Nerd Chaos

To say that Omega was nervous for her first day of school understated things severely.

School had always been a touchy subject for her older brothers. She could hear them yelling at each other about it late at night. She’d heard their stories and how scared they were for her, because of how hard they’d had it.

While Omega knew she should not have been spying, and that her brothers would never send her somewhere they were genuinely concerned that she’d be hurt, that didn’t stop the butterflies from roaming around her stomach.

She currently stood at the front gate of Pabu Elementary School. It was a different school from the one Echo went to–something about the district borders changing–so even though she and her brothers technically lived in Tipoca City, Omega had ended up going to school here. This one went up to sixth grade.

The girl held tight to Hunter’s arm with both hands, her right surrounded by his left. The eldest had been the only one to walk her out, but the others were anxiously waiting in the car to give her space. Not that she actually wanted it.

Hunter kneeled down so that he was at eye-level with his sister, taking both of her hands in his.

“You’re gonna be just fine, Omega. Today’s just gonna be getting to know your teacher and your classmates. If you need something, raise your hand, try to make friends, and talk to your teacher if you want us to come and get you early. And,” Hunter sucked in a shaky breath, clearly trying to hold back tears as he brushed a strand of hair from the kid’s face and tucked it back behind her ear, “be good.”

Tears welled up in Omega’s eyes, the fear seeping into her heart when her older brother pressed a gentle kiss onto her forehead. She embraced him, holding him tight, until Hunter finally pulled back and stood, gesturing for her to enter the campus.

As Omega walked away, she looked back briefly to see Hunter still standing there, waving her goodbye. In the near distance she saw Wrecker roll down a window of the Marauder and yell, “Go get ‘em, Megs!” She laughed a watery laugh and waved at them, before turning her back on her brothers, taking a deep breath, and entering uncharted space.

…

The bell rang over the school's speakers as Omega sat down in her seat. The teacher had told her students as they came in that they could choose where to sit, so Omega decided on one at the back, close to the furthest wall but still with a clear visual and path to the door. Mark your exits and keep them in your sights, Crosshair had told her.

“Welcome, class!” the instructor started. “My name, as you all hopefully know, is Mrs. Syndulla.”

She spoke with an accent different from the one Omega's brothers used, and her hair was pulled back into two long braids, starting near her scalp. The girl recognized it as the common hairstyle of the Twi’lek people, not to be confused with that of Togrutas, who wore a third braid as well as twin buns atop their crowns. Different people and their lifestyles always fascinated her, much like it did Tech.

As Mrs. Syndulla finished up her introduction and a little bit about herself–like how her daughter goes to the same school–she informed the children that she would be taking roll call, and asked, “When you hear your name, could you please stand and tell us something about yourself?”

Omega listened as the teacher went through the alphabet of last names, students sharing things like their favorite color, or animal, or nothing particularly interesting. There was only one person who really caught her attention: Hazard, Lyana, whose aunt was a real pirate. Finally, she called for Omega.

“Hello,” Omega started as she stood. “Um, something about me is that I have never been to school before.”

A commotion started as children whispered things like “How is that possible?” and “She's so lucky!” Omega flushed and Mrs. Syndulla tried to calm her students.

“My mother always taught me,” she tried to explain.

“That's okay, Omega,” her teacher smiled kindly at the girl, “We're glad to have you here.”

After finishing up roll and learning what basic topics the fifth grade would cover–most of which Omega believed to be child's play–Mts. Syndulla gave them their first assignment. They were meant to write about what they did over the summer, and whew, that would be a doozy. It was a good thing they had two days to work on it because, well….

A lot had happened over Omega’s summer. Her whole world had been turned upside down. One day she was surviving on her own while her mother was wrapped up in her experiments and husband, and the next Omega was seeing the sun for the first time in months, eating real food, and meeting her brothers who hadn't previously known that she even existed.

The boys had done their best to get her acclimated to a normal childhood. Because of them, life was pretty good. She had her own room, was able to do as she pleased, and while she liked to help out with cooking and cleaning and other chores, she didn’t need to. There would always be food on the table and she had plenty of company. Omega would never be alone again.

Now, just how does one fit all of that into a two-paged handwritten essay?

…

After a couple of hours, Omega followed her class outside to something called ‘recess.’ Apparently, it was a fifteen-minute break in which the students could use the playground to express their imaginations and to expel some excess energy that they had. Omega found herself sitting on a bench alone, with her only company being a book.

“What are you reading?” a voice beside her asked, and Omega looked up to see the girl she noted from earlier, Lyana. Omega told her.

“What's it about?” Lyana came to sit next to Omega, who studied the other child closely.

Lyana seemed genuinely interested in her classmate’s readings, which confused Omega. None of the other kids dared to give her anything more than an awkward glance and barely-concealed laughter after a whisper that was likely meant to taunt or tease her.

Omega explained the basic premise of the book without giving away too much of the plot. Her companion was surprised.

“That sounds really advanced for a fifth grader.” Lyana stated, putting her hands behind her head and leaning back on the bench. She looked up at the sky.

“Is it?” Omega quiered. “My older brother gave it to me. He said that he really liked it, so he's letting me borrow it.”

“That's nice of him. Sometimes I wish I has siblings, but my dad says that I'm a handful enough!” Lyana laughed.

“I don't have a dad,” Omega stated quietly.

“That's alright,” the other girl said gently, “not everyone does. I don't have a mom like you do.”

“That's probably for the best,” Omega chuckled humorlessly. “My mom is nothing like my brothers. She didn't want me to be around them or any kids. I didn't know a lot of what I know now about the world because she just never told me. I think I still don't know a lot.”

Lyana listened as Omega spilled her guts about how she'd been feeling, how her life had been before she left her mother's home.

Hunter was able to set her up with a therapist, but because of something with their insurance, she only met with Dr. Ti twice a month, instead of the once a week she probably needed. Crosshair even cut back on his sessions for his sister, and the effects of that showed. He tried his best for her, though.

When she was done, Omega was crying, and Lyana slowly pulled her into a gentle hug, loose enough that she could leave if so desired.

“That must've been very lonely,” she stated, “but I'm glad that you're with them now. They seem nice.”

“They are,” Omega’s voice was thick with emotions, and the congestion caused by her tears was evident. “I'm glad to be with them. I love them, and I know that they love me back.”

She returned Lyana's hug and cried softly into the other girl's shoulder. She was nice, held Omega’s hand as they walked back to class and got her some tissues, too.

Lyana and Omega sat together at lunch and talked, just getting to know each other. Omega laughed in a way that she hadn't for a while.

Yes, Omega and Lyana would make quite the pair, and nobody was unhappy about it.

…

When dismissal time rolled around, the two girls walked out together, hand-in-hand. Lyana saw her dad and waved him over.

“This is Omega!” She introduced excitedly.

“Hello Omega,” the man leaned down and shook her hand. “Welcome to Pabu.”

Omega learned two big things about this man. The first being that he was the mayor of Pabu, somehow knowing everyone in town, so he could recognize new people. And the second, more important thing, was that he was kind.

After a few minutes of excitedly talking with Lyana and being invited over to have dinner with them one night, Omega heard her name called.

Hunter stood waving at her.

“I gotta go, but it was nice meeting you. Thanks!” She hurriedly told the Hazards, barely hearing Lyana's reply that she'll see her tomorrow as Omega dashed over to Hunter.

He nearly toppled over at the force with which his little sister came at him. Knelt down, he too embraced her tightly.

“How was it?” He asked when he finally pulled back. “Did it go okay? Did you make any friends? Did you–”

Hunter was silenced as Omega put her left index finger over his lips with a wide smile.

“I'll tell you all about when we get home to the others,” she promised.

Dinner that night was filled with concerned questions followed by animated chatter from the young girl. It seemed like school had turned out to be a far better success than expected, to everyone's relief.

It took a bit of time, but eventually, Hunter cracked. Omega needed to start school.

It definitely wasn’t ideal, and each of his younger brothers had proposed their opposition to the idea on multiple occasions, but in the end the choice belonged to the kid’s primary guardian, and he knew that it was time.

Tech was furious. So was Crosshair. Wrecker was just…sad, maybe? Hunter couldn’t quite find a word for it.

Echo had tried to warm Omega up to the idea by taking her shopping for supplies, but, unfortunately for Hunter, that meant he was alone with people who had started to hate him. Crosshair shot glares from every room they coexisted in. Tech was giving him the silent treatment, having locked himself in his room with noise-canceling headphones and only answering Cross’ texts. Wrecker was doing housework. A lot more than usual. By the time Echo and Omega were on their way home, Hunter found him in the garden.

While usually Tech’s domain, Wrecker sometimes helps out with watering, building separation fences, and resoiling. Today he was harvesting fresh tomatoes, not daring to touch the poinsettias and marigolds. Tech was very proud of his flowers.

“You said you’d never send any of us back there,” he casually tossed out as Hunter kneeled down beside the veggies, looking at a carrot leaf.

“Wrecker, this is different,” he tried to reason. “Omega needs to be around kids her own age. Worst case? She hates it and we pull her out. Tech homeschools her, and I find a better paying job.”

The younger of the two brothers placed the vegetable he was holding into a basket before sitting up and looking at Hunter.

“But it was so bad for us, Hunter. And nobody did anything.”

“We didn’t want to be a burden,” the eldest admits, acknowledging for the first time in a long time truly how terrible things were back in their school days, the reminders having been sitting in the air for a few weeks.

It was tough. Really tough.

Crosshair was picking fights every other day, always on the verge of getting suspended. His actions towards the end of senior year even brought him to the brink of expulsion.

Wrecker didn’t actually know what was happening for a while. While the batch were older than most of Cody’s brothers, few didn’t see them as a mistake during their childhood and teens. Jesse and Kix in particular gave Wrecker a hard time, which caused Cross to get used to fighting, which made Wrecker even more confused, as he thought everyone was just joking around. Hunter wanted to keep at least one brother in ignorant bliss, but it couldn’t last. The kid with the reputation as more of a gentle giant started having difficulties with his anger in much the same way that Crosshair did. Only, he thankfully dealt with it more healthfully through other means, and not by punching other kids.

Tech was…understandably changed by the bullying. His mental health was challenged, Hunter knew. The packed bag under the genius’ bed didn’t slip the future sergeant’s keen senses. He was just grateful Tech decided not to use it.

“I just…I don’t wanna hafta teach the kid how to deal with all of that,” Wrecker pulled Hunter from his thoughts with the statement.

“Yeah, I get it,” the elder started, “But Cody’s got a friend in the district. He says that things have changed. Maybe we should give it a try?”

Hunter looked to his younger brother, who stared back and smiled.

“Okay,” Wrecker agreed, nodding, “We can try. For Omega.”

Hunter nodded once.

“Yeah,” he said, “for Omega.”

…

Crosshair was pacing back and forth, actually seething.

“I would prefer it if you did not pace holes into my carpeting,” Tech didn’t even look up from where his eyes were glued to his laptop on the desk.

“I took my shoes off,” Crosshair snapped, “isn’t that enough?”

“Not at the speed at which you are walking,” Tech mumbled very quietly.

Crosshair stopped and huffed.

“What do you want me to do?” He questioned angrily, nearly snapping the toothpick between his teeth in half. “Hunter is going to send Omega to our equivalent of hell!”

“Yes, and?”

The lack of answer and silence made Tech look up to see Crosshair staring back at him–mouth open and toothpick on the floor–completely aghast.

“What?” Tech asked.

“How are you okay with this? You had to deal with far more karabast than the rest of us. And I know you hid it until you burst,” Cross’ expression saddened with disbelief. “You’d really subject her to that?”

Tech sighed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and moving his chair from the desk so that he could more easily face his brother.

“Omega is a very social child. She has expressed this by enthusiastically conversing not only with our relatives, but also with Rex’s godchildren. She will likely have no difficulty making friends, and if she does indeed dislike the traditional learning environment, it is as Hunter said,” the older brother huffed and rolled his eyes at Crosshair's blank expression. “Hunter and I discussed it and came to the conclusion that should Omega not be compatible for public schooling, I would homeschool her and Hunter would search for alternate means of employment. I was under the impression that everyone had been informed.”

This somehow, finally made Crosshair relax, nodding his head.

“Okay,” he said.

“And besides,” Tech turned back to his work, “The system has changed. Perhaps this will be for the better.”

“So then, why aren't you talking to Hunter? Are you still mad at him?”

“No,” Tech stared out into space, “but I do wish for him to stew in his misery for a short while longer. It will be good for him in the long run.”

Crosshair chuckled at that and Tech smiled.

A comfortable silence then fell upon the two. Tech went back to work and Crosshair finally sat down on his brother’s bed. He had picked up and thrown away the fallen toothpick, instead replacing it with a lollipop from Tech’s secret stash that may or may not have been the cause of an ant infestation at one point or another.

The click-clacking of the genius’ keyboard soothed the mind of the former sniper. He was not used to caring for someone so much younger than him–or, really, anyone besides his brothers–and it was difficult. But, maybe, if Tech and Hunter both agreed to it, it wouldn’t be that bad.

And besides, the school year didn’t start for a few more weeks. He still had time to prepare her for the worst…and maybe show her how to pull a few pranks that even Fives probably couldn’t come up with.

Omega had been living with her brothers for about two weeks when Echo dared bring up the topic of education.

Their little sister had gone up to bed, Wrecker was just finishing the dishes, Tech and Hunter were discussing work schedules since Hunter had a therapy appointment but didn’t have a car and Tech really needed to work, and Crosshair was reading.

Wrecker had just settled on the couch beside Cross while the others were across the way at the island when their heads snapped to the hall at Echo’s request.

“She’s not ready,” Hunter stated immediately, face stony and dark.

“I agree,” Tech added, “she needs more time to get acclimated to this new environment.”

“It’s been two weeks,” Echo tried to reason.

“Too much change too soon can’t be good for her,” Cross snarled. He’d closed his book.

“Why does Omega need to go to school, anyways?” Wrecker questioned. “When we were her age we didn’t start public school for another two years!”

“And look how that turned out,” Echo eyed them all. “She needs to make friends now before she’s thrust into the most judgemental and insecure group of school kids known to the world. Having to learn to make friends, navigate school, and find out about herself and her place here in the world? It’s too much to start her out later.”

The others stayed quiet, so Echo continued, but Tech and Hunter were clearly forming arguments.

“I’m not saying that we start her tomorrow. But maybe this next school year? She needs to make friends.”

“Like you had any,” Hunter scoffed just a bit too loudly.

“You know I did, Hunter, you’ve met them.”

“Pretty sure following Rex and his best friend all day doesn’t count.”

“It was more than just them, but that’s besides the point here!” Echo was getting angrier now.

“Even if socialization were to be beneficial for her, Omega does not need to be subjected to the public school system. None of us are neurotypical, and it stands to reason that she would have just as difficult a time–if not more so since she’d be going in alone–functioning in a traditional school setting. Especially,” Tech all but glared bloody murder at Echo, “with insecure peers. Children are quite harsh, even at Omega’s age.”

“We didn’t even like school,” Wrecker pouted, “can’t Tech just teach her?”

“Now, hold on a minute,” Hunter interjected, attitude flipping on a dime. “As much as we’d all enjoy that, Tech has the highest paying job of us all. And with Omega here now, we need that money.”

“I think Tech’s got a point,” Crosshair removed the randomly-spawned toothpick out of his mouth. He’d taken to chewing on them to relieve stress and prevent other, more dangerous habits from forming. “He’s high-functioning in most cases, especially school. If he hated it and thinks that Omega should be kept out of it, shouldn’t we listen?”

“Tech’s no better case than the rest of you,” Echo growled.

“Not technically. I did have one educator I found to be not completely unbearable,” Tech noted his brothers' surprised expressions but otherwise ignored them, “but the education process was still excruciating and I would have much rather done self-education like I always had.”

Wrecker gave a smug look as Tech folded his hands over. Echo sighed, he knew they’d won this round. He looked at Hunter and Tech, Omega’s primary legal caregivers.

“Just…just think about it, okay? I think that it’d be good for her.”

Tech opened his mouth to say something but Hunter beat him to it.

“We will.” However light the promise, Echo knew his brother meant it.

And with that, Echo went to bed.

…

Four long, restless nights that had turned into mornings two weeks after the initial school conversation had Tech in a rather nasty mood. He didn’t like school, never had and never will, which was much of the reason he didn’t go to college. Plus, the military was a job he could do with his brothers where his technical expertise was both valued and necessary.

That’s not to say that Tech didn’t like learning. Quite the opposite, of course. However, a traditional school setting just didn't fit as well for him as homeschooling did. Oh how he envied his younger brothers for their extra year away from public school.

Tech preferred to sit at home and read a book. A mentor teaching him one-on-one might have been fine, as his peers were…not conducive to learning.

But anyways, back to his mood.

Echo consistently brought up the idea that Omega should start school now, so she’d have at least a school year to get adjusted to classroom learning before middle school. And Tech could tell that Hunter was slowly but surely cracking.

They argued about it often. Tech understood how important it was for her development to make friends, but there were other ways to do that, and what Hunter didn’t understand was how hard it truly was for him to learn. Worksheets and homework were a large part of their grades in school, but Tech could understand none of it. That just wasn't how his mind worked, and he really should have either been reading inside quietly or tinkering and learning by trial and error. But mistakes were somehow frowned upon in school.

And of course, there was the bullying.

Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Crosshair had all been bullied in middle and high school, and while each one had put on a brave face, it did actually bother Tech far more than his brothers. Harmful words ate at him late at night, and his focus severely lacked because of it.

He once packed a to-go bag, planning to stay with Cody for a few weeks while he figured things out or until he turned eighteen and could enlist. But Tech had never had the courage to do it. He started talking to his grandfather and school counselor, which helped significantly.

But while Tech slowly got better, the bullying never stopped.

And Omega should not have to go through that.

Hunter didn’t understand.

And maybe he never would.

As it turned out, Omega was a fairly easy child to shop for. Many medium-quality garments were more comfortable for her, so Tech put together about nine outfits and Hunter got a few extra t-shirts for the girl. After getting some pajama sets, all that was left were shoes. Omega was a bit pickier here, as she didn’t like how hot some materials made her feet (Tech couldn’t blame her, he’d always hated the fuzz in snow boots, even with socks), but they got through it with minimal fuss and were on their way home.

When Echo received the text from Hunter confirming such, he grimaced and looked around.

The house was a mess, to put it lightly. Not lightly: It was a karking disaster.

The house was made up of two main stories, with an attic and newly-discovered basement as well.

From the entryway, one could see the living room on the left and kitchen on the right. Straight ahead were the main staircase and the hall. Down the hall to the right was the master bedroom. Previously belonging to Ninety-Nine, it took up most of that side of the house, save for the small laundry room towards the back door.

To the left of the hall was a doorway under the stairs (previously thought to be a cupboard) that led to the large basement. Past that was the main guest bedroom and an all-access bathroom next door that the boys had remodeled a bit to be more accessible for Echo. Upon request, he was the only one who used it and guests went upstairs.

Going upwards, two bedrooms were present on the left and one on the right, the bathroom occupying the extra space on that side. The first room on the left had been used for storage, mostly seasonal things like indoor decorations and clothing, but also former military uniforms, important medical, military, and just general existence paperwork. Birth certificates, graduation diplomas, ect all lived in a fireproof box in that closet.

Down the hall a little more was a door in the ceiling leading to the attic, which mostly held old pictures, clothes, and toys in a few boxes in the far corner, the rest housing all of Crosshair’s things.

When Ninety-Nine had first taken in the boys, Hunter and Tech shared the far left room upstairs while Wrecker and Crossair to the one straight across from it on the right. Their grandfather naturally had the master bedroom, and there were two guest bedrooms since none of the boys wanted their own rooms for a long time. The batch of brothers never completely moved out, as they joined the military at nineteen, coming back after two years of service with another brother in tow.

Echo had been MIA for about six months, and as a specialized team–code named Clone Force 99–they had been sent to help retrieve him when found. Echo was badly damaged with multiple prosthetics needed, so he left the army with his half brothers to live in accessible housing rather than across the city in Fives’ small apartment (don’t worry, he didn’t take it personally and the two still talk all the time).

Almost a year later, Ninety-Nine had sat them all down and told his grandsons that it was time for him to go. He’d leave the house to Hunter and tell them to take care of themselves and each other, but he’d always be there for them. While there were tears, everyone got the chance to say goodbye before he was driven a few hours up north to live in an old folk’s home. No, seriously, he was fine. It was just time to get the help none of the boys could provide. But he called nearly every week, telling stories about the activities the kids from the nearby elementary school would do with him and the other seniors. It was always adorable, and, true to his word, whenever one of them needed advice or just to hear his voice, no matter what time of day, their grandfather was always there.

However, him leaving did cause quite a bit of change, especially with the house layout.

Hunter took the downstairs master and Crosshair took the attic. Tech, Wrecker, and Echo kept their old rooms, but reorganizing and redecorating caused the discovery of quite a lot of…junk. Much of it was piled into the upstairs guest, which had already been collecting boxes for a few years now.

When they started to clear it out, Echo regretted every life decision he’d ever made.

Boxes of books and old school paperwork, projects, and report cards were scattered about the living room. Dusty clothes and uniforms were on the kitchen island, and fake skulls, a few tree ornaments, and many, many small rubber animals from various pranks littered the stairs. Turns out, getting junk from one floor to another two staircases down is a lot harder than it looked.

“What…was Tech…thinking?!” It was more of an exclamation than a question that was panted as Wrecker placed–what Echo hoped–was the last box from upstairs down onto the couch.

“Whatever it was, he clearly didn’t account for the nostalgia we’d feel,” Cross said with a smirk from the bottom of the staircase where he was resting.

Admittedly, they’d all gotten a little bit distracted by things they’d shoved in the corners of that room. But, when a trio of ex-military brothers find a few marshmallow blasters, can one really blame them? It’s not like they’d be having movie night anytime soon….

“Hunter texted a minute ago. They’re on their way back,” Echo told them. Two faces paled, looking at the mess of a home.

“How long do we have?” Crosshair inquired.

“About ten minutes, give or take.”

Wrecker sighed as he stood from his crouched position.

“Let’s hope they hit all reds, then.”

…

“What happened?!” Hunter all but yelled at his little brothers and Echo, gesturing at their abode.

It wasn’t in much better state than it was twenty minutes before (they had hit all reds), but it at least could be maneuvered around in.

“We were gone for approximately two and a half hours. That should have been ample time to relocate each box, considering the bed frame and dresser still reside in the room,” Tech added with a pointed look.

“We’re working on it,” Echo said. He raised an eyebrow, “Maybe give us a hand?”

Tech rolled his eyes as Hunter sighed, trying very hard not to sneeze due to the excess dust in the air, nodding his head.

It took about two more hours and a call to Fives to be able to move everything and organize it, plus another hour to do an extreme dusting of anywhere boxes and junk had ended up, and to wash the sheets for Omega to sleep that night before getting new ones and other room decorations.

Within fifteen minutes of the call Fives arrived as help with the surprise of Rex in tow. Initially meant as an extra pair of hands, Fives watched over Omega while Rex helped Hunter and Wrecker to move things downstairs, Tech took the lead on organizing, and Echo started cleaning.

Fives was…different from her other brothers, Omega concluded. While she didn’t know them very well yet, each one she lived with seemed bent on protecting her and giving her a good home and life. Even Rex felt that, she could tell. And it’s not that Fives didn’t want that for Omega, oh no no no. It was just that he was more interested in teaching her how to do things that would annoy her brothers. Mischief, he called it, and while Omega didn’t quite understand it, she kind of liked it.

While it was hard, Fives and Omega had, in one way or another, gotten a good scare in for each of the men working. Admittedly, Fives could tell most of them were just pretending to laugh it off if the glares sent his way over Omega’s head were anything to go by, but the kid had fun, so what was the harm?

After hours working to keep the child occupied with pranks, coloring books, and a few exaggerated stories, Fives was relieved to have Echo call her into the kitchen.

“Hi, Echo!” Omega waved cheerfully as she walked in, Fives sitting down at the island across from where his twin had a pitcher, some spoons, and a few lemons.

“Hey, kid. You wanna help me make some lemonade for all of us?” Echo asked, and the girl’s face lit up as she nodded, despite not really knowing what that meant.

“Great!”

“How do we make it?” Omega stood on her knees on a stool Fives pulled over for her.

He watched Echo explain to Omega what to do and laughed when his brother dropped a spoon into the pitcher after adding the sugar. He was kind enough to retrieve a fork and got the other utensil out, afterwards grabbing the large wooden spoon instead. Fives gently guided Omega on how to stir it and soon enough was glaring at Rex–who had been quietly watching at the edge of the doorway–out of embarrassment from the mushy interaction he’d been having with his little sister. But she was happy and now they were all sitting contentedly with their lemonade, so who could complain, really?