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The early morning sun filters into your bedroom through the small window, its warmth on your face waking you. You stifle a yawn as you sit up, stretching your arms over your head and looking fondly at the clone next to you, who is still asleep. You smile softly at him for a moment, before he begins to stir and eventually opens his eyes. You can’t help but stare a little bit, the light of the sun making his honey colored eyes shine like gold. He catches you watching him and pats the space next to him. You stretch again before settling back down onto the mattress, held close to the man’s chest. He whispers your name and says good morning, the sleepiness making his voice a little rougher than usual. You look up at him and softly kiss him before saying “Good morning, Echo. Sleep well?”He chuckles a little and says “I always do when you’re with me,” before kissing you back. You both hum in contentment, enjoying the rare moment of peace in your lives. The silence is broken by the chrono on your bedside table shrieking out your daily alarm, startling you both. With a groan, you roll over and smack it, silencing the alarm.You allow yourself to fall face down into your pillow as you grumble, saying “I swear I’m going to blast that damn thing one day.”
Echo drapes himself over you, kissing your cheek. The weight of his body over yours is soothing in an odd way, and you make an exaggerated sound of protest when he gets out of bed. “I don’t wanna go to school today mom…” you groan, still face down, making Echo laugh.“Well, you’d better get up, you don’t want Kix to put you in detention again,” he says as you reluctantly sit up and swing your legs over the edge of the bed.As you stretch your arms over your head again, it’s Echo's turn to admire you in the sunlight; the soft rays illuminating your unclothed upper half and giving you a soft, almost ethereal glow. You catch him staring and laugh a little before you say, “I know I’m a bit rough in the morning, but it can’t be that bad today,” joking with him.Having gotten dressed into his body glove, he shakes his head and walks over to you, standing between your knees as he looks down at you with adoration. “I keep telling you you're wrong about that, mesh’la,” he says before taking your hands and pulling you up into a stand. You wrap your arms around his neck, grinning at him. You’re about to kiss him again when the second alarm you’ve set on the chrono goes off, startling you both again. You curse, breaking away from Echo, and you both get dressed and ready for the day as quickly as you can.Thankfully your meager apartment wasn’t too far from the GAR headquarters, where Echo would meet with his brothers before missions, and you would typically assist Kix and the other medics throughout the day as needed. You arrive shortly, following Echo inside, and hoping to the Maker that nobody important sees you both arriving a little late. You briskly walk the halls before reaching the intersection that would separate the two of you. Glancing around, you see nobody else around, so you quickly stand on your toes and kiss Echo’s cheek. He looks like he’s about to reciprocate, but is interrupted by the voice of his Captain, Rex.“There you are Echo, why are you so late?” He says, sounding more exasperated than irritated. You softly clear your throat, getting his attention, and he rolls his eyes with a smirk. “Never mind, I see why,” he says.Your face heats the slightest bit as you speak, saying “Yeah, me again, heh. Sorry Rex,” in a small voice.“You’re lucky Rex likes you,” Echo says with a laugh while nudging your side.You roll your eyes, and Rex ignores the comment before speaking, his tone more serious. “Echo, we’re on a mission with General Skywalker and General Kenobi. A Jedi has been captured by the separatists and is being held at the citadel with vital information. We’re preparing to leave immediately,” he says.Echo straightens his posture and says a crisp “Yes sir.”Rex glances over his shoulder, then back at you, and says quietly, “You've got one minute,” before turning back the way he had come and walking a fair distance away. Echo turns to look at you, and sees the worry evident on your face.“The citadel?” You say, surprised. “Nobody’s ever escaped from there, or survived trying.”Echo takes your trembling hands into his with a reassuring squeeze. “You underestimate General Skywalker,” he says with a soft smile. “We’ll be back before you know it, cyare,” he continues in a whisper, giving you a quick peck on the forehead before releasing your hands and turning to leave.The ball of anxiety in your gut grows heavier as he walks away, and you impulsively grab his wrist before he gets too far. “Echo, wait, before you leave, I have to tell you,” you start to say, but you’re interrupted by Rex approaching and saying that your time’s up.“I’ll be right there,” Echo calls to him, raising a hand in acknowledgement. “What did you have to tell me?” He asks you.You swallow thickly and say “good luck out there.” He smiles at you, and you commit the image to memory as he kisses your hand before jogging over to catch up with Rex.—Kix is reasonably annoyed when you show up to the medical ward later than you should. When you walk into the room, he opens his mouth to admonish you, but stops when he sees the mounting stress and fear on your face. He says your name, normally at first, then a bit louder, finally catching your attention. You shake yourself and apologize, a slight tremor in your voice. This is so out of character for you that Kix stands from his desk and walks over to you.“Are you alright?” He asks as he approaches.You know there’s no point in lying to him; after so many cycles of working together, you know each other too well. You shake your head. “It’s Echo. He’s on a rescue mission to the citadel,” you say, trying to make your hands stop shaking.Kix grimaces sympathetically, somehow, and lightly grips your shoulder. “That’s a tough assignment. I can tell you’re worried about him. He’ll be okay, they all will. The man is an ARC trooper, and besides that he has Rex, Cody, and Fives with him. It’ll be fine,” he says firmly, but kindly.You nod and take a deep breath, logic finally winning out over fear. “You’re right,” you say, sounding closer to your normal self.“Of course I am,” Kix says, “I’m always right!”You laugh. “Uh huh,” you say, “Like you were with that patient last week.” Kix blusters a little, and you're able to relax more.—-Far away, during an intense firefight, Echo sees a droid firing cannons at the shuttle they need to escape. Thinking quickly, he snatches up a shield from another droid on the ground, using it as cover while he runs forward and shoots up at the cannons. He barely hears Fives shouting after him, but his focus remains on protecting the ship. If they couldn’t escape, he knew that they’d be killed.And he had to escape, he had to get back to you.Fives shouts again, but his voice is drowned out by the sudden roar of an explosion. Echo is blown off of his feet, and the last thing he thinks of before everything goes black is your face, glowing in the morning sun as you smile at him.—Back on Coruscant, you’re sleeping fitfully in your bed that feels much too big for only you, tossing and turning as you mumble in your sleep. With a sudden jolt, you sit up, screaming. Once you stop, as you try to catch your breath, a wave of complete loss rushes over you. You weren’t force-sensitive in any way, but you just knew that something had gone wrong with Echo’s mission.—You don’t hear anything about the mission or Echo for at least a day, and the gnawing feeling of fear in your heart grows with each passing minute. You’re restless, bouncing your leg as you fill in paperwork, nervously glancing between the doorway and the chrono almost constantly.Kix has tried multiple times to soothe your anxiety, but after he realizes you aren’t listening at all, he knows it's a lost cause. Still, he keeps a close eye on you in case you wind up having a panic attack. About halfway through the day, the door slides open, and you leap to your feet when Rex and Fives walk into the room. They both see you looking over their shoulders and exchange a pained glance. You look over at Rex, and before you speak, he casts his eyes to the floor and shakes his head.The world around you crumbles as you fall to your knees, your body wracking with violent sobs, and a shrill ringing in your ears. Rex and Kix glance at each other, then at Fives, who nods grimly before the two other men leave the room.He kneels in front of you, softly calling your name. Eventually, you sit up out of the low hunch you’d fallen into and look into Fives’ eyes. So much like his brother’s, you thought, before starting to sob again. Fives carefully places a hand on your upper back, and you collapse into his chest, hiccuping.After a few moments, he wraps both arms around you, and you hold each other tightly, as if drowning. You feel something wet on your chest, and look up to see Fives is barely holding himself together, silent tears running down his face.You shiver as you try to speak. Through gasps and broken cries you are eventually able to choke out, “I- I never got to tell him,” in a hoarse voice.Fives pulls you closer to himself and whispers “He knew” into your ear.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You took about three “sick days” to grieve and process what had happened. The first night alone in your apartment was the hardest.The second night was even worse.By the third morning, nothing feels real anymore.During this time, you barely eat or sleep, aside from when crying takes too much out of you. You just kind of… exist. You hear knocks on your door once or twice a day; neighbors usually demanding that you shut up. Once in a while though, the knocking will be softer, and you know without looking that it was Kix or Rex trying to check in on you. It’s the third afternoon, and the knocking has returned, but this time it does not stop. Which is odd, you think. Usually the neighbors would just storm over, shout, then leave. You knew Rex and Kix would take the hint after a few minutes and leave, so when you open the door, you aren’t expecting to see Fives there, looking just as terrible as you felt. Without a word, you simply nod at him and stand aside so he could come in.After relocking the door, you turn and find him sitting on the couch, a takeaway bag from your favorite noodle shop on the coffee table.As if he read your mind, Fives says, “If you’re doing half as badly as I am, you haven’t eaten in days.”You don’t even realize that he was right until it is spoken out loud, and the fog and numbness starts to clear, just a little bit. You quietly say thank you, then internally chastise yourself as you make your way to the couch. Echo was Fives’ brother, the only living batchmate he had, the two of them practically joined at the hip after graduating from the academy. Fives doesn’t even have the luxury of being able to take a few days off after Echos death; he is expected to show up and perform as if nothing had happened.You sit beside him, neither of you speaking or moving to eat. After a few minutes, you turn to Fives and softly take him into your arms. He hides his face in your chest, something he would have laughed about in any other circumstance, and shakes badly. You know you can’t do anything to make it better, as the others have been trying to do for you, so you simply hold Fives close and weep with him.After some time, long enough for the food to have gone cold, the two of you had slumped down together into the sofa and fallen asleep. It was dark out when you awoke, an arm tingling from the awkward positioning you are in. You sit up a little bit, waking Fives. He yawns and meets your eyes.“Looks like you finally got to sleep with me,” you say softly, a faint smile on your lips. To your surprise, Fives starts laughing, just a little at first, growing louder as your words hang in the air. His laughter was always infectious, and you find yourself laughing along with him. Eventually you two quiet down.The mood in the room has lifted enough that you feel comfortable talking, and after a heavy sigh from the both of you, you look at him, still resting on top of you, and speak. “I know the answer already. But,” you pause to clear your throat. “How are you holding up?” you continue.“Honestly,” he says, sitting up a little bit, “the days aren’t too bad; I’ve got plenty of things to keep my mind off of it. The nights though, or whenever it gets too quiet, those are the hardest,” he says. Your heart breaks for him.“I don’t know if I can make a difference, but you know you're always welcome to stay here or comm me if it gets to be too much,” you say. Fives shifts again, and lays his head back onto your chest, ear to your heart, and takes a shaky breath before he says “You’ll make all the difference for me. Thank you.”You can’t help yourself from hugging him closer and gently carding your fingers through his dark hair, at least for a few minutes. Finally he sighs and sits up, allowing you to do the same and stretch your back and arms. You catch him watching you, and a soft smile is exchanged between the two of you.You both just kind of stare at each other for a few seconds when you realize that the two of you have been leaning in closer to the other, and you see that Fives has realized it too. Without thinking, one of you closes the gap, and your lips meet his. After a second, the two of you pull away, both looking conflicted.“I’m sorry,” Fives says quickly, “That’s… I shouldn’t have done that, I….”You gently took his hand, stopping his panicked rambling, and he looks over at you in surprise. “It’s alright, Fives,” you say. “Things are hard and emotions are high, we aren’t really thinking clearly, I understand.”He lets out a relieved sigh and squeezes your hand appreciatively.It’s at this time that the chrono on the wall chimes the hour, and you both realize how much time has passed. Fives curses under his breath as he gets to his feet, and you follow him to the door. “Rex is probably wondering where I am,” he says apologetically as you hand him his helmet. You can’t help but chuckle a little, then say “Careful, you might bump into him or Kix in the hallway.” Fives raises an eyebrow at you and you playfully push his shoulder. “Oh come on, you know I wouldn’t. They’ve been trying to check on me the past few days,” you say, laughing again when the concern lifts from his face.“That does explain where Rex has been disappearing to,” he says. “He hasn’t said anything to anyone aside from me, but he’s really worried about you,” he continues.A pang of guilt crosses your chest at these words. “Well,” you say, having made up your mind, “let him or Kix know I’ll be coming back in the morning, would you?”Fives nods, then pulls you into a near-crushing embrace before putting his helmet back on and opening the door. Before he heads down the hallway, you grip his shoulder and say “Again, if you never need to, my comm is free and my door is open, okay?”You hear him take a shuddering breath before he thanks you, then turns to leave. You watch him go, only returning inside and shutting the door when he reaches the lift.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Once Fives has left, you decide to stop wallowing in your misery, and take your first shower in three or four days. Standing under the steaming spray, you close your eyes and breathe deeply, the humidity of the room clearing your mind significantly. You gently wash your face and the hot water soothes your tear-swollen eyes. You go about your shower routine and finish up after ten minutes. With that done, you dry your hair and put on an old oversized cotton shirt before returning to the living room.You remember the noodles Fives had brought and take them back into the kitchen to heat it up. You smile softly as you eat; he always knew exactly what you liked and how you liked it.
After you eat you take a few minutes to straighten up the apartment. The place still feels empty, but the silence isn’t as deafening now. Fives coming by had helped to clear your head immensely, and you remind yourself to thank him if you see him tomorrow. The chrono on the wall chimes the hour, and you again realize how much time has passed, so you decide to call it a day and go to bed.Actually… No. You stop in your tracks and think ‘no, the bed is still too empty’.You instead choose to sleep on the couch, but not before taking the smaller chrono off of your bedside table so you’ll have an alarm ready for tomorrow.
—
The next morning, as the alarm on your chrono shrieks at you, you sit up and stretch, feeling your back crackle. Your neck is a bit stiff, but that’s to be expected when you sleep on the couch. Aside from that, you feel well-rested for the first time in a few days. You still are nowhere near how you felt before… getting the ‘news’, but you feel okay enough to try and go to work.Echo, of course, remains on your mind as you get dressed and prepare for the day. Every little thing reminds you of him.When you fetch a tunic for work, it’s hanging in the bedroom closet next to a spare set of his under armor.As you search for your favorite caf mug, you have to look behind his old chipped one that he refused to replace.Once it’s time to put your shoes on, they’re still in a pile with his extra pair of boots near the front door.All of this weighs on you, but once you step outside of the apartment building and breathe the ‘fresh’ air of Coruscant, you feel slightly lighter. ‘This is good’ , you think as you walk. You just needed to get out of the house. Fives was right, the quiet was the worst part, so hopefully being kept busy throughout the day will help you feel semi-normal again.
Well, that’s what you thought. As you walk into the building, you pass a group of clones, and your heart breaks all over again. It was like a dozen ghosts appeared before you.Maybe surrounding yourself with carbon copies of Echo wasn’t such a good idea. You shake yourself and push through the jolt of sorrow you feel when you glance at one of the men and make eye contact. There’s no recognition or warmth there, just casual indifference, and it stings badly. You quickly look away and walk a little faster.You hear a familiar voice as you turn into another hallway, then laugh bitterly when you realize that they all sound the kriffing same too. The voice gets closer and you can hear clearly enough to know that it’s Rex; He has a slightly different cadence in how he speaks, which helps to more easily identify his voice.You stop and sigh heavily before turning towards the Captain. When he’s close enough, you feel a stab of guilt; you could tell just by looking at him that he had been worrying about you. He stands awkwardly for a second, as if unsure of what to say. You softly take his hand and say “I’m not okay, not in the slightest, but I appreciate you and Kix checking on me. I’m sorry I never answered the door.”He still looks uneasy, but his body relaxes a little. “Did Fives tell you I was coming back?” You ask.“I haven’t seen him yet,” he says, sounding concerned. “Have you?” He asks.“No, not since he left last night,” you respond.The concern on his face deepens, and before he walks away, he says that it’s good to see you back. You thank him and continue walking.
When the door to the medical wing slides open, and you report in to Kix, he doesn’t look quite as tired as Rex, but you can still see the sympathy in his eyes when he looks at you. You thank him for checking in on you, and apologized for ignoring the door, like you did with Rex.He shakes his head and says “you’ve got nothing to apologize for, you're going through a lot. Are you sure you’ll be okay today? If it gets to be too much, don’t be afraid to say so, alright?”You nod at him, then he hands you a small stack of patient charts before sending you on your way to make rounds.The usual bustle and barely contained chaos of the place makes it easier not to focus on the past few days, at least for a while.—
By the time you return to your apartment, the sun has begun to set, and exhaustion weighs heavily on your bones. Once your apartment door slides shut and you lock it, you lean back onto it and slide down to the floor, shaking. You knew the day would be hard on you, and it had been, but you pushed through it despite the constant aching in your chest.You held your head in your hands and couldn’t stop the fresh flow of tears that ran down your cheeks. You had lost count of how many times you thought you had seen Echo out of the corner of your eye, only for it to be yet another clone that looked and sounded exactly like him; for the second time that day you wonder if it’s a good idea to surround yourself with that all day.
Fives had eventually turned up, you had literally bumped into him in the halls as you left for the evening, and you made sure to thank him not only for the noodles he had brought you, but for coming over in general the night before. You both agreed that the company had helped the two of you a good deal before going your separate ways, and you reminded him that you’d be there whenever he needed you.
Presently, you heave yourself up to your feet and trudge into the fresher to shower and throw your clothes into the washing unit.Once that was done and you were dressed in the same oversized shirt you had worn yesterday, you decided that you needed something to keep yourself busy. Moving to the living room, you put on an old holo film you’d seen at least 16 times, just to fill the silence. You sit on the couch for a moment before you find yourself going into the hall closet. Many abandoned hobbies resided inside, and you figured there would be something in here to keep your mind off of things.
Your wish is granted, somewhat, when a precariously stored container slips off of a shelf and spills dozens of beads, tumbled stones, and raw crystals all over the floor. You sigh to yourself as you pick them up, annoyed by your own lack of organization. With everything cleaned up, you decide to take a quick break and eat something.As you walk toward the kitchen, you step on a stone you had missed while cleaning up. You bend down to retrieve it, and as you hold it up to the light, the vivid purple of the crystal glowing in your hand, you remember the day you had gotten it.
Echo had just returned from a long mission on some planet you couldn’t remember the name of, and as he was describing the dense, bioluminescent jungle they had camped in, he had smiled at you and pulled the stone out of a pocket. You remember how it had been warm, and you were amazed by the rich, otherworldly coloring and glass-smooth surface. You smile when you remember that Echo had said he knew you liked things that glow, so he snatched the rock up before returning home.
Hunger forgotten, you return to the hallway closet, shuffling boxes and bags around until you find a flimsi bag with a length of silver wire and a few basic tools inside. You had taken up wire-wrapping for about a month, ages ago, and you wonder if you would still remember how to do it.Your mind made up, you return to the couch, and by the time the holo film is ending, you have wrapped the glowing purple crystal elegantly, for the most part, and fashioned it into a pendant. When you return the supplies to the closet, you dig around a little more before you find a small box with a silver chain inside that matches the silver wire you had used. You slip the crystal onto it, and clasp it around your neck, then move to the refresher to take a look at how it turned out.
‘It’s beautiful ’, you think, and the weight and warmth of it against your chest is deeply comforting. The dim light of the room makes the vibrant glow much more noticeable, and when you look closely at the stone, the color shifts like a reflection on water, shimmering gently.You smile as you realize you now have a small piece of Echo to keep with you, and a little more of the weight lifts from your shoulders.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It’s been a few weeks, about a month, since you’ve returned to work. The heartache you feel whenever you look into a clone's eyes never goes away, but you have learnt to ignore the tightness in your chest whenever you hear their voices. On the odd occasion that it all gets to be too much for you, you’ll take a moment to find a relatively quiet place, usually the refresher or a supply closet, and hold the purple crystal you now constantly wear tightly. Watching the shimmering colors and feeling the strange warmth of the stone is usually enough to clear your mind. You keep it tucked under your shirt otherwise, so that the glow stays hidden.Things at work are obviously rough, but it is getting easier, day by day, back at your apartment. This may or may not have more to do with Fives becoming a regular visitor than the passage of time, but you don’t mind the company. It makes sense that the two of you have practically latched onto one another; you are the other’s most direct link to Echo after all. He remembers your offer of a place to go if he ever needs it, and starts to come by your place every few days, then eventually almost every day, and stays a little longer each time.
Tonight, you’re sitting together on the couch, sharing stories and remembering the times the three of you would go out together. You’re laughing as Fives recounts a past attempt to flirt with a Twi’lek at 79s.“We heard that smack from across the bar,” you said, giggling. “What in the galaxy did you say to her?” You ask.Fives, dressed down with his upper armor and boots off, chuckles at you and says “I don’t feel like getting slapped again mesh’la.”You’re both taken aback by his slip into Mando’a. Sure, he would curse often enough for you to pick up a few choice words, but this one was startling, coming from him. You notice Fives is starting to sweat but you laugh a little and promise not to slap him for it, so he relaxes again.
The conversation continues a little while longer, until the chrono on the wall chimes midnight, and you both realize how much time has passed. This was nothing new to either of you, however, the lateness of the hour was a first. Fives groans as he stands, lamenting the long walk back to his barracks.You, surprising yourself, blurt out that he could stay the night without a second thought. There’s a pause, and you think he’s going to decline, but he readily accepts the offer, starting to shuck off his lower armor. You realize as he unclips the last few pieces that it would be pretty weird to have him sleep in your bed while you take the couch; You’ll be back in your own bed for the first time since you and Echo spent that last morning together.
Fives has noticed how quiet you have suddenly gotten, and you jump just a tiny bit when he puts a hand to your shoulder and asks if you’re alright.You shake your head as if to clear it, then smile softly at him as you say “sorry, I guess I zoned out for a second. Must be tired.”He seems to accept that and yawns. You barely stop yourself from doing the same before taking a moment to make up a temporary place to sleep on the couch. You had been sleeping there every night for weeks, yes, but each morning you would put everything away, thinking that maybe this time you could face a night alone in the bed that was now too big.With that done, you turn off most of the lights and wish Fives a good night. He does the same, and thanks you for letting him stay over.“Not a problem,” you say with a smile, then go into your bedroom, leaving the door cracked about halfway open.
You stand nervously at the foot of the bed, remembering how you had woken up screaming the last time you slept in it. With a shuddering breath, you shake yourself, then quickly change into a cotton tank top and shorts to sleep in. After a visit to the refresher, you peek into the living room, where Fives appears to be asleep. You reluctantly return and climb into bed.
The first thing that hits you is a distinct scent. You haven’t thought to change the sheets, since you weren’t sleeping on them, and by the maker, it all still smelled like Echo. It was faint, but still enough to shake you. You swallow a rising lump in your throat and close your eyes, attempting to sleep. In another surprise for the evening, you fall asleep almost immediately.
—
Less than two hours later, you wake up with a scream, drenched in sweat and gasping. The nightmare was already quickly fading, and all you can remember of it is an intense flash of light and a surge of blistering heat. You can’t help but to pull your knees close to your chest and sob, not realizing how loud you had been until you hear a frantic knock at the bedroom door.It’s Fives of course, awoken by your cries and rushing to check on you. You try to speak but all that comes out is a shuddering breath and more tears. The bedroom door creaks open completely, and Fives is immediately at your side, crawling onto the bed and holding you closely to his now bare chest.
Eventually you’ve stopped crying and are hiccuping softly, Fives still holding you. You pull away a little, and he gently cups your face with a hand, nothing but care in his eyes. It takes you a few tries, but you’re eventually able to whisper to him, asking him to stay with you.He nods and says “Of course. Give me one second, alright?”You nod back at him and he quickly walks into the refresher, returning moments later with a glass of water and a warm, damp washcloth. You accept both gratefully, downing the water all at once, then patting around your eyes with the cloth. All the while, Fives sits across from you, that same expression of worry on his face. Your voice is hoarse as you
say “thank you, Fives. I’m sorry I woke you up.”He shakes his head and says “you have nothing to be sorry for. Do you still want me to stay with you?”
You simply nod at him, and once he's under the duvet with you, without thinking about it, you lay on your side and scoot yourself backwards into his chest. He’s taken aback for a moment, then cautiously puts an arm around your waist and takes your hand. When you don’t shrug him off, he relaxes.Before long, the two of you fall asleep, and it’s the best sleep either of you have had in weeks.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When you wake the next morning, Fives is still asleep. At some point in the night, you had rolled over and he had laid his head on your chest, much like he did on the couch some time ago. You lay there for a few minutes, relishing in the peace you haven’t felt in far too long. Maker, you missed this feeling, you thought, looking fondly at Fives. You absentmindedly card your fingers through his thick curls, the gentle action waking him up. He blinks a few times and looks up at you with a soft smile. “G’morning mesh’la,” he said, either not noticing or caring that he’d used that particular word again.“Good morning Fives,” you say, mirroring his expression.He’s still looking at you when he starts to chuckle a little. In response to your raised eyebrow, he sits up a little and says “you slept with me again,” with a wink. You laugh a little and also sit up.“How did you sleep?” he asks, soft concern on his face. “Much better than I have in weeks, actually,” you say, cheeks warming a little.He nods and says he feels the same.There’s a silence that's not quite tense or awkward, not completely, that is suddenly shattered by your damned alarm going off, startling you both. You punch it into submission without a second thought, then groan as you stretch and get out of bed.You glance over your shoulder and take in the sight of Fives shirtless in your bed, tanned skin seeming to glow in the weak sunlight from the window. You wouldn’t mind seeing this again, you think. This thought is immediately followed by a surge of guilt. What is wrong with you? He’s Echo’s brother. Well, technically all of the clones are, but this is different, you think.Before you get changed, Fives leaves the room and ducks into the refresher. You stare at the closed door, and your thoughts wander back to that night you two had kissed. You both had agreed it was a mistake, but if that were the case, why is your chest fluttering at the memory? You shake your head in an attempt to redirect your thoughts and quickly pull on a clean tunic and leggings to wear for work.Work was still difficult, some days, though thankfully those days seem to be fewer and farther between. Your heart no longer aches when you hear one of the clones speak, but it’s still tough to maintain eye contact for too long. Kix and Rex had noticed your general demeanor improving, and while they would never say it, you knew that they were relieved.You are so wrapped up in your thoughts about this that you don’t realize you have wandered into the kitchen and made your morning cup of caf, having been moving completely on auto-pilot. You hear Fives yawn loudly, pulling you out of your own head, and prepare a second cup for him, which he gratefully accepts. A few minutes later, as he’s pulling on his boots and you find your jacket, the chrono on the wall chimes the hour, reminding you both what time it is. Thankfully you aren’t running late, but you need to get moving.The two of you exit the apartment building and make your way to the GAR headquarters, and the familiarity of the situation simultaneously comforts you and hurts a little. When you and Fives reach the corridor where your paths split, you feel the most intense sense of deja-vu as you see Rex approaching, asking Fives where he was last night.Rex sees you and figures it out, but does not comment, to your relief. Just before you part ways, Fives takes your hand and quietly thanks you for allowing him to spend the night. You, in turn, thank him for staying with you after your nightmare, then separate.You glance over your shoulder as you walk away, and catch Fives doing the same thing.—Although he hasn’t stayed overnight again, Fives has walked you home from work and hung around your apartment every single day after that. A week passes, and you’re spending a quiet night alone, Fives having gone off to 79s with Jesse and a few others.You pace in front of the couch, mind buzzing in a tangled mess of thoughts about Fives and especially Echo. The room suddenly feels much too small, so you move outside onto the balcony. A cool breeze passes over your face, and as you look out at all of the different lights and buildings of the city around you, you find yourself wondering if Fives is having the same internal struggle.As if on cue, you hear his distinct knock on your door.You move across the apartment and open the door to let him inside, desperately wishing the fluttering in your gut would stop. Fives sets his helmet down on the kitchen counter, then turns to look at you. When he does, you can immediately tell there’s something on his mind, and that he’s completely sober.You clear your throat before speaking and say “I thought you were at the bar?”He absently rubs the back of his neck and says “I was. I just…” he hesitates.“Wasn't feeling it?” You suggest, and he shakes his head.
“No, not entirely, I…” he says, and you notice he isn’t looking at you;You take a step closer to him. “Is something wrong?” You ask.He finally looks into your eyes, then he says “You tell me,” before stepping closer, gripping your shoulders, and kissing you deeply.It only takes a second for the shock to wear off, then you’re kissing him back with just as much fervor, if not more.Finally you pull away, breathing heavily.He looks nervously at you and says “well…?” In an uncharacteristically soft voice. You smile brightly at him, and cup one of his cheeks in your hand.“Nothing wrong at all,” you say, kissing him again, softly this time. The look of relief on his face is immediate, and he grins at you.The weight on your shoulders lifts entirely.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You look into Fives’ eyes, and realize that doing so doesn’t make your heart ache like it does with all the others. You’re startled a little when he wipes away a tear you didn’t even know you had shed. He whispers your name and asks if everything is okay. You can’t help but laugh before you say “Yes, if anything, this is the most ‘okay’ I’ve felt in months. I’m just relieved.”Fives smirks at you and you playfully jab his shoulder. He shifts his hands from your shoulders and moves his palms along your sides before settling around your hips, subtly pulling you closer. This does not go unnoticed, and you stretch your neck upwards to kiss him again. About a minute passes before he pulls back for air, grinning at you and sending a swooping sensation through your gut.The chrono on the wall chimes the hour, and you idly note the time.“It’s terribly late,” you say. “And the barracks are such a long walk from here,” you continue, your voice gradually getting husky. “You should stay the night,” you say, moving to press soft kisses into Fives’ neck.He shivers and says “Well, if you insist,” matching your husky tone. You nip lightly at his pulse and he groans, then you step backwards, leading him by the hand into your bedroom.Once it processes what’s happening, Fives takes his hand back and frantically starts to remove his armor, the shed pieces leaving a trail from the kitchen to the foot of your bed.In his haste to kick off his boots, he stumbles and falls into you, the both of you flopping heavily onto the bed behind you. You can tell he’s embarrassed, but can’t help the high laughter that escapes you.Silhouetted in the darkness, you can vaguely see him rub at the back of his neck and softly shake his head. Still giggling, you sit up and plant a kiss on his heated cheek, making him relax again. After a somewhat awkward few seconds, Fives lets out a triumphant sound as he manages to get his damn boots off. With them out of the way, he returns his focus onto you, his hands tracing along the hem of your oversized shirt. His bare fingers lightly brush your upper thighs and you reflexively twitch, inadvertently grinding your hips upward into his own.The two of you groan at the friction, and you feel bold enough to palm his cock through his body suit. He breathes heavily before moving his hand into a waistband that isn’t there, instead touching your panties. The heat you feel from his hand makes you moan, and you wiggle a little, moving yourself upward so Fives can feel how wet he’s making you. As this happens, you are continuing to feel your way around his dick, eventually coming to rest with your palm on the head. Fives, panting, slips a finger under the lace of your soaked panties and you two make eye contact, simultaneously deciding that your remaining clothing had to go.Thankfully you both are able to strip down completely without falling over, and, once bare, you both take a second to eye up the other. As you feel Fives’ hands trace your form, you do the same, lightly dragging your finger along one of the scars that ran across his chest, making him shiver again. In turn, he cautiously cups one of your breasts in his hand, unconsciously holding his breath. You moan and arch your back into his touch and he exhales sharply before holding your hip with his other hand, gently but firmly guiding you onto your back beneath him.Fives leans down and whispers into your ear, saying “You’re so kriffing beautiful,” and breathing down your neck.You have uninhibited access to his body, and he to yours.He moves his unoccupied hand back down between your thighs, tracing round your swollen lips with a single finger. He brushes your clit and you moan, begging him to touch you again. With his signature smirk, he obliges, rubbing tight circles against it, clearly enjoying watching you writhe under his touch.Well, you certainly weren’t going to let him have all the fun, you think, before finally touching his bare cock with your hand, making him moan, much like you just did. You quickly withdraw your hand, lick a wide, wet path along your palm, and return, closing your hand around his girth and slowly starting to jerk him off.Fives nearly growls as you do, and intensifies the pressure on your clit, making your whole body twitch. He leans down, even with your face, and the two of you start desperately kissing each other again. You both pause at random intervals to moan or whine when touched just right. You can feel a few beads of precum leaking from his cockhead, so you gather it on one fingertip and trace quick circles around his glans.Fives curses and his hips jerk forward, unconsciously seeking out your wet heat.Breaking the kiss, he shifts lower and starts to leave a trail of soft love-bites along your collarbone, making you moan his name freely.This is so familiar, you think, but so different at the same time.You abruptly find yourself thinking of Echo, and your entire body stiffens.Fives, immediately sensing the change, sits up and takes his hands off of you, giving you some space. He doesn’t say anything, but he seems to know what is going through your head, if the conflicted expression on his face is any indication.You also sit up, nervously chewing your bottom lip.Fives softly cups your cheek, and when you sigh and lean into his touch, he quietly says your name. You met his eyes, those identical damned eyes, and the genuine concern and care you saw in them reassures you that you aren’t making a mistake.“I know, Mesh’la,” Fives says, speaking softly, “you don’t have to… just say the word and I’ll go.”You grip his hand, still touching your face, and say “please, Fives, stay with me” in a whisper.His expression lightens considerably, and he returns his hands to your hips before pressing his forehead into yours.The two of you remain like that for a moment, eyes closed, simply breathing one another in.You move first, interlacing your fingers behind his neck and dragging him with you as you return to laying on your back. Fives props himself up on his elbows, caging you beneath him. You notice he has now positioned his legs off to the side, away from you, and you pull him in for another heated kiss. As you do, you scoot yourself at an angle, opening your legs, and wrapping them around his own. When you feel his hard length press into your thigh, you gasp and instinctively grind your hips against his, making him groan.With little preamble, Fives moves to line himself up with your hot, wet pussy. When he raises an eyebrow at you, you answer his unspoken question by saying “Please. I need you,” and sitting up enough to desperately kiss him again.Satisfied, Fives moves into a kneeling position, pulls your hips upward to be even with his, and slowly, carefully, pushes into you.You both moan at the tight sensation. As he gradually stretches you deeper, eventually going as far as he could, a new wave of relief, almost overshadowed by lust, rushes through you, and you loudly moan his name.That’s all of the encouragement he needs, and Fives begins to languidly piston himself in and out of you with deliberate, sensual strokes. For the first time in weeks, you don’t feel completely lost and alone. You choke back the lump in your throat, and instead move your hips in time with Fives’ thrusting, focusing on the feeling of his hands on your skin and his soft grunts and sighs.You need more.Without warning, you wrap your legs around his waist, locking your feet together against his back, and pull him by the shoulders down to your level. Fives curses under his breath at the tightness this creates, and begins to quickly pick up speed, fucking into you at a desperate pace. The sound of skin on wet skin is obscene, but it is quickly drowned out by the heaviness of your breathing.Fives is relentless, and as he kisses you again, your mouths opening and tongues sliding against one another, a familiar tightness begins to coil in your lower abdomen. You continue to meet his thrusts by canting your hips up into him, and Fives curses again before saying, “I won’t last if you keep that up.”You smirk and pull him close to you, saying, “good, because I won’t either” into his ear. No sooner have the words left your lips, Fives pounds into you harder than ever, making the headboard of your bed knock against the wall in time with his movements.Any passing thought you have of a possible noise complaint evaporates when Fives returns his thumb to your clit, moving it in tight circles as he continues to pound into you. The coil in your gut snaps, and you feel Fives’ hips stutter at the same time, painting your walls with his hot cum while you scratch his back and come with a scream.Seconds later, Fives collapses downward, his head against your chest as you both gasp and pant as if you had sprinted up a flight of stairs. With one hand on his upper back, and the other on the back of his head, you hold him as close to you as you can. A few more moments pass, and you both are breathing normally as he pulls out. You feel him leak out of you, coating your upper thighs and spilling out onto the sheets. You don’t have the energy to care; sleep is fast approaching the two of you. With a grunt, Fives rolls you both over, now holding you close on top of his chest. He sits up a little, just enough for you to slide off to one side and lay your head upon his shoulder.You yawn before settling in, and Fives presses a soft kiss to your temple. He’s so quiet, you almost don’t hear him say “goodnight, cyare,” before sleep quickly overtakes you.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The sound of rain beating against your bedroom window gently wakes you the next morning. You blink the sleep out of your eyes and look at the man whose head is currently laying in the hollow of your shoulder. Watching Fives‘ deep breathing, you remember that he had called you cyare before you both fell asleep the night before, and a soft smile graces your lips. You glance over at the chrono on your bedside table; it's still fairly early, and you have at least two hours before you both need to leave for work and report in for the day.The rain intensifies fairly quickly, eventually sounding like white noise. Despite the weather, you feel the best you have in months. As you wonder if Fives feels as good as you do, he lifts his head and catches your attention. “G’morning mesh’la,” he says with a yawn, then scoots up enough to softly kiss your lips.“Morning Fives,” you say. “How did you sleep?”“I don’t think I’ve ever slept that well,” he says with a crooked smile.Something occurs to you and you start giggling.“Something funny?” he says, looking slightly confused.The giggling turns into laughter and you need a second to compose yourself before speaking again.“Ha, sorry, I just realized that this time you finally did sleep with me,” you say, laughing again.“Well, third time’s the charm, right?” Fives says with his signature smirk before also laughing. He shifts position, moving from your side to lie on top of you, holding your shoulder with one hand and cupping your cheek with the other. You look up into his amber eyes and finally, finally, you feel whole and at peace again. “Looks like we’ve got some time before the day starts,” he says, nodding his head at the chrono nearby.“Let’s make the most of it then,” you say, sitting up enough to pull him into a deep kiss.“Yes ma’am,” Fives says with another smirk when you briefly break apart. Thunder rolls and he kisses you just as deeply. With a little effort, you manage to flip the two of you over, Fives now lying beneath you and looking mildly amused. He opens his mouth, no doubt to say something snarky, but he doesn't get the chance before your lips are on his again.Once the kiss is broken, you start to trace along his jaw with a finger, and he shivers. You adjust your position, using your knees to not so subtly push his legs apart, breathing into his ear as you do. He groans your name and his hands grip your hips. Impulsively, you grab his hands and hoist them up over his head, essentially pinning him in place below you. Once more, before he can speak, your mouth crashes against his and your tongues dance.You release his hands, but stop him when he reaches for you.“Ah-ah,” you say playfully, pushing his arms back behind his head. “Don’t touch,” you say with a wink.You kiss him again, keeping it brief this time, and quickly peck your way down his throat to his chest, and further along down his taut abdomen. You pause for a moment to lightly trace his abs with a finger, making him groan and twitch. You look up through your lashes at him, and you can see the barely restrained desire in his darkened eyes. You can’t help a smirk of your own before grabbing his hips and quickly sliding yourself further along his body, your face coming to a stop just above his throbbing cock.Fives’ breathing is ragged as he looks desperately down at you, silently begging. He moans your name, and you decide to stop teasing him. You keep your hold on his hips and take him into your mouth, making him whine. The velvety feeling of his cock head on the roof of your mouth is divine, and you begin to bob your head, taking a little more of him into your throat as you do. When your nose brushes against the coarse hairs at the base of his cock, you hum happily, and Fives moans loudly, bucking up into you.You open your mouth a little bit wider when he does and he almost hits your gag reflex, but you fight it off. This continues for a short while, but when you look up and make eye contact with him, his dick still halfway down your throat, his restraint breaks. You see the subtle change in his eyes and pull off of him just in time for him to grab you by the shoulders and push you backwards. You’re now lying flat beneath him, and he cocks an eyebrow at you before pulling your legs open by the knees and diving headfirst into your soaked cunt.His tongue pushes into you and you shout his name, arching your back. He keeps this up, swirling his tongue inside you, for what feels like both hours and seconds before switching tactics. His hands grip under your knees and as he suddenly sits up, he pulls you with him. Your startled squeak is interrupted when Fives, with your knees now over his shoulders, starts licking and nipping at your clit. Your vision briefly fills with stars as you come, unconsciously clamping your legs around his head.When the stars fade and you’ve taken a moment to reorient yourself, you move quickly, pulling your legs back and simultaneously pushing Fives flat onto the bed below the two of you. He falls back with a soft grunt, and you scramble upwards to kiss him. You can taste yourself on his lips and it's intoxicating, making your head spin.Fives holds your face in his hands and whispers something in Mando’a you couldn’t hear, his eyes searching yours. You feel heat erupt on your cheeks and shyly place your hands over his, grinning down at him. The look of adoration on his face is almost too much.You feel his cock twitch against your thigh, so you wiggle free of his grasp, and move to straddle him. After lining him up carefully, you sink downwards, spearing yourself onto him. You both groan loudly as you take a second to adjust before starting to move your hips in slow circles. The movement makes your swollen clit rub against his pelvis and you moan his name. In response, Fives began to thrust upwards into you, and, after a short burning stretch, you’re filled so completely that your spine tingles.The intensity of his thrusts increases, and you feel that familiar coil winding tightly in your core. You fall forward, crashing your lips into his. You’ve lost track of how many times you’ve done so, but your focus is fully on him and the way he’s panting your name like a mantra.“Fives,” you moan, biting your lip, “I’m so close, please!”He doesn’t respond with words, instead suddenly sitting up. You instinctively wrap your legs around his waist, securing him inside you and making him moan.“F-fuck cyare, you’re so beautiful like this,” he whispers before kissing you again and redoubling his thrusting up into you. You don’t have time to register that he’s called you his cyare again before the coil in your gut snaps. As it does, Fives’ hips stutter and you feel his hot release filling you. You desperately grab his face and pull him in for a final, frantic kiss as you reach your peak and clamp down around him. Your jaw drops in a silent scream and you actually get a little dizzy, holding onto him for dear life.Another second passes and you return from orbit, your locked muscles relaxing and your breathing heavy. Fives gently cups one of your cheeks and presses his forehead into yours. The two of you stay like this for a little while, until your breathing evens out and you feel him go soft and gently pull out. You know that the sheets under you are likely going to stain as his cum drips out of you, but you can’t find it in yourself to give a damn. Fives gingerly scoots back against the headboard, taking you with him, and you turn to one side and curl into his chest. He wraps his arms around you and holds you close, his face tucked into where your shoulder meets your neck, just breathing you in.You glance over your shoulder to the chrono on your bedside table and are relieved to see that you still have an hour or so before you need to get dressed. You lay your head back down and hear the thumping of Fives’ heart in your ear. So similar to Echo’s, you think absently. There is a slight twinge in your chest at this, but much to your surprise, it only lasts a second before you feel calm and at peace again. The next few minutes are silent, then you eventually speak, after some thought.“Fives?” you say softly.He hums absently in response.“You’ve called me your cyare twice now,” you say. He abruptly sits up to look at you, wearing an expression of mild panic. He starts to say something, stumbling over his words. You chuckle a little and press a finger to his lips, which stops his babbling. “It’s alright,” you say, and he relaxes noticeably. “Am I?” you ask quietly.“Do you want to be?” Fives asks in response.You nod at him without hesitation and his face lights up.“Then you are my cyare, mesh’la,” he says before kissing you deeply again. Your heart soars. You and Fives have been so focused on each other, neither of you noticed the rain clearing up and being replaced by weak sunshine filtering in through your window.——About an hour later you arrive at the GAR headquarters. Just before the two of you split ways in the hall, Fives gives you another kiss, this one quick and discreet. Not discreet enough apparently, as you heard exaggerated laughter before someone says “you owe me five credits Hardcase.”You glance behind you and see Tup standing nearby, looking smug while Hardcase rolls his eyes. “We both knew it would happen, you just got lucky on when,” he says while handing the credits over.“Oh really?” You hear a third voice say, and immediately recognize Rex before you even see him. “When what?” He says, shutting the other two up quickly. He finally spots you and raises an eyebrow at you.Fives awkwardly rubs at the back of his neck and you can’t help but giggle a little at him. Rex shakes his head at the two of you and sighs before saying “We have a mission briefing in a few minutes, troopers, get over there.”Fives, Tup, and Hardcase immediately snap to attention, saying “Yes Sir,” in unison.It was almost unsettling, how quickly their demeanor changed. You remind yourself that they were literally made to obey orders, like all good soldiers should, and an odd chill runs down your spine. Before you can really process that however, Fives glances over at you apologetically and you wave him off, saying he would know where to find you later.You turn around and practically walk face first into Kix, who had watched the entire interaction with a smirk. “Let me guess,” you say, continuing to walk toward the medical wing, “Rex owes you five credits too?”“Twenty, actually,” Kix responds, laughing when your jaw drops. “Come on, there’s a lot to do today,” he says, walking just ahead of you.“Maker, did the whole legion have a bet on us?” you mutter before following him.“No, just most of us,” Kix says, still laughing a little, clearly having heard you. You’re glad to be walking behind him, so he can’t see how flustered you are.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You aren’t sure how much time passes between that first night and this one, but it simultaneously feels like years and minutes. With each morning that you wake and roll over to find Fives curled into your side, snoring away, you feel almost complete, almost normal. And it’s true, you are happy with Fives and he is happy with you. His brothers have seen it and they’re all relieved. Things almost seem like they were ‘before’. Almost.Grief is a cruel thing. It has a way of coming back and striking like lightning on a perfectly clear day, disrupting everything around it and leaving a smoking scorch mark wherever it lands.Some days, if someone looks at you when you aren’t being spoken to, when you think you aren’t being watched, they’d see how quickly your eyes change from awareness to detachment. They’d see how your body seems to hunch in on itself, and how your hand unconsciously reaches to fidget with the glowing stone around your neck. Nobody has noticed though, save for one person.It’s Fives. It’s always Fives. He notices because he is doing the same thing. The others at 79s don’t see how, once the two of you leave the building, you both slump, exhausted. They don’t see the trip back to your apartment being taken in silence or the way you two simply look at each other and say so much without uttering a single word.They don’t see what you’re seeing right now.Right now, it’s still dark, the very early hours of morning, and even in the low light of your bedroom, you can see the sweat on Fives’ skin, the panic on his face, the tears in his eyes. You shuffle under the sheets, sitting up next to him while he trembles. You don’t need to ask, as you already know. You’ve long ago lost count of how many nightmares the two of you have had.Cautiously, you quietly call Fives’ name and gently touch his bare shoulder. He flinches at the contact, but doesn’t shake you off. You move and reposition yourself, cross-legged, in front of him and take his hands. He squeezes yours, as if desperate to prove to himself that he’s awake and you’re real. He looks over at you, and you see the pain and guilt painted across his face like garish stage makeup.“I almost had him.” Fives whispers hoarsely, before he crumbles forward into you, sobbing. You so desperately want to comfort him, to make his pain and grief stop, but you know you can’t. There’s nothing you can really do aside from hold him tightly to your chest, fighting tears of your own.After one of the first nightmares like this, you had sat awake with Fives, backs against the headboard, listening intently while he stared off, eyes unfocused, voice cracking, and told you everything that had happened. Echo had been trying to get to a waiting shuttle, running towards it while firing his blaster at a large cannon intent on destroying the ship.Fives had taken a long, shuddering breath and said “I was right behind him,” before whispering your name. “I was right there, and if I’d just grabbed him, or pushed him out of the way, then…” he had trailed off and gone silent for about a minute. “But I didn’t. I just stood there and watched it happen. If it weren’t for me, if I had-“ he continued before you firmly cut him off. You told him that was not true, and he was in no way responsible for what Echo had done or what happened to him.At the time, and even now, your heart aches for him. You can’t imagine the guilt and self-loathing Fives must feel. As Fives’ breathing evens out and the shakes taper off, you take care of him the way he had taken care of you the first night he had stayed over. You bring him water and he drinks it, you lie on your side and he curls into you, you hold him close until he falls back into a fitful sleep.You bite back a growl of frustration as he does. You’re a medic, and a damn good one; You can set a broken bone in moments, stitch a cut closed tightly, but you can’t heal a wound like this. The helplessness threatens to overwhelm you and a knot rises in your throat, but you’re able to take a few deep breaths and keep your fragile composure.You glance over at your bedside table. There, next to the small chrono, lies the wire-wrapped crystal pendant. You tried not to fall asleep wearing it, for fear of tangling the chain or bending the wires, and so it rests nearby. You can’t feel the odd warmth it radiates, but the shimmering blue-purple light is cast up onto the wall behind it, and watching the soft movement of the colors is eventually enough to lull you back to sleep.——Thankfully the next few days are uneventful. You and Fives are able to keep going, with each other’s support.You’re walking through the GAR building, looking for the medical supply storage. You should know exactly where it is, but the place is so big you forget constantly. As you’re wandering, you spot a handful of clones in distinct 501st blue armor headed in your direction. As they pass, a few nodding at you, you notice that Fives isn’t among them.You’re suddenly pulled into a janitorial closet while wondering where he could have been. As the door slides shut and you whirl around to confront whoever had grabbed you, your question was answered when Fives grins at you.“Maker Fives, don’t scare me like that!” You say, pushing him a little.The annoyance in your tone is betrayed by the matching smile on your face and he chuckles at you. The two of you are on each other in seconds, one holding the other desperately close and kissing each other deeply. You pull away first, panting slightly and feeling heat spread across your cheeks. Fives goes back in, kissing you again as he clumsily paws at the waistband of your leggings.You back up into a wall, pulling him with you and hastily unclipping his codpiece. He groans as you palm his achingly hard cock through his body suit, and unceremoniously yanks your leggings and panties down, revealing your already slick-coated thighs.“Fuck cyare,” Fives hisses in a whisper as you free his cock from his undersuit and begin stroking along its length. He grabs the globes of your ass and lifts you effortlessly into the air.Automatically, you press your back against the wall and wrap your legs around his waist, gripping the pauldrons of his armor for leverage. He slides up into your dripping pussy with a grunt, and you have to hold a hand to your mouth to stifle a loud moan at the sensation. Fives fucks up into you, his hips slamming into your ass, and you know youre going to be bruised by his armor but you don’t care.“Call me that again,” you say breathlessly into his ear.“Cyare?” He asks, and notices when you clench tighter around him in response. “You like that, being my cyare? Mesh’la-“ he says, teasing, but is cut off by you pulling his face into yours, your lips crashing together as you swallow each other’s moans and gasps.You feel your orgasm approaching fast, and tighten the grip of your legs around Fives’ waist, spurring him to thrust harder into you. You briefly see stars as you come, and Fives has to clamp a hand over your mouth again so that you won’t be heard from outside. His hips stutter as he does, and you feel him spill up into you while he barely holds back a moan of his own.Panting as you both come down, Fives presses his forehead into yours and the two of you stay like that for a peaceful moment. You sometimes feel guilty about being with Fives so soon after losing Echo, but the seconds you share like this convince you that it’s worth it. You gently cup the sides of his face and peck his lips before you point out that Kix and Rex will both have noticed the two of you are missing by now.Begrudgingly, Fives pulls out and sets you back on your feet. You grab a rag from a shelf nearby to clean yourself up as he clips his codpiece back into place.Once you’ve redressed and smoothed yourself out, you chance a peek into the hallway and see nobody around. You tell Fives that the coast is clear, and he gives you a soft kiss to the temple before you both slip outside and leave in opposite directions. You still haven’t found the supply room you were looking for, you realize, and you’ve forgotten what specifically you were sent to look for in the first place. Kix is definitely going to be irritated with you.——The following day, as you are returning from your lunch break, you see Fives in the hallway again and he jogs over to you, calling your name. Before you can say or do anything, he speaks.“I’m glad I caught you, we’re about to ship out,” he says quickly. “Umbara, and I don’t know how long,” he says in answer to your unspoken question. Your heart clenches and Fives must have seen the fear in your face because he suddenly hugs you tightly and whispers “I know, mesh’la, I know. I’ll be fine, I promise.” Your hand unconsciously shoots up and you wrap your fingers around the crystal pendant hidden under your tunic, idly feeling it thrum against your fingertips.“Come back to me, ok?” you say.“I promise I will cyare,” he whispers back to you before breaking away and rushing back in the direction he had come from. You watched him go, a heavy pit forming in your stomach as he eventually slipped out of view.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You spend every single moment Fives is off-world worrying about him, though you try to reassure yourself that he would be fine. Just as you had before Echo left on the Citadel mission, you remind yourself that Fives is an ARC Trooper and can take care of himself.Umbara may be home to a Separatist blockade, but not only would Rex, Kix, and General Skywalker be there, General Kenobi, Commander Cody, and the 212th would be as well. If Fives did get into trouble, he would have plenty of backup.Knowing how fond Skywalker was of his men did ease your mind somewhat, until you pass him while walking the halls only a day after they’d left. You idly think that it must have been a short mission, but when you return to your post and Kix does not report in, confusion takes over. You mention this to Bortuse, a tall Torgruta male who Kix had left in charge, and ask if he had heard anything. He taps at his datapad a few times and frowns, which does little to ease your mind.“They’re still deployed,” he says, his deep voice rumbling out from his chest. “Looks like Skywalker was called back at the last second and someone else has taken command.”“Does it say who?” You ask, fidgeting with your necklace again.“Pong Krell,” he says after another few taps to the datapad. “Great,” he continues, setting the pad down and rubbing his forehead.Before you can say anything else, he sighs heavily. You aren’t Force sensitive, but you can feel the stress radiate off of him. He speaks again and says “I need you to double check all of our supply stocks. We’ll be busy with the wounded when they get back. We always are with Krell.” He sighs and shakes his head before walking away to attend to something elsewhere.Your confusion deepens, and you quickly snatch up the datapad that had been left behind.“Pong Krell…” you mutter to yourself as you search through the database. “Why is that so familiar?” You wonder aloud.With a few more taps and swipes of your fingers, you’re able to pull up a personnel file on him. You quickly read over the text, and your stomach does a backflip. Krell had a commendable mission success rate, but at the cost of the highest number of casualties among all of the Generals. He always returned with significantly fewer men than he left with. This only deepens your worry about Fives and the others.Now you understand why Bortuse told you to check supply stocks. You switch to another program on the datapad, walk over to a nearby cabinet, then open it and start counting and taking notes on what was inside.You’re about twenty minutes into this when you suddenly remember where you had heard the name Krell before. Several cycles ago, the medical wing was overwhelmed with mortally wounded and dying men. Kix had been cursing Krells name under his breath for most of the day. You recall Kix telling you that the General held a great disdain for clones and saw them not as men, but disposable tools. Your stomach roils at the thought, fear and anger making your heartbeat too loud in your ears. You count faster.——Another day or so passes before the familiar sound of landing ships rumbles through the building. Bortuse told you and all of the other medics to gather up equipment and med kits and be ready to move immediately, then led the way to the landing site.There were wounded men, of course, but nowhere near as many as the team had expected. You, as a unit, move quickly to stabilize the critical cases and get them transported into the hospital.You, as an individual, made it a point to be one of the first to respond and last to leave during troop returns like this. You instruct a medical droid, and when it moves aside, you can see Kix approaching. You see a hollow, haunted look in his eyes and know right away that something had gone very, very wrong on this mission. You and the remaining medics quickly run to meet him and wait for his orders.He looks at the group and shakes his head. “There are no other shuttles. We’re what’s left,” he says, not stopping to stand while he speaks and making his way into the GAR building. That’s why there were so few wounded, you realize, and your heart sinks as you watch Kix walk away. He didn’t seem to see you, much less indicate that Fives was alright. You hadn’t seen anyone you recognized among the injured, but that easily could have been because someone else on the team had gotten to them before you.Adrenaline pumping, you and the others raced back to the medical wing.——Although there aren’t many men that come back from Umbara, the injured ones that did need immediate critical care and you are so swamped with them all that you’re barely able to wonder what the time is. Your chest aches with each soldier you work on, but you can’t help but feel cold hearted when you’re quietly relieved that Fives and Rex aren’t among them.After a grueling, nonstop shift of over twelve hours, you’re dismissed for the day and told to go home. As you take your normal route through the Coruscant streets back to your apartment, your head swims with exhaustion. When you arrive home, Fives is not there. This doesn’t mean that something had happened to him, but your gut twists all the same.You shed your sweaty, stained clothes and take a long, hot shower. It eases your aching body and clears your head somewhat. You likely hadn’t seen Fives because he was being debriefed, you think while drying off, and the twist loosens a little.Once you’re dressed, you plop down onto the sofa and stare into space, holding your chin over your clasped hands, deep in thought and going over everything you had heard after the men arrived. There were so many fragments of hushed conversation about the mission.Hardcase, the same man who lost a bet about you and Fives to Tup, had sacrificed himself in order to destroy a Separatist supply ship.Rex’s name flew around between the men. Rumors of treason and disobeyed orders buzzed about, and you had heard a few of the men talk in low, stilted voices about reconditioning.You remembered hearing that an ARC Trooper would be court martialed as you rushed between patients, but you were too busy to really process this until now. You fidget with the stone around your neck and continue mulling everything over.The most important thing you had heard, stated as fact by multiple people, was the news that Krell was dead, and not by enemy hands.You rub at your temples with a groan, trying to make sense of it all, when you hear your comm link chirping. You quickly answer, and it’s Fives. Even through the static of the holo comm, you can see the stress of the past few days on his face. But he’s alive, and a massive weight slips from your shoulders. You’re about to speak when he cuts you off.“Cyare,” Fives says quickly, glancing around, “don’t wait up, I’m going to be in debriefing and inquiry for a while over here. I can’t talk about it now, I’m sorry.” Before you can react in any way, the holo shuts off.“Inquiry?” You say aloud, aghast.Shit really had hit the fan, it seems.Fives’ being debriefed you understood, that was a standard part of returning from missions. The inquiry part though, that worries you. Is what you heard about him being court martialed true? You knew that Krell was dead, could it be possible that Fives was involved?You cut that thought off before it fully forms in your mind and you feel a headache coming on. You glance at the chrono on the wall, realize how late it is, and the returning aches, exhaustion, and worsening confusion convince you to go to bed. You had been given the next day off and so you decided to try and sleep as long as possible.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When you wake the next day, and you roll over to see that the other half of your bed is empty, you spring to full consciousness. Sitting straight up so quickly makes your head swim, and you rest your forehead on your knees for a while. As the dizziness passes, so does your frantic state of mind. Fives was subject to inquiry, you reminded yourself, and they probably wanted him in the barracks to be closer to where he was needed. You stretch and twist your torso side to side, finding great satisfaction in the popping sound your spine makes as tension melts away from it. You reach over to the bedside table and retrieve the glowing stone, replacing it around your neck.As you do, you note the time on the small chrono that also rests on the table. It’s past noon.Well, you did want to sleep as long as possible, you think while getting to your feet. You haven’t had a day off in several rotations, and get dressed while deciding to go around the city and run some long-overdue errands. You’d been low on caf and laundry soap for a long time.Once dressed, you pause in the kitchen for a while, then decide to skip breakfast so you could try to make the most of the remaining daylight hours. You pull on your boots, double check that you have everything you’ll need, and step outside of your apartment into the hallway, locking the door behind you. As you entered the elevator, you weren’t sure how long you would be out, but hoped that Fives would be back around the same time.Having reached the ground floor, the elevator door opens, and you see Fives standing on the other side. If Kix seemed rough, Fives appeared absolutely miserable. His eyes had that same hollow, hopeless look that Kix’s did, and you could swear that the lines on his face weren’t that deep when he left. It takes him a second to notice you, and when he does, he doesn’t ask where you’re going.He doesn't even look at you for more than a second.He steps inside the elevator as the door closes. You fidget with your keys, not knowing what to say, or even if you should say anything. So, instead, you simply hit the button for your floor, and the two of you are silent as you ascend. To stop yourself from fidgeting, you cautiously take Fives’ hand into your own, and your worry deepens when he squeezes you back, hard enough to ache a little.The short walk to your apartment door and back inside is equally quiet. You kick your shoes off near the door and shuffle in place while Fives still won’t look directly at you. Once he’s taken off his kit, you carefully take his hand again, leading him back to your bed. You don’t know what else to do.You sit down with your back against the headboard and pat your chest, a gesture which Fives correctly interprets by laying down and curling around you, his head in the hollow of your shoulder.He’s shivering.You lean forward a little and pull the duvet back over the two of you, and he relaxes a little more. He sits up, finally meeting your eyes, and you can see the barely-contained anguish and anger there. He opens his mouth to speak, but you shake your head. You press your forehead into his and whisper that he should rest first. Everything else could wait.The gratitude on Fives’ face makes your heart ache.—Fives fell asleep almost immediately, as if he hadn’t slept in days, which you later realized was almost certainly the case. You hadn’t expected to fall asleep again, and when the both of you wake hours later, it’s dark outside. Fives groans as he stretches.He locks eyes with you and suddenly crumbles into your chest, breathing ragged.Taken aback, you say “Fives, what the hell happened out there?” Before you could stop yourself. He shivers again, and you hold him tightly. “Hey, hey, it’s alright, you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to, I understand,” you say, one hand on the back of his head and the other running smoothly up and down his back.“No, no, you should know,” he says, voice hoarse from overuse. He must have been talking for hours before he got back to you.“Ok. Tell me whatever you need to, but in a little while. I’m not saying you stink, but a shower would do you some good, yeah?” You respond.To your surprise, Fives chuckles and says “I smell like bantha shit, I know it,” quietly while sitting back up.“Well, now that you mention it…” you say, pinching your nose. That gets a laugh out of him, and you both feel some of the tension in the room dissipate. “Come on, I’ll join you,” you say, taking his hand and gently pulling him out of bed behind you.—The refresher is hot with steamy air, and the sound of water running through the shower head doesn’t quite cover the satisfied moans that come from Fives’ mouth. You’re standing behind him, rubbing down his back and tense shoulders with some scented body oil. Said moans aside, it’s quiet, but nowhere near as strained as it had been in the elevator. You gently turn him around so the water can rinse the excess oil from his skin, and he cups your cheek in one hand. You smile softly at him and set the bottle of oil down somewhere behind you.You can sense the need radiating from him, and even if you couldn’t his stiff cock certainly got the point across. You meet his eyes and nod.He breathes a sigh of relief, then closes the gap, kissing you deeply, feverishly, as if he was afraid he’d never see you again.You lightly drag your fingertips across his chest and reciprocate with just as much fervor. He breaks away and mouths along your jaw, making his way to the junction where your neck meets your shoulder. You firmly grip his throbbing cock and the moment you do, Fives bites you. Startled, your sound of surprise quickly melts into high gasps as he uses enough pressure that you know there will be a mark. The new sensation of pleasure-pain sends a rocket of wet arousal to your cunt.After a few seconds he pulls away, breathing heavily, barely restraining himself. You grin at him, move your hands to his shoulders, and when you hop, he catches you and grips the globes of your ass, slamming your back into the tiled wall of the shower.He sheathes himself into you with no preamble or hesitation, and the sudden sensation of being so full makes you scream out his name. Noise complaints be damned. He pounds up into you, spearing you over and over on his cock, and making just as much noise as you were, if not more.Through the haze of your arousal, you notice that he’s being a lot rougher with you. Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing or unwanted, just unusual.Either way, each desperate thrust of Fives’ hips up into yours hits so deep and so good that your lower back tingles.You moan his name over and over. You can tell how badly he needs this; it’s cathartic.You suddenly realize he’s talking, barely audible over the sounds of your pleasure. You lean forward, making your foreheads touch again, and you close your eyes to better hear his muttered words.“… thought I wouldn’t make it back. I’d never forgive myself” Fives says, and before things could get any more intense, you silence him by clashing your mouths together.Your tongues dance, and he somehow manages to thrust into you harder and faster.Your orgasm crashes over you like a tidal wave, and you break away as you gasp for air. Fives lurches forward and bites your shoulder again in almost the same spot, and you feel his hot release painting your insides as he does. The sudden overstimulation nearly makes you dizzy.His movements stop abruptly and he shivers again, his body going slack as he pulls out of you. He hides his face against your chest as you return, shakily, to your feet. The hot water of the shower had run out a while ago, so you know what the warm droplets hitting your skin really are.He’s talking again, but the words are so rushed and muffled against your skin you can’t understand any of them.“Fives?” You say.He doesn’t react so you repeat his name, eventually having to grip his chin and force him to look at you. “Fives, it’s okay, I’m here, you’re safe.” you say firmly, staring into his unblinking eyes as you speak.He lets out a long, shuddering breath and holds you tightly to his chest. “Oh cyare,” he says shakily.You mirror the embrace, and as he shudders again you whisper “I’ve got you,” into his ear again and again until he’s able to even out his breathing.—It’s a little over half an hour later, and the two of you have dried off and gotten dressed again. You’re in the kitchen, wrapping up a call for delivery; the both of you are starving. You thank the Weequay on the other side of the comlink and end the call. Fives is sitting on the sofa, staring into space and bouncing one of his legs. You make your way over and sit next to him, setting a calming hand onto his knee. After a few quiet minutes, he glances over at you, sees the large purple bruise he left on your skin, and grimaces.“Sorry about that cyare,” he says quietly, carefully brushing a fingertip across it. You hold back a hiss of pain and take his hand, gripping him tight.“Don’t be. The only problem I’ve got with it is that I have to figure out how to hide it from Kix and everyone else,” you say with a chuckle. Fives shakes his head incredulously at you. “Besides,” you continue, “I could tell you needed that. It’s okay, Fives.”He finally seems to accept that and leans back further into the couch, staring up at the ceiling and appearing to gather his thoughts. You sit quietly next to him, your hands still clasped together. Just as he opens his mouth to speak, the intercom at your front door buzzes. You tell him to hold that thought, then stand and quickly make your way over to the door. After confirming that it’s the delivery guy, you slide the door open, surprised by how quickly it had arrived.It’s the same Weequay you had spoken with on the comm call a little while ago. His eyes widen, and you realize that he’s staring at the mark on your neck. You take the bag of food from him, hand over the credits for it, plus tip, and wink at him, saying “Nothing I didn’t want,” before thanking him and closing the door.You return to the living room and set the food onto the caf table nearby. Without hesitation, you and Fives both grab what you wanted and eat. It was cheap, greasy, and quickly prepared, but judging by how ravenously Fives shoveled it down, it has to be better than GAR rations. Starting to pace yourself, you look over at the man beside you and shake your head. “Maker Fives, when’s the last time you ate something?” you say.“I honestly don’t know, last I remember was before shipping out.” He says, pausing briefly to gulp down a glass of water you had brought him earlier. Indignation flares in your chest. How often does that happen, you wonder. Satiated, you offer Fives whatever you didn’t finish, which he readily accepted. After a few minutes, he leaned back and stared at the ceiling again, groaning a little.“Maker,” you say softly, “I can’t believe all of the shit they put you guys through.”“Cyare, you don’t even know the half of it,” he says with a sigh, leaning forward.It seems that now is finally the time for Fives to tell you about the mission.You listen intently, without interrupting, the entire time he speaks, aside from cursing whenever he describes how Krell spoke to Rex. Fives talked about land mines, multiple ambushes, and ill-advised forward assaults.He describes how he, Jesse (who you had met once or twice at 79s) and Hardcase went against explicit orders, hijacked two enemy star fighters, and infiltrated an approaching supply ship. He pauses for a moment before telling you how Hardcase had sacrificed himself. He chuckles humorlessly. “Kinda reminded me of Hevy, back at the Rishi Station,” he says.You just nod, understanding right away. Echo had told you a few times about their post there, and how he and Fives wound up being the only surviving members of the Domino Squad. There’s a sting of grief as you remember being in this almost exact scenario with Echo, years ago. You unconsciously grab at the glowing stone around your neck and push the feeling down; Fives needed you present, and thinking too long about the past would not do either of you any good.After another quiet minute, Fives continues to speak. Apparently Rex had tried to claim responsibility for their actions, to which Krell reacted by threatening treason and a court martialing.You can’t help the loud, angry, “What?!” That escapes you when he says Krell decided to skip all of that and jump straight into execution. He nods severely, and then starts talking about a damned firing squad, riling you up even further.Fives needs a moment to collect himself before continuing; you take the short break as an excuse to go into the liquor cabinet and return with a mostly-full bottle of Corellian whiskey and two glasses. Fives takes the bottle from you and takes a long pull directly from it, not bothering with a glass. He hands it back, grimacing at the strong taste, then continues.“I’d said everything I could,” he says, voice quiet and flat. “It was completely out of my hands at that point. As I closed my eyes, all I could think was that I was breaking my promise to you. To come back,” he continues, voice cracking. He leans forward, elbows on his knees and head in his hands, trembling.“You did the right thing,” you said firmly, setting the bottle down on the caf table and putting an arm around his shoulders. He looks at you in surprise. “It’s war,” you continue, “I know that some promises can’t be kept. In the grand scheme of things, that doesn’t matter, and neither do I. You did exactly what you needed to do, and I don’t want you for a single second to doubt that, got it?”“Cyare, I-“ Fives starts to say, but you cut him off.“Stop. You did the right thing,” you say, emphasizing each word before pulling him into a crushing embrace.“You think so?” he says quietly.“Fives, I know so. You’re a good soldier but more importantly, you're a good man. I’ve never doubted anything you’ve done, and I never will,” you say, gripping his shoulders and pushing him back enough that he can see the seriousness on your face. After a second or so, Fives seems to believe you, and continues telling you about the mission.The firing squad had, well, fired, but each one of them missed. He had managed to get through to them. He paused, taking another long pull from the whiskey bottle. “That wasn’t the worst of it,” he said. Your jaw dropped. What else could possibly have been worse than facing down a firing squad made up of your own brothers?You find out when he, after another swig of the whiskey, tells you that Krell had tricked the men into attacking other clones. A heavy stone of anger had been building in your gut as Fives spoke, but with this revelation, it morphed into hate. Tup, the man who had won that bet with Hardcase a while back, managed to trap Krell by using the local wildlife to his advantage and stunning him. Later, while in the brig, Krell had revealed his ulterior alliance with Count Dooku. Dogma, a clone you hadn’t met yet, was insistent throughout the entire mission that everyone should follow orders, without question, but after hearing this, he was the one who had taken the fatal shot at Krell.Fives takes a final gulp of whiskey before handing the bottle back to you. You take a swig of your own, then return it to the liquor cabinet, the bottle now nearly empty. With the bulk of what happened finally told, Fives briefly outlined the inquiry and debriefing he had undergone upon his return.By the time he had finished speaking, the alcohol had started to take effect, and he began to slur his words. You took a deep breath, trying to reconcile everything you had just been told. It seemed that the rumors and scraps of conversation you had picked up the day prior were indeed accurate.The chrono on the wall chimes and you realize how late it is. You get to your feet and stand in front of Fives, who is still seated on the sofa. You cup his cheek with a hand, making him look up at you. You bend down and softly kiss him. “I am so sorry you had to go through all of that, Fives. It can’t have been easy to relive it all. Thank you for telling me. You really didn’t have to,” you say.Fives, wobbling just a little, stands and holds his hands on your hips.“Even if I didn’t have to tell you about it, I wanted to, cyare. I love you,” he says, and your heart leaps into your throat.You stop yourself, remembering how much whiskey he had, and reason that he wasn’t fully aware of what he just said. Your face must have reflected this thought, as you were startled out of your reverie when Fives brushed his hand alongside your face. “It’s not the drink,” he says firmly. “I meant it.” He softly says your name and you see the unguarded honesty in his eyes. “I’m just sorry it took me this long to tell you. I love you,” he says.Your voice has vanished, so you respond by throwing your arms around his neck and kissing him.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
That night feels light-years away now.There could never be a ‘routine’ while in the midst of a war, but you and Fives have developed the next closest thing to one. He, and all his brothers of the 501st, would deploy to various places around the galaxy, continuing the fight against the Separatists. While he was gone, you would worry constantly while working alongside Bortuse, with the two of you being left in charge whenever Kix was away. The men would return, you would tend to the wounded, and as soon as you got the chance, you would meet up at 79s for drinks with the men before the next mission.Echo still lingered in the back of your mind, and in the ever-present stone around your neck. Fives, meanwhile, had not only his grief for Echo to contend with, but the additional traumas of being a soldier, and the events of Umbara weighed heavily upon him. You could see traces of it in the eyes of Rex, Kix, and the others who survived that mission.You and Fives both would have your good days, your bad days, and your horrible days. With the ever-mounting pressure upon the GAR to put an end to this war, missions and campaigns were longer, further away, and deadlier. It seemed each medical shuttle that you received every few days was offloading more and more dying and injured men. Kix had promoted you to a higher station, putting you onto the same level as Bortuse, and when Kix was off-world the two of you would often struggle to stay on top of things.With all of this, obviously stress levels skyrocketed between you and Fives both, which meant that bad or horrible days were all too common. It seemed as though every third or fourth night, one of you would awaken with a scream from another nightmare, and the other would be the one to try and pick up the pieces. You would have visions of scores of dying men, and you were never able to do anything, literally frozen into place. Fives would be forced to relive being stared down by a firing squad, or being unable to pull Echo back to safety; not to mention everything else he’d been through that you didn’t know about.Through it all, though, you had each other, and the rest of the men. You had become a regular fixture at 79’s, and had in fact gotten to know them fairly well. Nights spent in the bar were often long, loud, and exactly what you all needed to unwind every now and then. Of course there was also the not-so-subtle habit you and Fives had of sneaking away into one of the refreshers or the long hallway together nearly every time. The group would all part ways after a handful of hours, and you and Fives would return to your apartment. Depending upon how much the two of you had to drink, you would pass out on the couch or manage to actually make it to bed. However you fell asleep, the two of you would always wake up to see the other there, and in those slightly hungover, quiet mornings, you found peace together.——Fives would try his best to keep you up to date on his and the 501st’s missions, but was usually beaten to the punch by Kix. Today was no different; you and Bortuse had been given the run of the hospital wards again. While he and Kix spoke further, you stepped outside into a hallway for a few seconds of peace and quiet; all the machines beeping and droids whirring around was starting to become too much. You of course did not find either of those things in the hall, instead stumbling upon Fives, Tup, and Rex, who were on their way to fetch Kix before the Legion’s departure.When he sees your face, Fives’ lights up, and you can catch a glimpse of the energized, younger man he used to be, and your heart aches. Not only because you can kind of see Echo there, but also because you’ve witnessed how the war has worn Fives and the others down over time. You find yourself constantly amazed by just how resilient the men are, and so it’s odd when you notice Tup rubbing at his temples. Fives and Rex notice too, and when one points it out, Tup shrugs it off as an oncoming headache. You frown slightly, then open the door and allow the others to enter before you, Fives bringing up the rear with a cheeky smirk and grab of your ass.——A few rotations pass, then one day Bortuse pulls you aside, uncharacteristically keeping his speech quiet. He tells you that something’s gone terribly wrong with the mission to Ringo Vida. Your heart races as he says that Tup had some kind of dissociative episode, and shot and killed General Tiplar. You gasp.“That’s impossible, Tup would never! None of the men would!” you say. Bortuse shushes you and glances around before handing a datapad over to you. You quickly read the report pulled up on the screen in disbelief, then return it to him. “Okay, so we need to prepare for a full evaluation when he gets here, right?” you ask.“They’re sending him to Kamino with Rex and Fives. The seppies tried to abduct him,” he says.“What?” you say, thankfully able to keep your voice down to a whisper. “Why in the galaxy would they want Tup?”“General Skywalker thinks they may have had something to do with it all,“ Bortuse says, shaking his head. “We aren’t even supposed to see this report,” he added, quickly swiping across the screen of the datapad and making the report disappear.“Then how-?” You start to say, but he cuts you off.“Kix, obviously. I imagine he wanted you to know where Fives is as soon as possible. Officially, we never saw that report. Nobody outside of the mission is supposed to know what happened, understand?” Bortuse says, his normally warm voice cold and serious. You can’t help a shiver that runs down your back.“Yes, sir.”——A few days pass, and the men return from Ringo Vida. Tup and Fives are not among them. During a rare lull in the day, you get Kix’s attention and the two of you step into the hallway. You ask, hushed, if he had heard any updates from Kamino. Kix glances around, making sure that nobody else is in the immediate vicinity, and keeps his voice low.“I have, and it’s not good,” he says with a heavy sigh.“Shit,” you curse under your breath. “Can you tell me anything?” you ask, trying not to panic.“I’m not supposed to, but I’ve known you long enough to trust you. This conversation never happened, the details are being kept under wraps for now, it’s very serious,” he says, glancing around once more. Unconsciously fidgeting with the stone around your neck, you give him a tight-lipped nod and he quickly speaks. “Tup had actually been missing for four days, right after we got to Ringo Vida. Day five, he just appears back at base with no idea he had even been gone.”“And nobody investigated?” you ask, surprised.“Things had gotten too hectic, it fell to the wayside,” Kix says, shaking his head. “Later that same day, we all had gone into battle against an army of droids, and we were struggling. Tup especially, he kept getting distracted and holding his head, saying he didn’t feel like himself. Fives and Tup split off with General Tiplar, and the next thing I know, we’re being ordered to retreat and Tiplar is dead. Tup had fallen into some kind of fugue state and shot her.”“I saw that much on the document Bortuse showed me; I still can’t believe it,” you said, eyes wide.“Officially, you never saw that, understood?” Kix says, looking you dead in the eye.“Understood, yes Sir,” you say while standing up a little straighter. Kix nods at you, then continues.Upon questioning, Tup had no memory of what he had done, and suddenly fell deathly ill. They had no idea why and theorized that he may have been infected with some kind of virus or toxin by the Separatists while he was missing for those four days.“It was unsettling,” Kix said, staring into space as he spoke. “Every now and then Tup would jerk back to consciousness and either make threats to the Generals or repeat something about good soldiers following orders over and over until he passed out again.”You shivered, suddenly remembering how quickly Fives, Tup, and Hardcase had snapped to attention ages ago in the hallway. Kix took no notice of this and continued speaking.The Separatist infection theory seemed to be confirmed when Tup was kidnapped by them on his way to Kamino. Thankfully, Rex, Fives, and General Skywalker were able to retrieve him. Last Kix had heard, whatever had gotten into Tup wound up ending his life, and Fives was being examined. He had spent so much time in close contact with Tup that they were afraid he may have been exposed to the mystery illness, and as such needed to be certain he was not.You can’t help the soft gasp that leaves your mouth before you cover it with your hands. “What the hell happened to Tup?” you say shocked.Kix simply shakes his head and says that they still don’t know.“And w-whatever this, this virus or toxin was, Fives may have it too?” you say, struggling to keep your voice down as you begin to panic.Kix sees this and holds you by the shoulders, grounding you as he speaks. “We don’t know yet, that’s why he’s still on Kamino. I have contacts there and I will let you know what they find as soon as I can, but for now we just have to wait and see,” he says sympathetically.Your hands tremble and an all too familiar pit of fear forms in your gut. Before either of you can say anything else, the sound of approaching footsteps prompts the two of you to quickly duck back in through the door.——Nearly two agonizing rotations pass and you haven’t been told anything, which means Kix hasn’t heard anything, and your worry deepens with every hour that passes.As you head home after work, you overhear fragments of whispered conversation.“A clone tried to attack the Chancellor,” one man says.The other hisses “I heard he’s on the run,” before they turn a corner and walk out of earshot.You freeze, your mind shifting into overdrive. There was no way…Your heart pounding, you then break into a run, sprinting the remaining stretch of your walk home. Of all the days to forget your com link, you think, cursing as you punch the elevator door buttons.You reach your floor, and after taking two attempts to unlock your apartment door, you burst inside. You unceremoniously slam the door behind yourself, drop your jacket and bag onto the floor, and look frantically around the room in an attempt to find your com link. You hear a faint beeping coming from between the couch cushions, and you are simultaneously relieved to have found it, then anxious when you see multiple missed calls and a single message. Fumbling with the device, you access the message and sink into the couch as it begins to play.It’s Fives, and the first thing you notice is that his head has been shaved and he isn’t wearing his usual armor, but that’s immediately overshadowed by the panic in his eyes and voice as he speaks. “Cyare, I’ve found something. Something huge; I can’t come home, they’re after me. Whatever you hear-“ a blast of static interrupts the message, garbling the audio and holo projection. “-you safe,” the message continues after the interference passes. “I’m sorry,” Fives says before a commotion in the background distracts him and he abruptly ends the call.Your heart pounds in your ears and your vision starts to blur. Your hands go slack and you drop the com link to the floor.“Whatever you hear,” he had said. You had no way of knowing what he said after that, but something in your gut tells you that he’d said it was a lie.A clone attacked the Chancellor. Tup had attacked a General. He had some kind of infection, and there was a chance that it had passed to Fives.“They’re after me,” you whisper, suddenly nauseous.It made no sense at all, but at the same time, it did. You suddenly stand, wavering a little as the blood rushes from your head to your legs. You make your way to the liquor cabinet, wrench it open, grab the nearly-empty bottle of Corellian whiskey, and finish it off in a single gulp. Your anxiety and the drink mix and your head swims. You drop the empty bottle to the floor and make your way into the refresher in a daze. You’d just taken in so much, you knew a shower would help clear your head. At least, you prayed it would.—A few hours have passed and you are having a fierce internal battle with yourself while pacing restlessly in the kitchen.A clone attacked the Chancellor.
Fives would never do such a thing.
An unknown force compelled Tup to kill a General. Fives may have been exposed to it.
We don’t know that for sure.
It makes sense.
It makes no sense!
You’ve lost count of how many times you have tried and failed to reach Fives through his com link. Eventually you realize that if he really was being pursued, the smart thing to do would be to ditch it somewhere in an attempt to avoid detection.Suddenly your device chirps, and you frantically answer it. It’s not Fives, but Jesse, asking if you were going to meet up with him and a few others at 79s. You shake your head to clear it. Being around others may help you to get a hold of yourself, you reason. And if that doesn’t work, at least some more drinks would help you relax. You tell Jesse that you’re on your way and end the call.——You reach 79s after about an hour. Fighting through traffic was always a nightmare, even on public transit.As you walk through the doors, your worry eases a tiny bit when you see Jesse and Kix in their usual spot at the end of the bar near the refreshers and hallway. Jesse and Kix glance at each other as you approach, and this, coupled with the noticeable absence of Rex, makes the knot of stress in your belly tighten. You try to shake it off, and take a seat at the bar. After the usual hellos, you wonder aloud where the Captain is. Kix and Jesse look at each other again before Kix speaks.“You haven’t heard?” he says, keeping his voice low, despite the noise of the bar and patrons around you. You don’t get a chance to reply before Jesse cuts in and says “He’s with the General. They’re looking for Fives. They’re saying that he-““He didn’t,” you say coldly, interrupting. “I’ve heard that but I don’t believe it. He would never.” A server droid approaches and you order a few shots of the strongest stuff they’ve got, cost be damned.Kix says your name in disbelief.“We thought the same thing about Tup,” he says, not taking his eyes off of you. You remain resolute and do not respond. It's a tense couple of minutes until the server droid returns with your shots. You take the small tray, pay the droid, and watch as it wheels away. Without hesitating, you knock back one of the shots, grimacing at the strong taste. Jesse says your name, but you ignore him and gulp down a second shot.“I refuse to believe that Fives would do such a thing,” you say, staring into the empty shot glass in your hand. You glance around, then pull your com link out of your pocket. You play the recorded holo message Fives left for you, then put it away again.“You don’t actually believe-“ Jesse says, but you cut him off by tossing back a third shot and slamming the glass down onto the bar.“No,” you say, turning to look at the two clones on your left. “I know Fives. He would never do something like that. And if he did, he’d have a damned good reason for it.”Kix and Jesse glance at each other again and shake their heads.You hail the service droid and repeat your order of shots. It rolls away, and Kix stands, moving toward the refresher. You’re left with Jesse, who looks like he wants to say something but keeps stopping himself. The droid returns, you pay, and gulp down another shot.As you do, you don’t notice the clone that follows Kix into the refresher.——Fives tugs the ‘borrowed’ cap down a bit further, hiding the tattoo on his temple as he scans the room. It takes a moment, but he eventually spots Kix and Jesse. Kix stands, and when he moves aside, Fives sees you, knocking back a shot and looking aggravated, and his heart nearly stops.He’s frozen in place for a few seconds until someone bumps into him and he forces himself to focus. He needed to reach Rex, and this was the only feasible way to do so. Fives adjusts the cap again and walks toward the refreshers, and you. He so badly wants to stop and talk to you, but he knows he’s on borrowed time. As much as it pains him, he passes you by as you take another shot, not noticing him at all.He pauses before the refresher door, then, once he’s sure there’s nobody following him, steps inside.——You’re about to take a fifth shot when there’s suddenly a firm hand on your shoulder, stopping you. It's Kix, and he looks badly shaken, which startles you and you drop the glass. Ignoring the resulting spill, Kix leans down and whispers in your ear that there’s something important for you in the refreshers. You look up at him, confused, but he does not elaborate, instead using his grip on your shoulder to spin your bar stool around and firmly push you off of it.Fine, you think, stumbling a little due to the shots. You’ll humor him.You step into the quiet refresher and are badly startled when you hear someone say your name. Recognizing the voice, you spin around and see Fives standing near the door. Relief, muddied with confusion, fills you as you quickly walk towards him and he pulls you into a crushing embrace. You pull back and gently cup one side of his face.“Fives,” you whisper, “What the hell is going on? They’re saying you attacked the Chancellor!”“Cyare,” Fives says, just as softly. “I don’t have a lot of time. I need you to listen to me, please.”You hear the strain and desperation in his voice and swallow a lump that has formed in your throat before you nod at him.When Fives speaks, the words are a confused, rambling mess and you have a hard time keeping up with what he’s saying. Something about an implanted chip in his brain, the Kaminoans, and a conspiracy that traces back to the Chancellor himself. He gets frantic as he continues, and you try to calm him down.“Fives, honey, slow down, I don’t understand,” you say.You're startled again when he growls in frustration, stepping away from you and continuing to ramble.You suddenly recall the conversation the two of you had so long ago about the Umbara mission. You cautiously approach him and say “Fives, look at me,” while firmly taking his hands into your own. “Whatever this is, I believe you. Remember what I said to you when you told me about Krell?”“What does that have to do-“ he says, but you cut him off.“I said that you’re a good man and that I’d never doubt you. I meant it then and I mean it now. I may not get what’s happening, but I trust you,” you say, looking into his eyes. The uncharacteristic fear you see in them makes your chest ache and you suddenly pull him close and hold him tightly.After a few seconds, he stops trembling a little and you take a step back to look at him. “Why are you here, of all places?” you ask.“Rex,” Fives says, and you can see that he’s struggling to stay calm. “I need to talk to Rex. Kix will tell him where to meet me,” he says. Before you can ask, Fives vehemently shakes his head at you. “No, I’m not going to tell you where. I’m putting you in enough danger just by being here.”“Fives,” you say, your voice beginning to crack.“Cyare, please!” he says. He takes a step toward you and kisses you deeply, catching you slightly off guard. You quickly reorient yourself and sigh into him. He breaks away and presses his forehead into yours, speaking in a whisper. “Please trust me,” he says.“I do,” you say, and a tear runs down your cheek. “I always will.”He whispers your name and your heart breaks. A sudden sense of finality, that you would never see him again, crashes over you and you barely stop yourself from sobbing.“I’m sorry cyare but I need to go, I’ve been here too long,” Fives says before abruptly breaking away from you and turning towards the door.“Fives, wait!” You say in an odd whisper-yell.He freezes, looking back at you.You take a few steps, grab his shoulders, and crash your mouth against his. You’ve made this mistake once before and you would be damned if it happens again. You break away and say “I love you.”Fives smirks, and you briefly see a flash of the shiny he used to be.“I know,” he says. He pecks your lips one last time and exits the refresher.You try to follow him, but when you reach the door, Kix is standing outside and intercepts you. He holds you back and you struggle against him briefly before managing to slip out of his grasp, much to the surprise of both of you. You push your way through the throng of people in the bar, ignoring the insults being thrown at you, and you catch a glimpse of Fives as he leaves through the front doors.By the time you make it outside, he’s taken a speeder and rides off into the distance. After a few seconds, you can no longer see him.Fives is gone.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You hear Kix and Jesse’s voices behind you, but don’t register their words. You’re staring at the point in the distance that Fives disappeared into, tears streaming silently down your face, feeling numb to everything else around you. Your ears are ringing.Everything is suddenly too loud, too crowded.You’re too exposed out here.Your heart pounds as you begin to sweat and feel dizzy. You need to leave, to get home, to wake up. This has to be a new kind of nightmare. You turn suddenly to your left and take a few wobbly steps forward before your vision goes black and you feel yourself hit the pavement.At least it’s quiet now.
——When you open your eyes again, you find yourself at home, on the couch, under a blanket. You have no memory of how you got here, and you sit up with a gasp, starting to panic. The majority of the lights inside are off, save for the spotlight over the kitchen sink and an ugly lamp you have tucked into the corner by the balcony. Startled by the unexpected sound of boots against your floor, you whip your head around, then groan as a wave of nausea washes over you. You hide your face in your hands, then jump when someone lightly touches your upper back.“Hey, hey, it’s alright,” a voice says. The light mounted over the couch illuminates, and you can see that it's Kix, and he still looks shaken. He says your name and asks if you know where you are.“K-Kix? What’re you- how did you get into my apartment? How did I get into my apartment?” you say, confused. Kix sighs, then fetches you a glass of water from the kitchen.“Small sips,” he says as he hands it to you. “What’s the last thing you remember?”“I… I was outside of the bar. Everything was too loud, I had to get away. Then I woke up here.” you say between sips of water. You try to remember why you had left the bar, and as it suddenly hits you, you get to your feet, spilling the water in your haste.“Woah, easy, you’re safe here,” Kix says, standing in front of you and holding you by the upper arms.“Where is he?” you ask, a croak in your voice.“Where’s wh-“ Kix starts to say, but you cut him off.“Don’t ‘where’s who’ me, Kix! Where is Fives?” you say, barely stopping yourself from yelling as you try to break free of Kix’s grasp with each word.Kix firmly pushes you back into a sitting position on the couch, then he sits directly across from you on the caf table. Before you can repeat yourself, Kix softly says your name before he speaks.“Fives-“ he stops himself, appearing unable to speak. As this happens, a beam of sunlight slips into the room through the gap in your curtains, and you realize how much time has passed.“Kix! How long was I out? What happened?” you ask, panic creeping back into your voice.He sighs and runs a hand down his face.“You fainted,” he says quietly enough to draw your focus back to him. “You spoke to Fives in the refresher, tried to follow him. Jesse and I went after you. When we found you, you were frozen to the spot, crying and unresponsive. We both tried to talk to you, but I don't think you could hear or understand either of us. You tried to walk away and hit the ground. Scared the hell out of us.”“So, you brought me back home?” you ask, calming down, but not by much.“Yes. I remembered your place from when I’d come to check on you after…” he stops and clears his throat.“After Echo,” you say flatly and your chest clenches.Kix apologizes, but continues.“You had your key on you, we were able to get you inside. I told Jesse I would stay here to keep an eye on you. That was several hours ago.” He finishes speaking, then stares into space.“Hours?” you say loudly, panicking again.Too much could have happened in that timeframe.You’re able to get to your feet and slip past Kix, marching toward the front door. He grabs your wrist before you get too far away, also back on his feet. He says your name again, and you suddenly hear an uncharacteristic waver in his voice. A pit forms in your stomach. You snatch your wrist away and return to the front door, pausing only to put your shoes on. The door hisses as it slides open, and you’re halfway into the hall before you hear Kix speak again.“Don’t. There’s nothing you can do now,” he says, the waver more prominent in his speech.You stop so suddenly that your rubber-soled shoes squeak on the linoleum floor of the hallway. Your hands begin to shake as you slowly turn your head to look over your shoulder.Kix is only steps behind you, so you can clearly see the pain on his face. He looks the same way Fives did when he got back to you after the Umbara mission. Hell, he looks like Echo did while talking about his post at the Rishi station. You remember the way they both would crumple into you, unable to speak after yet another nightmare, and your vision blurs.Through your tears, you could almost mistake Kix for either of them. But Fives and Echo are both gone now.“Why do you all have to look the fucking same?” you say, tears streaming down your face, before the world goes dark again.——This time, when you regain consciousness, the room is bright enough for you to immediately know where you are, even if your point of view was wrong. You sit up, rubbing at your forehead, eyes squinted against the harsh lighting of the medical wing. A sudden movement, seen from the corner of your eye, catches your attention, and you look in its direction. It’s Bortuse, entering the room from outside, a pained but sympathetic expression on his face. “Weird being on the other side, huh?” he says softly, before pulling a chair up beside you, datapad in hand.“I fainted again.” you say. Your voice is flat and emotionless.This is wrong.You feel like a bystander in your own body, detached from everything around you. When you turn to look at Bortuse as he speaks, you feel like you’re moving through mud.“Yes, you did,” he says, nodding. “You went into shock.” he gently touches your elbow and says “I heard about it all, I’m so sorry.”You were confused. You didn’t know what happened.All you knew is that Fives was gone, and you had lost your other half.Again. “… all of what?” you say, voice still flat. “I haven’t been told.”At this moment, the door to your room slides open. Bortuse gets to his feet, says “Kix, Captain,” then leaves the room after waving at you.As the door slides back shut, you move your head enough to see that Kix and Rex are now with you. Rex looks terrible; the lines near his eyes have deepened, and he wears that same haunted expression that the men returning from Umbara did. Obviously, something had gone very, very badly.After glancing at each other, Kix moves to check your vitals while Rex takes a seat in the chair at your bedside. He’s having a hard time making eye contact with you. It’s silent, save for the beeping of the machines.“What did you do?” you suddenly, coldly, ask, startling them both.Rex and Kix glance at each other again. “What happened to Fives?” you say, still showing no emotion on your face. The two men lock eyes, Kix nods solemnly, and Rex takes a deep breath.“How much do you know?” he asks, voice low.“Ringo Vida. Tup. Something about chips and the Chancellor,” you respond robotically. “I watched him leave 79s after we spoke. I know he’s dead. What did you do to him?” you continue, and Rex winces as you speak.Over the next hour or so, Rex speaks. In between stretches of uncomfortable silence, he tells you that he and General Skywalker had gone, alone, into a warehouse at the coordinates Fives had given Kix.“Something was obviously wrong,” Rex says. “He was paranoid, he took our weapons and locked us in a force-field. I couldn’t understand him, he was talking too erratically. Ive been able to think about it, and it seems like he believed that he’d stumbled upon a plot of some kind. Chips in our brains, to forcibly control us, to make us follow any orders.”He pauses, shaking his head. “It didn’t make any sense, and still doesn’t. I told him to come with us, that we could help him, but he only grew more panicked and said we’d just hand him over for attacking the Chancellor.”“He didn’t.” you say, not flat, but firm.“What?” Rex asks, confused.“Fives didn’t attack anyone. He is not that kind of man,” you continue, stressing the conviction behind your words.Nearby, Kix sighs.“And neither was Tup,” he says. “We went over this at the bar,” Kix continues, sounding exhausted.Rex blinks a few times before saying your name, incredulous.“The Chancellor himself told us. I know this is difficult to understand, but why would he lie about that?” Rex says.“I don’t know. I don’t care. He’s a liar,” you say, tone falling flat again. Rex looks like he’s going to argue further, but stops himself when Kix shakes his head with a sigh. After a few tense, silent moments, Rex continued speaking.He and the General were not aware that they had been followed by members of the Coruscant Guard, or “the Corries”, as Rex had called them. They surrounded Fives and the force-field. Fives panicked even more, took a few steps toward Rex and the General, then he was stopped by a blaster-bolt to the chest. At that same moment, the force-field had been lifted, and Rex was able to catch Fives as he fell.Rex pauses again, this time for over a minute. When he next speaks, his voice cracks. “Fives, he… he told me he only wanted to do his duty. He said that the mission, the nightmares, would finally be over. It was supposed to be a stun bolt,” Rex says, trailing off.“Fives was a good soldier,” Kix says, speaking up from where he leaned against the wall. “We don’t know why he snapped. It has to be whatever got ahold of Tup,” he continues.“Stunned?” you say, and both men turn their heads to look at you as you start to move about. You repeat the word over and over under your breath.You find no IV in your arm, and so begin to tear the sticky heart rate sensors off of your chest. Kix moves to stop you, but when you look at him, and he sees the completely blank expression on your face, he knows he can’t.Rex has also gotten to his feet, and moves to block the door.“Why wasn’t he stunned?” you ask.“I… I don’t know. I think it was an accident. Fox must have had his blaster on the wrong setting,” Rex says, not meeting your eyes.You free yourself from all the various meters and sensors you were hooked up to, get to your feet, and ignore the shrieks of the disconnected machines as you walk mechanically toward the door.“That’s bullshit. Nobody has more discipline than Fox and his men,” you say, a tinge of anger creeping into your voice as you walk. You blink when you bump into Rex.
“Move,” you say. He squares his feet and crosses his arms.“I am going home. You will not keep me here. Move!” You growl, staring him down.“Rex,” Kix says, walking over and setting a hand on his brother's pauldron, “We can’t keep her here against her will. Let her go.”Rex hesitates, clearly conflicted, then steps aside.The door slides open, and you idly note how cold the floor is under your bare feet and wonder where your shoes went. Just before the door slides closed again, you turn around to look at the two soldiers who are watching you anxiously.“I don’t know if I’ll come back,” you say.You see the wave of panic cross their faces and chuckle humorlessly. “Back to work,” you clarify, and the relief on the men’s faces is almost comical. “I haven’t given up just yet. They wouldn’t want that,” you continue, trailing off as you turn back the way you were going and continue walking, almost like a droid, down the hallway.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You surprise everyone by returning to work after only two days. While sitting in your apartment, unmoving, for at least 8 continuous hours on the second day, you had a lot of time to think. And the more you thought about everything that happened, the angrier you got.You weren’t there for Echo, there was nothing you could have done for Fives, and more of the injured men you pledged to live your life saving were dying by the time they reached you. You thought hard about it. You held that frustration, grief, and rage close to your chest and used it to motivate yourself and your decision. You’d make a terrible Jedi.And so, as you walk, confidently, into the medical wing the following morning, Kix does a triple-take as he spots you. You don’t look even remotely the way you had after Echos death. If anything you look stronger, serious, determined. It’s a jarring contrast to your normally relaxed, if a little anxious, demeanor. You go right up to Kix and ask to speak with him, your tone businesslike, which is also unusual.After hesitating for a moment, Kix sighs and motions for you to follow him into one of the quieter hallways. Once there, he looks you up and down and says your name. “You don’t seem like yourself, are you okay?” he asks.You bite your tongue and hold back a sarcastic comment. “I’m fine. I’ve actually been thinking about my work here.” you say.“You’re not leaving are you? You know we need as many medics as we can get, if you-“ Kix says, before you cut him off.“I’m not leaving. But I don’t want to be here,” you say plainly.“What’s that supposed to mean? Do you want to transfer to Kamino?” Kix asks.“Not Kamino. Put me in the field.” you say.“Absolutely not.” Kix says without hesitation.“Dammit Kix, I made it my life’s mission to save as many people as I can. I can’t do that if they’re already dying by the time I can get to them. Put me in the field; being able to handle things as they happen will increase odds of survival for the men. Hell, maybe even the Generals too.” you say, raising your voice but not yelling. Not yet.Kix shifts uneasily on his feet before he says your name. “You’ve been through a traumatic loss, you aren’t thinking clearly,” he says.You stare him down, and say “Kix, I have never been more sure of anything in my life. I can’t stand to lose anymore men. I’ll break rank to get this if I have to.”Kix looks startled. “You really are serious about this,” he says.You don’t speak and instead respond by squaring your feet and crossing your arms.Kix is reminded of how Rex stood when he wouldn’t let you through the door to the hallway from the med room, only three days ago. You wear the same expression as well. Kix sighs, running a hand down his face and grimacing. “Alright, fine. I’m completely against this, for the record, but if it’s what you’re sure you want to do then I won’t stop you.” he says.Your posture relaxes noticeably, and the hard look in your eyes softens. You breathe a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Kix. You have no idea how important this is to me,” you say.“You’re right, I don’t,” Kix says before leading you back into the hospital wing.——Months pass before you realize Kix may have been right about you going into the field.After Echo, it hurt you to see exact copies of his face just in passing. After Fives, you see both of them in every clone you come across. And so, whenever you can’t save one of the men, it feels like losing them all over again. You thought that being in the thick of it would help, that the constant movement and chaos would keep your mind off of the domino twins.You were wrong.The two never left your mind, appearing in all of your dreams as the time progressed. The nightmares you had after losing Echo were absolutely nothing compared to what your unconscious mind is throwing at you now. Most nights you would relive your worst experiences from being deployed. Dozens of men, dead, dying, screaming, and you were completely paralyzed, unable to even breathe, and forced to watch it happen. If that wasn’t bad enough, sometimes the dream would force you to watch Echo and Fives die, over and over again. You had a hard time getting to sleep, always afraid that you’d wake up with a scream and drenched in sweat.After a particularly bad mission, you come to the crushing realization that you just can’t keep this up. You want to help, need to; it is so ingrained into you that it is almost your entire identity. But you can’t do it anymore. So much pain and death, so many nightmares, all the horrors of war, it had all finally gotten to you. You decide that, as hard as it would be, leaving the GAR behind was the best thing to do for yourself. You’d find a smaller city, on another planet, and do what you could there, where the odds of running into any clones were slim.The next morning, when you ask to speak with Kix, he knows immediately that something is seriously wrong. You’d been so strong, unyielding even, that when he sees your slouch, your softened voice, your exhausted eyes, he has an idea of what you want to say to him. The two of you move into an unoccupied med room and close the door behind you.“Kix, I-” you start, but he softly says your name, stopping you.“I know. It’s okay,” he says sympathetically.“I just can’t,” you say, your voice cracking as you speak. “I’ve tried to force myself to keep going, but I can’t keep putting myself through this.” You hiccup, and turn away from Kix’s gaze, embarrassed. It’s quiet for a few moments.“Do you remember what you said to me, outside of your apartment that day?” he asks, quietly walking over to you.“‘Why do you all have to look the fucking same’. I remember. And that’s the problem,” you say, a few stray tears rolling down your cheeks.“I was originally going to tell Bortuse about this,” he says, pulling a small datapad from one of his many pockets, opening a few files, and handing it over to you. “But I think this is just what you need,” he says.Confused, you look down at the open file: “Clone Force 99”. You hadn’t heard of them before, though you were aware that sometimes there would be smaller teams of men who don’t work with a specific commander. This must be one of them, you think.Kix had brought up how he and all the other clones look the same though. What does that have to do with this?You open another file, and it all makes sense. The four men whose photos you are looking at, were all different. You can see some clone traits, like the darker skin, two had curly black hair, and other small details, but they each are unique. You almost have trouble believing that they actually are clones.As if reading your mind, Kix speaks up, saying “These guys have been genetically modified to enhance certain traits over others. Their mutations are why they don’t ‘all look the fucking same’,” he says, quoting you in an attempt to ease your mind.“So, what about them? What does any of this have to do with me?” you ask, confused as you return the datapad.“They need a medic. Someone who stays with them and goes everywhere they do, especially for missions. They’re very valuable to the Kaminoans,” he explains, but you catch the shift in his tone with his last sentence.“Ugh, of course they are. You’re all people, not ‘things’,” you say, disgusted.“Either way, they need a medic, and you need a drastic change. Give it some thought,” Kix says before leaving the room.——Later that evening, you’re pacing in your living room, considering your options.Clone Force 99 sounds more and more like an answer to your prayers. You’ll still be working with the GAR, but you won't be haunted by Fives and Echos faces. It is an intimidating prospect, having to basically live with these four men you knew nothing about, but you ignore the anxiety gnawing away at the back of your mind and decide to take the job.Finally, you think, you can move on.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You are aboard the Marauder, the ship used by Clone Force 99, and currently traveling through hyperspace. You’re in your bunk, and the curtain is drawn. A short time ago, when you had heard the transmission from Cody in which he said that he and Rex needed The Batch for a mission, your heart sank into your gut. You had tried to look calm and unaffected as you excused yourself into the bunks, but the glance Hunter had shot you made it clear that he knew something was wrong. Thankfully he hadn’t followed you right away, instead needing to respond to Cody.In the semi-darkness of your curtained off bunk, you slip the glowing stone, which you’ve still never taken off except for showering, out from its hiding place under your under armor. The metal wires you had used to wrap the crystal into a pendant have tarnished and become slightly misshapen, but you ignore this and instead watch the purple-blue colors it projects onto the durasteel wall, trying to calm yourself down. You’ve been with the batch for a while now, and although the rest are typically understanding, Crosshair, the sniper, would jump at the opportunity to see you rattled and try to provoke you.
You don’t know what his problem is with you, but you won’t give him the satisfaction of getting a rise out of you. Not today. It takes some time, but you are eventually able to slow your breathing back to normal. After a few minutes, the stone has done its job, and so you tuck it back into your under armor against your chest and out of sight. You draw your bunks' privacy curtain back and swing your legs out, accidentally kicking someone in the process. You quickly get to your feet and mumble an apology before trying to walk past them. Hunter, because of course it’s Hunter, firmly grips your shoulder and stops you from moving any farther. He says your name.“What’s wrong?” he asks, a touch of concern peeking out from his gruff expression. You sigh; there is no point lying to him, he can always tell by your heartbeat or hormones if you were being dishonest. Although, you may be able to evade the question.“I’ll be fine Sarge, it’s nothing for you to worry about,” you say, trying to stay casual. No luck. He frowns at you, releases your shoulder and closes the door to the bunk area.“You’re a part of this team now, whether you believe it or not, so if something is bothering you it’s going to bother me,” he says, stern but not uncaring, and watching you carefully. You sigh again and sit back down onto your bunk. You hold your head in your hands and take a second to gather your thoughts before speaking.“Sorry, Hunter. You think I’d know by now that nothing gets past you,” you say, chuckling a little. Hunter's expression softens, which encourages you to continue. “It’s just that I haven’t seen any of the regs, apart from Cody, in a very long time, especially Rex.”“Is there a problem between you two?” Hunter asks, frowning again.“No, not really,” you say as you shift your eyes away from him.“Not really?” Hunter says skeptically.“It’s just that…” you trail off before pausing to take a deep breath. “I’ve never told you the real reason I took this job, have I?” Hunter shakes his head.
“Well, you already know that I was a medic for the regs first, but I’d gotten, um, intimately close with two who died. Killed in action,” you say as you unconsciously roll up your left sleeve and idly rub your thumb along the domino tattoo on your forearm. You’d gotten it a few weeks after taking this assignment with the guys, but the ink is still sharp and clear. Five dots on the upper half, three dots on the lower, in black and white ink with a few bright green highlights.“Is that what that’s about?” Hunter asks, gesturing to your arm.“Yeah. They called themselves the Domino Squad. They were the only two left from their batch. Then just the one, then, well,” you say, pausing to clear the growing lump out of your throat. “I didn’t expect to wind up with the second man, but we were both grieving over the first and it just kinda happened,” you continue with a sad, wistful smile. Hunter nods and waits for you to keep speaking. “I’d see their faces everywhere I looked. When a man died in the field and I wasn’t able to save him, it was like losing them all over again, and I tried for so long to fight through it, but I-“ you say, talking quickly and on the verge of losing your composure.Before that happens, Hunter holds up a hand and reminds you to breathe. Once you have, you speak again; “I couldn’t take it anymore. I was going to leave, but then Kix told me about this squad. Said you might be just the thing I needed. I think he was right. You’re so… different,” you say quietly. Understanding crosses Hunter’s features, and after a pointed look from him and a nod from you, he moves and sits beside you. He says your name.“I can’t imagine what that must have been like, I’m sorry,” he says. You kind of shrug and say it wasn’t his fault. After a second, he speaks again. “Alright, so I understand all that, but what does it have to do with Rex?” he asks. You take a moment to compose yourself again, willing away the grief and anger you always feel when remembering this.“He watched the second man die. We have very different opinions on why it happened. I haven’t seen him since F-“ you stop yourself, then clear your throat. “Since that day,” you finish. “So you could say there’s some baggage.” You get to your feet and pull your sleeve back down. “But,” you say, back to business, “I won’t let my personal feelings get in the way of the mission, sir,” you say as Hunter also stands back up. Without waiting for him to say anything else, you open the bunk area door and head towards the cockpit. Hunter follows, and Tech announces after a few quiet minutes that they will be leaving hyperspace shortly. You return to your bunk, alone, and strap your upper kit back on.——Due to an extremely rare miscalculation by Tech, the Marauder is unable to properly reduce speed before landing. The ship barely manages not to crash onto the air strip where you all have been summoned, instead screeching to a halt on its landing gear, thanks to the excess momentum. As people scatter out of the way outside, inside the ship, Wrecker hoots and hollers as you all finally come to a stop. The stop is abrupt, and hard, so you’re glad everyone has helmets on, otherwise their smacked heads would have to be treated, delaying whatever this mission is.Despite the ringing in your ears, you can faintly hear Rex and Cody speaking from outside of the ship, and when the hatch is opened, your hands start to tremble, ever so slightly. You catch Hunter glance at you, but you just shrug and he leads everyone out of the ship. Tech, Crosshair, and Wrecker follow, and you’re able to disembark unnoticed, thanks to everyone being distracted by how loud, and large, to be frank, Wrecker is.Hunter and Cody grip each other’s forearms with a firm nod, and then Hunter introduces the squad to the others nearby. As he does, they each remove their helmets. “You may already know our medic,” he says, looking back at you before saying your name. You can see the surprise on Rex’s face, and hesitate briefly before also taking off your own helmet. Kix and Jesse are standing a little ways behind him, and Jesse looks just as startled as Rex does. Kix meanwhile, nods at you and you return the gesture, trying to calm your pounding heart.The squad takes a minute or two to somewhat brag about the mission from Yalbec Prime you all had just completed, and you watch, amused, from the back of the group, before a gunship arrives, obviously waiting to take you all elsewhere. You slip your helmet back on and climb into the ship, thanking Wrecker as he gives you a small boost to do so.——A good chunk of time has passed within the gunship in silence. You half expect Kix or Jesse or maybe even Rex to approach you, but when that doesn't happen, you can’t decide if you feel relieved or slightly annoyed. You are fully annoyed however, when you catch Crosshair staring down his nose at Jesse. The sniper makes a snarky comment about how you all don’t usually work with ‘regs’, and you step forward to stop the fight you sense coming after he flicks a toothpick into Jesse's chest, but Cody does that for you by getting everyone’s attention and distracting them with the mission briefing. He details how this is going to be an information retrieval operation, with the target being a Separatist cyber center. Rex then steps in to briefly outline his suspicions that the Separatists are somehow using his own plans and attacks against him. Getting the needed information from the cyber center will either confirm or disprove his suspicions.Just as the ship prepares for landing, it’s suddenly shot down, sending it careening toward the ground. If the landing in the Marauder earlier was rough, this crash put that to shame. Once the smoke begins to clear, you follow the others out of the wreckage, coughing as you do. You glance behind you once you’re outside and see that the cockpit has been obliterated, taking the clone pilot with it, and you grit your teeth, cursing. You don’t have any time to think about this further, however, as Kix is shouting that Cody has been trapped under the destroyed ship. Adrenaline starts to pump into your veins and you quickly make your way over to the rest of the group. Wrecker has lifted the entire ship off of the downed Commander, then he throws it to one side just before retrieving him, walking away as what’s left of the ship explodes.Once Wrecker sets Cody onto the ground, you run over to him, right next to Kix, and begin scanning him for injuries. There’s a sizable gash across his forehead that’s bleeding freely, and Kix’s scan reveals that Cody has internal injuries. Just as you turn to take your medpack off of your back, you hear the sudden sound of blaster fire. Whether it was the explosion or the ship being shot down that drew attention to you all was irrelevant; a battalion of droids was quickly approaching, and shooting without pause. Hunter comms directly into your helmet and tells you to stay with the Commander, he and the rest of the squad would handle this.You catch Kix’s attention and shout that you both need to get Cody out of there as more blaster bolts begin to fly overhead. The two of you are able to carry him to a somewhat sheltered spot near the sidewall of the gorge you had crashed into. Kix holds Cody’s head and neck as stable as he can, while you quickly dig through your medpack to get what you needed for the cut on his forehead. As you work, a stray bolt screeches past you, forcing you to draw your own blaster and fire back. You take out the droid that had been shooting at the three of you, and about three more behind it, then quickly focus back to finishing the stitching of Cody’s wound. “Since when can you shoot like that?” Kix says incredulously. You’re now applying a bacta patch to a smaller cut on Cody’s cheek, so you don’t hear this or see his dropped jaw.
Now that you have done all that you can for Cody, you tell Kix to stay where he is and rush over to where Rex and Jesse are watching Clone Force 99 do what they do best. You keep your blaster at the ready, fully prepared to shoot any of the droids that get too close, but you don't need to bother. Hunter throws electro-pulse grenades into the air, and Crosshair shoots them down into the approaching throng, where the resulting explosion deactivates many of the droids. After they take out the majority of the regular droids this way, you can see larger, spider-like machines approaching and scream out a warning to the squad. Wrecker moves a large piece of the crashed ship’s hull that he was using as a shield for the others out of the way, and the four of them split off to individually attack.You glance over at Rex and Jesse and can’t help but smirk. You didn’t need to see their faces to know they were gawking. The three of you watch as the remaining droids are destroyed, then you jog halfway over as they are returning, and immediately look them over for injuries. Of course, there are none, but you’d be damned if you didn’t check and something slipped by you. Not again. Hunter and Tech don’t really acknowledge what you're doing, and Crosshair shrugs you off. Before you can get a good look at Wrecker, he laughs loudly and announces that there isn’t a scratch on him. He’s not wrong, so you clap his shoulder a few times, barely able to reach it, then run back to Cody and Kix, who has managed to stabilize Cody enough that he can walk, with the two of you assisting. The three of you return to where the others are, and Hunter says that you all need to keep moving, as there are bound to be more clankers headed your way.——The gunship had crashed just before the sun began to set, so when you all finally stop to make camp for the night, it has been dark for a few hours. You’ve been glued to Cody’s side the entire time the group was walking, but Kix insisted you both take a break and eat something, so you reluctantly joined the others around the fire, leaving Cody with Rex for the time being.There’s a somewhat tense silence as you quickly eat the ration bar you kept in one of your pockets. You’re sitting a little ways off on your own, but not too far from the others. Hunter sits down next to you, asking how you’re doing. You take a swig from your canteen before you respond, needing a second to think.“I’m… okay. For now. Being able to focus on Cody has helped. I guess the scar on his face is different enough that treating him isn’t bothering me,” you say with a shrug.“I saw you take out a few of those stray droids back there, your aim is getting better,” he says after nodding.“Tell him that,” you say sarcastically, jerking your head toward Crosshair, who said something neither of you can hear, which starts another fight. Hunter shakes his head and stands just as Wrecker lifts Jesse into the air, Tech awkwardly telling everyone to stop while standing off to the side. Hunter makes his way over and breaks it up before things get out of hand. As he does, you get to your feet and meet Kix where he’s been watching everything. “How’s he holding up?” you ask, looking over at Cody. Before Kix can answer you, Rex stands and walks quickly back to the head of the group, getting everyone’s attention.“Kix,” he says, “I’ve called in an evac for Cody, go with him.” Kix nods once, then walks over to Cody, who is barely able to sit up. After a moment of thought, Rex says your name, getting your attention, and tells you to go with Kix.“Respectfully sir, no,” you say, taking Rex by surprise. “I don’t think it’s wise to leave you all without a medic,” you say, explaining yourself.“My knowledge should be sufficient in your absence,” Tech says, looking over at you. You’re about to speak again when Crosshair cuts you off.“We were fine without you before, we don’t need you here,” he says with a smirk. Hunter turns to say something to Crosshair, but you hold up your hands, stopping him. You look back at Rex, who still seems taken aback by all of this, and tell him that you’ll go with Kix, if that’s his order. He nods at you, and you walk over to Kix and Cody, barely able to keep your fisted hands from trembling as you go.“What’s his problem?” Kix asks, obviously irritated, as you stand by.“He’s an asshole,” you say flippantly, and the subject is dropped.——After another hour or so, the medical evacuation shuttle arrives. Once Cody is properly stabilized, and the shuttle takes off, Kix tells you that there isn’t much more that can be done for him. You make your way to an empty seat and sit back with a groan, worn out from the long day. A familiar, deep voice calls your name, as as you glance around you’re surprised to see that Bortuse is on board.“What are you doing here?” you both ask in unison. Bortuse sits next to you and laughs, the deep rumble making you feel nostalgic, and you can’t help but smile at him. You really have missed the guy.“I’m posted at Anaxes for now, and was told to accompany the shuttle for a pick up,” he explains. He takes a moment to look you up and down. As he does, you realize just how much time has passed when you also look him over. His Montrals have grown a fair bit longer, and the medium blue of their stripes has darkened to a deep sapphire color. He looks tired, like everyone does lately, but appears to be in good spirits. Sitting next to him in your red and black armor, which is a drastic change from the tunic and leggings you wore back on Coruscant, you’re acutely aware of how much you’ve changed too.“How has the reassignment been?” Bortuse asks softly. As he does, you notice that Kix has been sitting on his other side, passively listening to everything you’ve said. You know what Bortuse is really asking, and can’t help but sigh softly.
“I’m doing better. It helps, not having to see their ghosts all day everyday. But it’s still hard. When I can’t sleep at night, my mind always goes back to them,” you say quietly. With a few quick movements, you remove your gauntlet and roll up your under armor sleeve on your left arm, showing them the domino tattoo. “They’ve never left. They probably never will,” you say quietly before putting everything back into place.“We’ve missed having you around, you know,” Kix says softly.Bortuse nods. “You really were one of our best,” he says. “Have you thought about coming back?” he asks.Kix leans forward enough to look at you when you respond.“I have,” you admit. “But as tough as the squad can be, I truly feel like I’m supposed to be with them. Maybe it’s the will of the Force or something, I can’t really explain it,” you say. Before either of them can say anything else, an announcement over the PA speakers tells everyone that the ship is coming back down for a landing, abruptly ending the conversation.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You aren’t sure how much time has passed between when the medical shuttle returned to base on Anaxes and when Bortuse tells you that Rex needs you for the next mission briefing. You feel nauseous, but ignore it. After a quick goodbye to everyone, you leave the medical center and make your way to the briefing room. The door slides open as you approach, and you can see Rex, General Skywalker, and the Batch are already gathered inside. Knowing everyone is waiting on you makes your face heat up a little, but you don’t acknowledge anything and instead stand in the small space between Crosshair and Wrecker. Rex begins speaking.He outlines for you and the General the important parts of the cyber center mission. After you, Cody, and Kix left, he, Jesse, and the others were able to take over an outpost, then found the cyber center. After taking down a lot of droids, he and Tech were able to get into the building as Hunter, Wrecker, Jesse, and Crosshair fought off the new wave of droids that were attacking. He says that Tech was able to boost the signal they had been following, and after a little bit of work, could convert the signal into something audible. Rex takes a second to breathe, then continues. Apparently the signal wasn’t coming from a program. After Tech made some adjustments to the audio, Rex was able to, despite the distortion, hear a voice repeating “CT-1409” on loop.You feel your hands go partially numb. It’s not possible.“It’s Echo,” Rex says.You can’t miss how he, Hunter, and the General glance at you when he says this.“I fully believe that he survived the explosion at The Citadel, the Seps have abducted him and they’re using his knowledge of my tactics against us,” Rex continues.
“Echo is dead, Rex. Fives saw it happen, and so did you! Did you forget about when he told me?” You feel your face go warm when you realize you’ve said that out loud, but you maintain your composure. Rex is about to speak when he’s interrupted.“‘Ang on, wasn’ that five guy the one that tried to take out the chancellor?” Wrecker asks.“ARC Trooper CT-5555, deceased after an attempted attack on Chancellor Palpatine, that is correct,” Tech says, tapping away at his damn datapad like usual. You take a deep breath while closing your eyes, balling your trembling hands into fists in an attempt to mask your emotions, and the thick material of your gloves makes an audible creaking sound. However, General Skywalker must have sensed your anger, as he gives you a warning look.“Fives did no such thing,” you say, doing a fair job of keeping your voice steady. “He told me so himself, and I've never doubted him.”“The official report-“ Tech starts to say, but you shut him up with a glare. Crosshair speaks up while rolling his eyes at you. “Got what he deserved if you ask me.”Without warning, and before you’re able to stop yourself, you automatically turn towards Crosshair and slap him backhanded across the face, hard enough to make him stumble. He clenches his jaw, but does not retaliate, though his shock is very clear. Before anyone else can really react to this aside from a few gasps and muttered words, General Skywalker says your name, and you stand up straight, dutifully waiting for him to reprimand you. To everyone’s surprise, he calmly, but very firmly, told you to go get some air.After a terse “Yes, sir” you turn on your heel and march out of the area, shaking terribly.Once you’re at the Marauder, you cry out loudly in anger and punch the durasteel hull, ignoring the pain this causes. With a huff, you open the gangplank and sit down, head in your hands. You’re still shaking, but the ferocity of your emotions is quickly dying down.Crosshair has been trying to get under your skin from the day you were assigned with Clone Force 99. You’ve been steadfastly ignoring his attempts to get a rise out of you, but today you have finally had enough. You know you shouldn’t have struck him, for many reasons, but mainly because that means he won; He finally got to you. But, on the flipside, the memory of that look on his face is something you’ll hold onto for the rest of your days. Damn that felt good, but now you just feel weak again.“Son of a bitch,” you sigh, pressing the heels of your palms against your eyes in a halfhearted attempt at stopping the tears that had formed from falling. A few minutes pass, then you hear footsteps approaching. You’ve been with the squad long enough now to recognize the sound of each man’s walk. Quick but quiet steps, in a long stride, come to a stop a few feet away from you. Ugh, of course it’s him. You ignore Crosshair, stand, and turn to go into the ship, but he snares your wrist, stopping you.You pull your arm back with a growl, then turn to address the sniper. You immediately feel a sense of both satisfaction and shame when you see the faint outline of your hand on his cheek. “What the hell do you want?” you say, almost yelling at him. “I snapped, you finally got to me, you won. What else is there? I’m not apologizing,” you say coldly.Crosshair walks steadily up the gangplank towards you, and you see something different in the way he looks at you, though you can’t place it. “Good,” he says, startling you out of your anger. “You shouldn’t,” he continues. “Took you long enough to stand up to me.”You scoff. “Then what do you want?” you say, retreating further into the ship.“I’m supposed to let you know what the mission is,” he says.You sigh, wipe your eyes, and turn around. You take a second look at him and realize what the change in his attitude is; that’s almost certainly respect on his face, just under his usual grumpy expression. Was all of that some kind of hazing thing? Whatever it was, it doesn’t matter, you have a mission to focus on. You shake your head and walk down the gangplank, making room for the others, who are headed in your direction.Crosshair follows and tells you that the General and Rex will be joining the group, and the plan is to fly to Skako Minor in the Marauder, find where the signal has been traced, and investigate the source firsthand. He says that Rex seems to be the only one who believes the signal is coming from Echo; even the General has his doubts, and Hunter thinks it’s a trap. You thank Crosshair for filling you in, and he walks over to talk with Hunter and Rex.You inadvertently meet Rex’s eyes, and doubt, true doubt in what you know to be the truth, flares in your chest for the first time in years. You trust Rex with your life. The situation with Fives did change things, but you still respect the Captain and his intuition. He is very rarely wrong. You want nothing more than for Echo to be alive, but it seems nearly impossible. Fives told you, in great detail after yet another nightmare one night, exactly what had happened at the citadel. Echo was killed when the shuttle was blown up. There was nothing they could do. Seeing the grief in Fives’ eyes convinced you wholly that this was the truth.“Meds! You coming or what?” Crosshair says loudly over his shoulder. You’re so deep in thought, it takes you a moment to realize he’s speaking to you. A nickname, huh? You quickly walk over to where Crosshair is waiting.“Meds?” you say when you catch up with him and make your way up the gangplank behind everyone else. He shrugs. “You’re the medic, we certainly aren’t going to call you Pilot,” he says.You remember that each of the Batchers got their names from their skills. You are officially part of the group now, apparently. “I’m almost honored,” you say to Crosshair, who smirks at you again.—The flight to Skako Minor is going to be short, but you decide to climb into your bunk and try to get some rest anyway. At minimum you want to put yourself into the right mindset for this mission. The Jedi have their flaws, but there is something to be said about their rule of not letting one’s feelings cloud one's judgement, you think, settling down on your back. The bunk area door isn’t closed, but the others are too preoccupied with Rex and General Skywalker to notice or want to come talk to you. At least, that’s what you thought. Only a second or so after pulling the glowing stone from under your armor, you hear footsteps. These are unfamiliar, but the sound of trooper-issue boots is very distinct. You sigh, and look up at Rex, who is standing in the doorway and looking unsure of himself. You wave him in, and he shuts the door behind him. He sits awkwardly in the bunk across from you, then says your name and tries to speak, but you interrupt him.“Meds,” you say, shifting into a sitting position.“What?” Rex asks, confused.“Apparently lean and lanky out there wanted me to slap him. He’s been a pain in my ass from the start, but I’ve earned a new name, now that I’ve stood up to him,” you explain, trying not to smirk at the memory of Crosshair's shocked face. Rex nods in understanding.“You really startled everyone with that earlier, Meds. Listen, I wanted to explain myself, for sending you back with Kix and Cody on the last mission,” he says. You twiddle the stone between your fingers, looking distant, but you are listening, so Rex continues. “I wasn’t sure what we would find at that cyber center,” he says. “But, I was worried that if I was right and it was Echo, it would have been too much for you. I thought about it later, and it wasn’t my call to make; I’m sorry for that.”“Rex,” you say softly, making eye contact with him for the first time since he entered the bunks. “I understand. You were looking out for me, and I can appreciate that,” you say, grasping his forearm with your free hand. “But I’m a big girl now,” you say, making him chuckle. The tension now eased between the two of you, Rex visibly relaxes and you catch him looking at the glowing stone while an expression of understanding crosses his features.“I wondered what that was for,” he mumbles.“What, this?” you say. You unclasp the chain and hold it out to Rex. “Echo told me he just happened to find it while on a mission.” You’re surprised when Rex lets out a single laugh. You raise a questioning eyebrow at him. He delicately takes the chain from you and lets the stone dangle from his fingers, watching the swirling colors for a moment.“‘Just happened to find it’ eh? Every second of downtime we had at the camp, he was wandering around the perimeter picking these weird rocks up. He must have had at least thirteen in his pocket by the time we were going to come back home. He spent a long time looking at each one and mumbling to himself before settling on this,” Rex says before handing the necklace back to you. “I wondered what he was doing,” Rex says.“Yeah, that sounds like him,” you say sadly as you loop the chain back around your neck and tuck the crystal safely away under your armor once more. You sigh and take a long pause before speaking again.“You’re sure it was him?” you ask quietly.“I’m positive. I wouldn’t be following through with this mission if I had any doubt,” Rex says. “You know Rex, despite what happened with Fives, I do still trust you,” you say firmly after a moment of thought, and can’t help but chuckle a little when you see the genuine surprise on his face.From outside, Hunter opens the bunk area door, glances at the two of you and tells Rex that the General needs him for something. Rex and Hunter switch places, but the door stays open and Hunter remains standing, leaning back against the doorframe and casually crossing his arms over his chest. You know what he's thinking, and so you answer the unspoken question; “I’m okay Sarge. Nervous as hell, obviously, but I can do this,” you say.He nods at you, extends a hand, and once you take it, he pulls you off of your bunk and back onto your feet. You hesitate for a second, then follow him over to where the others are gathered around.“So, I know you all work with Cody sometimes, but who do you report to?” Rex asks as the two of you approach.Hunter kind of pauses for a second and says “that’s a good question,” and you can’t help but laugh a little before you hear Crosshair scoff. He turns toward you and you roll your eyes. What would it be this time?“You were back there with Captain Reg for a while,” he says loudly, bringing everyone’s attention to you. “Is Hunter not enough for you?” he asks, smirking.You take a breath.“You’ll get your turn,” you say in a teasing tone. “Maybe I’ll smack you again if you ask nicely.”There’s a beat of stunned silence before Wrecker laughs so hard he nearly drops the gonk droid he’d been casually doing lifts with. The others also laugh a little, and even the General can’t help but roll his eyes good-naturedly. Crosshair, however, cheeks tinted the slightest bit of red that only you can see, keeps his face neutral.Before you can react, Tech shouts from the cockpit that they are now approaching Skako, and it looks to be a difficult landing. Everyone immediately gets serious and you all take your places as Tech begins the descent to the planet's surface.—It seems like all the landings you’ve experienced since joining the Batch are rough ones, you think, as Tech maneuvers through a large sandstorm that surrounds the ship and severely reduces visibility. Seconds later, when he’s managed to land the ship unscathed on a flat area of land, you thank the Maker under your breath. Now back on solid ground, you and the others who weren’t in the cockpit gather around inside it. The General asks what anyone knows about this planet, and after Rex describes the local race, the Poletecs, as ‘primitive’, Tech speaks up.“Primitive is being kind. My sources say that they worship some kind of ancient flying reptile,” he says. Immediately after, something bumps the ship hard enough to shake it and jostle everyone inside. Wrecker leans toward the transparisteel window and wonders aloud what the hell that was. You all find out when a figure astride a winged beast lands onto the nose of the ship. “It’s one of those reptiles!” Tech says.The creature scrambles upwards onto the roof of the Marauder, and Hunter shouts that he wants that thing off his ship. Within seconds, you all have your helmets on and are rushing outside, blasters aimed at the beast. General Skywalker activates his blue lightsaber as he brings up the rear of the group. The native, who appears to be a Chieftain, says something in an odd, warbling language that none of you can understand. Someone, you aren’t sure who, takes a shot at the winged lizard. It flaps up off of its feet, then swoops down and grabs hold of the General before turning to fly away. As General Skywalker drops his weapon and Rex picks it up, you notice that the Chieftain has been joined by two more natives on their own lizards.The sandstorm is picking back up, so you don’t fully hear the order that was just given, but you can at least see that Crosshair has taken a shot at the beast holding the General, using Tech's shoulder for stability. Rex asks what they’re doing, and Hunter casually says “going for a ride,” before grabbing the cable of what turned out to be a grappling hook that Crosshair had hit the animal with and being yanked up into the air.As he goes, Rex turns to look at you and asks “and you deal with this everyday?” He still has his helmet on, but you can imagine the incredulous look on his face underneath it.“Well, I’m never bored,” you say. “We should get inside, I can’t see if there’s anything else out here,” you shout over the growing roar of the wind.Once you’re all inside the Marauder, a comm from Hunter comes in. “Tech,” he says, sounding winded, “I’m with the General, take the ship and hone in on my signal.” Tech immediately obeys and the ship is airborne within seconds. Hunter, it turns out, is on the ridge of a high cliff right above a Poletec village. Tech expertly lands the ship despite the uneven terrain, and the group, yourself included, run over to Hunter. After a few seconds you can spot General Skywalker being pinned into place near the center of the village by the same flying reptile that had grabbed him earlier. Rex reminds you all that there will be no casualties as you go in, and you are disarming the people only.On Hunter’s command, Wrecker pushes a huge boulder down the cliff towards the village, and you all slide down after it, blasting weapons out of the Poletecs hands as you do. From the top of the cliff, Crosshair had stayed behind and took a shot at the beast holding the General. A small shocking device hit its flank and it reflexively let the General go just in time for him to roll out of the way of the oncoming boulder.Once the chaos dies down, General Skywalker gets to his feet, and the Chieftain cautiously approaches, speaking. With the help of Techs translation software integrated into his helmet, the two parties are able to communicate. The Chieftains name is Qin Yazal, and he had taken your leader because his people do not want your war on their planet. Tech explains that you as a group are here to retrieve a prisoner of war, and Yazal agrees to send two scouts alongside you to lead the way to Purkoll, where Wat Tambor and the Techno Union wait.—The trip to Purkoll isn’t very long, but the persistent wind makes it difficult. You finally reach what looks like an access shaft to the city, and the two Poletec scouts take their leave. General Skywalker calls everyone into a kind of huddle, and since the wind is dying down, you all slip your helmets off as he begins to speak. Before he can, Tech, who has been tracing Echoes signal, tells everyone that he’s lost it. You see the confusion and mild panic on Rex’s face, and suggest that the signal may be lost or weak from all the wind and dust interfering.“Or,” Hunter says, “maybe it’s a trap.”“Any mission could be a trap, and this one is no different! Echo is up there, I know it!” Rex says, barely able to restrain himself from shouting.“I think you’re letting your personal feelings get in the way,” Crosshair says, speaking up from the rear of the group. “I think you feel guilty for leaving Echo for dead at the Citadel,” he continues in a drawl.“I had no choice!” Rex shouts.“Oh I don’t blame you,” Crosshair says. Sensing yet another fight, you step in between the two men who are now staring each other down. “He’s just another Reg, it’s not like he was worth anything,” Crosshair says while turning away. You, without thinking, grab his shoulder, jerk him back around to face you, and slap him again, hard enough to make your hand tingle, on the other side of his face.The others are shocked into silence again, but before you even have time to pull your arm back toward yourself, Rex has shoved you out of the way and sucker-punched the sniper, sending him reeling back a few feet. Wrecker grabs Rex and lifts him into the air, but thankfully General Skywalker steps in and breaks things up before it gets really ugly. He tells the rest of you to stand down while he and Rex have a private talk.You and the Batch take several steps away until you’re out of earshot. Once you all come to a stop, you single out Crosshair and march over to him. “What the fuck is wrong with you!” you shout, having to raise your voice over the increasing volume of the approaching wind.“I could ask you the same thing!” he shouts back.“Crosshair, she-“ Hunter starts to say, but is interrupted.“Is only with us because we don’t look like all the regular clones!” he shouts. Tech and Wrecker look surprised and glance at each other.“Oh, so you’ve been eavesdropping too?” you snap back at him.“I heard enough. If you can’t stand the regs, why do you keep defending them?” he says.“Crosshair! That’s enough!” Hunter says, also shouting while forcing himself between the two of you. You push away from them both, fighting back angry tears.“You would already know if you’d been nosy a little longer,” you hiss, pointing at his chest. He scoffs and waves you off with a hand before walking away. Before anyone can stop you, you’re stomping over to Crosshair, grabbing his wrist, and wrenching him back around, forcing him to look at you. Tears are flowing freely now, but you don’t notice or care. If you were shouting before, you’re practically bellowing at him now.“You think my job is easy? You honestly think I just toddle around after you four, taking care of your bumps and bruises like it’s nothing? Fuck you. I’ve seen combat. I’ve seen the same screaming, crying, and dying face every single goddamned day since this war started. Every time I look at anyone but you four, all I see is pain and death and failure. You want to know what my problem is? I have been haunted by living ghosts ever since Echo and Fives died. You try keeping it together when you see the literal exact copies of someone you loved being killed before your eyes, day in and day out, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it! It’s not about the fucking ‘regs’, and it never was.” You stop to take a shaky breath, and drop Crosshair's wrist like it was something filthy.When you next speak, it comes out as a croak.“You want me gone? Is that why you’ve been trying to make my life hell? Hmph. You’ll have to try harder than this. I am not going to let someone like you stop me from doing my goddamned job, and there is nothing you could throw at me, nothing, that will ever be worse than what I am forced to see when I go to sleep every single night.”It takes you a moment to realize that everyone except Crosshair is staring at you. You pause for a second, breathe deeply, and recompose yourself. You calmly take him by the wrist again, and drag him over to a nearby boulder. You tell him to “sit down and shut up,” which he does, retrieve a few things from the medkit on your back, and sit next to him.You gently grip his jaw and maneuver his head so that you can more easily reach the growing bump on his temple. He, to your absolute shock, doesn’t fight you off, and doesn’t move unless you direct him to. Aside from a sharp hiss he lets out when one of the ointments touches his skin, he stays silent, allowing you to work unimpeded.You’re badly startled when you hear your name, your real name, said softly from behind you. You turn towards the sound, and see that Rex and the General are back with the group.“Rex.” You say flatly. “How much did you hear?”“Everything. You were loud enough that we both could hear you from over there,” he says, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.“Apologies for interrupting, sir,” you said, catching General Skywalker's eye. He doesn’t speak, but looks deeply sympathetic.“That’s why you left? Kix told me a little, but I had no idea it was that bad.” Rex says.You take a deep breath, then nod, before bringing your focus back to Crosshair's face. After a few seconds you’ve moved from his temple to his right cheek, gingerly applying a bacta spray and very gently rubbing it into the skin. You chance a look at Crosshair's eyes, and notice that he actually looks regretful. Then he speaks.“I… deserved that,” is all he says, quietly. You sigh and turn his head to take a look at his other cheek. The mark you left there has long faded, so you release him and get to your feet.“I think two is enough for one day,” you say, softly patting Crosshair's less-inflamed cheek. You hold out your hand and he takes it, allowing you to pull him to his feet. He maintains eye contact and simply nods at you.Tech awkwardly clears his throat and says that he has found the signal again.“Good. Now, that’s enough wasted time, let’s get moving,” General Skywalker says firmly.—He leads the group as you all walk back towards the access shaft that the Poletech scouts had led you to. On the way, everyone who has one replaces their helmets, now that the wind is bringing dust with it, and Tech is able to get the door to the shaft open after a minute or so. Crosshair checks inside for any threats, but finds the lift inside empty. Everyone steps inside, save for Wrecker, who is looking up at the height of the city nervously.“Don’t worry Wrecker, I’ll hold your hand,” Hunter teases, getting a loud “oh shut up!” in response as Wrecker finally makes his way inside.You were the last in before him, so he winds up standing somewhat beside you, at an angle. You comm directly into his helmet and say “Gonna be okay there big guy?” Not to tease, but as a genuine question.He glances down at you and quietly comms back “I’ll be fine if I don’t think about it, thanks Meds.” You reassuringly grip his forearm and he nods gratefully at you. Hunter notices this, but says nothing.After another minute or two (it must be a long way up) General Skywalker speaks and reminds you all that this is supposed to be a stealth mission, and that you all need to be as quiet and inconspicuous as possible, keeping destruction to a minimum. No sooner have the words left his mouth, the lift comes to a stop, the door slides open to what looks like a loading bay full of droids, and Wrecker runs outside, shooting freely at the machines.The rest of the Batch follow, while Rex and General Skywalker look at you, and you groan, face palming your helmet. “Dammit. So much for stealth,” you say, exasperated.
Another minute or so passes, and once you, Rex, and the General have also taken out enough droids to clear the area, the chaos stops, aside from Wrecker, who is clearly having the time of his life and hollering. When he notices everyone else staring at him, he awkwardly coughs and apologizes for getting too excited again. Someone finds a door into a hallway, and you all file inside.—The General peeks out of the doorway first, holding up a hand to stop the rest of you from going forward past him. About four or five droids pass, but are quickly taken out by Hunter’s blaster, which appears to clear the area. As everyone steps into the hall, Tech says that he has lost the signal again. “How?” Wrecker asks. “There’s nothin’ up here to get in the way!”“I’m surprised I did not think of it before,” Tech says. “It’s most likely that the signal is only emitted when data is being broadcast.”“In that case, we can’t just wait for it to come back. We need to split up, check every door. If you find something do not go in without backup, call everyone else to your position first,” General Skywalker says. Tech, Hunter, Wrecker, and Rex break off and head left, while Crosshair and the General go right. You don’t immediately move and instead freeze in place; there’s something heavy stirring in your chest.It’s just nerves, you think. It has to be. After all, you’re only minutes away from possibly finding Echo and bringing him back, or confirming once and for all that he really is gone for good. Whatever the outcome, the possibilities terrify you. If you did find Echo, what kind of state would he be in? Would he even remember you? The nervous feeling then gives way to dread. You force yourself to take a deep breath and still your trembling hands. Can’t be shaky when holding a blaster, you think to yourself as you concentrate on your breathing. After realizing you’ve been left behind, you hesitate, then follow Rex and the others. Crosshair and General Skywalker are competent enough on their own, you think. Besides, Wrecker seemed to be a magnet for trouble. Decision made, you jog a little to catch up.You must have been standing there longer than you thought, as it takes you a good minute or two to find the Captain and the others. Just as you fall into step behind Tech, he says that he’s found the signal again, then moves to the front of the group, taking a left turn into a kind of alcove. Hunter points to a set of double doors set back into the far wall and says it’s in there. You wonder how he would know, then remember that he can sense and follow electromagnetic fields. Whatever was behind that door has to be putting out massive waves of energy.Hunter and Wrecker stand on either side of the small space, keeping an eye out for droids and the other two men in your party. Tech immediately gets to work, using his datapad to try and get the doors open. Rex glances back at you, then comms directly into your helmet: “Stay close. I don’t know what state he’ll be in.”You nod stiffly.There’s a bizarre metallic shimmering sound, and the face of Wat Tambor appears on a circular screen near the doors control panel. “You clones are so predictable,” he says smugly, “My algorithm told me your every move into Purkoll.”“That’s no algorithm,” Rex growls back. “I know you’re keeping a prisoner of war in there, and I am not leaving without my friend!”Tambor laughs. “Your friend is dead. His mind is ours,” he says.You hear Rex roar out that he’s lying, but whatever else is said is drowned out by the sound of approaching droids and blaster fire.You draw your weapon and cover Techs back; he’s having a harder time with this door than the others. You, Rex, Hunter, and Wrecker take down as many of the clankers as you can, but it seems as if they never stop coming. Suddenly, about four or five of the droids fly into the air and slam into another group of them, followed by a very distinct-sounding few rounds of blaster fire. You never thought you’d be relieved to see Crosshair, but here he is, right behind General Skywalker. With the two of them not in the fray, enough time is bought for Tech to finally get the damn doors open. The General shouts for Tech and Rex to get in there. You’re about to follow, when Crosshair says your name, stopping you.“Good luck in there,” he says, then General Skywalker Force-pushes you through the doors seconds before they close.After the chaos and noise from the shooting outside, the stillness of the room you and the other two find yourselves in feels ominous and unnatural.You keep your blaster at the ready, scanning the space, but it’s empty. The three of you reach a large, semi circular console of control panels, and a stasis chamber sits high above them on the wall in the center. Rex says something you don’t quite hear to Tech, who starts to push buttons and pull levers on the control panel. You approach, holstering your blaster, as you stare into the frozen-over window of the chamber.There’s a vague shadow inside.You and Rex glance at each other and remove your helmets. He looks just as scared as you feel.“Got it!” Tech says, pushing two slider switches forward.The stasis chamber doors pop open a little bit with a loud hiss, allowing cold steam to dissipate into the room. A mere second later, the doors open completely, and a figure falls forward, stopped from hitting the floor by a myriad of cables and tubes attached directly to it. The steam clears, and you can’t help but scream.It’s Echo.He looks worse than dead. All of his color is gone, and there’s a thin veneer of frost covering his skin. He’s missing both legs, one from the knee down, the other from the hip, and an arm, which have been replaced with clunky mechanical limbs. He's bone-thin, and his head has been shaved, making way for some kind of electronic apparatus implanted directly into his skull.The worst thing is his eyes. His eyes are open, but unfocused, twitching and moving independently of one another. The entire scene is like something out of your nightmares.Rex quickly hops up onto the console and disconnects a few of the… things, whatever they are, that are attaching Echo to the stasis chamber. As he does, Echo’s body lurches forward again, and you instinctively move to catch him before he hits the floor. He’s so cold, but the shiver that shoots down your spine has nothing to do with that. You ignore it and gently maneuver into a kneeling position, resting Echo’s back and head against the lower half of the control panels, allowing his mechanical legs to stretch out on the floor in front of him.“Tech! Find a way to disconnect him from all of this!” Rex says as he kneels beside you.“What the hell have they done to you?” you whisper, then nearly scream again when Echo suddenly takes a huge, gasping breath, and sits up straighter.“The- the shuttle, we need to get to the shuttle. No! I’ll go first,” he mumbles. The citadel, you realize with a gasp. He thinks he’s still at the citadel.“Echo! Echo, it’s me!” Rex says, shaking him slightly.“Rex?” Echo says. His voice is so hoarse it’s like a whisper, and after he coughs violently for a moment, awareness returns to his face. “Rex!” he says. “You- you came back for me?”“We did,” Rex says.“We did?” Echo repeats, confused. Just then, Rex gets to his feet then stands out of the way, and Echo can clearly see you. Unaware of the tears streaming down your face, you gasp again when Echo weakly lifts his remaining attached arm and brushes his freezing hand against your cheek. He whispers your name in awe. “It is you,” he says.“Yeah,” you say through a small sob. You hold his hand tightly to your cheek. “It’s me. You’re safe now Echo, I’ve got you.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Yeah, it’s me. You’re safe now Echo, I’ve got you,” you say, holding his freezing hand to your cheek. Echo looks like he’s about to say something but is cut off by a coughing fit and General Skywalker jogging up to you. “It’s a touching reunion guys but we need to get out of here,” he says.You can hear the sound of blaster fire growing closer and realize that the throngs of droids must be getting out of hand at the doorway. You glance back at Echo, but he’s still very disoriented, and Rex is asking him if he remembers anything. Rex looks up at you and jerks his head toward the door, and you nod, slipping your helmet back on as you scramble to your feet. From the corner of your visor, you see Echo reaching for you.You kneel back beside him, briefly touch your helmeted forehead to his bare one, and say “I’m not leaving you, ok? I promise.” Echo nods once and you quickly run over to the doors.When you get there, you see that Crosshair, Hunter, and Wrecker are being forced backwards into the room, the alcove you had been in having rapidly become overcrowded with those damn machines. Thinking quickly, you drop into a low crouch and shoot at the droids from between the mens knees, making Crosshair do a double take when you fire your blaster for the first time. You’re able to hold the droids back just long enough for everyone to back into the room and slide the doors shut.Well, almost. A single droid peeks its head into the closing gap in the doors, but Wrecker rips it off and tosses it over his shoulder before slamming the doors closed. You scoot backwards a few feet and stand as Hunter and Crosshair start to weld the doors shut. You don’t have that kind of tool on you, so you leave them to it and run back to where the rest of the team are.As you do, you hear Hunter say something about the door being breached, and when you glance back, a bright arc in the metal is growing over their heads. They quickly give up on the first set of doors and rush to close and weld the second set. You holster your blaster and hear Tech saying that Echo cannot be unplugged until his cerebral interface is decrypted. You kind of push yourself back to Echo's side, and with Rexs help, get him into a shaky standing position. He leans heavily onto you, and you definitely notice the dramatic weight loss he’s suffered. You look over at his back and see more of those… hoses? Plugs? Whatever they are hooked into a device that appears to be mounted to his upper spine and shoulders, and your stomach turns as you try not to think of how it all got there.Crosshair, Hunter, and Wrecker have managed to seal the second set of doors, just in time for a loud thud to come from the first set. Whatever was on the other side had breached those doors and is starting to cut through the others. General Skywalker tells Tech to hurry it up, as time’s running out.After a few final seconds of typing, Tech says “it’s done, you can unplug him.”Echo is still leaning onto you, but you maneuver him so that he’s facing the other side of the control panel as Rex quickly tugs each hose out of whatever awful things have been implanted into his back and head. Once he’s free from them all, he stumbles and would have crashed to the floor if you hadn’t been there to catch him.He coughs violently for a second, then shakes his head, awareness rushing back to his features. Echo glances between you and Rex, then says your names.
“What is it Echo?” Rex says, looking both relieved and worried at once.Echo coughs again then says “I’ve got a big headache,” with a smirk.You don’t know if the sound you make in response is a laugh or a sob or both, you’re just thankful he’s cognizant. You pull him to his feet and he leans on your shoulder again as the group meets up in the center of the room. General Skywalker, who had been watching the doors, says that time is almost up and that you all need an escape route. Echo coughs again, then points weakly at a circular hatch in the ceiling. “T-there’s a ventilation shaft up there, we can get out and into the cooling system,” he says. He takes a few unsteady steps forward, and you hesitantly follow, keeping him upright. He kneels down before the other control panel, then sticks what turns out to be a scomp link at the end of his mechanical arm into a port there, getting the vent open.Everyone looks up into it, and Hunter wonders aloud how they’re supposed to get up there. Wrecker grabs the Sergeant by the shoulders and bodily throws him up into the shaft. Hunter is able to catch himself and shouts down, annoyed, that a heads up would have been nice. You can’t help but laugh a little as Crosshair is also tossed into the ceiling, cursing as he goes.Rex goes next, then Tech takes Echo onto his back and carries him over to Wrecker, and upwards through the ventilation shaft once they’ve also been tossed into it. You follow closely behind, not wanting to take your eyes off of Echo for even a second. As you climb, you can faintly hear General Skywalker force-jumping up behind you, and Wrecker saying something about “ending Tambors little science experiment,” before the vent shaft closes.—Eventually, the circular shaft opens up into what appears to be a fair-sized hallway full of thick cords and pipes, and you claw your way out, thankful you can stand and walk normally again. You quickly make your way over to Tech, who is bending back enough to let Echo stand on his own. He stumbles, and you’re immediately at his side, catching him before he can fall. He looks gratefully over at you and your heart soars. Even with all the changes he’s been through, Echo still looks at you with the same love as he always had. It’s been so long, you aren’t even sure how long, since you’ve seen that look that you have to fight yourself to not start crying again. The group continues walking, General Skywalker moving to the head and Wrecker bringing up the rear. You hear the distant, muffled sound of an explosion and can’t help but smirk when Wrecker starts laughing afterwards. As you turn a corner on the right, someone asks Echo how he knew where to go. He coughs for a second before saying “they may have gotten into my memories, but I was able to get into their database. Semantics, inventory, architecture, it’s all up here,” as he tapped at his temple with the scomp link.“That’s great,” the General says, “but it means nothing if we can’t find a way out of here.”“Well, there is one way,” Echo says before pausing to cough again. He takes a step forward and you cautiously stand back, allowing him to walk unassisted. He seems stable enough as he makes his way to the front of the group, next to the General. “But you’re not going to like it,” he says.Everyone glances at each other, then follow Echo as he leads the team further down the hallway. You’ve fallen into step between Tech and Crosshair, and you’re surprised when Crosshair comms directly into your helmet.“You holding up okay?” He asks, sounding genuine, which also surprises you.“It’s not me I’m concerned about, I’m not important right now,” you say, trying and failing to hide the tremble in your voice.He claps a hand to your shoulder and says “We’ll all get out of here, don’t worry,” reassuringly.You look back at him and simply nod, walking into Tech as you do. Everyone has come to a stop near a curving wall, and Echo opens a large door, using his scomp link in a nearby port. You can’t see much from your position, but you can hear the high whistling of wind.“Seriously?” General Skywalker asks, raising his voice to be heard over the gale outside.“I told you you wouldn’t like it,” Echo said with a half-shrug. “If we go across to the other side, there’s a landing deck we can get to.”“And there will be a ship for us to steal?” the General asks.“I hope there’s a ship we can steal,” Echo says.From behind, you hear Crosshair mutter something about making sure this trip wouldn’t be for nothing. You’re about to look back at him, but he nudges you forward, and then you see what Echo meant.Stretching at least a few hundred feet between the building you’re currently in and the one across the way is a single pipe connecting the two. The General leads, followed by Echo, Rex, Hunter, Tech, Crosshair, and yourself. Before you step onto the pipe, you hear Wrecker groan from behind you. “You’ve got this Wreck, come on,” you say to him as you carefully inch forward.“Yeah, yeah, I got this, as long as I don’t look,” he says, speaking more to himself than anyone else, then reluctantly follows you.You’ve all managed to get to the halfway point between the two buildings, when the doorway of the one you’re all headed toward suddenly opens and a squad of droids start firing at you. General Skywalker activates his lightsaber and blocks the shots as best as he can while shouting that you all need to turn back. As you do, the other set of doors fly open and you’re greeted with another squad of clankers shooting at you.Everyone who has a blaster shoots in either direction, but for each droid that’s taken down, a new one almost immediately takes its place. If that isn’t bad enough, Crosshair turns to shoot behind him, but loses his footing, grabbing at your chest plate as he slips off the edge of the pipe. Wrecker is able to jump down onto some kind of upside down antenna and simultaneously grip it with his legs while catching Crosshair by the ankle. Miraculously, Tech is able to grab you by the arm and stop you from falling too, but just barely.“Well now what do we do?” Rex shouts.Between the wind, blaster fire, and Wrecker cursing to himself, you don’t hear whatever is said next, but you are able to hear a shrill shrieking sound coming from Tech. You recognize it as the sound those flying reptiles made when you first landed on the planet. This is confirmed when about five of the beasts swoop in and circle the pipe under you.Tech shouts at everyone to jump, and General Skywalker goes first. Rex and Echo follow, landing on their own lizard, and Hunter and Tech do the same.“Ahh I don’t wanna do this but here I go!” Wrecker says as he allows himself and Crosshair to fall, barely managing to land astride one of the animals.That leaves just you; You hold your breath and jump, and the General is able to swoop in to catch you. The adrenaline surging through you is making your heart pound furiously, and it isn’t helped at all when a number of the droids that you had been trying to escape from also jump off of the pipe and take flight.There aren’t very many though, and you’re all able to shoot them down or make them crash into something fairly easily. The lizards take you all back to the Poletech village after only a few minutes. As you descend, you look to your left and see Echo laughing at something Rex has said, and your heart soars again.—You and the rest of the group, still astride the lizards that had been your unexpected saviors, make a relatively smooth landing back in the center of the Poletech village. The chieftain, Yazal, approaches with a few others, and they look both impressed and confused as Yazal speaks. Once everyone is on solid ground again, the General asks Tech what Yazal is saying.“He is impressed that we tamed the Keeradaks, but wonders why we returned here,” Tech says, dutifully reading the translation across his visor.“Tell him we had no choice. Tell him, tell him we wore out our welcome in Purkoll,” General Skywalker says, Tech translating as he speaks. Yazal says something else but is cut off by a few of the flying droids shooting at you all. In the confusion, you aren’t sure who shot two of them down, but one managed to escape, heading back in the direction it came from. When Yazal speaks again, you don’t need software to understand that he’s angry.“He says we have broken our word and brought the war to his village,” Tech says.Rex steps forward, taking off his helmet as he speaks.He talks, while Tech translates, about what Tambor did to Echo. Echo steps forward when he hears his name, and you see him flinch ever so slightly when the Poletechs around gasp and start muttering. “They took away his freedom, his agency!” Rex continues.As he does you slip over to where Echo stands, and silently grip his shoulder. He looks back at you with a thankful expression, and your chest hurts to see him so unsure of himself. “The Techno Union claims it’s neutral, but they have chosen sides. It’s time your people do the same,” Rex says, ending his impromptu speech.“Ugh, let’s hope that worked,” Crosshair says, looking through the scope attached to his helmet at the direction the droid went. “There’s more coming; a lot more than we can handle on our own,” he says, flipping the scope back up and turning to face the group.“If I know Tambor, he’s going to hit us with everything he’s got. Us and the Poletechs,” General Skywalker says. Yazal and the other natives around him begin talking quickly in hushed voices, then he speaks. Tech tells you all that Yazal is willing to fight to defend his people. Rex, the General, Tech, and the others cluster together, working out a plan.You and Echo walk a little farther away, and you slip your helmet off, asking him how he’s holding up.“Well, what do you think?” he says with a smirk.You can’t help but smile a little and shake your head at him. Some things hadn’t changed.“In truth,” he continues, idly rubbing at the back of his neck, an action that reminds you so suddenly of Fives that you almost feel dizzy, “I don’t know if I’ll be much use to you all, I’m amazed I’m able to walk and talk this well.”You want nothing more than to wrap your arms around him and hold him as tightly as possible, but you resist, to avoid damaging anything that’s still attached to him. You settle for taking his remaining hand into your own, interlacing your fingers together. The frost that covered his skin had gone a while ago, but he was still fairly cold. You can feel his hand tremble in yours. “Don’t say that,” you say softly to him. “You said you had access to Tambors database, right?”He nods, frowning slightly.“Well, do you remember anything that could help?” you ask.There’s a few seconds of silence, then Echo's expression changes entirely. You can feel his resolve as he says “I do, actually.”“You should probably let them know,” you say, gently pulling him over to the rest of the group. As you do, Crosshair notices and steps aside, making room for Echo to speak. Echo glances nervously back at you, but you give him a nod and release his hand, and he turns toward Rex and The General, speaking.——About twenty minutes pass, and everyone breaks off into smaller groups, heading in different directions. The Poletechs have enlisted the help of their warriors, who quickly escort you and the other natives who are unable to fight into a hidden cave up in the side of the cliffs surrounding the village. You stay ready at the mouth of the cave, the people behind you as far back as they can go to stay out of harm's way. Hopefully. It’s quiet, save for the anxious murmurs of those around you. When you hear the thump of droids landing in the village, you glance back at the Poletech people behind you and nod; they in turn fall silent.Positioned at the mouth of the cave, your vantage point gives you a fair view of the village below and the cliffs opposite yours. Through the heads-up-display of your helmet you can see Rex, Tech, Hunter, and Yazal grouped off to one side, hiding behind a few dwellings of the village. You look up, directly across from you, and see Wrecker stationed behind massive boulders, similar to the one he had pushed down the cliff only hours ago, with a few of the Keeradaks nearby. Further upwards, at the very tip of a narrow outcrop of rock, General Skywalker, Crosshair, and Echo wait, poised and ready. You see the General make a few motions toward Wrecker, and know that’s your cue to step back.Yazal had asked you, through Tech of course, to defend his people who could not fight, as he needed every capable warrior possible on the front line with him. You hesitantly agreed.Before everyone split up, you quickly jogged over to Echo and handed him your second blaster. “Your trigger finger still works, right?” you asked. “I guess we’ll find out,” he said.You briefly touched your helmeted forehead to his bare one again, then Rex called for Echo to follow him.For a split second, you flash back to that day back on Coruscant, when you and Echo had parted in the GAR building hallway for the last time. The way he had looked at you then was identical to the way he looked at you now, and your heart clenched. Echo was a few steps away when you called his name and ran back to him, wrenching your helmet off as you went.He said your name, then “what’re you-“ before you cut him off with a deep kiss.Not noticing the single tear rolling down your cheek, you broke off and looked into his eyes, still the same golden honey brown as they’d always been. “I love you,” you said, pressing your foreheads together again.Echo chuckled. “I know.”Shaking yourself back into the present moment, you watched Wrecker push another boulder down the cliff, alerting the droids on the ground.Quickly pulling back so that you wouldn’t be seen, you press yourself against the cave wall, blaster at the ready. You wouldn’t be attacking, only defending, as any shot you fired would draw attention to your position. You hated having to wait passively as the others fought, but you and Hunter had agreed this was the best place for you. You watched, feeling helpless, as the clones and warriors fought together. You could not stop yourself from glancing back up at Echo every few seconds, though he is holding his own just fine.Your free hand automatically reaches for the glowing stone around your neck, but your fingers close around nothing. It must have come loose and fallen off at some point in Purkoll. You once more shake yourself. That doesn’t matter right now.Every second feels like an eternity. After some time, you hear a deep rumbling and chance a step outside. More of the flying droids are approaching, but these are accompanied by two large walkers. With their spindly legs and fat round “heads” you can’t help but think that they look like a virus. Fitting, really. Tambor and those like him are a plague upon the galaxy after all. The two walkers land hard enough to shake the ground, and you pull back under cover.You glance back up at Echo. He’s shooting fairly competently, much to your relief. He loses his footing and your stomach clenches violently, thinking that he’s going to fall, until Crosshair lurches forward and grabs him by the shoulder, keeping Echo steady.You comm directly into Crosshair's helmet. “I saw that,” you said. “Don’t want to lose the reg that’s apparently worth something,” he says back, and you can practically hear the smirk on his face.You shake your head, then realize you had stepped outside of the cave mouth completely. You curse and stumble backward, a stray blaster bolt getting close enough to singe your right pauldron. By some miracle, you aren’t hurt. You thank the Maker under your breath, returning to your assigned position.The Poletechs in the cave with you are growing more anxious, murmuring to each other again. One, who appears to be an elder, cautiously approaches you. He touches the mark that the bolt had left on your armor and says something you couldn’t understand. He seems to realize this, and so he exaggeratedly looks upward, shakes his head, and gestures back at the villagers behind him.Message received, you thought, scolding yourself. You had a mission to focus on, and your distraction caused too close of a call. You nodded firmly at the elder, who spoke again in his warbling language, then returned to his place in the crowd behind you. You returned your focus to defense.General Skywalker had managed to disable one of the walkers, and as it crashed into the second one nearby, you press further back against the cave wall, narrowly missing another blaster bolt. That wasn’t a stray shot, you think.You take a second to steel your nerves, then step outside, blaster drawn and ready.About three of the flying droids had managed to find your hiding spot, and were trying to shoot over your shoulder and into the cave. You heard a scream from behind you, and run away from the cave, shooting at the droids as you go in an attempt to draw them away from the villagers. Two follow you, one does not. You’re able to twist yourself and take a wild shot at it, shooting it through the head. Another blast barely misses you, and you drop to your knee, reaching for your second blaster. You panic when it isn’t there, but force the panic aside, instead turning and firing up at the two remaining droids still attacking you. It takes a good few shots, but you manage to take them down.The sound of blasters and chaos suddenly ceases, and when you look around, the two walkers have been destroyed and the handful of clankers that escaped are retreating. You hear the men and warriors cheering, then quickly dash back to the cave to check on everybody. You’re about halfway back when you nearly run headlong into the elder, who is leading the group outside. You point to the blast marks on your armor and gesture toward the people. He shakes his head, looking relieved.Thank the Maker.——An hour later, the Poletechs return to their homes and reunite with their families. You are standing nearby as Tech disembarks from the Marauder, which he had landed in a clear enough space in the village. You see Echo, and just as you’re about to run over to him, you’re stopped by something. It’s the elder from the cave, gripping your hand. He gestures to his face, and you slip your helmet off. He speaks, and you call over your shoulder for Tech.“There you are Meds, Crosshair was looking for you,” he says.You brush this off and ask him what the elder is trying to tell you. You nod your head at the Poletech, and he steps forward.He taps your chest, points at Echo, who has caught sight of you, then taps your temple, speaking the whole time. “He says that it’s important to not let your heart take over your head,” Tech says.You respectfully bow your head to the elder, apologizing and thanking him for his wisdom, Tech translating for you.The elder speaks one last time, pats your chest, and turns you to face Echo, who is making his way over to you.“He says ‘Thank you for protecting my people. Your heart is strong. You must now be strong for him,’” Tech says.The elder gestures at Echo one last time, then leaves.At the same time, Hunter calls Tech over so he may speak with Yazal. You hear Echo say your name, and turn, heart fluttering, to face him.He has a minor bruise on one shoulder, which you realize is from Crosshair catching him earlier, but otherwise looks like he did before the battle. He hands back your blaster, and you return it to your other holster. You hold yourself back from hugging him tightly, and it must be apparent, as Echo chuckles at you.He takes your hand and kisses your knuckles, making you laugh.You’re about to say something when you hear Wrecker shout “Meds, we’re leavin’!” from the Marauders gangplank.Once you both catch up to the others, the two of you and Rex are the only ones who haven’t boarded the ship. Echo looks like he wants to say something to him, so you take back your hand, smile softly at him, and take a few steps away, but you’re still able to hear the two of them speak.Echo thanks Rex for coming back for him, to which he responds “That’s what brothers do. Hopefully it’ll be just like old times,” while passing by you. You meet Echo at the foot of the gangplank, taking his hand again.“Yeah,” he says, quietly. “Just like old times.” He glances over at you, finally able to fully take it all in. He flinches when you cup his cheek and swipe a few stray tears away with your thumb.“Come on,” you say softly. “You can sleep in my bunk.”Echo smirks at you and says “only if you’ll join me,” and the two of you laugh a little as you finally board the ship.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Your bunk is small to begin with, and it certainly isn’t very comfortable with someone else’s cold, unyielding mechanical limbs entangled with yours, but you don’t care. You’ll take all the odd pokes and pinches in the galaxy if it means that Echo, asleep with his head on your chest, is safe. You shift just a little, and his remaining hand reflexively tightens against yours. Your other hand is resting on the back of his head, careful to avoid the ports that had been installed there. Your stomach churns with disgust as you think once again of the horrors Echo had experienced. You take a deep breath to settle yourself down. This is the first natural sleep he’s gotten in Maker knows how long, and you don't want to wake him just yet.
The door that separates the bunks from the main area of the ship slides open, and when you glance up you see Hunter standing there. Keeping his voice low, he tells you that the ship is going to be landing back on Anaxes soon. You silently nod at him, and he walks away, the door sliding shut again behind him.
After only a few minutes, Tech manages to make the smoothest landing he ever has since you joined the squad, and you silently thank him and the Maker for it, as Echo remains asleep and undisturbed. The bunk door slides open again, and this time it’s Rex on the other side. Before you can react, he softly says “No no, don’t get up. We’re all going to the debrief, I’ll send Kix over once that’s done. Should give you two an hour or so.” You nod and gratefully whisper “thanks, Rex.” Rex nods back at you and leaves the area.
As the others disembark, they each take a second to glance in at the two of you. Hunter and Tech simply nod in your direction, and Wrecker obviously wants to say something but restrains himself with a wide grin instead. General Skywalker takes a moment to briefly step inside and tell you that you can give your mission report later in the evening.“Clearly you’re a little tangled up,” he says with a smirk, glancing at the way your limbs are wrapped up and around Echos.You chuckle and whisper a soft thank you.
Once the General goes, that only leaves Crosshair, who takes a step toward you, as if to say something, but stops when Echo stirs slightly, and instead walks away without a word. You can’t help but frown a little bit at this. Echo stirs again, mumbling something in his sleep, and recaptures your attention. You place a soft kiss on his forehead and hold him just a little bit tighter. The noise from outside the ship aside, it’s quiet, and you feel at peace for the first time in far too long.
—
You only realize that you’ve fallen asleep when the sound of a yawn wakes you. You blink a few times, and when your vision focuses, you see Echo, his head on your shoulder, looking up at you with a soft expression. As you sit up with a grunt, he shifts himself away and into a sitting position, extricating his legs from yours. You stretch, and the two of you hear several of your joints, stiff from the awkward positioning, crackle and pop. Echo looks down at his foreign, mechanical limbs and grimaces with a quiet “sorry”.
“Don’t be,” you say, scooting over and kissing his cheek. You yawn and he chuckles.You quirk an eyebrow at him and he says something about sleeping with you. You speak before you can stop yourself; “Fives used to say that.”
Horror cracks across your face as your words hang in the air, and your heart drops like a stone into your guts when Echo suddenly pushes away from you and stands.“You slept with Fives?” he asks, and the hurt and confusion in his voice physically pains you. You can’t bring yourself to lie to him, and he can see it on your face, his eyes widening.
“Echo-“ you start to say.
“You did! Did you at least have the basic goddamn decency to wait until my body was cold?” he says, interrupting you, his confusion giving way to anger.
“It wasn’t like that!” you say, also getting to your feet. He backs away from you.
“Who else?” he spits.
“W-What?” you ask, before he interrupts you again, shouting now.“Don’t ‘what’ me! Who else? Kix? Hardcase? Did you fuck Rex too?” he says, continuing to back away. He stumbles into a crate and takes a hard fall to the floor. You rush over to him, but he pushes you away again. “Don’t touch me!” he shouts as he unsteadily pulls himself standing again. He turns and starts to march down the Marauders open ramp, you following him closely, not noticing that you’re crying.
“Echo, please, you know that I-,” you say, but stop abruptly when Echo whirls around, startling you.
“Know what? Yesterday I knew I was at the citadel! If I was wrong about that then maybe I was wrong about you,” he says. His voice is no longer raised, but the contempt radiating off of him is deafening, and you freeze. You’re vaguely aware that the rest of the team have returned and are staring at the two of you, but that doesn’t matter. Echo hates you; nothing matters anymore. He scoffs and turns away, walking off without looking back.You take a step forward to follow him, but a firm hand holds you back. You look over your shoulder and see Crosshair gripping your elbow. “Yesterday he was at the citadel,” he says. “No time has passed for him. He doesn’t know.”
—
It’s been several hours, but you still haven’t moved from your bunk. You had yanked the privacy curtain closed and curled into a tight ball, trying to block out the world around you as tears continued to flow down your cheeks. You can’t help but think back to that first time Fives had kissed you. You now realize what an enormous mistake that had been, and you despise yourself for it.Your stomach lurches when you realize Echo doesn’t even know that Fives is gone. Hardcase, Tup, Dogma; Echo doesn’t know that practically everyone is gone. He doesn’t know about the horrors of Umbara, or what Fives had discovered, or how badly you burnt yourself out while overcompensating for your grief over it all. He doesn’t know anything. You imagine the look he would have on his face when he hears about it all, and a fresh, loud sob breaks through your throat.Your heart is going way too fast and your breathing is much too quick and shallow, but you can’t find it within yourself to care that you’ve started to hyperventilate. You do notice the distinct sound of Tech's footsteps, measured and purposeful, coming to a stop a short distance away from your bunk. You try to speak, to tell him to go away, but your voice is too weak and all that comes out is a wheeze of air.
He stands just beyond the drawn curtain, and upon hearing your attempt to speak, suddenly turns away and jogs out of the ship, bumping into Crosshair as he goes.“Keep an eye on her,” he says without slowing down.Crosshair watches Tech head toward the medical bay, then glances toward the bunks. He can faintly hear you in there, still trying to talk, and the sound is unsettling. He takes a step forward, then appears to change his mind, again, instead walking over to where Hunter and Wrecker are loitering around some crates nearby, and they both look anxiously up at him as he approaches.Before either can say anything, Crosshair shakes his head at them. “Not well,” he says in a low voice, responding to their unspoken question. Their eyes don’t meet as each man stares at the ground, unsure of what to do.Crosshair takes a deep breath and returns inside.
——
At the same time, in the medical bay, Echo can’t stop himself from trembling as he tries to remember how he had gotten here.
Rex had followed him as he left the hangar, calling his name and telling him to wait. Echo had indeed stopped walking, but only to turn around and tear into Rex next.“Were you a better fuck than Fives?” he said, freezing Rex in his tracks.
“Echo, what the hell are you talking about?” he said, genuinely confused.
Echo spit your name and told Rex what he had just heard. Rex’s confusion cleared, but it was quickly replaced with worry.“You can’t honestly think- ” he started to say, but was cut off when Echo shouted “I
don’t know what to think! I don’t know what’s happened to me or why, and I don’t know how long I’ve been like,” he pauses, panting, and gestures to himself, clearly indicating his missing limbs and other changes. “Like this .”
Rex chances a step forward, and was relieved when Echo didn't jerk away from him. He carefully gripped Echo’s shoulder and said “I won’t pretend to know what this is like for you, I won’t insult you like that.”The blind fury was quickly leaving Echo’s eyes, and was replaced with exhaustion, and a deep pain Rex had never seen before. “But I can promise you Echo,” Rex said, then paused for a moment. He said your name, and Echo jerked his head back up to read Rex’s expression. “She… You weren’t there to see her, when Fives told her you didn’t make it home,” Rex said, and Echo could see the grief on his captain’s face.His energy seemed to leave his body all at once, and Echo suddenly fainted. He would have hit the floor pretty hard if Rex hadn’t caught him.
Echo assumes that Rex must have carried him into the medical bay after that, and he didn’t know how long he had been unconscious. He glances around,
but everything is too bright and he screws his eyes shut against the harsh lighting of the room he was in. The beeping and whirs coming from the multitude of machines and devices he’s hooked into are so loud he can barely hear himself think. Instinctively he moves to hold his hands over his ears, but is horrified to find that they’re gone too, replaced by something implanted directly into his skull. He looks down at his remaining hand, then at the scomp link that replaced his other, and fights back a scream with considerable effort.It was all too much.What else has changed? How much did he miss? Where was Fives? Where was anyone, for that matter?Aside from Rex, he hadn’t seen anyone else. Uncertainty roils in his gut as his mind runs wild, wondering where everyone he knew had gone or what had happened to them. Then he thinks about you, and how you had said “Fives used to say that”. The tremble becomes a full-on shake, and as the possibility that Fives might be dead crosses Echos mind he actually does scream, but not for long, as the effort is burning his lungs and making him dizzy. He’s barely able to keep from passing out and is still shaking severely.
He keeps his eyes shut tightly, unable to control his breathing, but can still hear everything around him. The door to his room slides open, and boots run to his bedside. A gloved hand takes his own. After a second he realizes that someone is saying his name. He reluctantly cracks an eye open to look for the person speaking. It’s Rex.
“Echo? Echo, can you hear me?” he says.Echo can hear him, but it sounds distant, almost like he’s underwater, and he doesn’t have the energy left to respond. Another few second passes and Echo is tenuously aware that Rex is now talking to someone else who has just walked into the room.
“Kix,” Rex says, near panic. “He isn’t responding, what’s happening to him?”Kix sets down a datapad and sighs heavily as he approaches the bed. “Overload,” he says. “So much has changed for him in practically an instant, it’s too much to process at once. I’m surprised he hasn’t shut down completely yet.”
“Can’t you do anything?” Rex asks, sounding desperate.
“All I can really do right now is sedate him; Make him sleep for a while.” Kix says.
He goes into a nearby storage locker, shuffles around inside for a moment, then returns with a dose of sedative in his hand.“We can ‘normalize’ and repair his body as best as we can to undo what that bastard Tambor did to him, but that’ll take time. ‘Fixing’ the mental damage, well,” Kix continues, pausing to inject the sedative to the intravenous line connected to Echo, who barely twitches in response. “That’ll take even longer, if it can be done at all,” Kix says, straightening back up.“Do you know what he had gotten so worked up about to make him faint like that before you brought him to me?” he asks.
“Yeah,” Rex says with a sigh, wiping a hand down his face. He pauses and says your name.
“What about her?” Kix says, confused.
“She must have said something about her and Fives. When I got back to the Marauder with the rest of the Batch, he was demanding to know who else she’d been with,” Rex says. He shakes his head. “I’ve never seen two people look so broken and devastated,” he says, trailing off into silence.Kix simply stands there, unsure of what to say.
The door slides open and Echo hears a faintly familiar voice urgently asking for Rex and Kix to come with them somewhere. Whoever ‘Meds’ is needs help and the two quickly leave.Echo is now alone for the first time since he fell out of the stasis chamber. The shakes lessen in intensity, and he chalks this up to the sedative beginning to take effect. He suddenly remembers the exaltation and immeasurable relief on your face when he first looked at you, and the tears that you had shed when he said your name.Maybe he did have it wrong, he thinks, before unconsciousness sweeps over him.
—
Tech is moving quickly between rooms in the medical ward, trying to find where Rex and Kix had gone. He hears a sudden, gut-wrenching scream, and sees Rex run into the room it came from at the farthest end of the hall, with Kix only a few steps behind. Tech can only assume that it’s Echo’s room. He slows his pace enough to give Kix enough time to quickly assess Echo’s condition. As he reaches the closed door he hears Rex say that he’d never seen two people look so broken.After a few seconds, when nobody else speaks, Tech opens the door, getting their attention. “Kix,” he says, somehow calm and urgent, “We need you back at the ship, I am afraid Meds is going to make herself pass out.”
Kix and Rex exchange a single glance. Kix walks quickly through the door, and after looking over at Echo and realizing that there’s nothing he can do for his brother, Rex just as quickly follows.
The three of them return to the Marauder in record time, and as Tech leads the way up the open ramp, he’s struck by how quiet it is. The door to the bunks slides open and all of them are surprised to see that Crosshair is sitting in your bunk, and your head is resting against his thigh. They can’t tell if you’ve fallen asleep or finally passed out.
—
Maybe ten minutes ago, you had heard Tech leaving and felt relieved. You didn’t want anyone to see you like this. Especially not…Oh, but of course, you thought to yourself as you heard Crosshair approach your bunk and quietly pull the curtain back. Facing away from him, you let out a single, bitter laugh. Speak of the devil and he shall appear, you thought. You braced yourself, not knowing what the sniper was going to do or say. You certainly weren’t expecting him to softly say your real name, and the subtle worry in his voice was enough of a surprise that you had gone quiet.
“What do you want,” you had asked, your voice so hoarse it was barely audible.
“I just want to keep an eye on you,” Crosshair said, keeping his voice low. “Even Tech is concerned.”
You couldn’t help the soft chuckle you made at that. “Well, if he’s worried it must be serious,” you say sarcastically, slowly raising yourself into a sitting position. You chanced a glance over at Crosshair and saw him smirking at your comment. You sniffled and wiped at your eyes.Crosshair told you to wait there for a second, quickly went into the refresher, and returned with a warm, damp rag, which he handed to you. You coughed, then managed a very quiet “thank you”. You gently dabbed at your swollen eyes, the warmth of the rag bringing it down a fair bit. You sighed, wiped the rest of your face, and tossed the rag over your shoulder, not caring where it landed.
“I won’t ask if you’re okay, you obviously aren’t,” Crosshair said.
“Obviously,” you echoed. “Your face looks normal again,” you said, looking away from him.
“Same ugly mug, right?” he said, which made you genuinely laugh.
“Hey, I never said that, for the record,” you said shyly.He raised an eyebrow at you, and you
sighed heavily.“Listen, Cross, I-” you started to say, but he patted your back, interrupting you as he said “Don’t. I told you, I deserved that.”
“Well damn,” you said with a soft smile. “If I’d known you wouldn’t be an ass forever I would have smacked you a lot sooner.”Crosshair surprised you again when he laughed loudly. “I’m surprised you didn’t do it sooner,” he said.
“Oh trust me, I’ve wanted to for a long time,” you said. He shook his head at you, smirking again. You couldn’t help the sudden, deep yawn that escaped your mouth.
“You must be exhausted,” Crosshair said.
“Ha, yeah, it’s tiring when your world implodes,” you said softly, looking away. You’re startled, just a little, when you feel his warm hand on your upper back.
“Give him some time, Meds. The guy basically just woke up from a coma and found out his partner was sleeping with his brother,” he said.
“Yeah,” you sighed with a grimace. “Without context that does sound pretty awful of me, doesn’t it?”
“He just doesn’t know. You’ll get the chance to tell him,” Crosshair said softly, moving his hand to your shoulder.
“I hope so,” you said, then yawned again. Crosshair gently pulled you downwards, and you allowed this, then rested your head against his thigh. You fell asleep before you could hear him say that he knew you would.—
Only a minute or so passes between you drifting off into sleep and Tech, Rex, and Kix returning to the ship. They’re all surprised by what they find, but before anyone can say anything, Crosshair shakes his head and says “she’s asleep.”
Wrecker, followed by Hunter, incredulously asks how as the two of them also attempt to get into the bunks.
“I just talked with her,” Crosshair says with a shrug.
“You know,” Hunter says, “of all the things I’ve seen today, that’s the most unbelievable.”
“Oh shut up,” Crosshair says, waving everyone away. “You’ll wake her.”
Everyone simultaneously realizes how crowded the space is and they quietly step out into the main area of the ship. Rex is the last, and he asks if Crosshair will be following them.
“Nah, not yet. I’ll let her rest,” he says. Rex quirks an eyebrow up at him, but leaves without saying anything else.After a few seconds, you shift a little, getting Crosshair's attention. You’re still asleep, and he sighs heavily while looking down at you.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You wake up again a few hours later, and are surprised to find that Crosshair is still sitting with you, dozing with his head leaned back against the wall of your bunk. It’s probably the first time you’ve ever seen him completely at ease like this. You don’t want to wake him, and so move as silently as you can while you sit up. The moment your head leaves his leg, Crosshair sits up straight again, wide awake and completely aware. He looks over at you and asks how you’re feeling.
“To be blunt, I feel like complete shit,” you say, stretching as you get to your feet. “I think the sleep has helped though. You um, really didn’t need to hang around like this,” you say, shyly looking away.He smirks at you as he also stands, and says “I know. But I wanted to,” then chuckles at your surprised expression. “Everyone was really worried about you, in fact they probably still are,” he says.You feel a jolt of guilt in your gut as he says this.
“I’m sorry,” you say softly, looking away in embarrassment.
“Don’t be,” he says, waving it off. “Do you need anything?” he continues.You stretch again and sigh heavily. “I’ll start with a shower, I think.” you say, quickly grabbing a change of clothes. “You want to supervise that too?” you say with a smirk.
“Maybe next time,” Crosshair says with a laugh, but the slight flush on his cheeks doesn’t go unnoticed by you. You decide not to say anything, and instead make your way out of the bunks.On the way to the refresher, you see that Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker are sitting or standing around and all of their heads whip toward your direction when the bunk door slides open. You awkwardly give them a halfhearted wave, then duck into the refresher without a word.
Crosshair is only steps behind you, but instead of following you into the refresher, he walks over to his brothers and leans against a crate while he speaks. “She’s better, but not by much, though she’s at least coherent again,” he says. “How long were we back there?”
“A couple of hours,” Hunter says, and Tech nods. Crosshair stretches, his back crackling, and says that it felt a lot longer.
Wrecker suddenly laughs loudly, shifting everyone’s attention onto himself.“Guess you got what ya wanted,” he says.
“Excuse you?” Crosshair says, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, before we landed on Skako, after Rex and her were talkin’ alone in the bunks, Meds told ya ‘you’ll get your turn’, remember?” Wrecker says with a smirk.Hunter chuckles and says “well, he’s not wrong.” Crosshair huffs and rolls his eyes, making Wrecker laugh a little harder.
Inside the refresher, just as you shut off the shower, feeling, well, refreshed, you hear everything Wrecker is saying outside. You imagine the look on Crosshair's face and can’t help but giggle a little. You sigh and finish toweling yourself off, then quickly get dressed. Automatically, you grab at the spot you usually set the glowing stone when you take it off, but when your fingers brush against an empty surface, you remember that you’d lost it earlier during Echos rescue.
You curse softly and huff.Just great, you think. Now you don’t even have that.Your thoughts return to Echo, and you wonder where he is and how he’s doing. Has he seen Kix yet? How much have he and Rex told him? You swallow down the growing lump in your throat with a shudder. You were crying so hard and for so long that your eyes feel like they’re burning, and you have no desire to worsen the feeling. You take a moment to look yourself over in the small mirror nearby. If you’ve had worse days, you can’t recall them, as you look the most exhausted and depressed you ever have, but your eyes aren’t swollen anymore, and the redness is fading.
A sudden thought hits you like an out of control speeder.Has Echo even seen himself yet?Obviously he would have to be aware of the changes he’d been forced through, as it would be nearly impossible to not notice that three of your limbs have been replaced with prosthetics, but does he know how extensive it is? You barely stop yourself from growling in frustration at this thought. Hasn’t he already been through enough? You certainly think so, but then it occurs to you that Echos dominant hand was replaced with that scomp link. He’d have to re-learn everything, even the most basic tasks like feeding himself. Your heart aches again.He’s got a very long way to go, and that’s just with the physical changes.
You had been hoping to be there to support him through it all, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen now. You curse under your breath. You just had to mention Fives like that, didn’t you? Dank ferrik, you and your big mouth. Oh well, you think. What’s done is done, all you can do now is try to find Echo and explain yourself, if he would even be willing to listen. You heave an exhausted sigh, then exit the refresher.You don’t want to talk about it with the guys just yet, but you haven’t really got much of a choice.
You’re barely through the door before Wrecker has you scooped off your feet and into a crushing embrace, knocking the wind out of you. Hunter says Wrecker's name, and tells him to put you down before your spine snaps. Suddenly coming to his senses, Wrecker gently sets you onto the top of a nearby crate so you can sit down, looking sheepish. “Sorry Meds,” he says, embarrassed.You cough slightly, then grip his shoulder with one of your hands. “It’s alright Wreck, I know you’re worried about me,” you say.
“We all are,” Hunter says, taking a few steps forward while Tech nods.You mumble an apology, which Hunter ignores, instead approaching you and gripping your hand for a second or two.
“Well,” you say with a humorless smile, “I’m not even remotely okay, but I can think clearly again, now that I’ve had some rest and a shower. I should probably explain things, huh?”
“Only if you want to,” Tech says, appearing oddly focused on you.
“Well, not really, but you should know anyway,” you say, resigned. You glance around at each of your crew mates, and they’re all intently watching you and waiting for you to speak. “Geez, if I knew you’d be putting me under a microscope like this I would’ve washed my face a little longer,” you joke, managing to ease some of the tension in the room.You take a deep breath, then begin speaking.
You tell them about the day you thought you lost Echo, and how you and Fives had kind of naturally gotten closer afterwards in your shared grief. It gets easier to talk as you continue, and you feel yourself physically getting lighter as you do. You mentioned that first night you and Fives had finally gotten into bed, and before you get into too many details, Hunter chuckles and says “we don’t need to know that much.”
“True, but this is important. Halfway through, I had suddenly thought about Echo, and Fives must have sensed it. He immediately stopped and said that he knew what I was thinking. He said he understood and would leave if I wanted him to. He was always putting me first, never mind whatever he had been doing before. Hell,” you pause, catching your breath, “apparently even when he was faced with a fucking firing squad, his last thought was that he wouldn’t be able to keep a promise to me.”
“Firing squad?” Crosshair interjects, speaking up suddenly. He had been so quiet that you almost forgot he was there, and startled you a little.You sigh heavily again. “Did any of you hear about the 501sts Umbara mission with Krell?” you say.Unsurprisingly, Tech spoke up and said they were familiar with what happened, and that he himself had read the reports extensively.“So he was there for that?” Wrecker asks.You nod.
“It was awful. I remember when he finally got home after the inquiry, he couldn’t even speak,” you say. You describe how Fives had tried to apologize for nearly breaking his promise to come back, then how you reminded him that promises meant nothing during war. Crosshair looks surprised at this, but says nothing.
“Even at the very end, he risked everything just to see me one last time,” you say sadly, your eyes misting over as you remember that final kiss in the refresher of 79s. “When Kix later told me there was nothing I could do, I blacked out. Only a few days afterward I managed to get him to allow me into combat, which I realize now was a mistake. Every single man I lost, it was like losing Fives and Echo both at once, again and again.”
“Which is how you wound up here with us,” Tech says quietly. He glances over at Crosshair with a slight smirk and says “I would have slapped you too.”Crosshair rolls his eyes, then speaks as he steps forward a few feet, coming to a stop before you. “I was a complete asshole to you. I didn’t know what you’d been through, but that doesn’t excuse it. I’m sorry, Meds,” he said, speaking softly but clearly, and shocking everyone else.Without thinking, you reach out and cup one side of his face with your hand as you say that you forgive him. Once the words left your mouth, you notice how his guarded body language almost immediately relaxed. You sit back, pulling your hand away, and miss how he subtly tried to follow it.He clears his throat and turns around to see Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech staring at him. “What the hell are you three looking at?” he says.
“I don’t know if you knocked a switch loose in his head or what,” Hunter says, smirking. “But if you told me yesterday that this would happen I would’ve laughed.”
Crosshair huffed. “And this is why that never happens,” he mumbles to himself, avoiding his brother's eyes and returning to his spot at the back of the group.
You awkwardly cleared your throat, recapturing everyone’s attention.“Anyway, uh,” you say, shifting your weight a little in the awkward silence. “Yeah, that’s what happened. And Fives was by no means a replacement for Echo, that should be very clear. We thought about him constantly, even in our sleep. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t dream about him. Losing Echo was the hardest thing I’d ever experienced, and I owe a lot to Fives for keeping me afloat afterwards. That’s the only reason I haven’t given up.”You exhale, and it’s quiet for a few seconds as you gather your final thoughts. “I was going to tell Echo about Fives, but not this soon. He’s got enough to deal with right now, I didn’t want to pile onto that. Too late now though,” you say with a soft sigh as you hop down from the crate and onto your feet. You stretch and roll your shoulders. “That’s it,” you say, “now you know what’s going on.”Tech, who is still watching you intently, in a way that’s almost unsettling, asks “You said Fives risked everything to see you again. What kind of risk was he facing?”
“He wouldn’t tell me,” you say, shaking your head. “Anything else, sir?” you ask, sarcastically bowing at him and making Wrecker laugh a little. “I believe that will do,” Tech says, sounding as if he’s thinking of something else. Back to normal then, it seems.
“Would you like me to let Rex and Kix know you’re awake again?” he asks suddenly.
“Oh,” you say, taken aback. “Yeah, I guess so.”Tech doesn’t respond, instead grabbing a small datapad as he walks out of the ship, tapping away at the device as he goes. You shake your head, wondering how he never bumps into anyone while doing that.
—
Meanwhile, back in the medical wing, Echo is slowly coming back to consciousness. There’s a brief moment of panic when he can’t tell where he is, but when he hears Rex’s voice it all comes back to him. Echo coughs and says his name.
“Hey, there you are, we thought you’d never wake back up,” Rex says, taking a seat at the foot of the bed.
“We?” Echo says, confused.
“I’m here too, brother,” Kix says, speaking up from where he stands near the door. “To say I’m glad you're alive would be an understatement.”Echo blinks a few times and is grateful to see that the room isn’t too bright like it was earlier. “Did you turn the lights down?” he asks.
“Yes. It occurred to me that you’re probably going to be light-sensitive after being held in the dark for so long, I’m just sorry I didn’t realize it sooner,” Kix says.
Echo nods, then coughs again before speaking. “Where is everyone?” he says, hoarse.“Back on the ship,” Rex says.
“You know damn well that is not what I meant,” Echo says.Rex and Kix exchange a pointed glance.
“I’m so sorry, Echo,” Rex says quietly. “There’s a lot that’s happened since we lost you.”
Echo’s heart sinks. “No,” he says, sitting up a little too quickly and making himself dizzy. “No, no , you can’t be serious!” He looks between Rex’s downcast eyes and Kix’s grieving expression and curses, loudly. “Where is everyone? You can’t honestly be telling me that they’re all-,” Echo says, before falling into another short coughing fit. “F-fives, is he…?” Echo says, trailing off. He already knows the answer, but it isn’t until Kix nods once that it becomes real to him, and Echo barely holds back another scream.
You suddenly cross his mind. He whispers your name. “Did she really?” he says, the rest of his question not needing to be spoken.
“Echo,” Kix says, “whatever you’re thinking, it wasn’t like that.”
“That’s not an answer,” Echo says, an edge to his voice.
“They were together, yes,” Rex says, sounding far away.
“When?” Echo asks, trying very hard not to get angry again. He knows his brothers wouldn’t lie to him, and resolves to at least try to hear what they have to say about you.
“We were both there when Fives told her you didn’t make it home,” Kix says quietly.
“She hit the floor like a sack of meiloruuns. I’ve never seen someone so devastated, before or since,” Rex adds. “Well, until I saw you two outside the ship earlier today,” he continues, mumbling.
“She didn’t leave her apartment for nearly a week,” Kix says. “No matter how many times the two of us tried to check on her, she never answered the door. She came back after talking with Fives for a while.”
Echo feels confusion cloud his mind as he second guesses his knee-jerk assumption about you and his twin. It must be showing on his face; Kix moves from his spot by the door and crouches down at Echos bedside.“Think about it,” he says, almost apologetically. “They were the closest to you. They only had each other after,” he continues, stopping to clear his throat.
“After I ‘died’,” Echo says, finishing Kix’s sentence. Rex and Kix nod grimly.
“Fives once told me that neither of them meant for it to happen,” Rex says.“Grief can bring people together in unexpected ways,” Kix says quietly.Aside from the constant beeping of whatever machines Echo was attached to, the room fell silent for a while.
“But that means… she lost both of us?” Echo says, sounding pensive.
“‘Why do you all have to look the fucking same’,” Kix says. “When I told her, just before she blacked out, she said that. She handled Fives’ death very differently from yours. After only two days she came back to work and demanded I allow her into combat.”
“What?” Echo says, sitting up a little more, making himself dizzy again. “And you agreed to that?”
“She threatened to break rank, Echo. I’d never seen her so determined before.” Kix says.
“But why…?” Echo whispers.
“I still don’t entirely know why either,” Kix says. “But she burned out, and she burned out badly. I was worried she might just leave without saying anything at one point. I gave her the assignment to Clone Force 99, then neither of us saw her for a long time.”Rex nods. “She’s so different now,” he says. “Remember how she was always so nervous about blasters?”“I noticed that she was carrying now, yes,” Echo says, remembering the attack on the Poletech village. For having happened just over a day ago, it felt to him like years had passed between then and now.
“She’s good too,” Kix says. “Took out about three droids while mostly focusing on Cody. I was surprised, to say the least.”There’s a long pause, each man in his own thoughts, before Rex speaks again. “It’s a hell of a thing that she wound up with the squad that helped us find you,” he said.
Kix nods, adding “it’s funny you bring that up, back on the medical shuttle as we returned to base with Cody, Bortuse and I were talking to her about it all. I asked if she’d ever thought about coming back to the capital, but she said that she somehow knew she was supposed to be with the Batch. ‘Maybe it’s the will of the Force or something’.”“Good thing she stuck around then, don’t you think?” Rex says, giving Echo a pointed look. Echo doesn’t respond. It’s a lot to process at once.
It’s silent again, for a longer stretch of time, until the door to the room slides open. Echo recognizes the goggled man on the other side as the one who had carried him upwards through the ventilation shaft during his rescue. “She’s awake,” he says.
Rex and Kix both glance at Echo, who nods the tiniest bit, then leave, but the other does not follow. Echo remembers his name, Tech, as he approaches and speaks.
“Forgive my intrusion,” Tech says. “I know it isn’t my place to come to you about Meds,” he continues.
“Meds?” Echo repeats, interrupting.
“Ah, yes,” Tech responds, then says your name. “That’s what we call her,” he says, clarifying.Echo frowns.
“You’re right, it’s not your place, so why are you here?” he says, and can’t help the curt tone to his voice.
“Apologies,” Tech says, stepping back towards the door. “I have a few things I thought you would want to see, to get clarity on the situation with her.”Echo stares at him.“But as we’ve both said, it isn’t my place, so if I may excuse myself,” Tech says, moving to leave the room.
“Wait,” Echo says, surprising himself. Tech turns back around as Echo continues speaking. “What do you mean ‘see’?”“There is a small camera in my goggles,” Tech says, briefly tapping at the edge of his frames. “I record everything.”“Like that noise the Keeradaks made,” Echo says, starting to understand.
“Indeed,” Tech says, walking closer and retrieving a small datapad from a hip pocket. He taps the screen a few times, then hands it to Echo. Begrudgingly, Echo accepts it, and a few video files are open on the screen. He taps one at random.
It’s inside the Marauder, and the lights were mostly off, leaving the ship fairly dark. Tech approached the cockpit, but hesitated at the door. You were crying on the other side, then suddenly stopped. The camera jerked a little when Tech abruptly stepped back, clearly not expecting the door to slide open. You stood on the other side, looking exhausted. Your eyes were red and puffy, and there were dark circles under them both. “I could hear your footsteps. I can almost tell you and Crosshair apart now,” you said. Tech apologized for intruding, then you stepped back, allowing him inside. It’s dark in the cockpit, although the wavering blue light of hyperspace made it less oppressive. Judging from the change in camera angle, Tech had taken a seat while you remained standing. Despite your tears, the glow of hyperspace highlighted your features.
Damn, she’s pretty, Echo thought.
“Which was it this time?” Tech asked cautiously. You sighed heavily, and returned to where you had been seated, fidgeting with a familiar stone hanging around your neck. “Fire. Heat. Fives screaming. Darkness,” you said in a whisper. “The same one I’ve been having since Echo died.” The video ends.
Echo pauses the video file and looks up at Tech. “The nightmares are unfortunately a regular occurrence,” Tech says. “It is a rarity when she is able to sleep through the entire night. Wrecker often calms her back down.”Echo returns his attention to the datapad, tapping another file.
Everyone was gathered in a small room, taking part in a briefing before a mission. There’s a sudden cut in the footage, then you were in focus. “Fives did no such thing,” you said, doing a poor job of hiding your anger. “Got what he deserved if you ask me,” Crosshair said. The camera jerked again in surprise after you had suddenly whirled around and slapped him, backhanded, across the face. The video ends.
“We couldn’t understand why she was always so quick to defend the regs,” Tech says. Noticing the slight confusion on Echo’s face, Tech quickly explains: “Our unit was specially modified by the Kaminoans. That is how we refer to the unaltered clones.” Echo makes a noncommittal sound, and Tech continues. “As I was saying, we could never understand why she was so defensive about the regular clones. It became very clear after this,” he says, reaching over and tapping at the third video file.
Echo vaguely recognizes the wind and sand of Skako Minor. “When was this?” he asks.“Approximately an hour before we discovered you,” Tech responds, and Echo continues watching the video file.
The camera was focused on you, standing between Rex and Crosshair. Crosshair turned away from you and approached Tech and the camera, speaking as he went. “He’s just another reg; it’s not like he was worth anything.” There was a sudden look of surprise on his face after you had grabbed him. You spun him around, and the loud noise of another slap, this one with an open palm, was heard, followed by Rex suddenly pushing you out of the way and sucker-punching the sniper. The video cut abruptly, and picked up a few moments later. Rex and General Skywalker were further off in the distance, but the camera was focused on you again. “-is only here because we don’t look like all the regular clones!” Crosshair shouted above the wind. There’s another awkward jump cut, but the camera is still focused on you. You were shouting louder than you ever had before, and your voice carried on the wind as tears flowed freely, a combination of deep grief and anger on your face.
Echo sits and watches you as you said that you were surrounded by living ghosts, that you had seen so many deaths and so much pain, that nothing Crosshair could do to you would ever be worse than your nightmares. He’s never heard you so upset. “Maker,” Echo whispers.
“There is a final file,” Tech says, tapping at the datapad a few more times, then a fourth video file opens and begins to play.
It’s a new recording, in fact only hours old. Here, the camera glances back and forth between yourself and Echo, the confusion and pain evident on both of your faces.
He’s shocked by the image of himself, but forces himself to focus on you. Looking at the scene from an outside perspective, Echo can see the exact moment you broke, and he hates himself for doing it to you.
There’s a cut, and then it’s a short clip of you, weeping in your bunk.
The self-loathing only increases as Echo listens to you. He almost wants to gag.
One more cut. This time, you were seated on top of a crate, and talked quietly about everything that had happened since Echos' apparent death. Fives, Umbara, the intense burnout you dealt with while trying to distract yourself from your grief, everything.
The video abruptly ends, but Echo has seen enough. He silently hands the datapad back to Tech.
“I have many more, but I felt these are the most pertinent,” Tech says. Echo doesn’t respond, instead staring forward at the wall without really seeing it. “This isn’t my area of expertise, but I fully believe that she never stopped loving you,” Tech continues. “Shall I go fetch her for you?” Tech asks.
Echo shakes his head. “N- no, not yet. I… I have a lot to think about first,” Echo says. Tech simply nods, then takes his leave of the room, and Echo is alone again, a single tear running down his pale cheek as your strained, desperate voice rings in whatever had replaced his ears.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When Rex and Kix find you, you’re sitting on a crate outside of the ship with a distant look on your face. You can now recognize Rex’s footsteps, steady and measured, and shake yourself out of your daze. “Where’s Tech?” you ask as they come to a stop a few feet away. “Oh, he didn’t follow us back?” Rex says, glancing over his shoulder and Kix shrugs.You awkwardly fidget with your fingers for a few seconds, then take a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” you say, quietly.Rex and Kix exchange a glance and Kix says “for what?”
“Getting you worried about me,” you say. “I probably overreacted.”
“I don’t think any of us would have reacted any differently if we were in your shoes,” Kix says, taking another step toward you. He cocks his head a little bit, and you know he’s asking if he could look you over. Knowing it would ease his mind, you nod, and Rex speaks.
“What happened?” he asks.
“We woke back up and he said something about ‘sleeping with me’. I slipped and said that Fives used to say that too. And you saw how he took it,” you say, pausing to allow Kix to gently feel the glands on either side of your throat. He seems satisfied and stands back, so you continue, “I fully intended to tell him, but not so soon, I knew it would be too much to take in. How is he?” you say, anxiously looking over at Kix.
“It’s hard to really say,” Kix says.
“I heard him scream at one point,” Rex says, and you curse.
“There wasn’t much I could do but dose him with a mild tranquilizer. He was exhausted, obviously, and fell asleep before we left the room,” Kix says. “He seemed at least calm when he woke up again, until…” he trailed off.
“Until,” you say, already knowing what was coming next, but prompting one of them to continue.
“He… he asked where everyone was. And not you all,” Rex says glancing over at the Marauder. “I didn’t get into any details, but… he knows. Then he asked about you.”
“Me?” you say, taken aback. “What for?”
“You and Fives,” Rex says, and you groan, hiding your face in your hands.
“We both explained what went on between you two,” Kix says.
“He said ‘but that means she lost both of us’, afterward. I think that’s when he started to understand,” Rex says. “We didn’t get much farther before Tech showed up.”
You take a deep breath once more, then exhale. “Well, that’s better than I expected,” you say. “But what about physically?” you ask, addressing Kix.
“Obviously not good, from what we can already see. He’s especially sensitive to light and sound, after being kept in that silent and dark stasis chamber for so long,” Kix says, and you nod, listening carefully. “And he’s very weak, I’m amazed he was able to stand, much less walk; his muscular atrophy is moderate, but could be much worse. I haven’t been able to completely look him over, so I have no idea how he’s doing internally,” he continues.
You don’t say anything, taking all the new information in. Rex looks as if he’s going to say something, but before he can, his comm link trills at him; General Skywalker needs him elsewhere. After quickly acknowledging him, Rex stands in front of you and takes one of your hands into both of his. “It’ll be okay,” he says, his voice low so only you can hear him.“Maker I hope so,” you whisper.
“I know so,” he says, giving your hand a firm squeeze, then turning to go wherever he was needed, leaving you and Kix alone.
“He’s going to need so much work,” you say, sounding distant. “The muscular atrophy didn’t even occur to me until you said something, I don’t know how he was able to move so easily either.”
“The only thing I can think of is adrenaline,” Kix says, also sounding deep in thought.
“Oh!” you suddenly say, remembering something. “Is Cody okay?” you ask, sliding down off of the crate.
“Yeah, thankfully we were able to get him fixed up fairly easily,” Kix says, chuckling at the almost exaggerated look of relief on your face. “Bortuse has been a massive help,” he continues.
“Uh, speaking of,” you say, frowning as you look over his shoulder. “He’s running in this direction.” Kix curses, dashing over to meet him, and you follow closely on his heels.
“Kix! It’s Echo, he’s crashed, we need you immediately,” Bortuse says, harried and out of breath. Without hesitating, Kix takes off, sprinting toward the medical bay, and Bortuse quickly catches up with him. You try not to panic as you shuffle in place and watch them go, unsure of what to do. Yes, you’re a medic, but you don’t think you’ll be much help in this situation. You’re too close to it all, you think.
Your knees suddenly buckle, and you would have hit the floor if someone hadn’t been there to catch you. You look over at whoever it was; it’s Tech. When did he get back? You try to stand but feel too dizzy. You curse, trying to fight off a flashback to when you watched Fives rush off like this, but the flashback wins, and you nearly collapse again. Just before your vision goes dark, you hear the others running over.
—
You wake up in your bunk, deeply confused, wondering how you got there. You sit up and your head swims, but you barely notice. Something is wrong. You didn’t know what it is, but you know it’s important. You shut your eyes tightly, trying to focus. The last thing you remember, although vaguely, is talking with Kix outside. Then Bortuse ran over, and- Echo,
you realize, your eyes suddenly opening wide as you gasp. Echo had crashed.
You fumble your way out of your bunk and toward the door. Echo needs you. Whether or not he wanted you there was irrelevant at this point; you weren’t going to just sit around doing nothing. Not this time. Leaning heavily onto the wall, you manage to catch your breath long enough for the dizziness to subside, and once it does, you rush, more or less, through the Marauder and toward its open ramp. You bump into someone, but you don’t know or care who while making your way outside.
Not again,
you keep thinking. There was nothing you could do for Fives.You were too far away from Echo all that time ago.But this time is different, he’s close and you’re here, and nothing is going to get in the way this time. Your unsteady, stumbling movements are slowing you down, and you curse at yourself loudly in frustration. You hear a familiar voice calling your name and turn your head in its direction. It’s Kix. He rushes over to you and grabs you by the shoulders telling you to stop.
“Get the fuck out of my way,” you snarl, trying to break away from him. He’s too steady and continues to hold you in place.
“Don’t,” he says, the exhaustion in his voice far too familiar, and you freeze.“No, no, please, not again !” you shout, near-hysterical as your legs give out a second time. Kix abruptly pulls you as close to him as he can, stopping you from hitting the floor. You try to fight him off, but you’re too weak and wind up leaning all of your weight onto him, sobbing uncontrollably.
Kix says your name, your real name, several times until you’re able to look up at him. “It’s okay,” he says. “He’s okay, I swear to you.”You desperately try to speak, to ask him what happened, but you only sob harder. You hear the frantic sound of several people rushing toward you, and you know it’s your teammates. You try to speak again, but nothing comprehensible comes out. You feel one of Kix’s arms leave your body, and when you look, you see he’s got his hand out, telling everyone to stay back.
“I’ve got her,” he says firmly. “She doesn’t need any more confusion.”
There’s a rush of voices, all arguing. You feel someone try to take hold of your shoulder, and manage to turn around and face them. It’s Crosshair, and you’ve never seen such an expression on his face. Worry, yes, but there’s something else. Whatever it is doesn’t matter; you take a step toward him and nearly fall over again, but he catches you. You bury your face into his chest plate, hiccuping.“What the fuck is going on here,” Crosshair growls, and you can feel the rumble of his voice under his armor as he talks. “First she passes out, then she’s stumbling like a drunk through the ship, and now we find her like this.” You're taken aback as Crosshair holds you closely, protectively , while he speaks, holding one arm around your waist and the other around your shoulders.
“Echo crashed,” Kix says, and you sob again. “and she was there when I was told about it. But we need to get her to calm down. He’s fine, we were able to stabilize him!” he says, sounding uncharacteristically frantic.
“W-what?” you say, voice so hoarse it’s barely audible.Kix approaches, and you feel Crosshair hold you a little bit tighter. “He’s okay,” Kix says, reaching for you.You turn back enough to see him, and he repeats himself; “We stabilized him, it’s alright.”
You let out a long, shuddering breath of relief as his words process. “When you said-,” you say, still hoarse. “You, you sounded like, w-when Fives, I-I thought,” you say, barely coherent.
“Not this time,” Kix says quietly.
“Where is he?” Crosshair asks.
“Whatever Tambor did to him, some of it shut down.” Kix says, and you gasp. “However, he is stabilized. He’s going into emergency surgery right now, and we’re doing everything we can for him.” Kix puts a hand on your upper back, which makes Crosshair growl. You look up at him.
“You sound like an angry loth-cat,” you say with a single, wavering laugh as you wipe at your eyes. Crosshair loosens his grip on you, but when you move to turn completely toward Kix again, he hesitates before letting you go.
“Surgery,” you repeat, looking intently at Kix.“Yes. I don’t know how long it’ll take, as the damage is pretty severe, but his life isn’t immediately at risk.” Kix says.
“For now,” you say. You take a deep breath, steadying yourself and clearing your head significantly. “Not what I wanted to hear, but I’ll take it,” you say. Kix exhales, thankful you’re calm again.
“The second he’s in recovery, you’ll be the first to know,” he says, handing you a comm link. You take it with a shaking hand and hold it tightly, thanking him.
You turn back around, quickly looking Tech, Hunter, and Wrecker over. They look tense, but nowhere near as tense as Crosshair. You hold your hand up to his chest, where your head had been moments ago. The spot is still warm. “I’m okay Cross, relax,” you say softly. He does so noticeably when you touch him. You pull your hand back and stifle a yawn.
“I’m going back to fucking sleep,” you say with a chuckle before walking past everyone and back toward the ship.Just before you’re out of earshot, you hear Hunter firmly tell Crosshair he needs a word with him. You’re curious as to why, but you’ll have to find out later; you’re too worn out to even think.After making your way back through the ship, you flop bonelessly back onto your bunk and fall asleep immediately.
—
Outside, Tech and Wrecker exchange a glance before also returning to the ship, giving Hunter and Crosshair some space.“I can tell something’s changed,” Hunter says. Before Crosshair can say anything, Hunter holds up a hand and shakes his head. “You can’t lie to me, so don’t even try. I can smell it on you whenever she’s close like that. Do you like getting smacked around that much?” he says, only partially joking.Hunter can hear how his brother's heart rate kicked up as he said that. He raised an eyebrow at him. “I'm uh, going to ignore that,” he says as Crosshair avoids meeting his eyes. “Look, Cross, whatever this is, you need to respect what she wants.”
That grabs his attention, and Crosshair looks incredulous as he addresses Hunter. “You can’t honestly think that I’d-“ he says, before Hunter cuts him off.
“No, I don’t. Just remember the rest of the team, okay? We all still need to work together,” he says, holding both hands up and taking a step back.Crosshair sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, I know,” he says, suddenly sounding tired.
“Have you said anything to her?” Hunter asks, and Crosshair looks incredulous again. “Seriously? She’s got enough shit to deal with right now,” he says.Hunter makes a sound akin to ‘yeah, fair point’, then claps Crosshair on the back once before also returning to the ship, leaving the sniper alone for the first time in a few days. He glances toward the ship, fighting the urge to go check on you, and drags a hand down his face with a groan.
—
You aren’t sure where you are. It looks like your old apartment back on Coruscant, but there’s a strange haze limiting your vision. You glance around and see that you’re in bed, alone. Taking a quick look out of the window nearby, you’re deeply confused when, instead of the usual controlled chaos of the capital, you see nothing, just an endless expanse of white space. Before you have any time to wonder what’s happening, you hear a voice coming from the living room.
No… wait. Two voices.
You slide out of bed and very slowly make your way out of your room. The closer you get, the more familiar they sound. Clones, you realize, but when you turn the corner, you see that they aren’t just any clones.
It’s Echo and Fives.
You freeze in place.
They don’t seem to notice you, and appear to be having a very intense conversation about something, though you don’t know what; you can’t understand anything they’re saying. You open your mouth and try to speak, but nothing comes out, even when you attempt to yell, and you’re still unable to move, so all you can do is watch.
Echo looks hurt and confused, like he did when you last saw him outside of the ship before he stormed off. He’s holding his hand to his chest and gesturing wildly with the scomp link that replaced the other. Fives is standing directly across from him with his own hands raised, palms out. It looks like he’s trying to explain himself.
You try to move again, and manage to take a step forward. Fives and Echo whip their heads in your direction, finally seeing you. Their body language and expressions soften immediately, and the first word from them that you’re able to understand is your name, when they both speak at the same time. You step forward once more, not sure whom to reach out to first. The two of them exchange a pointed glance, and Echo sighs. He looks at his batchmate, then at you, and nods.
Fives then closes the gap between the two of you, holding you close, and you do the same, afraid to let go again. The two of you stand there like that, and you have no idea how much time passes before Fives takes a step back. As he does, he looks over at Echo, then waves his brother over. Echo hesitates, and Fives rolls his eyes before grabbing him by the arm and dragging him into an embrace between the three of you.
More time passes as you all stay like this, until you notice Fives taking another step back, releasing his hold on you two.
He’s fading away, like a dissolve effect in a holofilm, and your chest threatens to collapse in on itself. You move closer to him, trying to touch his face, but your hand passes straight through him. Despite this, he is able to press his forehead against yours, making the skin tingle. You whisper that you love him; He chuckles and says that he knows.
Fives pulls away again, and has almost faded away completely when Echo is at your side, tightly holding your hand. “Keep each other out of trouble,” Fives says with a smirk, his voice warbling and distorting as he finally vanishes.
—You wake suddenly, gasping as you sit straight up. You try to catch your breath and go to rub the sleep out of your eyes, only to find yourself crying again. This time is different though. These aren’t tears of horror or helplessness. You feel an odd sense of both loss and peace at the same time as tears continue to run silently down your cheeks.
You hear shuffling from the floor across from your bunk and look towards the sound. It’s Wrecker, leaning forward with a look of deep concern on his face. When he speaks, his voice is uncharacteristically soft. “That was kinda scary back there, ya feelin’ any better?” he says. You shift your body to more comfortably talk to him, and when you set your hand down, it lands on something soft. You look, and it's Lula, Wreckers stuffed Tooka. “Looked like you were havin’ another nightmare,” he says in explanation.You hold the object close and smile at him with a thank you.
The bunk area door slides open and Hunter steps inside, asking how you’re feeling. As he does, your stomach growls loudly. “Damn,” you say, “when’s the last time we ate something?”
“I have no clue,” Hunter says, then asks Wrecker to try and grab something from the canteen. Once he’s left, Hunter sits on the bunk across from yours, and you can’t help but be reminded of the conversation the two of you had only a few days ago, before arriving at Anaxes.“Well, this is familiar,” you say with a chuckle. “I’m alright, Hunter. Not great, but I can at least function like a sentient again.”
“That’s good to hear,” he says. “Any idea what you’ll do next?”
“I’m not the one that just had their life flipped upside down, I don’t care about me right now. Echo is my only priority,” you say, setting Lula aside and stretching. “Although, I will need to respect what he wants. If he wants me around, great. If he doesn’t,” you pause, clearing your throat and stopping another lump from forming there.“If he doesn’t, then I’ll respect that. It’ll fuckin’ hurt, but what matters most to me is that he’s safe, whether I’m beside him or not.”“Really?” Hunter says, sounding taken aback by this. “After everything you’ve gone through until now, you’ll step back if he tells you to?”“Yes. What I want is irrelevant, the important thing is getting Echo whatever he needs first,” you say, leaving your bunk and standing.You offer Hunter a hand and pull him to his feet. Just as the two of you leave the bunk area, Wrecker returns inside, carrying a small box of ration bars.
“Was all I could get,” he says, handing you both a couple.
“It’s better than nothing,” you say with a shrug before unwrapping a bar and wolfing it down.
“You must be really hungry,” Hunter says. “I thought you hated those things.”“I do,” you say, ripping another bar open. “But I’d eat a Tantuan right now if someone offered it to me.”
“Tantuans are a fair source of protein, but they’re difficult to butcher properly,” Tech says as he also takes a few ration bars from Wrecker. Wrecker and Hunter then leave you two alone to find Crosshair.
“Where were you earlier?” you say.
“I took it upon myself to speak to Echo. I showed him a few video files that I believe supported your case,” Tech says, and you pause for a second, choosing your next words carefully.
“I understand your thinking, Tech, but don’t do that again. I know you record everything, and I don’t particularly mind, but you need to check with me, and everyone who you record for that matter, before showing it to anyone else,” you say, trying your best not to get angry with him. Sometimes basic courtesy just doesn’t occur to him as necessary, but you’ve been patiently working on this with him since you first joined the team.
“This is one of those things you’ve previously discussed with me, isn’t it?” Tech says apologetically.
“It is,” you say, though not unkindly.
“Apologies if I’ve overstepped,” Tech says, not meeting your eyes.“You’re doing a lot better than you were when I got here, but I know you can still slip up sometimes, so it’s okay,” you say, reaching over and briefly gripping his shoulder. “Now, setting that aside, what exactly did you show him?”“It’s all here,” Tech says as he hands you the small datapad you saw him using earlier today. Once the screen unlocks, you see several video files open, and you know which moments they’re depicting just from glancing at the thumbnails.You, teary eyed and bathed in the blue light of hyperspace. The pre-mission briefing before Skako. You finally snapping and shouting on Skako. Then one from only a few hours ago, which you recognize because you’re still wearing those same clothes.
“Well,” you say, handing the datapad back to Tech, “that explains why you were so intensely focused on me while I was talking. Did he say anything?”
“I had asked him if I should bring you to his room, but he said that he had a lot to think about first, then I left,” Tech says.
Echo crashing must have happened only a few minutes afterward, you think.As if on cue, the small comm link Kix had given you starts to trill in your pocket, grabbing everyone’s attention. You glance around, and Hunter says “the hell are you still here for?” so you shake yourself and dash out of the ship, able to move normally this time.
You slow to a jog, then comm Kix and ask where you should go. After he gives you the wing and room numbers, you end the conversation, pausing for a few seconds to catch your breath. All the recent stress has really screwed up your stamina.Just as you turn to move in another direction, you nearly walk headlong into Crosshair.“Shit, sorry,” you say automatically, then frown. “Wait, what are you doing, following me?”
“Not exactly,” he says, keeping pace with you as you power-walk through the base's maze of hallways.
“Then what-?” you say, skidding to a stop to avoid bumping into someone else.
“I’ve got something of yours,” he says.You’re so focused on finding the right room number, now that you’re in the specified wing, you don’t really hear him. After finding the room, just before you go inside, Crosshair firmly grabs you by the wrist, recapturing your attention. You huff, irritated, until you see what he’s holding. It’s the glowing stone you thought you’d lost.
“You found it?” you say, confused.He hands it to you, and as you look it over, noting that the wire wrapping looks terrible now, he says “Back on that pipe, when I fell and grabbed at you, I’d accidentally gotten ahold of it and the chain broke.”
“Woah woah woah, wait,” you say, more confused. “So you’re telling me that when you were seconds from falling to your death, you noticed what this was, recognized it as mine, and made sure not to drop it within a split second?”Crosshair just casually shrugs at you as if you’d said something completely inconsequential, and you can’t help but laugh loudly in disbelief for a few seconds.
“You really are unbelievable,” you say, shaking your head, but grinning at him.
“I’ve been trying to give it back to you since we fought off the droids back in the village,” he says, “just never really had a chance til now.”
“I wondered why you were trying to find me back there,” you said. You gesture at him and he bends down just enough to reach your eye level, and you surprise him and yourself by softly kissing his cheek. “Thank you, Cross. You have no idea how much it means to me that you held onto it,” you say.He straightens back up, then nods at someone behind you. You turn around and find Bortuse, waiting for you just outside of the door to Echo's room. You turn back toward Crosshair, but he’s already halfway down the hall and out of earshot. You shake your head, then walk a few steps over toward Bortuse.
“He didn’t say much, but Kix told me you’ve been in the weeds since you got back. Are you alright?” Bortuse asks.
“Doesn’t matter,” you say, stepping through the opened door.
Inside, the lights are low and the room is fairly warm. Aside from the constant beeping of whatever machines or devices Echo is hooked into, it’s quiet. You take in the sight of all the bandages scattered around whatever of his body is visible and wrapped around his head. He looks so fragile and helpless, it physically hurts you to see him in such a state. Restraining yourself so you don’t wake him up, you move to his side, taking a seat in the chair that had been placed there, no doubt courtesy of Kix. Bortuse follows you, then wordlessly hands you Echo’s chart. You quickly scan through it, and while there are some things that are going to be a problem, mainly the muscular atrophy and vision degradation, nothing life-threateningly serious stands out to you. You hand the chart back with a relieved sigh.
“I’m not sure when he’ll wake up,” Bortuse says softly. “It could be an hour or two, or it could take the rest of the day and into the night.”You nod, not taking your eyes off of Echo.Bortuse gently pats your back, says that you can use the comm link Kix gave you if you need anything or if something happens, then exits the room.
It’s the first time you’ve been alone with Echo, not counting the hour or so in your bunk, since the two of you woke up in your apartment together for the last time. The stark contrast between then and now is so jarring, you can’t stop the tears that start falling again. With the glowing stone in one hand, and Echo’s remaining hand in the other, you silently thank the Maker for every heartbeat indicating beep you can hear.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
There’s no chrono in the room with you, so you have no idea how much time has passed since Bortuse left. It’s been long enough that you have to start fighting yourself to stay awake. Your head keeps bobbing down, but you jerk it back up with a snort each time. You hold back a yawn and glance over all of the readouts on the various screens surrounding the head of Echos bed; thankfully everything is within normal range. You look back at his unconscious face with a sigh and grip his remaining hand just a little tighter, your lips moving in a silent prayer for him to wake up soon. More time passes, you still aren’t sure how much, but the next time your eyes slip closed you allow it, finally falling asleep partially slumped over onto the bed beside you, still holding Echos hand.
—
There’s an annoyingly persistent beeping sound. It continues for about a minute before Echo realizes it’s from an EKG meter, which also explains the stiff, sticky feeling on his chest in a few spots. He’s slowly regaining consciousness, but keeps his eyes shut. He tries to sit up, but finds himself too weak. Everything hurts.He tries to flex his legs and nearly panics when he can’t feel them, then remembers the prosthetics. He repeats this with his right hand and gets the same result, and holds back a growl of frustration. He’s fairly positive that he at least still has his left arm, and though he is able to feel it and move his fingers, he’s confused by the feeling of something warm and fleshy in said hand. He finally opens his eyes, blinking a few times in an attempt to orient himself.
He sees that he’s in another hospital room, which comes as no surprise at this point, the surroundings having become too familiar for his liking within the last day or so. He slowly turns his head, flexing his hand again, and sees that the warm, fleshy thing he was feeling is your own hand, gripping his firmly, even as you sleep. He tries to sit up again, but is only able to shift his weight around.This movement is enough to make you stir, and you blink yourself awake, slowly straightening your back. You glance over at Echo and find him staring at you with glassy eyes. You reflexively try to pull your hand back, but are surprised when he grips it, stopping you. There’s a second or two of silence.
“I’m sorry,” is said in unison.
“Echo, I-” you start, but he cuts you off.
“Stop,” he says. “You don’t need to. I… I think I understand. Between Rex and Kix and that one with the goggles, um,” he says, pausing in an effort to remember the man’s name.
“Tech,” you say softly.
“Tech, thanks. They all talked about you and what you’ve been through. I saw some of what happened before you found me. I’ve never seen you so angry,” he continues.You nod, but remain silent, allowing Echo to take as much time as he needed.When he speaks again after a while, his voice wavers. “I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for you, after Fives…” he trails off, pausing to clear his throat.You scoot closer and take his one hand into both of yours, your own eyes starting to water.“You lost both of us,” he finally says. He meets your gaze and he can see the pain and grief in your eyes, and he needs to take a moment to clear his throat again.
“I thought I had,” you gently correct him. “When Rex told me about his suspicions, I didn’t know how to react. I desperately wanted to believe he was right, but-” you say, trying to keep your voice level.
“You didn’t want to get your hopes up for nothing.” Echo says, and you hiccup as you nod.
“I’ve never been so happy to be wrong,” you say, making him chuckle.
“First time for everything, huh?” he says back and you can’t help but roll your eyes with a wan smile. “Kix told me you went into combat?” he says.You grimace.
“That was a mistake,” you say bitterly as you look away.
“From what I understand, that’s how you wound up with the squad that found me, isn’t it?” Echo says, drawing your attention back to him.
“I guess so. ‘The Force works in mysterious ways,’ and all that,” you say.
“Well, I’m glad it does. I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to catch me as I fell out of that damned tank,” he responds, and you try to scoot even closer. Seeing this, Echo manages, with some effort, to move over enough for you to lay on your side next to him. You do so carefully, making sure not to disturb any of the attached equipment or his bandages.
“Echo, I’m so sorry,” you whisper. “Fives and I, we never expected…” you continue, trailing off.
“I know,” Echo said, sounding far away. “He told me.”
“What?” you ask, confused.
“It had to be while I was put under for the surgery. I dreamt about him,” he continues, still sounding distant. “He… he was trying to explain himself.”
A shock runs through your chest and your jaw drops.
“In my old apartment?,” you said. Echo stared at you, his own mouth agape. Before he could ask, you quickly say “I had the same dream. He faded away just before I woke up.” Echo nods, dumbfounded.
“How in the sith hells-?” he says, completely flummoxed.
“I dunno, maybe it’s one of those Force things?” you suggest with a shrug. “I mean, there’s no way that’s a coincidence.”
“Well,” Echo says slowly, his voice wavering again, “whatever it was, I’m just happy I got to see him one last time.”
He abruptly looks away, and when you gently cup his cheek with your left hand and turn him back to face you, you find that he’s crying, and your heart breaks for him. You sit up and maneuver the two of you a little so that his head is against your chest, much like the two of you had been in your bunk not that long ago. He curls into you, tucking his head up under your chin as he trembles. You wrap an arm around his shoulders and hold the back of his head, careful not to touch any of his bandages and stare off as your own tears fall silently down your cheeks.
—
Kix rushes through the long hallway toward Echo's room, having gotten a warning that one of his vital signs had suddenly stopped. He forces himself into the room before the door slides open completely and skids to a halt. Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn’t to find Echo weeping into your shoulder as you held him close, clearly paying no mind to any equipment you had unplugged.
The sudden flurry of motion catches your eye, and you glance up to see Kix standing in the doorway looking panicked and relieved simultaneously, somehow. It only then occurs to you that you’ve probably disconnected something important. Oops.
Kix approaches, reaching a hand out, but you gently stop him with your own and a shake of your head. “Not right now,” you mouth at him. Kix looks worried, glancing between you and Echo a few times before mouthing “what happened?” at you.You simply hold up a hand, all five fingers spread apart, and Kix understands right away. He pulls his comm link out of a pocket and gestures to you with it, and you nod while indicating your own on a counter nearby. He’s just about to turn around and leave when Echo's voice stops him.
“Stealth never was your strong suit, Kix,” Echo says, heaving a sigh and sitting up before gingerly turning toward him. “You sounded like a herd of Banthas coming down the hallway.”
“I got a notice that your heart stopped,” Kix said, looking sheepish.You curse and move back to the chair, confirming that yes, the wires for two or three heart sensors that had been stuck to Echos chest had become disconnected.“Since that’s obviously not the case, I’ll just come back later,” Kix says, moving toward the door again.
“Don’t bother, you’re already here,” Echo says, sounding exhausted, but otherwise speaking normally again. Kix comes closer and starts to look him over while you get to your feet and give him the room he needs to do so.
The door to the room slides open again and this time it’s Rex that rushes inside, panicked. You intercept him and hold him in place by the shoulders, quickly explaining that everything was alright. He heaves a sigh of relief, but when he tries to move forward again, he’s unable. He raises an eyebrow at you. “Since when are you strong enough to hold me back?” he says, half joking.
“Gotta be strong to carry the weight of the Galaxy on your shoulders like she’s been,” Echo quips.
“I take it you two got to talk?” Rex says, voice low. You nod, and can’t help but chuckle when you see the stress physically leave his face. “Well,” he says, “at least that’s fixed.”
“Speaking of ‘fixing’,” Kix says, continuing to look over Echo's myriad of bandages, “you’ve still got a long way to go, vod.” Echo maneuvers his scomp link and curses at it in response.“Some time in a bacta tank should speed up the process though, right?” you ask.Kix nods. “I’m actually going to go ahead and move you now,” he says, talking to Echo again as he carefully disconnects everything from him. “These will have to come off though,” Kix continues, gesturing to Echos artificial limbs.
You move back to Echo's side and grip his hand again. “I’m here as long as you want me to be,” you say, and he looks gratefully up at you.As this happens, the door to the room opens a third time and Bortuse pokes his head in. “Uh, we’ll need some space if I’m going to get this mobility chair in here,” he says.
“He’s good for now,” Kix says, stepping back. “I’ll meet you in the tank chambers.” With that, he and Rex leave the area.
Now that there’s enough space, Bortuse backs into the room, pulling the mobility chair in front of him. He rolls it over to Echos bedside, and you prop Echo up with one shoulder as he moves into the chair. Once seated, Echo takes a moment to stretch and twist his torso a few times. As he does, he notices something small and glowing sitting on the mattress. He picks it up and looks between you and the stone he had given you years ago. It must have slipped out of your hand while you were asleep.
“You kept it?” he asks.
“Of course. I’ve been wearing it but the chain broke as we got you out of Purkoll. I did the wire wrapping myself too, but ought to redo it,” you say, thinking aloud as you take it from him and look it over. “You know, Rex told me how much effort you actually put into picking this out for me,” you say, smirking a little at him. “He said you’d narrowed it down from thirteen others.”
“Rex is full of it,” Echo says, rolling his eyes with a smirk of his own. “There were twenty seven,” he says, making you laugh as Bortuse leads the way out of the room.
The trip to the tank chambers takes a good few minutes, but with the hallways of the building being as labyrinthine as they are, that’s no real surprise. Once you arrive, Echo stands and you sling his remaining arm around your shoulders and help him walk over to Kix and an empty tank nearby.The two of you sit on a bench, Bortuse nods at you before leaving, and you return the gesture.
As you look back at Echo, two other medics are carefully removing his mechanical arm, lifting it away after a minute or so. Echo glances between you and the empty space and quietly says your name. “I’d rather you not have to see me like this,” he says, unable to meet your eyes.Your chest aches for him again, but you take his hand and nod. “I need to give my debriefing report anyway,” you say as you get to your feet. You stand in front of him and grip his shoulders.He leans forward, burying his face in your chest. “Sorry,” he says quietly.You hunker down to his eye level and softly cup his cheek. “You have nothing to apologize for, Echo. I understand completely,” you say, softly kissing him. With a whispered thank you, Echo briefly touches your foreheads together, then you stand and leave the room.You’re tempted to look back at him as you go, but respectfully decide not to.
—
You’re halfway back to the Marauder, wondering where General Skywalker could be. While thinking about the man, an idea suddenly strikes you like lightning. You jog the rest of the way to the ship, then dash inside and grab your personal datapad from a compartment under your bunk. You’re distracted by it as you turn around, and only notice Crosshair when you walk face first into his chest plate. Again. You curse in surprise as you stumble backward, but he’s able to catch you by the elbow before you fall.“We have to stop meeting like this,” he says, and you smirk at him.
You walk back down the gangplank and Crosshair follows. “How is he?” he asks, clearly referring to Echo.“Well,” you sigh, stowing your datapad into a hip pocket as you walk, “he’s as good as he can be right now. They’ve put him into a bacta tank, hopefully that’ll speed up his recovery.”
“Good to know, but that’s not quite what I meant,” Crosshair says.You come to a stop and look over at him with an eyebrow raised. “Uh huh,” you say, smirking at him. “And you care about us because..?”
“What, I’m not allowed to give a shit about you?” he says.
“You never did before,” you say, rolling your eyes as you start to walk again.“That’s not true,” he says, and you stop so suddenly that your shoes squeak on the floor.You look him in the eye and see he’s being genuine.
“You confuse the hell out of me, you know that?” you say.
“Gotta keep you on your toes,” he says, smirking again.You huff a little and shake your head as you start walking again.
“Fine. If you must know, we talked. Well, mostly he talked and I listened. I think he understands it all now,” you say.
“I told you he would,” Crosshair says.
“Oh you did not just ‘I told you so’ at me,” you say, glancing over at him.
“But I did, didn’t I?” he says.
“I’m not going to say that you were right, if that’s what you want to hear,” you say, childishly sticking your tongue out at him. He laughs and you can’t help but crack a smile too.
You spend the rest of the walk to the Generals office in a companionable quiet, and when you reach the door, Crosshair gives you a relaxed two-finger salute before turning to head back to the Marauder. You watch him go, pointedly
ignoring an odd swooping sensation in your gut as he walks away.You shake yourself, bringing your focus back to the task at hand. You quickly unlock your datapad and check your accrued credit balance. Satisfied by the high five digit number you find, you put the data pad away and knock on the Generals door, coming inside when prompted.
—
“Ah, good,” General Skywalker says as you enter the room. “I was just about to have Rex bring you here, go ahead and have a seat.” You obediently sit in a chair near his desk. He looks tired, but you know better than to say anything about it. If you’re exhausted dealing with just four or five men, it’s no wonder the General looks so worn out.
He says your name for what sounds like the second time, and you shake yourself, apologizing for zoning out.“It’s been a hard few days for you, I get it,” he says. “Go ahead and give your report,” he continues, gesturing to a datapad with a standard debrief form open.
“Sir, if I might ask,” you say as you reach for the data pad. “How detailed does this report need to be?”
“The interpersonal conflict didn’t compromise the mission, so don’t worry about that,” General Skywalker says with a smirk.
“Thank you sir. Apologies again, I should have held my temper back there,” you say, embarrassed. You’re surprised when the General chuckles at you, so you look up from the form at him.
“Well, I can’t condone what you did, but if what I heard you hollering was true, I completely understand. You really have been through a lot. Echo is lucky to have you. The whole squad is to be honest,” he says, and you can’t help the flush spreading across your cheeks as he speaks.
“T-thank you sir,” you stutter, then focus back on the report.A fair chunk of time goes by before your work is done. You sign the bottom of the report with your finger on the data pad screen, and get to your feet. “Alright, that’s everything,” you say, handing the device to the General.He glances it over and nods.
“All seems to be in order,” he says, and he also stands. He extends a hand to you and as you shake it, you try to think of a tactful way to ask about his cybernetic. He must have noticed the look of concentration on your face. “Everything okay?” he asks.
“Yes, sorry. Before I go, may I um, ask a personal question?” you say. General Skywalker looks taken aback, but nods after a moment of thought.
“I was just thinking, with Echo losing one of his hands, could you tell me if or how I’d be able to, um…” you say, speaking quickly. You glance up at him and see that he looks almost relieved, which is strange.
“I built mine,” he says, slipping off one of his gloves and flexing his mechanical fingers.
“That’s very impressive sir,” you say, spellbound. He chuckles.
“There is a specialist back on Coruscant, Shalka Myrr. I go to her every now and then when I don’t have the time to do my own repairs. It’s faster work with two hands instead of one,” he says, putting the glove back on. “But I’ll warn you, it’ll cost you a good chunk of credits.”
Without hesitating you tell him exactly how much you have saved up and ask if that would be enough for even a basic model. He blinks at you a few times. “Did contractors like you get a raise I'm unaware of?” he asks, incredulous.
“I don’t think so, or at least I haven’t. I’ve lived on the Marauder with the squad for a while now, so I've been able to put away a lot that would’ve otherwise gone to my apartment back in the capital,” you explain, and he nods, understanding.
“Must’ve been a hell of an apartment,” General Skywalker says, and you nod before telling him it was surface-level and near the GAR headquarters. He makes a sound akin to ‘not bad’, then continues speaking. “Anyway, yes, that should get you something in the lower-mid range.” He grabs a sheet of flimsi and scribbles Shalka Myrrs name and a few ways to reach her, then hands it to you. You thank him profusely as you carefully fold the note and tuck it into a pocket.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?” The General asks. You’re just about to shake your head when you suddenly remember the dream you and Echo had shared.
“I do actually have another question, if that’s alright, sir,” you say. He nods at you while returning to his seat. “You know about The Force, right? I mean, obviously you do, you’re a Jedi,” you say, speaking quickly again.
“What about The Force?” he asks, curious. “Do you think you could be Sensitive?”“I thought I wasn’t for most of my life, but now I’m not so sure,” you say. “There have been a few odd things that have happened. Back when Echo was ‘lost’ at the citadel, I had a very vivid dream of what happened. I described it to Rex later and he confirmed that what I dreamt was what happened. That was a while back, but just a few hours ago, Echo and I-” you stop yourself, having to pause and catch your breath. “Is it possible for two people to have the same dream at the same time?”
If General Skywalker was curious before, you had his full attention now. He’s leaning on his desk, listening carefully. “It’s not unheard of,” he says after a moment of thought. “But it’s really rare, are you absolutely sure you two had the same dream?”
“Yes,” you say. You return to your seat, then quickly detail what happened.The General blinks a few times.
“Now that is unheard of,” he says. Perplexed, you lean forward to better focus on what he was saying. “Clones aren’t Force users or Force sensitive, at least as far as I know, so a projection from the deceased really shouldn’t be possible, much less a shared one like that,” he says, frowning. “And you said this has never happened before?”
“The dream I had about the citadel is similar, I guess. I’ve also been able to sort of sense it before something happens. But this kind of dream or projection, no, has never happened before,” you say, hanging on his every word. Or, you would be, if he was saying anything. Right now he appears to be staring at the wall, deep in thought. A few minutes pass before he speaks again.
“The only thing I can think of to explain it is that the three of you must have an extremely strong bond, and even then it’s a stretch. You said you sometimes sense things, is it like a premonition?” he asks.You shake your head and say it’s more like a strong gut feeling.He nods. “Well, between that and the citadel dream, if what you’re saying is true, that is Force sensitivity,” he says.Your jaw drops.“Now, that doesn’t make you a Jedi, but it does mean that you’ll be able to sense certain things every now and then like you’ve already been doing, and dreams or visions of concurrent events like the citadel are likely to happen again,” he explains.
“I had no idea,” you said, breathless. “But the shared dream? Is that really not possible?”
“Sharing a dream can happen, if the sharers have a strong enough bond or connection,” he says. “But it sounds like Fives came back to see you both. That’s what shouldn’t happen.”“Could that be a bad thing?” you ask, suddenly worried.
“It’s hard to say for sure, but going from what you described, it sounded like a peaceful visit, so I’d guess that it isn’t,” he says.
The two of you sit in stunned silence for a few seconds before there’s another knock at the door. The General calls them in, and Rex comes into the room.
“General Kenobi is looking for you sir,” he says.
“Of course he is,” General Skywalker grumbles, getting to his feet. “You’re dismissed,” he says, addressing you.You thank him for his time and help, then briefly follow him and Rex out of the room before you split into two different directions, Rex walking alongside the General. He glances back at you and you give him a small wave as you go.
—
You make your way back to the hangar and the Marauder, your mind racing with all of the information you’ve just taken in. You get a sudden, strong feeling that you shouldn’t mention this Force stuff to anyone, which unsettles you and you involuntarily shiver. You distract yourself by finding the flimsi the General had given you and reading it over several times. You then retrieve your data pad, open the holo net, and look this Shalka Myrr person up.
You hear Crosshair approaching before you walk into him this time, and swiftly step to the side out of his path, dodging him with a smirk.“Took you long enough,” he says, falling into step with you.“You know how it is with reports,” you say. “Gotta be detailed.”He stops and leans against a crate. “Detailed huh?” he says.You playfully roll your eyes at him. “I asked; ‘the interpersonal conflict didn’t compromise the mission,’ so maybe not that detailed,” you say, laughing a little.
Crosshair chuckles at you and you can’t help but wonder if things would have been like this if you’d stood up to him back when you first joined the squad. It was nice, seeing him relaxed around you for a change. You must have been staring without realizing it, because he’s started waving a hand in your face. You blink a few times and shake yourself.Crosshair snickers. “See something you like?” he says with another smirk.You roll your eyes at him. “And if I did?” you say, which shuts him up. After a second or two of him also staring at you you laugh and shake your head at him.
“Have you seen Hunter?” you ask, changing the subject.
“Yeah, he’s back on the ship. Why?” Crosshair says.
“Well, since ‘Captain Reg’ isn’t here I figured I’d go for another round with the Sarge,” you say sarcastically. “I just wanted to ask him something,” you say.Crosshair repeats that Hunter is on the ship, and you say a quick thanks before continuing to walk back to the Marauder.
You don’t notice the way Crosshair hangs back and watches you go, a conflicted look on his face. He drags a hand down his face and curses to himself.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You don’t get a chance to talk to Hunter, as he’s asleep in his bunk when you find him. You doubt that he’d be able to hear you very well anyway, heightened senses or not, over the sound of Wreckers loud snores nearby. Tech isn’t in his bunk, but you saw him working on something, as always, when you reboarded the ship, and it looks like Crosshair hasn’t followed you this time. You kind of shrug to yourself and climb back into your bunk, pulling the privacy curtain closed.After about twenty minutes of lying still and staring into space without even a hint of sleep coming for you, you sit back up and return to your data pad. The holo net is still open, and you take a moment to get a better look at the information on Shalka Myrr you pulled up earlier. She’s a pretty Zabrak woman, her black tattoos standing out starkly against her soft golden skin, her horns grown out, and a bored expression on her face. You scroll down, but before you can reread anything, you’re distracted by the sound of Crosshair's footsteps.You can hear him shucking off his armor and crawling into his bunk, and a sudden impulsive thought says you should join him. You lightly slap yourself a few times, thankful that your curtain is still drawn so nobody could see this. Where the fuck did that come from? You’re here for Echo, you think to yourself, then lean back against the wall of your bunk and sigh softly, wondering how he’s doing. You still have the comm unit Kix lent to you, but it stays silent.You close your eyes and try to clear your mind, hoping you’d be able to sense anything about him, but come up empty. You think again about the strong feeling that your Sensitivity should stay hidden. You didn’t like keeping secrets, and the idea of hiding something from Echo bothers you greatly. You’ve always been honest with him, even to a fault. You inhale deeply, deciding to try sensing something again, but this time from anyone.It’s bizarre; it feels like there’s radio static inside your head, and there’s a faint sensation, a physical one, alongside it, almost like when your foot falls asleep. The feeling is unsettling, but when you shift your focus, you vaguely feel a conflict within someone close by. You realize that you’re in the middle of a war on a military base, so that could be coming from anyone. It’s probably just you anyway, you think; The General hadn’t said anything about being able to sense others, so you don’t even know if you can.You open your eyes and softly shake your head, chasing off the weird buzzing inside it, then pick up your data pad again. There’s bound to be some information on Sensitivity somewhere on the holo net. You open a new window and start searching, but quickly give up when your eyes start to droop. You put the data pad away and lie back down, gradually falling into a dreamless sleep.—The next few days are uneventful, much to everyone’s relief. Kix had commed you a few times with updates on Echo’s progress, which had indeed been helped along by the batca, assuaging your anxiety over him. You wanted to go check on him yourself, but remembered how he had said he didn’t want you to see him without his limbs, so you instead restlessly waited for Kix to comm again.Reading up on The Force made the time pass a little faster, but you weren’t really able to find anything similar to what you’d been experiencing, especially the shared dream. You wondered if you’d be able to find better information from the Jedi library. You probably would, if you were allowed inside, but you assume that since you aren’t part of the Order, it’s off-limits to you. You don’t get a chance to ask the General anything else, as he’s been busy with Rex and the 501st.Everyone has been busy, except for you and the squad. Around the third day of doing nothing, you decide to talk to Hunter. You find him talking with Crosshair in the cockpit, and notice how their conversation seemed to stop abruptly when you walked in. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” You ask, feeling both of their eyes on you.“Back for more already?” Crosshair says with a smirk.“Yes, I’m insatiable,” you say sarcastically, playfully pushing his shoulder as he stands.“Find me when he gets tired then,” he says as he walks into the main deck of the ship. He glances back and sees you looking at him, a slight flush on your cheeks, and laughs as he continues into the bunk area.You try to slow your heart rate back down, keenly aware that Hunter can hear what the comment has done to you. He doesn’t say anything about it though, and you silently thank the Maker for that, taking a seat in the chair Crosshair had vacated. It’s still warm, you notice, and try desperately to focus on why you came into the cockpit in the first place.“Something on your mind there, Meds?” Hunter asks.“Always,” you say, rolling your eyes. “This time I’m wondering why we haven’t been on any other missions or even talked about any since we got back from Skako. I know how much you all hate staying still.”“I thought it would be obvious,” Hunter says, raising an eyebrow at you. You just stare at him, confused, until he grips your shoulder. “I know that your mind would be back here if we went anywhere else,” he says plainly. “It’s obvious that you want to be close to Echo, and we don’t want to leave you behind for anything.”You blink a few times. “We?” You ask.“Well, Crosshairs the one who brought it up, and the rest of us agreed with him,” Hunter says.“You sure it wasn’t Wrecker?” You say, barely able to stop your jaw from dropping.Hunter laughs a little. “Nope, it was all Cross’ idea,” he says.“I guess I really did knock something loose,” you say, incredulous. You clear your throat, making yourself get back on track. “But we don’t know how long it’ll be before Echo’s well enough to fight again, if he even wants to,” you say.Hunter shrugs at you. “The man’s a soldier, Meds. If he’s anything like the stories you’ve told us, you know he’ll want to do whatever he can,” he says. He pauses for a few seconds, and you feel a slight change in the atmosphere of the space between you two. “With that in mind,” he eventually says, “Would you go with him?”“Go?” You say.“When Echo recovers,” Hunter says. “It‘ll be a bit cramped, but we could take him on. Although I’m assuming he’d want to return to the 501st. Would you go with him?” He asks.You pause, caught off guard. The possibility hadn’t even occurred to you. “I… I don’t know,” you say slowly. “I’ve been so focused on getting him back that I haven’t thought about what’s next.”“You know, I’m surprised,” Hunter says, getting to his feet.“By what?” You ask, staying seated and looking up at him.Hunter shrugs again. “Just figured you’d go without hesitating. Guess we’ve rubbed off on you,” he says. He turns and walks out of the cockpit, leaving you alone with your newly discovered problem and jumbled mess of thoughts.—Normally, you’d be able to hear Wrecker approaching, with his footsteps being as distinctly heavy as they are, but he manages to startle you by saying your name as he walks in. You blink a few times, then ask him how long you’ve been sitting here.“‘Bout an hour,” he says, and you note the slight concern in his tone. “You doin’ okay?” He asks.You stretch and get to your feet. “I haven’t zoned out that hard in a long time,” you say. “I think we’ve been cooped up in this one place for too long, don’t you?”“Yeah, I’m gettin’ bored too,” Wrecker says, relaxing once you’ve spoken. “Don’ want to go anywhere without ya though.”You can’t help but smile at him. “Hunter told me as much. Not sure I believe it was Cross’ idea for you guys to wait for me though,” you say, chuckling a little.“You callin’ Hunter a liar?” Wrecker says with a smirk.You sigh and start walking out of the cockpit. “Nah, he’s never lied before,” you say. “That would be a weird way to start.”Wrecker follows you. “What were ya thinkin’ about that long anyway?” He asks.“What comes next, once Echo’s well enough again,” you say.“You ain’t leaving us are you?” Wrecker says, worry crossing his features.You both come to a stop near Tech’s workbench and he speaks up. “It would make sense if you did,” he says, matter of fact as always. Before you can say anything though, he actually looks away from what he’s working on and focuses on you, which is surprising enough. “Personally, however, I’d be disappointed to lose such a valuable teammate,” he says.“Wait, really?” You say, caught off guard again.“Yeah!” Wrecker says, speaking up from behind you. “We like havin’ ya around!”Just then Crosshair enters the ship, wearing his signature smirk. “Aw,” he says, “someone’s in love.”Wrecker laughs loudly. “Sure you ‘ain’t talking about yourself?” He says, making your heart race. You glance at the sniper and feel that odd buzzing sensation in your mind when you do.“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Crosshair responds, pointedly looking away from you.Tech, who had returned his focus to his workbench, speaks up too and says “Can you three go deny reality somewhere else? I need to concentrate.”“See, even Tech can tell!” Wrecker says, laughing as Crosshair elbows his way past him. You take this opportunity to slip unnoticed out of the ship.—You’re walking with no real destination in mind, wandering aimlessly throughout the maze of hallways and rooms in an attempt to clear your head. You step into a lift and punch a random floor button, trying and failing not to think about what you heard a few minutes ago. It occurs to you that, back when you tried to sense something from anybody, it may not have been your own conflict you had felt. You feel dizzy, and lean your head back against the cool durasteel wall of the lift. The lift stops and the doors open, and you step out, not noticing or caring what floor you were on.Well, you think to yourself, now you know what Hunter wanted to speak to Crosshair about that day. It explains so much. Why he had checked in on you, why he seemed more relaxed around you, and especially why he was holding you so protectively when Kix was trying to tell you about Echo’s crash.Oh Maker, you think, a sinking feeling in your chest. Echo.You glance around and find a refresher nearby, then quickly duck inside. You make your way over to the sink and splash cold water onto your face a few times. The sudden shock of temperature change helped to clear your head, just as you hoped it would. You lean heavily onto the basin and stare at yourself in the mirror above it. You look just as confused as you feel. You splash yourself one last time, then pat your face dry with a flimsi towel. You turn out of the refresher and walk headlong into someone.The two of you step apart, apologizing to the other, and you're just about to keep walking, but stop when you recognize the facial tattoo of the clone you had bumped into.“Jesse?” You say.He says your name in response. “How is he?” He asks.“I take it Rex filled you in?” You say, walking a few steps down the hall to avoid blocking the refresher door.Jesse nods. “He told me about the mission and that you guys were able to get him back. Last I heard he was going into surgery, I think,” he says.“That was a few days ago, he’s been in a bacta tank since then,” you say. “Kix has been keeping me updated on him. Everything’s going as well as it can.”“I’ve been wanting to go see him myself, but I haven’t had the time,” Jesse says, and he sounds guilty.“He’s an ARC trooper just like you, we know how hectic it gets,” you say kindly. “Don’t beat yourself up about it.”The two of you continue to walk around and catch up for a few minutes, then come to a stop outside a door.“By the way” Jesse says, “what are you doing in the barracks?”“Is that where I am?” You say, mildly amused. “I got a bit lost I guess. I needed a walk to clear my head, it looks like I just wandered too far.”“What’s on your mind?” He asks, frowning slightly.“Aside from everything I just told you?” You ask, chuckling a little. “You remember Hunter, the Sergeant of 99, he raised a good question. Echo isn’t going to be content to just sit around, he never has been, and we think he’s probably going to wind up rejoining you and Rex. Which begs the question of what I’ll do,” you say.“You wouldn’t come with him?” Jesse asks, surprised.“I want to,” you say, hoping to dodge the question.“That’s not what I asked,” he says.You sigh. “I really don’t know. I haven’t even thought about it until today.”Jesse looks like he’s about to say something else, but is interrupted by the trilling of the borrowed comlink in your pocket. You quickly answer it, and it’s Kix, saying that Echo is asking for you. You tell him you’ll be right there, then end the call.“You sure you know how to get there from here?” Jesse asks.You glance around. “Um, no, I don’t,” you say, awkwardly fidgeting with your fingers.“You’re lucky I’ve got a few hours to myself,” Jesse says with a smirk. He walks down the hall and you gratefully follow him.Jesse manages to lead you to the medical wing fairly quickly, taking only one lift and three different hallways to get there. The two of you come to a stop before the doors, and you thank him for getting you there in one piece.“Eh, no big deal, it was good to see you again,” he says, “I’ll leave you to it.”You grab his wrist as he turns to walk away, pulling him behind you through the doors. “You were just saying you wanted to see Echo,” you say, glancing back at him.“Bossy as always,” he says, but follows you.The two of you continue walking for about another minute before you suddenly stop. Jesse asks what’s wrong.“Echo, he doesn’t know everything that’s happened. He knows that everyone is gone, but not how,” you say, voice low.“Hey, I’m still here!” Jesse says.“I know! Just… don’t say anything about what happened to Fives. Please. Or Tup, for that matter. I really don’t know how he’d handle it,” you say, uncharacteristically serious. Jesse notices this and swears that he won’t, then continues to follow you until you stop at a certain room number.Just before you knock, Jesse says “I think I’ll wait out here, just for a minute, give you two a little time.” You thank him, then rap your knuckles on the door.—As soon as you do, Kix slides the door open. He notices Jesse standing nearby and moves to talk to him. You cautiously walk into the room, trying to be quiet, but once you see that Echo is awake, you rush over to his side. He chuckles as you thoroughly look him over, gently running your hands along his chest and back.He says your name. “You do realize that Kix has already done that, right?”“I know, I just needed to see for myself,” you say, sitting on the edge of his bed. “The past few days have been killing me,” you say.“You didn’t come check on me?” He asks, surprised.“You asked me not to, remember?” You say, softly touching his replaced arm. You notice the bitter expression on his face when you do so, and quickly move your hand. “You’re looking better,” you say, hoping to distract him.“I’m feeling better,” he says, sitting up with no effort. “Being pickled for three days straight worked out for me.”You laugh and he smiles at you. “Do you think you’re feeling well enough for another visitor?” You ask. Echo tilts his head at you. “Jesse’s in the hallway,” you explain.“I thought everyone was gone?” Echo says as the door slides open.“You should know I wouldn’t be gotten rid of so easily,” Jesse says as he walks inside, Kix following him.You get to your feet and give the two of them some space, moving over to the other side of the room with Kix. “He looks much better,” you say.“He is,” Kix says, nodding. “He’ll need some physical therapy to get his walking strength consistent.”“Which is to be expected,” you say, and Kix nods again.“He’s still got a long way to go, but the hardest part has passed,” Kix says.“Which reminds me,” you say, lowering your voice. “You and I both know he’ll want to get back into the thick of it as soon as he can. Is that going to be possible?” You ask.Kix thinks for a moment. “It’s hard to say. Let’s just focus on getting him as back to normal as we can for now,” he says, also keeping his voice low. “I need to fill out some reports,” he says, speaking normally now so everyone can hear him. He looks over at Jesse with a slight smirk. “Can I trust you not to break him in half for an hour?”Echo and Jesse both laugh. You walk Kix to the door, and before he leaves he reminds you to comm him if anything happens. You agree to, then return to Echo’s side.—After a few minutes of pleasantries, you and Echo describe your escape from Skako Minor to Jesse.“It’s a hell of a thing that you wound up on the mission to go get him,” he says, looking pointedly over at you.“Rex and Kix said the same thing,” Echo says. “‘Must be the will of the Force,’ right?”“Seems like it,” you say. “I’m just sorry it was only Rex and I.”“Don’t be,” Echo says, gently holding your hand with his. “I highly doubt you’re the reason behind why anyway. Right?” He says, raising an eyebrow at you.You can’t help but laugh. “Nah,” you say, then narrow your eyes at Jesse “not yet anyway.” He and Echo both snicker.“Nobody’s really told me anything,” Echo says, and the atmosphere of the room suddenly grows tense and serious. “What happened to everyone?” He asks quietly, looking over at Jesse.“There’s a long story behind that,” he says, quickly glancing at you.“You said Tech had shown you that recording of me talking about everything with Fives, right?” You say, and Echo nods at you. “Then you should remember me talking briefly about Umbara. I was only repeating what I could remember being told, I know there was a lot more to it than that,” you say, nodding at Jesse.For the next hour or so, he talks softly about Umbara, Krell, and how Hardcase had sacrificed himself to give he and Fives a chance to escape. You feel Echos grip on your hand tighten. When Jesse describes how Krell had tricked them into killing each other, Echo swore loudly.“To say that didn’t sit well with us would be an understatement,” Jesse says. “We managed to get the bastard into a holding cell, fully intending to return him to the Jedi Order so they could decide what to do with him. Then he told us he’d been in league with Dooku and other Sith.”Echo curses again. “So what happened to him?” He asks.Jesse takes a deep breath and tells Echo what Dogma had done. “None of us have seen him since we got back,” he says. “I don’t know what they did with him.”“There was a massive inquiry about it, of course,” you say, speaking for the first time in a while, your voice trembling. “Fives couldn’t get back home for almost two whole days. When he finally did, he couldn’t even speak.”There’s a long stretch of silence after that as Echo takes in everything he had just been told, a look of complete shock on his face. “And you knew this?” He asks quietly, looking into your eyes.You sadly nod at him. “Fives told me everything. He never did keep anything from me if I asked about something. I’m sorry I haven’t brought it up. I honestly didn’t know how. You’ve had enough to contend with this past week anyway,” you say apologetically.“Probably a good call,” he says, appearing deep in thought.You can tell he wants to ask about Fives, and you glance over at Jesse again. Before he can speak, his comm trills at him; he’s needed back with Rex for something important. He apologizes before leaving in a hurry.After that, you and Echo sit together in silence for a long time. You’ve positioned yourself so that he’s able to rest his head on your chest again, and he wordlessly slots himself into place. He idly traces his thumb along your knuckles before failing to hold back a yawn.“You must be tired, I’ll let you sleep,” you say, moving to get back up.Echo says your name, stopping you. “Can you stay with me?” He asks in a barely audible whisper. You can hear the strain in his voice, and so you return to your place and hold him a little tighter.“As long as you want me to,” you say in an equally quiet tone.He pulls you even closer and your heart aches for him when you feel him shiver.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Echo had fallen asleep maybe five minutes before you did, and once again you only realize you were asleep when his yawning wakes you up. You reluctantly open your eyes, and for a split second you think it was Fives resting his chin on your sternum, but after blinking a few times, your vision clears and you recognize Echo. You sigh softly, then gently cup his face with one of your hands.
“How are you feeling?” you ask him, quietly.
“A little better. I think the rest has helped a lot, even if I am bored senseless sitting around like this,” he says.
“Already thinking about running back into it all, huh?” you say.
Echo chuckles a little. “You know I hate being sidelined,” he says. As he speaks, he shifts his body so that he’s now lying on top of you, and your legs automatically open to make room for him. You see him smirk when he notices. He crawls further up your body, stopping when his face becomes even with yours. You recognize that look in his eyes; it’s one you never thought you’d see again, and your heart races.
A single second passes before you both clash your mouths together, holding the other desperately close and sighing into one another. Maker, you've missed him, you think, clasping your hands together behind his neck and pulling him closer to you. Echo moves his hand up your back, then you’re startled by the alien feeling of his scomp link pressing into your hip. You do your best to ignore it and focus on Echo, but he’s already noticed that you flinched. He stops abruptly, pulling away from you.
He glances between your flushed face and his replaced arm and curses. Your heart breaks for him again as you see the defeat wash over him like a tidal wave. You sit up and reach for him, but he pushes your hand away. You try again, but once more he stops you, finally meeting your eyes again. The pain and devastation you see there makes your chest clench.
“Don’t,” he says, looking away from you.
“Echo-” you try to say, hoping to reassure him, but he cuts you off.
He whispers your name, then says “Just stop. You deserve better than this.”
“What are you talking about?” you say, confused.
“Look at me!” he says, and his voice cracks. “You should be with someone whole, not some half-droid freak like me.”
“Echo, please-” you say, but he cuts you off again.
“You should leave,” he says, pulling back from you completely and turning away so you can’t see his face. You cautiously rest your hand on his upper back and are startled again when he angrily shakes you off. You try again to speak, but he
interrupts you once more. This time, when he speaks, you hear the way his voice breaks as he shouts for you to get away from him.
You get to your feet, tears threatening to fall. You’re about to continue trying to argue, when you suddenly remember what you had told Hunter a few days ago. If Echo didn’t want you around, as much as it would hurt you, you’d respect his wishes.
With that in mind, you quietly leave the room without looking back at him. The door shuts behind you and you lean heavily against it, then allow yourself to slide down into a heap on the floor, completely devastated once again and ignoring everything around you as those tears finally spill over.
You’re only on the floor for a minute or so before a droid rolls over your foot, making you realize you probably shouldn’t be there. With a hiccup, you shakily stand. You take a step away from the door to Echo's room, and gently touch your fingertips to it, desperately fighting the urge to go back inside. What you want is irrelevant, you remind yourself. At least he’s safe. With that, you pull your hand away and walk quickly out of the hallway.
As you go, your feet move automatically. Conscious control of them has been lost to the maelstrom in your head, so when you glance up and find yourself in the hangar, you’re surprised. You can see the Marauder a ways out, but hesitate. You don’t want to go back just yet; all you really want is to be left alone for a while. You idly realize that you’ve never been outside, or even near an exit, on foot the entire time you’ve been here, and so you wander over to one of the open hangar doors a fair distance away from the ship and your team.
You hop up onto a large crate and pull your knees into your chest, hugging them close with your arms and hiding your face between them, unable to stop the continuing fall of tears from your eyes.
—
A good chunk of time passes, enough for your tears to gradually dry, when you’re suddenly aware of that strange buzzing sensation in your mind. You make several attempts to shake the feeling away, but the nagging feeling of conflict and concern won’t stop. You growl lowly in frustration, then you’re badly startled when a familiar voice says that you sound like an angry Loth cat. You unfold yourself, quickly wiping at your eyes before looking around to see where Crosshair was.
You glance over your shoulder to find him leaning against the crate you’re sitting on, but his body posture is stiff and guarded, and he’s facing away from you. You sniff, wiping at your eyes again as you look away from him. “What do you want,” you ask bitterly.
“What do you need?” Crosshair says in response, catching you off guard.
“W-what?” you say, looking back over your shoulder at him.
“I figured you’d still be in the med bay with Echo. Something happened,” he says.
You roll your eyes. “How perceptive of you,” you say with a huff.
“But am I wrong?” he says.
You heave an exhausted sigh. “No, you’re not wrong.” you say. You expect Crosshair to make a snarky comment, so you’re mildly amused when he stays quiet. There’s a sudden bump against the crate, and when you glance over your shoulder you find that he’s hopped up onto it. He takes a moment to situate himself, coming to rest sitting next to you but still facing the opposite direction. It’s quiet, aside from the background noise, for a minute or two.
“I’m surprised you’re not asking what happened,” you say.
“If you wanted to talk about it you would,” Crosshair says with a shrug. He hesitates before speaking again. “Do you?” he asks softly.
You sigh again. “May as well,” you say, sounding tired. You quickly outline how you had flinched when Echo touched you with his scomp, and how he all but demanded you leave. “He said I deserve to be with someone ‘whole’. Whether that's true or not, I don’t give a damn. I want him. I just don’t know how to make it clear to him.”
You shift a little, and lay one of your hands flat against the crate, leaning some of your weight onto it before you softly continue speaking. “Although now I guess I don’t have to decide if I’m staying with you guys or not,” you say, letting out a humorless laugh.
Another minute passes in silence, then you’re surprised by the gentle feeling of Crosshair's palm against the back of your hand. He takes a breath and tries to speak, but stops himself a few times. You turn around so that you’re now sitting next to him, but you don’t move your hand, nor does he move his. You softly whisper his name, wondering what he wanted to say.
He curses under his breath, barely audible. “Wrecker, what he said earlier… he… isn’t wrong,” he says, speaking slowly and deliberately. “I wouldn’t really call it that , but…” he continues, trailing off into thought.
“You like having me around too, huh?” you softly suggest, making him chuckle a little.
“Sure, we’ll go with that,” he says, relaxing significantly. “Look, Meds, I won’t lie, I do want you to stay with me. Us. Stay with us, uh, the team,” he says, awkwardly trying to correct himself. You don’t react, and instead wait patiently for him to start talking again. “But not like this,” he eventually says, finally meeting your eyes.
You don’t say anything, but you do turn your hand over and intertwine your fingers with his. “It’s funny,” you say. “I don’t want to leave either. If you’d asked me a week ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated. To be blunt, I kind of thought you hated me,” you say, looking away.
“I’ve been an ass, so I can see why you’d think that. That’s never been true though, for the record,” Crosshair says, giving your hand a soft squeeze. You make eye contact again and, Sensitive or not, you can tell he’s being honest with you. You can’t help but laugh a little in disbelief.
“You still confuse the hell out of me,” you say, shaking your head. You sigh, and lean your head onto his upper arm. You can feel his pulse thundering in your ear.
Another stretch of silence passes between you two before he speaks again. “So, what happens now?” he asks.
“I have no idea,” you admit. “But I don’t think we’re done here just yet.”“How do you know that?” he says, curious.
You want to tell him that you can Sense it, but stop yourself and gloss over it by saying “Just a hunch, I guess,” which he seems to accept.
The two of you sit like that, you aren’t sure for how long, until you hear Wrecker calling for the two of you. Crosshair releases your hand and slides off the crate and back onto his feet. He then stands before you and takes both your hands into his, holding you steady as you hop back down. You thank him with a soft smile. Just before you start walking back to the Marauder, he catches your attention one last time.
“You won’t mention any of that to the others, right?” he asks, sounding uncharacteristically apprehensive.
“Mention what?” You say, dropping a wink at him before continuing on your way. When you glance back at him, the buzzing in your head picks up again, and you feel a massive sense of relief, which abruptly vanishes when you look away from him.
—
The two of you group up with Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech inside the Marauders cockpit. Tech is seated, and the other two are standing. They share a pointed glance when Crosshair follows you inside and stands close behind you. You can tell Wrecker wants to say something, but thankfully he doesn’t, instead smirking at his brother over your shoulder.
“You got here quick Meds, I thought you were in the med bay,” Hunter says, frowning at you and noticing your red eyes. “Did something happen?”
You take a breath before speaking. “It fuckin’ hurts, but I’m respecting what he wants,” you say, and a look of sympathetic understanding spreads across Hunters face. You know he wants to ask about it, but firmly shake your head. “You didn’t call us all here just for me to talk again, I think we got enough of that a few days ago,” you say, and he nods, reluctantly.
“Right, well,” Hunter says, clearing his throat. “We may have a mission coming up. A few of the Generals were talking to Rex and I; Trench is headed this way and they want to stop him.”“Ha! He’ll be no match for us!” Wrecker says, loud and proud.
“What’s the plan of action then?” Tech asks.
“That’s the thing, they’ve been so swamped with the crap going on down here that they aren’t sure what to do. They asked if we had any ideas, but neither of us had anything,” Hunter says.
“We’ve gone in blind before, but never on a dreadnought scale,” Crosshair says, appearing more to think aloud than talk to anyone.
A few seconds pass in silence, then an idea strikes you. “I may have something,” you say after hesitating.
“Any idea is better than no idea,” Hunter says. “What are you thinking?”
“Well,” you say, then take a deep breath. “When we were moving through the cooling system back in Purkoll, Echo said he had all of their schematics and information in his head. Assuming that’s true, he may know how to take the dreadnought down.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Tech said, surprised. “You should go see if he would be willing to help.”
You grimace. “I could try to talk to him, but…” you say, trailing off into a soft sigh. “I don’t know if he’d even listen to me,” you say, barely able to keep your voice from cracking as you speak.
“We could go with ya,” Wrecker says, but you shake your head.
“Thanks Wreck, but I wouldn’t want to gang up on him like that,” you say.
“I’ll go with you,” Crosshair says, speaking up and resting a hand on the back of the copilot's seat you’re sitting in, barely touching your shoulder. “And the rest of you should get with Rex and see if he’s come up with anything, in case we don’t get anywhere,” he continues, addressing the others. Nobody disagrees, so you get to your feet and start to walk out of the ship.
“You don't have to do this just yet. Or at all,” Hunter says, falling into step beside you.
“This isn’t about me. If there’s a chance we can take that damn ship down, I’ll do whatever I need to,” you say, shaking your head.
“Are you sure?” He asks.
You stop and hesitate before the ship's gangplank.
“I don’t even know if he’ll open the door, but I have to at least try,” you say, set in your decision. “I don’t know how much time we’ve got either , so I need to get to him as soon as I can,” you say, then continue walking out of the ship.
Before Crosshair can catch up to you, Hunter stops him. He glances around and confirms that Wrecker and Tech are still in the cockpit and therefore out of earshot. “I know you two got close,” he says, keeping his voice low.
Crosshair huffs and rolls his eyes. “Of course you do. For kark’s sake, nothing happened,” he says, answering Hunter’s unspoken question. “She just told me about what happened with Echo.”
“Which was…?” Hunter asks.
Crosshair shakes his head. “It’s not my place to say, but it may make this conversation difficult for the both of them,” he says, before walking quickly to meet up with you a few meters away, leaving Hunter staring off after the two of you, frowning in thought.
—
You return to the room Echo was in, but find it vacated. You quickly comm Kix and ask where Echo went.
“A handful of droids took him off to test his scomp link. Why?” Kix responds.
“I need to talk to him as soon as possible, but it’s not about the two of us. We need his help,” you say, and Kix can hear the strain in your voice.
“What happened with you two this time?” Kix asks, and you can’t tell if that's a genuine question or an exasperated comment.
“Doesn’t matter,” you say curtly. “Whether he and I like it or not, I need to speak with him. It’s important.”
Kix drops the question and says that he’ll get Echo into his office. He tells you where to go, you thank him, and he ends the call, no doubt bewildered by the conversation.
As soon as the comm device is stowed away into one of your pockets, you set off, determined, towards Kix’s office, Crosshair keeping pace with you.
After a wrong turn or two, you make your way there, and the door slides open as you approach. Kix steps out, and you can see Echo inside the room, facing away from the door. Kix looks quizzically at you, but you shake your head, so he just grips your shoulder for a moment before heading off down the hallway.
You take a deep breath and try to steady your nerves, but your hands are trembling. You glance over at Crosshair, who’s watching you intently. He meets your eyes and jerks his head toward the hallway doors, but you shake your head at him too, then step into the office as he follows you.—
Echo hears the door slide shut. “What the hell’s all this about Kix?” he says as he turns around, then freezes when he sees you.
Your head buzzes again as he meets your eyes. Shock and anger hit you hard, but there’s something else there too. Fear . You don’t have any time to contemplate this, as he’s already on edge.
“I told you to stay away from me,” Echo says in a low voice.
“Yes, you did, I’m sorry,” you say.
“Then why are you here?” he spits.
You feel Crosshair tense behind you and take a step forward. You glance back at him and shake your head. “Don’t,” you say in a whisper. You take a deep breath. “We need your help,” you say to Echo, doing a fair job at keeping your voice even.
“Me? What help could I possibly be like this ?” he says, confused.
“Echo, please listen to me,” you say, chancing a step forward towards him, and your heart aches when he shrinks away from you. “Back in Purkoll, you knew about the cooling tunnels, you got us out,” you say.
“I am not going back there!” Echo snaps, and you flinch.
Before you can stop him, Crosshair steps in front of you. “Can you shut up for just two minutes?” he says, taking you and Echo aback.
“Cross-” you start to say, but he ignores you.
“She doesn’t want to be here any more than you do,” he says.
Echo’s expression changes from surprise to indignation, and when he speaks next, it’s through clenched teeth. “Replaced me already, have you?” he hisses. “You fuck him yet?”
“Echo!” you say, startled and hurt.
“And what if she had?” Crosshair growls, taking a few more steps forward. “You told her to leave, you have no right to care about what she does or doesn’t do.”
“Your standards have really fallen since Fives,” Echo says to you, squaring up against the sniper as you gasp his name in shock again.
“That was cruel and you know it!” Crosshair shouts.
“And how would you know?” Echo shouts back.
“You saw the recordings, di’kut!” Crosshair says, continuing to shout.
The two men are nearly chest to chest and you find yourself frozen in place, unable to look away.
Echo opens his mouth to retort, but Crosshair cuts him off. “Do you have any idea what it’s been like for her?”“I saw enough,” Echo says.
“Bullshit, you didn’t even see the half of it! Ever since she joined our squad, we’ve all heard her wake up every night screaming or crying. My bunk is directly across from hers, and I hear everything. If I had a single credit for every time she mumbled your name or his in her sleep I’d be able to buy a damned star destroyer,” Crosshair says, staring Echo down. “You don’t know what she’s been through and neither do I, but that’s not the point! You want to get angry and lash out? Fine. But I will not let you aim it at her again, she has done nothing to deserve that kind of treatment, especially from you.”Echo laughs, the sound bitter and without humor. “And what are you going to do about it if I do?” he says.
“You’re about to find out,” Crosshair growls.
“Would both of you just fucking STOP!” you shout, finding your voice. Tears are streaming unnoticed down your face as you march over and bodily shove them apart. “That has nothing to do with this!”“Then what is this?” Echo shouts.
You’re barely able to hold Crosshair back. “Echo, do you have the schematics for a separatist dreadnought in your head, yes or no?” you say, fighting the urge to raise your voice even further.
Echo steps backward, caught off guard. “What?” he says, confused.
“Admiral Trench is on his way here and we need to stop him or else the Republic will lose this entire place to the Separatists. Be pissed at me all you want, I don’t give a fuck anymore, but if you know anything that can help stop him you need to tell me!” you say, shouting again without meaning to.
The ringing in all of your ears aside, the following silence is oppressive with tension. You’re all breathing heavily after so much yelling. Echo stares between you and Crosshair, noticing how you’ve unconsciously gripped the sniper’s hand.
“Yes or no,” you whisper, hoarse.
Echo looks at the two of you with open contempt. “No. I don’t,” he says.
“Okay! That’s all we needed!” you say, exasperated. You glance over your shoulder at Crosshair and push yourself away from him, freeing your hand as you do. “Get back to the damn ship,” you growl at him. He’s so surprised by this that it usurps his fierce anger and his expression changes to that of deep confusion.
“But you-?” he says, but you cut him off.
“Just. Go,” you say, emphasizing each word. “I can handle myself.”
Crosshair hesitates, then leaves the room in a huff. You’re still tense when you turn to Echo. “You don’t want me around? Fine. I guess I’ve done all of this for nothing,” you say. You realize that you’re sweating, and as you roll the long sleeves of your tunic up, Echo sees the domino etched into your forearm.
“What’s that?” he asks, tone changing completely as he takes a step toward you.
“I got this a week or so after joining the squad,” you say, twisting your arm to show him the tattoo, the ink still crisp and vibrant.
“I thought you hated needles?” he says, chancing another step closer.
“Ironic as a medic, I know.” you say flatly.
“That was for nothing?” he asks.
“No, not that. I meant this,” you say, spreading your arms out on either side before dropping your hands to your hips. “Everything we’ve done for you to get you back. Rex really stuck his neck out for you, you know. So did General Skywalker, for that matter. The mission to retrieve you was never sanctioned, did anyone tell you that? Rex’s word wasn’t enough to convince them, but it was enough for the seven of us to risk our lives over. Your ‘replacement’ and his brothers had no reason to trust Rex the way the General and I do, but they still fucking did.”
Echo sinks into a nearby chair, the weight of your words bearing down on him. He softly says your name. “I- ” he starts, but you cut him off.
“Don’t want me around you, I know. Whether I ‘deserve better’ or not, I still want you. When we got back from Skako Minor, I told Hunter that whatever I want is not a priority, but you were. And you still are. So, you want me gone? I’m gone,” you say, your voice cracking as you turn away and head for the door. You stop short, and look back over your shoulder at Echo. “I sincerely hope you haven’t lied to me, for our sake and that of your brothers out there,” you say flatly, then continue toward the door.
It slides open as you approach, and you exit the room, pushing your way past Kix and not looking back as you go.
You make your way down the hall and pass Crosshair, who had obviously been waiting for you, without stopping.“Meds, wait!” he calls after you, jogging to catch up.
You stop suddenly and whirl around, facing him. Despite the tears on your cheeks and the hurt in your eyes, you’re still livid, which causes him to step back. “I don’t even want to look at you right now,” you say, and your voice is so hoarse it's barely audible. “Do not follow me,” you say, then turn back around on your heel and march away from him.
Crosshair watches you go, and forces himself to move in the opposite direction. He passes Kix, who grabs him by the elbow. “I could hear you three from about four rooms away,” Kix says. “What the hell happened in there?” Crosshair scowls and shakes Kix off, saying nothing as he continues walking.
Kix, confused, returns to his office and finds Echo sitting on a chair, bent in half with his elbows to his knees, hiding his face behind his remaining hand. Kix cautiously approaches him, but when he says his name, Echo shoots to his feet and hurries out of the room without even acknowledging him. Kix watches him go, then drags a hand down his face, exhausted just as a bystander.
—
For the second time in as many days, you find yourself aimlessly wandering the halls, except this time your mind is racing in an entirely different way. You weren’t expecting Crosshair to stand up for you, regardless of how he feels about you. But more than that, you definitely didn’t think that Echo would immediately be so hostile to you both. The shock of his comment about how your standards have slipped since you lost Fives hurts you to your core, and a fresh sob threatens to escape your throat, but you force it back down.He was just angry and he was lashing out, no doubt due to his own stress over the past two weeks. He didn’t mean it, you try to tell yourself. Although, whether he meant it or not doesn’t excuse him, you also tell yourself.
Crosshair had unintentionally confirmed one of your fears too; the others could hear you while they tried to sleep. You feel stupid; the bunks were small, of course they could hear you. And even if they all couldn’t, Hunter certainly could. Guilt dog-piles onto your shoulders on top of everything else, and you wonder how many sleepless nights the others have had because of you.
You suddenly feel as lost, overwhelmed, and hopeless as you did just before Kix told you about the squad, and for a brief moment you consider just leaving. You had more than enough credits to do so, and it’s not like you had anything important to go back to the ship for. But before that thought could go any further, you remember the expression on Wrecker’s face at the mere possibility of you leaving, and the way Tech had called you ‘a valuable teammate’, which was high praise coming from him.
Continuing that train of thought, you can’t help but think about when you and Crosshair were sitting together on that crate only a few hours ago. You remember the feeling of his warm hand suddenly enveloping yours, and you get that odd swooping sensation in your gut again, which was yet another thing for you to contend with. You sigh heavily, pulling over to the side of whatever hallway you’re in and stopping. You lean back against the wall and try to get it back together, pinching the bridge of your nose as your eyes close.
After a few seconds, your thoughts do manage to quiet down, though it takes a fair amount of effort. You straighten back up with another sigh and look around; This time you’ve found yourself in a maintenance hallway, with no idea how you got there. Unlike yesterday, it didn’t look like anyone was conveniently around to help you get back out. You lean onto the wall again and curse under your breath. You really need to pay better attention to your surroundings.
No sooner had this thought crossed your mind, an orange astromech rolled down the hall, stopping short in front of you with a confused trilling sound.
“I don’t know how I got here,” you say, tired. The droid rolls a little closer and beeps a few times. “I don’t suppose you’d know how to get back to the main hangar, would you?” you ask.
To your amusement and surprise, the droid chirps and spins its head around, then rolls down the hall. When it stops and sees you haven’t moved, it whistles at you, prompting you to jog over to it. “Alright little guy, let’s see if you know where you’re going,” you say once you’ve caught up. You didn’t know that a few buzzing and chirping noises could sound offended before today, so you can’t help but laugh a little.
“That was rude of me, I’m sorry,” you say. “Lead the way.”
As you follow the droid further down the hall, a sudden thought occurs to you, and you feel sick. The ‘neutral’ Techno Union were using Echo to work with the Separatists. It was more than possible that they had altered his mind somehow, under Separatist instruction. Would anyone here be able to tell? Maybe it was a good thing Echo didn’t know anything about the approaching dreadnought. Despite everything, you still trust him, but the seed of doubt has been planted firmly into your mind.
The astromech has to beep at you a few times before you notice it, and when you look ahead you see that the hallway opens up directly into the hanger that held the Marauder, which itself was visible on the other side of the huge space. The droid trills at you again. “Thanks buddy,” you say, hunkering down to its ‘eye’ level. A series of pleased chirps respond, and you straighten back up, patting the droid on its head before it turns around and rolls back down the maintenance hall. No wonder Tech is so fascinated by them, you idly think. Maybe you’ll talk about it with him later.
You take a deep breath, and walk into the hangar, looking furtively around to make sure you wouldn’t be seen leaving an area you probably weren’t supposed to be in. After a few seconds, all seems clear, so you walk normally, heading back to the ship.
—
As you get closer, you can spot Crosshair a few meters away, pacing restlessly and occasionally stopping to stare at the ceiling with his hands on the back of his head. He seemed to be arguing with himself. The guilt on your shoulders nips at the back of your mind when you notice him and realize that he hadn’t really done anything wrong back in Kix’s office, at least to begin with.
You approach him cautiously, trying not to inadvertently surprise him. He turns on his heel and spots you, only a few dozen feet away, and after a beat of the two of you staring at each other, he abruptly turns around and quickly walks away from you, moving to the other side of the ship.
You hesitate, not sure if you should follow him. Another idea strikes you, and you don’t really like this one either. You could try to Sense what he’s feeling and react accordingly, but the notion of doing so makes you a little uneasy. He didn’t know you could do that, and probably wouldn’t want you to if he did.
You’re startled by the sudden sound of a loud thud against the Marauder’s hull, coming from the side Crosshair had fled to. Well, if he was that worked up, you don’t want to make it worse. So, you reluctantly sit on yet another crate and attempt to clear your mind. It’s no small task, but after a few seconds you manage to feel that odd and specific buzzing sensation in your head again. You focus, and quickly pick up a familiar sense of conflict, muddied by confusion and self deprecation. Crosshair was clearly blaming himself for what had happened earlier with Echo.
You try to lessen your focus on him and see if you can pick up anything from the rest of the squad, but after a minute or so, you find nothing, and assume that they aren’t around. Good, you think. You didn’t want any interruptions. You shake the buzzing sensation away, and get back to your feet. You take another deep breath, realizing that you’ve lost count of how many times you’ve done that today, and make your way to the other side of the ship.
As you move, you call Crosshair’s name so you don’t startle him. You hear his feet shuffle, so you jog the rest of the way to catch him before he ducks away again.
“Cross, wait, I want to talk to you,” you call after him. He stops so suddenly that his boots screech against the durasteel floor. You move a few more feet and find him with his back to you, head down and his hands balled up at his sides.
“What do you want,” he says, sounding exhausted.
You cautiously take a few more steps toward him, relieved when he doesn’t move away from you. “I just want to talk to you,” you repeat.
“What could you possibly have to say to me?” he says, quiet and bitter. He drops and sits heavily on a nearby crate, still facing away from you.
Nervous but determined, you take the remaining steps and find yourself standing across from him. “I’m sorry,” you say.
His head whips up in your direction and you could swear you heard his neck pop. “What? Why?” he asks, confused.
“You didn’t really do anything wrong back there, at least to start with,” you say, moving a little closer to him. The confusion on his face deepens, so you try to explain it to him. “You were just trying to defend me. I don’t think any of us expected things to go as badly as they did, and I don’t blame you for what happened,” you say, meeting his eyes. “Though, you did get a little carried away at the end there,” you say.
“More than a little, if you ask me,” he says quietly, dropping his gaze to the floor.
“Well, either way, I get it. None of us were thinking clearly, the two of you just kept reacting off of each other and it got really fucking tense. I don’t like what you said, well, implied, but I understand why you said it,” you say. You cautiously move to put your hand on his shoulder, giving him plenty of time to stop you, but he doesn’t.
“Still doesn’t excuse it,” he says under his breath.
“It doesn’t, but it doesn’t matter now,” you say kindly, impulsively moving your hand to cup his cheek and gently turning his head to face you. “It wasn’t that bad,” you say with a small chuckle, “I didn’t smack you for it.”
Crosshair smirks at you. “I expected you to, back in the hall,” he admits.
“Honestly, it didn’t even cross my mind,” you say. “For what it’s worth, I don’t plan on doing it again. Well,” you continue, your voice taking on a slightly teasing tone, “unless you ask nicely.”
That catches him off guard, and you immediately notice how his posture changes. He looks up at you, almost expectantly, which catches you off guard. A beat of silence passes, then you both burst out laughing.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” he says, his signature smirk back in place.
Before you can respond, your mind suddenly buzzes again and you're hit with a feeling of want
which sets your heart racing. Your lips part as your breath catches in your throat. You realize, with Crosshair seated and you standing, you’re a little above eye level with him. You step closer, your legs bumping into his knees, and you cup the other side of his face with your other hand.
His eyes meet yours again, and the buzzing in your head gets stronger, the feeling of want morphing into intense need.
He sits up straighter, his hands coming to rest on your hips and pulling your body against his.
His face is much too close.
Neither of you know who moved to close the gap first.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
His face is much too close.
Neither of you know who moved to close the gap first.
Your lips meet and your heart threatens to burst out of your chest. Crosshair's tongue lightly swipes at your lower lip, and you open up for him. He tastes smoky, like a campfire, and you can’t get enough. You can tell by the desperate way he pulls you into his lap that he can’t get enough of you either.
You instinctively wrap your legs around his waist, and the crotch of your leggings bumps against his codpiece. He breaks away with a long groan, and when you repeat the motion, one of his hands flies from your hip to tangle into your hair, pulling you even closer. His other hand drifts from your hip to your ass and he smacks it.
You arch your back and whimper his name in response, then he pulls your head down enough to growl in your ear.
“I have wanted to hear that for so fucking long,” he says, and the raw desire in his voice makes you shiver. He smacks your ass again, and you cry out even louder, not caring about your volume or who could hear you.
Crosshair lurches forward and nips at your throat, making you squirm in his lap and hold your legs tighter around him. You boldly move your hands to his codpiece, making quick work of the clips that held it into place and palming his very noticeable bulge with no hesitation.
As soon as you do, he growls and latches onto where your shoulder meets your neck, sucking a mark into your skin there and making you whimper again. The sensation of his teeth grazing you sends a wave of wet heat into your core, which you unabashedly grind against his straining cock.
Crosshair pulls away from you, groaning, and the sound is like music to your ears. You grip his jaw and crash your lips together again while his hands slip under the hem of your tunic, his skin like fire against yours.It’s around this time that the buzzing in your head picks up again, but you barely notice until you’re hit hard by a wave of shock, and… was that annoyance?
With considerable effort, you pull away from Crosshair and turn your head in the direction the wave came from, and when you meet Hunter’s eyes, you freeze. Crosshair notices how you’ve abruptly stopped moving, and follows your gaze. When he meets Hunter’s eyes, he curses under his breath and quickly takes his hands off of you.
The sergeant stares at the two of you for a second, then sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. When he speaks his voice is low and his words carefully measured. “Do you two… have any idea… how fucking loud you are?”“Why are you even here?” Crosshair asks, irritated by the interruption.“Tech and Wrecker went to find Rex. I was trying to sleep off a headache,” he says.
You and Crosshair glance back at each other and break into laughter again. Between gasps for air, you manage to wheeze out an “I’m sorry” for Hunter.
Crosshair, true to form, smirks at him and says “I’m not,” which makes you laugh even harder.
Hunter sighs again, this time rubbing his temples. “I’m not even going to ask, I don’t want to know,” he says. “Out here in front of the Maker and everybody,” he continues, grumbling to himself.
Before anyone can say or do anything else, Hunter’s comm link chirps at him. He answers, and the three of you hear Tech say that he and Wrecker are returning to the ship. Rex hadn’t come up with anything and was going to talk to the Generals again shortly. Hunter thanks him and ends the call, then looks over at you two again.
“Whatever this is,” he says, waving a hand in your direction, “Can you two keep your hands to yourselves for a few hours?”
“No promises,” Crosshair says. Hunter looks at you, but you only shrug at him. He throws his hands up and returns to the ship. As he goes, you return your attention to Crosshair, who seems to be cooling off at about the same rate you are.
“They ought to promote him to Captain,” you say. Crosshair raises an eyebrow at you. “Captain cock block,” you say in a low voice, and he takes off laughing again. You watch him and can’t help but smile at him, realizing that you’ve never heard a genuine laugh out of the guy before today. It’s nice; you’d like to hear it more often.
Eventually he gets a hold of himself and buries his face into your chest. You allow this for a second or two, then gently grip his chin and turn his focus onto your face. The soft expression he gets when looking at you triggers that now-familiar swooping sensation in your gut. You softly kiss him, using this as a distraction to clip his codpiece back into place.
Hearing the distinct snapping sound, Crosshair leans back, allowing you to disentangle yourself from him and shakily return to your feet. He looks up at you and shakes his head with a long exhale. “To be continued then?” he says, only half-joking.
You make a show of thinking about it, then say “only if you behave,” in a husky voice before abruptly turning away and jogging back into the ship, stumbling a little on the gangplank due to the shake in your knees.
Crosshair watches you go, catching your eyes as you glance back at him, giving him a playful two-finger salute. Once you leave his sight line, he groans and flops onto the crate below him, now laying on his back and staring up at the high ceiling of the hangar, his mind running wild. Eventually, he hears distinctly Wrecker-like footsteps headed in his direction, and he runs a hand down his face, sitting up again.
—
Once you get back into the ship, you duck into the bunks to retrieve a change of clothes; you’ll need a cold shower after all that . A clean set of under armor (and underwear) bundled into your hands, you’re about to head to the refresher when the sound of Hunter clearing his throat stops you. You grimace to yourself, then turn around to find him in his bunk, peeking out from behind the privacy curtain at you.
“I don’t mean to be nosy,” he says.
You exaggeratedly roll your eyes with a smirk and say “sure you don’t mean to, but you’re going to be anyway, right?”
“Skipping the pretense then,” he says, brushing your comment off. “Did things with Echo really go that badly?” he asks.
Your stomach drops to your feet. You were so swept up into the feeling of being wanted so intensely for the first time in ages that Echo had completely slipped your mind. Guilt tries to take hold, but confusion cuts it off; he did tell you to stay away from him. Crosshair was right, Echo had no business caring about whatever or whoever you do from that point out. You haven’t done anything wrong. But it certainly doesn’t feel that way, at least according to the sick feeling in your gut.
You’re snapped out of your cloud of thoughts when Hunter says your name for what sounds like the second time. “Y-yeah,” you say, unable to meet his eyes. “That’s one way to put it.” You take yet another deep breath and continue speaking, quickly telling Hunter how Echo told you to stay away from him, then going over the important points of your disastrous conversation with him less than an hour ago.
“Damn,” Hunter says. “He really doesn’t know anything?”
“That’s what he told me. I don’t think he’d lie to me, but…” you trailed off with a sigh. “He was pretty pissed. I don’t know what else to do about Trench, that was all I could think of.”
“Well, the Jedi aren’t Generals just for show, they’ll come up with something. Don’t beat yourself up about it, alright?” Hunter says. “There’s nothing else we can do for now.”
“Yeah, that's what bothers me,” you say with a shake of your head. You wait a few seconds, but when Hunter doesn’t say anything else, you excuse yourself to the refresher.
—
As you undress inside, you take a look at the mark Crosshair had left on your neck in the mirror, noting how dark it is. Looking closer, you can see faint teeth marks, and the dormant arousal rockets back into your core so intensely your legs are
shaking again.
You tear yourself away from your reflection with a soft curse, trying to ignore the persistent feeling of your own need between your legs. Maker, you think. How long has it been?
Fives, you realize, flashing back to your final tryst in the Coruscant apartment shower a lifetime ago. An unexpected feeling of grief hits you hard, and as you step into the shower unit, your heart hurts.
Standing under the steamy water, you feel a good deal of tension melt away from your back and shoulders. Soaping yourself up, there’s a faint ache when you glide a hand over the mark on your neck. What isn’t faint, however, is the ache you feel in your pussy at the same time.
You focus on washing your hair, hoping the feeling would go away, but when you faintly hear Crosshair’s voice, your legs tremble again. The sound is clearer a moment later when he knocks on the door.
“Don’t need me to supervise, do you?” he says, and you can practically hear the smirk on his face.
“Ha, you wish!” you call back, slipping back into banter with him like a well-worn pair of boots.
He laughs. “Next time then,” he says, then you hear his footsteps walking away from the door.
You groan and lean back onto the wall of the shower unit. You feel your clit throb and grit your teeth.
God dammit.This wasn’t going to go away on its own, and you’re suddenly mortified when you realize that Hunter will smell it on you. He most certainly did a few minutes ago, you think, cringing. Maybe if you handled this now he wouldn’t notice again?Fine.
You close your eyes. Your right hand drops between your legs, and your left presses on the mark on your neck, making it ache deliciously again. You barely hold back a moan, biting your lip to stay quiet.
A finger finds your swollen clit, and you quickly rub circles into it. Your breath hitches. You can’t help but think of what could be happening if Hunter wasn’t on the ship.
You slip your left hand down your chest and cup one of your breasts, imagining that it’s Crosshair's hand instead of your own. His calloused fingertips playing with your nipple, his hot breath on your neck, his long fingers scissoring in and out of you.
You gasp and suddenly jerk your head upward and back, thumping it loudly on the wall, but you’re in too deep to care.
The tight coil that had been winding in your belly was threatening to spring loose already. It’s been far too long.
Crosshair, Crosshair.
Lifting you by your ass and spearing himself up into you as you hold onto him for dear life, over and over until you feel dizzy. Growling in your ear, calling you his as he bites a new mark into the other side of your neck.
You audibly whimper without noticing.
You’re so close.
“Meds,” he says, calling you by the name he gave you, the smoky sound of his voice finally pushing you over the edge.
You quickly clap your left hand over your mouth, barely holding back from crying out as your knees threaten to give way, and you swear you could actually hear him.
There’s a hard knock on the refresher door and you find yourself rudely yanked back into reality as you realize he actually is calling your name.
“You okay in there? Sounds like you fell,” Crosshair says. There’s a very dull pulse on the back of your head from where you had smacked it against the wall. He must have heard you.
You swallow, hard, praying that your voice won’t give away what you’d just been doing, and say “Sorry, I just dropped something.”
“Sure you did,” he says, obviously not believing a word of it. “Tech and Wrecker are back,” he continues before walking away again.
You reach over and shut off the running water, trying to catch your breath. You dry yourself quickly, and pull on the clothes you’d brought with you. Just before opening the door, you glance back at the mirror and see, to your relief, that the neckline of your under armor has hidden the mark on your neck.
—
“Hey, there ya are!” Wrecker says as you walk into the main area of the ship, finally joining everyone else. You apologize for keeping them waiting, then Tech speaks.
“Rex had no other ideas,” Tech says, before glancing between you and Crosshair.
“We didn’t get anywhere either,” Crosshair says. Guilt washes over you again as you think of Echo.
“Orders?” Hunter asks. Despite standing directly across from you, he seems to be making a conscious effort not to look at you.
“Jus’ stand by,” Wrecker says with a groan. “I hate waiting around like this! We’ve been sittin’ still too long,” he grumbles. You can’t help but agree; even you are starting to get antsy. Seems like the guys really rubbed off on you after all.
Everyone splits off after that, Tech returning to his workbench, Wrecker wandering off outside, and Crosshair heading toward the cockpit. Just before you turn to go back to the bunks, Hunter glances at you, and it suddenly occurs to you why he’s been trying not to acknowledge you. You must still ‘stink’.“Oh please, like you four are any better,” you say as you roll your eyes. He quickly looks away from you and you walk away while giggling. Hunter shakes his head and rubs at his temples, moving to follow Wrecker outside.
You go back to the bunk area and crawl into your own, hoping to get some rest after the day you’ve just had. You’re out as soon as your head hits the pillow.
—
You find yourself in an unfamiliar part of the base, it looks like some kind of cargo bay. A little ways off, you do recognize a holo map projection table, and the men gathered around it. You quickly jog over, barely missing being hit by a small hover cart driven by a droid. As you approach, you can more clearly see Rex, Generals Skywalker and Kenobi, and a third, dark skinned man whom you know is a general, but cannot remember the name of. You can hear them better too, and General Skywalker is saying that they need to take out a droid production facility on the planet.
Just as you reach the table, so does Echo, much to your and everyone else’s surprise. He says he can help with planning for it. Rex, rightfully in your opinion, tells Echo he isn’t fit for battle just yet. General Windu, the man
whose
name you couldn’t remember, speaks up and says he’d like to hear Echos' ideas. With permission, Echo steps closer to the table and plugs his scomp link into it, right next to where you’re standing, but doesn’t acknowledge you at all.
In fact, nobody has. Frowning, you hold up a hand and attempt to touch Echos shoulder, but you slip right through him. This has to be another one of those concurrent event dreams, you realize. You were so focused on this however, that you miss a good part of what’s being said, and scold yourself for it. You’re obviously being shown this for a reason, so you force yourself to concentrate on the conversation around you.
Echo says that the ‘Bad Batch’ will escort him into Trench’s ship, where he will then sabotage a new communications vault inside. As he speaks, the image of a separatist dreadnougt shimmers into view, and you curse, shocked and angry. You squash down your anger and make yourself focus on the plans being discussed.
Echo continues to say that he can feed Trench false strategies, this way they would know his every move before he makes it, and that hopefully he’ll be responsible for a republic victory, rather than another defeat. You can see the regret in his eyes, and your heart aches for him.
General Windu is speaking again, but the sound is muffled, like you’re listening from underwater, and you know that you’ll be waking up within moments. You know you can’t, but you try to touch Echos shoulder again, asking aloud what changed his mind. He turns his head and it seems like he’s making direct eye contact with you, a startled expression on his face, but you know that isn’t possible. Everything around you quickly dissolves away .
—
You wake with a gasp, sitting straight up in your bunk, just in time for Hunter to come into the area and tell you that the mission is going forward after all. He pauses, looking you over. “You okay?” he asks.
“Yeah, just another dream,” you say with an annoyed sigh.
“Still?” he asks, looking sympathetic.
“Every freakin’ time,” you say. “I’m fed up with it, and I’m sure you guys are too,” you continue. Hunter makes a confused sound and you explain yourself; “I know that you all can hear me every night, it’s not exactly a secret. Have any of you managed to get a decent rest since I’ve been here?” you ask, feeling guilty and looking away from him.
Hunter frowns and sits on the bunk across from yours. “Meds,” he says, softly enough to make you look up from the floor. “For one thing, you seem to forget that we’ve dealt with Wrecker’s snoring for pretty much all our lives, a little extra noise isn’t going to bother anyone,” he says, making you chuckle a little. “For another,” he continues, “even if it did, none of us hold it against you. We were literally made for war, you weren’t. To be completely honest with you, it amazes me how you’re still able to get up every day and keep going. I admire you for that, you know.”
“Me?” you say, incredulous. “I’m just doing what needs to be done, I’m not that special.”
Hunter frowns at you again. “Did Kix ever tell you how many other medics we’ve gone through this cycle?” he asks.“No, he didn’t. I never really thought about it until you said something,” you say, curious to see where he’s going with this.
“At least six,” he says, and you gape at him. “Nobody else even remotely lasted as long as you have. Kalik tapped out after maybe three weeks. We didn’t even have enough time to learn the other’s names. Respectfully, you’re one tough bitch, and you don’t even realize it. Sounds pretty special to me,” he says. He leans forward and rests a hand on your knee. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, alright?”
“I’ll try,” you say, still absorbing everything he’s just told you. You shake yourself. “So the mission’s on then?” you ask, changing the subject.
Hunter takes his hand back, and as he stands confirms and tells you that Echo, Rex, and General Skywalker will be boarding the Marauder soon. You nod, then he leaves, and you stand up and begin to clip your armor back on.
Six karking medics in less than one full cycle? Maybe that’s why Crosshair was such an ass, you think. He probably didn’t expect you to stay with them all as long as you have. Well, you think, now he’s stuck with you.
It occurs to you that this is the first time you’ve had a definitive thought about the question of whether you’d be staying with the team or not. Although, after the debacle that happened back in Kix’s office, Echo had pretty much made the decision for you.
Echo, who you thought of nonstop for Maker knows how long. Who you caught as he fell out of that horrible stasis chamber back on Skako Minor. Who, even after the blow up, you would still do anything for.
Echo, who loved you.
But lied to you.
You struggle to accept this. For him to lie was bad enough, but for it to have been about something that put other lives at risk gets under your skin in a way that even Crosshair had never managed before. Your hands start to shake, and it takes a few attempts to get the rest of your armor on.
After about three minutes you’re finally ready to go. Your hands are still shaking, so you quickly make your way outside of the ship to get some ‘fresh’ air and hopefully calm yourself down before Echo and the others arrive.
—
You walk down the Marauder’s gangplank, trying desperately to think of anything but Echo. It isn’t working. You huff in aggravation, and make a mental note to ask the General about meditation if you get the chance. You hop up onto yet another large crate nearby, distractedly wondering why there were so damn many.
Preoccupied with the crates, you don’t notice Wrecker approaching, and he manages to startle you again by saying your name as he comes to a stop beside you.
“Zoned out again did ya?” he asks, resting his elbows onto the crate and leaning back to look at you. He’s still taller than you.
“Seems to be happening a lot lately,” you say, sounding distant. “My head doesn’t have enough room for all of these thoughts,” you sigh.
Wrecker frowns at you, and when he speaks, his voice is unusually soft. “Look Meds, I dunno what happened, but I can tell it’s been botherin’ you.”
“Is it that obvious?” you ask, embarrassed and looking away from him.
“I pay more attention than mos’ people think,” he says. “‘Sides, it’d be hard not to notice after livin’ with ya for so long.”
“I guess that’s fair,” you say. “Speaking of, Hunter just told me I’m the seventh medic you guys have had this cycle, is that right?” you ask, still dumbfounded by this new information.
Wrecker laughs loudly, making your ears ring, but confirms it for you. “I’m surprised ya stuck it out this long to be honest. Especially with everythin’ you’ve been through. You sure you’re okay?” he asks, eyes searching your face.
You sigh, then once again outline what had happened with Echo today, leaving out how you knew he’d lied to you. (At this rate, Tech was the only one you hadn’t told about the falling out, but you don’t really expect him to ask.)“Guess I ain’t ‘whole’ either,” Wrecker says, annoyed. When you look over at him with a confused sound he points to his replaced eye.
“You and I both know that isn’t true,” you say, sitting up a bit straighter and gripping his shoulder. “And even if it was, it doesn’t make either of you ‘lesser’ than anyone else. Echo can’t seem to understand that, and he hasn’t given me a chance to talk to him,” you continue.
Wrecker lets you vent your frustration out, and when you’re done, he chuckles a little. “I don’ know how ya haven’t gone crazy yet,” he says, his voice relaxed but his expression tense.“Oh trust me, I’m about this close,” you say, pulling your hand back and holding your thumb and pointer fingers so close that they’re almost touching. “If this mission fails, I might just lose it.”
“Well, we don’t want that,” Wrecker says. “I dunno if Crosshair could take another hit from you.”
You laugh, loudly, and his expression lightens considerably.
You suddenly hear Rex shout something from across the hangar, though you can’t tell what he said. Coming up behind him are General Skywalker and Echo. You softly curse under your breath. Wrecker gives you a hand getting off of the crate, and after a quick thanks you jog back into the ship, hoping to get inside before Echo does.
Once there, you find Crosshair alone in the cockpit, appearing deep in thought. You knock on the wall, and he glances up at you before looking away.
“They’re here,” you say, moving to stand across from where he’s seated, much like you had outside of the ship less than two hours ago. He scowls and mumbles something under his breath, staring at the floor. You say his name again but he seems to be ignoring you. You sigh and get down onto your knees in an effort to meet his eyes.
“Cross, please,” you say quietly, looking up at him, resting a hand on his thigh. He finally looks at you, and you see his face relax again.
“Alright kitten, I’ll behave if he does,” Crosshair says.
“What was that?” you say, unsure if you should be offended or not.
He chuckles. “You sound like a baby loth cat instead of an angry one this time,” he says, and you roll your eyes, but still smile at him when he rests his hand on yours.
A quiet moment passes between you two, but it’s suddenly broken by the sound of someone clearing his throat in the doorway. You both look over and see Rex staring at you with an unreadable expression.
—
Crosshair stands, then pulls you to your feet. “She’s all yours Captain Reg,” he says flatly before slipping past him and continuing into the main area of the ship.
“What the hell were you doing?” Rex says, and you're taken aback by how angry he sounds.
You realize what you being on your knees before Crosshair probably looked like, but immediately get defensive and irritated. “Oh, I guess Echo didn’t tell you,” you say, crossing your arms.
“Tell me what?” Rex says, taking a step closer to you.
“That I should, in his words, ‘be with someone whole, not some half-droid freak,’ and stay away from him,” you say, staring Rex down and standing your ground. “Guess I’m not the only one he’s been keeping something from.”
Rex blinks at you a few times. “What are you talking about?” he says, confused.
“About two or three hours ago, I went and asked him if he knew anything that could help stop Trench. He told me that he didn’t, but after your little chat with the Generals, that obviously isn’t true, is it?” you say.
“How the -?” Rex starts to say, but you cut him off by holding up a hand, moving to the cockpit door, and quickly switching it closed. As you do, you see Echo from the corner of your eye, but don’t acknowledge him. Once the door is firmly shut, you approach Rex.
You keep your voice low, and say “That dream I had about the citadel was no coincidence. It happened again, and I saw that meeting. But even if I hadn't, it doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together as you both come back here with the General.”“Why would Echo lie to you?” Rex says.
“Why would I lie to you ?” you retort. “If you must know, Crosshair came with me when I tried to talk to him and they wound up arguing, that's why.”
“Uh huh,” Rex says, looking skeptical. “And just what were they arguing about?” he asks.
“That has nothing to do with this,” you say, tensing up.
“Oh, I think it does,” he says, taking his turn to approach you. “Did you really replace him that quickly again?” he says, glaring at you.
Your jaw drops with a gasp, and Rex can tell you're holding yourself back, looking pointedly at your twitching hand. “What, are you going to slap me too?” he says with a smirk.
“Fuck. You,” you say, shouting without meaning to. “You know that’s not what happened with Fives, how dare you,” you say, barely stopping yourself from yelling again.
“That’s not an answer,” Rex says, and he looks disgusted with you.
“Of course not! But even if I did, that has no bearing on this mission. Has it occurred to you that Tambor may have tampered with Echo’s mind?” you say through a clenched jaw.
“Tech said the same thing. You think they did?” Rex says, staring you down.
“Kix didn’t find anything, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Did you forget? They couldn’t find anything with Tup either,” you say.
“Whether he’s compromised or not, I still trust him, don’t you?” Rex says, and you can tell he’s trying to stay calm.
“Of course I do, don’t you fucking start with me,” you say, raising your voice enough again to make Rex step backward from you. “You of all people have no right to give me shit.”“Me of all people? What’s your problem?” he asks.
“Fives,” you say, lowering your volume significantly and catching him completely by surprise.
“What does he have to do with this?” Rex says, indignant.
“This situation is no different from what happened to him, and you damn well know it. Only difference is that this time we know for a fact that Echo was in enemy hands, unlike Fives or Tup,” you say, stepping closer to him and continuing to stare him down.
“You don’t-” he tries to speak but you cut him off.
“Dammit Rex, I don’t like it either! Nobody is more relieved to have him back than me, but that doesn’t mean we can just pick back up like nothing happened, you need to consider the possibility!” you say.
“This really is about Fives, isn’t it?” Rex says, and the tinge of guilt in his voice does not go unnoticed by you.
“Yes, I just said that! This situation is exactly the same, so why are you treating it any differently?” you ask.
“Are you calling me a hypocrite?” he asks, angry again.
“You know what? Yeah, maybe I am,” you say, and your voice wavers. “I meant it when I said I still trust you, and even now that hasn’t changed. But Rex, you can’t just throw caution to the wind like this! I think you’re letting your guilt over Fives-”Rex suddenly pushes past you, opens the cockpit door, and storms away, back into the hangar. You also leave the cockpit, and when you walk out, Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker are staring at you. You notice that Echo and Crosshair are both missing, but you don’t care at this point. You don’t say a word, and neither does anyone else while you go back into the bunks, making sure the door shuts behind you.
—
Minutes earlier, Echo was approaching the cockpit, intending to follow Rex, but stopped when you suddenly shut the door. If you saw him, you gave no indication. He could hear the sound of your voice, but he couldn’t tell what you were saying. He jumped a little when Hunter said his name.
“She’ll do that sometimes,” he said, jerking his head at the door. “They’re just talking.”A muffled “fuck you” came from beyond the door, and Echo grimaced.
“I see she still does that too,” he said, walking away from the door. “I guess some things don’t change.” He found a seat and sat down heavily onto it.
“Usually that only happens with Crosshair,” Wrecker said, speaking up from nearby.
Echo bristled when he heard the sniper’s name. “They seemed pretty chummy to me,” he said, bitter.
“That is a very recent development,” Tech said, not looking up from his data pad.
“They were at each other's throats up until the mission to retrieve you,” Hunter said, then paused and chuckled. “You saw the recording, right? She must have slapped some respect into him,” he said.
“I’ve never seen her that angry,” Echo said.
“Yeah, us neither,” Wrecker said.
“Well, hopefully we never will again,” Hunter said.
Echo was about to say something else, but stopped when General Skywalker walked in, followed by Crosshair. Echo got to his feet and walked right up to the sniper. “I need a word with you,” he said, then continued walking outside of the ship.
“I have several words for you,” Crosshair said before following him.
The General watched them go, confused, then looked to Hunter for some kind of explanation; Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose with a heavy sigh, feeling another headache coming on.
Outside, the two had walked a few meters away from the ship before coming to a stop. They both stared at the other with open dislike, but neither knew who should speak first.
“You’re an asshole,” they said in unison.
“At least we agree on something,” Crosshair said with a smirk.
Echo rolled his eyes. “Look, what happened earlier-” he started to say.
“Has nothing to do with this mission,” Crosshair said, cutting him off and taking him by surprise. “You and I both know how important this is, so I’ll hold off on knocking you out until it’s over.”
“How generous of you,” Echo said, wearing a smirk of his own. “I won’t beat your ass until later then,” he continued, holding out his remaining hand.
“Agreed,” Crosshair said, taking Echo's hand and firmly shaking it. The two stared at each other for a moment, then were distracted when Rex suddenly stormed past, muttering something about hypocrisy under his breath.
“What’d she say?” they said, speaking in unison again.
They glanced at each other, Crosshair smirked, and Echo shook his head in disbelief.
“I’ll go get him,” Echo said.
“I’ll make sure she hasn’t slapped anyone else,” Crosshair said.
“I saw that by the way,” Echo said with a smug laugh, before walking quickly to catch up with his Captain.
“Dank Ferrik, Tech,” Crosshair said under his breath before turning around and jogging back to the ship to find you.
Once he returned, Tech, Wrecker, and Hunter all gestured to the bunks without a word. He nodded at them, then cautiously approached the closed door.
—
Inside, you're pacing back and forth, trying to burn off the sudden influx of furious energy. Echo being pissed off about Crosshair, while annoying, at least made sense. But Rex? Why would he care?
His comment about ‘replacing’ Echo was far too close to Echo’s own words for your liking. Echo hadn’t seen everything you’d been through before, with, and after Fives, but Rex did. He knew better. He had to.
Following that train of thought, you find yourself thinking about Fives for the second time that day, and you feel all of your anger and energy evaporate.
You come to a stop, sitting heavily onto the floor and leaning against the wall, eyes closed. “What happened to you?” you whispered, vividly remembering the panic and desperation in Fives’ eyes and voice when you saw him for the last time. “What did you find?” Unable to stop yourself, you hiccup before breaking into a sob, hiding your face behind your hands.
It’s subtle, at first. A new sensation in your head. Rather than a harsh, buzzing feeling, it tingles, making the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Then, barely above a whisper, you hear something. “Cyare…” Okay, now you know you’ve finally cracked, you think. You’re so far gone you can hear Fives’ voice. You feel a light brush gainst your cheek, and a fresh sob breaks out of you. You reach up and take hold of a hand that shouldn’t be there. It closes around your own and a chill runs up your spine.
Well, you think, in an odd moment of clarity, if you’re going to hallucinate, you may as well play along with it.
You keep your eyes closed, not wanting to break whatever this was, but unfold yourself from the tight ball you didn’t realize you’d tucked yourself into, and lean forward, bracing yourself with your free hand. You feel a familiar warmth as an unseen arm wraps around your shoulders and pulls you close to the body it's attached to.
You hide your face in Fives’ chest, weeping freely.
“You’ve been through so much.”
“Why? Why did you have to leave me?” you whisper.
“I’m so sorry mesh’la.”
You’re startled by the sound of his voice, not in your head, but in your ear. Without thinking, you open your eyes, and in that same instant, everything you’ve been feeling stops, leaving you cold and alone in the dark bunk room.
“No,” you say, loud enough to startle yourself, slamming your eyes shut again. “No! No, no, please, come back,” you choke out through a fresh wave of tears, but to no avail.
All you hear is a frantic knocking at the bunk door, which confuses you enough to pull you back to reality. You didn’t lock the door, you were absolutely sure of that.
Just as this thought crosses your mind, the door slides open and Crosshair rushes inside. He drops to his knees and pulls you in tightly to his chest.
Your head buzzes again, and the fear and panic coming toward you is overwhelming, making you tremble all over. You hear the door slide shut, and the buzzing intensifies. Suddenly, you’re aware that what you’re feeling is coming not from one source, but two .
At that same moment, you feel a familiar hand cautiously run up and down your back. You carefully pull away from Crosshair and see Echo at your side, the animosity between them apparently forgotten in favor of their combined worry over you. You suddenly cling onto Echo and nearly knock him over while Crosshair keeps a firm grip on your right hand.
—
It takes a good few minutes for you to settle down again. You’ve had panic attacks before, but you’ve never experienced one like this, if that’s what it even was. As your sobs gradually taper down to occasional hiccups, you wonder if it could have been another weird Force thing. Your mind is clearing, and you get a strong gut feeling that you were not hallucinating. You’re sure of it.
But how? General Skywalker said that dream sharing between Sensitives and others was unheard of, and something tells you that even he may not believe you if you asked about this. You swallow back a thick lump in your throat, with some effort, and resolve to deal with whatever it was later. You were supposed to be on a mission.
With that in mind, you take a deep breath and sit up straight, wiping at your eyes with the back of your free hand. Crosshair and Echo glance at each other before focusing back on you.
“What happened?” They both say, speaking in unison for a third time.
You bend your neck back and stare up at the ceiling for a few seconds, trying to figure out what to tell them. “Hell of a time to have the worst flashback of my life,” you say, and it's not entirely untrue. Your voice is so weak and hoarse that you sound like a completely different person. You quietly ask if either of them could fetch a canteen for you, and Crosshair gets to his feet with no hesitation, quickly leaving the bunks.
Echo takes your hand into his and whispers your name. “Are you alright?” he asks. You scoot yourself on the floor so that you’re now next to him, on his right, and rest your head on his shoulder, your knees still pulled in to your chest.
You can’t help but chuckle a little. “You know, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been asked that since we brought you back here,” you say, coughing a little.
“This has happened here before?” Echo says, sounding simultaneously worried and guilty.
“More than once. I’ve honestly stopped keeping track by this point,” you say, staring into space.
You feel Echo twitch. You glance over at him and see that you're on his scomp side, and you can tell he wants to put his arm around you, like he used to, but he’s hesitant. You almost imperceptibly shake your head with a soft sigh, then drape his arm around your shoulder for him. He looks like he’s going to say something in protest, but you cut him off.
“I don’t give a single shit about what’s attached to you,” you say softly, turning your head to look up at him. “You’re still here, and that's the only thing that matters to me,” you continue, gently resting a hand on his replaced leg. “Whether you think you’re ‘whole’ or not, I don't care. You’ve got different limbs now, so what?” You free your other hand and hold it to his chest. “You still have the same heart, the same blood, and nothing will ever change that. Please, Echo. Try to understand,” you say.
You sit back up to get a better look at him, and you see a single tear run down his cheek. “You sound just like him,” he says, not needing to say Fives’ name.
“Is he wrong?” you ask, shifting to sit across from him.
“He wouldn’t-” he starts to say, but you cut him off again.“Wouldn’t what? You know he wouldn’t care, and neither do I or Rex or anybody else,” you say firmly, looking him in the eye.
He looks back at you before letting out a small laugh and incredulously shaking his head. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“I am. I need to ask you something important, Echo,” you say. You feel his body tense up, but speak anyway. “Why would you lie to me like that?” you ask.
“How did you know?” he asks.
“I haven’t told you, I didn’t want to bring it up, but that mission to the citadel, I saw what happened to you. I thought it was just a nightmare at first, but I asked Rex later and he confirmed that what I had seen is exactly whattook place,” you say, choosing your words carefully while Echo stares at you, dumbfounded. “It happened again, just a few hours ago; I saw it when you spoke to the Generals before coming back here. But even if I hadn’t, as I told Rex, it’s not that hard to figure out once I saw the two of you and the General coming back.”
Echo looks away from you, ashamed of himself. “Nothing gets past you, huh?” he says. You say nothing and give him the space to speak.
“When… when you came into Kix’s office with him, and the way he looked at you and talked about you, I,” he says, pausing to sigh and look you in the eye again. “I got jealous. So I lied, out of anger and spite. It was stupid and selfish and petty of me,” he says.
Neither of you speak for a tense moment.
“Yeah, it was,” you say, not bothering to mask your feelings about it.
“I’m so sorry,” he says, looking away from you again.
You take a moment to close your eyes and focus on him, trying to pick up whatever he’s feeling. Self loathing and regret hit you hard enough that you unconsciously open your eyes again. He’s being genuine with you.
“What changed your mind?” you ask, and Echo looks away again. You move closer to him, gently pulling his head back so you can see his face.
“You,” he says. “‘For the sake of all your brothers out there’,” he whispers, quoting you almost directly. “You reminded me that we aren’t the only ones at risk here,” he says.
“That was the idea,” you admit. “With that in mind, we’ve wasted enough time already,” you say, slapping your knees and abruptly getting back to your feet.
“But what about you?” Echo says, still on the floor.
“Doesn’t matter,” you say firmly while extending a hand out to him. He takes it and is surprised by how easily you pull him to his feet.
“Yes it does,” he says, still grasping your hand.
“I’m not going to argue over this,” you start to say, but this time Echo cuts you off.
“Neither am I. Whether you think so or not, you matter. Yeah, maybe not on a galactic scale, but to me. And I’d bet my last arm that your team out there feels the same,” he says.
“I do, if it counts for anything,” Crosshair says, startling you with his sudden reappearance.
“How long have you been standing there?” Echo asks, annoyed.
“Just now. I knew you two would need a minute,” Crosshair says with a smirk. He catches your attention.
“I didn’t forget that, by the way,” he says, then lightly tosses a full canteen at you, which you thankfully catch while sitting onto your bunk. You thank him before chugging down the majority of its contents. He slips past Echo and sits on your bunk next to you.
“Are you okay?” he asks, holding a hand against your back.
“Y’know, if I got a credit for each time I’ve been asked that these past two weeks I could buy a new speeder,” you say with a laugh. You glance between the two men and sigh. “To be blunt: not really, but I’ll be fine. The mission is what matters right now,” you say with finality before quickly getting to your feet and exiting the bunks.
“Has she always been that stubborn?” Crosshair asks incredulously.
“From day one,” Echo says, sounding tired, but not annoyed.
“She’s right about one thing, we have a job to do,” Crosshair says as he stands. “Besides, the sooner we get back the sooner I can kick your ass,” he continues with a smirk, pulling an unexpected laugh out of Echo.
“I’ll get right on that then,” he says, rolling his eyes, but heading toward the cockpit. Crosshair follows him out of the bunks.
In the main area of the ship, you had heard it when Crosshair managed to make Echo laugh, and a tiny bubble of hope forms in your chest.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Moments later, the Marauder is taking off,
heading out of Anaxes’ atmosphere and towards Trench’s ship. It’s quiet, and you can’t decide if it's the usual pre-mission seriousness, or if you’ve contributed to the tension. Nearly everyone is huddled around or in the cockpit. Tech is piloting as he always does, Echo is staring intently at the view outside, and the rest of your squad are standing by.
You feel someone’s eyes on you, and when you glance around, you find that it’s
Rex, studying your face. No doubt he’s noticed your red eyes since he returned to the ship. You look away from him and close your eyes without being conscious of it, and the strange buzzing sensation in your mind picks up again. Trying not to focus on anyone in particular, you’re able to pick up an assortment of nerves, doubt, and determination. You can also feel a faint worry over you from Echo and Crosshair. When you keep your eyes closed and focus on your breathing, you’re able to feel a twinge of guilt, which you know is coming off of Rex. Beyond all of that, there’s a feeling of curiosity, which seems out of place.
You open your eyes again and try to subtly scan everyone’s faces, wondering who it was coming from. You catch Rex’s eye, and he briefly looks like he wants to say something to you, but instead he just looks away. None of the other clones are paying you any attention, so that just leaves General Skywalker, who’s been standing quietly a few steps ahead of you. Aware that he can Sense your racing mind anyway, you hold back a tired sigh and move to stand next to him.
“Curious about something, sir?” you ask casually, but keeping your voice low.
“You can tell?” he asks, sounding surprised, though also speaking softly.
“Yes, this started a few days after I spoke to you in your office, I’m trying to figure out how to control it,” you say.
“Interesting; Your sensitivity seems to be developing, and quickly. Has there been anything else?” he says.
“Maybe? Something happened just a few minutes ago back there,” you say, jerking your head toward the bunks.
“I could definitely feel something unusual. What happened?” he asks.
“I honestly have no idea, sir. I remember sort of panicking and then suddenly feeling like F-,” you cleared your throat midway through your sentence. “Like someone was in there with me, but I know for a fact that I was alone,” you continue, still keeping your voice down.
“Well, sorry to say, I have no idea what that could have been either; I’ve never sensed anything else like it before,” he says after listening carefully to you. “If I may, I’d like to know what exactly you experienced,” he continues, turning to look at you.
You hold back another sigh, then also turn to face him and say “Respectfully sir, I think we should focus on the mission.”
“Fair enough,” the General concedes. “But I definitely want to talk about it with you afterward,” he says, before the two of you take a few more steps into the cockpit with everyone else.
Wrecker notices and says “Please tell me we are blowing something up this time!”
General Skywalker chuckles at him and says “Sorry Wrecker, this is strictly stealth.”
Wrecker groans that he hates that word, then is cut off by Tech saying “I get the feeling you’ll have your chance,” just as Trench’s ship and fleet come into view.
Someone tells Echo that this is his cue, and he moves in front of the ship's communication controls, quickly plugging his scomp link into it.
“I’m going to mask our signal with another one,” Echo says.
“Nothing that’ll give us away, right?” Hunter asks, and Rex glances at you as he does.
“As far as those droids are concerned, we’re just another one of their shuttles coming in for a landing,” Echo says.
“And the Regs think
we
take risks,” Hunter mumbles under his breath.
“Sending the signal now,” Echo says. A few seconds later, you can all hear a transmission from the droids: “Roger Roger shuttle TC-159, you may approach and land.”
Echo unplugs himself from the console and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. The ruse seems to have worked.
Within the next minute, Tech manages to perch the Marauder inconspicuously onto the side of the dreadnought. As he shuts the engines off, you take a few steps over to Echo and grasp his shoulder for a moment.
“Lead the way,” you say.
Echo, unused to seeing you so serious, raises an eyebrow at you. “Anything else, Your Majesty?” he says, clearly trying to lighten your mood.
“Don’t get us killed,” Crosshair says, speaking up from the other side of the space, making you and Echo roll your eyes.
—
With a point of ingress established, the General pokes his head out into the hallway you’re all attached to, and once he sees that it's clear, he slips through and waves everyone along behind him. Echo quickly catches up to him and takes the lead.
After only a few minutes, it seems that you’ve found the comms vault without detection. As you all come to a stop, it strikes you as odd that you haven’t encountered anything (or anyone) yet. Your gut twists as the possibility that Echo is setting you up crosses your mind, but you force the thought away. You still trust him.
General Skywalker quickly splits the team up; He, Tech, Rex, Hunter, and of course Echo will be going into the vault while you hang back and keep a lookout with Crosshair and Wrecker. You almost protest, but think better of it and take your place at the vault's connection point to the hallway. Crosshair and Wrecker split off either side of you and find positions a few dozen yards away, each watching another intersection of the hall.
You’re close enough that you can hear what’s going on in the vault. Echo asks Tech if he can rig up an interface he can work with.
“I assume that’s rhetorical,” Tech says dryly and you barely stop yourself from rolling your eyes at him.
After a minute or so, you hear Echo saying that he’s gotten inside, and you release a breath you didn’t know you were holding. Sounds like he had good timing, as only a second later you hear him say that he’s intercepting a comm signal from Trench to the Techno Union. Just as he says he’s going to send the false signal, Tech stops him, telling him not to do anything yet.
“Well why not?” Echo asks, and you can almost hear the confusion on his face.
“We need to make it look like your response is actually coming from Skako, otherwise they’ll know we are here,” Tech says while quickly making some adjustments and inputting commands into the data pad he’s hooked into the vault.
You hear Tech give the go-ahead, and take your eyes off of the conjunction in front of you to glance back into the vault. Echo is kneeling on the floor, scomped into a thick column in the center of the circular space, and the others are standing around him. It doesn’t seem to you that anyone else besides Tech is actually doing anything in there, and you turn back to the hall, actually rolling your eyes this time.
Just as you do, Tech speaks up. “I’m intercepting a transmission from the bridge. He’s saying to send all of the droids into the assembly complex.”
Your heart sinks down to your feet. Surely Echo knew how badly that would leave the men down there outnumbered, right? You glance back again and catch Rex’s eye, seeing the dread on his face before he quickly turns away.
Hunter says “Alright Echo, what are you trying to pull?” and you can hear the suspicion in his tone. “They're going to be outnumbered down there!”
“Not when I send out a feedback pulse that’ll neutralize all of the droids at once,” Echo says, explaining himself.
“How do we know that’s what you’re really going to do?” Tech asks.
You glance back over your shoulder just in time for Rex to say “We’ll just have to trust him,” then shoot a pointed look over at you.
As you bite your lip, anxious, you hear General Skywalker reassuring someone (you assume it’s General Kenobi or Windu) over a comm link that this wasn’t his idea.
After a few seconds, you reflexively cover your ears when you suddenly hear a high-pitched screeching sound coming from the vault behind you, but it’s over almost as soon as it began, leaving a ringing in your ears while everyone waits to see if it worked.
Less than a minute later, whoever General Skywalker had been speaking to comms him back and says that it’s been a success and that all of the droids have suddenly shut down and the Republic is regaining control on all fronts. You let out another breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding and relax significantly. You can hear Hunter remark that Echo was on your side after all.
“Was there ever any doubt?” Echo says.
“Some,” Tech says. You can’t help but chuckle to yourself at how blunt he is.
“Thanks?” Echo says.
Rex tells him to unplug so you can all get out of here, and you so badly want to run into the vault to be with Echo (and begrudgingly apologize to Rex) but you firmly remind yourself that the mission isn’t over just yet. You all still have to get back out.
No sooner had this thought crossed your mind, Echo speaks up suddenly, saying that he’s just picked up another order from Trench. “There’s a bomb inside the assembly complex, and it’s big enough to take out most of Anaxes,” he says, speaking quickly.
General Skywalker asks Echo if he can disarm it from here, and he says he can try. You’re startled when the General suddenly runs past you, and can’t stop yourself from asking where he’s going.
“If Echo can’t stop that thing, maybe Trench will,” he calls back over his shoulder without slowing down.
Tech sends a comm through to General Windu, informing him of the bomb and telling him that you need someone down there to help disarm it.
General Windu confirms that he’s on his way there now.
After about a minute, you hear the harried voice of General Windu coming through Tech’s comm link and tense up again. He’s found the bomb and can disarm it from where he is, he just needs the sequence to do so. Echo says that he’s already decrypting what he can, and starts calling out numbers directly into the comm link.
You suddenly realize that Jesse is down there in the assembly complex, and Kix might be too. You curse under your breath. For the love of the Maker, you think, if you lose someone else yet again you’re going to go supernova.
You’re yanked out of these thoughts by Tech abruptly yelling for Echo to unplug, otherwise Trench will be able to detect them.
Echo protests, insisting that they need this code.
Less than a second later, you hear the distinct crackling sound of electricity, followed by the more distinct sound of Echo screaming in pain.
Your post forgotten, you sprint inside the vault and help Rex pull him free, shouting “what the hell was that!” as you do.
“The server has overloaded his neural system,” Tech says. “And it appears deliberate.”
“That means Trench knows we’re here,” Hunter says.
You curse loudly. You’d just gotten Echo back for fuck’s sake! You desperately check for a pulse, and when you feel it, weak but detectable, you get to your feet and tell Rex that you need to get Echo out of there, now. The two of you support Echo by slinging an arm over each of your shoulders and half carrying him between you both while moving as quickly as you can down the hallway.
—
When you reach the intersection of the hall where Crosshair and Wrecker had split off, you’re greeted by the two of them shooting forward while moving backwards, with Wrecker yelling that you’ve got company. Surprising yourself, you tell Rex to take care of Echo, draw both of your blasters from their holsters, and join the others in keeping the clankers at bay. After about a minute of shooting, the lot of you regroup, then rush back the way you had come, continuing to shoot the entire time.
You reach another intersection, and find yourselves quickly overwhelmed by the droids in front of you. Shooting beside Crosshair, you’re barely able to hear Wrecker shout something before running headfirst into the throng as Hunter tells Rex that he almost feels bad for those droids.
Less than a minute later, the gunfire at the rear stops; You and Crosshair were able to pick those droids off while Wrecker handled the ones at the other end. You haphazardly holster your blasters and run back over to where Rex and Echo are tucked against the wall.
“Any change?” you ask breathlessly.
“He’s able to walk a little,” Rex says, and you thank him with a nod. Instinctively, you check Echo’s pulse again, and find that it’s stronger than it was as you all left the vault. Thankfully the electricity hasn’t screwed up his heart, at least that you can tell.
You then take a few steps and stand beside Hunter, looking down the hallway Wrecker had run into. He’s surrounded by broken droids, and the only one left seems to be shaking and begging not to get hit in the face. Wrecker casually crushes its head, then calls an all-clear.
You return to Echo’s side with Rex, and as the group moves through the mechanical carnage, you suddenly shiver, willing away the mental image of what the area would look like if the droids had been organic beings. You’ll save that for your nightmares, you think.
You hear the unique sound of droid-like marching coming up from behind you, and as you glance back, another flood of the damn things is quickly catching up to you. One takes a shot at Echo, and without thinking you push him and Rex out of the way. In stopping either of them from getting hit, you wind up being the one to take the bolt. As it grazes over one of the unprotected joints in your upper armor, burning the skin of your left side, you scream out in intense pain.
Crosshair looks over his shoulder toward the sound, and you hear him curse, loudly. “Keep fuckin’ moving!” he shouts. “I’ll buy you some time.”
Before you’re out of earshot, you holler at Crosshair that if he dies you’re going to kill him, and you could swear he’s laughing as you move to catch up with the others, clutching your side in an attempt to keep pressure on the wound.
“He’s going to try and top me, I know it!” Wrecker groans as you catch up to him.
After only a minute or so, you all reach the point of ingress, and as you do, General Skywalker runs over, saying that he hopes you aren’t all waiting on him. That just leaves Crosshair.
As if on cue, the sniper dashes into the hallway where you’re all waiting. “Ya miss me?” he says, lining up a shot. The sound of droid footsteps grows louder, and soon the hall that he had just come from is swarming with the damn things.
“How touching,” he drawls, aiming at a small sticky-backed mirror he’d thrown onto the wall and firing.
The shot bounces off of the mirror and hits another, then another, moving in a kind of triangular, spiral-like pattern, and tearing through each of the droids with no effort. You and Wrecker stare dumbfounded as the last droid falls over. Wrecker knew Crosshair had him beat, and you’d simply never had the chance to see him shoot like that before.
Hunter, amused, leans over, pats Wreckers shoulder, and says “You'll top him next time,” to which Crosshair responds with a laugh and smug declaration that he won’t. Wrecker groans, defeated.—
Back inside the Marauder, as Tech starts the engines, Rex carries Echo into the bunks and lays him down on your bed.
You wind up sitting across from him in Crosshairs bunk, still clutching at your side and hissing through gritted teeth at the intense pain.
Rex kneels at your side. “What can I do?” he asks, slipping off his helmet and grimacing at your injury.
“M-med kit,” you pant. “That compartment,” you say, pointing weakly at the largest compartment near your bed. Rex obediently stands and retrieves it, coming back to your side and opening it up.
With a groan, and despite his protests, you try to straighten your posture and begin unclipping your armor so you can get a better idea of how severe the wound is. You dress down to just your under armor up top, and you and Rex are both startled when Crosshair enters the room, telling Rex that the general is looking for him.
Rex glances at you and you jerk your head toward the main area of the ship, and only then does he get to his feet and leave. Crosshair takes his place, worry over you evident on his face. You try to shift and lift your undershirt off, but the flexing of the muscle in your hurt side sends a rocket of pain through it, making you curse as your eyes water. Crosshair looks pointedly at your shirt, then at you, silently asking permission.
You nod, and can’t help but laugh a little. “Not how I expected to wind up topless around you,” you say softly.
Crosshair says nothing, but smirks at you. He carefully takes hold of the hem of your shirt, and you brace yourself as he gingerly lifts it away and over your head. The burned fabric pulls at your wound and you barely hold back a cry as it peels away, though your eyes water over.
“There we are Kitten, that was the worst of it,” Crosshair says softly, haphazardly tossing your ruined garment over his shoulder before taking your hands into his. You hiccup, then he moves to sit beside you on his bunk, pressing his forehead into yours. The intimacy of it makes you shiver, which in turn just makes your side hurt again. Reluctantly, he pulls away, taking his hands back too.
He picks up the med kit and sets it on his knee, watching you carefully. You point out a few things you need and he wordlessly hands them to you. You soak a wad of material with disinfectant, and gently pat the area clean, grunting and cursing through your teeth at the sting as you do. You repeat this process, applying a thick layer of bacta over the injury. With considerable effort, you try to bandage yourself up, but the angle you’re forced to go at it from makes it difficult, and you curse again.
Crosshair takes hold of your hands, gently taking the gauze and wrappings away from you. You sigh, then reposition yourself so that your entire body is facing him. You grasp onto his shoulders and try not to move too much as he wraps you up, taking care not to put too much pressure onto the injury. Once that’s done, he quietly closes the med kit and sets it aside.
“Will that be enough?” he asks softly.
“I don’t know for sure,” you say.
“But you’re a medic?” he says, raising an eyebrow at you.
“It’s different when you have to doctor up yourself you know,” you say. “Either way, I’m going to have Kix look at it when we get back.”
He makes a sound akin to ‘fair enough’ and gently pulls you up against his chest, pointedly avoiding your bandages as he wraps his arms around you. You release his shoulders and kind of curl into him. He suddenly chuckles, making you sit up and look at him, mildly confused.
“I was just thinking; Your aim is getting better,” he says.
“Oh, so you have been paying attention,” you say with a smirk.
Just then, you both hear a groan from your bunk. Echo seems to be regaining consciousness. You and Crosshair quickly disentangle yourselves, but not before you softly kiss his cheek and thank him for helping you.
“Speaking of help, you should see how he’s doing,” Crosshair says before getting to his feet. You remind him to wash his hands as he leaves the bunks.
You slowly stand and move over to sit on the edge of your bunk. You take Echo’s pulse again, and upon finding that it’s back to normal, you breathe a sigh of relief.
You’re mildly startled when you hear him weakly say your name. He sits up and immediately notices your bandages.
“What the hell happened to you?” he asks, suddenly fully aware of himself and everything around him.
“Droid took a shot at you while you were out, I pushed you out of the way and took the hit,” you say.
“Seriously?” he asks, sounding shocked.
“I’d do it again too,” you say, taking his hand.
“Even after everything I said to you?” he says.
“Despite everything you said,” you say, smiling softly at him.
“I’ve been an idiot,” he says, looking away from you.
“Hey, you’re the one who said it, not me,” you say with a small laugh.
“You’re not supposed to agree with me,” Echo says, rolling his eyes and making you laugh harder.
This causes a twinge of pain in your side, and you grimace as you get to your feet. You stumble, but Echo is quickly standing before you, steadying you by the shoulders. You gratefully thank him. He carefully lets you go, and when you’re able to stand on your own, he moves toward the main area of the ship.
“You coming?” he asks, noticing that you haven’t followed him.
“Yeah, I just need to put these away,” you say with a smirk as you gesture to your breasts, which are covered only by a binder made of thin fabric. Echo laughs, then continues out of the bunks.
You’re alone for the first time since you had that bizarre moment back here a few hours ago. You sigh, staring into space, then gently brush your fingers against your cheek, mimicking the sensation you’d felt earlier. You close your eyes and whisper Fives’ name, asking if he can hear you, but you feel and hear nothing. You open your eyes again, then shake your head as you retrieve a clean undershirt and carefully pull it on, avoiding your injury as you do so.
Sufficiently covered up, you leave the bunks and join the others, coming to a stand beside Echo. As you do, you see the General handing Wrecker what looks like a self-destruct button.
You shake your head, but smile as Wrecker says “This is the happiest day of my life,” and hits the button.
Through the windows in the cockpit, you all watch as Trench’s dreadnought violently explodes, taking the other Separatist ships in his fleet with it.
With everyone else distracted, you take this as a perfect opportunity to get Echo’s attention by tapping his shoulder. You pull him close, and kiss him deeply.
—
A few hours after you all return to Anaxes, you’re walking back toward the Marauder alongside Kix.
“I don’t know why you had me look you over, you did everything right,” he says.
“Can’t be too careful,” you say.
Kix shakes his head at you.
You’re both within a few dozen yards of the ship, and Kix comes to a stop. He claps your shoulder once and says “It’s been good to see you. Try not to be such a stranger.”
You chuckle at him. “That depends entirely on wherever I wind up,” you say.
He blinks at you, confused. “Are you saying you won’t come back with him?” Kix says, looking over your shoulder.
You shrug, and can’t help but laugh when the confusion on his face deepens.
He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You have such a bad habit of putting off important decisions, you drive me crazy,” he says, sounding tired, but not bitter.
“Yeah, I know,” you say, sounding just as tired.
“Well, it looks like your time is running out,” Kix says, glancing over your shoulder again. You turn around to see what he’s looking at and find Echo approaching you. Kix says a final goodbye and leaves the two of you alone.
You and Echo meet each other halfway, but say nothing. He takes your hand and you lead him back over to the Marauder, where the rest of your squad, Rex, Cody, and Generals Windu, Kenobi, and Skywalker are waiting. Upon reaching them, you free Echo’s hand and take a few steps toward the back of the group, knowing he’d be the center of attention for a little while and not wanting to get in the way.
As you come to a stop, General Windu recites everyone’s names and rank, saying that you each have medals coming your way. “Even you,” he says, nodding in your direction.
“Me? But, Sir, I-I’m just a contractor,” you say, surprised and flustered by the attention.
“A contractor who’s done great service to the Republic,” General Kenobi adds.
“Oh, w-wow, thank you! I’m honored,” you say, stumbling over your words.
With that, the Generals and Cody take their leave. Rex automatically follows them, and Echo gets a few steps away before looking back at you and your squad. “You aren’t coming?” he says, looking confused.
“Accolades,” Crosshair says, rolling his eyes.
“Not really our thing,” Tech adds, and Wrecker tells him that you’re just in it for the thrill. Echo glances over at you, as does everyone else.
“I’m just a contractor,” you repeat with a shrug.
“You sure it’s your thing?” Hunter asks, getting Echo’s attention.
“What do you mean?” he says, confusion deepening.
“Your path is different, like ours,” Hunter says, jerking his head back at everyone beside him. “If you ever feel like you don’t fit in with them, well, find us,” he says.
Echo catches your eye again, and you reluctantly walk over to him. “Aren’t you coming with me?” he asks.
You glance between him and your squad and sigh. “These di’kuts won’t last a day without supervision,” you say. “I’m sorry, Echo. We’ve been through too much for me to leave them now,” you continue. The look of shock and hurt that crosses his face makes the pain in your side feel small in comparison to the pain in your chest. “Listen to me, please don’t let me stop you from doing whatever you want,” you say, sadly but firmly, before hugging Echo tightly to you, injury be damned.
He takes a step back and whispers your name. You look expectantly over at him. He grips one of your hands with his, even resting his scomp link against your palm. “I love you,” he says, pressing his forehead into yours.
Through tears you didn’t realize were falling, you giggle and tell him that you know. You give him a soft kiss and tell him to stay safe, then take a few steps back, releasing him as you go.
Echo just stares at you for a moment, and the conflict he’s feeling rushes over you like a sudden downpour, and your mind buzzes so intensely that it almost hurts. After another second, he turns and goes to follow Rex, who’s waiting for him a few yards away. You watch him walk away, and as much as it eats away at you, you know in your gut that you’ve made the right decision.
As Echo and Rex appear to be talking out of earshot, Crosshair moves beside you and laces his fingers with yours. You gratefully squeeze his hand and hold back more tears, not wanting to make a scene. With your free hand, you wipe at your eyes, then do a double take when you notice that Echo has turned around and is walking back over.
Crosshair squeezes your hand, then nudges you forward. “Go on,” he whispers, so only you can hear him. You glance up at him, and when he nods, you retrieve your hand and dash over to Echo, nearly bowling him over as you cling to him, tears running freely down your face.
He holds you just as close and kisses you deeply. The buzzing in your mind returns full-force before an immense wave of relief washes over you, intense enough to almost make you stumble.
“Get a room you two,” someone says, and you break apart to find Rex standing closer than he was earlier, smirking. You roll your eyes at him, but walk the few steps over to him, hugging him tightly.
“I’m sorry,” he says, quiet enough that only you can hear him.
“Yeah,” you say, swallowing hard. “Me too.”
You step apart, and Echo walks over to your side, holding your hand tightly with his remaining one. He abruptly stands straight, saluting his former Captain, and when you glance back, the others are doing the same. Rex returns the gesture, and you bow your head at him before he turns around and leaves the area.
You and Echo watch him go for a moment, then you lead him back towards the ship. Once there, he and Crosshair stare each other down, and you brace yourself, not knowing what to expect. red
“You know,” Crosshair says, “You’re not too bad. For a Reg.”
Echo rolls his eyes. “Yeah yeah, I’ll hold off on kicking your ass. For now,” he says, and they both smirk at each other.
Hunter approaches and clears his throat, grabbing your attention. “Okay, I don’t know about you three,” he says, “But I think I’m going to cash in some of my leave. You’re exhausting.”
“Sorry Sarge, but it looks like you’ll have to get used to it,” Echo says, still smirking. Wrecker laughs as Hunter mumbles something under his breath and rubs at his temples.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The morning sun shines gently across your face, the mild heat waking you up. You blink a few times and yawn. You stretch, and enjoy the fact that the hotel bed you’re in is large enough for you to do so without bumping your elbows or head into anything. You sit up, and your back crackles as you do. You look around the room, eventually focusing on the man asleep next to you. It seems that your movements haven’t woken him. You smile softly and lie back down next to Echo.
Unable to help yourself, you scoot forward a little and press a soft kiss to his lips. You’re mildly startled when he reciprocates, wrapping his arm around your waist and pulling you closer. The kiss grows heated, and you snake your arms around his back, holding him tightly to you.
You shift your weight, and are able to roll onto your back while keeping him on top of you, your legs entangling with his. He breaks away and leans onto his elbows, caging you beneath him. You reach up and softly cup his cheek with a hand and he sighs, noticeably relaxing into your touch and whispering your name. Your heart soars, and you move your hand to the back of his head, abruptly pulling him back down towards you and crashing your lips into his.
After a few seconds, you break away for air and he moves to your neck, gently nipping at the delicate skin there. You sigh his name.
“I’ve missed you so fucking much, Echo,” you say, and he hums against your throat.
Propping himself back up, Echo softly kisses your lips before speaking. “I dreamt of us. Of you. The entire time,” he says. “It’s like I was never really alone.”
You swallow back an unexpected lump in your throat, but he sees the subtle change in your eyes. He sits back and grips your hand, pulling you up into a sitting position.
“I still can’t really believe that you were alive that whole time,” you whisper. “If I’d known-” you start to say, but Echo cuts you off.
“Don’t,” he says firmly. “Don’t do that to yourself. Nothing that happened to me is your fault,” he continues. He goes to grip your shoulder, but kind of awkwardly pokes you with his scomp instead. He curses and tries to pull away, but you stop him, surprising him by gently holding it to your chest. You lean forward and press your forehead into his, and you both close your eyes, breathing one another in.
You softly say his name and he hums in response. “Remember when you asked me why I was so insistent we come to the capital?”
“That was just three days ago, I’d hope I could remember something that recent. But yeah, what about it?” he says.
You sit back, now holding his scomp with both hands and absentmindedly looking it over. “I want to do something for you. When I went to give my mission report after we brought you back, I asked General Skywalker something,” you say.
“And how does anything about him relate to me?” Echo asks, confused.
“Did you know he’s also missing a hand?” you say.
“I never saw it, but that's fairly common knowledge,” he replies.
“Well, I asked, and he told me he built his own cybernetic, but said that there’s someone he’ll go to here every now and then,” you continue. “I contacted her while we were on the way,” you say.
“You’re not-” Echo starts to say, sounding incredulous.
You cut him off. “I am, and you won’t stop me,” you say, your voice now just as firm as his was a few minutes ago.
“No, I know I won’t,” he says with a shake of his head. “You’re still just as stubborn as ever, aren’t you?”
You release his scomp and lean forward, kissing his cheek. “Yep!” you say with a smile. “Now get dressed, she’s expecting us to come in before lunch,” you continue, turning your back to him and swinging your legs off the bed.
Just as you move to stand, Echo wraps his remaining arm around your waist and pulls you backward, making you fall face up into his lap. He shifts so that he’s laying on his side, then scoots himself so he’s practically on top of you. “Just five more minutes,” he murmurs into your ear. “It’s been so long since I’ve been able to just lay around with you, let me enjoy this,” he says.
You sigh exaggeratedly, but humor him, also turning over onto your side. “Alright, fine. Five minutes. But not a second more,” you say.
Echo hums, content, and buries his face in your chest, making you laugh.
—
The next thing you know, there’s knocking at your room door. You sit up, confused by the noticeably different angle of sunlight shining into the room. Echo sits up with a yawn, and when he also hears the knocking, shares a glance with you. You sigh heavily, then swing your legs over the edge of the bed before quickly making your way to the door. On the way, you realize that you’re barely dressed; in fact you’re wearing little more than panties and an almost entirely see-through tank top that leaves nothing to the imagination, but you answer the knocking anyway.
The door slides open and it’s Hunter. Unable to help himself, his eyes roam your body, and when you pointedly clear your throat he catches himself and quickly stares at a point just over your shoulder.
“Yes?” you ask, crossing your arms and cocking your head at him with a smirk, more amused than annoyed.
“Sorry, Meds, just uh, wondering what you’re still doing here. Don’t you have to meet somebody?” he says.
You take a look at the chrono on your wrist and curse. “Shit, we were supposed to be there an hour ago,” you say, loudly enough for Echo to hear you and also curse. You give Hunter a quick thanks before the door abruptly slides shut and you dash back toward the bed.
You dive for a large canvas bag, filled with your clothes and other things, and dig around for something to wear. Echo quickly dresses into his full kit and leans on the wall nearby, watching you with a soft expression. You finally find a bra and underwear in the same color, then grab a long yellow sundress just underneath a pair of socks.
You whip your tank top off, and Echo wolf-whistles at you. Caught off guard, you stand and stare at him until he takes a few steps toward you, then rests his remaining hand on your hip, unabashedly looking you up and down. You wave a hand in his face, exasperated, and remind him that you’re both running late.
“So?” he says, smirking at you and pulling you closer.
You huff at him, but chuckle. “You’ll have me all to yourself once we get back,” you say, pecking his cheek.
Echo takes his hand back and gives you room to change with a shake of his head. “I’m gonna hold you to that, you know,” he says.
You pull the dress over your shoulders, then shake your head and pat your hair back into place. Now that you’re properly dressed, you take your turn to approach Echo and hold him by the hips. “Oh, I’m counting on it,” you purr, and he kisses you.
Before you two get too wrapped up in each other, you step backwards and dig through the bag again, eventually finding a pair of brown sandals and stepping into them. You catch his eye and twirl around once, giggling and making the skirt gracefully flare out around your legs. Echo just kind of stares at you, but before you can ask him what’s up, he walks back to you, takes you by the shoulders and kisses you deeply, leaving you breathless.
“You’re still just as beautiful as the day I left,” he says in a soft whisper, pressing his forehead into yours. Your heart flutters at his words.
Before you can respond, the chrono on your wrist chimes the hour and you curse again. “Alright lover boy,” you say, taking his hand and leading him to the door. “We really need to get going,” you continue as the door slides open.
“I really don’t get a say in this, do I?” he asks, shaking his head a little.
“Nope, my mind’s been made up for weeks,” you respond, power-walking down the hallway toward the hotel lobby.
On the way out, you pass Tech and Wrecker and wave at them without stopping, calling “running late, sorry!” over your shoulder as you go. You don’t overhear Wrecker not-so-quietly asking Tech if you’d always been that pretty, but Echo does. He glances over at them, raising an eyebrow.
“What? I didn’ mean anythin’ by it,” Wrecker says with a shrug.
“It is a simple statement of fact,” Tech says, adjusting his goggles before returning his attention to his data pad.
Echo can’t help but chuckle at them as he jogs after you. They aren’t wrong.
—
When Echo finds you outside, you’re waiting for him next to a taxi. As he walks up, the driver, an old Duros man, spots him.
“Is
he
coming with you?” he asks, and you hear the disdain in his voice.
You stand up straight, squaring your shoulders, staring into his red eyes. “Yes,” you say tersely.
“Look sweet cheeks, I’ll take you anywhere you want, but that
thing
ain’t coming anywhere near my cab,” the driver says.
You feel Echo prickle behind you, but hold up a hand and stop him. You take a few steps closer to the open-roofed speeder, hands on your hips. “Let me make some things clear to you
sir
,” you say, sarcastically using the title. “I’m not going three feet down the sidewalk with you, and if you disrespect him like that again, I will make you regret it,” you continue.
Even without Sensitivity, Echo could feel the barely-contained anger emanating off you; he’s startled by it. He touches your shoulder with his scomp and quietly says, “it’s fine, let’s just-” before the driver interrupts him.
“Ha! That ain’t even a whole man!” the driver said before laughing loudly.
Before either of them can react, you grab your blaster out of your bag and point it at the cabbie, barely controlling your breathing. The man’s volume has attracted some attention, but you don’t notice. He sees your blaster and laughs harder.
“You even know how to use that, little girl?” he sneers.
You try to step forward again, but Echo grabs your shoulder with his remaining hand, holding you back. “Please, just let it go,” he says, and you can hear how upset he’s been made by the whole exchange. You take a deep breath, relax your body, and turn to walk away, lowering your blaster. As you do, the driver decides to push his luck.
“Come find me when his battery runs out, babygirl,” he shouts after you.
You stop, turn on your heel, and fire your blaster at him, the sudden noise dispersing most of the onlookers quickly. You stow your blaster back into your bag and march towards the taxi. Bracing yourself by holding your hands against the body of the vehicle, you lean across it, glowering at the driver. He looks frantically between you and the scorch mark on the headrest of his seat, only inches from the side of his head.
“What do you know, I do know how to use that thing, old man. Now, I suggest you get the fuck out of here and pray that I never see you again,” you say, venom dripping from your words despite your eerie calmness.
You don’t have to tell him twice. The moment your hands leave the speeder, he takes off, yelling “Bucket fucker!” over his shoulder as he goes.
“Asshole,” you mutter under your breath, then turn around to see the main entry door to the hotel closing behind Echo. You pinch the bridge of your nose and curse. Looking around, there are still a few people loitering about and staring at you. You grit your teeth, ignoring them and whatever else is shouted at you, following him inside.
—
After glancing around the lobby, you look through the large, wall-sized window on the far side of the room and see that Echo is in the courtyard, along with the rest of your squad. You curse under your breath and jog over to the door.
It slides open and Hunter walks over, questioning you immediately and
demanding to know what the hell just happened. As you try to steady your trembling hands, you quickly report the encounter.
“You missed?” Crosshair says, smirking at you.
“If I did, it would’ve hit him,” you say, also smirking. Crosshair seems almost impressed. “And for the record,” you continue, looking at everyone else, “It was set to stun.”
Echo, seated on a bench nearby, stares at you and shakes his head. “You didn’t need to do that,” he says quietly, his gaze moving from your face to the duracrete floor under his feet.
Still rattled, you’re about to defend yourself, but take a moment to calm down first. Unconsciously, you shut your eyes and kind of “scan” the room, your mind buzzing as disbelief and confusion, but most prominently, self-loathing and shame, roll over you. You know who it’s coming from and your heart hurts for him. You take a deep breath and open your eyes, then make your way over to Echo and hunker down on the floor, looking up at him while you gently hold onto his knees.
“You’re right,” you say, matter of factly, getting his attention. “I let my anger get the better of me, and I didn’t consider what you needed. I’m sorry,” you continue, speaking softly.
To your surprise, Echo laughs at you, just a little. “You get that on camera, Tech?” he says, glancing over. Tech nods. “Good,” Echo says. “Now there’s a record of you admitting you were wrong,” he continues, smirking at you as Crosshair snickers in the background.
You roll your eyes, then move to sit on the bench beside Echo. “Oh haha. I’m being serious here,” you say, taking hold of his hand. “It won’t happen again.”
“It had better not,” Hunter says, his tone stern. “The last thing we need is to bail you out of jail.”
You chuckle. “Fox and the rest of the Corries are too busy with more important things,” you say, then sigh. “Yes sir,” you say, speaking seriously.
“Weren’t you two runnin’ late for something?” Wrecker asks.
You curse under your breath as you take a look at the chrono on your wrist, then at Echo. “That depends,” you say. “What do you want to do?” you ask him.
“Well, it is the entire reason we’re here,” he says after a moment of thought. “I don’t think she’ll see us, being so late, but we could at least try,” he says with a half shrug.
You grip his hand a little tighter, asking if he’s sure. He nods, then stands and pulls you to your feet. “What’ll you guys be doing?” he says, looking over at everyone else.
“I’ll be sleeping as long as I kriffing can,” Hunter says with a yawn.
“I am implementing a modification to the ship,” Tech says, staring at his data pad, as always. Wrecker says he’ll probably wind up following Tech around, and Crosshair doesn’t say anything.
Satisfied, you lead Echo back through the lobby and into the street outside. This time, thankfully, you’re able to get a taxi that’ll take the both of you without any fuss.
—
You tell the cabbie where to go, and once the speeder is moving, you feel Echo’s eyes on you. You glance over and find him staring, his expression unreadable.
“What?” you ask, feeling a little self-conscious.
He just shakes his head at you with a small sigh. “I’m just wondering who that was back there. I mean, you’ve never been one to take shit, but I’ve never seen you get that angry about it, it’s so unlike you. Obviously something’s changed. What the hell have you been through while I was gone?” he asks.
You blink a few times, surprised by how direct he’s being with you. He’s right, too. Before everything fell apart, you would’ve just cursed at the old man and walked away, leaving it at that. Your mind races as you wonder what else has changed about you that you aren’t conscious of.
Echo nudges your side, pulling you out of your thoughts as he says your name. “You okay?” he asks. You nod at him, then take a moment to think about everything you’d gone through. You heave a tired sigh, and when Echo takes your hand into his, you start talking.
“Watching the literal exact copies of someone you love die over and over despite what you do to stop it will really shift your perspective. I always knew what happened out on the battlefield, but I never really
knew
until I experienced it myself,” you say quietly.
“Back on Anaxes, before you and I were able to talk, Rex and Kix told me you practically demanded to go out into the field,” Echo says, matching your low volume. “I keep thinking about it and I just can’t come up with why,” he says.
You take a deep breath in an attempt to keep yourself calm, but your hands tremble. “I was… angry,” you say. “When you’d gone, I didn't leave the apartment for nearly a week. I felt hopeless. It wasn’t like that with Fives. I was only out for one day, and even then that’s only because Kix insisted on it. I just kept thinking about you, and Fives, and the more I did, the angrier I got.”
“Really?” he says, sounding surprised.
“Yeah. I was too far away to help you. There was nothing I could have done for Fives. I was sick and tired of being there too late to make a difference,” you say, your voice shaking.
“You honestly thought you weren’t making a difference?” Echo says, surprising you when he sounds irritated.
You look over at him, your eyes tearing up, and nod.
“That might be the dumbest thing you’ve ever said,” he says flatly. Your jaw drops and your eyes widen.
Echo says your name. “I told you before the last mission, you matter and you’ve made more of a difference than you think. Again, maybe not on a galactic scale, but you have. You still are. I won’t pretend to understand what that was like for you to lose so many men. But you didn’t lose
all
of them. Are you really going to look me in the eye and tell me that the men you could save don’t fucking matter?” Echo says, speaking firmly while looking you in the eye.
You suddenly, intensely, feel two things at once: guilt and shame. You look away from him and fidget with the strap of your bag. “I… I never thought about it that way,” you say in a voice so soft Echo can barely hear you. “Makes me sound like a bit of an asshole when you put it like that,” you say.
Echo is still watching you, but the hard look in his eyes has softened. “Nobody knows how easy it is to focus on what you’ve lost more than me. Does it bother me that I’m missing three fuckin’ limbs? Of course it does. But I still have this one,” Echo says, releasing your hand and wrapping said arm around your shoulders and pulling you close to him. “And even if I didn’t, I got my life back. I got
you
back. That more than makes up for what’s missing,” he continues.
You look back into Echo’s eyes and your mind buzzes again; you feel nothing but love and sincerity coming from him as he looks at you. You try to say something, but only a soft cry comes out. He turns himself towards you and you bury your face in the hollow of his shoulder, sobbing quietly. He holds you tighter.
After a minute or so, you pull yourself back together and sit back up, wiping at your eyes with a humorless laugh. “Well, completely wrong or not, that’s how I felt. I let the anger motivate me. I was so determined not to lose anyone else, I thought that being able to reach someone right away would, I don’t know, change the odds a little bit. I was wrong,” you say, sniffling a little.
You take a second to clear your throat before speaking again. “After I lost you, being back here on Coruscant in the GAR headquarters, every soldier I looked at… it was like seeing a ghost. After Fives, well… it got so much worse. I wasn’t just losing men out there. I was losing the both of you, over and over again,” you say quietly.
“I’m so sorry cyar’ika,” Echo says, holding you a little tighter, but you stop him with a shake of your head.
“Don’t. Nothing that happened to me was your fault. Don’t do that to yourself,” you say.
“Well, that sounds familiar, doesn’t it?” Echo says, trying not to smirk at the way you had unconsciously repeated what he said to you earlier today.
You exaggeratedly roll your eyes, then pause in thought for a few seconds again.
“I tried,” you say. “I tried so goddamn hard to push through my own feelings and fears and do whatever was needed of me, but eventually, it all wore me down. I seriously considered just deserting and running away at the end. I told Kix that, and he told me about them,” you say, glancing behind you, even though the hotel was now miles away.
You pause for a few seconds, then continue speaking. “When Kix told me about Fives, I fainted. Just before though, with my vision fading out, he looked just like you. The last thing I remember before waking up in the medical center a few hours later is asking him why you all had to look the fucking same,” you say.
You can tell that Echo wants to ask how that relates to Clone Force 99, but he stays quiet, allowing you to speak at your own pace.
“I told Kix I couldn’t do it anymore, I was too burnt out. He pulled up a file on the guys and they each looked so
different
. They needed a medic, and I needed a drastic change. We both got what we needed, I think. I lost track of how long I’ve been in the squad since then. And it did help. More than they probably realize,” you say, smiling softly. Echo studies your face, still listening patiently.
“Maker, it was hard sometimes,” you continue. “Cross being such a dick certainly didn’t help,” you say, rolling your eyes.
Echo frowns at you. “Hunter said you two would ‘butt heads’ a lot,” he says.
“That’s one word for it,” you say with a soft chuckle.
“What changed?” Echo asks, and you hesitate, not sure how to respond. You glance at the driver, whom you know is only listening because of the enclosed small space. “I’d rather not get into it here,” you say. Echo also takes a look at the driver, then makes a sound akin to ‘fair enough’.
“I couldn’t figure out what his problem was, until Hunter told me while you were recovering that I was the only medic they’ve ever had stick around for more than two weeks,” you say. “I’m like the sixth they’ve had this cycle, so I guess Cross didn’t expect me to be there for too long. Good Maker, there were a few times I wanted to just walk away, but I always decided not to give him the satisfaction of getting to me,” you say.
“But he did, didn’t he? Tech showed me that too. What happened In the briefing room and outside of Purkoll,” Echo says.
You snicker a little. “Yeah, well, it seems like I should have snapped on him sooner; he’s still an ass, but it’s bearable now,” you say.
“That’s one way to describe it,” Echo mumbles, looking down at the floor of the speeder.
You feel a twinge of jealousy coming from him, which isn’t surprising, but you don’t know how to react to it, unconsciously rubbing at the faded mark Crosshair had left on your neck. You knew Echo had seen it, but neither of you have said anything about it.
Echo sighs, and looks back at you. Seeing how nervous his comment had made you, he says your name. “I shouldn’t put you on the spot like that, sorry,” he says. “You didn’t want him to get the satisfaction of wearing you down enough to leave,” he continues, steering the conversation back on track.
“Right, yeah,” you say awkwardly, clearing your throat before continuing to talk. “More important than that though, if I had left, I wouldn’t be here with you right now. Hell, it’s very likely that I never would’ve even found out what happened to you,” you say. “It’s like a perfect storm of everything going wrong in just the right way,” you say, trailing off.
“And the cabbie?” Echo says.
“Oh damn, that’s what we were talking about,” you say. You sigh again. “After everything I’ve seen, and everything you and all your brothers have gone through, hearing that asshole say what he did…” you pause, trying to keep yourself calm. “None of you deserve that, but especially not you, Echo,” you say, taking his hand again.
“He made the same mistake Crosshair did,” you continue. Echo looks confused, so you clarify: “It’s such a stupid cliche, but, someone can talk shit about me all they want, it won’t bother me. Go after someone I love? Well, that does bother me, to put it politely. More than that though, these civilians have no idea what kind of hell you’ve each been put through. Someone has to stand up for you all. Does that make any sense?” you say.
Echo doesn’t say anything, instead responding by nodding and pulling you close again and pressing his forehead into yours.
The two of you sat like that, breathing each other in, though not for too long, as the taxi soon comes to a stop and the driver tells you that you’ve arrived. You reluctantly sit back, pulling away from Echo. You go into your bag for the credits you owe the driver and try to hand it to them, but they refuse to take it.
“Sorry to eavesdrop on you two,” they say. “But if even half of what you said back there is true, I think you’ve earned at least one free ride,” they say, softly smiling at the two of you.
“Oh, no, you really don’t have to-,” you say, but they hold up a tendril and stop you.
“No ma’am I don’t, but I want to and I’m going to. I’ve been driving around this town for a long time, too long maybe, and I’ve overheard some wild things,” they say, glancing between you and Echo. “But you two? That’s something special. Don’t lose it,” they say.
You both try to thank the driver but they just wave it off and shoo you out of their speeder. Before you exit, though, you take the credits you still have in your hand and leave them sitting out prominently on the backseat. You watch the cab depart with a smirk, knowing that the driver will find them later.
“You know,” Echo says, taking your hand into his. “I think that made up for the other guy, don’t you?”
You nod in agreement, then glance around the area. It was a long drive to get here, and you know you’ve never been in this part of Coruscant before. The sidewalks are in poor repair, and the facades of most buildings are faded and worn down. Shops and alleyways compete for space, and the block you two are on is noticeably more cramped than the others.
Echo side-eyes you. “Uh, are you sure this is the right place?” he says. You dig through your bag and retrieve the now crumpled up piece of flimsi General Skywalker had given you.
“Myrr’s Cybernetic Chop Shop,” you read off, glancing between the note and the building in front of you. The same name is haphazardly written in faded red paint over a small doorway. You stuff the flimsi back into your bag. “Yeah, this seems to be it,” you say. “How the General found this place is beyond me though,” you say with a shake of your head.
You walk from the curb to the door with Echo following close behind. The door stutters open, and you two exchange an uneasy glance before stepping inside.
—
Once you both are inside, you quietly look around the room, but find yourselves overwhelmed by the sheer volume of
stuff
filling the place. There’s hardly a single space of blank wall or clear, uncluttered surface. The walls are covered in schematics and blueprints that look hand-drawn and there are scattered peg boards with a myriad of what you imagine to be very specialized tools up as well.
The shelves, table tops, and even a portion of the floor are overcrowded with toolboxes and containers of varying sizes and shapes, each one labeled in green ink. You wonder what a “micro crystal bug plant pin” is as you scan over them.
Pulling your attention back to the room at large, you find that even the ceiling is obscured by bundles of wire and hydraulic hoses of different sizes and types, with the lights dangling down almost at random and casting shadows at weird angles. The whole place smells like mineral oil and something metallic. What surprises you most, though, is that there isn’t a speck of dust or dirt on anything besides the cloudy window near the door.
“Good Maker,” you mumble. “This place puts Tech’s ‘organization’ to shame,” you say.
“Does it?” Echo asks, and you chuckle at him.
“You’ve only been with us for three days. Give it another week and you’ll see,” you say, then chance a few steps forward.
You can hear the high-pitched whirring of a stylus-sized drill, which you only recognize because Tech uses one that makes the same noise, coming from the other side of a standing shelf that looks like it’ll collapse under the weight of over a dozen haphazardly stacked metal limbs. You glance back at Echo, who seems just as taken aback by the state of it all as you are.
“Seems like the right place,” he says, still looking around the room.
You're about to respond when something heavy crashes to the floor, putting out a few sparks and making the lights overhead flicker. The sound of the drill suddenly stops and you hear a metallic screech as something is abruptly pushed out of place, and someone curses loudly.
“Dank Ferrik,” they half-shout, annoyed. “That’s the third time I’ve knocked that karking lamp down today!” The voice sounds female, though hoarse and tired.
Echo moves to stand closer to you, and you both exchange another glance before cautiously moving to the other side of the standing shelf. You find a few things; a heavy wood and durasteel workbench, also covered in random objects, and two figures. One seated on one side of the workbench with their back to you.
You recognize the second figure as Shalka Myrr, although the holonet image you’d seen is clearly out of date, as she had both of her organic eyes in the photo. Grumbling, the lean but obviously strong Zabrac woman straightens up with a broken spotlight lamp in her hands. She haphazardly tosses the object into another room behind her, then finally spots you and Echo.
She half-shouts something you don’t understand but recognize as a curse, startled. “How long have you two been in here?” she demands, her expression stony and suspicious.
“Sorry for the surprise,” you say.
“We just came through the door a minute or so ago, ma’am,” Echo says, speaking firmly, but respectfully.
“The damned chime must be broken again,” Myrr grumbles to herself. “Well? Ya gonna tell me who you are?” she continues, crossing her arms.
You notice that one of her arms is organic; the other is cybernetic and extends upwards past her shoulder. She has an organic eye on the same side as her organic arm, and the other eye is also cybernetic, though it’s a brilliant shade of blue, rather than white like all the others you’ve ever seen. She’s tall, but that may in part be due to the thick-soled black boots she’s wearing. She’s also sporting cargo pants made of a thick green material, and her white tank top is spotted with a few oddly-colored stains. She’s got thick brown leather gloves on as well. You see that she’s also filed her horns back down since the holonet photo was taken, though they’re partially obscured by what looks like high-magnification goggles resting on her forehead.
Before you can reply, a familiar voice says your name, and only a second later, General Skywalker pokes his head around the standing shelf. “I thought I recognized your voices,” he says. “Shalka, these are the two I was telling you about earlier,” he continues, looking toward her. She uncrosses her arms, but her suspicious expression doesn’t change.
“Sorry we’re so late,” you say sheepishly. “We overslept and had some, um, trouble with a taxi driver,” you continue, explaining yourself.
“Lemme guess, some asshole wouldn’t take him with you?” she asks, nodding at Echo, who shifts uneasily on his feet.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what happened,” you say.
“Disgusting. Don’t worry about being late. I’m running behind thanks to this guy anyway,” Myrr says, waving a hand at the General. “You’re lucky I’m not expecting anyone else today,” she continues, squinting at him. She returns to her seat at the workbench, and the General does the same. You and Echo take a few more cautious steps closer, not wanting to bump into anything and start a mechanical avalanche.
“So,” Myrr says after sucking her teeth. “He’s the Hero of Anaxes, eh?” she asks as she picks the drill back up and switches it on.
“I’m the what?” Echo says, taken aback.
“Yeah, Anakin here told me all about you. Sounds like you’ve really been dealt a losing hand, huh?” she says. Echo blinks at her.
“Ah, shit, that was a poor choice of words,” she mumbles, dragging a gloved hand down her face and smearing a little oil along her nose.
“I mean, you aren’t really wrong,” Echo says with a shrug. Myrr then laughs, the sound more akin to a bark than actual mirth. Echo then turns to General Skywalker and says “So I’m the ‘hero of Anaxes’ now?” with a smirk.
“Hey, I didn’t come up with the title,” the General says, speaking up a little over the whirring of the drill.
“Oh you are so so fulla crap,” Myrr says, pointing the drill at him. “He just told me otherwise about an hour ago,” she says.
“It’s true though,” he says. “We would have lost the entire sector if you hadn’t been there,” he says, looking proudly at Echo.
Echo glances over at you again, and neither of you know what to say. You slip your hand into his and run your thumb across his knuckles, which eases the anxiety you can faintly feel coming from him. He looks gratefully at you and gives your hand a slight squeeze in response. The two of you shift your attention back to Myrr, watching her work.
She changes out the drill for a soldering iron, leaning down as close as possible to what she was doing, apparently forgetting about the goggles, and she’s so focused you don’t think she realizes the tip of her tongue is poking out the corner of her mouth. Watching as she makes a few new connections, you can’t help but think of Tech again. No doubt he’d find this fascinating.
You clear your throat after a little while, and ask if you and Echo should reschedule.
“Don’t. Worry. About. That,” she says, punctuating each word with a touch of the soldering iron. “All I’ve gotta do now is put his plates back on, then he can get the hell away from me,” she says, and you can’t tell if she’s joking or not.
The General seems to know she’s not being serious though, and chuckles at her. “Aw, c’mon,” he says, smirking at her. “I thought I was your favorite,” he says.
“Ha!” Myrr bark-laughs again. “My favorite pain in the ass, maybe,” she says, and turns the final screw into the Generals cybernetic hand only moments later.
“I can live with that,” he says, still smirking. He pulls his hand back and flexes it, moving each finger and joint individually while Myrr watches. “It’s perfect,” General Skywalker says.
“Did you expect anything else?” Myrr retorts, getting to her feet. “I’ll be billing the GAR again this time?” she continues.
The General nods at her and gets to his feet as well.
“It better come through on time this time!” she says, wagging a finger in his direction, squinting at him again. “This place may be a scughole but I still gotta pay rent on it,” she continues.
You and Echo move aside as Myrr and the General walk over to a computer terminal near the door. Echo looks over at her and shakes his head, confusion evident on his face.
“I can’t get a read on her either,” you say quietly. “But I trust the General's judgment,” you continue.
Speaking of, you feel a light tap on your shoulder and turn to find him standing behind you. “I hope you didn’t forget, I still wanted to hear about what happened before the last mission,” he says.
You grimace a little. “Ah crap, I did, to be honest,” you say, awkwardly rubbing at the back of your neck.
At the same time, Myrr has returned to her seat at the workbench. “Oy, Hero, lemme take a look at ya,” she says, waving at Echo.
You squeeze his hand again and nod at him. He takes a deep breath and moves away, sitting where the General was only moments ago.
“I’ve sort of had my hands full,” you say softly, nodding at Echo.
“On top of the other four, right?” The General says sympathetically.
“You have no idea sir,” you say with a chuckle. “Can we talk outside?” you ask.
General Skywalker nods and says “Make sure to tell her what you need first. I’ll be just outside of the door.”
As he walks away, you slide your way over to the workbench, resting a hand on Echo’s shoulder.
“So,” Myrr says, “whatcha need from me?”
“Well,” you say, speaking thoughtfully. “I originally was thinking just a hand to replace the scomp,” you say, getting Echo’s attention.
“It’s come in handy though,” he says, completing your thought for you.
“So, you want both?” Myrr says, frowning and leaning back with her arms crossed.
“If it’s even possible,” Echo says.
Myrr leans forward again and sighs. “Hard to say. I’ve never done anything like that before. It’ll be a long and complicated build,” she says.
“I have almost ninety-thousand credits, and I’ll give you every single one if that’s what it takes,” you say, speaking decisively and ignoring the look of shock on Echo’s face.
Myrr genuinely laughs this time. She says something else you don’t understand and shakes her head. “Good maker lady, I could rebuild all of his limbs entirely for that much. And even if I couldn’t, I ain’t charging you a damn cent,” she says.
Now it’s your turn to look shocked. “Really? Why not?” you ask, incredulous.
“Firstly,” Myrr says, getting to her feet and edging past you. “The clones only exist to fight,” she continues. She searches a wall-sized shelving unit and gathers an armful of tools and small boxes. “You boys go through more than your fair share of bullshit out there,” she says, moving past you again. “Least I could do is fix ya up. Yeah, the GAR does too, but you’re getting bare bones from their cheap asses,” she says, dumping the items in her arms onto the workbench. “They’ll keep ya just well enough to go die for ‘em,” she says with a scoff.
“Secondly,” Myrr says, sitting back down again. “I know you boys don’t get paid anything, which is a crock of bantha shit if you ask me, so I’m not gonna ask for something I know you don’t have.” She glances over at you and continues, “You may have money but as long as I’m just workin’ on him I don’t want any of it, and you ain’t gonna argue with me on that, got it?”
Stunned, you simply nod.
“Good,” she says. She pushes the pile of stuff she just retrieved to the side and fishes a large sheet of thick flimsi out from the depths of her workspace and spreads it across the workbench.
“And finally,” she says, now haphazardly opening drawers and digging through nearby boxes, “I like a challenge. Plus, on the off chance I fuck it up it won’t cost you anything,” she concludes.
“W-wow. I don’t know how to thank you Ms Myrr,” you say.
She crosses her arms again and raises an eyebrow at you. “Ms Myrr has been dead for eight years, it’s Shalka. And you don’t gotta thank me. I’m just doin’ what any decent sentient should do,” she says. “But, if ya could do me one favor?” she says, still looking around.
“Yeah, of course,” you say.
“Can I bum a stylus off you?” she says with an aggravated sigh.
“Oh!” you say. You weren’t sure what you were expecting her to ask for, but something that simple wasn’t it. “Sure, I’ve got a few in my bag,” you say, digging through it and handing Shalka two new black ones.
“Consider us even then,” Shalka says, and for a brief moment you could swear she had smiled at you. “Alright Hero, I’mma need some measurements from you,” she says, returning her focus onto Echo, who had watched the whole exchange with just as much surprise as you had felt.
You moved closer to him and kissed his cheek. “The General wanted to speak to me,” you tell him.
“What for?” he asks.
“Whatever happened to me back in the bunks before that last mission, he could Sense it,” you say. “I’m guessing he’s going to ask what happened,” you continue with a shrug.
“What did happen back there? I never got a chance to ask you,” he says.
You hesitate for a brief second, and hope he didn’t notice, then say “I’ll tell you back in our room, okay?”
“I’ll add it to the list,” he says with a smirk.
“I’ll be right outside the door if you need me for anything,” you say.
“What, you afraid I’m gonna eat him or somethin’?” Shalka says with a smirk of her own. You just chuckle and continue towards the door.
When it slides open and you step outside, true to his word, General Skywalker is standing only a few feet away under a tattered canopy. You take a deep, steadying breath, then approach him.
—
The General perks up the slightest bit when you walk over, which you notice.
“This interests you that much, huh General?” you ask.
“The Force is constantly growing and evolving, just like we are. Who wouldn’t be interested in something completely new?” he says.
“Completely new?” you repeat. “How can you be so sure about that sir? I haven’t told you what happened yet,” you say.
“I told you back on the ship, I could feel it. There’s still a lot of things I haven’t experienced yet, and whatever that was is one of them,” he says, leaning back against the wall as he speaks.
“I guess that makes sense,” you say, feeling uncertain.
“I can sense your doubt,” he says. He lowers his voice but continues to talk, saying “You don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to, you do know that, right?”
“Yes sir, I know,” you say.
“I’ll give you a second to gather your thoughts,” he says, and you thank him.
After about a minute, you start speaking, telling him everything that happened after you closed the bunk room door behind yourself. You kind of gloss over how angry you had been after arguing with Rex, and thankfully General Skywalker didn’t ask about it.
“Suddenly I lost all of my energy, like it had been vacuumed right out of my body. I kind of plopped into the floor, and after a few seconds, I heard his voice in my head,” you say quietly. “Fives,” you added, before he could ask. “I’d closed my eyes, and I could feel him, like he was actually there with me, flesh and blood just like you,” you continue. “He touched my cheek,” you say, unconsciously mimicking the motion before falling silent for a moment.
General Skywalker listens carefully, allowing you to take as much time as you need to get it all out. When you do speak again, your eyes are glassy and you sound far away.
“I was so confused, so scared. I kind of slumped forward and he caught me. I knew it wasn’t possible, but I also know, the way I know my own name, that he was really there and holding me. The room was so cold, but he was so warm. I asked out loud what happened to him, why he had to leave me,” you say, pausing to clear your throat.
“And the next time he spoke, it wasn’t in my head. I could actually hear him, his voice even sounded slightly different because of the small space we were in. I felt his breath on my skin,” you say.
You pause again, this time trying to fight away an unwanted lump in your throat. “I was so startled, I opened my eyes, and the very moment I did, he was gone. I was alone in the cold and dim bunks like nothing had happened,” you say, ending your story.
General Skywalker is quiet for a long time, longer than he was when you first asked him about the dream you shared with Echo, and you find yourself getting nervous.
“You’re absolutely sure you weren’t hallucinating? That can happen under extreme stress,” he eventually says.
You shake your head. “I know it as a
fact
, sir. I just don't know how,” you say, speaking firmly.
“If that’s true, and I’m going to assume it is since you have no reason to lie to me, I have no clue what that could be,” he says.
You barely hold back a disappointed sigh. “I didn’t expect you to know to be honest,” you say softly. “I tried searching on the holonet but couldn’t find anything. I was thinking that maybe the Jedi library, or archives, or whatever you call it may have something, but I know I can’t get inside,” you say.
“I’m surprised you didn’t ask Tech to get the data for you,” he says, sounding somewhat amused.
“Could he do that if I had?” you ask, and General Skywalker laughs while shaking his head. “Just as well that I didn’t then,” you say. “Honestly, the thought never occurred to me. And even if it had, I wouldn’t-,” you say, then abruptly stop yourself, which of course grabs his attention.
“You wouldn’t what?” he asks, pushing himself away from the wall and standing up straight. “Does anyone else know that you’re Sensitive?” he says.
“No, not really,” you say, shuffling on your feet.
“Not really?” he repeats. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he says.
“I’ve mentioned the dream thing to Rex once after it happened again. I saw the meeting where Echo talked to you before the mission on Anaxes,” you say, quickly explaining. “And Echo knows about the dreams too, but that’s all,” you say defensively.
“It doesn’t have to be a secret,” he says, concerned. “Is there any reason you haven’t told anyone besides me?” he asks.
You shift your weight between your feet again. “It’s hard to explain. When I left your office after I first asked you about the dreams, I got a sudden and intense feeling, almost like someone was shouting at me, to keep this to myself,” you say.
“That’s odd,” he says thoughtfully. “My only real concern is how you’ll keep it from your squad, especially Echo,” he says.
“That’s the thing, I don’t want to lie or keep anything from him. I don’t know what to do,” you say, sounding exhausted.
The General is quiet for a moment. “Well, the Jedi library is the most likely place to find what you’re looking for, but you’re right, you can’t get inside. Not on your own anyway,” he says. “I can arrange an escort to go with you tomorrow morning, if you’d like me to,” he says.
Your entire body and energy changes, and you light up at his words. “You’d do that for me?” you ask in disbelief.
“I would,” he says. “Besides, I’m just as invested in this as you are now,” he says with a chuckle.
The two of you quickly establish a meeting place and time for the next day, and once the plan is cemented, you thank General Skywalker over and over again for his help. Before you can repeat yourself any further, Shalka steps out of the door and gets your attention.
“Oy! Didja forget he’s still here?” She half-shouts. You glance over at the General, and he dismisses you with a relaxed wave. You thank him again, then jog over to meet Shalka at the door.
—
You follow her back inside and return to your place next to Echo. You can see that the blank flimsi is now scrawled over with what looks like measurements and material notes, but you aren’t really sure, her handwriting is terrible. There are a few hastily scribbled drawings scattered around the page as well, but it’s nothing you recognize.
Shalka takes her seat across from the two of you on the other side of her workbench. She leans back and stretches her arms out, groaning something else you don’t understand as her shoulders pop.
“Alright Sunshine,” she says, looking at you. You look confused and she gestures at your bright yellow dress. “Here’s what’ll be happening: It’s gonna be a big project, just like I thought it would be. You two shipping out anytime soon?” she asks.
Echo looks to you for an answer and you think for a moment. You had plenty of leave saved up but you weren’t sure about the rest of the squad. You dig the new commlink you bought yourself out of your bag and call Hunter.
“Meds? Something wrong? Where’s Echo?” he says, sleepy but concerned. You realize you probably woke him up and cringe at yourself.
“He’s with me, everything’s fine. I need to know how long we can be here,” you say.
Hunter groans and thinks for a second. “Six more rotations, and that’s pushing it,” he says.
“Thanks Sarge,” you say before disconnecting the call. You stow the commlink back into your bag and turn back towards Shalka. “Will that be enough time?” you ask.
She frowns and pulls a small datapad out of one of her cargo pockets. She taps rapidly at it for a few seconds, then sets it down on the workbench.
“It will be now, I’ve cleared the rest of the week,” she says.
“You really didn’t have to do that-,” Echo starts, but Shalka holds up a hand and cuts him off.
“No I didn’t, but that’s my call to make. I gotta dig some stuff out from the depths of this place before I can really start, so you two can get lost for today,” she says. “I’m gonna need Hero back here first thing in the morning tomorrow, so don’t oversleep again,” she adds with a smirk.
Echo gets to his feet, and Shalka follows suit, stepping around the two of you to lead you back to the door.
“We really can’t thank you enough,” you say earnestly as Echo nods.
She waves it off with a hand, then slips her gloves off and stuffs them into another cargo pocket. “You really wanna thank me? Don’t let the fuckin’ Seppies win,” she says.
The door slides open and Echo follows you outside. Shalka tells you when he should be here tomorrow, then closes the door. You’re about to say something but there’s a loud metallic crash from inside the shop.
Muffled by the door, you both hear Shalka shout “I’m okay! Fuckin shelf collapsed,” followed by the clatter of unknown objects being pushed around on the floor.
You and Echo glance at each other yet again, then laugh at the same time. You take him by the hand and lead him over to the tattered canopy you and the General were just talking under. You use your commlink to hail a cab, then put it back in your bag as the two of you wait.
“She’s… odd,” Echo says.
“That’s one way to put it,” you say with a chuckle. “She’s got a hell of a mouth on her but I can tell she’s being genuine about everything she says,” you continue.
Echo raises an eyebrow at you. “How do you know that?” he asks.
You want to tell him you can Sense it in her, but say “ it’s just a gut feeling,” instead, which he seems to accept. You ask him when she needs him back here tomorrow, hoping that the time wouldn’t conflict with you meeting whoever your chaperone would be at the Jedi library. Unfortunately, it’s at the same time, and you curse under your breath, which Echo notices.
“Is there an issue?” he asks.
“The General wanted to see me again tomorrow,” you explain.
“He’s really invested in this stuff, isn’t he?” he says, and you chuckle with a nod. He takes your hand into his and when he next speaks, his voice is low. “What happened back there? It must’ve been serious if he’s still interested in whatever it was,” he says.
You check the chrono on your wrist and sigh. The taxi was still ten minutes away.
You grip his hand and quickly repeat everything you had just told General Skywalker, attempting to gloss over the argument with Rex again. Unlike the General, Echo catches onto that and asks you about it.
“I don’t think you two have ever had even just an annoyed disagreement before, what the hell were you two talking about?” he asks.
You hesitate, chewing your lip. You wanted to be honest with him, but you were also anxious about bringing up how Rex had implied you replaced him so quickly. Not to mention how Fives related to the whole thing. You know though, that Echo could very easily just ask Rex what happened, and the decision is made for you.
Just as you open your mouth to start talking, the taxi speeder you had called for pulls up along the sidewalk across from you, and you silently thank the Maker for it. The last cab was enclosed, but this one isn’t, which means it’ll be too windy and loud for you two to really talk to each other.
Echo notices this too, and you can feel a faint tinge of aggravation coming from him. “Something else for the list, huh?” he says.
“Looks like it, unfortunately,” you say, leading him toward the speeder.
After giving the driver the address of your hotel, they pay you no further attention and don’t seem to notice or care that Echo is with you. That was a small blessing at least.
Just before the cab pulls away, Echo shakes his head at you with a tired sigh. “There’s a lot for us to talk about, isn’t there?” he says.
“Yeah,” you reply. “Lots of talking,” you say, sounding equally as tired.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The ride back to the hotel is tense, and the sun is beginning to set when the taxi comes to a stop outside. You pay the driver, they take the credits, and they drive away; thankfully this one didn’t give you any trouble. You hesitate before walking to the main entrance, and nervously fidget with the strap of your bag again, which Echo notices.
He softly says your name. “We don’t have to do this right now,” he says, referring to the daunting conversation ahead of you both. You look over at him, and the setting sun is shining at just the right angle to make his eyes look like rich golden honey. Even after everything he’s been through, his eyes haven’t changed. You see the concern in them, and your doubts subside.
“Yes,” you say with a tired sigh. “We do. You deserve to know, and we can’t avoid it forever,” you continue, taking his hand into yours again.
He gives you a reassuring squeeze. “Alright. Let's get this over with then, yeah?” he says, and you nod at him.
The walk back to your shared room is just as tense as the cab ride was. You come to the door a little too quickly for your liking, and reluctantly slide the key card through before you lead Echo inside.
—You both take a few minutes to change out of the days clothes, then sit together on the freshly-made bed. It’s silent for a while. Echo is waiting for you to speak, and you’re trying to think of what to talk about first. Your newfound Sensitivity, the way your relationship with Crosshair changed so drastically and so quickly, the argument with Rex which would need an explanation of what happened to Fives; Beyond Fives’ fate, which obviously takes precedence, it all seems equally important, and you struggle to find a starting point. It all ties together in some way, so you decide to just bite the bolt and get the hardest part out of the way first.
You shift your weight, sitting back against the headboard, and pull your knees close to your chest, keeping your arms around them. Echo sees how guarded you are and again says that this can wait, but you shake your head at him.
“You need to know,” you say softly. Echo doesn’t respond and still waits patiently for you to speak. You take a deep breath, pray to the Maker that this doesn’t blow up in your face, and start talking.
“So, you don’t know what happened to Fives,” you say, and it isn’t phrased like a question.
“I don’t. Nobody’s told me, and I know you’ve been avoiding it,” Echo says, his tone unreadable.
“I’m sorry,” you say, unable to look at him, though you feel his eyes on you. “I… I didn’t know how to tell you. I still don’t really understand what happened,” you say. He says nothing, but you feel a breeze of confusion drift off of him. You take another deep breath, and launch into the fragmented, messy story, starting with
Ringo Vida, and what Tup had done there. You don’t get any further before Echo interrupts you.
“But that makes no sense, he would never do such a thing. And nobody knows why?” he asks.
“Oh trust me,
somebody
knows why, but they’re keeping it quiet, I can guarantee you that,” you say bitterly. “Kix was there when Tup took the shot, he told me everything. None of us can come up with an explanation for why he would do that. The way Kix described it, it sounded like he was being forced,” you continue.
Echo’s confusion deepens, but he stays quiet, listening intently without interrupting again.
You go over how Tup had apparently been missing for a few days and how the Separatists tried to abduct him after the attack. “The best the Generals and Kix could figure was that the Seps had to have done something to him, and came to the conclusion that it was a virus of some kind, though I have no idea how that would even work,” you say.
“I don’t understand any of this, what does it have to do with Fives?” Echo says, frowning.
“He plays directly into it. Fives was in such close proximity to Tup that they were concerned he may have caught whatever this mystery virus was. They were both sent to Kamino for testing. I only know what happened up to this point because Kix told me so much. Officially, I have no knowledge of any of it,” you say. Echo shifts closer to you.
“Tup… he didn’t make it off Kamino. Whatever had gotten ahold of him, well, I guess it never let go. Everything after that happened so quickly, and I’ve only seen a small part of it, the rest I’ve been told firsthand from Rex and Kix. I’ve tried to piece the whole thing together on my own but there’s so much missing,” you say, frustrated.
“There aren’t any reports?” Echo asks, his confusion deepening once more.
“There’s an official report, but I don’t believe a single fucking word of it. It says that Fives escaped Kamino, which yeah, he did, but then it says he somehow wound up alone with Chancellor Palpatine, and tried to kill him,” you say.
“What?” Echo half-shouts.
“They said it was because of whatever had gotten to Tup. I
still
struggle to understand, it makes perfect sense but no sense at all at the same time. Something happened to Tup that compelled him to kill General Tiplar. Fives was likely exposed to it, and whatever it was made him attempt the same thing with the Chancellor. That makes sense, like, logically,” you say. As you talk, you slowly move your knees back down and lose some of the tension in your body.
“But Tup would never do that, and neither would Fives,” Echo says.
“Exactly, which is why it also makes no sense, not even a little bit. The day everything happened, I was coming back from work and overheard some whispers about an attempt on Palpatine’s life, and that a clone was responsible. I put two and two together and literally
ran
the rest of the way home. When I got there, Fives had left me a message on my commlink, which I’m still pissed at myself for forgetting to take with me that day. Maybe things would have turned out differently if I had been able to speak to him as he needed me,” you say, bitter and angry.
Echo cautiously rests his remaining hand on your upper back. “I have to keep repeating myself, don’t I?” he says, and you finally look at him.
“Echo repeating something, what a concept,” you say, and he rolls his eyes.
“I’ll keep it up until it gets through to you if I have to; nothing that happened to Fives was your fault. Nothing that happened to either of us was your fault,” he says, sternly looking you in the eye.
“I know,” you say with a sad sigh. “I wish it would get through my thick skull too, maybe then the fucking nightmares would stop. Or at least those specific ones,” you say, curling back in on yourself.
Echo watches you, unsure of what to do. You were usually so resilient, seeing you broken and lost like this was so heartbreaking to him. He reminds himself that you’ve been through a lifetime's worth of horrors in just a few years, so you’re bound to have worn down eventually.
“I keep hearing about the nightmares,” he says quietly. “Is it really as bad as they say?” he asks.
“It’s
worse
, Echo. I’ve never told anyone about what I dream, aside from Tech once or twice. They’re only aware of my reactions to it. Hell, I didn’t even know I was talking in my sleep until Crosshair said something about it back there in Kix’s office. And besides that, there are so many more important things going on around us, missions, battles, the entire fucking war. I didn’t want to add my bullshit on top of that. I still don’t,” you say, your voice low and soft, your eyes shining in the dimming light of the sun.
Echo says your name, but you don’t immediately look at him, which is worrying. “You can’t keep this up. And you shouldn’t. Talk to me, please,” he says, and you hear the strain in his voice.
“You’re the last person who needs more shit to deal with,” you mumble, curling yourself tighter again, trying to take up as little room as possible.
Echo startles you by cursing with a growl of frustration. “God damn it, you’re still so fucking stubborn!” he says.
Cautiously, you turn your head toward him the slightest bit, and when you meet his eyes again, your mind buzzes. Of all the things you expected to feel, desperation was not one of them. You sit up a little straighter, and look at him more directly. You’ve never seen him look hopeless like that before, and it physically pains you to know that you’ve caused it. You don’t realize that you’re crying until he gently cups your cheek and brushes a tear away with his thumb while whispering your name.
“You’ve been alone for so long, I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you to carry all of this. I’ll say it over and over, you aren’t on your own anymore. You’ve got me. You’ve done so much to take care of me,
please
, let me return the favor. I want to help you with this, but I can’t if you don’t let me in,” he says, not taking his eyes off of yours for even a second.
You finally crack. Your shoulders heave with heavy sobs, and Echo quickly pulls you into his lap, holding your head against his chest and firmly rubbing his hand up and down your back. “I know mesh’la, I know. It’s okay. You’re safe here, I’ve got you,” he whispers, barely audible over your cries.
As he holds you, the sound of his steady heartbeat keeps you grounded, an anchor stopping you from being swept away by everything you’re feeling at once. Your grief for Fives, the confusion of not knowing exactly what happened to him, even the bizarre moment where you swear you felt his touch. The pain, loss, frustration, and anger of losing so many men, over and over, and feeling powerless to stop it. So many nights spent awake in your bunk, desperately tired but afraid to fall asleep for fear of what you’d be forced to see. Waking up screaming, or in a cold sweat, or both, night after night. It all finally breaks free and pours out of you.
Beyond all of that, though, the feeling of being protected, being cared for, being
loved
, and the emptiness finally being filled back in, all of it overtakes everything else, and your mind goes blessedly quiet for the first time in far too long. You feel the weight of the galaxy evaporate from your shoulders.
You aren’t sure how long it’s taken for your tears to finally run dry, but, thanks to the change in light coming in from outside, you know it’s been a good chunk of time. Your breathing steadily evens back out, aside from the occasional hiccup. Your eyes feel like they’re burning, and you absently wipe at them with the backs of your hand as you slowly sit back upright.
Echo watches you carefully, allowing you to move away, but keeping a firm grip on your hand. He has to say your name twice before you react, turning your head back towards him, your body following. He kisses your forehead, then gently presses his own into it. A feeling of peace you forgot could exist washes over you, and you barely repress a shiver. He says your name a third time.
“That was,” he says, pausing for a second. “Damn. That was a
lot
. Do you feel any better?” he asks.
You try to speak, but your voice is hoarse, so instead you just nod. You clear your throat, then are able to whisper a soft “thank you, Echo,” to him.
He smiles softly at you, says “that’s what I’m here for,” then tells you to wait there for a minute before he gets to his feet.
You watch as he goes into the kitchenette of the room and fetches you a glass of cold water. He comes back and hands it to you, and as you sip at it, you can hear him running water in the refresher. A few seconds later, he returns to his spot next to you on the bed with a warm, damp washrag. You set the now empty glass aside on the nightstand, then take the small towel and dab at your swollen eyes with it. Once the warmth dissipates, you toss it over your shoulder, not caring where it landed, and let out a massive sigh of relief, flopping backwards onto your back and staring at the ceiling.
Echo follows suit, and it’s quiet for a short time. Eventually, he turns on his side towards you and speaks. “You don’t have to tell me anything else tonight,” he says.
You pause for a moment, thinking. This really isn’t how you wanted to spend your night with him, but you don’t know when you’ll get another chance like this to finally fill him in on everything, just the two of you with no distractions.
“Maybe not,” you say. “But I’ve been holding onto this for so fucking long, I need to get the rest out before it eats at me any longer,” you say, sitting back up.
“You’re absolutely sure?” Echo says, propping himself up on an elbow to get a better look at you.
“Yes, I’m sure. What was it you said earlier?
‘Let’s get this over with’
?” you say, taking his hand and pulling him upright as you speak.
He nods at you, then the two of you return to your positions at the head of the bed, backs against the headboard. You need a moment to remember where you were before going off on that tangent, and eventually think of it.
“Fuck me,” you say, tired. “Anyway, Fives left me a message on my comm, and I
could tell right away that something was
very
wrong. His head had been shaved and he wasn’t wearing his own armor. The transmission was garbled, but I was able to understand him trying to tell me not to believe anything, and that ‘they’ were after him,” you say.
“I met with Kix and Jesse at 79’s not long after that; figured a few shots would calm my nerves, but I noticed that Rex wasn’t there. They told me he was with the General and looking for Fives. Kix went into the refresher and about a minute later he insisted I go back there myself,” you say, pausing to try and fight off the intense grief that would always rear its ugly head whenever you remember this.
“It was him, wasn’t it?” Echo says, so quietly you almost couldn’t hear him.
“Yes, it was,” you say, then clear your throat. “He told me Kix was going to deliver a message to Rex for him, so they could meet and he could explain himself. He refused to tell me where, of course,” you say.
“He knew you’d follow him,” Echo says.
“You’re goddamned right I would,” you say firmly. “Even at the end, his priority was to keep me safe,” you say with a sad smile. You then recount, in a shaky voice, everything Fives had tried to tell you. Chips in the clones heads, forcing them to obey any order, a conspiracy that traced back to Palpatine himself, all of it.
“And you believed him?” Echo says, sounding unsure.
“Of course I did. I still do. The official report is bullshit, I don’t give a fuck who tells me that is isn’t,” you say. You slip into silence for a minute.
“I tried to follow him. Out of the bar. But he was ahead of me just enough to get away on a speeder before I could catch him,” you eventually say, your voice thick with emotion. Echo moves closer to you and takes your hand. You take a second and attempt to keep yourself together, then describe how you had fainted, woken up in your apartment, and had nearly run out of the building before Kix stopped you.
“
‘Don’t’
, he said. I remember it so clearly.
‘There’s nothing you can do now,’
. Like I told you in the taxi earlier, I fainted again. Just before I hit the floor, I was looking at him and he looked so much like you,” you say in a whisper.
“Why do you all have to look the fucking same?” Echo says, guessing your exact words without realizing it.
You hiccup and nod at him, your eyes brimming over with tears again. “When I woke up the second time I was in the medical ward. Rex told me the rest. How… how it happened,” you say, your voice cracking again. You grit your teeth and tell Echo everything. As much as it pains you, you left no detail out.
“Rex told me Fives had said
‘The mission, the nightmares’
would finally be over,” you whisper.
“Nightmares?” Echo says, sounding startled.
You nod at him again. “Yeah, those fuckin’ things again. I’m not sure what he meant though. There were plenty of things Fives never told me about, but only because I never asked. Have you all had a similar nightmare? The way he said it, it sounds like he was referring to a universal experience,” you say.
Echo hesitates, which catches your attention. You softly say his name. “Echo? Do you know what he meant?” you ask. He doesn’t speak and instead slowly shakes his head.
Without even being conscious of it, you close your eyes, your mind buzzes, and you feel two things coming from him. Grief, of course, but more importantly, a sense of finally understanding something after so long without answers. Then, quickly sweeping everything else away,
fear
, which itself scares you, and you open your eyes. He looks stunned.
“Echo?” you say again, cupping his face with a hand. He blinks several times and shakes himself.
“We,” he says, then takes a deep breath. “We all have nightmares. It’s so normalized, we just accept it as part of life and never talk about any of it. If someone
was having the same dreams as me or anybody else, I never knew,” he says, but sounds like he’s trying to convince himself more than you.
You frown at him. Even without being able to ‘read’ him, you can tell he’s holding something back. You decide not to press him about it though. This isn’t the time.
“I… I don’t understand any of it,” he says, his own voice trembling now. You take your turn to hold him close to your chest, all the while barely managing to keep your own tears at bay.
—
It takes several minutes for the two of you to calm yourselves back down. You both slide into lying positions on the bed, holding each other as tightly as possible.
“Echo?” you say softly. He looks over at you with a ‘what’ sound. “We don’t have to finish this tonight. It’s so much to take in, if you need-,” you say, but he interrupts.
“No. No, I… You’re right, I need to know, and you did say you need to get it out. I can see why you were so hesitant about this, it’s all so confusing,” he says, voice barely above a whisper.
“Okay. You can still change your mind if you need to. Although, that’s the hardest part done with,” you say, just as quietly.
Echo laughs humorlessly. “Fuck me, I can’t imagine anything else worse than that,” he says.
“What else was on that list?” you ask, making a feeble attempt at a joke to lighten the mood.
Echo sits up again and leans back against the headboard, staring at the ceiling in thought. He starts mumbling to himself, counting off on his fingers. “There’s still a few things left,” he says. You can see him bracing himself. “Crosshair,” he says quietly. “What the hell is happening there?”
You should’ve guessed that’s what he’d bring up. Looks like he wanted to get past this, though just as reluctantly as you do. You also sit back up, then think for a moment before speaking.
“Remember when I said earlier that the jackass cab driver made the same mistake Crosshair did?” you say. Echo nods at you. “I don’t know how much detail you got from Tech,” you say, leaving the sentence open ended for him.
“I saw you smacking him around a few times, but I didn’t see what the catalysts were. I’m guessing he said something about either me or Fives though,” he says, watching you carefully again.
“Both, actually,” you say, shaking your head. “In the briefing before the mission that led to us finding you, Rex told us that he thought you were alive and the Seps were somehow using you to work against us. I kind of slipped up and said what I was thinking out loud,” you say.
“Which was?” he says, prompting you to elaborate.
“I asked Rex if he’d forgotten about when Fives told me what happened to you. I think it was Wrecker, he recognized his name and asked if he was the one who attacked the Chancellor. Tech, of course, had a file pulled up on his damn datapad before anyone else could respond, and basically summarized the ‘official’ report on the matter. I told everyone that it was bullshit. Crosshair, he kind of scoffed and said something like
‘if you ask me he deserved it,’
and I just… snapped. I only realized that I’d struck him a second after it happened,” you say, fidgeting with your fingers. “I won’t lie though, that was really fucking satisfying,” you say with a smirk.
“So, wait, after however long he’d been trying to piss you off, that’s what finally broke you?” Echo says.
“It was the first time he’d said something like that that wasn’t about me,” you say, nodding.
“But it wasn’t the last,” he says.
You sigh again, then continue speaking. “Yeah. I guess once just wasn’t enough for him. About an hour before we got to you, he and Rex were arguing that the mission was a waste of time. He said that Rex was trying to make up for leaving you at the Citadel, then said, and I remember this so fucking clearly, he said
‘I don’t blame you. He’s just another Reg, it’s not like he was worth anything’
,” you say, and Echo curses under his breath.
“I was definitely aware of my actions that time, because I went after him as he walked away. Rex tried to beat the shit out of him immediately after I stepped back,” you say.
Echo softly shakes his head. “Yeah, that sounds like Rex. He’s always stuck up for us,” he says.
“How much else did you see?” you ask.
“You chased after him. Told him about ghosts and death and failure. I’ve never seen you that angry. Even with the cab driver today, your eyes didn’t look the same as they had then,” Echo says.
“Yeah, that was all of it,” you say.
“And things changed after that?” he says.
You nod. “Honestly, I think I knocked some respect into him. Of everyone in the squad, he was the last to really accept me. After I’d hit him the first time, General Skywalker told me to go get some air, so I went back to the ship and tried to get a hold of myself. Crosshair followed me,” you say, and Echo looks surprised.
“Why? Did he not get enough of a rise out of you?” he says.
“Y’know, I thought the same thing, but no, that wasn’t it. I told him I wasn’t going to apologize, and told me that I shouldn’t.
‘It’s about time you stood up to me,’
he said. I don’t know if all his bullshit before was some kind of hazing thing or what, but it stopped after that,” you say. “Well, there was the second time, but that's it. Everyone else was getting into the ship and I was the last one in, so he’d gotten my attention and said, I remember this very clearly too, he said
‘Meds! You coming or what?’
,” you say. “It was the first time anyone had ever called me that, he came up with it just then. Maybe it’s silly, but I finally felt like part of the group after that,” you say, smiling without realizing it.
“I don’t think it’s silly. Makes perfect sense to me,” Echo says. “But he’d gotten to you again, before you all found me,” he says.
“That’s right. You all keep saying that you’ve never seen me that angry? Well, I’ve never felt that angry before in my entire life. I’d finally hit my breaking point, and I just unloaded everything on him. Everyone heard me, even Rex and the General from a few dozen meters away. Rex didn’t know why I’d taken the new assignment until then. But, to stay on track, after a few minutes, once I was through, Crosshair admitted he deserved it,” you say.
“Goddamn right he did,” Echo mutters.
You ignore this and continue talking. “Later on Anaxes, when we first brought you back, after the um, misunderstanding you and I had,” you say, Echo grimacing, “I just shut myself away in my bunk. He managed to calm me down. Not long after that, I filled the guys in on what happened to me between when I lost you and when I found them. While I was talking, he actually went out of his way to apologize to me, in front of everyone else,” you say.
“I call bullshit,” Echo says in disbelief.
“Yep,” you say, popping the ‘p’ at the end. “He really did. We were all just as shocked as you are now,” you say, laughing a little. “His attitude changed completely after that. I swear, it’s like he’s a different person now,” you say, before lapsing into silence again.
Echo is about to ask you what else happened, but you beat him to it.
“You remember that weird rock you picked up for me?” you say, sounding far away. Echo nods. “Short version, I lost it while we were getting you out of Purkoll. He found it and held onto it for me,” you say, smiling softly. “He gave it back just before you and I were able to talk. That’s… when my own feelings started changing,” you say, choosing your words carefully.
You pause again, though not quite as long as before. “While you were in the bacta tank, I realized that I would have to decide whether or not I’d leave the squad and go back with you. I remember talking about it on the ship with Wrecker, then Crosshair walked in with a smart comment I can’t recall, and Wrecker fired back at him by saying he was in love with me,” you say.
Echo leans forward to get a better look at you, an eyebrow raised. “And…?” he says, encouraging you to continue and sounding oddly amused.
“Tech basically confirmed it. Cross wouldn’t look at me at all. I could kind of feel something coming off of him, and that’s when I knew Wrecker wasn’t really joking,” you say.
“You
felt
something?” Echo says.
“Kind of, it was like sensing someone’s mood before speaking to them,” you explain. It’s not a lie, but it isn’t the entire truth either, and conflict bubbles up inside your gut. It’s quiet for a minute or so.
“You and I both know there’s more to this thing with him than that,” Echo says softly.
You sigh heavily. “I think it was either later that day or very early on the next day, when you told me to stay away from you,” you say, and Echo shifts uncomfortably, moving away from you just enough to be noticeable. You move to the side and close the gap again. “He found me right afterward. I got to talking about it, and I said that the question of where I would go was basically decided then and there,” you say.
You can tell Echo wants to say something again, but after you give him a chance to speak and he doesn’t, you continue. “I told myself as soon as I’d calmed down after you stormed off on that first day, that if you didn’t want me around, as much as it would fucking hurt, I’d respect that. What mattered most to me was, and still is, that you’re safe, whether I’m with you or not. So, yeah, the decision was made for me at that point,” you say. “I’d said as much to him, and he admitted that Wrecker wasn’t entirely wrong about him. He said that he wanted me to stay, but not like that. We just kinda sat there for a while afterwards,” you say.
“And when you tried to talk to me later on, and he came with you,” Echo says, trailing off before lapsing into silence. Neither of you needed to recount that fiasco again.
You awkwardly cleared your throat. “Yes. Right after, he caught me in the hall, and I snapped at him. We split off and I eventually calmed down. I found him back at the ship and we both kinda apologized to each other,” you say, and unconsciously rub at the faded mark on your neck.
“So that’s when-?” Echo says, looking at it. You nod apologetically, and have to force yourself to meet his eyes.
“Why?” he asks. He doesn’t sound angry, but you still hesitate.
You take a deep breath. “You and I were through at that point, in my mind. I didn’t mean to just,” you pause, waving your arms up and dropping them back down onto your lap. “Especially that soon. But I, um, got swept up in him. It didn’t get any further than this,” you say, rubbing at the mark again.
Echo doesn’t say anything, but he hasn’t looked away from you or changed his blank expression. “So, when did you really know?” he asks quietly. “When we heard you in the bunks, I saw how he ran to you. The same way I did,” he says.
You think for a second. “After I got shot,” you say. “On the way back, he helped me patch myself up. I couldn’t move right to get the bandages on, so he did that for me,” you say. You shift, lifting the side of your tunic up, and you both get a look at the partially-healed injury. All it needs at this point is a thin layer of bacta and a light wrap, and it already looks significantly better than it did a few days ago.
“I can’t really pin down exactly what it was or why, but I knew then,” you say, tugging your shirt back down. “You started waking up and he told me to focus on you before he left the bunks,” you say.
Echo still doesn’t speak, but it looks like he’s starting to understand.
“I mentioned that last part for a reason, Echo,” you say, quietly but firmly. “He knows you were here first. He’s been nothing but respectful of that,” you say.
Echo appears to be thinking hard, likely reflecting on the days since he’d joined the squad, then eventually speaks. “Now that you’ve pointed it out, I guess I did notice that,” he says, then thinks for another few seconds before saying your name. “I need to ask you something,” he says. You feel a nervous knot from in your stomach, but nod. “Do you care about him?” he says.
You nod again. “I do,” you say.
Echo goes quiet once more. When he next speaks, you can tell he’s having a hard time getting the words out, and you can feel the conflict within him. He says your name again. “You’ve been through so much. I just want you to be happy, you deserve it after everything you’ve done, and not just for me. If… if being with him is what you want, then,” he stops, struggling with the words. “Then I’ll step back,” he says.
Your jaw drops. “Echo, you can’t be serious?” you say, incredulous.
“I am. If that’s what you really want,” he says. You meet his eyes and an odd mixture of love and hurt wash over you, and you both fall into another silence.
He’s startled when you suddenly start laughing. Not loudly, but enough to break the tension. He looks at you, confused, and you take a second to calm down.
“You know what I really want?” you ask, and he shakes his head. “I want to be
selfish
,” you say, turning around and falling onto your back again, giggling.
“Goddamn it, I’ve spent all of my time in the past few years putting everyone else first, I’d like to do what
I want
for a change. I want to be selfish and maybe even a little greedy,” you say.
Echo looks at you with an expression that comes across as ‘what the hell are you talking about?’ and you laugh a little harder.
“I want
both
of you,” you say simply, smirking.
“You, you
really
,” he says, stumbling over his words in surprise. He clears his throat. “I didn’t think that was an option,” he says.
“Well, why not? You two haven’t beaten each other up yet,” you say, sitting back up with a shrug.
Echo laughs a little and incredulously shakes his head at you. “I mean, you aren’t wrong,” he says.
“Just an idea,” you say. “You two should have a chat and let me know what you decide,” you continue with a smile.
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” he says, still sounding surprised. You simply nod at him with a girlish giggle.
You take a moment to calm down, then soberly take Echo’s hand. “But, to be clear, I won’t do anything you aren’t okay with,” you say.
“But you just said-,” he says, confused again.
“There is no way I’d be okay with knowing that you’re miserable, whether I get what I want or not. I didn’t mean that kind of selfish,” you say, trying to sound as earnest as you can. You meant every word and you need Echo to believe you. He meets your eyes for the first time in several minutes, and he seems to understand.
You watch him for a moment as he mulls over everything he’s seen between you and him, and you and Crosshair, over the past few weeks. You nervously chew your lip.
“You don’t need to decide right this second,” you say softly, yet he still looks pensive.
He meets your eyes again and his expression softens considerably. He takes you by surprise when he leans forward and kisses you, then pulls back a second later. “I’ll talk if he’ll talk,” he says.
Your eyes light up, and you sit a little straighter. “You mean it? Like, you're genuinely okay with it?” you ask.
“Yes,” he says without hesitation.
You lurch forward and hug him tightly, whispering a soft “thank you” as you do.
—
Despite all the talking you’ve done, there’s still so much left to discuss and explain, so you both agree to take a short break before you continue to monologue at him. You quickly use the refresher, and when you step back out into the room, you find Echo on the balcony with the door open, staring out over the city. You join him, also leaning onto the half-wall. He hesitates, then puts his scomp arm around you, relaxing significantly when you don’t flinch. He looks over at you and pecks your cheek before saying a soft thank you.
Your skin tingles when his lips leave your cheek, and you feel a light heat spreading across your face. “For what?” you ask.
“Being so honest with me about everything,” he says, pulling you closer.
You’re quiet for a moment, lost in thought. You let out a long breath, and turn to face him. “I haven’t told you everything yet,” you say.
“You don’t have to,” he says.
You shake your head for what felt like the hundredth time that day. “Yes, I do,” you say.
“You really don’t,” Echo insists.
“We got the tough stuff out of the way already, there’s no point in putting off the rest,” you say, turning around and moving to head back inside. You don’t get very far before you feel Echos hand on your shoulder, holding you back.
“Let’s talk out here, it’s too stuffy inside,” he says, and you half-shrug before returning to his side, but sitting on the floor and leaning back against the half-wall. You stare up at the sky without really seeing it as Echo follows suit.
He takes your hand into his. “Whenever you’re ready, Meds,” he says.
This is the first time he’s used your Batch name, and you look over at him, surprised by it. He kind of shrugs and says “That’s what everyone else in the squad calls you, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I’m the medic,” you chuckle.
Echo softly smiles at you. “Well, if I’m going to be part of the team I should call you that too. Unless you don’t want me to?” he says, searching your face.
“I don’t mind,” you say, scooting a little closer to him and resting your head in the hollow of his shoulder. Aside from the persistent noise of Coruscant traffic, it’s quiet.
“So… you and Rex got into an argument?” he asks, bringing you back into the conversation from earlier.
You sigh, tired, and nod. You recount the angry words that were spat between you and the Captain back in the Marauders cockpit.
“Ohh, that’s why,” Echo says under his breath.
You sit up a little and look at him, confused. “Why what?” you ask, frowning.
Echo quickly tells you about the short talk he and Crosshair had before Rex stormed by and interrupted. “He mumbled something about hypocrisy while he passed. I went after him and asked what you’d said but he wouldn’t tell me. Though, judging by the ‘fuck you’ we all heard, it wasn’t good,” he says.
“Shit, that’s right, you were just outside of the door,” you say, embarrassed.
Echo nods at you. He appears to be deep in thought about something, and you could tell he wanted to comment on everything you’d told him, so you waited for him to speak.
“You know something? I’d say he’s a hypocrite too,” he eventually says. You make a surprised sound, and he continues; “you were right, my situation was no different from Fives’, even if Rex was right about me,” he says.
You study his expression and see his frown deepen. “But that’s not what bothers you, is it?” you ask.
“He was out of line, going after you personally like that,” Echo says.
You quickly tell him how Rex had found you alone and on your knees before Crosshair. “I promise you it wasn’t what it looked like, but that’s what he walked in on,” you say, and to your relief, Echo seems to believe you.
“Context is important,” he says, and you both chuckle. “Okay, so that explains why Rex was so pissed, but that's still no excuse for it,” he says.
“Did you tell him about the uh, split? At any point? The way he said I replaced you so quickly again was almost exactly what you had said,” you say.
Echo shakes his head. “No, not a word. I didn’t talk to anyone after you left until the briefing,” he says.
“That’s a hell of a coincidence then,” you say. You two sit quietly for another minute or so. Eventually, Echo speaks.
“I’m sorry for what he said to you. He’s always been protective of us, maybe a little too much,” Echo says.
“Don’t apologize for him. Even if I disagree with his reasoning for saying what he did, I understand why he said it,” you say. “And do me a favor? Don’t bring it up with him, please,” you say. Echo blinks at you, confused. “We both said sorry and it’s done with. No point in dredging it back up,” you explain. Echo frowns, but nods.
“Thank you,” you say.
“So that’s what started everything in the bunks?” he asks.
You sigh, tired, then repeat what you had told the General earlier. This time, Echo doesn’t interrupt, listening carefully to your words. You tell him how intrigued General Skywalker is about it all, and he nods, understanding.
“Yeah, I’d like some answers myself,” he says, then pauses, counting off on his fingers silently again. “I think that was everything on the list,” he says, pulling you closer to him.
You hesitate, again. Every fiber of your being is screaming at you to leave it there, but you take another deep breath. “There’s… one last thing,” you say.
Echo can hear the reluctance and anxiety in your voice, and shifts himself so that he’s sitting directly across from you. “What?” he asks, concern etched into his features.
“I-,” you say, then stop yourself again. You look at the worry on Echo's face, and despite the pit in your stomach, you open your mouth to speak.
“I’m force-sensitive,” you say, so quietly that he almost doesn’t hear you. “That’s what those dreams were; you at the citadel and again before our last mission. The two things with Fives, that’s what the General and I are so focused on, since it’s apparently so uncommon,” you say.
“Okay… and?” he asks. “I get that this is important, but I don’t get why you’re acting like it’s some big secret,” he says.
“I’ll get to that in just a minute,” you say.
“Uh, ok. Continue on then,” he says.
“It’s more than just dreams now,” you say.
“Like what?” he asks.
“I can sense things. It’s almost like a gut feeling, but much more intense. When I left the Generals office after I asked about our shared dream, a strange, well, force, seemed to be saying to me with an almost scary urgency that I shouldn’t tell anyone else,” you say.
“Does anyone else know? Besides the General and I,” he asks, concern deepening on his face.
“I’ve told Rex about the dreams where I can see what’s currently happening somewhere else, but that’s it. He’s not an idiot by any means though, I’m sure he’ll figure it out if he hasn’t already,” you say.
“How long have you known?” Echo asks, but he doesn’t sound angry or accusing.
“Since they put you in the bacta tank,” you say. “Between everything else happening and the strong feeling of ‘hey keep it quiet’ I just never said anything. I was actually talking about that with General Skywalker earlier today, while Shalka was working on you,” you explain.
“If it’s so important, apparently, why did you just tell me?” he asks, looking confused again.
“I hated the idea of keeping something from you. I knew it would come back to bite me if I kept quiet,” you say.
“What about Crosshair and the others?” Echo asks, noticing when you hesitate this time.
“I… I don’t think I’ll tell them, at least not yet. I really wish there was a way to put this powerful feeling of dread into words, but I simply can’t describe it. I just know, instinctively I guess, that something is
off
, somehow, and I think it’ll be bigger than just us and the squad,” you say, after some thought.
“Well that’s cryptic,” Echo says with a smirk. “You already sound like a Jedi,” he says, making you laugh.
“General Skywalker told me that I’m unusual in a few ways,” you say.
“I’m sure I could name a few,” Echo says, laughing when you huff at him.
“It’s weird that the abilities have manifested so late, and that they’re getting stronger, at least according to him,” you say. “I told you I’m meeting with him again tomorrow; that wasn’t entirely true. He’s going to have me meet someone who can take me into the Jedi Archives to try and find anything I can on all of this,” you say.
“Guess I’ll be going back to Shalka’s alone tomorrow then,” Echo says.
“Actually, if it’s okay with you, I was thinking of asking Tech or one of the guys to go with you,” you say.
Echo appears to think for a moment, then shrugs. “Yeah, that’s fine. If I’m going to be a part of the team then I need to know everyone a little better anyway,” he says.
You grip his shoulder, then he shifts and lies on his back with his head resting on your thighs, looking up at you while you try to remember what you were saying before getting distracted.
“You can sense things,” he says, steering you back on track.
“That’s where we were, thanks. Yeah, I can sense what someone’s feeling, and I can sort of tell what they're thinking,” you say. “When I said I could ‘feel’ something from Crosshair, that’s what I meant.
Echo frowns at you. You demonstrate for him, closing your eyes and steadying your breathing. “You’re confused. You’ve heard so much at once that it’s hard to understand it all,” you say.
“True, but that’s not very hard to figure out,” he says, sounding skeptical.
With your eyes still closed, you keep talking. “When I showed up with Crosshair, back in Kix’s office, it was obvious that you were angry. But there was something else. I could feel it again when I told you what Fives said about nightmares. It’s
fear
Echo,” you say, finally opening your eyes and looking into his, and a strong wave of it washes over you from his direction, as he sits back up. “Even now, I can feel it,” you say.
The shock on his face tells you that he believes you, and you hold his hand and scomp in your own hands, shuffling forward and pressing your lips to his forehead. “I don’t know what it is, or why, but
something
has been scaring you, and for a very long time,” you say quietly. “Now, I can’t ‘read your mind’, it doesn’t work like that. But I can feel the anxiety in you, Echo. I’m not going to ask about it. You can talk to me about that whenever you’re ready, alright?” you say with finality.
Echo, looking dazed, nods at you.
“There” you sigh, sounding massively relieved. “Now that’s everything.”
You back away. “What do you need from me right now?” you softly ask. He looks over at you, still confused. “Should I leave you alone for a little while?” you clarify.
Looking like his thoughts were miles away, he nods at you. “Y-yeah. I… I think I need a minute,” he says.
“Okay,” you say, kissing his forehead again. “I’m going to talk to Tech for a little while. I’ll have my comm,” you continue, getting to your feet.
He nods again, and watches you walk into the room, slip a pair of shoes on, then leave through the door.
—
The door to your room slides closed behind you, and you lean heavily against it. You tilt your head back and stare at the light fixture hanging from the ceiling, your mind and heart racing. It was done. Echo knows everything now, for better or worse. Much like when you told the squad about what happened to you, you feel physically lighter, but the relief you should also be feeling is overtaken by a sense of dread. You still aren’t sure if telling Echo about your Force abilities was a good idea or not, and the feeling that you shouldn’t tell anyone else deepens even further, making you shiver. You don’t notice the door on your left sliding open and someone walking into the hall.
“So, how long are you going to stand here?”
You’re startled by the sudden drawl of Crosshair's voice and jump a little, cursing. “Dank Ferrik, how long have you been there!” you half-shout.
He laughs in response, shaking his head at you. “Long enough to see that you need a drink,” he says.
“Yeah, I really do,” you say, standing normally again. “There’s a bar on the roof,” you say, stretching your shoulders.
Crosshair turns toward the lifts at the other end of the hallway, then looks back at you from over his shoulder. “You coming?” he says, and it sounds like he’s hoping you’ll say yes.
“In a minute,” you say, glancing at the door to his room. “Tech back from working on the ship yet?” you ask.
Crosshair laughs again, turning around to face you fully. “You and I both know that he won’t take a break unless you tell him to,” he says.
“Uh,
I
didn’t know that,” you say, taken aback. “Since when?” you ask.
Crosshair raises an eyebrow at you. “You’ve been with us for this long and never noticed?” he asks in response.
“Apparently not,” you say. “Why me?” you ask, puzzled.
“Hell if I know,” he says with a shrug. “He probably hasn’t learned to ignore you like the rest of us yet,” he says, making you laugh a little. “He’s got his comm on him though, if you really need to talk to him,” he says.
“I’ll do that after I have a drink,” you say, taking a few steps forward.
“Does talking to him stress you out that much?” Crosshair says with a smirk.
“Oh ha ha,” you say, rolling your eyes as you walk past him and towards the lifts. You tap the button and step inside, turning back to see Crosshair jogging after you, slipping into the lift just before the door fully closes.
“Thanks for holding the door,” he says, snarky as always. You roll your eyes at him and press the topmost button.
There are twenty-eight floors between your rooms and the bar, and at the speed the lift is going, you know it’ll be a few minutes before you reach the top.
Crosshair seems to realize this at the same time as you, and you catch him watching you with a familiar look in his eye. You lean with your back against the wall and smirk at him, silently daring him to try something. Your eyes meet, you feel
your brain buzz, and you’re hit with an also-familiar sensation of
want
radiating off of him. He takes a step toward you, then pauses, inclining his head in your direction. You bite your lip and nod at him.
The next thing you know, he’s standing close enough for your chests to bump together as the lift moves, bracing a hand against the wall just above your shoulder, and tangling his other hand into your hair, pulling you forward into him as your mouths clash together. His smoky taste floods your senses and you grab onto his shoulders, pulling him even closer to you. The lift jolts, and Crosshairs knee ends up between your legs, making you gasp.
He breaks away from you and growls lowly into your ear. The sound, in combination with his hot breath on your neck, makes you shiver with arousal. He grinds his knee up into you, and you let out a soft moan. The hand that was braced against the wall slides down to your waist, then cautiously moves upwards under your tunic, being careful to avoid your bandages. The light brush of his fingers against your skin gives you goosebumps.
Your lips meet again, and the hand he had on the back of your head drops to your ass, pulling your lower half towards him. As he does, he shifts his knee upwards again, making the seam of your leggings rub deliciously against your swollen clit, and you moan again, but much louder. He repeats the motion, the resulting friction turning you into a whining mess in his hands. The hand that had moved under your tunic has now reached your breasts, and Crosshair groans as he feels you up over your bra.
After a few seconds, he boldly slides under it, his calloused hand eagerly kneading and groping at your soft, supple skin, all the while never letting up as you grind yourself down onto his thigh. He drags his thumb experimentally over your hardened nipple, and you break the kiss to whine his name.
“
Fuck
,” he groans, “I will never get tired of hearing you say my name like this.”
Wanting to please him, you rub yourself harder against his leg, moaning his name intermittently. He growls into your ear again, then nips at the skin along your neck, taking care not to leave any marks on you this time. He takes his other hand off of your ass and cups you over the crotch of your leggings. He presses the heel of his hand firmly against your clit, and you
whimper
, your legs trembling as you clamp them together around his strong thigh.
“That’s it Kitten,” he says, kissing his way back up along your neck. “Come for me,” he whispers into your ear. At the same moment, the lift rumbles, and his hand pushes against you perfectly, sending you over the edge. Before you can make another sound, he crashes his lips to yours, greedily swallowing your every gasp and moan as your entire body spasms under his touch.
Just as the lift reaches the top floor, you come back down from orbit, gasping for air and hastily pulling your clothes back into place before the lift doors open.
—
A few hours pass, and you’ve only taken
two or three shots of Corellian Whisky since sliding into a booth near the half-wall with Crosshair. He’s had a lot more than you, and it seems to be taking effect.
You absently stare down at the city below and shake your head, chuckling.
“Something interesting down there?” he says, smirking at you.
“Wrecker would fucking hate this,” you say, laughing a little.
Crosshair agrees with you, then knocks back another shot. “So,” he says, leaning towards you. “The hell you been all day?” he asks, watching you closely.
“Well, after the cab driver debacle, we did manage to make it to Shalkas place,” you say, then pour yourself another shot. Rather than downing it all at once, you take small sips of it, and Crosshair laughs at you. You roll your eyes, then continue: “Thankfully she was running behind, so us being so damn late wasn’t a big deal. She was only able to get some preliminary stuff done though, and she needs him back first thing tomorrow and for the next few days to get it done before we ship out again.”
“Shalka, I know that name,” Crosshair says, eyeing the whisky bottle. He goes to grab for it but you snatch it up before he can.
“You’ve had enough, hotshot,” you say. You hand the bottle back to the service droid that brought it to you. “And you should know the name, you were in the cockpit with Hunter when I told him why I wanted to come here and meet her,” you say, finishing off what was left of your shot in a single gulp.
“Yeah, the arm lady,” he says. “So you’re taking the reg worth something back again tomorrow?” he asks.
“His name is Echo, Cross,” you say, shifting backwards away from him. “And I can’t, I have a meeting at the same time tomorrow morning,” you say. He tilts his head to one side and blinks at you, and you can’t help but laugh at him, he looks so much like a confused loth wolf pup. “I’m going back to see Kix about my side,” you say, startled by how easy it was to lie to him. He’s drunk anyway, so it’s not like he’s paying that much attention, you think, trying to shrug it off.
“So you want Tech to go with him,” Crosshair says. He snickers. “You won’t get him away from that ship unless you go down there and drag him out,” he says. He startles you by suddenly standing and moving to sit next to you on the other side of the table. “I’ll go,” he says, throwing an arm around your shoulders.
“No you won’t, you’re only saying that because you’re drunk,” you say, rolling your eyes again.
“Hey now, hey hey,” he says, scooting closer and resting his head on your shoulder. “That’s not true. Since he’s so important to you I wanna know why,” he says.
“Ok, now I know you’ve had too much,” you say, nudging him off of you. He straightens up and looks offended, in a drunken way.
“Wake me up in the morning then,” he says, trying to look you in the eye, but missing by about six inches. “I’ll do it,” he says.
“If you say so,” you say, nudging him again so he would get out of your way. He stands, but stumbles, and you catch him with the help of a passing waitress. “Sorry about him,” you say to her, pulling him back upright.
“I’m used to it hon. At least he didn’t throw up on me,” she says, waving it off. “He’s definitely done, you good too?” she asks.
You say yes, then reach for your wallet, which you now realize you left back in your room. You tell her and apologize again.
“I’ll just bill it to your room. You’re not the first one who’s forgotten something,” she says. You tell her your room number, then thank her as you grab Crosshair by the elbow and move him towards the lifts with you.
You hit the button, and the same lift you came up in opens. You firmly push him inside, following just in time to catch him before he stumbles over his long legs again. You tap the button for your floor, and once the door closes and the lift moves, you turn your attention back to the inebriated man leaning heavily into you.
“You know, speaking of our rooms,” he says, and tries to position himself in front of you like he’d been on the ride up, but instead just awkwardly bumps into you. “There’s a door that connects ours. My side has been unlocked since we got here,” he continues.
“That sounds secure,” you say sarcastically.
“Listen Kitten, if someone were to break through that door that means they’d have to go through your room first. He may be missing an arm but Echo is a decent shot, and you’re better, so I doubt they’d get very far,” he says.
“Crosshair,” you say, cooing at him, “did you just say I’m a good shot?”
“Did I?” he asks. After pausing for a second, he keeps talking. “Well, you are now,” he says.
“That’s high praise, coming from you,” you say with a smirk.
“That’s because I’m the best, babe,” he says, making you laugh. “You’re really pretty when you do that laughing thing,” he says, looking at you with a soft expression.
“Cross. You’re drunk,” you say, again.
“Doesn’t change the fuckin’ truth! I’ve thought you were gorgeous from the moment I met’cha,” he says earnestly.
Out of curiosity, you try to get a ‘read’ on him. The buzz in your mind is faint this time, but you are able to pick up sincerity, much to your surprise.
The lift shudders, and Crosshair stumbles again, leaning more of his weight onto you, and your chests press against each other. You search his face and the unguarded adoration you find in his eyes startles you. Before you can really process this, the lift comes to a shaky stop, and when the door slides open, you find Hunter standing on the other side, looking thoroughly unamused.
“I should’ve figured that’s where you were,” he says with a shake of his head. “How much did he have?” he asks, pulling Crosshair off of you.
“I have no idea, but a hell of a lot more than me,” you say, following them back into the hallway.
“I can see that,” Hunter says, rolling his eyes. “Come on brother, let’s get you to bed,” he says, firmly gripping Crosshair's shoulder and steering him back towards his room. You stay close behind, shaking your head as you walk.
You all reach your cluster of rooms, and the door to Crosshairs slides open. Before Hunter drags him inside, he makes a ‘come here’ gesture at you. This should be interesting, you think, and humor him.
When you come to a stop, Crosshair shuffles away from Hunter and manages to stand on his own. He cups your cheek and softly smiles at you. “I meant it, wake me up in the morning,” he says.
“If she doesn’t, I will,” Hunter interjects.
“You,” Crosshair says, waving his other hand at him. “Go away.”
Hunter obviously ignores this, but does step back a little, giving you two some breathing room.
“I meant that other thing too,” Crosshair says. “I’ve always thought you were beautiful. Goodnight, Kitten,” he says, kissing your lips. The unexpected softness from him makes your heart race.
“Goodnight hot shot,” you say in return.
Crosshair turns and weaves his way towards one of the beds and falls over onto it. Hunter, whom you realize could probably hear your heart thundering in your chest, looks over at you and crosses his arms with a bemused expression.
“
Kitten
?” he says with a smirk. Your cheeks grow warm, but you don’t acknowledge it. “So, what’s he getting up for?” Hunter asks, glancing over his shoulder at Crosshair, who seems to be asleep, or unconscious, already.
“Echo needs to be at the mechanic's place at the same time I’m seeing Kix for my side tomorrow morning. I was going to ask Tech if he’d mind going with him, but Crosshair insisted,” you say. You don’t like how easily you can lie to Hunter too, but shake it off.
“You sure that’s a good idea?” Hunter says, raising an eyebrow at you.
“He and Echo need to have a conversation anyway,” you say with a shrug.
“What about?” he asks, sounding suspicious.
You pause for a second and decide to be transparent with him. “Whether or not they can be civil enough to both be with me,” you say casually.
Hunters expression changes to surprise. “Really?” he says. You simply nod at him. “Well, I’m not going to stop you, but for the love of the Maker, the team has to come first,” he says, stern.
“Of course Sarge,” you say. “Goodnight Hunter.”
He smirks at you again, and says “Goodnight
kitten
,” as you step through the door to your own room, cheeks blazing.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You step through the door and lean back onto it once it closes, taking a deep breath and closing your eyes. After a few seconds, you feel the flush on your cheeks fade, so you stand normally and continue further into the room. You glance around, and find no sign of Echo. A twinge of anxiety passes through you, but you quickly brush it away, reasoning that he must still be out on the balcony, since you weren’t gone for too long. You walk to the glass door, and find him on the floor outside, still sitting with his back against the half wall, exactly where you left him. In fact, he hasn’t moved at all and it looks like he’s asleep. You slide the door open and step outside, then carefully sit back where you were next to him, trying not to wake him up.
You didn’t need to bother; only a minute or so after you sat down, Echo suddenly jerks, gasping as if drowning, and startling the hell out of you. Your heart pounding, you spin to get a better look at him and find that he’s still asleep. Your stomach drops as you realize that this has to be a nightmare. It’s confirmed when he jerks again with a shout, arms flailing. You quickly shift onto your knees in front of him, grasping him by his upper arms in an attempt to stop him from hurting himself.
“Echo!” you call his name, shaking him without meaning to.
He jerks with another gasp, but wakes up this time. His eyes spring open and he tries to scramble backwards away from you. You immediately release him and also shuffle backward, giving him room to breathe and come to his senses. You keep your hands up where he can see them and watch his face carefully. The fear and panic in his eyes breaks your heart. Is this what you looked like, all those nights before when Wrecker would wake you up and calm you back down? The thought makes your stomach churn, so you force yourself to focus on Echo again.
He whips his head from side to side before his gaze lands onto you, and he breathes a massive sigh of relief. You cautiously take his remaining hand into your own, and aren’t surprised to find that he’s trembling. You look pointedly at him and open your arms, and he lets out a shaking breath before curling up tightly against your chest. You hold him close, trying to keep him grounded and present, reminding him that he’s safe with you now. Your mind buzzes as he shivers, and it’s there again:
fear
. Which makes sense, given everything he’s been through, but it still hurts you to see him like this.
You remember the first night you had held Fives like this after one of his own nightmares. You felt helpless then, and you feel just as helpless now. You can’t heal a wound like this one. You hold back a frustrated noise, focusing again on Echo, who seems to be calming down. His breathing is still uneven, but the shakes have lessened and he doesn’t look panicked now. You gently take him by the shoulders and move the two of you apart enough for you to get a better look at him. Despite the lack of lighting out here, you notice that he’s pale, more so than is unfortunately normal for him now.
You cautiously, softly, say his name. “Echo? Do you need anything?” you ask.
He shakes his head, then pulls you back closer to him and rests his forehead against yours. “Just you. Please,” he says, barely audible over the background noise of the city.
“Of course,” you say, just as quietly, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and upper back as you move forward, closer to him. “Whatever you need, just let me know,” you say.
A few minutes go by, and he’s finally regained control of his breathing, and what little color he has left returns. He pulls back and sits up straighter, rubbing at his eyes. You continue to watch him. He glances over at you and says “I’m surprised you haven’t asked what happened.”
You shrug and say “if you wanted to talk about it you would,” and it occurs to you that this is exactly what Crosshair had said to you that day you sat together on the crates, before the last mission. It had only been a handful of rotations, but it felt like a lifetime had passed between then and now. You shake yourself, pushing the thought aside. “Besides,” you continue, shifting onto your knees as you speak. “I know how it can be with nightmares,” you say, chuckling humorlessly. You get to your feet and extend a hand down towards Echo. He grasps your forearm and you pull him upright.
Now standing, he stares at you for a few seconds. Just as you're about to ask what he’s doing, he suddenly takes a firm step forward, grabs you by the shoulders, and pulls you close. Your lips crash together and he kisses you deeply, almost desperately. Taken aback, but not complaining, you do the same. After some time, you both break away for air.
“What was that for?” you ask.
Echo looks you up and down again, then grabs your hand and practically drags you back into the room. He stops at the edge of the large bed, and begins to kiss you and nuzzle into your neck. “Say that again, please,” he says, his voice low.
You think back for a second, trying to figure out what he meant, then it clicks. “I’m with you, you're safe,” you say softly. He sighs and holds you tighter, and you wrap your arms around him again. “I swear on my life, Echo, you’ll never have to be alone like that again,” you say, your voice still low, but your tone firm.
He moves upward, crashing his lips into yours once more before saying “I don’t care about later. You’re here now, and I need you, now.”
Involuntarily, you get a ‘read’ on him; a cacophony of loneliness and love overwhelm you, and your heart aches for him.
“Please,” he says again, whispering into your ear, which makes you shiver.
Rather than responding with words, you take a single step back and whip your tunic off before pressing yourself tightly against him, continuing to kiss him. Echo groans and the pure
want
of the sound sends a wave of heat through your body.
Even through the cloud of desire between you two, you can tell he’s still holding himself back, no doubt thinking about the last time you both were close like this; when he touched you with his scomp, you flinched. Taking charge for a moment, you grip his arm and firmly place the link against the small of your back. As you do, you tell him “Despite everything, it’s still you.” You pull him even closer. “And that’s all that matters to me. I need
you
, Echo, please,” you say, and the conviction behind your words convinces him.
He turns, still holding you, and pushes you backwards. The springs of the mattress underneath you squeak, but you barely notice before Echo has also thrown himself downward onto the bed. He shifts on top of you, and the metal of his cybernetic limbs is cold, but you don’t care, and tangle your legs together regardless. He keeps his scomp on your hip, and his remaining hand slips underneath you, where he awkwardly tries to unhook your bra.
This only continues for a few seconds before he gives up, pulling his hand back and huffing. You suppress a giggle, cup one side of his face, and gently kiss his cheek. “I’ve got it,” you say. You reach behind yourself and undo the hooks single handed, accomplishing what he could not with the speed of a well practiced hand.
“I always had trouble with those damn things to begin with,” he says, shaking his head. He watches you sit up just enough to shimmy your arms through the straps, then cast the garment aside before lying back down, your top half completely bare. You see the way his eyes sweep hungrily over you, and give him a clear nod. Only then does he touch you again, taking your left breast into his remaining hand, excitedly feeling its weight and massaging it. You close your eyes and hum, content.
Echo kisses you again, then begins to nip along your neck and across your collarbone, relishing in the small gasps that would come from you. You’re panting, and unconsciously tugging at the hem and waistband of his undersuit.
He leans back, and you can see the hesitation on his face. Your heart aches for him once again. You sit up, leveling with him, and lace your fingers together behind his neck. “You don’t have to,” you say softly. “This is entirely at
your
pace, Echo,” you continue. A breeze of gratitude drifts off of him, and you kiss him gently before flopping down onto your back again, waiting for him. He appears to be debating with himself.
A gust of self consciousness blows over you, and you sit back up.
“I’m sorry Meds, I-,” he says, but you gently cut him off with a soft kiss.
“Don’t apologize for that, Echo. I understand. It’s alright,” you say. You cup one side of his face, and he visibly relaxes into your hand. You notice he’s avoiding your eyes, but decide not to push the issue. “What do you need?” you ask for the second time that night.
His face scrunches, then he abruptly leans forward and hides his face into the hollow of your shoulder. He’s trembling again. You wrap your arms around his shoulders, rest your cheek on his head, and hold him as tightly as you can. There’s nothing else for you to do or say, but it seems that simply being there with him is enough. You move awkwardly and reach over to the bedside table, clicking off the lamps, then wiggle down onto your back, still keeping Echo close.
“Get some sleep, Echo. I’ll be here with you, okay?” you say quietly.
He doesn’t speak, but you feel him nod against your skin, so you give him a chaste peck to the forehead before settling back to try and rest.
—
You wake suddenly, aware that you’re alone in the bed. A quick glance at the nearby chrono glowing on the side table tells you that you’ve only been asleep for a few hours. You sit up, looking around the room, and find Echo on the balcony again, his back to you, slouching down onto the railing. You frown, and sense insecurity, confusion, and even self-loathing radiate off of him. You swing your legs out of the bed and get to your feet, not bothering to grab a shirt before cautiously making your way to him.
Echo hears the door slide open, and briefly glances at you over his shoulder before staring out at the city again. He otherwise doesn’t acknowledge you. Frowning again, you quietly take a few steps over towards him and stand on his scomp side. You also lean onto the railing, but say nothing, hoping he would speak first. After a few minutes, he still hasn’t paid you any attention. You stand back up straight, sighing heavily.
“I know something is bothering you, Echo,” you say softly, chancing a step closer to him. He doesn’t move away, but he doesn’t speak either. In fact he still seems to be having a hard time meeting your eyes. “Please, talk to me,” you say, turning slightly and facing him more directly.
Echo again doesn’t speak. A few more tense minutes pass in silence, save for the constant background noise of Coruscant. You study his face, and he looks like he’s struggling to find his words. You don’t know what else to do, so you gently rest your hand onto his elbow. He glances at you again, and as he sighs heavily, you’re startled to see and feel that he’s hurt.
“Echo?” you say quietly. “What’s wrong?”
He turns to face you, but still has trouble looking you in the eye. When he speaks, his voice is so soft you can’t hear him. You tilt your head to the side, and he repeats himself, barely loud enough to be audible.
“Am I not enough?” he asks.
Your jaw drops and a heavy weight settles over your heart. “Of course you are, what are you saying?” you ask, withdrawing your hand as if burned.
Echo sighs again and glances over your shoulder at the darkened room next door. Crosshairs room, you realize, and immediately feel disgusted with yourself. You hadn’t given Echo’s thoughts any consideration in regards to the situation with the other man. You follow his gaze, glancing over the room next door, then quickly look back at him. You raise a hand, about to rest it onto his chest, but think better of it, and instead it awkwardly hovers between the two of you. “Oh, Echo,” you say, your voice cracking. “No. No, it’s not like that at all,” you say.
“What is it like then?” he asks. He doesn’t sound angry or even jealous, just defeated, which is somehow worse. You don’t know how to respond, and when you say nothing, he shakes his head at you and turns back toward the railing, avoiding your line of sight. “He isn’t damaged, is that it? He’s whole,” he says, so quiet you can barely hear him.
You can’t help but gasp softly. “What? No! Of course not,” you say, your voice wavering further. He manages to meet your eyes for just a moment, and a wave of hurt and confusion crashes over you, making you physically wince without realizing it. Echo notices this and shakes his head again, looking away once more.
“Felt that, did you?” he said, failing to hide the bitterness in his tone.
“Echo, please, I-,” you start to say, but he cuts you off.
“Don’t, I get it,” he says, still sounding defeated.
He meets your eyes again, and you see in the reflections there that the light to Crosshair’s room has been turned on. You both hear his balcony door slide open, and abruptly turn and watch as he walks outside. He looks around, notices the two of you, and does a double take upon seeing you topless.
Before he can say anything, your own balcony door slides open, and when you turn toward the sound, you see that Echo has gone inside. You watch as he sits on the edge of the bed, with his back to you, and slouches down so far his head seems to disappear. Your heart breaks all over again.
“This isn’t what I meant,” you say, unaware you had spoken aloud. You hiccup and barely suppress the lump that’s risen in your throat. You hear a shuffling sound coming from your left, and when you turn your head, you’re startled to find that Crosshair has traversed the gap between your balconies, giving no mind at all to the height of the floor you were all on. He reaches a hand out toward you, but hesitates, unknowingly mimicking you as he lets it hover awkwardly between you both.
The two of you hear movement, and when you both look, you see Echo has gotten to his feet, and it seems like he was going to come back outside, but when he sees that Crosshair is there with you, he freezes. He barks out a humorless laugh, then turns on his heel and leaves the room without looking back. You quickly rush back inside, intending to follow him. When you go through the room door and into the hallway, you see him stepping into the elevator, and watch as it climbs upward. You hear an unfamiliar voice coming towards you from the other side of the hall, remember that you’re half naked, then rush back into your room, hoping nobody has seen you.
Once inside, you find Crosshair standing awkwardly in the center of the room, obviously unsure of what to do with himself. You completely ignore him and silently climb back into bed, burying your face into the blankets and fighting back tears. You hear him take a few steps toward you, but when you shrink away from him, he stops. The feeling of conflict that wafts off of him makes your head hurt, and you burrow further under the bedclothes, blocking out everything around you.
The buzzing sensation in your head briefly morphs into irritation, then abruptly disappears as you hear the entry door to your room slide open and closed. Crosshair left. As for where he had gone, you didn’t know and didn’t care. Alone again, a sob escapes your throat.
—
Echo sits at the bar on the rooftop, staring into a small glass of the same Corellian Whisky you had been drinking earlier, and tries to block everything out. Aside from the service droid tending the bar, and the waitress wiping down the tables, he’s the only one up here. He hears the distinct sound of the elevator coming to a stop, and glances over to find, to his annoyance but not surprise, that it’s Crosshair. Echo sees him approaching and stares forward, taking a large gulp of the drink as Crosshair sits on his right, leaving an empty stool between them.
Echo sets the glass down with a thud and speaks. “What the fuck do you want?” he says. “Come to rub it in?” he continues, bitter and exhausted before taking another gulp of the drink.
When Crosshair speaks, Echo wasn’t expecting his voice to also sound worn down, and what he says surprises him further.
“I’m getting tired of picking up the pieces whenever you leave her,” Crosshair says, also staring forward. The service droid rolls over, but he waves it off.
Echo finishes the drink in one go, then slams the empty glass down onto the bar. “This will be the last time then,” he says, “she won’t have to choose now.”
Taken aback, Crosshair glances over at Echo. “Choose? The hell are you talking about?” he says, confused.
“Oh, she didn’t tell you?” Echo spits, the bitterness in his tone growing more prominent.
“Tell me what?” Crosshair asks, turning toward Echo completely now.
“You really don’t know, do you?” Echo says, surprised.
Crosshair rolls his eyes. “Obviously not or I wouldn’t have asked,” he says.
Echo takes a steadying breath, debating with himself. He glances over at Crosshair, who is still waiting for him to speak. Echo sighs heavily, then quickly recounts the conversation he had earlier with you about him, ending with your ‘I want you both,’ comment. Echo glances over at the sniper again, and is mildly amused to see the gobsmacked expression on his face. “She really didn’t say anything?” Echo asks.
“Not a word,” Crosshair responds, frowning. “But how do you know she was with me after you two spoke?” he says.
“Call it a hunch,” Echo grumbles. “Tech’s been miles away at the ship all day, and she came back too quickly to have been there.”
Crosshair makes a sound akin to ‘fair enough’, then the two lapse into silence. Crosshair eventually speaks up first. “Look,” he says, obviously choosing his words carefully, “I want her, just like you do, but I’ll back off.”
Echo can’t help but snort in disbelief. “Bullshit,” he says.
“If that’s what she needs, what I want doesn’t matter,” Crosshair says firmly.
Echo, caught off guard, finally turns to face the other man. “She once said the same thing to me. Her wants dont matter over my needs,” he says, after a few seconds of thought.
“She told us about that,” Crosshair says. “Sort of, that is. After you two had apparently split, again, we all met up to figure out what to do about Trench. Hunter was surprised she wasn’t with you, and she said
‘it fuckin hurts, but I’m respecting what he wants
’. She and I tried to talk to you right after that,” he says.
Echo grimaces. “Kark, that was a disaster,” he says, rubbing at his temples. Crosshair makes a sound of agreement. Echo inhales deeply, then speaks again. “And then afterwards, that’s when, uh,” he says, awkwardly pointing his scomp at the side of his neck, clearly referring to the mark Crosshair had left on you.
Crosshair hesitates, then also speaks. “Yes, it was. I honestly couldn’t tell you which of us moved in first. I didn’t bother to ask, but she didn’t stop me either,” he says. He pauses for a second before talking again. “She was hurt. I just happened to be the one there,” he says.
Echo snorts derisively again. “So, what, if someone else had been in your place when she came back, that wouldn’t have happened?” he asks, sounding bitter again.
“Do you really think she would’ve done that with any of the others?” Crosshair says, and Echo doesn’t miss the hint of protectiveness in his voice as he speaks, just like there had been in Kix’s office. “Because she wouldn’t,” he says.
“How do you know?” Echo says, turning away and staring forward again.
Crosshair sighs, trying to hold his temper. “Well, as far as I know, nobody else sees her like we do, and she doesn’t see them that way either. Meds only latched onto me when she was convinced you wanted nothing to do with her,” he says.
“Why should I believe you?” Echo growls.
“You have every reason not to; I wouldn’t believe you either if the situation were reversed,” Crosshair says, taking Echo by surprise again. He doesn’t respond, but a subtle change in his posture shows that he is listening.
Crosshair continues. “It’s always been you. I meant what I said back there on Anaxes, we’ve all heard her cry out for you while she slept. She always wore that weird rock, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her without it until recently. I saw the state she was in after you stormed off when we all got back from Skako. Sith hells man, if all that wasn’t enough, I know you saw Tech's recording of when she hit me just before we found you,” he says, aggravated.
“You deserved that,” Echo says flatly.
Crosshair rolls his eyes again. “Yes, I did, but that’s not the point. Do you really think she would’ve lost her grip like that if she didn’t give a shit about you? Don’t be a di’kut. She damn near
shot someone
today, simply for insulting you; what more evidence do you fucking need?” he says, barely able to stop himself from raising his voice.
Echo doesn’t say anything, and neither does Crosshair. The air is silent and tense for some time until the waitress approaches them.
“Sorry boys, but we’re closing up for the night,” she says. She tells Echo that his drink has been added to the tab attached to your room, then casually waves them out.
The two return to the elevator, and when they step inside, the air is so thick with tension it’s nearly suffocating. They pass by several floors before Echo says something.
“She wanted us to talk this over, but I know she didn’t mean for it to happen like this,” he says with a tired sigh. Crosshair nods, and another quiet minute passes.
“So, where does that leave things?” Crosshair asks.
“Well, I think we both get points for not beating the shit out of each other,” Echo says, and Crosshair smirks. Before either of them can say anything else, the lift comes to a stop at their floor.
Nothing else is said as the two men walk down the hallway to the rooms you had booked for the squad. They come to a stop, and Crosshair takes a step towards his door. He feels a moderately strong grip on his shoulder, and turns back toward Echo, confused. When Echo jerks his head at the room he was sharing with you, the confusion deepens. Echo huffs and rolls his eyes. The door opens, and before Crosshair can properly react, Echo
pushes him inside.
It’s dark, but they both can see the vague shape of your body curled up under the duvet on the bed. A bed that is far too big for you to be in it alone. Echo releases Crosshair’s shoulder and quietly climbs in beside you.
The two exchange a glance, then both nod, acknowledging something unsaid between them. Crosshair strips down to his bodysuit, then gingerly gets into bed on your other side, being careful not to wake you up.
The fog of tension that had been so intense in the elevator quickly dissipates, and eventually the two of them also fall asleep.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Not long after Crosshair leaves, your tears dry quicker than you expect, and the feelings of conflict and confusion are rapidly morphing into irritation. This surprises you, even though it really shouldn’t. After all, this isn’t the first time, or even the second, that Echo has stormed off or pushed you away. You remember Kix’s comment back on Anaxes; “
What happened with you two this time
?” and can’t help but roll your eyes with a humorless chuckle. For your sanity and apparently everyone else’s, this needs to stop.
You remind yourself that Echo is still adjusting to the way his life was flipped inside out, so of course there are going to be struggles as he comes to terms with it. However; that doesn’t excuse him from running off like a petulant teenager every time a conflict between the two of you arises.
You sigh again and slide out of bed, walking over to the refresher. You shut your eyes and flip the lights on, then blink a few times and look yourself over in the mirror. Your eyes are still puffy, and you have faint but noticeable shadows under them. Anyone who took a good enough look at you would be able to tell how exhausted you are. You shift your focus to the mark Crosshair had left on you. It’s almost completely faded, and you can only really see it if you make an effort to look for it. You take a step back and twist yourself to get another look at your side. You carefully peel the bandages off with a hiss of pain, throw them away, and inspect the wound.
The edges aren’t as ragged as they were immediately after being hit, and the burns have healed up well so far, though you still have a way to go before recovering completely. Carefully, you flex yourself, making the injury move alongside your muscles as you twist and stretch, and you grit your teeth, holding back another pained sound. You wonder if there’s damage deeper than you can see, and decide to see Kix tomorrow after all. Plus, you reason with yourself, it would mean you weren’t entirely lying to Crosshair and Hunter about your plans for tomorrow.
You grab the fairly sized med kit you’d brought with you and open it on the counter. You carefully wipe your injury down with antiseptic, gritting your teeth again against the harsh burning sensation, dab a thin layer of bacta over it, and bandage yourself back up, though the angle makes it difficult. As you’re doing this, the slight irritation you’ve been feeling deepens into indignation. You took a damned blaster shot for Echo, and he’s
still
acting like you think he’s the lesser option! You barely hold back a growl of frustration. You stand normally again, close the med kit, and after washing your hands, splash some warm water over your face a few times, further clearing your head. As you shut the light off and return to bed, you resolve to have yet another talk with Echo, even if it meant having to chase him down like a loose massif this time. You’ll be damned if you were shot for nothing.
As for Crosshair? He’s been incredibly patient and understanding about the entire situation the three of you found yourselves in. You lie on your uninjured side and think about how he had almost certainly gone after Echo. You huff again and hope they didn’t beat each other up too badly. Exhaustion slips over you like a strong tide, and you tell yourself that you’ll deal with whatever is currently happening between them both in the morning.
You set two alarms, about five minutes apart, on the chrono you wear on your wrist. Hopefully that would be enough to ensure that you didn’t oversleep again. You don’t want to be late for your meeting with… someone. You had assumed you’d be going into the Jedi archives with the General, but he clearly had other plans. You realize that he never told you who you’d be meeting with in the morning, only where to go and when to be there. So, just to be sure, you use your data pad to send him a quick message asking who to look for in the morning.
As for Echo seeing Shalka again tomorrow, you’re not sure if he’s going to be going back with Crosshair or not. Crosshair did say he would do it, but for one thing, he was drunk when he said it, and for another, that was before all this crap happened. You suppose that it’ll depend on how the night ends.
You heave out a weary sigh, knackered by the mess you’ve found yourself in, then settle back into bed, quickly falling asleep. The Maker does you a favor and gives you no dreams for the first time in over a week, allowing you to get some much needed rest.
—
You suddenly wake up feeling unusually warm. You lie still on your back with your eyes closed, trying to figure out if you have suddenly come down with something, but there were no previous symptoms, and everything else feels normal. You shift a little, and are surprised when you bump into someone on
both
sides. Your eyes fly open in the dark, and you sit up suddenly. You look to your left, and see Echo asleep on his side and facing you. Hoping that you haven’t woken him, you turn your head enough to look towards your right and find Crosshair there, also asleep, but on his back.
Well, you think, that explains why you’re so warm, being sandwiched between two heat sources. Glancing between them, you can’t help but wonder just what the hell happened while you were asleep. You take a cursory look over their faces and find no signs of a fight, so you relax a little more and lie back down.
You stare up at the ceiling, pleased to find that your typically racing mind is still for a change. You take a deep breath, smiling softly, enjoying the rare moment of peace. However, your eyes have only been closed for a few seconds before you feel the men shift around and start to wake up. You decide to ‘keep sleeping’ and see if they say anything about whatever they were doing.
Echo sits up and his back makes an uncomfortable-sounding, slightly metallic noise, which prompts Crosshair to mumble something you couldn’t fully hear before rolling onto his side and hiding his face in your neck. You try to stop your heart from racing, since you’re supposed to be asleep, but fail. He may not be able to hear your heart rate like Hunter, but Crosshair can definitely feel your pulse thumping against his temple. You tell he’s lifting his head, but a second later, he drops back into place. Just as you’re wondering what that was about, you feel Echo lie back down and turn onto his side to face you too.
He presses himself into you, and the feeling of his breath mixing with Crosshair’s over your throat makes you shiver involuntarily. Crosshair shifts, and you can practically hear the smirk on his face. He starts to lightly nip along your pulse, steadily making his way to your ear.
“We know that you’re awake,” he whispers.The husky sound of his voice makes you shiver again, and you barely hold back a noise. You know you should give up the act, but you stay still with your eyes shut, not wanting to admit defeat so easily.
“Stubborn as always eh?” Echo says into your other ear. You grit your teeth in an effort not to react. “I guess we’ll just have to change your mind. Convince her, Crosshair.” he continues. You fail to hold back an excited gasp after hearing him take charge like that.
You jump a little when Crosshair's hands grip your shoulders and firmly turn you on your side to face him, being careful not to put too much weight on your injury. As he does, you can feel Echo pressing himself even closer to you, his breath warm against the back of your neck. Echo starts kissing you along your neck and up to your jawline, and at the same time, Crosshair slips one of his hands from your shoulder to your chest. He paws at your bare breast, eventually taking your pebbled nipple between two fingers and gently working at it, making you gasp.
Not to be outdone, Echo moves back down your neck, then stops at the junction where it meets your shoulder and sucks into the delicate skin there. His teeth graze you and you can’t hold back the needy moan that this elicits from you. He notices, of course, and bites into your shoulder. When he does, your eyes open wide and you arch your back, grinding your ass backwards against him and his growing bulge. You realize that he’s replacing Crosshair's mark with his own, reinforcing his claim to you, and you shiver again, the wetness between your legs nearly soaking through your leggings. Echo’s hard cock twitches and he’s now groaning with need, which arouses you even further.
Crosshair recaptures your attention when his free hand moves down to your hip and grips you tightly. At the same time, he shifts himself just enough to crash his lips against yours. You obediently open up for him. He hums his approval as your tongues meet and his smoky taste floods your senses. You groan and he drinks it in. The hand on your hip moves to the waistband of your leggings and tugs at it. You break away, panting, and move to slip them off.
You’re suddenly stopped when Crosshair and Echo’s eyes meet over you, then they each take one of your wrists and hold you into place at the same time. Echo has to press his scomp link against your hand and into the mattress, but you notice that he didn’t seem to hesitate with it this time, and turn away from Crosshair to move yourself enough to see Echo’s face. He looks unsure of himself, so you meet his eyes and nod at him, pushing your pinned hand back a little more for emphasis. The expression of relief on his face is quickly overshadowed by lust. He twists himself to better reach you and kisses you deeply.
As this is happening, he and Crosshair are using their free hands to slide your leggings down. Once they reach your knees, you squirm enough to kick the damn things off on your own. You made a good choice to not bother with any panties. Now completely bare, your wrists are freed, and you grope around their groins, your hands finding their throbbing cocks at about the same time. Echo breaks away from you with a soft groan, and Crosshair hisses through his teeth. Echo frees himself from his undersuit for you while you slip your other hand into Crosshair's waistband.
He also groans, then slides his hand from your chest to your upper thigh, barely holding himself back. With a little effort, you’re able to pull his undersuit down far enough for his cock to spring free. He growls and his hips buck toward you, but you don’t touch him just yet. Remembering Echo, you open your legs just enough for him to slide his cock between your thighs and along your wet heat. When he does, his shaft glides deliciously over your clit, and you can’t help but whine.
After a moment of this, you turn your attention back to the sniper and take the time to commit the desperate look on his face to memory, smirking as you do. You take pity on him and grasp his cock, steadily pumping away at it. He curses under his breath and lurches forward to lock his lips with yours again. As he does, Echo slots his hand between your legs, angling his own cock downward to make room, and traces a finger around your dripping cunt as if asking permission. You groan and grind yourself down onto his fingers, which he begins to scissor in and out of you. The odd angle he’s at is hitting you in all the right places and you break away from Crosshair with a whimper, though your hand never falters in its movements, continuing to steadily jerk him off. His hand quickly slides up the remainder of your thigh and finds its way to your swollen clit. He uses the pad of his thumb to press tight circles into it, making you moan loudly as your hips buck toward him.
The sounds of labored breathing and obscene moans of pleasure coming out of the three of you fills the room; you’re passively aware of how loud you are and that other people can hear you, but you just can’t find it in yourself to give a damn. You don’t remember the last time you felt this adored, this spoiled, this
good
, and you’re loving every fucking second of it.
Echo’s hips suddenly stutter and he grunts, then you feel his hot cum coat your inner thighs. As this happens, he curls his fingers in a ‘come here’ gesture inside you and you gasp as you clamp down around them. This, in tandem with a sudden, firm press of Crosshair's thumb against your throbbing clit is too much, and you come with a whimper. You release his cock without realizing it, and he withdraws his hand to finish himself off, coating your belly with his own cum only seconds later.
Everyone takes their hands back to themselves, panting and sweating as you each come down from your highs. Crosshair presses his forehead into yours while Echo plants lazy, open-mouthed kisses across your upper back and shoulders. Your hips still twitch forward every now and then.
Once you’re able to catch your breath, you can’t help but laugh a little. “Good talk?” you ask.
“Obviously,” Crosshair says with a smirk as Echo hums in agreement behind you. You chuckle, then the three of you fall into a comfortable quiet, your heart rates and breathing leveling out after another minute or two.
Drowsiness is about to set in, but is quickly chased away by the shrill screech of a siren passing outside. Everyone grumbles in unison. You roll onto your back and stare at the ceiling, your lovers on either side following suit and each taking one of your hands into his own. You glance between them both with a goofy, dopamine-fueled grin, laughing a little.
“I don’t know what happened, but by the Maker I’m thankful for it,” you say, softly squeezing their hands. Echo and Crosshair both make sounds of agreement, and the room falls into content silence again. Silence which, of course, doesn’t last before being suddenly shattered by a second siren.
Reluctantly, you withdraw your hands and sit upright. With a groan and another faint metallic sound, Echo sits up next, while Crosshair remains on his back with his eyes closed.
You turn to Echo and gently cup one side of his face, tracing your thumb along his cheekbone. He nuzzles into your palm, then takes your hand into his remaining one, kissing your intertwined fingers. You lean forward and kiss him, then press your foreheads together. The two of you close your eyes and breathe each other in for a few seconds.
“Echo?” you say softly. He hums in response. “You okay? With this whole thing?” you ask.
“I am, I promise,” he says, moving to kiss you again. You allow this, then keep talking.
“I didn’t see any bruises, so I’m guessing the two of you managed not to beat the shit out of each other,” you say.
“Told you we’d get points for that,” Echo says, smirking at Crosshair, who finally sits up, rolling his eyes as he does.
“I know we both wanted to,” he says. He scoots close behind you, resting his hands on your knees as he straightens himself up enough to rest his chin on your shoulder.
“I don’t doubt that,” you say, rolling your eyes.
“Lucky he got my head out of my ass before it reached that point,” Echo says, nodding briefly at his brother.
“Oh really?” you say in mock surprise. “And how did he manage that?”
Both men shift slightly away from you and quickly recount their conversation at the bar. Crosshair makes it a point to repeat all the ‘evidence’ that you really did want Echo. You listen, nodding when appropriate, but shake your head once their story wraps up.
“You forgot one,” you say, looking over at Crosshair. He looks confused, as does Echo. You wiggle out from between them and get to your feet. You stand with your hands on your hips, watching them both rake their eyes over your nude body. You smirk and shake your head again.
“Focus you two,” you say, and they exchange a glance before looking at your face.
“What did I forget?” Crosshair asks, still confused.
You hold back a sigh, and turn your body so that they both can see your bandaged side. It isn’t very visible in the dark, but the point is made. Crosshair says nothing, but you can faintly see the understanding on his face.
“I took a fucking shot for you, Echo,” you say, looking him in the eye. “And we all know I wouldn’t do that for someone I don’t care deeply for,” you continue, softening your tone. You feel a harsh wave of shame roll towards you from him as he looks away. You move again, returning to the bed and straddling his bare legs, paying no mind to the cold metal.
You link your hands behind his neck, drawing his attention back to you. “I love you, Echo. I don’t want you to ever doubt that or forget it,” you say. He takes a deep breath and shakes his head at himself.
“I’m sorry,” he says, “I’ve been an ass.”
“Yes, you have,” Crosshair says, reminding you both that he’s still there.
“And you would know, wouldn’t you?” Echo shoots back. You glance anxiously between them both but sense no animosity from either man.
“He should,” you say absently. “I hit him hard enough that he shouldn’t ever forget.”
“If I say I deserved that often enough, will you stop bringing it up?” Crosshair says, and you feel the same shame wafting over from him. You didn’t realize how much that whole thing had bothered him and you feel terrible for it.
“Okay Cross, I’m sorry,” you say, speaking softly but seriously while turning toward him and grasping his shoulder. “I’ll drop it. And I have no intention of doing it a third time,” you continue. He meets your eyes and you feel his faint gratitude. You pull him closer and kiss him.
“Unless you want me to,” you purr into his ear, holding his chin in your hand. You don’t need to feel his cock stiffening against your leg to know the effect those words just had; the
want
you sense from him is just as intense as it had been back in the hangar on Anaxes.
Echo glances between you two with an eyebrow raised, but thankfully doesn’t say anything.
You shift back from them both, sitting on your heels, then suddenly remember that you’re covered in drying cum. You get to your feet again as you point this out, then make your way into the refresher, announcing that you’ll be taking a shower. You pause in the doorway and smirk at Crosshair.
“Feel free to supervise this time,” you say with a giggle before shutting the door behind you.
He takes a sideways glance at Echo, who laughs and says, “eh, don’t let me stop you,” then moves so fast Echo could swear the man had teleported to the refresher door.
“I’ll give you a five minute head start,” Echo calls after him, and he knows he’s been heard by the mumbled sarcastic comment coming from across the room.
The door opens and closes, then Echo finds himself alone. He flops onto his back and stares blankly at the shadows cast across the oddly-textured ceiling, mulling everything over. He holds his remaining hand against his side, the side where you had been shot, and sighs heavily. He drags his remaining hand down his face, imagining what Fives would have to say to him. Echo swears he can faintly hear his brother calling him an idiot, and can't help but agree.
Eventually he sits back up, and he hears you moan and curse loudly. He realizes that Crosshair had probably just made you come, but rather than feeling jealous, he’s instead
intrigued
, wishing he could have been there to watch. His cock hardens quickly enough to almost hurt, and he’s taken aback by this sudden voyeurism. He hears you again and bites his lip. He sees the chrono on the side table out of the corner of his eye, and confirms that it’s been more than five minutes since Crosshair followed you into the shower.
He quickly gets to his feet, but has to stop himself from sprinting across the room to get to you.
—
Earlier, you shut the door behind yourself and turn the shower on, then wait outside of it for a few seconds while the water heats up. As you step in, you thank the Maker that things have turned out this well; the three of you have dealt with more than enough bullshit for now, you think. You adjust the shower head and direct the warm spray over your midriff, then, biting your lip, down between your legs, rinsing your skin off. You can’t help but think of how you imagined Crosshair being in a shower with you, only a week ago.
As if summoned by this, the refresher door opens and shuts, then he’s stripped and steps into the shower within seconds. You take a quick second to readjust the shower head, and as soon as you let go of it, Crosshair is on you.
Your lips crash together again, your tongues meet, and he holds you firmly by the hips, pushing you up against the tiled wall, keeping your legs open with his knee, much like he had earlier in the elevator. You break apart, and he looks at you with a hungry expression. You bite your lip, wondering what he’s going to do. He moves into your neck, nipping along your pulse again until he reaches your ear.
“You didn’t actually drop something in the shower that day, did you?” he says, seeming to read your thoughts. His breath is hot on your skin and his voice is smug.
“That obvious, huh?” you say, embarrassed.
“I don’t think you realize how loud you are,” he says, smirking now. “I could hear you,” he says with a chuckle before kissing you deeply again. When he breaks away, he keeps talking. “So, what were you thinking about that made you come so hard you smacked your head, hm?” he says, staring at you, amused by how flustered you are.
“I think you already know,” you say, sliding a hand down his chest.
“Oh, I do,” he says, his own hand moving between your thighs. “But I want to hear you say it.”
You open your legs, squaring your feet in an attempt to keep yourself from slipping. His hand drifts further up, and his long, nimble fingers touch you everywhere but where you need it most. You whine and try to move yourself against him, but he withdraws his hand as soon as you do, making you whimper.
“Say it, kitten,” Crosshair purrs, clearly enjoying your desperation. Your pride hasn’t broken yet though.
“Fuck me,” you mumble, expaserated.
“Not yet,” he says, returning his hand to its place, tracing even closer to your heat without actually touching it.
“Fine,” you say, rolling your eyes. “Yes, I was thinking about you.” He smirks at you.
“Go on,” he says, barely brushing your clit and making your hips jerk forward towards him. You shoot him a dirty look and he just stares back at you, that infuriating smirk on his lips. You decide to switch tactics and play along.
“I wanted you, Crosshair,” you say, your tone growing lustful. You hear his breath catch; It’s working.
“I
needed
to feel your hands on my skin, your mouth on mine. I was desperate to have your fingers inside me, but I had to make do with my own,” you say, watching as his resolve starts to crack.
“And I’ll tell you something else, hotshot,” you continue, noticing how he groans softly at the nickname. You snake your arms up under his and take him by the shoulders, pulling him even closer to you, your chests pressing together. “I actually didn’t come until I heard you say my name,” you murmur into his ear. He reacts with a curse before fluidly stuffing you with two fingers and working your clit with his thumb again.
You curse loudly, then, moaning, move your hands, taking his throbbing cock into one and pulling his lips against yours by grasping the back of his head with the other. Unable to help himself, he bucks upwards against your palm, groaning into your mouth, once again desperate with need. Your hand moves faster, and he returns the favor. You feel your orgasm quickly approaching, still sensitive from before, and before you can think about resisting, it crashes over you.
The loud sounds of your pleasure reverberate within the small space, and your legs quiver, nearly making you lose your footing. You stumble, throwing your hands out to either side to catch yourself. Noticing this and reacting quickly, Crosshair withdraws from you and holds you by the shoulders before you slip. Once you’re both stable, he cups one side of your face with the hand that had just made you come. You realize this, and, without breaking eye contact, take it by the wrist and move it to your mouth. You suck and lick his fingers clean, pleasantly surprised by your own tangy taste, still intensely staring at him. He curses again, yanks his hand back from you, then kisses you deeply once more, groping at your ass while this happens.
You break away for air and giggle at him, then grab him by the shoulders and change places with him. With his back now against the wall, you slide your hands down to his hips while also carefully shifting downward onto your knees. The hot water is starting to run out, but neither of you notice.
You look up at him through your lashes, wrap your arms around his lean legs from behind and hold him in place. At your present height, Crosshairs twitching cock sits just under your chin. You suddenly lick a long stripe along the bottom of his shaft, taking great pride in the high, sweet gasp this pulls from him.
“Good Maker, kitten,” he pants, his hands moving to tangle into your hair. “Do that again.”
It’s your turn to smirk at him.
“Ah ah, say please,” you say, enjoying the power you’re currently holding over him far too much. He groans, holding your head tighter, trying to pull you where he wants you. You manage to shift yourself further back from him, and he curses under his breath.
“
Say it
hotshot,” you say, smugly throwing his own words back at him. He grits his teeth with a growl and you can pinpoint the exact moment he gives in.
“
Please
, damn you,” he says quietly, defeated.
You respond not by licking him again, but instead taking as much of his cock into your mouth and throat as you can in one seamless movement. He shouts out another curse, and you giggle around him, the vibration making his cock twitch noticeably.
It’s at this same moment that the refresher door opens again and Echo finally joins you. Knowing you now have an audience, you make a show of bobbing your head up and down Crosshair’s cock and drawing the most perfect, desperate sounds out of him.
You’re vaguely aware that Echo is kneeling behind you, but you don’t pay him much attention until he slips his remaining arm under yours and cups your left breast with his hand. He drags his thumb across your pebbled nipple and you moan, which in turn makes Crosshair moan too.
“Whatever you’re doing to her, don’t fucking stop,” he growls, his eyes screwed shut in concentration.
Echo moves closer to you, your back now against his chest, and he rests his chin on your shoulder. He touches you again, using two fingers to pinch at your tit. You groan, the sound coming from deep in your chest, and as you do, Crosshair pushes himself a little further down your throat. Your eyes water, and Echo shifts again, panting in your ear.
“Fuck,” he says, his voice thick with desire. “You look so perfect like this.” Your hips involuntarily twitch at the praise and he slides his hand down from your chest to your clit, rubbing tight, fast circles into it.
“That’s right kitten,” Crosshair gasps from above you. “So good for us,” he says, grunting when you whine and swallow around him in response.
Echo startles you by quickly changing positions, lying on his back and paying no mind to the now-cold water surrounding him on the shower floor. He takes you by the hips and maneuvers you so that your dripping cunt is hovering over his face, your knees on either side of his head. He starts licking up into you, eating you out like a man starved. Despite being muffled by Crosshair's cock, you moan, louder than before, and he curses yet again.
Stretching a little awkwardly, you reach behind you and wrap your hand around Echo's cock, eagerly and energetically stroking him once again. He moves his lips to your clit and begins to suckle and nip at it, and you reflexively grind yourself against him. With a particularly strong swirl of his tongue, you whimper, and the feeling of it in your throat around Crosshair finally pushes him over the edge. He tugs at your hair almost painfully, pushing himself even further down your throat, but you don't falter in your movements. Suppressing your gag reflex, you swallow up as much as you can suck out of him, all the while still not slowing down behind you with your hand around Echo.
Panting, Crosshair pulls his hips back as he pushes you away, and his dick leaves your mouth with a soft ‘pop’. While the sniper steps out carefully on shaky legs, Echo wraps his lips around your clit and it’s your turn to come. With nothing to keep you quiet, you call out his name loudly enough to, well, echo, around the room as your legs give out. Despite the water from the shower, you soak his face and he laps it up.
You move quickly, shifting off of him and moving past his waist, where you effortlessly take his entire length into your throat. Echo gets his chance to get loud, and it only takes a few more seconds for him to cum. You swallow up as much as you can from him too, and even continue to suck him off for a little while afterwards, relishing in the overstimulated hiccups and whines coming from above you. Not wanting to push him too far, you have mercy and release him. His legs are twitching intensely as you carefully stand and shut the water off. You kneel again and grip his elbow, pulling him into a sitting position, the two of you still panting for breath.
For about a minute, the only sounds are those of ragged breathing steadily evening out. Echo gets to his feet and pulls you into a stand. Crosshair, already dried off, hands you a clean towel and haphazardly tosses another at Echo, who barely catches it. Echo rolls his eyes at him, but you still don't sense any enmity between them both.
You glance at your chrono, which you had forgotten to take off, and are thankful that it's waterproof as you double take at the time.
“Uh, Echo,” you say, and he turns toward you, mildly concerned by your tone.
“We’re supposed to be up in four hours,” you tell him. He steps forward and softly kisses you.
“I think that was worth losing a few hours of sleep, don’t you?” he says, raising an eyebrow at Crosshair, who has also moved to be closer to you. He hums in agreement and wraps his arms around your waist from behind, still being mindful of your injury.
“Did you forget? I told you to wake me up,” he says, breathing into your neck.
“I-I wasn’t sure-,” you say, stumbling over your words as he starts kissing along your neck.
“Well, considering we didn’t kill each other, I’m fine with it,” Echo says with a shrug. He steps forward and holds you by the shoulders before kissing you. You’re sorely tempted to go for a third round with the two of them, but the yawn that escapes your mouth as you break away makes the decision to go to sleep for you.
“Okay then, we
all
need to get up in about four hours,” you say, rolling your eyes. They concede, and give you breathing room. You take a moment to towel off whatever water drops haven’t evaporated away from you, then yawn again, leading the way out of the refresher and back into bed. None of you bother with any clothes.
Lying down, a much more pleasant kind of exhaustion rolls over you, and it takes you less than a minute to fall asleep. Crosshair and Echo return to their places on either side of you. Before either of them lay back though, they exchange a pointed glance. Crosshair looks at Echo with a quizzical expression, and Echo responds with a single, decisive nod.
—
Exactly four hours later, your first alarm rudely rips everyone out of sleep. You slap at your wrist to shut the damn thing off, then yawn while stretching. Echo rolls onto his side and buries his face into your chest, mumbling something you cant hear. Crosshair grunts and spoons up against you on your other side. You all stay like that for a while, savoring the residual afterglow from just a few hours ago. Nobody wants to be the first to move and pull everyone back to reality.
Your second alarm goes off, and you slap your wrist again, grumbling. You turn yourself just enough to reach Crosshair’s face and give him a soft kiss before rolling back over and doing the same to Echo. Both respond by grunting and pressing closer into you. You roll your eyes, but smile softly at them before freeing yourself and scooting down to the foot of the bed, where you get to your feet. The early morning sun shines onto you like a spotlight as you stretch again, accidentally-on-purpose showing off your nude body to the two men now sitting up and watching you.
Crosshair stands first and makes his way over to you, holding you by the hips and kissing you softly. You link your hands behind his neck and reciprocate, and once you pull away from him, you hear Echo say something in Mando’a that you don’t completely understand. You briefly remember when Fives had done the same thing back in your apartment a lifetime ago. In response to whatever Echo had said, Crosshair says that he agrees. You glance between the two of them with a questioning eyebrow raised. Echo gets to his feet and stands behind you, chuckling softly.
“
‘You’re radiant, mesh’la’
,” he and Crosshair say at the same time, and you feel that now-familiar swooping sensation in your belly. Without meaning to, you Sense nothing but love and adoration from the two of them. You take a moment to close your eyes and thank the Maker again that things have turned out this way, then slip from between them. Reluctantly, everyone splits off to get dressed. After a few minutes, the men are both in their full kits, and you're wearing a deep blue caftan with a gold belt cinching it in at your waist.
As you’re slipping on your sandals, you hear a knock at the door, much like you had yesterday. Knowing that it’s Hunter, Echo rolls his eyes and goes to let him in. Hunter is talking as soon as the door opens.
“Have either of you seen-?” he says, stopping himself when he spots Crosshair standing against the wall near you.
“Oh,” Hunter says. He frowns and glances between the three of you, then his eyes widen. “
Of course
. That was you.”
“Problem?” Crosshair says sardonically as you move with him to stand beside Echo at the door. Hunter meets your eyes and a faint wave of familiar annoyance drifts off of him.
“Do I have to keep reminding you how karking
loud
you are?” he says, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Ah, sorry Sarge,” Echo says sheepishly. You and Crosshair exchange a smirk.
“I’m not,” you both say in unison.
There’s a beat of silence, then Echo bursts out laughing while Hunter shakes his head and returns to his own room across the hall.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After Hunter returns to his room, you, Echo, and Crosshair leave the hotel and are about to split up for the day. After the debacle with the Duros man yesterday, you make it a point to be sure whoever’s cab the guys get into isn’t being driven by another jackass. You slip Echo enough credits for the ride there and back, kiss his cheek, then Crosshairs, and wave them off as the cab pulls out into traffic.
An empty taxi takes its place, and you hop inside. You quickly consult your data pad, and give the driver, an unusually quiet Gungan woman, the address General Skywalker sent you. As the speeder drives off, your comm device chirps at you with a call from him.
“Sorry I didn’t tell you yesterday, it completely slipped my mind,” he says, sounding embarrassed, “you’ll be meeting up with Jocasta Nu at the Library. On the off chance you can’t find her, just ask somebody, everyone there knows who she is.”
“Jocasta Nu, got it,” you repeat, ensuring that you’ll remember the name.
“If she can’t help you figure this out, I don’t think anybody can,” he says, but he doesn’t sound very serious.
“I can’t thank you enough General,” you say, and he interrupts you.
“Just ‘Anakin’ is fine,” he says, catching you by surprise.
“Oh! Okay, um, Anakin. I really can’t put into words how much you doing this means to me,” you say, feeling odd about using a superiors first name.
“Hey, I’m just as invested as you are, remember?” he says, laughing a little.
“Right! I’ll let you know whatever we find out. Thank you again sir,” you say brightly.
Before he can say anything else, you hear what sounds like Rex getting his attention in the background.
“Yeah, we’ll meet up later,” he says, ending the call.
You return your comm to your bag and it occurs to you that you still don't know who exactly you’ll be meeting. All you’ve got to go on now is a name and that she’s a woman. You can’t find it in yourself to be annoyed by this though; not only is the General (or
Anakin
, apparently) doing you a massive favor, you know he’s got an entire galaxy’s worth of bigger things to contend with.
You spend the rest of the ride to the Library thinking about everything you’ve experienced up to this point. It all weighs heavily on your mind, and you’re so deep in thought that you don’t realize right away when the speeder has parked. You shake yourself, pay the driver and thank her, then step outside.
The sheer size of the place is intimidating, and when you notice a few Jedi in their brown robes looking curiously at you, you feel grossly out of place. Despite that, you make your way up the stone stairs, determined to get to the bottom of whatever’s been happening to you. Once inside, you find yourself in a wide hall, and your footsteps echo loudly in the impressive space.
You have no idea where to go. You’re sure that Master Nu would be in the actual library area, but it feels very wrong for you to just go waltzing inside. You glance around, wishing you’d gotten more about her from Anakin, and so don’t immediately notice the young human woman you crash into.
You both hit the floor and you quickly scramble to your feet. You bend and offer your hand before you pull her to her feet, apologizing profusely. She dusts herself off and meets your eyes, and you’re momentarily startled by her fair skin and bright red hair; she’s very pretty. You ask if she’s alright.
“Oh, I’m okay, you just startled me,” she says, waving it off. “What about you?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” you say, but she frowns slightly at you.
“Now, I’ll admit that I don’t know every single person who comes through here, but I don’t think I’ve seen you around before,” she says, sounding more curious than suspicious.
“Well, this is my first time here. Do you know who Jocasta Nu is? I’m supposed to meet her inside,” you say, and the woman smiles brightly at you.
“Oh! She’s my great aunt, I was just on my way out from visiting her,” she says. She tells you to follow her, and you match her stride as she leads you through the entrance hall. You chat a little, and find out that her name is Cassia, and that she owns a small bookstore.
“Like, actual ink and flimsi books?” you say, surprised. She nods at you.
“There’s something special about having a physical copy in your hands, y’know?” she says, and you agree. You both continue walking and she asks about you. You give her your name and tell her that you’re a contracted field medic in the GAR. She seems impressed, but doesn’t ask about it.
By this point, you’ve reached the doors, and once you step through, you’re taken aback by the grandeur of the Library.
This room is just as impressive (and intimidating) as the building itself. The ceiling is high and the polished floor is so reflective that it makes the place appear even larger than it already is. Looking around, you see rows and rows of what appear to be data banks sprawling across the floor, and they’re several feet high. The way they’re laid out creates twisting paths of varying width, occasionally spacing out far enough to create a sort of ‘clearing’ which houses computer terminals, desks, and chairs. It all reminds you of a well traveled forest, though with much better lighting, and hopefully less wild animals. You can hear the soft tapping of footsteps, the hum of the terminals, and the occasional chirp of a droid.
As you’re marveling at the place, you hear someone say Cassia’s name, which redirects you to the task at hand.
“I thought you were leaving?” they say.
“Oh, I still am, I just literally bumped into someone who’s looking for you,” Cassia says, gesturing towards you.
You look toward the voice and see a short, wizened old human woman with brown robes and white hair approaching the two of you. She looks you up and down and claps her hands together.
“Ah, of course!” she says. She asks your name and you give it to her, then she nods at you and says “Anakin told me to expect you today.”
Cassia smiles at her great aunt, then looks over at you.
“It was nice to meet you,” she says. “The next time you’re planetside, you think you’ll be able to come by The Spine?” she says.
“Sure, I’d love to see the place,” you say, also smiling at her.
Cassia quickly digs a bit of flimsi and a stylus out of her bag and writes down the address for you. You take it and tuck it into your own bag.
“I’ll be heading back out then,” she says, politely excusing herself. “Be safe out there, okay?” she says, speaking to you directly. You nod and tell her to do the same, then she leaves through the door you both came in and Master Nu waves goodbye to her great niece.
“She’s a sweet girl, my Cassia,” she says fondly, before returning her attention to you. When she continues speaking, her tone is business-like. “Now, Anakin and I agreed that it would be better if I heard about everything from you directly, so I don't know much. Once you fill me in, I’ll know where to start,” she says, walking down an aisle.
You follow her through the data banks and into a secluded ‘clearing’ in a smaller section with nobody else around to overhear, which you appreciate. You both take a seat in a pair of nearby chairs.
“Whenever you’re ready dear,” she says. You nod at her, then take a deep breath and tell your stories yet again. She’s listening intently and looks startled when you describe the shared dream. That expression changes into near-shock after you finish talking about how you felt Fives with you back in the ship’s bunks.
“Good Maker,” she says quietly. “Is there anything else?”
You think about the vague feeling of dread that’s been following you around since Anakin confirmed that you are force sensitive, but halfheartedly brush that off as general anxiety about the war.
“No ma’am, I think I understand everything else just fine,” you say, shifting in your seat.
“The Force works in mysterious ways,” Master Nu says. “Which I know isn’t a very helpful answer. Out of everything, what stands out to you the most?” she asks.
“I mean, Anakin was able to explain a fair bit of the visions to me,” you say. “So the biggest thing is the shared dream, and what happened in the bunks,” you say, then pause for a moment. “It all seems to come back to Fives, doesn’t it?” you say softly.
“It certainly looks that way,” she says. “You’ve been through quite a lot. I’m sorry to say that I don’t have any direct answers for you, but I do know where to look for them. Follow me,” she says. She gets to her feet and beckons you to join her.
You obediently walk alongside Master Nu as she leads you to a large terminal station in the center of the cavernous space. She activates one and types in your name, followed by a few other things, as you watch. She must have Sensed your confusion.
“Oh, I’m not looking up anything about you, don’t worry about that; we leave the GAR affairs entirely separate from the data here,” she explains, chuckling softly. “I’ve simply taken the liberty of adding you into our registry. I get the feeling you’ll need more time than just today to find what you're looking for, so now you're free to come and go without a chaperone,” she says.
“Oh, thank you!” you say, surprised by her thoughtfulness. Master Nu smiles softly at you.
“Anytime dear. Now,” she says, clapping her hands together again, “I’m sure you want to get right to it, yes?”
“I do, yes. I’ll be shipping out in a few days, so the sooner the better,” you say, inclining your head in her direction.
She starts walking again, quickly this time, and you follow her once more through another twisting pathway between the data banks.
“Is there a way to access any of this from outside?” you ask, recalling that Anakin asked why you didn’t just have Tech look into any of this for you.
“No, there isn’t, it’s all encrypted. Security reasons, I’m sure you understand,” she says, then you nod at her while she turns a corner and stops so abruptly that you nearly run into her too.
Master Nu scans over a nearby display screen, then you watch as she fishes a small key out of her robes. She uses it to unlock a section of the data bank just out of her reach, then uses the Force to summon a handful of data chips, catching them between her fingers. You watch, spellbound, and wonder if you’ll ever be able to move objects like that. The librarian takes a moment to carefully examine each one, then uses the Force again to put two of them away. She locks the bank, then goes back into her robes. This time she pulls out a small box with slots for each chip, and she carefully sets each one place before closing it and handing it to you.
“There we are, that should be enough to get you started,” Master Nu says. “If you need help finding another section, I’m usually near the entrance or the terminals at the center, so come find me and I’ll take you wherever you need to go,” she says.
You briefly bow your head at her, saying how thankful you are for her help, and she gives you a soft smile before leaving you to your own devices.
You examine the box in your hand. It’s small, like something a ring would be held in, and after you crack it open you count eight different data chips.
A sudden chill runs through you as you realize that you may be holding the answers to everything in the palm of your hand.
You carefully close the box and retrace your steps, stopping in another clearing full of chairs, then plop yourself down into the first one you see. After retrieving your datapad from your bag, you unlock it and open the box of chips. You aren’t sure if there’s a specific order they need to be read in, so to be safe, you delicately pick out the one in the first slot and click it into the side of your device.
It takes a few seconds to load, and in that time you briefly wonder if Echo and Crosshair have reached Shalka’s yet. You realize that unless Echo warned him, Crosshair would have no idea what he’d be dealing with. You can’t help but smirk and wish you were there to see his face the first time she casually swears at him.
After the text finally loads, you shift your focus and the world around you takes a backseat as you read.
—
Around the same time, miles away, the two clones are stepping through the door into Shalka Myrr’s workshop. The speeder they had taken there was open-air, so they didn’t bother trying to talk on the way, and they’re still quiet. Echo goes first and Crosshair follows, then does a double-take at the barely organized clutter of the small space.
“Good Maker, I thought Tech was bad,” he mumbles.
“Yeah, Meds said something like that too,” Echo says. “Apparently I haven’t been around long enough to see it yet,” he continues with a shrug.
“You’re calling her that?” Crosshair says, surprised.
“Should I not? The rest of you do,” Echo says, frowning slightly.
“Well yeah, but-,” Crosshair says, sounding skeptical, but Echo interrupts him.
“Look, I know you gave her the name, and I don't care. If we’re going to make this thing with her work, we can’t keep doing that ‘me versus you’ shit,” he says firmly.
“Fair enough,” Crosshair concedes, looking around the room again. Echo also glances around, trying to figure out which
‘fuckin’ shelf collapsed
’ after he left with you yesterday.
On the heels of that thought, just as he wonders where Shalka is, there’s a sudden crash and a loud curse from the back of the room. Crosshair meets Echos eyes and raises a brow at him.
“That seems to happen here a lot,” Echo says, unaffected, before carefully making his way through the space, around the packed shelving units, and toward the workbench. Crosshair follows, and is startled when a large chunk of something metal hits the floor and skids across it with a screech, having been thrown from a smaller room beside the workbench.
Shalka steps out after it, muttering in the same unfamiliar language to herself. She bends down and retrieves the object, then throws it into an unmarked barrel, scowling as if it had personally offended her. When she turns toward the room, she obviously isn’t expecting the two of them to be there, if her sudden shout is any indication.
“Dank ferrik, I have
got
to get that fuckin’ door chime fixed,” she says, regaining her composure quickly and pinching at the bridge of her nose. She’s dressed like she was yesterday, only her cargo pants are a medium tan color and her tank top is blue with quite a few scorch marks on it. She hasn’t bothered with the goggles or gloves yet, but she does have one of the styluses you gave her yesterday tucked behind an ear.
“Well Hero, now that my hearts aren’t gonna stop, hurry up and sit, we got a lot to do and not much time to do it,” she says. Echo obeys and Shalka gathers some materials and the large flimsi sheet of sketches and notes from yesterday, then drops them onto the workbench. She moves to walk into the larger area of the room, and bumps into Crosshair.
“Who the hell is this?” Shalka barks, crossing her arms and regarding him suspiciously. Crosshair is taken aback by her attitude and doesn’t know how to react, so he just stands there.
Echo, trying not to laugh, quickly fills her in. Shalka looks the sniper up and down again.
“Never heard of ya,” she says dismissively. When Crosshair still hasn’t moved, she rolls her eyes at him.
“You gonna get out of my way?” she says, moving her hands to her hips, and he
finally stands aside. “Thank you,” she mumbles, exasperated, as she pushes past him to grab a few more things.
He looks over at Echo, who’s snickering. “Probably should’ve warned you,” Echo says while Crosshair shakes his head in disbelief.
“What, that I’m rude?” Shalka says from directly behind him, startling the sniper for a third time. She frowns at him for a few seconds before returning to her stool at her workbench and dropping a few more small containers onto it.
“Bit jumpy, ain’t he?” she says, settling down. She throws a sharp look at him. “You ever say anything?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes,” Crosshair growls, having returned to his senses.
“By the Maker, he
can
talk!” Shalka says in exaggerated surprise, holding her hands on either side of her face, then she shakes her head at him and returns her attention to Echo, who’s having a hard time keeping a straight face.
Smirking, she taps the worktop, and Echo stretches his replaced arm across it. After taking off the armor he had on that arm, she picks up a small screwdriver and taps it a few times against the link, a couple of joints, and near the point where the metal of the cybernetic meets his skin.
“Can you feel that?” she asks, and Echo shakes his head. “Good, otherwise this is gonna suck,” she continues. She leans down to one side, and returns with the high magnification goggles in her cybernetic hand. She quickly pulls them on, and, surprisingly gently, takes hold of Echos scomp and begins to undo a few screws.
“So where’s Sunshine at? Surprised she ain’t here with ya,” Shalka says.
Echo internally panics for a second, unsure of if you’d said anything about your plans to Crosshair or not, and if you had, he doesn’t know what you’ve told him. Crosshair doesn’t seem to notice this and speaks up.
“She got shot-,” he starts, but is cut off by a startled exclamation from the Zabrak woman.
“What the fuck you doin’ here then?” she asks, dropping the screwdriver and staring at Echo in confusion.
“Excuse you,” Crosshair hisses, regaining her attention. “As I was saying, she got shot during our last mission and she’s getting it checked out today. If you had let me fucking speak, you wouldn’t have needed to freak out like that.”
Once again, Shalka crosses her arms and looks him up and down, then she smirks.
“Well, with the way you worded that, how else was I supposed to react?” she says, and the two stare skeptically at each other until she speaks again. “You’re an ass, you know. I like you. Now sit down, shut up, and lemme work,” she says, gesturing to the empty stool on Echos' right side.
Echo glances between her and the confused expression on Crosshairs face and can’t help but laugh again, sorry that you’re missing this.
—
Over in the Library a few hours later, you’re about halfway through reading the fourth data chip. Taking in the history of Force abilities and related events throughout the galaxy is fascinating, but you’re getting annoyed, as you’ve yet to find anything pertinent. You take a breath and remind yourself that you’ve only just begun your research, so it’s highly unlikely that you’ll discover anything this soon. The chrono on your wrist chimes the hour, and when you glance at it you’re mildly startled by how long you’ve been here.
You decide to pack it in for today, since you still wanted to go see Kix. You carefully eject the chip from your datapad and replace it in the small box before getting to your feet and stretching. You return your device into your bag, and you’re about to stow the box away too before you realize that you probably can’t take it out of the building. You don’t remember where the chips came from, but even if you did, it was unlikely you’d be able to find them again tomorrow. You decide to see Master Nu and ask if there’s a way to have them set aside for
After taking a few wrong turns, you eventually make your way back to the center of the room. Master Nu isn’t at the terminals, so you continue toward the doors you came in through, spotting her nearby behind a kind of counter. She glances up at you as you approach.
“Oh, you’re through already?” she says, surprised. “For today,” you say. “I have a few other errands I need to take care of.”
“Understandable,” she says, nodding. “Did you find anything?” she asks.
“As interesting as it all is, no, not yet. But I didn’t really expect to right away,” you say.
“I imagine you’ll be back tomorrow then,” she says, and you nod.
“That’s actually why I’m here. I got about halfway through the box, but I don’t think I can take it with me-,” you start, before Master Nu gently interrupts.
“Oh my no, they cannot leave this room,” she says, holding her hand out. You give her the box and she continues; “Did you say you’ve already read half of these?” she asks, sounding impressed.
“Yes, I read pretty quickly,” you say.
“You and Cassia would get along well, I think,” she says thoughtfully. “Anyway, since you’re coming back tomorrow, I’ll keep this,” she says, gesturing with the box, “in here,” she continues, opening a kind of safe or cabinet, “so you don’t have to find it again.”
“Oh, good, I was just about to ask, thank you,” you say.
You watch her place the box snugly into a perfectly sized niche in the safe, then close it before running a fingertip along a small sensor at the top.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Master Nu says, and you thank her again before making an exit.
You walk through the entrance hall, thinking about what you’d learned today. What little you found that was relevant to the events with Fives was not quite what you were looking for. It had basically repeated what Anakin told you in the beginning; a shared dream is incredibly rare between those who are Sensitive and those who are not. You sigh, then hail another cab.
—
One pulls up and you step inside, telling the driver, an old Pantoran man, that you need to get to the GAR headquarters. He moves back into the flow of traffic and regards you through the rear view mirror.
“Pardon me nosin’ around, but what business you got there?” he asks. Similar to Cassia earlier, he sounds more curious than anything else, so you humor him.
“I got shot during my last mission and I’m going to get it looked over before we ship out again,” you say.
“They got you goin’ on missions?” he asks as he glances into his mirror at you again, surprised.
“They do,” you say, staying friendly but not volunteering too much information.
“Why the hell you get involved with the war?” he says, sounding confused. “Ah damn,” he says, catching himself. “That was rude, sorry abou’ that.”
“I'm a civilian contractor, I work for the GAR as a field and combat medic,” you say. The man is quiet for a moment before speaking again.
“I dunno if that’s admirable or crazy,” he says.
“Bit of both?” you respond, keeping the tone light.
“Yeah, I ‘spose that’s fair. There anyone else like you?” he asks.
You take your turn to be quiet and think.
Aside from Bortuse and maybe one or two others back in your old stomping grounds, everyone you’ve worked with has been either a Jedi or a clone. You also can’t recall seeing many other ‘nat-borns’ during your missions with the Batch.
“I haven’t given it much thought before,” you admit. “But no, not really. I’ve been working for the Republic from the beginning, but I’ve only met three or four others from the private sector,” you say.
“Shame, that,” the driver says, making a left turn.
“How so?” you asked, taken aback by the comment.
“Well, the Clones don’t got much choice in the matter, and the Jedi ain’t much better off,” he says.
You frown, but hold your tongue. You know damn well that the Clones have no choice whatsoever, but this isn’t the place to go off about it.
“You’re different,” the man continues. “Takes a special kinda person to
volunteer
for that brand of hell,” he says.
“Oh no, I’m not-,” you say, but he cuts you off.
“Yes ma’am, y’are. Folks like you are the only ones who can really appreciate the men getting kilt out there, if you’re askin’ me,” he says. You sit in surprised silence for a moment, slipping back into thought before eventually speaking again.
“It’s just so cruel,” you say quietly. “To be forced into existence for the sole purpose to be used as nothing more than a tool and thrown away.”
“Aye, it is,” the man says.
There’s a minute of somber silence before he speaks up again.
“You get hurt bad?” he asks.
“Thankfully it just grazed me, but I don’t know if it’s worse than it looks,” you say.
“Smart thinkin’ then, getting it looked at,” he says. He hesitates for a second, and you can tell he wants to ask something else.
“We were overrun by droids,” you say quietly, correctly guessing what his unspoken question was. “One of the men was already injured and I took a shot aimed at him while I pushed him out of the way,” you continue, keeping the story as bare bones as possible.
The man softly says something in a language you don’t understand, and you’re startled when a strong gust of respect rolls over you from him. He doesn’t say anything else to you until he stops along the sidewalk. You count out the credits you owe, then hand it to him. He takes it and says “Thank you, miss,” with an odd earnestness.
This feels like too great of a response for such a simple transaction, so you hesitate before leaving the cab.
“Now, I gotta be clear on something,” he says. “I wasn’t thankin’ you for the money.” He turns around and you get a look at his face for the first time, managing to hold back a sound of surprise. He has a cybernetic eye, and a good third of his face, neck, and head are heavily scarred by burns.
“Back when I was fightin’, nobody cared abou’ us. It didn’t matter if we was out there or back home, dead or alive. So it gives me hope, meetin’ someone like you. Not many people left can really appreciate what you’re doing, but I can. So, thank you,” he says.
He holds out an equally scarred hand. Unable to speak, you take it and give him a firm shake as you lock eyes for a moment.
“Be safe out there, miss,” he says, giving you a crisp salute before turning back around.
“Y-yeah. You do the same, sir,” you say quietly before stepping out of the speeder.
Once you’re on the sidewalk and have walked a few steps away, the cab merges back into traffic. You watch it drive away until you can’t see it anymore, and regret not asking the man his name.
—
As you make your way through the familiar halls of the GAR headquarters, the conversation you just had with the old veteran replays in your mind, and you remember when you and Hunter had a similar conversation, just before the Trench mission. It seems like you really should give yourself a little more credit than you do, if these talks are anything to go by. You glance over the faces of everyone you pass on the way to the med bay, and aside from the clones and occasional Jedi, you don’t see anybody else. Now that the lack of contractors like you has been pointed out, it bothers you greatly.
You’re about to step through another set of doors when someone calls your name, getting your attention. You look around and spot a clone in full kit headed in your direction, then recognize Jesse by the distinct design on his helmet, which he slips off as he gets closer.
“What’re you doing here?” he asks. “I thought you stayed with Echo?”
“Oh, I did, the squad is just taking some leave for the next few days,” you say.
“Still doesn’t tell me what you’re doing here,” he says, smirking.
“I got shot before we left Anaxes, I wanted Kix to take another look at it,” you say, starting to walk again.
Jesse, startled, asks how that happened, and you spend the remainder of your walk through the halls filling him in about the mission and what happened to you. When you're done talking, he tells you what that same day looked like on his side.
“It’s a damn good thing that Echo was there,” he says. “I don’t think we would have made it out otherwise.” You nod.
“Absolutely. I swore to myself that if I lost anyone else I’d go supernova, but thankfully that didn’t happen,” you say.
“Yeah, we definitely don’t want that,” he says, holding a door open for you. You thank him and continue walking, then realize that he (hopefully) hadn’t heard about you snapping on Skako Minor. You debate telling him about it, but remember how he and Crosshair had nearly come to blows, twice, during your joint mission and decide not to.
“So you really took a shot for him?” Jesse asks, referring back to Echo. You nod and stop for a second. You can’t show him the actual injury without undressing, but by slipping your belt downwards and pulling the fabric of your caftan taut against your side, he can see the shape of the bandages well enough.
“I’m surprised Rex didn’t tell you anything about it,” you say, pulling everything back into place before moving forward again.
“He did say you were hurt but didn’t really go into details,” Jesse says with a shrug, then glances around as if he’d just realized something.
“Speaking of Echo, where is he? I’m surprised you’ve let him out of your sight,” he says. You roll your eyes, then quickly tell him about Shalka. Before he can say anything else, you finally make it to Kix’s office and knock on the door. As it slides open, Jesse says it was good to see you again and nods at Kix in the doorway before returning to what he was doing.
Kix nods back, then steps aside to let you in.
—
“You missed me that much, huh?” he says with a smirk, leaning back on his desk.
“Gotta get my Kix fix,” you say with a laugh. Kix stares at you for a second before snorting back a laugh of his own.
“That was terrible,” he says.
You roll your eyes and playfully jab his shoulder.
“Yeah, I know, but if we can focus, I think you should take another look at my side,” you say, gesturing to it. Kix frowns slightly.
“What for? I told you earlier that it was fine, did something happen?” he asks, standing normally again and approaching you.
You quickly talk about how it’s been healing, but mainly focus on the pain you feel when you flex the muscles on that side.
“I think there might be damage deeper than we realized,” you say, and he nods.
“Yeah, I’ll look at it again, and if I find anything, we can figure out where to go from there,” he says before quickly moving to wash his hands and glove up.
As he does this, you undo your belt and pull your dress off over your head, then lie on a nearby cot, absentmindedly slipping out of your shoes. You turn onto your uninjured side and, with your permission Kix carefully removes your bandages. You hiss with discomfort as they peel away from your skin and tug at the raw edges of the wound. He kneels onto the floor beside you, tells you he’ll need to actually
feel
into it to get a better idea of what’s going on below the surface, and you nod at him, despite the anxious lurch in your stomach.
—
Rex, having heard from Jesse a few minutes ago that you’re in the building, is walking through the halls and wondering where you went. He doesn’t have to wonder for long though; when he passes Kix’s office he's startled to hear a high gasp that sounds exactly like you coming from inside. He freezes in front of the door, listening.
“Oh my
god
, Kix,” you whine, and Rex immediately pictures the worst.
Kix says your name. “I know. You’re doing great,” he says, his voice low and soft.
Rex is tempted to barge in there and confirm his suspicions, but he hesitates; he doesn’t want another blowup like you two had on Anaxes. As he debates on what to do, you suddenly gasp and make a startled kind of sound.
“Kix, Rex is outside, he can hear us,” you pant.
“
How the hell does she know
?” Rex thinks, taking a single step back.
“Do you want me to chase him off?” Kix asks, and Rex is surprised when you laugh a little before moaning softly.
“Just keep going, I don’t care if he sees me like this,” you say.
“Well, if you’re sure. The doors unlocked, Rex,” he says, speaking up.
Incensed by how blatant this is, Rex marches into the room, ready to tear into you both, but freezes when he sees what’s really going on.
Your dress, belt, and shoes are in a heap at the foot of the cot you’re lying on, and you’re wearing only a bra and panties, but it’s the least sexy thing he’s ever seen. Kix, gloved up and kneeling beside you, is carefully prodding around on top of and slightly into your blaster-shot wound, his gloved hands red at the fingertips. Kix looks at you apologetically and does a few final palpitations. You curse and cry out his name again as your eyes water over with pain, then he sits back on his heels, taking his hands off of you.
“We’re done now, you can relax,” he says, his voice soft again.
Rex, having been given obvious context to what he’d heard, turns away, ashamed of himself. How the hell he’d overlooked not only that you’d been shot, but you were also in the
medics
office was a mystery to him.
“You know,” Kix says, pulling Rex out of his own head and getting to his feet, “I’m surprised Echo isn’t with you.” Kix disposes of his soiled gloves before washing his hands again and pulling on a new pair. He then grabs a med kit similar to the one you used last night, comes back to the cot, and returns to his knees beside you.
“Jesse thought that too,” you say.
While Kix redresses your wound, you tell him and Rex about the work Shalka is doing for Echo, and by the time you’ve finished talking, he’s bandaged you back up. Kix stands again and sheds his gloves, then washes his hands a third time. Once you’re dressed and back on your feet, he tells you that there is indeed muscle damage.
“Dank ferrik, of course there is,” you say, exasperated, as you pinch the bridge of your nose. “So now what?”
“Come to this room first thing tomorrow morning,” Kix says, then writes something down on a scrap of flimsi and hands it to you. “It’s too deep to heal properly with how we’ve been treating it, but after a few hours in a bacta soak it should significantly improve.”
An anxious pit starts to form in your gut at the thought of such a confined space, but you stop it by wondering how long the treatment will keep you from Echo (and your research). Annoyed by the inconvenience, but recognizing its necessity, you nod in understanding at Kix without saying anything. He appears to think for a second, then hands you a small pill, which you swallow dry without pause.“That should stop the pain for the rest of the day, but it'll make you feel tipsy, so I suggest you get some sleep,” he says after you take it. You thank him, then step back into the hallway with Rex.
Having a rare few minutes of free time, the captain decides to walk you out of the building and back outside. About halfway there, you notice that he keeps side-eyeing you, and you stop.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that?” you say, confused.
“I'm trying to figure out how you knew it was me on the other side of the door back there,” he says. A jolt of panic crosses your face and you pray that he doesn’t notice.
“Lucky guess,” you say, attempting to be casual about it, but the way he’s watching you tells you he’s not buying the act. You sigh and say “you’re a smart man Rex, I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now.”
He smirks at you and you hold back an annoyed sigh.
“What was your first clue?” you ask, slowly starting to walk again.
“Aside from the few dreams you’ve mentioned to me, right?” he says, matching your pace. You nod at him.
“General Skywalker has a habit of thinking out loud; I’ve heard him mumbling your name every now and then, and since all your reports are filed there’s no real reason you’d stay in contact with him,” Rex says with a shrug.
“Yep, nailed it,” you say, sighing again.
“So you are Sensitive then?” he asks, and you instinctively check to see if anyone’s overheard him, but thankfully there’s nobody around.
“Yes, I am. Now, call
it a gut feeling, or instinct, or whatever, but only you, Echo, and Anakin know; I’m keeping it as quiet as possible.” you say, preemptively explaining yourself.
“
Anakin
?” Rex says, distracted.
“It feels so weird to use his first name, but yeah, he told me to call him that now, I guess since he’s been helping me figure out this Force stuff,” you say, fidgeting with the strap of your bag. Rex says nothing, and appears to be deep in thought.
The pair of you make it to the entrance you came in through without saying anything else, and Rex’s thoughts are interrupted when he sees Echo approaching you both.
“Oh, hey!” you say, surprised but smiling and giving him a tight hug. He rests his forehead against yours, and you briefly close your eyes, enjoying the contact with him.
“Shalka finished up with me early, she’s going to be fabricating for the rest of the day,” Echo says, stepping back and giving you a soft kiss. “Besides, we thought we’d surprise you,” he continues.
“
We
?” Rex says, confused.
“Oh yeah, you don’t know about that,” Echo says.
“About what?” Rex asks.
At the same time, Crosshair makes it through the crowd and reaches you. Neither of you say anything before he pulls you in close and kisses you deeply.
Rex glances between the three of you, completely bewildered, and Echo is trying not to laugh at his stunned face.
“
That
,” Echo says.
After you and Crosshair break apart, you flush when you realize Rex is staring at you. Crosshair gives him a stiff nod without saying anything, which he returns.
“So, what did Kix say?” Echo asks, changing the subject while stepping closer to you and snaking his arm around your waist. You quickly fill him and Crosshair in on what went on earlier.
“He gave her something for the pain, it should be kicking in around now,” Rex adds as you finish talking. Before anyone can say anything else, Rex’s comm chirps at him;
Anakin is asking for him. Rex shoots you three an apologetic look before jogging back inside the building and answering the call.
You dig your own comm out of your bag and call for a taxi. They say it’ll be a few minutes before one arrives, so after you end the call you lead the other two to a bench nearby and sit. Crosshair notices you smirking at him, and makes a ‘what?’ kind of sound at you.
“So how’d you get along with Shalka?” you ask with a snicker. He rolls his eyes while Echo laughs. They tell you about their day until the taxi arrives. When you stand up from the bench, you stumble forward and barely manage to catch yourself.
“Looks like that painkiller is starting to work,” Crosshair says, amused. You try to walk toward the taxi, but stumble a second time, tripping over your own feet and falling backwards into him, and he catches you with Echo’s help.
The two men exchange a glance and hold you steady by the shoulders, steering you toward the cab. Echo slides into the enclosed speeder first and you follow, but trip on your own feet again and land in his lap. Crosshair comes in behind you and gives the driver the hotel address. When the speeder starts moving, you sit up, but stay in Echo’s lap, which surprises him.
“My legs won’t bother you?” he asks quietly.
“Kix must have given me something good, I can’t feel a damn thing,” you say, giggling. “But- but even if I could, I don’t care. I like who they’re attached to,” you continue. You settle yourself, rest your head in the hollow of his left shoulder, and drape your legs over Crosshair's knees.
He looks like he’s going to say something, but is stopped by a sudden loud snore; you’ve already fallen asleep.
The ride back is spent in relative silence, save for an occasional snore or mumble from you. By the time the taxi reaches its destination, the sun is starting to set.
Once you’ve arrived, Echo shakes you awake and you yawn widely.
“Are we there yet?” you ask, still half asleep. Crosshair pays the driver, then leads you back onto the sidewalk, firmly holding his hand on your waist.
“Yeah, we’re there,” Echo says, holding your right hand in his left.
“Ok good,” you mumble. “‘M sleepy.”
The two men guide you back into the hotel while Crosshair speaks.
“I know kitten, we’re taking you to bed,” he says. You perk up, glancing between the two of them and giggling even more.
“Ha, you’d like that wouldn’t you?” you say. “I would,” you add as an afterthought.
Once you’ve reached the cluster of rooms you’d gotten for everyone, Echo unlocks yours and the three of you head inside. You’re led to the large bed, and he slips your belt and caftan off over your head. Crosshair joins you and undoes the hooks of your binder, tossing it aside. You kick your shoes off, then giggle again and look pointedly between them both.
“Getting right to it, I like that,” you say in what you think is a seductive voice.
In reality, you sound like a Bantha with a head cold, so they just shake their heads at you and guide you onto your back. Echo adjusts your pillow while Crosshair pulls the blankets over you. You feel sleep quickly approaching, but before you give in, you gesture to them both and they bend down to your level.
You look at Echo and cup his cheek, then do the same to Crosshair.
“Mine,” you say, glancing between the two of them.
In near-perfect sync, they each move their faces away from your hands, kiss your palms and say “yours.” You giggle again, then fall asleep immediately afterward.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
An hour or so passes after you’ve fallen asleep, and in this time, Echo and Crosshair take turns between showering and keeping an eye on you, even though they don’t really need to. So far, the most alarming thing you’ve done is snore so loud you almost woke yourself back up. Once they’ve both bathed, they sit on the large bed on either side of you. Crosshair is sitting upright against the headboard with his long legs stretched out in front of him and his arms crossed. Echo is more relaxed, slouching and resting his scomp arm on his bent knee, his hand near your shoulder, but not touching. You suddenly make a sound similar to an engine that won’t start, startling them both.“Does she usually snore like this?” Crosshair asks. Echo raises an eyebrow and sits forward to better see him.
“Really? You’ve been in the same bunk room with her for how long and you’re asking me that?” he says.
“Okay, fine. Ignoring how Wrecker drowns her out sometimes, I assumed that when she was with you she would sleep through the night and not cry out or scream during nightmares instead,” Crosshair responds, shooting Echo a hard look, making him flinch.
“Point taken, damn,” Echo says, unconsciously rubbing at the back of his neck and cringing. He takes a breath and continues; “Anyway, no, she didn’t, so I’m guessing it’s whatever Kix gave her.”You make another loud rumbling sound and they come to an unspoken agreement that you’ll be fine on your own for a little while, so they step outside onto the balcony and take a break from your snores. It’s quiet, by Coruscant standards, and the setting sun is warming their faces. Neither man speaks for about a minute before Echo curses under his breath. Crosshair makes a ‘what's up’ sound at him and he speaks again.
“Kix is putting her into that bacta tank tomorrow,” he says.
“Seems like a routine thing to me, what’s the issue?” Crosshair asks.
“The issue is that she’s claustrophobic, and she’s going to panic if she goes alone,” Echo says. Crosshair nods, understanding.
“And you’re supposed to be at the mechanics all day again,” Crosshair says.
“Yeah. As much as I want to be there for her like she’s been for me, I can’t just skip a day, Shalka’s emptied the rest of the week for me,” Echo says.
“So?” Crosshair says. Echo looks at him, confused. Crosshair rolls his eyes.
“You seem to have forgotten that I’m here too. I’ll go with her,” Crosshair says.
Crosshair has a point, but Echo hesitates, wondering if you have any other Force related tasks tomorrow. Crosshair seems to interpret Echo’s silence as doubt, if his words are any indication.
“What, you don't trust me? If either of us are going to walk out on her, it’ll be you,” Crosshair says, turning towards Echo and staring him down.
“Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Echo asks, also moving to face him, confused and on edge.
“You know damn well what that means,” Crosshair says, irritated but trying to keep his voice down. Echo bristles at him, immediately defensive.
“You don’t get to-,” he starts to say, but Crosshair cuts him off.
“What was it you said when we got to Shalka’s place?” Crosshair asks. Echo looks confused again, so Crosshair clarifies.
“ ‘If we're going to make this thing with her work we can’t keep doing this me versus you shit’ right?” Crosshair says.
“What does that have to do with-,” Echo says, but Crosshair cuts him off again.
“You and I both know that the problem is more than just us butting heads. You can’t keep running off on her when things get dicey,” Crosshair says, unaware that he’s getting louder. Echo looks like he wants to say something but Crosshair doesn’t let him.
“I have been thinking about this for a while, yes. I told you already that I’m getting tired of picking up the pieces after you leave her, and you and I both know a day may come when I can't be here for her after that happens; what’s she supposed to do then?” Crosshair says, nearly shouting now.“The others-,” Echo says, but he sounds guilty and unconvinced by his own words.
“Have nothing to do with this ‘agreement’ of ours and you know it, do not deflect this onto them,” Crosshair spits before abruptly returning inside and Echo reluctantly follows.
When the balcony door shuts, you mumble and roll over in your sleep. Crosshair takes a breath and steadies himself, then goes into his adjoining room, removing himself entirely from the situation before it gets ugly. Echo wants to be mad at Crosshair, but he has a point.
Once Echo gets into bed with you, you unconsciously move closer to him. He holds his replaced arm around your shoulders and pulls you tightly to his chest. He drags his remaining hand down his face and spends a long time giving Crosshair's words some serious thought before deciding to apologize and make it up to you, even if he isn’t sure how.When the morning comes, you wake up gradually before blinking at the sunlight that fills the room. You yawn and stretch, bumping into Echo, who is already awake and sitting up, but not Crosshair. You regain awareness quickly once you realize he’s not there, but take a breath and reason that he’s probably just in the refresher. Echo notices your movement and briefly looks at you, but doesn’t say anything.
This is unlike him, and you sit up before resting your head on his shoulder. He glances at you again, but his eyes look distant, and you can tell he’s deep in thought about something. After a few more quiet minutes pass, you notice that there’s no noise coming from the refresher, and frown to yourself. You return your attention to Echo, softly nudging his side and asking if he’s alright.
“Yeah, sorry, just thinking,” he says, before shaking himself and wrapping his replaced arm around you. You gently kiss his cheek.
“What about?” you ask.
“Crosshair,” Echo says.
“I wondered where he was,” you say, glancing out onto the empty balcony. “Have you seen him?” you ask, and Echo sighs heavily.
“Not since last night. He didn’t sleep here,” he says, and he sounds almost bitter, which confuses you. You move yourself so that you’re now sitting across from him and ask what happened.
Echo hesitates and won’t meet your eyes. You don't need to be Sensitive to recognize guilt like this, but if it wasn’t already obvious enough, a strong gust of it, mixed with self deprecation, blows over you from him. You close your eyes and pinch the bridge of your nose, a mannerism you’ve unconsciously picked up from Hunter, and you sigh heavily.
“You two got into it while I was asleep, didn’t you?” you ask, irritation simmering already. Echo nods, but stops you before you can go off on him.
“We were talking about you being in the bacta tank today. He said he’d go with you, and I didn’t respond right away, so he must have thought I was doubting him,” Echo says.
“Were you?” you ask, opening your eyes and watching him.
“No, I wasn’t. I was trying to remember if you were going to go back to the Jedi library or anything else like that,” Echo says.
“That’s fair,” you say quietly, then look back at Echo, prompting him to elaborate.
“He said that I’m the one who’s most likely to walk out on you,” he says, sounding hesitant. “Referring to all the times I’ve stormed off,” he says quietly, and you sense his shame when he meets your eyes. You, meanwhile, are listening intently, but your face is blank and the room is quiet for a moment.
“You agree with him,” Echo says, the feeling of shame intensifying. You hold back a sigh.“Honestly? Yes, I do. I was thinking about it while the two of you were off talking that night. And while I do understand that you’re going through a lot-,” you say, and he gently interrupts you.
“You’re absolutely right, it's no excuse. I was taking a hard look at my behavior for most of the night after he went into his own room,” Echo says.
“And?” you say flatly. Echo takes your hand into his and softly says your name.
“And I’m sorry. I can’t keep running off like that whenever there’s a problem. I know better and you definitely deserve better,” he says, not breaking eye contact with you. Sensitive or not, you can see in his eyes that he’s being serious about this.
You say nothing, and your blank expression doesn’t change. Just as Echo wonders if he’s somehow made things worse, you suddenly move forward into his lap. You link your hands behind his neck and kiss him. He’s too surprised to react at first, but when you swipe your tongue across his lower lip he snaps out of it and opens up for you, morning breath be damned. The kiss quickly grows heated, and when you break apart, you’re both breathing heavily.You shift your hands to his shoulders and lie backwards, pulling him down with you and kissing him as you both move. Echo holds his hand to the back of your head, and after a second of doubt, he presses his scomp link against your hip. You don’t flinch this time, and instead surprise him by tenderly taking it into your hand and holding it, even running your thumb across the very end. He can’t feel your touch there, but he shivers nonetheless before slotting himself between your legs. Ignoring the fact that you’re both still clothed from the waist down, you reposition yourself and move your hands to his hips, pulling him tightly against you.
Even through the combined layers of your panties and his blacks, you can feel his growing bulge against your heated core, and when you grind yourself against it, Echo groans your name. He follows your lead, rutting against you and making the lace rub perfectly against your swollen clit. You let out a high gasp at the sensation. Echo notices, of course, and repeats the motion over and over until you’re a whining mess beneath him. You’re so wet that it’s soaking through and he can faintly feel it as he humps downward against you. His cock gets harder and you can feel it prodding at your entrance despite the fabric barriers.
“Fuck Mesh’la, you’re so wet,” he says, supporting himself on his elbows as he looks down at you, still moving the entire time. You grind against him, hard, and he moans.
“All for you,” you say between gasps for air.
Echo moves his hand to one of your breasts and starts to rub his thumb against your pebbling nipple, making you whine with need. Impulsively, you wrap your legs around his waist and cross your ankles at the small of his back, trapping him and pulling him even closer to you. He makes a low groaning sound, then you feel his heated breath on your throat.
“I know you’re close,” he says, speaking directly into your ear. He sucks at the mark he left on your neck a few nights ago, darkening it again. As he does, you whimper, right on the edge.
“Tell me something, Mesh’la,” Echo says, speaking softly between kisses to your neck and jaw. You turn your head towards the door to give him better access. He nips at your pulse while continuing to grind himself into you, and just as the tight coil in your gut snaps, he speaks again.
“Who’s making you come like this?” he says. Your eyes fly open and you look towards the door that leads into the hallway.
“Tech?” you shout, startled when you see him standing there.
“What!” Echo says, shocked, and pushes himself upward away from you while you prop yourself up on your elbows.There’s a ringing silence for just a second, but it’s quickly shattered by the sound of Crosshair’s laughter. You hadn’t even noticed him.Less than an hour ago, Tech was waist deep in an electrical panel aboard the ship when his comm device began to beep at him. With a huff, he extricated himself and answered the call.
“I told you not to comm me unless it’s important,” he said, annoyed by the interruption.
“Oh, but it is important, Meds needs you,” Crosshair said.
“She does?” Tech said, surprised, then paused. “Very well,” he says with a sigh. “On my way.”
Crosshair snickered at him, then ended the call. Tech huffed again, knowing exactly what Crosshair had found so amusing. If anyone else had called for him, Tech would have told them he’s too busy to stop working, but he just can’t say no to you. The reason for this eludes and confuses him.
About ten minutes later, the two men met up in the lobby area of the hotel. Crosshair noticed the way Tech was nervously looking around for you, and softly shook his head before getting his attention.
“I thought you said Meds needed me?” Tech asked.
“She does,” Crosshair said flatly before walking off.
“Then where is she?” Tech asked as he followed Crosshair to your room.
“In here. I’m going somewhere with her today, and we need you to go to the cybernetic mechanic’s with Echo,” Crosshair said, coming to a stop before your door.
This shifted Tech’s attention, and after he asked, Crosshair gave him Shalka’s name. Tech immediately grabbed his data pad to run a holonet search on her and quickly became engrossed by what he found. So much so that he didn’t notice how Crosshair smirked at him before he unlocked the door. Tech blindly followed him through and into your room. Once inside, he was vaguely aware of your voice and Echo’s, but it wasn’t until you shouted his name, breathless and almost ecstatic, though confused, that he bothers to look up at his surroundings.
When he does, he’s mortified to find that Crosshair has casually led him into the room while you and Echo appeared to be getting intimate, and he’s now staring right at the pair of you. He quickly realizes that you must have noticed him and therefore said his name as you were coming, and blazing heat erupts across his face and down his body. He sees Echo quickly push himself up away from you, his loud exclamation of ‘What!’ being quickly drowned out by Crosshair's laughter.
Feeling almost detached, he hears you and Echo shouting at Crosshair, not for walking in on you, but for bringing him along. Even through the haze of embarrassment, this piques his interest, though he knows better than to ask about it now. You sit up on your knees and turn to face him, and it takes the both of you a second to realize that your breasts are bare.
Tech’s mouth has gone dry as his heart beats even faster and the heat travels lower, triggering a vivid memory of your first night aboard the Marauder.
The ship had been moving through hyperspace and the four of them were quietly discussing plans for the upcoming mission when you suddenly walked out of the bunks and into their midst. You loudly whistled at them, catching their attention. You kept it when they looked up and found you freshly showered with your hair damp. You were wearing nothing more than a simple bra and plain cotton panties, both black, but the sight had made his heart race and his mouth go dry then too. And he knew he wasn’t the only one; a quick glance at Crosshair, Wrecker, and Hunter found them all staring openly at you, different levels of shock on their faces. You set your hands onto your hips and said “quarters are tight, so I’m getting this out of the way now,” then spun around once on your heel to give them all a good look at you. Before any of them could say anything, you just as abruptly returned to the bunks, leaving behind a stunned silence and the faint floral smell of your body soap.
Tech forces the memory away, with some effort, and focuses back on the current situation.
He’d seen you in various states of undress before, but aside from that first time, it’s never affected him this way, though he quickly realizes why. For one, he doesn’t remember ever seeing your bare breasts, and for another, he’s definitely never seen you in this context, nude or otherwise.Snapping out of it, he tears his gaze away from you and stares at the floor, sweating. He wonders if anyone would notice if he blasted a hole through it and jumped in. He hears you holler for them to wait in the hall outside, and is out of the door before the sentence has fully left your lips. Crosshair follows, still laughing, though thankfully not as loudly now. Once the door shuts completely, Tech rounds onto him, barely maintaining his composure.
“If that was meant to be a joke I am not amused! That was a massive violation of their privacy,” he says loudly before pacing in place, fuming. “Did you even really need me here, or was the entire point of you dragging me away from my work to embarrass me?” he says, turning on his heel to face Crosshair and staring him down.
“Oh no, we actually do need you around today,” Crosshair says, an infuriatingly smug look on his face. “That was just a bonus.”A few minutes after you and Echo get dressed, you both step outside to meet Tech and Crosshair in the hall. You immediately notice that Tech is still sweating and unable to meet your eyes while Crosshair stands behind him, an infuriatingly smug look on his face. When you take a closer look at Tech, the humiliation coming from him is so strong that you nearly take a step backwards as it blows over you like a shockwave. This makes you so angry that your hand shakes, just enough to be noticeable. Echo sees the look on your face and seems to brace himself.
“Okay, first of all, the only reason I’m not yelling at you right now is because we don’t need any more attention brought to this, especially not from Hunter,” you say, your low tone and relatively calm demeanor surprising everyone.
“Good call,” Echo says, watching the door to Hunter's room. When it doesn’t open, you turn your focus to Crosshair and stand with your chest only inches from his before you continue.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? I swear on the Maker, Crosshair, I am two seconds away from smacking you again,” you say as you stare him down. This wipes the smirk off of his face. He doesn’t answer you, and you can tell that he’s become distracted by what you said. You roll your eyes at him, making a sound of frustration before you take a deep breath, count for a few seconds, then calmly take a step back and turn to address Tech.
When he briefly makes eye contact with you, the thin breeze of gratitude you sense from him is quickly overshadowed by want and arousal. Something about this sends a shiver through you, quickening your heart rate just enough to be noticeable. You pause for a moment, taken aback by all of these things, but quickly shrug it off as an uncontrolled and unconscious biological response to what he’d just seen and heard, and what you felt.“I thought you were working on the ship,” you say. There’s no trace of hostility toward him in your tone or body language, so he reluctantly looks back at your face.
“Well, I- I was, but Crosshair commed me, saying you needed my assistance, and when I arrived he told me that, since he’ll be with you all day, I should accompany Echo to see the cyberneticist, then he went inside and I- I followed without thinking” he says, stuttering with nerves and mortification, and you feel horribly for him. You glare at Crosshair, who shrugs a shoulder.“Shalka’s not shipping out with us, so I figured he should go and see whatever maintenance you’ll need,” he says, mostly speaking to Echo. Echo looks at you and also shrugs.
“Makes sense to me,” he says, and though you agree with him, you’re still furious with Crosshair.
“Fine. You two,” you say, looking between him and Echo, “get lost for a minute. We’ll catch up.”
They both look mildly surprised, exchanging a glance, but do as they’re told.
Once they’re out of earshot, you pinch the bridge of your nose again, sighing heavily before you turn back to Tech, who has buried himself behind his data pad. You know that this is how he handles uncomfortable situations, and so don’t move to stop him, but you do talk to him, knowing that he’ll at least be listening.
“I’m going to have a serious conversation with him about this. He wants to barge in, that's fine, though annoying. But whether we needed you today or not, he had no reason and no right to drag you into our room like that,” you say firmly, then stop and take another deep, calming breath before continuing.
“I don’t blame you for what happened, Tech,” you continue, your tone changing as you softly say his name. You want to touch him, just a gentle grasp of his shoulder to emphasize your words, but hold yourself back. He’s been made uncomfortable enough already.
Tech chances another quick glance at you, and when he sees the same patience in your eyes that he had after telling you he had shown Echo those recordings, he relaxes a little more. He opens his mouth to speak, and his voice is raspy.
“I do have a question about your statement, if I may ask it,” he says before trying to clear his throat.
“Of course,” you say, “but let me get you something to drink first.”“This early in the day?” he asks, confusion distracting him from his embarrassment and making you laugh.“Nah, just some water or something,” you say, beginning to walk down the hall as he follows you. “Besides,” you continue, “I doubt any reputable place is open this early anyway.”Tech glances at his data pad, then puts it away as he matches your stride, having just learned the hard way that he needs to be more aware of his surroundings. You lead him to the small caf stand in the lobby and ask the Romulan man working there for a bottle of water. He hands it to you and you thank him before handing over a few credits and leading Tech to an open bench nearby. Tech takes short sips of it, rehydrating his throat before saying a soft thank you. You respond by cautiously leaning against his arm for just a moment, and after you shift away, you’re surprised when he does the same. You decide not to acknowledge this and instead remind him that he had a question for you.
“I did, yes,” he says, then finishes the water in one gulp. “Earlier, you said that Crosshair walking in doesn’t bother you, aside from being annoying. Surely that’s not a typical reaction to being interrupted like that?” he says. You chuckle at him.
“I'm surprised you haven’t figured it out already, but then again, you haven’t seen any of us since we decided,” you say. Tech frowns at you.
“Decided what?” he says, looking mildly confused, a rarity for him. It was almost cute. You chuckle again.
“Cross and Echo are both with me now,” you say, managing to render him speechless, at least for a few seconds.
“I wasn’t aware that was a possibility,” he eventually says, sounding more surprised than you expected. You brush this off and simply nod at him. He appears to be deep in thought about what you’ve said, then he stands and tosses the empty bottle into a rubbish bin nearby. Tech turns back to you and, in a move that would be totally innocuous to anyone else, he boldly offers you his hand. In disbelief, you cautiously take it and allow him to assist you to your feet. He releases your hand after a second and asks where Crosshair and Echo had gone.“Not sure. Hopefully they haven’t killed each other,” you say, glancing around the lobby before spotting Echo and Crosshair watching the two of you from near the courtyard door. You wave to get their attention, Echo waves back, and once they meet up with you, you lead everyone outside.Earlier, Echo and Crosshair exchange a glance before making their way down the hall and into the lobby, eventually coming to a stop near the door that opens into the courtyard.
“You didn’t really answer her,” Echo says, staring at the sniper, who shrugs.
“We’ve all been telling Tech to be more aware of his surroundings for years. That obviously wasn’t working, so I decided he’d learn the hard way,” Crosshair says.
“That’s not your call to make,” Echo says.“So it’s yours?” Crosshair says, annoyed.
“Of course not, but for fucks sake you could’ve warned us beforehand,” Echo says, equally annoyed. Crosshair opens his mouth to speak, but stops himself when he spots you and Tech near the caf stand. Echo glances between the two of you and Crosshair, who is intently watching your interactions.
“Don’t forget to blink,” Echo says, rolling his eyes. “I haven’t been around long, but I doubt he’d try anything.” They’re both watching you now, and when you and Tech bump into each other, Crosshair looks at Echo and smirks.
“He can’t stand being touched,” Crosshair says.
“I’d hardly call that a touch,” Echo says, rolling his eyes again.
“What’s that then?” Crosshair says, nodding in your direction. Echo looks back and sees Tech offer you his hand after getting to his feet. Even from here, he can see how surprised this makes you.
“You haven’t been around long enough yet,” Crosshair says, smirking again. “He may as well have kissed her full on the mouth.”
“If you say so,” Echo says. He sees you waving them over and raises his scomp in acknowledgment. While they make their way to you, Crosshair keeps talking, though his voice is low.
“I said she needed him instead of you,” he says. Echo makes a ‘So?’ sound at him, and he continues. “She’s the only one he’ll stop working for. Tech would have completely ignored me if I’d asked on your behalf. He can’t say ‘no’ to her,” Crosshair says.
“So, what, you think-,” Echo says, before Crosshair cuts him off.
“I know,” he says. By this time the two of them have caught up with the two of you, so the subject is dropped, though Echo notices the pointed way Crosshair looks at his brother, who is just as pointedly ignoring him. You don’t notice any of this.
Once outside, Echo and Tech find a taxi quickly. That suits you just fine, as you don’t really want either of them around while you’re dealing with Crosshair. You glare at him and grab his wrist before marching off and dragging him behind you, much like you had outside of Purkoll. Once you’re alone in an alley behind a nearby building, you let him go. Before he can open his mouth, you slap him, nowhere near as hard as you had before, but hard enough to get the point across.
“You-,” you start to say, but you’re suddenly cut off by Crosshair crashing his lips into yours as he backs you up against the wall, slotting his knee between your thighs like he had in the lift a few nights ago. He breaks away from you and, without thinking, you slap him again, making him curse and groan your name. Before you can react, he’s back on you and your tongues dance as he feels your chest up over your tunic.
Your hot anger is quickly becoming a different kind of heat, and you struggle to focus on anything but Crosshair’s hands on your body. He pulls back and grabs your wrists before you can strike him again, lust blazing in his eyes.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful when you’re angry,” he pants before dipping his head down to nip at your neck.
“Is that why you embarrassed Tech? To piss me off?” you say, then fail to hold back a high whine when he sucks at the mark Echo had left on you, darkening it even further. He straightens back up to look at you, that infuriating smirk back on his face.
“He needed a reminder to pay better attention. Besides,” he says, moving his head again to whisper into your ear, “I know you like being watched.”
You open your mouth to tell him off, but a gasp comes out instead, and you tighten your thighs around his leg while being only partially aware of it. Crosshair chuckles darkly, now pressed so tightly against you that you can feel the rumble of his voice in his chest.“You can’t lie to me, kitten, I can feel it,” he says.
“ Cross , that’s not the p-point,” you say, fighting against the need suddenly coursing through your body, barely able to stay coherent.
Before things can escalate any further, the two of you are suddenly interrupted by someone wolf-whistling at you.
“Oy, jackass! Go fuck her in that hotel like a gentleman!” they shout from above.
Crosshair whips his head in the direction of the voice, but whoever it was had quickly returned inside, shutting the window behind themselves. You take the distraction as an opportunity to wiggle out from between him and the wall. Crosshair notices when you’ve freed yourself, but stops you from getting too far away by grabbing your hand and pulling you close again.“You know,” he says, wrapping his arms around you and starting to kiss along your throat, “that’s not a bad idea.”
Internally, you agree, but a sharp, painful twitch in your injured side reminds you of what you should be doing, and you break away from him once more, sighing heavily and straightening up your tunic. Besides , you think, you’re supposed to be mad at him. “We will be finishing this conversation later,” you say curtly before heading out of the alleyway, and Crosshair quickly catches up. Back in the sunlight, you raise your arm to hail a taxi, and as one notices you, Crosshair wraps his arms around your waist from behind.
“I look forward to it, kitten,” he says, practically purring into your ear and nipping at your neck again before releasing you as the cab parks. You fail to hide the excited tremble in your knees as you enter the vehicle with Crosshair right behind you, squeaking in surprise when he grabs your ass.The taxi is enclosed and being driven by a large, green, boar-like man who seems unable to speak Basic; he only grunts at you after you tell him where to go. Once the speeder merges into traffic, you stretch out across the backseat, draping your legs across Crosshair’s knees, much like you had in the cab last night. He looks at you while moving a hand up your outer thigh and you can sense the desire he’s still feeling. Sith hells, he’s hard to resist with that look in his eyes , you think. You glance at the driver, who must have somehow known what was going on back there, because once you make eye contact through the rear view mirror he snorts loudly and pulls down a privacy screen.
It doesn’t take long for Crosshair to seize this opportunity, and he grabs your hips, pulling you so that you’re straddling his lap as he sits with his legs open wide, watching you. You meet his eyes and bite your lip, nodding at him. Once you do, he wraps his arms around your waist again and pulls you closer, his lips crashing into yours. You open up for him and savor his uniquely smoky taste, giving over control to him. One of his hands slides down your back and smacks your ass. Knowing what he wants, you annoy yourself by breaking the kiss and moaning his name, clutching his shoulders. This prompts him to do it again, lust still burning in his eyes as you whine.
“I missed you this morning, hotshot,” you say, panting softly into his ear and making him groan.
“I missed you too, kitten. Fuck, I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you,” he says, his voice a low growl. You shiver as he nips at the delicate skin of your neck yet again, and you unconsciously grind yourself down against him. He’s still holding your hips and as he kisses you, he pulls you down even closer to his groin.
Just as you drop a hand to grope at him, the speeder comes to a stop and the driver thumps the privacy screen with a squeal. You and Crosshair both groan at the interruption, but disentangle yourselves before the screen is retracted. As you turn around and lean forward to pay the driver, Crosshair grabs your ass again while also leaning forward, his chest against your back as he speaks directly into your ear.
“I am going to absolutely ruin you when we get back,” he says, his warm breath on the back of your neck making you shiver. You take your change, then get out of the cab, Crosshair following closely behind you as always. The cab drives away and the two of you head up the multitude of stairs that lead into the GAR headquarters, cooling off as you go.
“I know why you weren’t there this morning, by the way. Echo told me what you said last night,” you say, annoyed, as you enter the building.
“He needed to hear it,” Crosshair says flatly. Neither of you say anything else for a few minutes. You realize that you won’t be able to go into the Jedi Library with Crosshair in tow, he’d ask too many questions, so you quickly fish out your datapad from your bag and send Master Nu a short message to explain your absence. Crosshair doesn’t seem to notice this, and speaks again.
“So, since when have you been claustrophobic?” he asks.
“Uh, since I was a kid, I guess,” you say. Crosshair raises an eyebrow and barely stops himself from scoffing at you.“Yeah, no, I’m calling bullshit. How do you deal with being on the ship or in the bunks?” he says. You roll your eyes at him.
“That’s not too tight of a space. Besides, fears aren’t exactly logical, Tech ,” you say, nudging his side. He smirks at you.
“Point taken,” he says, and the two of you spend the remaining walk to the bacta tank chambers in companionable silence, his arm loosely around your waist and a hand on your hip.Miles away, the ride to Shalka’s is silent in a painfully awkward way, as neither Echo nor Tech know what to say about what had just happened, or if they should even say anything at all. Just as the tension gets to be too much, the taxi comes to a stop. Internally thanking the Maker, Echo pays the cabbie and leads Tech outside.
He moves to go through the door and into Shalka’s place, but notices Tech standing back a few feet, hesitating. Echo turns to him, holding back a sigh.
“Okay, before we go in there, obviously one of us has to address the bantha in the room,” Echo says, albeit reluctantly. Tech nods once.
“I suppose so,” he says. “I…” he pauses, clearing his throat. “I’m sorry to have intruded upon you both like that,” he says, having a hard time maintaining eye contact.
“You do realize that wasn’t your fault, don’t you?” Echo says, frowning slightly. Tech shook his head.
“If I’d been paying more attention to what was going on I wouldn’t have followed Crosshair inside,” Tech says.
“Fair enough, I guess. Either way, neither of us blame you for it,” Echo says with a shrug. “But I’m sure she already told you that,” he says. Tech nods again.
“She did. You’re lucky to have her,” Tech says, feeling comfortable enough to step closer and speak more freely.
“I’d do well to remember that,” Echo says under his breath.
“You sound regretful,” Tech says, now standing directly beside him. Echo glances over at him with an odd expression.
“Sorry,” Tech says, appearing to choose his words carefully. “Was I not supposed to hear that?” he asks. Echo sighs and rubs at the back of his neck for a moment.
“No, it’s fine,” he says, sounding tired. “You’re right, regardless,” he continues. Tech doesn’t speak, but Echo sighs again, dropping his hand back at his side.
“When I stormed off back on Anaxes, it… wasn’t the only time I’ve done that to her,” he says. “Crosshair pointed out last night how damaging that’s been, and even if he was an ass with how he made his point, he isn’t wrong,” Echo says. Tech nods at him.
“I believe that was his purpose for having me barge in on the two of you this morning,” Tech says as he looks away, still embarrassed.
“Does he do that often, then? Prove a point by being a dick?” Echo asks, only half-serious. Tech rolls his eyes.
“It seems to be his specialty,” he says with a shake of his head. It’s quiet, for a moment, until the stuttering groan of a door sliding open grabs their attention. They both look toward the sound and find Shalka standing in the open doorway, looking at them with an expression between annoyed and amused.
“Well Hero, ya comin’ in or what?” she says. Echo chuckles at her.
“No sneaking up on you today, huh?” he says, following her inside, Tech behind him.
“Nope,” she says, popping the ‘p’ sound as she makes her way to her workbench at the back of the room. Echo takes his now-familiar place across from her and settles in. Shalka glances over at Tech, who appears to be closely studying the organized chaos of the workshop.
“I notice Sunshine and Jumpy ain’t here. He your sidekick today?” she asks, jerking her head at him. Echo nods, says he’s another squad mate, then quickly tells her where you and Crosshair are.
“Never did say how she got shot you know,” she says curiously, starting to carefully remove the outer plates of his replaced arm.
“I was shot at and she pushed me out of the way,” Echo says, the feeling of regret returning. Shalka sets down the objects in her hands and regards him with a serious expression.
“You must really be somethin’,” she says. When Echo looks confused, she elaborates; “She took a shot for you. I wouldn’t do that,” she says before returning to her task.
“For me or in general?” Echo asks without thinking. Shalka lets out a loud, bark-like laugh.
“I don’t like ya that much,” she says, then sighs. “‘Sides, the only ones I would do that for ‘r dead,” she continues, lowering her voice.
“Damn, I’m sorry,” he says.
“Listen, unless you were the fucker on that ship who fired a cannon at my village eight years ago, it ain’t your fault, so don’t be,” she says, frowning at him.
Echo remembers how Shalka had said ‘Ms Myrr has been dead for eight years,’ when they first met a few days ago and grimaces sympathetically before quietly asking if it was her mother. They both glance at Tech, who is now examining one of the hand drawn schematics pinned to the wall and paying them no attention.
“Yes, and my sister,” she says, her voice uncharacteristically soft. “I kept telling them to come here with me, I practically begged them, but,” she continued before trailing off. Glancing up again, she and Echo notice that Tech is finally making his way over towards them, and she clears her throat before speaking normally.
“There’s nothing I can do about it now, other than fixin’ you guys up,” she says, removing another piece from Echo’s replaced arm. He nods at her.
“ ‘Don’t let the fuckin’ seppies win,’ right?” he says, quoting her.
“Goddamn right,” she says, a determined look in her eye. Tech sits beside Echo, who quickly changes the subject.
“You still haven’t fixed the door chime then?” he says.
“Haven’t had time, been busy workin’ on your parts. Can’t figure out the damn problem anyway,” she says. Tech, who is now on his data pad, barely looks at her as he says he could fix it. Shalka laughs at him, incredulous.
“You really think so?” she says, sitting back and crossing her arms while raising an eyebrow at him. “I’ve been having issues with the damn thing for months, there’s no way you’ll figure it out,” she says, waving a dismissive hand at him.
To Echo’s surprise, Tech sets the device down and looks directly at her with an odd glint in his eye.
“Allow me to prove you wrong,” he says, unusually confident. Shalka smirks and points at the door.
“Have at it then, genius,” she says. As Tech gets up, Echo wonders which of them is more hard-headed than the other.
The next five minutes pass quietly, save for the noises that Shalka and Tech’s tools are making, until the front door suddenly slides open and a metallic chime can be heard. Shalka stops what she’s doing and stares at Tech, standing in the open doorway with a satisfied, almost smug expression.
“No kriffing way,” she says under her breath.
“Anything else?” Tech says.
“Who the hell did you say this was?” Shalka quickly asks Echo, flummoxed.
“Oh, I didn’t; he’s Tech,” he responds.
“I can see how he got the damn name,” she says.
After the door slides shut again, Tech returns to his seat at the workbench. After a few seconds, he notices a small but complex-looking part that Shalka is about to install onto one of the new plates. He sees a few others and delicately picks one up.
“These are very difficult to find,” he says thoughtfully as he examines it. “How do you have so many?” he asks.
“Oy, don’t touch,” she says, carefully taking the object from between his fingers. “It ain’t that difficult to find ‘em when I make my own in the room over there,” she continues, jabbing a thumb toward the smaller room on her left. “It’s a hell of a lot cheaper too,” she says.
“That is no small feat, I’m impressed,” Tech says. Shalka rolls her eyes at him.
“That must really mean something coming from you,” she says sarcastically.
Echo, recalling how Tech had been the one to decrypt whatever Tambor had hooked him into, most likely keeping his mind intact, quietly tells her that yeah, it is.
“That so?” she says. She sets down the tool and parts in her hands then stands and ducks into the smaller room before quickly returning with another object. This one is about the size of her fist, but appears just as complicated as the small one, and when she tosses it at Tech, he’s unprepared and fumbles not to drop it.
“Go on then, what’s that?” she asks him. After looking it over for about half a minute, Tech says one very specific, very long word, and correctly identifies it. Shalka looks impressed but fails to hide it before either of the men notice.
“Lucky guess,” she says, sitting back down and returning to work. Tech points out a few more very specific and very, well, technical, items hanging from the ceiling behind her. She pauses and looks him up and down before making a ‘not bad’ sound at him, and he abruptly looks away, clearing his throat. Shalka returns her focus onto Echo, and Tech to his data pad, the two of them glancing at each other every now and then.
Echo looks between them both and fights the urge to drag his hand down his face. He’s got a sudden feeling that he’s in for a very long day.
You’re familiar with the route to the bacta tank hall, having brought more than enough men there yourself, so you arrive sooner than you’d like. Crosshair steps through the open door and glances back at you when you hesitate. You really don’t want to do this, but you know how important it is, so you shake yourself and quickly follow him inside. Kix is waiting for you and looks surprised to see Crosshair.
“Echo’s still getting worked on, I take it?” Kix says, glancing between you two.
“Y-yeah,” you say, nerves creeping into your voice. Crosshair takes your trembling hand into his own, and you glance up at him, grateful that he’s come with you. You look back at Kix and feel a tinge of confusion coming from him, but he seems to brush it off.
“It’ll be this third one from the right,” Kix says, leading the pair of you toward the upright tank. Once there, he draws the privacy curtains shut around it and you begin to strip down to just your bra and panties, this set plain cotton in a deep emerald green. You sense Kix’s confusion again, and look to find him glancing between you and Crosshair, who’s casually eyeing you up.
“He’s seen me in less,” you say, nonchalantly waving your hand in his direction. Kix blinks at you in surprise.
“I’m surprised word hasn’t spread yet. Looks like Captain Reg does know when to keep his mouth shut,” Crosshair says, smirking. You shoot him a warning look and he raises his palms in surrender before going quiet again. Kix looks even more confused, but pushes past it. Now that you’ve undressed enough, Kix approaches and carefully peels off the bandages over your wound before he gives you a small injection in the crook of your elbow.
“I know how much you hate being in these things, so I figured a little sedative should help you sleep through it,” he says in explanation.
You nod your thanks at him and take a shuddering breath before nervously stepping closer to the small platforms leading up to the top of the tank. Crosshair notices that you’re shaking again, and he dutifully helps you up, making sure you don’t lose your footing on the slick surfaces. Once there, you sit on the edge of the filling tank with your feet dangling down into it. Crosshair gives you a quick, soft kiss before moving back to the floor, making room for Kix to reach you.
Kix hands you a clip for your nose and the mouthpiece of an airway hose. You put both on with shaking hands and slip yourself down into the room-temperature liquid. Your feet hit the bottom of the tank as the bacta reaches your waist, the stinging sensation in your injury making you grimace through your teeth. Crosshair, having watched all of this, stands beside you on the outside of the tank. He sees the way you’re shaking and says your name, getting your attention.
“You’ll be fine,” he says, holding a hand up to the glass. You do the same, and he continues; “I’ll be right here the entire time, kitten. Promise.”
At this point, the bacta has reached your shoulders. You nod at him, then reluctantly pull your hand away, straighten yourself up, and close your eyes as you feel the liquid pass over your head. You lift your feet from the bottom of the tank, and you float in place, feeling weightless. You make an effort to take steady, even breaths from the air mask, keeping yourself surprisingly calm while the sedative knocks you out.On the other side of the glass, Crosshair doesn’t take his eyes off of you while Kix adjusts a few things on the tanks control panel. Satisfied, Kix returns to stand in front of it, and again glances between you and Crosshair.
“So when did that happen?” Kix asks.
“Don’t be stupid, you know how she got shot,” Crosshair snaps.
“That’s not what I meant,” Kix says, trying his best not to snap back at him. Crosshair takes a breath and steps backwards a few paces from the tank.
“That’s for her to tell you, not me,” he says.
“Fair enough; though I can’t say I’m surprised,” he says, making Crosshair look away from you and over at him.
“By what?” Crosshair says, an edge to his voice. Kix crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow at him.
“Did you already forget how you found us after Echo crashed?” he says. Crosshair huffs at him in annoyance.
“Of course not, what about it?” he says, turning to fully face the other man.
“I could see it on your face, while she held onto you,” Kix says. Crosshair stiffens, but says nothing, returning his focus to you.
“I could see it on her face too, you know,” Kix says.
“When?” Crosshair asks, curious in spite of himself.
“When she said you sounded like an angry loth cat,” Kix says. Crosshair doesn’t react to this, and a quiet minute passes before he sighs.
“How long will she be in there?” he asks quietly.
“At least three hours, maybe longer,” Kix says, double checking something on the tank’s control panel. “But someone will be checking in on her every ninety minutes to see how it’s progressing.”
Crosshair nods once at him, and Kix slips out of the curtained area without another word, leaving him alone with you. Crosshair spots a chair nearby and drags it over to your left side, against the tank, before sitting down and keeping a careful watch over you. He hates how helpless you look, floating there unconscious, and holds his hand to the glass near yours again.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You blink a few times and find yourself not in the bacta tank, but a similar kind of transparisteel pod, crammed in with… is that Crosshair? Your vision is blurred, so you can’t see his face, but his armor looks different. You can vaguely hear the voices of the others, but it’s muffled. You glance around and see that you’re in some kind of half-destroyed room underwater, and catch a glimpse of a short figure with blonde hair.
Crosshair says your name, and when you look back at him, now able to see clearly, you find it isn’t just his armor that’s different. He looks older, exhausted, and you can see obvious regret in his eyes. You’re startled when you sense a desperate plea for help and forgiveness rush over you as he meets your gaze. You also notice that the right side of his shaved head has been severely burned, just above his ear. Confused, you reach up to gingerly touch it, but everything goes black before you get the chance.
You hear the distinct sound of his rifle firing, then you see and hear short flashes of something else. Snow, a pained scream, someone small running away. You try to move, but you’re frozen in place, unable to do anything but fall to your knees and groan in fear as your eyes screw shut against a sudden bolt of pain in your head.
Your eyes fly open and you’re back in the bacta tank, though this is different too. The bacta isn’t stinging your open eyes, and everything is still pitch black except for the space taken up by the tank and a small area of the floor around it. You look to your left and see Crosshair sitting as close to the tank as possible in a chair, dozing with his temple against the glass, looking like he usually does. After a few seconds, you hear a faint but familiar voice call your name. Confused, you whirl through the liquid and around to your right side, then gasp. You barely register that you aren’t wearing the air mask, but you don’t seem to need it. Your gasp made no bubbles.
“
Fives
?” you say, incredulous and even more confused as he steps out of the darkness and into view.
“Cyare, you must be careful,” he says, and the thinly veiled fear in his tone sends a chill down your spine.
“Careful?” you repeat, your confusion deepening, unsure if he can even hear you. It seems like he can, though, and he walks to the other side of the tank. He stands behind Crosshair and rests a hand on his shoulder. You whirl around again to keep track of him.
“Crosshair?” you say, alarmed. “What are you talking about?”
Crosshair jolts awake when you say his name, but doesn’t react at all to being touched.
Another dream, you think. You should have realized it sooner.
“
Please
, you aren’t safe with him,” Fives says. The strain and desperation in his voice is exactly the same as it was the last time you ever saw him, back in the bathroom of 79s, and it scares you. Crosshair, meanwhile, has leapt to his feet, looking panicked.
“I- I don’t understand,” you say, ignoring this.
“Don’t go to Kaller,” Fives says. He takes a step backward as he speaks and appears to briefly distort like a hologram in static.
You know you’ll be waking up soon and a mixture of fear and panic overtake you. You beat against the glass with your open hand and shout, “Fives, wait! How do you keep talking to me?”
The room around you also starts to warp, and Fives says something, though you can’t hear what over the sudden sound of rushing water. Something about the Force? You try to call out to him again, but you feel like you’re suffocating, and everything goes black again.
Crosshair wakes with a startled gasp, not realizing that he’d fallen asleep. He swears he had heard you saying his name, but reminds himself that’s not possible right now. He absently scratches at the right side of his head, just above his ear, and yawns as he turns to check on you. He then stands up so suddenly that he knocks the chair over and he’s fully aware again.
You’re twisting around violently in the tank and the air valve is out of your mouth. Your arm flails, your hand banging against the glass, and it looks like you’re trying to yell. Your eyes are open, but unfocused, which is deeply unsettling.
Panic completely consumes Crosshair as he watches you; for a few seconds all he can think to do is try to break the tank open to get you out. He also beats against the tank a few times, punching hard enough to bloody his knuckles, and vaguely notes a crack in the glass that wasn’t there earlier before coming to his senses.
“Somebody get the fuck over here, she’s going to drown!” he shouts, loud enough to reverberate around the room. Seconds later, a Torgruta man he doesn’t recognize bursts through the privacy curtains, yanks an emergency drainage lever Crosshair hadn’t noticed, and catches your limp body when the tank suddenly swings open, dumping a sizeable amount of the bacta liquid all over the floor, soaking their shoes. Crosshair, frozen as the panic returns, watches helplessly, unable to do anything as the Torgruta man lays you flat on your back and begins chest compressions.
After what feels like an eternity, you finally take a gasping breath before coughing up bacta. Crosshair snaps out of it and rushes to your side, pushing the man out of his way, dropping onto his knees, and pulling you as tightly to his chest as he can.
You wake with a gasp, then immediately start coughing up what feels like thick water. Your throat and lungs are burning, your entire chest aches, and you have no idea what’s happening, aside from someone holding you. You continue coughing, worsening the pain in your chest, and turn your head to spit out whatever is coming up. Your eyes fly open when you hear your name, and the first thing you see is Crosshair's face; He looks both terrified and relieved while a gust of panic blows over you from him. Confused by this, you keep coughing hard enough to gag, more fluid coming up through your throat. Despite the burn, you recognize the bitter taste of bacta, and suddenly realize that something had obviously gone horribly wrong.
“C… Crosshair?” you say, your voice weak, before you cough again, expelling more bacta from your lungs. Whatever he says in response is almost completely incoherent, the only thing you’re able to pick up with certainty is ‘drown’.
The next thing you know, Bortuse is there, wrestling Crosshair away from you and holding him back with surprising strength. You also hear Kix’s voice, though you can’t tell what he’s saying over the sound of your own hellish coughing. You turn onto your side and gag again, bringing up the last of the bacta from your chest. You shakily shift yourself into a slouched sitting position, facing everyone.
Kix immediately kneels to check your vitals, and as your breathing normalizes with only the occasional weak cough, you see Crosshair relax enough for Bortuse to let him go. Kix, apparently satisfied, turns toward Crosshair and asks him what the hell happened. It takes a minute for him to recompose himself, now that you’re alright, before he speaks.
“She… she was thrashing around, i-it had to be another nightmare, she yanked the airway out,” he says.
Fives
, you think, and realize that it must have happened during your dream. You’re so startled by this that you miss the way Kix curses under his breath and says that he thought the dose wasn’t right.
“You
what
?”
Crosshair, however, had heard him just fine. He pushes away from Bortuse and advances upon Kix, absolutely furious, but Bortuse manages to hold him back again, grabbing him by the upper arms.
“You son of a bitch, this is your fault!” Crosshair shouts. Kix is ignoring him entirely, instead focusing on you. You try to shout back for him to stop, but your voice is too weak.
You slowly move to stand, and Kix assists, taking your hands and carefully guiding you to your feet. Once you are standing, he holds you upright by the shoulders and asks if you’re okay. You cough, again, but nod at him.
“Get your fucking hands
off
her,” Crosshair shouts.
Kix glances between the two of you, obviously concerned. You step away from him and unsteadily, but independently, walk over to Bortuse, then motion to let him go. Bortuse hesitates, the same concerned look on his face, but complies, stepping away from Crosshair.
Crosshair takes a step toward Kix, but you move in front of him and stop him.
“Crosshair,
stop
,” you say as loudly as you’re able, wheezing.
“No!” he growls, and it looks like he’s going to move you out of his way. You cough, again, and hold a hand against his chest, exactly like you had on Anaxes. You can feel his heart pounding against your palm. This simple touch seems to calm him down significantly.
“Just stop and breathe,” you say, your tone soothing, if a little hoarse.
“He- I thought-,” Crosshair says, stumbling over his words as he loses steam. You make a soft shushing sound at him.
“Hey, it’s alright Cross, I’m okay,” you say, moving your hand from his chest to the side of his face. His anger evaporates after your hand meets his cheek, and when he speaks, his voice is shaky, which startles you.
“Don’t scare me like that,” he says, so softly only you can hear him. He sweeps you into his arms, hiding his face in your neck.
You feel a large hand cautiously rest upon your upper back, and when you look to see who it belongs to, you find Bortuse looking shaken.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he says. You cough again and grimace at the pain in your chest. “Sorry about that,” Bortuse says, pulling his hand away and looking slightly guilty.
“Chest compressions?” you ask weakly, and he nods at you. “You probably saved me, doing that. I’ll deal with some bruised ribs,” you say. You glance around, looking for Kix, but he seems to have slipped out of the room.
“I imagine you want to get that bacta off, right?” Bortuse says, relaxing a little. You raise a hand and touch your hair, finding it clumped together and sticky, then nod at him.
“You remember where the showers are?” he asks, moving to lead the way. You try to follow him, but Crosshair is still holding you as tightly as he can, and you can’t really move.
“Hey hotshot, you’re crushing my ribs,” you wheeze. Crosshair curses and quickly releases you. He keeps one hand against your back, helping you stay upright, and grips your hand tightly with the other.
Able to move freely again, you follow Bortuse on shaky legs to the pair of enclosed shower units at the other end of the room. Part way there, you slip on a small puddle of the bacta, but Crosshair catches you before you fall.
“Should I get you a chair?” Bortuse asks, but you cough, yet again, then shake your head at him while wincing from the ache in your chest. By this time, the three of you have reached the showers. You softly shrug Crosshairs hands off of you and step inside one of the units. Before you close the door, you see from the corner of your eye that he’s trying to follow you inside. Bortuse is having none of this, however, and stands between you two, arms crossed.
“I’ll be okay for five minutes Crosshair,” you say, tired, before shutting the door to the shower unit. The clear walls turn opaque, so you strip down completely, then stand under the hot spray of water. You move very little and allow it to flow over your aching body. The steam also soothes your throat as you breathe it in.
You reach for soap, then see that there isn’t any here. You’ll need a proper shower once you get back to the hotel, but this will at least get most of the gunk off. You run your fingers through your hair and manage to dislodge the clumps of drying bacta from it.
While doing this, your thoughts inevitably return to Fives and the dreams. Every other time you’ve ‘seen’ him, he wasn’t scared for you, and that in turn scares you. You aren’t safe around Crosshair? What did he mean by that? You’ve felt nothing but safe in his presence, even when you thought he hated you. And why did he look so different at the start of the dream?
You realize something and gasp, catching the attention of the men outside. Bortuse asks if you’re okay, and you can hear Crosshair trying to open the door.
“Yeah, sorry. I’m fine, I’ll be out in a minute. Can someone go get my clothes?” you say quickly, your hands shaking. You return to your train of thought.
You’ve had visions of concurrent events multiple times before, and you realized that what you saw, Crosshair, the room, the short blonde figure, it all could have been a premonition. In fact, as you think on it for a little longer, you’re sure that’s what it was. Fives had said something about Kaller, was that part of it? “
Something else to ask Anakin or Master Nu about I guess,”
you think, and try to shake off the heavy feeling of unease that’s settling over your shoulders.
After another minute, you shut the shower off and stick your hand out through the door. Someone hands you a towel and your bag, so you quickly dry yourself before putting on your dry underwear and clothes.
Once you’re redressed, Bortuse leads you down the hall to a separate exam room where Kix is waiting before leaving the area. Crosshair, following you more closely than usual, steps on your heel as you both try to move through the doorway at once. You glance up at him and you can still faintly sense his fear.
When you do manage to get into the room, you take a seat on the small cot against the wall, and Crosshair sits as close as possible to you on your now formerly injured left side. Kix approaches, and Crosshair stiffens, shifting in front of you.
He seems to be shielding you away from him. Kix looks at you for help and you pinch the bridge of your nose.
“Crosshair, if he doesn’t sedate you, I will. Move and let the man do his damn job so we can get out of here, please,” you say, tired, while watching him.
He seems like he’s going to argue, but he instead gets up and sits on your other side. He’s left enough room for you to move freely, but once you’ve taken off your tunic, he’s tightly holding your right hand in his left. You look at Kix, who shrugs a single shoulder as he pulls on a pair of gloves. He gently presses his fingers against your side, digging into the skin slightly, and unlike yesterday, this doesn’t hurt at all.
“It looks like the internal damage has healed, but it’s left you with a hell of a scar. We could put you back in-,” Kix says, before you and Crosshair simultaneously say
‘NO’
, startling him.
“Okay, we won’t,” Kix says, holding up his hands as he steps away from you.
“It’s just cosmetic at this point anyway, right?” you ask. Kix nods at you.
“Yes; anything else we do to treat it would be superficial and probably not worth kicking up your anxiety, if the scar won’t bother you,” he says. You hold your free hand to your side and press your palm against the skin there, noting the change in its texture, then shake your head.
“I’m not too worried about it,” you say.
“It should be fine from here out then,” Kix says. He then sheds his gloves before sanitizing his hands and pulling on a new pair. As you put your top back on, he grabs a bandaging kit from a nearby cabinet and turns his attention to Crosshair's battered knuckles.
“You’re lucky you didn’t break anything,” Kix says, reaching for his hand. Crosshair yanks it away, making you huff in irritation.
“Oh for the love of… I’m sorry about him; just let me do it,” you say, even more tired and annoyed on top of that. Kix concedes and sets the kit beside you before backing away a few steps.
Remembering your basic procedures, you slip out of Crosshair's grip and wash your hands before pulling on your own pair of gloves. You kneel in front of him and carefully pat at the dried blood with a pre-moistened wipe, cleaning it away. Once that’s done, you have a better look at what you’ll need to do.
“Just a few lacerations and some moderate bruising,” you say, thinking out loud more than speaking to anybody. “No stitches, thankfully, but it definitely needs to be bandaged up,” you continue. You soak a cotton wad in disinfectant and softly dab at Crosshairs wounds. He makes no sound of pain, but you can tell that he feels the sting by the way his hand tries to jerk away from you. With that done, you apply antibiotic cream to a few squares of gauze. He obediently holds them in place with his uninjured hand while you start wrapping up the other.
“You really wanted to get me out, huh?” you say softly, talking to Crosshair but keeping your eyes on your work.
“I cracked the fucking glass,” he says, surprising you and Kix, who shoots you a mildly alarmed glance.
“Not enough to actually break anything, calm down,” Crosshair says, rolling his eyes.
“God damn, don’t let me piss him off again,” Kix says. Crosshair shoots him a dirty look, but you get his attention by lightly slapping the uninjured area of the back of his hand.
“As long as he doesn't let me get shot again,” you say in a lighter tone, then meet Crosshair’s eyes. “I am
not
doing any of this a second time,” you say.
You’re expecting a snappy remark, so the severe expression on his face as he nods catches you off guard. You frown softly at him, then get to your feet. You’ve finished wrapping him up, so you toss out the packaging and wrappers of the things you used before taking off your gloves and washing your hands again.
Once you’re done, Kix walks the pair of you out of the medical wing and into the main hall, then suggests that you both get some rest. He tells Crosshair not to overwork his hand, and he only nods at him.
After a few minutes, you’ve made your way back outside and gotten into another taxi. This one isn’t enclosed, so as much as you want to talk to Crosshair, there’s no point until you get back to the hotel.
You’re barely through the door to your room before Crosshair is on you, holding you tightly and trembling. Startled by this, you have no idea how to react, so you kind of awkwardly pat his back until he loosens his grip on you. He takes a deep, shaking breath, and when he meets your eyes you can still see and faintly sense his fear. You gently hold either side of his head before softly kissing him.
“Crosshair,
I’m okay
. Nothing serious happened to me and I’m not going anywhere, I promise,” you say, your tone soothing again. He presses his forehead against yours and when he says your real name, you can barely hear him.
“Don’t you dare do that to me again,” he says. “I thought I’d fucking lost you.”
“Well, I’m
‘one tough bitch’
, according to Hunter,” you say. “So you’re stuck with me,” you continue, taking a step back and cupping his cheek.
Crosshair turns his head and softly kisses your palm, then holds you by the hips. Kissing you, he gently steers you backwards toward the bed. Your legs hit the edge of the mattress, so you sit while he pulls away and kneels on the floor in front of you, now holding both of your hands in his and intertwining your fingers. He looks deeply into your eyes, and a wave of emotions crashes over you. A jumble of fear, relief, and gratitude make your mind buzz, but more than anything, you intensely feel something
new
from him, and it makes your heart race.
“Wrecker was completely right,” Crosshair says. He frees your hands, holds your hips again, and straightens up on his knees enough to kiss you so gently you almost don’t feel it. He presses his forehead into yours and says your real name again.
“I love you,” he says, and your heart soars. “I’m just sorry it took you nearly drowning for me to fucking tell you,” he says, then kisses you again, but this time he’s desperate, crushing his lips to yours and moving a hand from your hip up to the back of your head.
You melt into him, his distinctly smoky essence flooding your senses as the kiss deepens and you both open up. At the same time, he’s moving upwards off of his knees and guiding you by the shoulders toward the head of the bed and onto your back, his lips never leaving yours for more than a second. Rather than having him hover over you on all fours, you both lie on your sides. You open your legs and his knee finds its home between your thighs. He carefully grinds against you, and your hands move to his shoulders, pulling him over you as you roll onto your back.
Crosshair moves his hands to your waist, tugging at the hem of your tunic while he trails kisses from your lips along your jawline and down to your neck. You gasp quietly as he moves, then sit up enough to pull your top off and drop it to the floor, your chest now clad in just your thin bra. It has no padding, so when he cups one of your breasts and massages it, you can feel the warmth of his entire palm. His hands are rough and calloused, but his touch is so soft and sensual that you barely notice. He drags a hand upward from your waist to the band of your bra before making quick work of the hooks, undoing them singlehanded. You slip your arms out of the straps and he tosses the garment over his shoulder, leaving your upper half bare.
His unending kisses move across your collarbone and downward along your sternum. Knowing that the area hurts, his touches are feather light and cautious. He shifts the focus of one hand from massaging your breast to lightly teasing his fingertips around your nipple while the other hand rests on your hip. His lips leave your skin briefly, and you watch as he softly presses an ear to your chest, listening to your quickening heartbeat. You need more, so you run your fingers through his coarse silver hair and not so subtly push the top of his head downward. Picking up on this, Crosshair levels his mouth to your other breast, his hot breaths against the sensitive skin making you shiver.
He glances up at you and when you nod, he traces around the nipple with just the tip of his tongue, and once he’s satisfied by the way you moan in response, he wraps his lips around it. He softly circles it with his tongue, alternating between long, broad strokes and quick, short taps. After about a minute of this, he very carefully holds it in his teeth before starting to suck at it. You shiver again and you’re so aroused that your hips involuntarily jerk upward, making you inadvertently grind your clit against his knee. Crosshair hums against you, making your hips twitch harder while you push his head downward again.
Obediently, he moves from your breasts to your hips, his palms laid flat against the upper crests of your pelvis. His soft kisses continue as he slips down past your waist. He pauses at your new scar before briefly resting his forehead on it, though this only lasts a few seconds until he starts moving again. His face is about even with his hands and you can feel his warm breath through your thin leggings and thinner panties. The sensation makes you shiver and gasp his name.
Crosshair shifts his hands again, hooking his fingers into your waistband and stopping to look back up at you, silently asking permission. You grant it with a soft
‘please’
. Only then does he move again, sliding your remaining clothes down your legs before you wiggle free and these are also tossed aside. Now that you’re completely nude, he gently nudges your legs apart, kissing along your inner thigh as he does. You realize that he’s practically
worshiping
you and you barely hold back another shiver.
You don’t have a lot of time to think about this before you feel his deft fingers tracing around your dripping cunt, gathering your wetness before slowly slipping deeply into you. This, coupled with his hot breath breezing over your aching clit, makes you whimper. He glances up at you and meets your eyes again, and you can tell, even without being able to sense it, that he’s fighting to hold himself back.
“Please, Cross,” you whisper, and the words have barely left your mouth before his lips are on you, wrapping around your clit as he sucks at it and starts to thrust his fingers in and out of you. You curse loudly and moan in response, and this seems to spur him on; his fingers start moving faster while he works your clit over with his skilled tongue at the same time.
You feel a familiar tightness in your gut as this continues and you whine Crosshair's name again, unconsciously tugging at his hair. His fingers stop thrusting and he instead rubs firm circles into a specific area deep inside of you, dragging you even closer.
“F-fuck, Cross, don’t stop,” you gasp.
His fingers keep moving while he takes your clit between his lips again and hums, long and low against it. This combination, on top of the sincere love that nearly blows you backward when you lock eyes with him, rockets you over the edge.
You come with a high, gasping moan and your legs quiver from the intensity of your orgasm. He keeps going, fingering you through it until you spasm and soak his face. You cry out and try to pull him back up. Crosshair slips his fingers out of you before kissing his way back up your body. He pauses to suck at your nipple again, which unexpectedly sends you into another orgasm, this one more intense than the first. This time you come with a shout of his name and a mixture of curses and praise spilling from your lips.
Once his face is even with yours, you slip your arms under his and hook your hands onto his shoulders. You pull him into a deep, soulful kiss, and pay no mind to your own taste on his tongue. You unconsciously open your legs and Crosshair instinctively slots himself between them, neither of you aware of this. The kiss grows somehow even more passionate. You slide your hands down toward his groin, wanting to unclip his codpiece, but before you can, he stops you. He takes your hands into his, interlacing your fingers, and raises them just above your shoulders, pressing them into the mattress.
“Later, kitten. Let me take care of you,” he whispers, and you shiver before crashing your lips against his again.
After an unknown amount of time and orgasms, you finally tap out, unfortunately having exhausted all of your energy much faster than you wanted. Crosshair softly kisses your lips and rolls the two of you back onto your sides and facing each other before touching your foreheads together. You both close your eyes and breathe one another in, a sense of protection and even devotion filling the room. Eventually, you pull back and sit up with a soft yawn while stretching your arms.
Crosshair also sits up, then stands and ducks into the refresher for a moment. You watch him go, feeling that familiar swooping sensation in your stomach and grinning without realizing it. When he returns, you can hear the shower running. He takes your hands and pulls you to your feet, taking a moment to kiss you one more time before leading you into the refresher. You step inside the shower and the water is already warm, so you thank him, raising your voice over the noise of the water. He half sits, half leans against the counter, keeping an eye on you as you start to shampoo the last of the bacta out of your hair.
Ambient sounds aside, it’s quiet for several minutes, and after glancing at him, you can tell he’s deep in thought about something. Having moved on to your body wash, you’re about to ask what’s on his mind when he says your name.
“Yeah?” you say, acknowledging him.
“I’m…,” he says, before pausing to take a breath and shake his head at himself. “I’m sorry about this morning,” he says, and he sounds sincere.
You rinse yourself, glad to be clean again, and shut off the shower before wrapping up in a large white towel. You walk over to him and stand between his relaxed legs. He rests his hands on your hips and leans in for a kiss, but you stop him with a soft bop on the nose.
“
I’m
not the one you should be apologizing to,” you say, then peck his cheek. Crosshair nods and agrees with you. You yawn widely, exhausted from the harrowing day.
“I’m going to sleep for a little bit,” you say, moving away from him and out into the main room. You stop and look back over your shoulder at him.
“Well, you coming?” you ask, dropping the towel. You don’t miss the desire in his eyes as he looks you up and down, but don’t acknowledge it, aside from a soft shake of your head, before pulling on a clean pair of leggings.
As you crawl into bed, Crosshair follows you, shucking off his armor as he goes. Once he’s down to just his lower blacks, he slides in next to you, then wraps his arms around your shoulders and rests his chin on the top of your head. You both make a soft, content sound. You rest your head against his chest and the steady sound of his heartbeat quickly lulls you to sleep.
Crosshair lies awake for a long while, watching over you and thinking about how close he’d come to losing you. He holds you closer with trembling hands before he too eventually falls asleep.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After about an hour of awkwardly glancing at each other, Tech and Shalka eventually start talking. Much of their conversation is out of Echo’s depth, so he stops listening after a while and instead wonders how things are going for you in the bacta tank, thankful that Crosshair is there and that you don’t have to go through that alone. Hours pass, and Tech and Shalka wind up going back and forth about so much for so long that they only notice how late it is when Echo’s head slips down as he tries to stay awake.
It’s been dark out for a few hours when he finally gets back to the hotel, though alone, as Tech had returned to the ship.
Echo reaches the door to your shared room and unlocks it. The lights are low, so he assumes you’re asleep and tries not to make too much noise. When he glances at the bed and sees that you’re awake and sitting up, he sits on the edge and asks how it went.
“Horribly,” you say, and he’s startled by how hoarse your voice is. He then gets a closer look at you and immediately notices the dark bruising on your chest. He starts to loudly ask what the hell happened, but stops when you hold up a hand and tip your head downwards. Echo follows your gaze and finds that he hadn’t noticed Crosshair asleep on your right side. The sniper’s arms are wrapped around your ribs, just under your breasts, and his head is resting in the hollow of your shoulder; he appears to be holding onto you like a lifeline. You shift your weight to sit up a little straighter and he mumbles something inaudible before unconsciously pressing himself closer and holding you tighter. You softly shake your head at him and gently rest your hand on his upper back, then keep talking.
“Going into the tank was fine, I actually managed not to panic, which was surprising,” you say, keeping your voice down. So you wouldn’t wake Crosshair, yes, but mainly because speaking quietly doesn’t hurt your throat. “Kix gave me a sedative to knock me out while I was inside, so I slept through most of it,” you continue. You pause, and Echo can see an odd expression on your face, even in the dim light.
“Most of it? So you had another dream?” he asks, also quiet.
“Yes. Well, no. Kinda?” you pause and huff in frustration. “I don’t know what it was,” you say. Echo makes a confused sound, frowning slightly as he watches you.
“I think… I think it was another vision,” you say after a moment of thought. You lower your voice down further to a whisper after glancing at Crosshair, who’s still asleep.
“Did you see Tech and Shalka jabbering all day?” Echo says, and you chuckle, but shake your head.
“I had a feeling they’d get along. But no, nothing like that,” you say.
“So you saw the future?” he says, alarmed but still quiet.
You quickly recount the majority of the dream, but pause again before continuing.
“You saw
him
too, didn’t you?” Echo asks, sympathetic. You nod, tears shining in your eyes, and he gently takes your hand. You need a moment to compose yourself before continuing to speak.
“It was so different this time though; he sounded scared. Like he was in 79s, before…” you trail off. You pause to clear your throat, then wince at the pain this causes. Echo entwines your fingers with his and gives you space to keep talking.
“Crosshair was there too, but he seemed completely unaware of what was going on. Fives told me that I won’t be safe around him,” you say. You and Echo both glance over at the other man. You shift your legs again, and he mumbles a second time but otherwise doesn’t react.
“I’m so confused. None of the other visions, or dreams, or whatever the hell these are have been like this one. Fives sounded desperate, and that scares me,” you say, and though he tries to hide it, Echo knows you can sense his fear.
“Did you tell him anything?” he says, looking over at Crosshair. You shake your head.
“So what happened after you woke up?” Echo asks.
“Fives was fading away and I begged to know how he keeps talking to me. I kept smacking the glass and trying to shout at him. Crosshair suddenly stood up and looked panicked, which I barely noticed. I tried to call out to Fives again, but I was suffocating. When I woke up, I was on the floor and the tank had opened from the front. Crosshair was holding onto me and freaking out, all I could understand was ‘drown’,” you say.
“And your chest?” Echo asks, glancing at the bruising.
“Bortuse did chest compressions and very likely saved me. I coughed up most of the bacta afterward, so my throat and voice are going to be fucked for a little while,” you explain. You then quickly outline what happened between you being resuscitated and coming back to the hotel.
“Wait, he broke the glass while trying to get you out?” Echo says, alarmed but impressed.
“Just a crack, according to him, and I didn’t get a chance to see it. Regardless, I’ll have to keep an eye on his hand for some time until it heals,” you say.
It’s quiet for a minute or so, and Echo can tell that you’re having an internal debate.
“There’s something else,” he says, gently prompting you to continue. You look down at Crosshair and watch him breathe for a moment with a soft expression on your face.
“When we got back here, he,” you pause, gently brushing your hand over the right side of his head. You avoid Echo’s eyes as you speak. “He told me that he loves me,” you say, sounding cautious.
The quiet lasts longer this time as Echo processes what you just said. When you eventually meet his eyes, he can tell that you’re worried about how he’s going to react, and chastises himself for it. He glances between your bruised chest and Crosshair's bandaged hand.
“If you’d told me that two days ago I wouldn’t believe it,” he says.
“But…?” you say, prodding him on.
“But after hearing all that, and seeing the aftermath… yeah, I’d agree that he does,” Echo says.
“And… you’re okay with that?” you ask, still speaking carefully. Echo lifts your hand and kisses your interlocked fingers.
“Meds, if I wasn’t okay with even the possibility I never would have agreed to this in the first place. You
do
know that, right?” he says, watching as relief washes over your face.
“Yes, but it helps a lot to hear you say that out loud,” you say. He leans forward and gives you a soft kiss to the forehead before releasing your hand.
You watch him get to his feet and remove his armor, then once he’s down to just his blacks he slides into bed beside you. You slip down onto your back without waking Crosshair, though he mumbles again.
“Sounds like you had a mostly awful day. Any idea what you’ll do tomorrow?” Echo says, his voice still low as he turns on his side to face you.
“I sent Anakin a message about it, but if I can’t talk to him in person then I’ll tell Master Nu. One of them is bound to know what that was,” you say.
“You should get some sleep,” he says, and you nod at him while yawning.
You both kiss, restraining yourselves from getting too heated, though the temptation is strong. Echo positions himself against you, immeasurably grateful for each beat of your heart he feels, and holds you as closely as he can.
—
Not long after you both fall asleep, Crosshair sits straight up, gasping for breath and sweating. He looks around wildly, unsure of where he is until he hears you unconsciously turn toward him and mumble something. The soft sound of your voice grounds him, and he glances over to find Echo on your other side, also asleep. Crosshair slouches forward, hiding his face behind his hands as he fights to stop shaking and control his breathing.
As he regains awareness, the grip of fear he feels weakens, though some of the nightmare’s imagery does not. Most of it is already fading away, but the sound of you screaming and the sight of you falling to the ground is etched into his mind; he can see the fear in your eyes whenever his close. He presses the heel of his palm against the side of his head, trying to ward off a headache forming there.
Crosshair notices how dry his throat feels, and, careful not to wake anyone, slips out of bed and goes over to the kitchenette for a glass of water. He gulps it down and leans heavily onto the counter until his breathing returns to normal. This takes a minute before he lets out a shuddering breath and turns around. When he does, he isn’t expecting to find you standing less than a foot away from him and watching him closely.
“Meds!” he says in a strangled whisper. “Fuck, don’t sneak up on me like that. What are you doing awake?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” you say, your voice low.
“I’m fine. Go back to bed,” he says, terse. You cross your arms and raise an eyebrow at him, lips pursed.
“Bullshit,” you say. “I’ve never been able to startle you before,” you say, stern. He doesn’t respond, but can’t hold your gaze. You relax yourself and soften your tone, quietly saying his name as you step forward and rest a hand on his chest.
“Cross, please. Was the nightmare that bad?” you ask. He tenses, suspicious.
“How did you know?” he says. For a split second, Crosshair could have sworn you looked panicked, but when you speak you’re calm.
“Call it a natural skill after having so many of my own,” you say. Crosshair regards you for a moment, then sighs heavily, his shoulders drooping as he leans back against the counter and crosses his arms.
“Fine,” he says, giving in but still not looking at you. “I don’t remember everything, but you were scared of me, you screamed and hit the ground. I had to have done something to you,” he says. To anyone else listening, he’d sound unaffected, but after so much time, you know him well enough to pick up the subtle rise in the pitch of his voice.
“It was just a dream baby, I know you’d never hurt me,” you say. It was the first time you’ve called him that, and it seems to have helped to calm him down, at least a little. He’s able to look at you again.
“You’re still thinking about the fuckup with the tank, but I’m okay,” you say. You move your hand up from his chest and gently cup the side of his face.
“Thank the Maker,” he says, his voice cracking. He dips his head down and hides his face in your neck, catching you off guard. He shudders and you wrap your arms tightly around him, moving your hand from his face to the back of his head while the other brushes across his shoulders.
“I know baby, I know. I’m not going anywhere, I promise,” you whisper.
“You’d better not,” he says thickly, holding you just as close.
After a few minutes, Crosshair stops shaking and his grip on you loosens. He steps back and you ask if he’s alright now. He stares at you for a moment, then shifts his hands to your shoulders.
“Not yet,” he says softly before pulling you flush against him and crashing his lips into yours. You melt into him and when you open up, your tongues dance as you both desperately taste each other.
As this continues, his hands slide from your upper arms to your waist before grabbing a handful of your ass and making you moan against his mouth. In turn, you slip a finger into the waistband of his blacks and teasingly drag your nail across his heated skin, barely brushing over the base of his cock. His hips jerk forward into yours as he groans.
Holding his waistband like a tether, you take a few steps backward and steer Crosshair toward the room's single armchair before pushing him down into it and climbing into his lap, straddling his legs. Your lips meet again, and you slip your hand between his thighs to palm his cock over his pants. He groans again and starts to tug at your leggings.
You know what he wants and happily shimmy out of the garment before aiming carefully and tossing the leggings across the room, where they land on the bed with a soft
‘fwump’
. Now fully bare, you grind your wet cunt down against Crosshair's straining cock, moaning softly into his ear. He hisses through his teeth and smacks your ass, but not hard enough to make a noticeable sound. Still, you arch your back and cry out his name, paying no mind to your volume.
“Careful kitten,” Crosshair says, leaning forward to purr into your ear. “You’ll wake him.” You laugh.
“Bit late for that,” you say, giggling.
Crosshair glances across the room to find Echo, wide awake and sitting up to face the two of you on the nearest edge of the bed. Crosshair immediately lifts his hands away from you, and you laugh again as you continue to grind yourself against him.
“Oh no, don’t let me stop you,” Echo says, freeing his own hard cock from his blacks and stroking himself lazily as he watches the two of you.
“Pervert,” Crosshair says with a smirk. He smacks your ass again, this time with an audible ‘
crack
’ that makes you whine.
As you do, you feel his cock twitch against your bare pussy and move backwards enough to grab his waistband again. You start to tug his blacks down, and he leans forward to kiss you before he slaps your ass a third time, using the sound to mask his voice.
“Have you two-?” he asks, quietly enough that only you can hear him.
“Not yet,” you say, just as quiet. Crosshair nods, seemingly to himself, then tells you to stand.
You comply, and he strips naked before taking a moment to turn the chair so that it’s directly facing Echo. He leans over and grabs you by the hips, pulling you into his lap with your back against his chest, then slips his cock, leaking precum, against your dripping pussy, slotting himself cleanly between your lips and rubbing perfectly against your clit. After this, he cups one of your breasts with a firm hand, and wraps his free arm around your waist, holding you tightly in place against him.
Your body clenches around nothing, and Crosshair begins to thrust his cock along your cunt, being careful not to slip inside. He rests his chin on your shoulder, breathing heavily into your ear and occasionally sucking at your neck. You moan, and he responds by rolling your nipple between his thumb and forefinger, the stimulation making you shiver and gasp his name. He picks up the pace and you start to feel that familiar coil wind tight in your lower belly.
“Oh
fuck
,” you gasp, and Crosshair moves his hand from your tit to your clit. While he brings you closer to the edge, his hips never lose rhythm and his breathing grows ragged against your skin. You whine again when he rubs against your clit just right, and you make eye contact with Echo, who is still watching you and jacking himself off with purpose now.
Crosshair bites into your shoulder and you moan his name again.
“Go on and give him a show, kitten,” he says.
Your thighs clench and you do as you're told. You grab onto the arms of the chair before arching your back and allowing yourself to freely vocalize your pleasure, all the while holding Echo’s gaze.
“Fuck, you look gorgeous like this,” Echo croaks, his hand moving faster.
“God damned right you do,” Crosshair growls into your ear before doubling his efforts with your clit. Your entire body spasms and you feel your orgasm approaching like a runaway train as Echo says your name.
“Eyes on me as you come, understand?” he says, and the sudden, unfamiliar dominance in his voice sends a thrill through you.
“F-fuck, yes sir!” you shout, locking eyes with Echo as your peak washes over you like a tidal wave. Upon hearing you call him ‘
sir
’, Echo curses loudly and cums hard enough to hit you in the chest.
“That’s our good girl,” Crosshair pants as his own cum spills between your thighs. You suddenly clench your legs at his words, trapping his cock between them, and you whimper.
“Aw, you like it when I praise you, kitten?” he asks, and you can practically hear the smirk on his face.
Normally you’d bite back with a snarky comment, but in the haze after your orgasm, you instead turn your head and breathe ‘
god, yes
’ into his ear.
“Yes, what?” Echo says, suddenly much closer to you, his breath breezing across your skin as he speaks. You look and find him standing at an angle over the two of you, holding his scomp on the back of the chair and his hand on your knee, watching you closely.
“S-sir, yes sir,” you say, breathless.
“That’s better,” Crosshair says, chuckling darkly.
After the two men exchange a glance, Crosshair slips away from your clit, but before you can protest, Echo takes his place, starting to finger you and making you gasp as you stretch around him. He begins to move, quickly rubbing tight circles around that specific place inside of you that you can never reach on your own. Your hips involuntary jerk forward and at the same time, Crosshair takes hold of your jaw and turns your head to face him.
He kisses you again, but where before he was hurried and desperate, this time he’s much softer, though no less energetic. Echo, now moving at random between penetrating you and working your sensitive clit, angles himself down further and kisses you along your neck and collarbone, equally soft. The intense feeling of adoration blowing from the two of them makes you shiver in the best way.
He touches you just right and as your hips jerk forward again, you turn your head to gasp. Echos lips meet yours and Crosshair takes his turn at mouthing along your neck, occasionally nipping at your skin. He finds where he’s bitten you earlier and sucks at the mark, making you whimper into Echo’s mouth. He greedily drinks up your every sound and uses more pressure to circle your clit.
You break away and moan his name, noticing how the sound makes his cock twitch towards you. You try to reach a hand out to him, but find yourself unable to move. Crosshair has pinned your wrists to the arms of the chair with his hands. You move against him and he quickly loosens his grip on you. He quickly asks if you’re okay, and when you say yes he resumes holding you down and lavishing as much of your skin as he can reach with his mouth.
When you feel his teeth graze your bruised shoulder, you immediately find yourself on the edge of another orgasm. Echo says your name and gets your attention.
“Can you be a good girl and come for us again?” he asks, his voice deepened by lust.
“Yes, yes sir,
please
,” you beg, giving up on your pride entirely.
“What do you think?” Echo says, shooting a glance at Crosshair.
“Well, she did say ‘
please
’,” Crosshair purrs.
Echo focuses entirely on fingering you while Crosshair’s thumb returns to your clit and continues to rub tight, fast circles into it. Your hips jerk forward and your whole body spasms as you come. Oversensitive and overstimulated, you come with a loud cry as you soak Echo’s hand and Crosshair's legs.
The two men carefully lift their hands away from you, and Echo ducks into the refresher for a moment before coming back with a warm, damp towel and cleaning you up. As he does, you relax your muscles and lay your head back against Crosshair's shoulder, panting for breath. He gently cups the side of your face and kisses you.
“I love you so fucking much, kitten,” he whispers.
Struck dumb by the intensity of your second orgasm, all you can do in response is grin at him while you grip his hand.
“He’s not the only one,” Echo says, tossing the soiled towel aside and kissing you softly as he kneels before you. Still gasping for air, you cup the side of his face with your free hand. “Come on,” he continues, “let’s get you back to sleep.”
You nod and stand on legs that feel like jelly before stumbling forward onto the bed. You have enough energy left to crawl under the duvet before falling into a heavy, fucked-out sleep almost immediately.
Echo tucks himself back into his blacks, then, keeping his voice low, gets Crosshair’s attention and asks about what happened in the bacta tank. Crosshair, also speaking softly while he pulls his blacks back on, corroborates your story.
“And your hand?” Echo asks, managing to lie back down without disturbing you. Crosshair flexes his fingers before making a tight fist and wincing as he also returns to bed.
“Really fucking stiff, but I’ll deal with it. I’ll deal with anything if it means that she’s safe,” he says, looking down at you. He gently brushes a stray lock of hair out of your face. Your nose twitches, but you otherwise don’t move.
“I’m glad you were there,” Echo says. “Something tells me we definitely would have lost her if she’d gone alone.”
“Yeah, she would’ve had that nightmare regardless,” Crosshair says, settling down and staring at the ceiling.
“You could tell, even through the tank?” Echo says, clearly surprised.
“It’s the weirdest thing,” Crosshair says, sounding uncharacteristically uncertain. “I dozed off, not long after she went under, then I clearly heard her say my name, which I know is impossible. It woke me up and I found her thrashing around, I think she was trying to yell. She already looked helpless in there before, but that made it so much worse…” he continues, trailing off.
With nothing else to say, Crosshair turns towards you on his side and pulls your back against his chest before he rests a hand on your hip. Echo, in turn, slips closer to you and holds his hand over your heart. It’s quiet for a moment, then Echo speaks.
“I’m only going to say this once, so don’t be an asshole about it,” he says. Crosshair doesn’t say anything, but grunts to show that he’s listening. Echo sighs.
“You were right. I shouldn’t have stormed off so many times, and I’m sorry,” he says, swallowing his pride.
“You tell her that?” Crosshair asks, and to his credit, there’s no trace of smugness in his tone.
“I did. We were actually talking about that a few minutes before you dragged Tech into the room with you,” Echo says, annoyed.
“And she already tore into me about that, so skip it,” Crosshair says, equally annoyed. There’s a pause, then he huffs.
“I know what you’re thinking, and yes, she did. Twice,” he says. Echo smirks but says nothing. It’s quiet for another minute or so before he speaks again.
“I want to make it up to her, for acting like that, but I’m not sure how,” Echo says, barely audible.
“An apology means nothing without changed behavior,” Crosshair says.
Neither of them say anything else, and eventually they fall asleep again, still touching you in some way.
—
A handful of hours later, everyone’s awake again and getting ready for the day. You and Crosshair are both sitting upright as you examine his bandaged hand, and Echo is stepping back out of the refresher. When he reaches you, you get to your feet and he wraps his arms around your waist, holding you tightly for a few seconds. You kiss him, and he responds with enthusiasm. Before either of you can get carried away, however, Crosshair clears his throat.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” he says, rolling his eyes at Echo while also standing up. Echo sighs and steps back from you and you roll your eyes at Crosshair.
Crosshair then goes through the door that connects your room with his to get changed. Once the sniper is out of earshot, Echo quietly asks if you’ll be going to see the General today.
“Not this time, he’s off-world again,” you say, keeping your voice down out of necessity. “I’ll just ask Master Nu, since I’ll be going to the library anyway. I think we only have two or three days left here before shipping out, so I need to get through as much as I can before then.”
When Echo next speaks, it’s at a more normal volume; neither of you care if Crosshair hears the rest. “Guess I’ll be going to Shalka’s alone then?” he asks.
“You’re not going with him?” Crosshair says as he returns to your room in his full kit.
“No, I have to requisition more supplies,” you say, surprising and disconcerting Echo with how flawlessly you just lied. “But I need to redress your hand first, can you go grab the kit out of the refresher for me?” you continue.
Crosshair rolls his eyes again, but does as he’s asked. While he’s in there and you’re quickly getting dressed, Echo straps his own armor on.
“You ever lie to
me
like that?” he asks, keeping his voice down, not sure if he wants to hear the answer.
“No, I never had to,” you say, much to his relief. Crosshair returns with the med kit, and the two of you sit across from each other on the bed again as you carefully clean his wounds and re-wrap the bandages around his hand. With that done, you stand and quickly duck into the refresher to wash your own hands before meeting Echo and Crosshair at the door.
“You going with him again?” you ask Crosshair while referring to Echo.
“No, I’m staying with you today,” Crosshair says, and there isn’t much room for argument in his tone.
“Uh, no, you’re not,” you say, squaring your shoulders and crossing your arms as you accept this unspoken challenge.
“Excuse you?” Crosshair says, mirroring your body language, and you can’t tell if he’s amused or annoyed. You sigh and take a few steps closer to him, then link your hands behind his neck and softly kiss him.
“Listen hotshot, I know you’re concerned about me after yesterday, and I’m grateful for that. But you can’t follow me everywhere,” you say. He smirks at you and holds your hips.
“Says you,” he says, and you roll your eyes.
“Yeah, says me. I think I can survive a day on my own,” you say. “Besides,
you
still need to go apologize to Tech,” you continue, a stern look on your face and in your tone.
“Alright, fine,” he mumbles, playing up his annoyance.
“Thank you,” you say, pecking his cheek. He snickers at you and you raise an eyebrow in return.
“What did you tell me on the last mission? ‘
If you die I’m going to kill you
’?” Crosshair says, pulling you closer.
“Oh please, you’d never,” you say.
“You’re right; I couldn’t,” he says, looking gently into your eyes before kissing you again. The kiss deepens, but Echo loudly and abruptly clears his throat, reminding you both that he’s here too. Crosshair sighs and quickly lets you go before leading the way out into the hall. You fall behind a little bit to talk with Echo.
“You sure you’ll be okay on your own at Shalka’s?” you ask. Echo laughs at you.
“What, you afraid she’s going to eat me?” he says, quoting her with a smirk. “Besides, ‘
I think I can survive a day on my own
,’” he continues, nudging your side.
“Alright smartass, point taken,” you say, nudging him back as the two of you catch up with Crosshair in the lobby.
—
It feels odd to be going to Shalka’s alone.
Echo spends most of the ride there just staring out of the cab window, amazed by how well things have turned out for him. All that’s missing is-
“Fives?” Echo says, quietly enough that the driver can’t hear him, though he knows they aren’t listening. “What are you trying to tell us?” he continues. A small part of him hopes that he’ll hear his brother respond, but the larger, more realistic part of him knows that he won’t. He’s quiet for a few minutes, thinking. Despite their disagreements, he’s never seen any behavior from Crosshair that would suggest you’re in danger around him, and he sighs.
“You were always so annoying about being right all the time,” he says, chuckling sadly. “But I really hope you’re wrong, just this once,” he continues.
Only a few minutes pass after this before the taxi pulls over, he pays the fare, and exits. He stands outside of Shalka’s ‘chop shop’ and thinks about you again for some time, until a speeder whooshes by behind him, which pulls him out of his own head before he walks through the door.
This time, as he steps inside, Shalka isn’t startled by him, but instead by the loud door chime. She curses and drops a box of tiny screws, scattering them all over the floor. She sighs heavily.
“I just can’t fuckin’ win,” she mumbles, kneeling down to pick them up. Echo also kneels down to help, and a majority of the screws magnetize to the end of his scomp link, which surprises them both more than it should.
Once they’re both standing, Shalka shakes her head and sighs, exasperated, then leads him to their usual spot at her work bench and picks the screws off of him.
“Alone today eh? Surprised Sunshine ain’t with ya. Something happen?” she asks, raising an eyebrow at him. With the screws taken care of, she carefully removes his replaced arm and fits on the nearly finished new one.
“Yeah, she just about drowned in the bacta tank yesterday,” Echo says, and Shalka curses loudly in response.
“Dank ferrik, she has got to have the worst fuckin’ luck. So she’s resting today?” she says. Echo nods.
“Something like that. She’s got some reading to catch up on,” he says.
It’s quiet for a while after that, with Echo still thinking about you as Shalka focuses on her work. The quiet is interrupted, however, when her nearby data pad beeps with a notification multiple times in a row.
“You’re popular today,” Echo says, and she snorts, ignoring it.
“Not answering?” he asks.
“I need to get your work done first, Tech’s gonna have to wait,” she responds.
“Oh, did you two not talk enough yesterday?” Echo says, somewhere between sarcastic and amused.
“Apparently not,” she says. The datapad beeps a few more times, so she sighs and sets down her tools before quickly typing something out on it and setting it aside again.
“I gotta say though,” she continues, picking her tools back up and adjusting his thumb, “I get the feelin’ I’m the first person in a long time to actually pay attention to what he’s saying,” she says, pointedly looking at Echo. He shifts in his seat, but doesn’t deny it. Shalka shakes her head at him.
“I know you definitely weren’t listening yesterday,” she says. “He had an idea for you and you haven’t said anything about it yet.
“And what would that be?” Echo asks, interest piqued.
“Oh sure,
now
you wanna know,” Shalka says, rolling her eyes at him before picking up a nearby scrap of paper with a few notes scrawled onto it. She hands it to him, he manages to read her rough handwriting, then quickly gives it back to her.
“Well…?” she asks, leaning forward on her elbows and watching him.
“I mean, it’s not a bad idea,” he says. “Just, uh, not sure how I feel about it coming from him. You’ve done that before?”
Shalka laughs loudly and waves her own cybernetic hand at him as a faint heat spreads across his cheeks.
“So? Whatcha thinkin’, Hero?” she asks, trying not to smirk. Echo groans and hides his face behind his remaining hand, but he nods.
“You’d better thank him,” Shalka says, laughing again before picking up a different tool and continuing to work.
—
Around the same time, you’ve just finished describing your dream to Master Nu in the Jedi Library. The area around you is empty, and you shift nervously in your chair as she thinks.
“Yes, that does sound like a premonition,” she eventually says, but you notice the skepticism in her tone.
“You don’t seem so sure,” you say, worried.
“It can be hard to tell what is a genuine vision and what is not,” she explains. “It’s possible that someone could have projected that into your mind.”
“Really? I’ve never heard that before,” you ask, your curiosity piqued.
“It is. The best I could describe it would be as if you’re having the same daydream as someone else at the same time,” she says, explaining further.
“Do you think Fives-?” you start to ask, but Master Nu gently interrupts you with a soft shake of her head.
“Oh my no, it would have come from someone living. It’s a very advanced ability and not many are able to do it. You said you didn’t sense another Force user around?” she says.
“Yes ma’am; as far as I could tell there was nobody,” you say with a nod.
“You experienced a true vision then,” Master Nu says. She pauses to think again before she continues. “However, what you've seen isn’t set in stone. The future, like the Force, is in constant flux. I and many others have seen things that never came to pass,” she says.
“So the only way to know is to just wait and see what happens?” you ask, sighing before you can stop yourself.
“As frustrating as it is, yes, that’s all you can really do,” she says sympathetically. “As for the rest, you said Fives came to see you again?” she asks. You nod, and Master Nu retrieves the small box she had given you on your first visit from her robes before handing it to you.
“I may have found a few more things that will be useful,” she says. “So keep going through these and I’ll go fetch them for you.”
You open the box and find the same four data chips inside, then close it and emphatically thank her for going through the trouble. She smiles softly at you.
“It’s no trouble at all dear; it’s what I’m here for,” she says, patting the back of your hand before disappearing between the stacks.
You settle into your chair, then open the box and insert the chip you hadn’t finished back into your data pad. As the text loads, you close your eyes and pray to the Maker that you’ll actually find something this time.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After you return to the hotel room from the library, you find Echo already there, though alone. The two of you lay together on the bed, a tangle of arms and legs, and he listens as you tell him about Clone Force 99’s previous missions, occasionally speaking up with a question or sarcastic comment. Once a few hours pass by, the two of you decide to go to sleep a little early. Echo is out quickly, but you wind up lying awake for over twenty minutes. Annoyed, you sit up, grab your datapad, and look up Kaller, the place Fives had told you to avoid. As you read, nothing stands out to you as particularly dangerous or harmful, aside from some harsh weather and landscapes, but that’s normal for most planets.
The sudden sound of the door opening startles you, though once you see Crosshair step into the room, you relax again. He spots you and sheds his armor as he moves, leaving a trail from the door to the edge of the bed. Once he’s down to just the bottom half of his undersuit, he slides into bed beside you, careful not to wake Echo.
Crosshair lies on his side, facing you, and almost as soon as you do the same, he scoots forward and holds you close, kissing you deeply.
“I was worried about you all day,” he says in a whisper.
“You really didn’t need to, I’m fine,” you say, equally quiet. Crosshair shakes his head at you, but there’s a rare, faint smile on his lips just before he kisses you again, softly this time. Now that he’s here too, you fall asleep quickly while sandwiched between your two lovers.—The following morning, Crosshair wakes first and returns to his room to get dressed, collecting his scattered armor pieces as he goes. Echo regains consciousness almost immediately after, and when you roll over and scoot closer to him, half asleep, he wraps his remaining arm around your waist before resting his forehead against yours. In the sleepy quiet of the morning, he takes some time to enjoy what he’s sure will be a rare moment of peace in his new life. A new life that he has thanks to you, and the others of course. He’s been thinking along these lines for a few days now, and he really can’t express how grateful he is to everyone, but especially to you.
“G’morning Echo,” you say, getting his attention before turning your head and yawning as you stretch your arms and back.“Good morning beautiful,” he says, rolling onto his back and pulling you on top of him. He kisses you, then you break away with a soft smile and sit upright, straddling his thighs. With the way the early morning sun shines on you, topless and your hair messy from sleep, Echo is suddenly reminded of that last morning he spent with you in your apartment. You look identical now to the way you had then, and he feels a faint ache in his chest.
He doesn’t have much time to think about this though, as Crosshair has just stepped back into the room, distracting you both. You sigh and stumble out of bed before quickly pecking his cheek and saying that you’ll be taking a quick shower. Crosshair nods but says nothing and moves outside onto the balcony.
Echo listens to the sound of the shower running and thinks, again, about what Crosshair said to him about running off on you. Suddenly, an idea hits him. A way to apologize to you and at least try to show you how much he loves you and what you’ve done for him. Moving quickly before either you or Crosshair catch him, Echo dives into your bag, searching through it. The shower abruptly shuts off and he curses under his breath.
“Come on, where is it,” he mumbles, then breathes out a soft ‘gotcha’ once he finds what he’s looking for, and not a moment too soon. You open the door, wearing only a towel, right as he grabs the object and stands back up, quickly tucking it into a pocket.“So,” you say, giving no indication that you’d seen what he was doing, “last day at Shalka’s tomorrow, right?” Echo nods.“Should be. And your last day at the library,” he says, then notices how your mood subtly dips when he brings up the place.
“You still haven’t found anything?” he asks softly. You huff in aggravation as you drop the towel and start to get dressed.
“Not a damn thing. I did read something brief about Force sensitivity sometimes being spread by blood to blood contact, but that’s impossible; we all know I would never allow that. Everything I’m finding seems to be right on the edge of what I’m looking for but never actually gets there, it’s so damn frustrating,” you say.
As you’re talking you step into a maroon dress and try to zip up the back. Echo watches you struggle with it for a second, then steps forward and gives it a shot, but he can’t get a good grip on it either. He makes an exasperated sound and you turn toward him.
“I’ll be so damn happy to have two hands again,” he says, maneuvering his scomp and glaring at it. You link your hands behind his neck and laugh a little, distracting him.
“And what are you going to do with them?” you say, smirking at him. Echo takes your waist and pulls you closer, chuckling into your ear.
“That’ll be a surprise,” he says, then kisses you deeply, the both of you humming and content.
As this happens Crosshair comes back into the room. Echo sighs and lets you go, shifting his focus onto suiting up for the day. You turn around and find Crosshair watching you with a familiar bedroom-eyed look on his face. You shake your head at him, though with a soft smile, then wave him over.
“Any chance you can get this zipper up for me?” you ask, turning around. You feel his warm hands on your upper and lower back, then jump a little when he’s suddenly mouthing along your jaw from behind, humming as he breathes in the fresh smell of your body wash. You can tell he’s moving the zipper, but not quite like you’d asked.“Up,” you say, your voice hushed as you turn your head to breathe into his neck, “is in fact the other direction.” Crosshair doesn’t answer and instead slips a hand under your skirt and grabs your ass as you turn back around to face him. He’s just about to kiss you when he’s interrupted by the sound of a cough near the door.
“If you’re done over there,” Echo says, mildly annoyed, “we all have places to be.” Crosshair shoots him a dirty look, but zips you up properly before leading the way out of the room.
—
Hours later, at Shalka’s workshop, she stretches her back and groans loudly with a curse.
“Fuck, my back is stiff. Musta slept wrong. It's a good thing I’m through with you for the day,” she says.“Oh, that’s it?” Echo says, surprised. “I figured there'd be at least four more hours of work.”
“Nah, that’s all I can do for now. I gotta go dig for the last few bits I don’t have here, then you’ll be done with me before lunch tomorrow,” Shalka says, switching out his new arm for his old scomp link as she speaks.“I’ll be done with you huh? Not the other way around?” Echo says, amused. Shalka stretches again, then gets to her feet, Echo following suit.
“Eh, I’m sure you’re tired of me by now. This has been a hell of a project. Pretty fuckin tough, but lucky for you, after spending a week with ya I think it’s worth it,” she says.
“Aw, are you getting sweet on me?” Echo says, chuckling. Shalka laughs loudly and genuinely before answering him.
“I think Sunshine would have something to say about that, but you’re not my type anyway. Never been into guys,” she says, shrugging. She walks to the door and Echo follows.
“Ooh, Tech will be disappointed,” Echo says, half-joking. She snorts at him.
“Hero, you really need to pay more attention. He ain’t interested in me,” she says. Echo shifts on his feet, remembering the brief conversation he and Crosshair had about you and Tech, then changes the subject.
“Well, speaking of finding things, I’m looking for another kind of specialist, think you’d be able to help me out?” he says as she leads him outside.
“‘Pends,” she says, locking up behind him. “Whatcha need?”A loud speeder bike blows past, horn blaring, making their voices inaudible to anyone else on the street.
“Ooh, really? I know just the place; It’s near where I’m headed and Jyn owes me a favor anyway. I’ll give you a ride, c’mon,” she says, walking around to the back of the building. Echo is surprised by the offer, but keeps up with her. The two of them get into her open air speeder, its electric blue paint matching her cybernetic eye, then take off for a higher level of Coruscant.—The Jedi Library has no windows, but you can still tell that it’s been dark out for a few hours when you finally put your data pad away. Master Nu had given you three more data chips on top of the four you started with on day one, and you read every single word. However, to your disappointment but not surprise, you haven’t found anything, despite learning a lot about the Force. You make your way through the stacks and reach Master Nu near the terminals in the center of the room. You hand her the box of chips, and you must be wearing your frustration on your face, as she looks sympathetic.
“Still no luck?” she asks. You shake your head, and she continues: “That’s all we have I’m afraid; I’m sorry we couldn’t be of better help to you.”“You’ve done more than enough, ma’am. Maybe I’m just not meant to know,” you say with a soft sigh.“Perhaps, but don’t speak too soon; I’ll keep an eye out for anything else and have it ready for you here whenever you’re planetside,” she says.
“Oh, but you’ve already done so much,” you start to say but she holds up a hand and stops you.
“I’m doing the same for several others, it’s no trouble at all,” Master Nu says, smiling patiently at you. She walks you to the exit door, and before you leave, you make sure to thank her again and let her know how grateful you are for her help.—When you reach the hotel, you’re surprised to find that Echo is arriving at the same time. Noting how late it is, you ask if Tech had gone to Shalka’s with him again.
“No, he’s still on the damn ship,” he says, and you can’t help but sigh.
“Guess I should’ve listened to Crosshair and not bothered getting him his own room after all,” you say, rolling your eyes as you unlock your door. “Speaking of, have you seen Hunter or Wrecker lately? Last I remember was in the courtyard,” you say, frowning in thought as you step into the dark space.“I haven’t, now that you mention it,” Echo says.
“They must be working on the ship too then,” you say, stepping out of your shoes.
“What the hell kind of modification is he doing, rebuilding half the damn thing?” Echo asks, somewhere between amused and exasperated as he methodically takes his kit off.
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” a familiar voice says. You and Echo exchange a glance as Crosshair clicks the bedside light on.
“Usually I’m the last one in, you sneak her away without me?” he says, half-serious. You shake your head in response as Echo rolls his eyes.
“The mechanic needed me around longer this time for a last minute addition,” he says, covering for you and explaining where he’s been in one swoop. He then says he’s going to take a shower, slips into the refresher, shuts the door behind him, and leaves you and Crosshair alone.
Crosshair says nothing and instead focuses on you. Much like how you couldn’t get the zipper of your dress up in the morning, you can’t seem to pull it back down now. So, he moves to the edge of the bed and pulls you down into his lap.His hands move slowly and he’s softly kissing along your spine as he pulls the zipper down. He then slips the garment off of you and tosses it over his shoulder before doing the same with your bra, leaving you stripped down to just your panties. The two of you settle back into bed against the headboard and he hooks a finger into the elastic and snaps it back against your hip, chuckling when you jump.You kiss Crosshair and he pulls you into his lap again, but facing him, mouthing along your jaw just like he had this morning. He reaches your ear and murmurs “you’ve been a bad girl.” You barely suppress a shiver and decide to play along.
“Oh? What did I do?” you ask, giggling.
“You’ve been lying to me,” he says, and his voice goes flat.
Oh.
“I think you forgot that Tech put trackers into our comm units. So,” Crosshair continues, saying your real name and leaning back away from you. “What have you been doing with the Jedi this week?”
Shit.You don’t want to lie to him again, but you also feel, deep in your bones, that you can’t tell him the truth either. Thinking quickly, you settle for something in the middle.
“General Skywalker asked me to do something for him after we got here,” you say, surprising yourself with how collected you sound, in stark contrast to the panic beginning to creep into your head.“And you didn’t tell me because…?” Crosshair says, clearly skeptical.
“It's supposed to be ‘need-to-know’,” you say. Crosshair stares you down, but you don’t flinch.
“And Echo needed to know? He’s been covering for you,” he says.
“I was there when he spoke to her,” Echo says, dressed in a clean undersuit and startling you. You’d been so focused on this new problem that you didn’t hear him come back into the room. Crosshair doesn’t seem convinced.“I know you don’t really trust me yet,” Echo says, looking Crosshair in the eye and squaring his shoulders as he folds his arms. “But are you honestly saying you don’t trust her?”
Crosshair suddenly blinks as if he’d been slapped again.
“I never said that,” he says, speaking quickly.
“It’s implied,” Echo says flatly before he
catches your eye and makes a ‘what the hell?’ face at you. Before you can react to him, Crosshair sighs and gently takes your hand, recapturing your attention.
“I trust you with my life, Meds,” he says quietly.
“Well that’s good. I’d be a pretty shit medic otherwise,” you say, trying to ease the sudden tension. It seems to work when Crosshair rolls his eyes at you.
“Obviously, but you know that’s not what I meant,” he says. You meet his gaze and sense his sincerity and love, which sends a twist of guilt through your gut and up your spine.
“Did you say anything to the others?” you ask, ignoring the feeling and trying to figure out how much damage control you’ll need to do. Much to your relief, Crosshair shakes his head.
“I knew you had your reasons for not telling us,” he says. “But it’s been bothering me all day and I had to say something. I’m sorry.”The guilt intensifies, making you nauseous, but you don’t show it. Instead, you lean forward and gently cup the right side of his head. “I’m sorry too, Cross. More than you know,” you say, fighting back a lump in your throat as you softly kiss him.“We should all be asleep,” Echo says before getting into bed on your left. Crosshair nods in agreement and clicks the light back off before you all lie down.
Thankfully he seems to fall asleep quickly.
After a few minutes, you roll over to look at Echo and find him wide awake. He takes your hand into his and jerks his head at the balcony. You shake your head, but tremble, your breath hitching. He suddenly pulls you tightly against his chest, wrapping his remaining arm around your shoulders and tucking your head under his chin. The tremble becomes a full-on shake and you hiccup, a few silent tears escaping your eyes.
“I don't want to keep lying to him,” you say, keeping your voice down, though with effort. “I can’t keep this up.” Echo runs his hand along the back of your head in a soothing motion.
“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what this is like for you,” he says, also whispering.
“I hate this,” you say.“Could’ve fooled me.”Unbeknownst to either of you, Crosshair was also awake, and he heard everything.—He silently leaves the bed and moves outside to the balcony. Rather than freezing and watching him go, you practically leap out of bed and throw on somebody's shirt before following. You find him outside, leaning on the half wall, staring down at the city below and pointedly not looking at you.“Crosshair, whatever you’re thinking, I promise you, you’ve got it wrong,” you say as you step closer to him.
“So I’m wrong, thinking that you loved me?” he says, almost inaudible. You freeze and your jaw drops.
“What? No, no never, what are you talking about?” you say, confused. Your hands shake as you move closer to him again.
“You just fucking said so. ‘I don’t want to keep lying to him,’ I’m not stupid,” he says, bitter.
“I wasn’t talking about you, or us!” you say, raising your voice, just enough to be noticeable, without meaning to. Crosshair turns towards you, your mind buzzes, and the hurt that crashes over you from him knocks you back a step. He doesn’t see this.“Then what the hell were you talking about?” Crosshair says, his own voice getting louder.
You open your mouth to speak, but hesitate. Internally, you’re being pulled in two different directions. You can’t bring yourself to lie to him again, and you definitely don’t want things to deteriorate further, but something you now recognize as the Force is telling you, intensely enough to make your whole body tingle, not to say another word.
Crosshair notices your reluctance and scoffs at you before returning inside.
He’s barely two steps into the room when Echo, whom you both had temporarily forgotten about, snares Crosshair’s wrist, seething.
“You fucking hypocrite, don’t you dare walk away from her!” Echo shouts. At this, you hurry back inside.“Echo, let him go!” you shout, and tears are rolling down your cheeks, but you no longer care. Echo steps away from Crosshair, who snatches his wrist back, but doesn’t move, instead staring at Echo with a scowl.
“Crosshair, please listen to me,” you say.
When he turns toward you and your eyes lock, another wave of hurt rolls over you, but this one is physically painful. It hurts enough to make you cry out and stumble; You trip over your own feet and land, hard, on the floor. Echo sees this and immediately rushes to your side, his anger at Crosshair overridden by his concern for you. He kneels beside you and asks what just happened.
“When he looked at me, I could feel-,” you say, breathing heavily and cutting yourself off as you hold your head with a hand. “Kriff, that hit me harder than you did,” you add without thinking.
“You did what?” Crosshair says, furiously advancing upon Echo, and they’re both squaring up. Before the two can come to blows, you force yourself between them.
“It’s nothing like that Crosshair,” you shout, desperate and exhausted.“Then tell me what the fuck it is like!” Crosshair says, shouting back at you.
Echo suddenly grabs your shoulder and pulls you behind him as he snaps “she doesn’t have to tell you a goddamn thing!”A sudden bolt of pain shoots through your head. You grab at it and hunch over, though neither of them see this.
“Like hell she doesn’t!” Crosshair says, and the two are now chest to chest, glowering at each other.
“Stop!” you shout, and in the split second it takes for you to straighten back up and look at them, Echo and Crosshair are suddenly and aggressively pushed apart by something unseen.
A ringing, stunned silence fills the air as the men stare at you from opposite sides of the room. After nearly a minute of standing frozen, Echo slowly approaches you.
“What the hell was that?” he says, shocked.“I… I don’t know, that’s n-never happened before,” you say, shaking badly. Echo glances over at Crosshair, and you do the same. He’s staring at you, looking deeply confused and, if you didn’t know any better, scared. Echo returns his focus to you and speaks softly, though you can clearly hear the worry in his voice.
“Do you want to tell him?” he says. You’re continuing to watch Crosshair, debating with yourself. He takes a step backward, away from you, and your chest clenches, making your breath stutter for a moment.
‘To hell with the Force’, you decide.
“I do. I have to,” you say. “No hiding it now anyway.” Echo glances between the two of you, then gives you a pointed look, silently asking if you’re sure about this. You nod.
Crosshair sees and hears this and carefully moves a few steps closer to you. Meanwhile, Echo, in a move that makes absolutely no sense at all, slides your chrono off your wrist and walks backward enough to be noticeably out of arm's reach. He then holds his hand flat, palm up, setting the chrono there, and you suddenly understand.“Is this really the time?” you say.
“Just show him,” Echo says, whispering. You feel a presence at your side and look to find Crosshair just a few feet away from you. He whispers your name, also worried for you.You don’t answer him. Instead you take a deep breath, hold your arm in front of you, your palm out, and close your eyes. You focus on the object in Echo’s hand. After a few seconds, you feel something in the tips of your fingers; it’s the same odd buzzing sensation that you get in your mind when Sensing something. You focus more intensely, furrowing your brow, and after a few seconds, Echo curses under his breath.You open your eyes and see the chrono hovering in midair a foot in front of you. You’re so surprised that your focus breaks and it falls, though Crosshair catches it before it hits the floor and gives it to you with shaking hands. He says nothing, only watching you. You slip it back on, then look into his eyes and sense a bizarre mixture of anger, relief, and shock coming from him. He’s staring like he’s never seen you before. You open your mouth to speak, but can’t form any words.
—About an hour passes after Echo decides to give you two some space. He had gone into Crosshair’s adjoining room alone while the two of you sat on the bed with your backs against the headboard. You can’t help but notice how familiar this situation is, as you were in this exact spot only four days ago with Echo. The conversation passes quicker this time, since you don’t really need to go over Fives and what happened to him, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
Crosshair listens, silently, the entire time, and though you can sense his confusion dying down, he’s still hurt and angry. Having to look him in the eye and tell him just how much you lied about and how often is one of the most difficult things you’ve ever had to do, and your voice and hands shake. You pause for a moment to catch your breath, and he speaks for the first time since you both sat down.
“You’ve known for this long and didn’t tell me?” he asks.
“Crosshair, I am so fucking sorry,” you say, tears spilling down your cheeks again.
“Why?” he says, his voice almost inaudible. As much as you hated it when the two of you would get into shouting matches, this is so much worse. You wipe your eyes and try to explain the intense feeling of fear and uncertainty, the sense from the Force to keep it quiet, but you struggle to articulate it.
“I can’t really describe it; It’s like there was something in my head telling me what to do, and I couldn’t shake it. Even now it’s telling me to shut up,” you say, before falling silent again.
“And the Jedi? Were you really doing something for the General?” Crosshair asks. His tone is completely flat and his face is unreadable, but you can still sense the simmering anger he’s feeling. You take a second to think, wondering if you should tell him about how Fives plays into this. You don’t particularly want to, knowing that the subject usually brings you to tears, but you’ve been crying for a while already, and you want to be honest with Crosshair more. You take a shuddering breath, and tell him about everything else. The shared dream you and Echo experienced, your subsequent dreams and the strange event in the ship’s bunks before your last mission.
“I didn’t know where else to go and ask about it, and Anakin already sensed that something strange had happened. He got me into the archives and said I should let him know if I found anything,” you say. Your voice has become hoarse from overuse, and you sound similar to the way you did after the debacle with the bacta tank.
“So that wasn’t a lie?” Crosshair says, looking away from you.
“I swear to you, it wasn’t,” you say, turning your body towards him.
“And how am I supposed to believe you?” he says, getting to his feet and restlessly starting to pace around the room.
“Echo can back me up,” you say quietly, then shake your head at yourself. “But, I know that’s not what you asked. So, I… I guess you can’t believe me,” you admit. At this, Crosshair stops in place, his back to you.
“No, I guess I can’t,” he says, his words stinging you as you carefully walk towards him. You stop only a few steps away, and neither of you speak for some time.
“You want to know something?” he says. You remain silent, giving him the space to speak. “I don’t give a single fuck about any of that. I care that you lied to me. You lied to me and now I’m questioning everything you’ve ever told me,” he says.
“Which is more than fair, I understand. I’m so sorry, Crosshair,
I know I’ll never be able to say it enough,” you say, inching closer to him. He doesn’t move away from you, but he still doesn’t look at you.“Maybe not, but I know how you can start,” he says. You hear an unfamiliar tremor in his voice and hate yourself for putting it there.
“Say that you love me,” he says, finally turning around to look at you, startling you when you see a single tear slip from the corner of his eye. “I can accept you lying about everything else, but not that. Please.”
“Of course I do!” you say, not noticing your volume.
“Then tell me! Look me in the fucking eye and say it!” he says, raising his own voice.
“Crosshair, I-,” you start, but you remember Fives’ warning, and it holds you back. He notices, and the heartbreak in his eyes devastates you. He laughs without humor and shakes his head.
“Why did I expect anything else?” he says under his breath, defeated, then walks out of your room and into the hallway, not caring that he’s only got his undersuit on.
As he goes, it strikes you that this is familiar too. But it will be different this time; you’ll be damned if you’re going to just stand there and let anyone else walk away from you again. You yank on a random pair of your unwashed leggings, skip your shoes entirely, and go after him.
When you make it into the hallway, you glance at the lift and see that it hasn’t moved from this floor. That means Crosshair went out, not up, so you dash down the hall and into the lobby, ignoring the stares and muttering of everyone around you. You glance around the vicinity, and spot him outside through a window, where it looks like he’s hailing a cab. You curse under your breath and run out to stop him.
Outside in the brisk night air, you reach him at the same moment a taxi pulls over.
“Crosshair, wait!” you say, and grab him by the arm before he can get inside. He looks between your hand and your face, angry.
“Let go of me,” he growls, and tries to shake you off.
“No!” you shout, startling him. “I am so fucking sick of seeing the people I love leave me!”This makes him freeze, and you know he’s picked up on what you just said. He looks over at you, the faintest trace of hope in his eyes as he says your name.
“Did you just-?” he asks, but you cut him off.
“Yes, god damn it! Crosshair, I love you, now get your ass back insi-,” you say, but don’t get the chance to finish your sentence before he’s grabbing you and crashing his lips into yours.
—Earlier, Echo had been able to hear it when the two of you started getting loud again, and he automatically got to his feet, but stopped himself before he opened the door to the other room. You can handle yourself, he’s seen the evidence. However, when the door leading into the hall opens and slams shut, he’s already going through the connecting door. He sees you yank leggings on and run barefoot into the hall after Crosshair. Echo has no idea what to expect, so he quickly goes after you. You’re only a few meters ahead of him, so he’s close enough to see it when you grab Crosshair and stop him.Echo also stops, but several steps back. Whatever was about to happen, he was sure you could deal with it, but he still stays close. When Crosshair suddenly grabs and kisses you, Echo breathes a heavy sigh of relief, then jogs back into the hotel, hoping that neither of you had seen him.
He’s able to return to your shared room and move onto the balcony about two minutes before you both come back inside. When he hears the entry door close, he turns around and finds the two of you already stripping as you stumble toward the bed. Echo goes inside, and you glance up at him, clearly unsure of whether you should stop or not. He continues to walk past and says he’s going to be in the other room tonight, if you need him. He steps through the door and shuts it behind him.
He leans back against it and runs his remaining hand down his face. You didn’t chase after him like that. At least, not that he knew about, he reminds himself. All the same, he’s starting to doubt the decision he’s made about you, until he remembers something else Crosshair had told him.
“I’m getting tired of picking up the pieces when you leave her,” he’d said, only a few days ago. If anyone knew what you’d done after he walked out, it would be Crosshair. Echo decides that the two of them need to talk tomorrow morning. He hears the sniper cry out your name, and something stirs in his groin, but Echo gets to his feet and decides to go up to the bar for at least an hour or two. Whatever was happening in the other room, he knew he wasn’t meant to listen in.—As you give in to Crosshair, the driver of the cab that had pulled over shakes his head in annoyance and drives off, but neither of you notice. In fact, it isn’t until a passing speeder’s exhaust loudly backfires that you both remember where you are. You break away from him, panting, and jerk your head back at the building behind you. The next thing you know, Crosshair has lifted you up and tossed you over his shoulder before carrying you back inside as quickly as possible.
A few people wolf-whistle at the two of you as you pass back through the lobby, but your fleeting embarrassment is quickly replaced by desire when Crosshair sets you onto your feet and opens the door to your room. The door isn’t even completely closed before you’re back on him, the two of you pulling desperately on each other’s clothes and panting for breath between equally desperate kisses. You’re only aware of the bed once you both stumble and fall into it, but you pay it no mind and continue without pause.
You do pause, however, when you hear the sliding door to the balcony squeak open. You glance up and see Echo, then freeze, though Crosshair does not.“I’ll be in the other room tonight, if you need me,” Echo says, walking past as if nothing is happening.
Once the other door clicks shut, you pull away from Crosshair and stand before you whip off your hastily borrowed shirt. He stays seated on the bed but moves to the edge of the mattress as he strips down entirely, watching you the entire time. You look down at his hard cock and bite your lip before straddling him. His hands automatically grip your hips, and you spit into your hand before you reach down and slowly start to pump away at him.
Crosshair’s needy moan is cut off when you kiss him deeply again, though you’re less frantic. He follows your lead and you slip into a slower pace, your voices and kisses growing softer, more sensual. He breaks away from you with an expression of complete adoration on his face that sends a familiar swooping sensation through your gut.
You lean in and kiss him again, then take a page out of his book, mouthing along his jaw and neck. Just to see what happens, you nip at his collarbone, and his hips jerk forward against your hand. You repeat this, using a little more pressure each time, until you’re eventually sucking a dark mark into the pulse point right under his jaw. His back arches and he moans a loud curse.
“Fuck,” he pants. “I can see why you like that so much,” he says before returning the favor and biting into your shoulder. When he does, your hand grips his cock tighter and he hisses through his teeth. His eyes meet yours, your mind buzzes again, and the feeling of need coming out of him makes you shiver. You softly kiss him, then slide backwards off of his legs and onto your knees. You nudge his thighs apart, and look up at him through your lashes as you take the head of his cock into your mouth, tracing circles around the slit with your tongue and sucking at it.
Crosshair cries out your name and you open wider, taking him further back and into your throat, your eyes never leaving his face. You start to quickly bob your head up and down, swallowing around him whenever your nose brushes against his pelvis. His hands grab either side of your head when you do this, though he’s keeping himself grounded, rather than holding you in place. You hum a few syllables that vaguely sound like his name, and his hips buck against your mouth. You do this a few times, fighting against your gag reflex, motivated to keep going by the absolutely sinful sounds he’s making as you move.
You hum, making his hips buck again, and when he does, you grab onto his hips and take his cock as far down as you can, swallowing around him and still never looking away. Crosshair curses, loudly, and his grip tightens on your head as his muscles lock. Knowing what this means, you stay put and suck every single solitary drop of cum out of him, making sure to swallow so that nothing goes to waste. He shivers, but you keep going, relishing in the way his body spasms, the way he pants and gasps your name, and you only release him when he pushes your head back and slips out of your mouth.
Once freed, Crosshair curses again and flops onto his back, still gasping and resting his forearm over his eyes. You can’t help but giggle at him as you get to your feet and stand back up. He tries to speak normally but nothing comes out. You duck into the kitchenette and chug down a glass of cool water, then refill it and sit back onto the bed next to him, careful not to spill anything.
“You okay?” you ask, half-serious. Crosshair props himself up on an elbow with a grunt and gratefully takes the glass from you.
“Small sips,” you remind him, and he rolls his eyes but does as he’s told. Once the glass is drained he hands it back to you. You stand to put it away, but his sudden, strong grip on your free hand stops you. You set the glass down somewhere and squeak in surprise when he yanks you down on top of him, chest to chest. He kisses you, and when he pulls away, shakes his head incredulously at you.
“You,” he says, still breathing heavily, “are going to be the death of me, kitten.”
“I hope not,” you say, kissing him back. You realize something and can’t help but laugh a little. Crosshair looks at you with an eyebrow raised.
“Just thinking,” you say, speaking softly. “It was only a few weeks ago that I thought you hated me.”
At this, he grabs you by the shoulders and rolls the two of you over to where he’s hovering over you.
“That’s never been true,” he says, and you sense a faint twinge of regret in his voice. Before you can react, his lips are on yours again and you can feel everything he’s never been able to properly say to you in the way his hands map out your curves and roam your body. You pull back, albeit reluctantly, then sigh as you hold him close and the two of you press your foreheads together.
“I know. You don’t have to apologize again,” you say, your voice barely above a whisper. You then try and fail to hold back a wide yawn, leaning away from him as you do.
“You can’t be tired already?” Crosshair says in disbelief.
“Sorry,” you say, yawning again. “I guess taking a lot out of you took a lot out of me.” Crosshair stares at you for a second, then laughs, reminding you how much you love the sound.
A few minutes later, after you’ve both used the refresher, you climb back into bed and settle on your sides under the duvet, your legs entangled and your arms holding one another as tightly as possible.
“I love you, hotshot.”
A chuckle in the dark, warm breath on your skin.
“I know, kitten.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Echo has been at the rooftop bar for a few hours, but he’s only had about half a drink. He keeps thinking about the way you ‘forced’ him and Crosshair apart. As an inexplicable chill runs through him, he finishes his drink in one gulp. After that, he decides that you and Crosshair have had more than enough time to tire each other out. He bids the waitress a good night, then takes the lift back down.
He’s a few doors away from the squad's cluster of rooms when he realizes that the only key he has is to the room you’re currently occupying with Crosshair. On the chance that you’re both still going at it, Echo doesn’t want to interrupt, but he doesn’t really have any other options, so he pauses outside of the door, listening. He doesn’t hear anything, which hopefully means you’re both asleep. He carefully slips inside and to his relief, all he finds upon entering is the two of you snoring softly, tangled up in one another.
He wants nothing more than to settle in on your other side and feel your warmth, your skin against his, but after seeing the way Crosshair had grabbed you and kissed you, Echo decided to give the two of you some space. So, he turns away and goes into the adjoining room and shuts the door. Despite how badly he wants to go back, he reluctantly climbs into bed and switches the light off. This room's bed is a size smaller, but it still feels too big and empty for one person.
As he stares up at the ceiling, he realizes it’s the first time he’s been alone like this since leaving Anaxes. Being in the medical wing there didn’t feel like this, though, and it takes Echo a solid minute to realize what the difference is, aside from the setting. For one, he’d been too exhausted to do much other than sleep before, and for another his chest didn’t ache the way it is now. Here though, wide awake, he finds that he’s
lonely
, possibly for the first time in his memory.
It never occurred to him before how he’d become so used to being surrounded by his brothers. As far back as he could remember, he at least had Fives with him. However, you’re right there on the other side of the wall, and hopefully you’ll never be further than that again. As he turns onto his side, he can’t help but think about the way you had
run
after Crosshair a few hours ago. Did you ever try to stop
him
like that? He has no real way of knowing, but that’s exactly why he needs to speak with Crosshair tomorrow.
—
In the morning, you wake to the feeling of warm, familiar lips traveling upwards along the column of your throat, and you barely stop the corners of your mouth from twitching upwards. There’s a husky chuckle in your ear.
“Good morning, kitten,” Crosshair says, holding the side of your head with one hand while the other rests over your heart. You pretend to sleep, not reacting to him, so he grasps you by the shoulders, and rolls the pair of you over until he’s above you and kissing you. His tongue swipes at your bottom lip and you drop the act by opening up for him. After a few seconds, or minutes, you can’t tell which, you break away for air.
“How’d you tell this time?” you ask him as you yawn.
“Your breathing changes,” he says, giving you no time to respond before crashing his lips to yours again. You both hum, content.
Crosshair wraps his arms around your ribs and rolls the two of you over a second time. With you on top now, he looks up at you with a soft expression and holds the side of your head again.
“How are you feeling, after last night?” he asks.
“I’m a little disappointed that I couldn’t do more for you,” you say, dragging your hand down his body. He surprises you when he grabs your hand and pulls it back up to his chest.
“I don’t doubt that, but you know that isn’t what I meant,” he says. You sigh and kiss him again, then speak when you pull away.
“It’s hard to say, to be honest. I do feel better now that you know everything, so I won’t ’have to’ lie again,” you say, your voice quiet. Crosshair kind of scans your face and barely shakes his head.
“But…?” he prompts.
“But… At the same time, I still feel like I shouldn’t have said anything. Part of me worries that was a mistake,” you say, meeting his eyes, though it’s difficult.
“Which isn’t to say that I don’t trust you, you know that, right?” you say, speaking quickly.
“I can’t say I understand the feeling, but I believe you,” he says.
“Even if you shouldn’t?” you whisper, guilt heavy in your voice as you look away from him.
“Stop. I don’t need to hear that,” he says. “And I don’t want to.”
You look back at him with a single tear threatening to slip from your eye. He cups your cheek with his hand, and once you relax into it, he sits up and pulls you close, resting his forehead against yours. You both take a moment to close your eyes and breathe each other in, and you can feel the comfort of his forgiving love.
“I don’t deserve you,” you say.
“Even if that were true, I still want you,” he says. “Besides,” he continues, his tone shifting as he smirks at you, “I can think of a few ways for you to make it up to me.” You roll your eyes, but laugh at him, the uncomfortable tension in the room having dissipated.
The two of you sit quietly and intertwined for some time, until you both hear the sound of the connecting door to the other room opening.
“Not interrupting you, am I?” Echo says, cautiously stepping into view.
You kiss Crosshair on the cheek and get out of bed. When you reach Echo. He wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you close.
“How’d you sleep?” you quietly ask him. He steps far away enough to rub at the back of his neck.
“Not well, tell you the truth,” he says. Crosshair, having heard this, gets up and says he’s going to take a shower. Once the refresher door shuts, you take Echo by the hand and sit back on the bed with him.
“You didn’t have to spend the night by yourself,” you say.
“I saw you both outside; I figured you’d want some time alone after all of that,” he says.
“I guess one of us will always be chasing after the other,” you say, then softly shake your head and chuckle. Echo doesn’t respond and you sense his self-doubt.
“I know, I shouldn’t have-,” he starts, but you stop him.
“I’m not mad at you, if that’s what you’re thinking,” you say, and you can see his relief. You peck his cheek, then go into your bag on the floor to find clothes for the day. As you kneel down and pick out a few things, you notice that something is missing.
“Hey Echo? Have you seen that stone you gave me? I can’t find it,” you say, double checking the bag’s pockets.
“No, not since we got here,” he says, answering a little too quickly. Obviously you notice this, but decide not to say anything.
“You think it’s on the ship?” you ask, standing back up.
“Probably. You can comm one of the guys and see if they found it,” he suggests.
“I won’t bother; I don’t really need it anymore anyway,” you say, stretching before turning around to find that Echo has moved to the edge of the mattress closest to you.
“Oh, why’s that?” he asks, mildly confused, making you chuckle. You reply by pushing Echo onto his back and quickly moving to straddle his hips.
With you in leggings and Echo in his blacks, there’s little to lessen the friction you both feel when you grind yourself against him. A look of understanding spreads on his face and he grabs your hip with his remaining hand while he presses his scomp against the small of your back. You gently rest your hand where the metal of the prosthetic meets his skin and smile at him. You bend at the waist and kiss him deeply, and his hand moves from your hip to tangle into your hair and pull you down closer. After a moment, you break away for air.
“I’ll take you over some shiny rock any day,” you say. “Fuck, Echo, I’m so glad you’re alive,” you continue, grinding your dampening crotch against his bulge. He groans your name, then suddenly sits up, draping his arms around your shoulders and kissing you feverishly.
You reposition yourself so that your legs are now wrapped around his hips and you continue to grind against him, your lips never leaving his. Echo breaks away with a groan and grabs your ass, making you arch your back as you bite your lip. He pulls you even closer and lifts you enough to take one of your nipples into his mouth and suck gently at it, making you whine and shiver. The sound is enough to make his hips automatically jerk forward into yours, and you both moan at the contact.
You reach down and palm his cock through his blacks, noting the small wet spot, but he goes a step further by slipping his hand into your leggings and against your hot, wet cunt. Your thighs close around his hand, trapping him right where you want him.
“Fuck, soaked already?” he says, growling into your skin, and you cry out as he slides a single digit inside you. You feel Echo’s cock twitch against your palm when you gasp his name, so you follow his lead by slipping your hand into his waistband. As your eyes meet, you both separate long enough for him to quickly free his cock while you slip out of your own clothes and throw them carelessly over your shoulder.
Seconds later, the obscene sound of his fingers slipping back into your drenched cunt is drowned out by the sound of your combined moans. After a few more seconds, you hear someone that definitely isn’t Echo groan loudly, about a foot from the edge of the bed behind you.
“It better just be you back there Cross,” you say, never shifting your focus away from Echo, who glances over your shoulder for just a second.
“It is. Should I tell him to fuck off?” he asks, focusing back on you.
Crosshair stumbles over his objections and you giggle at him.
“You had me all to yourself last night, hotshot,” you say with a laugh before kissing Echo again.
“Oh, so he can watch us but I can’t watch you?” Crosshair says, moving closer. You can hear the
want
in his voice, so you open your legs and angle yourself, putting everything Echo is doing to you on display. Crosshair curses again, a faint whine in his voice.
You break away, spit into your palm and start jerking Echo off. As he groans loudly into your ear, you finally turn your head to look at the sniper, and oh he’s a sight to see.
He’s standing with his knees against the bed, his chest still glistening from the shower, and the towel slung tantalizingly low on his hips is doing little to hide how hard his cock is. His breathing is heavy, his expression pure lust, and each time he reaches for you he quickly stops himself, clearly waiting for permission. You look up at him through your lashes and moan as Echo moves his thumb to start circling your clit.
“When did we say that? I won’t stop you,” Echo says, otherwise paying no attention to him as you nod in agreement. Crosshair groans and kneels heavily onto the mattress next to you, whipping the towel off and throwing it aside. When you see him reach for you while already pumping away at himself, you make an audible
‘nuh-uh’
sound and wave his hand away.
“Hands off,” you tease, and when he says your name in response the whine in his voice is much clearer.
“
Meds
,” he says, and Echo can’t help but smirk before he kisses his way up your neck and whispers something that Crosshair can’t hear.
Whatever it is, you nod with a wide smile, and Echo slips his fingers out of you. You grab his hand and suck them clean while keeping your eyes on Crosshair, who curses under his breath.
Once Echo is satisfied, you disentangle yourselves. He lies flat on his back while you kneel over his face. You
bend at the waist and take his leaking cock as deeply into your mouth and throat as you can. Savoring his taste, you bob your head along his shaft, all the while never breaking eye contact with Crosshair. He groans again and his hand moves faster as he watches you.
Meanwhile, Echo grabs your hips and pulls your cunt closer to his face. He purses his lips around your clit and starts sucking at it. Your body shivers as you moan though the sound muffled by his cock in your throat. You continue to suck him off, humming and hollowing your cheeks in a way you knew would rocket him to the edge.
He pulls away from your cunt and curses loudly through clenched teeth. Just as his legs lock, you slip your mouth off of him and work his cock through his orgasm, angling everything so that Crosshair can watch as Echo paints your breasts with cum. Not a moment later, Crosshair also cums across your chest. As this happens, his restraint snaps, and he grabs the sides of your head before desperately pulling you into a deep, soulful kiss, clearly not giving a damn about what had just been in your mouth.
Echo, once his cock stops twitching, breaches your cunt with his tongue and loudly slurps up as much of your juices as he can. He grazes your clit just right as he licks up into you, and you pull back from Crosshair to whine Echo’s name as he expertly works a powerful orgasm out of you; he keeps this up until you bonelessly roll off of him and onto your back.
It takes a good few minutes before anyone is able to breathe normally enough to speak. You sit up and turn to face Crosshair.“How’s that for a show, hotshot?” you say, still panting slightly as you giggle at him. Crosshair shakes his head before shakily getting to his feet. He takes your hands into his and pulls you upright before leading you into the refresher.
“I’ll say it again: You’re going to be the death of me, kitten,” he says, stopping at the door and grabbing your ass. After a brief kiss, he goes into his own room to get dressed.Alone again, but far from lonely, Echo also gets dressed, then moves onto the balcony, where the mid morning sun is warm on his face as he reflects on the previous night. He doesn’t think any of you expected things to escalate that far, and the sudden strength of your Force usage was a shock to everyone. He realizes that you had separated him from Crosshair inadvertently during an outburst, and shifts uneasily on his feet. To think this all started with a shared dream. With that in mind his thoughts return to Five's.
Echo remembers you saying that Fives was desperate for you to listen to him in your last dream, and his unease deepens. Things seem okay now, but he has no idea what the future will bring.
“Kriff, I hope we don’t regret this,” he mumbles as he drags his remaining hand down his face. Almost immediately afterward he’s mildly startled by the sound of the glass door sliding open. He turns around, expecting to find you, but instead sees Crosshair standing there.
“Just you?” Echo asks.
“Yeah, why?” Crosshair says, cocking an eyebrow at him.
“Good. I need to talk to you,” Echo says, unconsciously tensing up. Crosshair, with his arm folded over his chest, doesn’t notice and takes a breath before coming outside.
“I figured,” the sniper says, sounding tired. “I’m sorry,” he adds, looking Echo in the eye. Echo barely holds back a scoff.
“You tell her that?” he says, crossing his arms and unconsciously quoting him.
“I did,” Crosshair says, though his voice is soft, and to Echo's surprise, he actually sounds remorseful.
“Then why are you telling me?” Echo says. Crosshair rubs at his right temple and turns to lean back against the half wall, slouching as he speaks.
“Last night, I…” he says, but stops himself, trying to find the right words. He sighs and continues. “I wasn’t thinking straight. I really wasn’t thinking at all. So much had just been dumped onto me, I-,” he stops when he sees Echo looking pointedly at him. Crosshair shuts his eyes and takes a breath, keeping himself calm.
“Look, my point is, I get it. Doesn’t make it right, but I understand you better,” he says, still maintaining eye contact.
Neither of them speak for a little while, until Echo breaks the tense silence.
“I still think you’re a fucking hypocrite,” he says. He turns around to rest his elbows on the half-wall, also slouching. He stares at his scomp while maneuvering it.
“But that’s not why I wanted to speak with you,” he says.
—
Back inside, you’re getting dressed. As you button up your top, you notice Echo and Crosshair outside speaking with their voices low and having what looks like an intense conversation. The door is open, but you try not to listen in on them. And you don’t, until Crosshair suddenly raises his voice.
“Oh for… Yes, every fucking time, and I would know! Who do you think was there for her and cleaned up your mess?” he says, almost shouting now.
“I know you know, that’s why I fucking asked you,” Echo spits.
You look over at them and see Echo leaning heavily on the half wall of the balcony, his back to you, while Crosshair starts to pace as he pinches the bridge of his nose. Without meaning to, you sense shame and frustration coming from them both respectively, but despite this, there’s no overt animosity. Echo straightens himself up and stares at Crosshair.
“Regardless, I’ve made my decision,” Echo says, his voice uncharacteristically firm, almost cold, and your heart crashes into your gut. Crosshair laughs without humor.
“I swear on the Maker, if you’ve ‘decided’ to run off on her again-,” he says, but Echo cuts him off.
“Of course not!” he snaps. Crosshair scoffs at him and turns to go back inside, but stops short when he sees you watching them.
“Well,” Crosshair says, not looking away from you, “looks like I’m not the only one listening now.”
Echo takes a few steps over to where Crosshair is, notices you, and glances back at him.
“No shit, you left the door open!” he says, pinching the bridge of his nose. You quickly zip your pants up and take a large step backwards.
“Okay, you two are clearly in the middle of something, so I’m going to go get a caf. Don’t kill each other.” you say before slipping on your shoes, grabbing your purse, and escaping into the hallway.
—
A few minutes later, you’re in the hotel lobby near the caf stand, sitting on the same bench that you and Tech had occupied without realizing it. You hold the drink you didn’t want in a shaking hand, your mind racing. The context for what Crosshair was saying is clear enough; obviously Echo had asked if you’d ever gone after him when he stormed off. You hold your free hand over your new scar and huff in irritation. After a moment, your hand automatically moves from your side to your upper chest and tries to fidget with the glowing stone that isn’t there, and you feel a knot of anxiety tighten in your gut. What kind of ‘decision’ did Echo make? What did it have to do with you?
You anxiously grip your caf tighter without noticing, which crushes the flimsi cup enough for the lid to pop off. The hot liquid inside spills onto the back of your hand and gives you a mild burn. You stand and throw it away with a hissed curse, then grab a handful of napkins from the caf stand and mop up the spill on the bench and floor.
You drop back onto the bench and quickly doctor yourself up with the small kit you keep in your bag, then hide your face behind your hands and exaggeratedly groan. Of course, this is when Crosshair and Echo catch up to you. Crosshair says something snarky about you sounding like an angry loth cat and you roll your eyes at him while you get to your feet.
Crosshair wraps his arm around your waist and continues walking. As you move alongside him, you glance back at Echo, who is trailing a few steps behind and appears to be deep in thought. Did the conversation with Crosshair go that badly after you left? You don’t sense any hostility between them, but you do get an almost undetectable breeze of… is that
jealousy
? It’s coming from Crosshair, but when he speaks, he doesn’t show it.
“Any other Jedi business?” he asks, keeping his voice down.
You meet his eyes and the abrupt memory of having to recount all of your lies to him
makes your heart ache. It must be showing on your face, because once you’re both through the main doors, Crosshair steers you into a shaded space with nobody else around. He sits on the bricked edge of a flower bed and gently pulls you down next to him.
“Hey kitten,” Crosshair says, his voice low and expression concerned. He cups the side of your face and gently turns you to look at him, but you can’t meet his eyes.
“Meds, look at me,” he says, finally getting your attention. He moves his hands to your shoulders and continues speaking.
“I know what you’re doing, and you need to stop; I hate seeing you like this.” he says.
“But, Crosshair, I-,” you start to say, when he interrupts you with a soft kiss and brushes a tear away from your eye with his thumb. He pulls you tightly to his chest and you’re hit with that same comforting love you felt only a few hours ago.
“Stop. I forgive you,” he says, his voice soft but his tone firm. “Now do the same for yourself, please.”
You take a long, shuddering breath and step back enough to better see his face and his concern. You grab onto his shoulders and yank him close to you before kissing him deeply. He almost immediately reciprocates with just as much fervor, and by the time you break apart, you’re both out of breath.
Crosshair rests his forehead against yours and softly says your name. “I love you, so much,” he says, barely audible, and the ache in your heart evaporates.
You suddenly feel a gust of insecurity blow over you, and when you look around, you see Echo watching, but standing several feet away with a distant look in his eyes. Crosshair also sees this and softly pushes you in his direction. You squeeze Crosshair’s forearm twice in quick succession, then make your way to Echo, calling his name as you approach.
He blinks at you a few times, then shakes his head as if to clear it before closing the gap between you two. When you meet, you link your hands behind his neck and he immediately holds his hand and scomp to your waist. Before you can ask him anything, he’s pulling you close and kissing you with such intensity that when he breaks away, your head spins. Despite this, the insecurity you sensed doesn’t fade.
Crosshair makes his way over and loudly clears his throat. Echo steps back and sheepishly looks away from you both.
“You never really answered me,” Crosshair says, looking at you.
“I read through the last of what they had in the archives last night, so there’s no point in returning; I’ll be going to the mechanic’s today,” you say.
“You’re coming with me?” Echo says, surprised.
“Is that a problem?” you ask, confused.
“No, it’s fine,” he says, sounding distracted.
You glance over at Crosshair for some kind of explanation, but your confusion deepens when you find him watching Echo with an odd expression.
“I’ll be back on the ship if you need me,” Crosshair says, then gives you a quick kiss before heading down the sidewalk.
Watching him go, you’re now confused for a different reason. Tech has made modifications to the Marauder plenty of times before, but none of them have ever taken this long, and even then he’s usually able to do it on his own. What the hell are the guys up to?
You’re distracted by a sudden burst of pain from the back of your burned hand, and you reflexively yank it back with a hiss. Echo must have taken it to get your attention, if his startled expression is any indication.
“Uh, taxi?” he says, jerking his head towards the street and sounding cautious. You shake yourself and follow him into the enclosed speeder. Once you’ve given the driver, a green Twi’lek man, Shalka’s address and the cab moves into traffic, Echo speaks up again.
“The hell was that about?” he asks, confused. You raise your hand and show him the burn.
“Spilled the damn caf on myself,” you say, shaking your head in annoyance.
“I thought you hated the stuff?” he says, still confused.
“I do, but you two obviously didn’t want to be overhead and it was the first excuse I could think of to get out of there,” you say. “Although now it occurs to me that I didn’t have to actually buy the damn caf,” you say, and Echo chuckles at you.
“Taking this honesty thing very seriously I see,” he says. You roll your eyes at him. It’s quiet, and the air inside the cab grows tense. You know Echo is waiting for you to ask what he and Crosshair were talking about.
“Listen, whatever all that was, I only have one question,” you say, your voice low. You can almost feel his anxiety as he nervously meets your eyes, and your voice shakes when you speak.
“Why is it so difficult for you to believe that I love you?” you ask.
The driver, obviously listening, mutters something in a language you don’t recognize, but aside from that, it’s completely silent inside the speeder. A solid minute passes, and Echo hasn’t even looked at you. You barely hold back a growl of frustration.
“Is it Crosshair? Do I need to get shot
again
? For fucks sake Echo, what more do you want from me?” you ask, your voice getting louder and higher in pitch without you being aware of it. The driver says something else but you and Echo ignore him.
“Just tell me what to do,
please
,” you say, a few stray tears falling from your eyes.
When Echo finally looks at you, there’s an odd mix of guilt and panic on his face as he speaks.
“No, no, hey, you don’t have to do anything!” he says, speaking quickly. “It’s nothing about you, I swear!”
“Then what
is
it? I can’t keep doing this, please fucking talk to me!” you say, tears flowing freely now.
When he looks away and doesn’t answer you after another minute, you lean toward the driver. You’re about to tell him to pull over and let you out, but as soon as you open your mouth, you decide against it. All those times Echo had stormed away from you, all you ever wanted from him was a chance to explain yourself. You may be a lot of things, but you aren’t a hypocrite. You won’t take that opportunity from him, so instead you sit back in the bench seat and wait for him to say something.
Eventually he speaks, and when he does, his voice is shaking too.
“You don’t deserve this,” he says. “I never wanted you to feel like you aren’t enough. You’ve done so much for me since you found me, maybe even too much,” he says, gently pressing his scomp against your left side, clearly indicating the scar from your blast wound.
“I just don’t get it,” he continues, finally meeting your eyes, tears shining in his.
“Get what?” you say, confused.
“Why
me
?” he says.
“Echo-,” you start, but he interrupts.
“You’ve done everything for me. You went into fucking combat in memory of me and Fives. You risked your life on impossible odds of finding me. And after that on Anaxes, I said all those horrible things to you, I lied and put others at risk, but you still went after me, trusted me, took a goddamn shot for me. Hell, I know the only reason everyone’s on Coruscant is because you convinced them to be so I could get worked on,” he says. You don’t try to say anything else and give him space to speak.
“All I’ve done since you got me out of that damned stasis chamber is push you away and run off and make things harder for you. Half of me is fucking missing! It makes no sense, why do you keep coming back?” he says, finally pausing to breathe.
“Echo,” you say softly, turning your body towards him and holding his scomp with both of your hands. You say his name again, and only continue when he looks you in the eye.
“Yes, you ran off, but you came back, listened, and heard me out. You did lie and say some awful things, but you apologized and did what was right. You nearly broke down the fucking bunk door to get to me that night and you sat with me until I was okay again. Beyond all of that, you’re kind, you’re brave, you make me laugh,” you say.
“Sometimes on purpose,” he says, chuckling despite the situation.
“See, like that,” you say, cracking a smile. “Look, I firmly believe that the Force guided me to the squad so that I could get you back, and I cant have gone through everything I did for nothing. I’ll take a page from your book and repeat myself again and again if I have to: I don’t care what is or isn’t attached to you, it’s still you. Same heart, remember?” you say, moving a hand and resting it over his heart on his chest plate.
“I’ll follow you to the ends of the universe, Echo. All you have to do is ask,” you say. The two of you go silent again, and the cab driver has nothing to add either.
You lean towards him to rest your forehead against his, and when you do, you can sense his self-doubt starting to fade. He gently kisses you, then sits back and cups your face in his hand, and you feel the nervousness coming from him again. He quietly says your name.
“Yes, Echo?” you ask, just as quiet.
“I- I need to ask you something important,” he says.
—
Before he gets the chance, the cab pulls to a stop outside of Shalka’s place. The two of you huff in unison, annoyed by the interruption, then separate. Once you’ve paid the fare and stepped outside, with Echo following you closely, you stop just outside of the door, and he does the same.
“You were saying?” you ask, curious; he almost never stumbles over his words like that.
He looks like he’s going to speak, but the shrill sound of the repaired door chime stops him. You both look into the doorway and see Shalka standing inside, waiting for you.
“Oh, you fixed it?” you say. Distracted by this, you don’t see the relief on Echo’s face as he follows you. Shalka steps to the side and waves you both in.
“Nah, I still don’t know what the issue was. Your genius cohort managed to fix the fuckin’ thing. Where’s he and Jumpy been?” she says as everyone settles into their places around her workbench.
“Jumpy…?” you say, confused. Echo laughs and shakes his head.
“She means Crosshair. She managed to startle him about three or four times when he was here,” he says. You look skeptical, so Shalka recounts the day from her point of view. By the time she’s done, you’re smirking and already thinking of ways to tease him about it later.
“Anyway, Tech’s been working on the ship and the others have been helping him,” Echo says.
“Others? Kriff, how many of ya are there?” Shalka asks while swapping out his scomp for his finished arm.
“Just two more,” you say, “Hunter wouldn’t be able to deal with the noise and smells of this place, so I doubt he’ll ever come around.”
“And there’s Wrecker, though he’s so big he could sneeze and send everything crashing to the floor, so it’s probably better he stays away too,” Echo says.
“Well, with a name like that I wouldn’t be surprised,” Shalka says. “Anyone els
“Not unless you count Gonky,” you say.
“The hell’s a Gonky?” Shalka asks, confused.
“That's what they call the GNK droid,” Echo says, making her chuckle before the room falls into a comfortable quiet.
As Shalka works, she intermittently tells Echo to move a certain way and makes adjustments based on what she sees. You watch this while wondering, again, what the hell Tech is doing to the Marauder, but still notice that Echo and Shalka seem to be glancing between themselves and at you as if having a silent conversation. You check your reflection in your datapad screen, but don’t see anything in your teeth, so you try to ignore them.
You suddenly get a message from Anakin: he wants to know what you’ve found at the library. You send him a quick response asking if you can just comm him, and he responds in turn by calling you himself. Trying not to look too relieved, you quickly excuse yourself and step outside, leaving your bag behind. You settle into that same spot under the tattered awning from your first day here and answer the call.
“Yes, General?” you say.
“What did I say about that?” he says, though his tone is relaxed.
“Anakin, sorry. Habit,” you say. He brushes this off and jumps straight to the point.
“So, what did you find with Master Nu?” he eagerly asks.
“Well, I read everything that she could bring me about the Force,” you say.
“You read that much in just a few days? Anakin says, interrupting you in surprise.
“Eh… yes and no. I’ve always read quickly, but Master Nu could only get about eight data chips for me, and I didn’t find anything relevant that you hadn’t already told me,” you say.
“Damn,” he says, not bothering to mask his disappointment. “If she can’t find anything then I doubt anyone could. Although…” he continues, trailing off in thought.
“Is there somewhere else I can go?” you ask, though you're trying not to get your hopes up. When Anakin speaks, it’s with great reluctance, which takes you by surprise, and slightly worries you.
“The Sith,” he says quietly, and your worry quickly turns into trepidation. “These events with Fives, the closest thing I can come up with is that it’s Force-Ghost related, but he shouldn’t be able to do any of that to begin with,” Anakin says, deep in thought.
“But what do the Sith have to do with-?” you say, but he cuts you off again.
“I know they have access to information that we Jedi don’t, that’s all,” he says.
“Well, I’m sure as hell not getting wrapped up in any Sith business, even if they do have answers,” you say.
“Smart move. Now, I don’t think this has to do with the Dark Side, but we can’t rule out the possibility,” he says.
“Master Nu did tell me that it could have been a vision someone sent,” you say. “But I don’t remember sensing any Jedi, or whatever else, at the time.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. It does remind me of when something similar happened to Ah-,” he says, then abruptly stops himself.
It’s fairly well known, even amongst the troops, what had happened to Commander Tano; Rex himself had once told you it felt like losing a sister. Personally, you don’t blame Ahsoka at all for leaving the Order, but Anakin, as her master, clearly felt differently. After a few seconds, he clears his throat and starts talking again.
“You said you didn’t sense anyone else around who could do that?” he asks.
“Yeah, or I just couldn’t tell,” you say. You suddenly remember something. “Wait, can’t some people hide their Force signature? I think I saw a small thing about it while reading,” you say.
“It’s certainly possible. I didn’t think of that,” he says. “Though if someone is able to hide themselves and still send visions, they’d be incredibly powerful. Not to slight you, but I doubt anybody like that would be interested in you and Echo,” he continues.
“No offense taken, I was thinking the same thing,” you say, and he chuckles.
“Actually, speaking of Echo, how’s he holding up?” Anakin asks, steering the conversation elsewhere.
“Pretty good for the most part, though he seems off today. I think that’s just because of last night,” you say without thinking. You privately wonder if Echo is acting strangely because he regrets leaving you alone with Crosshair for so long. But that can’t be it, the jealousy you Sensed earlier had come from Crosshair, not Echo. You feel a headache forming at the back of your skull and huff without realizing it.
“Can I ask what happened?” Anakin says, though cautiously, as if testing the waters.
“Well…,” you say, thinking. He says you don’t have to tell him, but as he does, something suddenly strikes you. You had ‘pushed’ the two men apart the night before without meaning to, or even knowing that you could. You had sensed the faint fear in Crosshair, but you were so focused on him that you didn’t notice anything from Echo. Is Echo afraid of you now? Your heart drops to your feet.
“Hey,” Anakin says, reminding you that you’re still talking to him. “Is everything okay?”
“Something else happened with the Force,” you say. You tell him everything relevant, but skirt around the reason for Crosshair and Echo to be that close and angry in the first place. Thankfully Anakin doesn’t ask about it.
He’s quiet for a while, which seems to be the norm whenever you ask him about the Force, but when he does speak, there’s an odd tone in his voice that you can’t quite identify.
“And that was the first time you’d ever moved anything?” he says, and you confirm. “You’ve never even tried before?” he continues, and you confirm again. He’s quiet for some time, and it’s making you sick to your stomach.
“Was anyone hurt? What were you feeling?” he suddenly a
“No, nobody was hurt. We were all scared half to death, but otherwise okay. Why?” you ask, the hand not holding your comm device trembling.
“Were you angry?” he says, and you’re able to figure out his tone. He’s worried.
“Y-yes, I was,” you say. You hear him curse under his breath.
“General? Is something wrong?” you ask, slipping back into formality with him out of habit in the suddenly tense conversation.
“One of the key tenets that the Jedi follow is to never let our emotions guide our actions, particularly anger,” he says, and you interrupt him with a sound of understanding.
“Otherwise this can happen,” you say in a whisper.
“Or worse,” Anakin says darkly.
“Shit, what do I do?” you say, panic creeping up on you.
“Calm down and take a deep breath first, okay?” he says.
You do as instructed, and once your heart rate levels back down, he continues, asking if you can get back to the Library. You tell him that you’re busy with Echo today and shipping back out tomorrow. He curses under his breath again.
As this happens, a speeder bike comes to a sudden stop right in front of you. Someone orange with very broad shoulders and long white hair hops off of it and ignores you as they barge into Shalka’s place. You don’t sense anything troublesome about them, but sneak under the small window of the building anyway. You hear a strange whistling noise and carefully peek inside.
The biker is the one making the noise, but judging by the way Shalka is reacting, that’s simply how they speak. They hand her a small red box, then turn to Echo and whistle something at him while jerking their head toward the door. He reacts by sheepishly rubbing at the back of his neck and nodding. Shalka must be translating for them.
Anakin’s voice suddenly rings out, asking if something had happened and reminding you once again that you were still in a call with him. In the split second before everyone inside turned toward the window, you duck back down and quickly dash to where you had been when the biker arrived.
“I’m fine; I thought there was about to be a situation,” you say, trying to even out your nervous breathing as you explain yourself. “Has Shalka Myrr ever had a small delivery while you’re there?” you ask.
“Oh,” Anakin says, caught off guard. “Every once in a while, yeah.” You express your relief, and Anakin gets you back on topic.
“Anyway, can you encrypt and decrypt files?” he asks.
“I have no idea how, but I know Tech does,” you say.
“Do you trust him?” he says.
“I do,” you say firmly.
“No hesitation,” he says, sounding impressed.
“None at all sir, I trust my entire squad with my life,” you say, unconsciously standing up straighter.
“So you’re going to tell them about all of this?” he says, surprised. You hesitate, and he notices. Before he can say anything about it, you speak back up.
“I’ve given it some serious thought,” you say. “I can’t hide it anymore; last night was a direct result of me being caught lying about it.”
“Ok, then I’m going to send you some files, Tech can decrypt them for you. I’m breaching serious protocol by doing this, so nobody outside of the pair of us and the squad, if necessary, can know about it,” Anakin says, and you’ve never heard him so intense. “Read everything and take it to heart, I don’t think I need to stress to you how important this information will be.”
“Of course. Thank you again, Anakin, you really don’t have to do all of this,” you say. He brushes this off with a simple ‘you’re welcome, be safe’ and ends the call.
You spend a few minutes mulling everything over, but at the forefront of your mind, the Force is continuing to make you feel like telling anyone else about this would be a mistake, and that you shouldn’t have said anything to anyone to begin with. With some focus, you’re able to squash the feeling down and think a little more clearly. You won’t keep your abilities a secret, but you’re not about to run back to the ship and announce it either. You’ll tell Tech, Wrecker, and Hunter when the time comes, or when they figure it out, which Tech certainly will.
You’re so deep in thought that when an unfamiliar hand suddenly touches your shoulder, you reflexively jerk away and take a hard swing at whoever it belongs to.
Echo, though startled, is able to move away fast enough that you don’t hit him, but he could feel the air moving around your fist as it passes. He curses, and the sound of his voice brings you back to your senses. You whip your head towards him and find that he’s backed off by a few feet with his hands held up, palms out, in front of his chest.
Wait,
hands
?
You blink a few times and it finally processes in your head that yes, Echo has two hands again. He had to have touched you with the cybernetic Shalka had just finished for him.
“God damn, what was that?” he says, more startled than you now.
“Kriff Echo, you can’t sneak up on me like that!” you say, shaking.
“Sorry, sorry,” he says, lowering his hands and cautiously moving closer to you.
“No no, i-it’s fine, you,” you say and pause for breath. “You didn’t know.” You take a deep breath and let out a long, shuddering exhale.
Echo keeps moving and eventually comes to a stop at your side. He hovers his cybernetic hand over your shoulder, and only touches you again when you meet his eyes and nod at him.
“What the hell have you been through?” he whispers, then pulls you close to his chest. You don’t answer, and he doesn’t expect you to. After a minute or so, your shakes have tapered down and he holds your upper arms and takes a step back to better see your face.
“You okay?” he asks, his golden brown eyes looking deeply into yours.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” you say.
Echo takes your hand into his organic one and gently walks you back to Shalka’s doorway.
“I have to ask,” he says before you go back inside, “who the hell taught you to throw a punch like that?”
“That would be Hunter. I was caught unaware during one of my first missions with them and it would have ended very badly if he didn’t have my back. We’ve sparred every now and then since,” you say. Echo doesn’t say anything else but seems to accept this explanation.
The door suddenly slides open and the biker stands aside to let you both in, then gets back onto their speederbike and takes off without looking back.
Inside, Shalka gets Echo’s attention and hands him a small cardboard box. In response to your curious expression, she says, “it’s the old scomp link, figgur’d Tech could do something with the parts.” She adds “that specialty thing Jyn made is in there too for when ya need it later,” and looks at Echo with a knowing expression. He rubs at the back of his neck again and stumbles over his thanks while you pretend not to notice.
“Are you absolutely positive that you don’t want me to pay you?” you ask, carefully tucking the box into your bag.
“I’m damn sure Sunshine,” she says sternly, but her face is relaxed. “Tell ya what though, I could do with some lunch. Think you could grab me a bite?” she continues.
“Oh, yeah, that sounds fine,” you say. “Where did you want to go?”
Shalka grabs a few things from her workbench and stuffs them into her many pockets before leading you both outside. As she locks up, she names the noodle place from which Fives brought you something to eat in the days after Echo’s ‘death’.
“They’re still open?” Echo says, surprised.
“Hero, they got multiple spots,” Shalka says. “They’ve upgraded from that hole in the wall a good bit. C’mon, I’ll drive us,” she says, before walking around the corner of the building.
“I haven’t been there in ages,” you say, and Echo chuckles at you.
“Yeah, me neither,” he says with a smirk, and you roll your eyes at him. Still holding your hand, he then leads the way to where Shalka’s speeder is parked.
—
None of you expected to stay in the restaurant until the sun began to set, so when you all step outside into the dimming light, you’re surprised by it. The three of you walk back to where Shalka has parked in a companionable quiet; you’d all been talking through most of the meal so there isn’t much else to say. Shalka reaches her vehicle and unlocks it, but just before she climbs in, you speak.
“We really can’t thank you enough Shalka,” you say, and Echo nods.
“Seriously,
thank you
,” he says.
“I told you, I haven’t had a good meal in weeks, we’re square in my book,” she says, brushing it off.
“If you say so,” Echo says, though still in disbelief.
“I
do
say so. Now, I’ve sent Tech copies of my notes and everything I’ve drawn up, so maintenance shouldn’t be an issue. That said, stop by whenever you’re planetside,” Shalka says.
“Wait, really?” you say.
“Yeah, really. I guarantee my work, but I actually like you both a lot. Besides, I gotta keep up with whatever our Hero’s doing next,” she says with a rare genuine smile while nudging Echo’s upper arm.
“You don’t- I’m not-,” Echo says, flustered and stumbling over his words.
“
Yes
, you are,” you and Shalka both say in unison, then you look at each other and laugh.
With that, Shalka shakes your hand, hers rough and calloused after years of work, then Echo’s. She calls you both by your real names, then says “be safe” to you and “good luck” to Echo, then hops into the speeder and takes off. As you watch her go, you wonder what Echo would need good luck for, maybe fully integrating into the squad? This gets you thinking about his odd behavior throughout the day, and you worry again that you scared him last night.
These thoughts are interrupted when the cool durasteel of his cybernetic hand brushes up against your warm skin. You interlace your fingers and note that it’ll be a good idea to get him a glove like Anakin’s. Echo softly tugs at you and leads you to a quiet, shaded area that’s noticeably less crowded. He stands alongside a wall, in front of you, now holding both your hands in both of his, and he softly says your name.
“Yes, Echo?” you respond, looking expectantly at him.
“There’s something I’ve been wanting to do since you got me out of that damn stasis pod, if I may,” he says, and the hint of nervousness that wafts off of him does not go unnoticed by you. Curious, you nod and tell him to go ahead.
Echo hesitates for a second, then takes a deep breath. He holds both sides of your face in his hands as he pulls you close and kisses you deeply, his lips crushing against yours and his fingers tangling into your hair as your mouths open and your tongues meet. You've never felt such heated passion from him. It’s easy to lose yourself in it, and the two of you forget that you’re still in public.
You’re abruptly reminded, however, when someone nearby shouts for you two to “get a room!”.
Echo breaks away, albeit reluctantly, and your head spins for the second time that day. Dizzy, you hold onto his chest plate for balance, and he chuckles at you. He dips his head roughly even with your neck, and the heat of his breath in your ear makes you shiver as he says “you know, that’s not a bad idea.”
You step back and meet his eyes. When you do, a mixed wave of love and arousal wash over you, triggering a familiar warmth in your chest and between your legs. You take your turn to grab his head and kiss him deeply. Once the two of you pull apart, panting, you tell him “fuck yes, let’s go.”
—
You both manage to find a taxi right away, and you’re back at the hotel by the time night has settled. You were able to control yourselves in the cab, but now that you can be alone, you rush to your room, fumbling with the door and key as you both paw at each other.
When the door makes an error sound for the second time, you huff and hold Echo at arms length from you while you try the key again, more aware of what you’re doing this time. The door refuses to open.
“Oh son of a bitch,” you groan. Echo tries the key a few times with the same result and also curses. On the verge of irritation, you both go back into the lobby and approach the front desk.
“Good evening, how may I help you tonight?” the young Chiss man seated behind the desk asks.
“Uh, yeah, hi,” you say, and give him your name. “We’re supposed to be in room-,” you start, but the receptionist takes over by saying your room number the same time you do.
“Yes ma’am, it says here that your room has been upgraded, were you unaware?” he asks. You and Echo glance at each other, confused. The young man continues: “Well, I suppose you know now! Your belongings have already been taken upstairs for you. Here, let me swap out your room keys,” he says. Once this is done, he tells you that your new room is a deluxe on the top floor with the best view of the city.
You’re completely bewildered, but thank him and make your way to the lift nearby. The ride up is silent as you both try to figure out what just happened. The lift stops, one floor above the bar, and the door slides open. You only have to move one door away from it to find your new room, and the key opens the door with no trouble. You and Echo exchange a glance, but go inside anyway.
Moving carefully in the dim light, you make your way to the farthest wall, which is made entirely of one-way glass. Beyond it, you can see miles and miles of Coruscant; Her bright, multicolored lights appear to sparkle like diamonds against the velvet black night sky. Echo stands beside you and takes your hand.
“Echo, did you-?” you ask, but he shakes his head before you get the entire question out. “Well I certainly didn’t, so who…?” you say, thinking out loud.
There’s the sudden sound of footsteps behind you, and you react by turning on your heel, grabbing your blaster from your bag, and pointing it with both hands in the direction of the noise.
“Don’t fucking move,” you growl, tightening your grip on the blaster.
“Ooh, kitten’s feisty tonight,” a familiar voice says as a lamp clicks on.
“Crosshair!” you say, lowering your weapon. “Dank ferrik, I nearly shot you, what the fuck are you doing here?” you say while carefully putting your blaster back in your bag and setting it on a nearby table. Crosshair approaches and holds your hips, chuckling at you.
“That's my girl,” he says, proud. “You did exactly what you were supposed to. Kill?”
“Stun, lucky for you,” you say, trying to cool down the adrenaline rush.
“Aside from target practice,” Echo says, also badly startled, “what the fuck
are
you doing here?”
“You were wondering who changed the room; I did. Well, we did,” he says. You and Echo look confused, so Crosshair steps back from you and explains.
“After our conversation this morning,” he says, looking briefly at Echo before returning his attention to you, “the guys and I managed to pull some credits together and upgrade the room. We’ll be sleeping on the ship tonight, so consider this a gift from the squad.”
“For what?” you ask, still confused. Crosshair says nothing, but you do catch the pointed look he gives Echo before he softly kisses you and leaves the room without a word.
After a moment, you just shrug and accept it, then duck into the refresher for a little while. When you return, you find Echo retrieving the small box Shalka had given him from your bag. He opens it up and stares at the contents, appearing deep in thought.
You slip past him and kick your shoes off before staring out of the wall-sized window. You wonder if you can see the hangar that the Marauder is docked in from here. You try to look for it, but at the same time you realize that you have no idea what to actually look for, Echo speaks and distracts you.
“So, before we went into Shalka’s, we were talking in the taxi, remember?” he says. You’re still looking out of the window, but nod and say yes to show that you are listening.
“I wanted to ask you something, but didn’t get the chance,” he says. You hear one of his legs creak and assume he’s sat down on the enormous bed nearby.
“Although, now is a much better time for it,” he says. You feel a gust of nervous excitement blow over you from his direction, and when you turn around you find him on one knee with the small box the biker had given Shalka open in his cybernetic hand.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It’s immediately clear where the glowing stone had gone. It’s been cut and faceted into a kind of cushioned oval and set into a thin ring of bright silver, the colors of the stone reflecting off of the metal in the low light. It’s nothing flashy or even all that fancy, but it’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. Echo clears his throat and speaks.
“I kept saying half of me was missing, but I realized today that it isn’t. It’s
you
, and it always has been. You’ve done so much for me, I don’t have the words to express how deeply I love you and how grateful I am. I… I never want to be apart from you again,” he says, and you’re taken aback by the emotion in his voice and the way he stumbles over his words.
“Echo, w-wha-?” you say, but can’t speak further due to the thundering of your heart in your chest. He clears his throat and calls you by your formal name.
“Keep me whole. Be my
riddur
?”
It takes you a solid thirty seconds to process what’s happening, but when it does, it hits you all at once. His odd behavior throughout the day, why he and Shalka kept looking at you, what he and Crosshair had been talking about, even the slight jealousy you sensed from Crosshair, it all adds up. You can’t decide whether to laugh or cry, and wind up doing an odd combination of both.
Startled by this, Echo tries to get to his feet, but you drop to your knees in front of him and pull him as close to your chest as you can, still laugh-crying. After a minute or so, he shifts back from you and sets the small box aside before carefully cupping your face in his hands.
“Should I not have-?” he starts, but you interrupt him by crashing your lips against his. He’s caught off guard, at first, then eagerly reciprocates. After a minute, Echo pulls away for air, panting. Before you can kiss him again, he firmly holds you by the shoulders and doesn’t let go until your breathing returns to normal.
“Good Maker, are you alright?” he asks, incredulous, though his voice is soft and low.
“Y-yeah, yeah, I’m okay,” you say. Echo still looks concerned. You sit back on your heels and wipe at your eyes with the back of your hand, a feeble laugh escaping your lips every now and then as you take a moment to collect yourself.
“I’m just relieved,” you say. He makes a confused sound at you and you explain: “You’ve been acting
off
all day, and after the Force thing last night I was worried you were afraid of me.”
“It was startling, but no, not at all,” he says. He leans forward and kisses you again, softly this time, and picks the small box back up. He holds it open within your line of sight.
“So…?” he says pointedly, glancing nervously between your eyes and the ring.
On the verge of being overcome with emotion again, all you can manage to do is nod with a wide smile when you meet his eyes.
It takes a few seconds for him to realize that you’ve said ‘yes’ before he throws his arms around you and kisses you deeply again. You hold onto each other as tightly as you can, neither wanting to let go.
Eventually, the two of you sit back, and Echo delicately picks the ring out of the box and slips it onto your finger. It’s a little snug, but you can still slide it on and off without getting stuck. You stare at it, watching the blue and purple colors of the stone swim as you move your fingers, and Echo is captivated by the way its glow reflects in your eyes.
He gets to his feet, then pulls you upright at the foot of the bed. He holds his hands to your hips and softly rests his forehead against yours. As he does, you sense a rush of things from him all at once, but most prominent are feelings of gratitude and love so intense that your entire body tingles.
“I love you so much,” you whisper.
“I believe you,” he says, just as quiet.
He kisses you, and the air feels electrified. Soon, whatever has been holding you both back vanishes, and you’re kissing and touching each other with the same intensity that you had back downstairs.
Echo lays onto the bed, pulling you down with him as he goes. You hover over him on your hands and knees and start to undo the snaps and straps of his armor, moving entirely by muscle memory as you go, despite how long it’s been since you last did this. With your hands busy, he’s putting his to good use by quickly unbuttoning your shirt. You break away long enough to free your arms from the sleeves and drop the shirt onto the floor, followed by your pants. Echo takes this opportunity to shuck off the remaining pieces of his armor you haven’t already freed him from.
Once you’ve stripped to just your bra and panties, and he to his blacks, Echo grabs you by the shoulders and crashes his lips into yours. You open up for him and as your tongues dance, he shifts his weight and rolls the two of you over so that he’s on top. Without breaking away, he moves his hands underneath you and manages to unhook your bra on the first try. Surprised, you pull back and can’t help but smirk at him.
“Nice having two hands again, huh? What else can you do?” you say with a laugh. You slip your arms through the straps of your bra and throw it aside too, freeing your breasts and making Echo groan. He dips his head down where your neck meets your shoulder and mouths at the delicate skin there, making his way up to your ear.
“Let me show you,” he says, making you shiver. He ghosts his cybernetic hand over the wet spot in your panties, and when you excitedly nod at him, he moves the thin, lacy material aside and slips his two middle fingers into you. You flinch and he glances back up at you, then starts to move back out, but you stop him by holding his wrist in place.
“No no, I’m okay! It’s just a little cold,” you say, apologetic. Echo cringes, but you softly kiss his forehead. “Please touch me, Echo,” you say, the faintest whine audible in your voice.
He shrugs in an ‘if you say so’ manner and you unhand him. He moves slowly, giving you time to stretch around him, then twists his wrist in a way that wouldn’t be possible with his organic hand. Your brief confusion over this is immediately forgotten when you feel his fingers start to
vibrate
inside you, and you gasp at the new sensation. He starts to move his fingertips in a tight, circular motion, quickly and expertly finding that specific spot that makes you moan loudly and arch your back.
After a minute of this, he slips his fingers out of you long enough for you to ditch your panties and for him to take off his undershirt before plunging back into you. He’s still kissing you, and his free hand is cupped around the back of your head, his fingers buried into your hair. Once he’s found a rhythm between your legs, he makes you curse when he uses his vibrating thumb to gently stroke upwards along your clit. Your hips buck involuntarily against his hand and you whimper.
“Oh god, Echo-oh!” you cry, but the sudden force of your orgasm stops you from finishing that thought as you clamp your thighs together and draw his name out into a loud moan. He keeps his hand moving, working you through your orgasm and beyond it; he only stops after your hips buck once more and you come a second time with a yell as you soak his hand and the duvet below. He twists his wrist in that unnatural way again and pulls his stilled fingers out of you, sitting up and watching you pant and gasp.
“Wh-,” you try to say, but you need a second to collect yourself and catch your breath. “Who’s idea was
that
?”
“Tech’s, according to Shalka,” Echo says, clearing his throat. “They’d been talking for so long I just tuned it out and didn’t hear him bring it up. She told me the next day.”
There’s a surge of heat that rushes to your core when you hear this that you’ll examine later, but you ignore it and laugh a little as you shake your head. You make a mental note to thank Tech when you next see him, then quickly put everything aside from Echo back out of your mind.
You clasp your hands behind his neck, pull him down to your level, and kiss him deeply, humming softly when he kisses you back. As this happens, your hands move along his back, his sides, and his chest while you delicately trace your fingertips around where the edges of his modifications meet his skin. When he notices what you’re doing, he freezes and you take your hands off of him immediately. He turns his head and swallows hard, unable to meet your eyes. You softly apologize and carefully hold one side of his jaw before gently pulling him back to face you.
“This is entirely at
your
pace Echo. Just tell me to stop and I will,” you say, your voice firm.
“God, please don’t ever stop,” he whispers, and rests his forehead against yours, failing to hide a hiccup. “I… I
need you,” he continues before trailing off and looking away from you again, making your heart ache for him.
You’ve seen him naked often by now and got a pretty thorough look at how his body changed, but you know that right now is different. Completely alone with you and so emotionally charged, you’ve never seen Echo this vulnerable before. You realize how much he trusts you, to completely let his guard down like this, and your heart aches for him again.
Unsure of what to do, you glance around the room until an idea strikes you. You’re able to sit up and stretch your arm far enough to reach the single lit lamp and click it off. You settle back into place and softly pat your chest, and Echo correctly interprets this by resting his head to your chest, right over your heart. You gently set the palm of one hand between his shoulder blades, and trace your nails over his scalp with the other. You keep this up for a minute or two and notice when he relaxes significantly. He props himself back up and dips his head down to shakily whisper that he loves you into your ear.
“You too, Echo. Tell me what you need,” you say, your voice soft and warm as he kisses his way back up and down your neck.
“Just you, Meds,” he says. After a moment’s hesitation, he nervously takes hold of your wrist and guides your hand to his groin.
You gently cup him there and he groans. You feel his cock twitch against your palm and look pointedly up at him, biting your lip. Echo says “
Please
,” in an almost desperate tone and kisses you again.
Permission granted, you slip your hand into his blacks and free his cock from its confines. You spit into your palm and begin stroking him, making him moan. After a moment, you cautiously tug at his waistband, and he quickly strips off the last of his clothing.
The two of you slip between the sheets and you lie underneath him, your hands resting on his lower back as your legs open. You nudge your knees against his, and immediately after, he takes a deep breath and carefully lines himself up with you. He glances between your hips and your face, making sure you really want this. You move your hands to the sides of his head and pull him down to you, whispering your consent before crushing your lips to his.
With this, Echo slowly starts pushing himself forward and finally,
finally
penetrates you, making you both moan as he hilts. You’d almost forgotten how perfectly he fits into you, and it’s so familiar that you suddenly think of Fives and have to fight off a lump in your throat. Echo notices the change in your expression and quickly slips out, clearly knowing what you’re thinking.
“I know, cyare,” he whispers, cupping your cheek, “you don’t have to.”
“I want to,” you say, also whispering.
“Promise?” he asks, quiet enough that you almost don’t hear him.
“I swear,” you say, looking into his eyes. “
Please
, Echo. I need to feel you again, it’s been so fucking long,” you continue, almost begging him.
He believes you and gives you a soft kiss, then seconds later gradually pushes himself back into your hot, wet pussy, the both of you moaning loudly as he bottoms out. You wrap your arms tighter around his upper back and hold him, softly panting. He repeats the motion, and when you moan his name, he begins moving in earnest. You wrap your legs around his hips as they smack against yours, and the sound of skin on wet skin is obscene, though it’s nearly drowned out by the equally obscene sounds the two of you are making. You’re idly aware that there are people who might hear you, but you don’t give a damn.
Echo starts to thrust into you harder, and you already feel a familiar tension in your lower belly. You stretch your neck and kiss him, and when you break apart he presses his forehead against yours, closing his eyes and breathing you in. The feeling of being so intensely loved makes you shudder in the best way.
After a moment, you move your hands to grip his shoulders, and with a little effort you manage to roll the two of you over until you're on top. You sit up and straighten your back as you straddle him, moving your hips in slow, languid circles. His hands settle there and he holds you in place, moving his hips like a piston upward into you. Your lower back tingles from the feeling of being so full, and you bend at the waist until you’re chest to chest with him. You take his hands into yours and lock your fingers together, all the while never letting your lips leave his for more than a second.
After a minute of this, Echo imitates you by gripping your shoulders and rolling the two of you over until you’re under him again. However, his movements slow, then stop altogether. You can tell he’s holding himself back, and the pained expression on his face grabs your attention.
“Echo? What’s wrong?” you ask, your voice so soft that it’s almost inaudible. He doesn’t answer you right away and in fact is having trouble looking at you.
“N-nothing,” he eventually says, and his voice is thick, which startles you for the second time tonight. “It’s just…” he trails off.
“Just what?” you ask, concerned and slightly confused. You prop yourself up on your elbows and when his eyes meet yours, you’re hit with an unexpected wave of sorrow and loneliness.
“I… I told you that I’d dream about you, back on Skako…” he says, and you nod, recalling the conversation clearly.
“It was always like
this
,” he continues, then takes a moment to clear his throat. “But every time you and I would… I- I’d wake up just enough to realize that I was actually alone.” He hiccups and hides his face in the crook of your neck, a single warm tear falling onto your skin. Your heart shatters and you hold him with one hand on the back of his head and the other between his shoulder blades.
“I don’t want to wake up and lose you again,” he says, his voice trembling badly.
You make a quiet shushing sound and rub a hand up and down his back in a soothing, gentle way, taking care to avoid his modifications.
“Echo, baby, look at me,” you say, calling him that for the first time, and when he looks up at you, you cup his cheek, then gently brush a stray tear away with your thumb. “I’m not going anywhere. You’ll never have to be alone again, I
promise
you,” you say, turning your hand around to remind him of the ring he’d just put onto your finger. He hiccups, but the fear is starting to fade from his eyes as he looks at you. He takes a deep breath and lets out a shuddering exhale a few times, gradually calming himself back down.
Once it seems that he’s leveled off, you gently kiss him, then subtly shift your hips around him as he stays inside of you. He curses softly under his breath and when you do it again he meets your eyes. The trace of doubt you find there slips away when you tell him that you love him. He cautiously starts to move again, and you lay flat on your back, raising your hips to meet his thrusts. Before long, he’s returned to the same hard, feverish pace he’d set earlier, and much too soon, that tight feeling in your lower abdomen returns.
“I’m so close, Echo,” you whine.
“Good,” he says, panting. “I won’t last much longer.”
You kiss him again and as you do his hips stutter and his muscles lock. As you feel his cock twitch deep inside of you, the tension in your gut is released and you come with a loud cry, clenching around him and milking out everything he has.
Seconds later, his muscles abruptly relax and he collapses into your chest. The two of you gasp for breath, clinging onto each other for dear life. You remain like this for about a minute before Echo shakily props himself back up on his elbows. When you look into his eyes, you involuntarily sense what he’s feeling again. Everything you’ve been through, the loss and horror and especially the grief, are all washed away by the powerful, indescribable warmth of love and euphoria that crashes over you from him.
You only notice the tears in your eyes when Echo softly brushes a few away with his thumb, then you reach up and return the favor. You press your foreheads together again, and you both start to laugh and cry at the same time.
Once this passes and he goes soft, he pulls out of you with a groan, and you feel his release spilling out, but you don’t care. Nothing in the universe could distract you from Echo right now. He pats your shoulder and you move over a little, giving him space to lie on his back. You, now on your side, rest your head in the hollow of his shoulder. Eventually he turns and faces you, and the two of you hold each other tight, not speaking a word but still saying so much.
All is right in the Galaxy again as you both drift off to sleep.
—
Hours later, the mid-morning sun shines through the enormous window of the room. Echo quickly regains consciousness, but stays still with his eyes shut tight. Last night replays in his mind and he’s afraid that once he fully wakes up he’ll find out it was just another dream. That is, until he feels movement on his left side and hears you yawn softly before whispering his name. He steels himself, and reluctantly opens his eyes. When he does, he sees you, backlit by the sunlight and smiling at him. He lets out the breath he wasn’t aware he’d been holding and you chuckle at him.
“I told you I’m not going anywhere,” you say, your voice raspy from sleep. Echo doesn’t say anything but the relief you sense from him and see on his face is overwhelming.
You press your nude body against his and kiss him passionately. When you break apart after some time, Echo groans and you feel his cock twitch against your thighs. In response, you push him onto his back and slip down past his waist, coming to a stop with your head over his pelvis. The sensation of your warm breath breezing over his skin gets him achingly hard almost immediately and he groans. You giggle and lick a wide stripe along your palm before you firmly take his cock into your hand and jerk him off at a slow but steady pace until his hips buck up into your hand.
You let go of his cock, but still hold it up with a single finger under the tip as you drag your tongue along the underside, eventually reaching the head and tracing around his slit, lapping up the sticky sweetness of his precum. His hips jerk again and he whines your name. You look up and softly smile at him before wrapping your lips around his cock head, making him twitch again. As you suck his dick, rapidly moving your head up and down along his shaft, you draw the most deliciously sinful sounds out of him. You giggle and hum, and the vibration of your throat proves to be too much.
“Fuck, don’t stop, I’m gonna-,” he says, the last word melting into a long groan and his hips twitch violently as he cums. You swallow around him, sucking out as much as you possibly can, humming in pleasure all the while. Only once he curses and jerks back away from your mouth do you sit up and free him. He watches you, panting for breath, before he suddenly sits up, grabs your hips, and pulls you forward as he lies back down.
Knowing what he wants, you shift to your knees and hover your dripping cunt over his face. He grabs your hips again and yanks you down, making you sit on his face as he slips his tongue into you and slurps up as much of your arousal as he can. When you moan his name, he takes it a step further by twisting his cybernetic’s wrist and holding his vibrating thumb to your clit as he eats you out like a man starved. The sudden additional stimulation makes you inadvertently grind down against his strong tongue and you whimper.
Echo looks up at you with a satisfied expression and doubles his efforts, increasing the vibration of his thumb with another odd twitch and making you cry out as your legs clamp around his head. He pushes you back enough to look up at you and you hold eye contact as you orgasm with a shiver and a loud gasp of his name. You grind yourself downward again and it intensifies when he nips at the head of your clit and sucks at it between his teeth. Your entire body tenses up before you slip sideways off of his face and bonelessly drop back onto the mattress, your hips still occasionally spasming forward from the aftershock of such a powerful orgasm.
After you catch your breath, you sit up and find Echo watching you, his back straight against the headboard and his cybernetic hand lazily stroking himself. He cocks an eyebrow at you and you eagerly nod at him. He sits up a little straighter and folds his legs, then you quickly climb into his lap and squat as you lower yourself down onto his leaking cock. Once you’re seated properly, you move your legs and wrap them around his waist, locking your ankles together against the small of his back. The newfound tightness this position creates makes you so full that your lower back tingles, and you clench around him. He groans your name and grabs a handful of your ass before he starts to undulate his hips and fuck up into you.
You can’t remember the last time you’d been hit so deeply, and you arch your back as you moan Echo’s name. He takes his free hand and cups one of your breasts, the cool durasteel of his palm against your warm skin making you shiver. He repositions his hand, now holding your pebbled nipple between two fingertips and gently rolling it between them. You let out a shaky gasp and grab the sides of his head, pulling his mouth to yours and kissing him. He thrusts into you harder, and as you moan into the kiss he opens up and swallows all the pretty sounds you make to keep for himself.
You begin to grind your hips into his in loose circles and slip one of your hands down to where your bodies meet. Before you can touch yourself, Echo snares your wrist and softly tuts at you. He moves his replaced hand downward and away from your breast, his fingertips barely brushing along your skin as he goes. With a twitch of his thumb he’s vibrating again, and when he grazes the very end of your clit you cry out his name.
“Oh fuck, Echo!” you whine. He smirks at you and presses the pad of his thumb against your clit, making you almost convulse around him as your eyes roll up towards the ceiling.
“God damn it you’re perfect,” he says, growling lowly into your ear and nipping along your neck again. When you shiver in response, he sits back enough to commit the look of near-ecstasy on your face to his memory. Still working your clit and thrusting his cock into you, he leans forward, grazing his teeth against the junction where your neck meets your shoulder. You whimper, and he raises his head just enough to breathe into your ear.
“You’re close, aren’t you?” he says, his breath hot on your skin.
“I-I’m right there,
please
Echo,” you say, setting your pride aside.
“Will you a good girl and come on my cock,
riddur
?” he says, chuckling darkly when he notices the way you whine and clench around him when he uses the Mando’a word.
“Yes! I’ll be good for you Echo, I need-,” you say, nearly begging him, but he cuts you off by making you cry out as he bites into your shoulder and sucks a dark bruise into your skin. Your mouth opens in a silent scream as you finally orgasm, your entire body locking up with the intensity of it.
Satisfied, Echo returns his hands to your hips and holds you down tightly against his pelvis as his cock twitches and he fills you with so much cum that it leaks out. His hold on you loosens at the same time your muscles relax and the two of you slump into each other, both completely fucked out and panting for breath.
—
About an hour after your senses return to you, you and Echo have both cleaned yourselves up, gotten dressed, and packed your things. As you take the long ride back down to the ground floor in the lift, Echo wonders aloud how often, if at all, you’ll be able to get that close while on the Marauder. You admit that you don’t know.
“It doesn’t matter how quiet we are, Hunter is always going to be able to tell,” you say with a sigh.
“His hearing really is that good, huh?” Echo says, allowing you to step out of the lift first and lead the way into the lobby.
“Well, there’s that, yes, but I inadvertently found out on Anaxes that he can fucking smell it too,” you say.
“Damn, even in the shower?” Echo asks, failing to hide his disappointment. The two of you step into the queue for the front desk and continue talking.
“
Despite
the shower,” you say, rolling your eyes as Echo curses under his breath. “But don’t worry, we’ll figure something out,” you say, briefly pecking his cheek.
“Oh, we’d better,” he says, tracing a fingertip across the dark spot on your neck and making you twitch. “I don’t know how long I’ll be able to go without tasting you again,” he says, his voice low in your ear. You loudly clear your throat and try to ignore the blossoming heat between your legs.
The conversation ends right when you reach the front desk. The same young Chiss man that you’d spoken to last night is there again, and he greets you with a wide smile. “Well, good morning!” he says. “What did you think of the view up there?”
“Oh, we didn’t notice,” Echo says, taking your hand into his and glancing over at you. The young man looks between you with a knowing expression and finishes out the transaction with no further comments, aside from thanking you both for staying before you walk away.
—
You’re almost back to the hangar in yet another taxi when you suddenly think about Crosshair. You stare down at the ring on your left hand and wonder if this will change things with him. You must be wearing your concern on your face, because Echo speaks up as if he knows what you’re thinking.
“You wanted to know what Crosshair and I were talking about, right?” he says, and you nod. He takes your hand and holds it up to the light, making the colors of the glowing stone on your finger shine brightly.
“It was this,” he says thoughtfully.
“What, did you ask his permission?” you say, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Of course not,” Echo says, interlacing your fingers with his. “It’s not like either of us own you.”
“Good answer,” you say, and he softly shakes his head at you.
“I just told him what I was planning,” he says. “He didn’t seem to object to it,” he adds with a shrug. You huff in an exaggerated manner.
“And he clearly told the others so they all could pitch in and upgrade the room,” you say. “I really was the last one to know, wasn’t I?” you say. Echo softly kisses your cheek.
“Yes, but that’s kind of the point,” he says.
“So, what did he say?” you ask, fidgeting with the strap of your bag.
“Ask him yourself,” Echo says, nodding towards the window behind you as the taxi slows to a stop. Outside, you see Crosshair and Wrecker waiting on the sidewalk for you. After paying the driver, you both step outside, and Echo leaves you with Crosshair while he and Wrecker gather up your things from the trunk.
You meet Crosshair’s eyes and nervously bite your lip, waiting for him to say something. He lifts your left hand and gets a good look at the ring on your finger.
“Surprised it fits,” he says casually. You blink at him, confused. He looks between you, the ring, and Echo, then smirks at you.
“This changes nothing, I hope you know. Told him that too,” he says, then holds you about the waist and pulls you in for a deep kiss. You sigh into him, relieved. Almost immediately, you feel someone’s eyes on you, and when you step back from Crosshair, you spot Wrecker staring at you confused. He glances between the two of you and Echo a few times.
“That’s allowed?” he says in disbelief.
You’re about to say something but Crosshair, with his hand on your shoulder, rolls his eyes and leads you back toward the ship, leaving Echo behind to explain it to him.
“At this rate Hunter is the only one who hasn’t asked about it,” Crosshair says as you both walk up the Marauder’s open ramp.
“Oh, I already knew,” Hunter says, meeting you inside. Crosshair shakes his head, somewhere between amused and annoyed, and mumbles something about an application process. He walks past Hunter and tugs you, laughing, behind him.
Once inside, Crosshair goes into the refresher and you spot Tech in the cockpit going through his usual preflight checks. You stand quietly in the doorway, not wanting to interrupt him. He’s startled by your unexpected presence when he turns around, but quickly regains his composure, adjusting his goggles as he approaches you.
“There you are Meds, I was wondering when you would get here,” he says.
“Missed me that much, huh?” you say.
“I have,” he says, surprising you. Before you can react, he moves past you and continues speaking.
“I’m sure you’re aware that I and the others have been modifying the ship,” he says, leading you to the bunks. You’re about to answer him, but you stop short when you both get there.
When you joined the squad, there were six bunks on the ship, three to a side, and the extra two at the back were used for temporary storage. Your first night aboard, Wrecker had readily given you his spot and moved into the emptied spare behind it.
Looking at them now though, you’re confused when you only see four, then you notice a wall and a small closed door that definitely wasn’t there before. You only realize that Echo has caught up with you when he inadvertently voices your thoughts.
“What the hell did you do to the bunks?” he asks, just as confused as you are. You step toward the door and it slides open, revealing an entirely separate room. You poke your head inside and find a bed, in one piece, made up of the two missing bunks. It’s tucked against the left wall, and there's a small intercom speaker and switch near the door, a fair few compartments, and just enough room to stand upright and move in front of the bed.
You back out, allowing Echo to get a look at the space, and Tech catches your eye, looking quite proud of himself.
“
That’s
what you’ve been doing all week?” you ask in disbelief.
“Where’d ya think we’ve been?” Wrecker says, approaching with your bags. He squeezes his way past everyone and into your room, then drops your things onto the bed, surprising you when it makes no noise.
“The idea occurred to me after seeing the two of you cram into one bunk once we left Anaxes. I was originally going to just clear out the last extra bunk, until Hunter informed me that you and Echo would likely prefer to share a space. I had to rearrange a large portion of the ship's components and wiring, but I believe you’ll find it satisfactory,” he says. You simply stare at him for a moment while you try to find your words.
“But that must have been an ass-load of work!” you eventually say. Tech waves this off.
“Hunter did insist on one thing,” he continues, then nods at Wrecker, who grins and shuts the door. About a second later you hear a very muffled sound from inside, which impresses you, knowing how loud he can be.
“It’s almost completely soundproof,” Hunter says, speaking up from the back. “Thank god,” he adds, giving you and Echo a stern look. Echo meets his eyes and awkwardly rubs at the back of his neck. Meanwhile, Crosshair, who you only now notice is in the vicinity, smirks and rolls his eyes from where he’s standing behind Tech.
Once Wrecker leaves your room, everyone disperses, save for you and Tech, who’s stayed behind to keep telling you about the new space. He leads you inside and points out a few key things, mainly the lock on the door and intercom controls. He realizes that you haven’t said anything else in a while and looks over at you. He finds you watching him with a soft expression, which catches him off guard.
“This is so thoughtful of you,” you say, looking around the room.
“It simply made the most sense,” he says, shrugging at you. You turn towards him and smile.
“Well, I’m very grateful,” you say. Tech simply nods at you and turns to leave the room, but before he does, you remember something.
“Oh, by the way,” you say, recapturing his attention. When he stops and turns back toward you, you take a few steps closer to him, then glance around to make sure you won’t be overheard.
“Echo told me while we were alone last night that a specific feature of his cybernetic was your idea,” you say, keeping your voice low. Tech’s lips part and his eyes widen.
“What,” he says, then pauses to clear his throat. “What about it?” he asks, matching your low volume.
“Just that I really enjoyed it, so I wanted to say thank you,” you say, holding his gaze. It takes him two attempts to speak.
“E-everything functioned to your, um,
needs
then?” he asks, and you barely manage not to chuckle when you notice that his face is flushed.
“Oh yes, it all worked perfectly,” you say, keeping your tone casual, as if discussing the weather. You startle him for a second time that day when you very briefly kiss his cheek.
“Thank you Tech, for everything,” you say. He seems unable to speak, and it occurs to you that you probably crossed a line.
“Oh damn, did I-?” you say, speaking quickly and taking a step back.
“N-no, it’s,” he says, finding his voice. He clears his throat. “It’s fine, Meds. I don’t mind,” he continues, then abruptly slips out of the door without another word. He glances back at you over his shoulder as he goes and you can sense a faint feeling of
want
drifting from him in your direction.
You start to feel bad for flustering him, but the feeling is quickly forgotten when Tech’s place is almost immediately taken by Crosshair, who shuts the door behind him. He kisses you, then sits on the bed and pulls you into his lap, resting his chin on your shoulder, your back to his chest.
“I see that things went well last night,” he says, pressing a finger to the mark Echo had left and making you inhale sharply. “Did you two-?” he says, leaving the question open-ended.
“
Finally
, yes,” you say with a laugh. A laugh that morphs into a soft gasp when Crosshair moves and starts kissing along your neck.
“Good,” he says, and although you can’t see his face, you can practically hear him smirking. “That means it’s my turn,” he says, nipping at your pulse. You turn around in his lap and roll your eyes at him. He rests his hands on your ass, then leans in and kisses you with surprising gentleness, humming softly when your lips meet.
“I missed you, kitten,” he says, pressing his forehead against yours.
Before you can say anything, there’s a knock at the door. You reach over and open it to find Hunter standing there, and you can’t tell if he’s annoyed by what he sees.
“We haven’t even left the ground yet, you two really can’t wait?” he says, leaning against the door frame.
“The entire point of this room is so you won’t bother us,” Crosshair says, definitely annoyed. “What do you want?”
“Orders just came in, they want to do a full work up with Echo on Kamino,” Hunter says, then shakes his head again as he walks away. Before the door slides shut, Echo steps inside and looks at you two, amused.
“Tech wants me up front,” he says, then steps forward and briefly kisses you. “Can you two contain yourselves, at least until we reach hyperspace?” he says, trying to hold back a smirk. You and Crosshair exchange a glance and say ‘no promises’ in unison. Echo rolls his eyes and steps back out, closing the door behind him.
You return your attention to Crosshair and find him watching you with a soft look in his eyes. He leans in and kisses you, then lies back onto the bed, pulling you down with him and holding you closely to his chest. You meet his gaze and sense nothing but love and adoration. You abruptly remember Fives’ warning about Crosshair, but easily chase the thought away, surprising yourself.
Whatever the future may hold, you think, you’ll handle it as it comes. Right now, all you want to do is be with the men you love.