywhere else in the whole world. Crosshair seemed especially snide about her presence, always keeping his distance and almost never speaking to her.

She scanned the camp, the fire was still smoldering, the bedrolls still lined around it like a flower. Two of which were empty, one was neatly made, the other looking like a wild animal had escaped from it.

She got dressed and walked around the wagon, surprised to see Hunter and Echo tacking up the horses.

“You’re leaving?”

Hunter looked up first “You’re up early!” He adjusted Havoc’s bridle. “Just getting some supplies in town, we’ll be right back.”

“Can I come? Please?!”

Echo glanced up at her,, and then looked to Hunter “I don’t think it’s a good idea.” He said before going back to picking Marauder’s hoof, holding it on his thigh between his torso and what was left of his right arm.

There was a long silence. Echo could practically smell Hunter’s guilty look, even with the ass end of a horse between them.

“Of course you can come.”Hunter gave in. Echo rolled his eyes.

Meggy tried to contain her excited squeal.

“Hunter, there are people looking for her, we can't bring her to town.” Echo spat as he stood up.

“Don’t worry, I have an idea.” Hunter smirked.

The world was so much bigger than she ever could have imagined. The trees flew by as the trio cantered down the wagon trail toward Valentine. Meggy rode with Hunter on Havoc, his black mane nearly whipping her in the face. The speed was terrifying at first, but Meggy’s fear was quickly replaced by excitement as they got closer to town.

Her skirt had been replaced by a pair of extra trousers lying around, they didn’t have a belt small enough so a length of rope held them up. Finding a hat that didn’t look ridiculous on her was more challenging but a wool cap ended up being the best fit.

Now hopefully anyone looking for a “girl kidnapped from the Saint Denis Orphanage” wouldn’t think twice if they saw a boy.

Echo still didn’t think it would work.

The streets were still a sloppy, muddy mess from rain several days ago. Echo frowned as he dismounted and his boots sunk into the filth. They hitched the horses and went about their business, Echo to the gunsmith and Hunter and Meggy to the general store.

The streets were fairly quiet, an early start to the day meant less eyes around.

Meggy marveled at the abundance of items in the general store as Hunter bartered with the shop owner. She had so many questions, so many items she couldn’t identify, but tried to keep quiet so her boyish illusion would remain uncompromised. Once Hunter had packed the new supplies into his saddlebag they exited the store.

”G’morning, mister. Got a light?” A tall burly man leaned against the wall just outside the store. Meggy startled a bit, Hunter did not, he heard the lumbering figure approach while they were still inside.

“Sure.” Hunter fumbled in his pocket for his lighter and handed it to the man. The flame illuminated his face, his eyes rimmed with the cracked tan skin of someone who spent a lot of time outdoors. His battered brown hat and dirty blue jacket bore similar weathering. He took a long drag and handed the lighter back. “Thank you mister.” He blew out the smoke “and little miss.”

Hunter nodded and began to walk away, then realized what the man had just said… “little miss”. It could be nothing… just a slip of the tongue… there’s no way someone this far out could know who she was. He quickened his pace as they rounded away toward the gunsmith.

The man took one more drag from his cigarette before putting it out on the ashtray on the windowsill, as he did so he scanned across the street toward another figure sitting in front of the saloon. A shorter, thinner man with black greasy hair and a black hat, two long scars clawed from under his eye to the corners of his jaw. The blue-jacketed man gave a nod just big enough to be seen from the distance between them.

Inside the gunsmith, Hunter spoke in a low voice from behind Echo “we should go.”

“I’m not finished yet.” Echo was inspecting the quality of the bullets he was about to purchase.

“Just get them and let's go.” Hunter murmured.

Echo gave an annoyed look, but reluctantly agreed and they paid the gunsmith.

As they exited the store Hunter’s paranoia climbed several levels when he saw the stranger was gone, his presence replaced by his still smoldering cigarette.

The trio hurried to the horses, mounted up, and headed back up the hill into the forest.

“What the hell was that about?” Echo scolded once they were farther away from town.

“I just got a bad feeling.” Hunter checked over his shoulder for the fifth time in a minute, instinctually resting his hand on his thigh holster.

“But we just got here!” Wrecker complained loudly, the only way he knew how to complain. The gang deliberated around their late morning campfire.

“I agree, moving camp would be unwise.” Tech fiddled with some type of hardware from the wagon on his lap. “Moving around would only draw more attention from more people.”

Crosshair remained silent, dragging on his first cig of the day. “If you really think they were after Meggy, don’t you think that guy would’ve just taken us then and there while we were in town? Instead of now when we’re back with our full party?”Echo wondered.

“If he’s such a good bounty hunter that he found us all the way across three states, surely he could take on one guy, a gimp, and a child.” Crosshair smirked.

Echo ignored his antagonistic younger brother.

Hunter sighed.

“I’m sorry. This is all my fault, isn’t it?” Omega sulked in the grass, hugging her knees at her chin. Flowers she had picked drooping in her hands.

“Her situational comprehension is quite high for someone her age.” Tech observed.

“We’ll be fine. We’re far off the trail, hidden by the trees. I did my best to cover our tracks. Let’s just keep the fire small tonight, we’ll be fine.” Hunter reassured them.

“Four men, two of them are the ones we saw in town earlier.” Arthur focused his binoculars across the canyon. “No wait, five.”

“What’s the plan?” John shifted.

“Bounty is for all of them, but the kid is the biggest reward.”

“And we gotta bring them all back to Saint Denis?”

“Nah, I talked to the sheriff in town, said he can hold them until we can wire someone to collect. For a price.”

“No way we can take all five of those guys.”

“For once, we agree, Marston.” Arthur noticed one of the taller fellows cleaning his rifle. “Poster said they’re ex-military.”

“What are they doing kidnapping an orphan?”

“I don’t know, but it can't be good." Arthur lowered the binoculars.

229 notes View Post

singingwhilebaking

10 months ago