Star Wars Series One-Shots

Hidey Hole

It started with the first sensory overload Hunter could remember. He had physical body of a ten year old with the mental age being much lower. Something like that so young was terrible, for both Hunter and his brothers who didn't know what to do.

Hunter was created with enhanced senses which meant it was easy for something to overwhelm them. For the most part, it was manageable. A small twinge in his head when Wrecker was yelling, for example.

This time, it felt like everything was turned to 100 and wouldn't stop. He could hear people in the halls, the too loud breathing of his concerned brothers and their spiked heart rates thruming in his ears. The light, which was slightly dimmer than the brightest setting, felt as if he was looking straight into the bulb. The smell of soap from their 'fresher mixed with an open ration bar on the table made his stomach turn circles. The itchiness of their standard cadet uniforms was made apparent and he felt the need to throw it off of himself.

The rest of the batch felt helpless when they saw their oldest stop talking and curl in on himself, flinching slightly at any and all sound. Tech figured it out first and made hand gestures towards the light switch. Crosshair, being the stealth man he was, made it over to the light without too many flinches from his brother.

The slow dimming of lights made Hunter's face unscrew from the grimace it had once held. His eyes stayed shut but with one less sense being assulted, he could hopefully calm the rest of his senses.

It was then that Tech had the idea. He could make a space for Hunter to go to that held safety and control over his environment. The one place that had a door to close in their quaters was the closet, which, if it was cleaned a bit and the hamper moved to the 'fresher, could suit the need.

Two weeks later, when Hunter was sent to the lab for some his enhancement training, Tech put his plan into motion. He cleared the closet floor of clothes that had fallen from the hamper, moving it to the 'fresher to be dealt with later. Pushing the uniforms over to the side, he was pleasantly met with a good sized space. Grabbing two old pillows, he placed them on the floor and hung a pair of noise cancelling headphones he had made and tested himself on a hook on the wall. Tech placed a thin blanket on a few hangers, drapeing it to look like a curtain. Now came the challenging part, re-wiring the door controls to be lower.

Now, Tech was smart. His mind was designed to be faster than any others. But re-wiring wasn't yet covered in his learning module. The only problem was that if he spent time learning, Hunter might come back before he was finished. Solution: watch the videos while re-wiring. He grabbed his little toolbox and brought his datapad with him.

It was roughly two hours later that Crosshair and Wrecker came back from the mess hall. They heard the sound of a datapad, tools on metal, and Tech mumbling to himself. They found their nerdy brother in the transformed closet with exposed wires all over his lap and a panel connecting them all together.

"Tech, what are you doing?" Crosshair asked, his toothpick flicking to the other side of his mouth. Tech was concentrating on connecting a blue wire to the back of the panel.

"I am trying to re-wire the door panel to be lower on the wall." Tech said, his monotone way of speaking more pronounced than usual as he kept his gaze trained on not letting his fingers slip.

"Why would ya want it lower? We're gettin' taller. Shouldn't ya want it higher?" Wrecker asked as Crosshair left to go to his bunk.

"I am not doing it to match our height. I am doing it so that when you are sitting, you can reach the panel to close and lock the door as well as turn off the light." Tech finished the wiring, checking it over for anything noticeably off. Seeing nothing, he placed the panel in the hole he made earlier for it to fit lower, the previous hole replaced by the piece of metal he cut out. He made a shooing motion for Wrecker to stand back and tested the panel. Sure enough, the door slid shut and the light turned off. Openning it again and turning the light back on, he picked up his tools and stood.

"It is fully operational." Tech announced, mainly to himself.

"But why did you do it?" Crosshair asked, laying on his back with his head hanging off the bunk, a datapad held over his head.

"Well, when Hunter had his sensory overload, I figured he would want a safe place to go to. I moved the panel for easy access to the door and light configurations and made noise cancelling headwear. This way, he has a way of controlling his environment when overstimulated." Tech explained as he placed his toolbox down and sat down on his bunk. "You shouldn't put your datapad above your head like that. It could fall on your face or the floor and break." Crosshair huffed, turning on his stomach and placing the datapad on the floor in front of him. Wrecker took another peek into the shifted around closet before speaking.

"So it's a little hidey hole for him?" Tech raised a brow and tilted his head.

"Well, a safe place but yes, in simple terms it is a 'hidey hole'." Tech answered. He picked up his datapad, checking the time. "Ah, Hunter should be here soon based on the estimation of the pervious arrival times."

Hunter did indeed arrive within a few minutes. Tech eagerly sat up to him about his newest project. The former was slightly hunched with his arms folded around his middle, hands holding his side. It was a pose often seen before Hunter would shut down and close himself off. This situation would be perfect for the little space.

"Hunter," Tech said, careful of his volume. Hunter met his eyes, standing straighter. "Can I show you my latest project?"

Hunter's eyes flicked to his brothers, making a mental note that every brother was healthy with nothing broken. He looked back towards Tech, whose eyes shined with eagerness. Not wanting to disappoint him, Hunter nodded.

"Sure. Quickly, 'kay?" Tech nodded and got up. He opened the closet and gestured his hands to present the new space. Hunter walked over, his footsteps light, and peeked inside warily. He looked around, confused.

"It's a safe place for when your senses are overwhelming. Wrecker named it a hidey hole." Tech explained. Hunter's face softened as he sat down on the floor, the pillows behind him for back support. He noticed the headphones and slowly uncurled his arms from himself to reach out for them.

"Those are noise cancelling. I tested them in the most noisy room, the mess hall. I also modified them to not press too hard on your head and added the padding on the sides." Hunter slipped them over his ears, looking up at Tech. The nerdy clone let out a small laugh. "Can you hear me?"

Hunter titled his head then smiled. He took them off.

"They really work." Hunter smiled up at his brother.

"Of course they do." Tech said, fidgetting with his fingers, a habit he built up when he got happy.

"Thank you, Tech. I love it." Tech smiled.

"You are welcome, Hunter." He left his brother to decompress in his own little space. A hidey hole. He supposed that it wasn't the worst name for it. Not his first choice but it did seem to fit. The hidey hole was a great addition to the batch's quarters. Hunter used it often, but Crosshair had also asked to use it a few times. It then turned to a space they all used.

When they got older and were given the Omicron class attack shuttle, Tech got right to work modifing it. The first modification was turning a storage closet into a hidey hole, complete with it's name painted in the extra bucket of red paint they had after painting their armor.

When Echo joined the batch, he was scared they had left Crosshair on Kamino before he was told about the hidey hole. The sniper in question was reading and was disappointed to have missed Echo reaction to him 'missing'. It took a few months before Echo finally used the hidey hole. He didn't want to invade on the safe space the batch had made for themselves. A stuffed tooka in the 501st signature blue and white color as well as a weighted blanket was then placed in the corner with the other grounding objects the batch kept in there.

In the end, what started out as Hunter's space turned into Clone Force 99's Hidey Hole, a space they all used when they didn't want to be bothered or wanted to decompress after a mission messed with one or another enhancements or in Echo's case, nightmares. All of them suffered from them in way or another but found solace in the quiet room. The hidey hole was beloved by all the brothers and would be for as long as this war dragged on, maybe longer.