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winniethewife · 5 months ago

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I'd make sure the light defeated the dark

(Echo x F!reader X Fives)

Warning’s: Angst, canon character death (And Un-death?), Happy-ish ending

Words: 2201

It was never easy being a strategist for the grand republic army, but it had its perks. She had met some amazing people that she never would have if she hadn’t joined up. Including her two closest friends. Echo and Fives where Arc troopers for the 501st Battalion, She had worked with them several times, and after another successful battle they we’re relaxing at 79’s having a celebratory drink, the two clones playfully competing for her attention, each in their own unique way. Echo stands next to her his hand just barely touching hers, occasionally looking in her direction with a smile as his brother Fives is doing every weird trick in the book to try to make her laugh. Fives tells an elaborate story about Captain Rex and General Skywalker, that may or may not be based in fact, but was certainly hilarious. Her laugh fills the air with its melodic quality, and Fives smile widens, a victory in his eyes. Echo rolls his eyes with a soft smile lingering on his lips. As she looks between the two of them she has a feeling swelling in her chest, warmth and love. These are her boys and that will never change.

She eagerly awaited for them to return from the citadel. She was pacing the barracks as she waited. She had helped them plan every detail, but there are so many unpredictable factors in their plan. Not to mention that Commander Ahsoka had taken General Plo Koon’s place in the mission. There was so little known about the Citadel and what they did there. She thought back to the last time he saw them.

“Are we sure this thing is safe? I don’t want to end up a wall decoration.” Fives remarked as they got ready to enter the carbon freezing chamber.

“You’ll be fine Fives, just breathe.” She said giving him a smile. She had glanced at Echo and gave him a reassuring nod before they descended into the chamber

Was it reckless of her to make such a promise? Why had she not said something to Echo before they left? But before she has any more time to think about it she’s interrupted by the sound of the door sliding open and Fives staggered in.

“Fives!” She rushes to him side holding his face in her hands but as she looked into his eyes she saw only sadness. “What’s wrong?” she asked, worry etched in her expression.

“Echo…Echo, didn’t make it. They had us outnumbered. He went in to help…he’s gone. He’s gone.” Fives could barely hold himself up, leaning on her for support. The devastation of the loss of his brother was too much to bare. She gently guided him to a bunk where they sat together, his head resting on her shoulder as she held him gently, starting to process her own feelings. Echo was gone, sacrificed himself for the cause. She knew that there was every chance this would happen, but she would have done anything for this not to happen to them, not her boys. She hadn’t even noticed the tears streaking down her face. The pain was almost too much.

“H-he loved you, you know that right? He…wanted to…after the war… I wanted to, but Echo, he told me that night at 79s, that he wanted to take you out, but he was…so afraid you’d say no… So I…” Fives started to incoherently babble, it wasn’t like she didn’t know how they felt, and she wasn’t blind.

“I know fives, I…I know.” She moved so that they were facing each other and pressed her forehead to his. Tears running down both their cheeks as they looked into the others eyes. They had both lost someone so special to the both of them, but they had each other. “I… I loved him, but, I love you too.” She looked into his amber eyes. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah…Yeah that’s more than okay…” Fives managed to give her a small smile, and in a brief moment of powerful emotions, he pressed his lips against hers. Maybe it was too soon, maybe he wasn’t thinking. But He needed this, needed her. Needed to feel, something other than the overwhelming loss of his brother. She kissed him back, because yes, it was too soon, they weren’t thinking, but they needed something good in a galaxy of bad.

The war had taken a toll on them, over time it felt harder and harder to keep going. Finding time for the two of them was even harder. Chaste kisses in empty hallways and moments alone were few and far between. The rumors were that the war was nearly over, but she didn’t get her hopes up. As wandered out of the strategy meeting for an upcoming battle she felt the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders. She was tired, the last two years had been more than one being could possibly handle. As she walks through the all way towards the hanger she feels the familiar feeling of a hand from behind her pulling her hand, guiding her to an empty alcove. Fives sneaking her off for a moment alone. He smiles at her cupping her face in his hand.

“Mesh’la, Glad I caught you before I have to ship out again.” He gave her a smile as he ran his thumb across her cheek.

“I am also glad, Feels like forever since I’ve seen you.” She leans into his touch, savoring the moment she knows is all too fleeting. “Where are they sending you next?”

“Ringo Vinda, it’s a big one, joining up with Doom and his boys. We’ll probably be gone for a while.” He says, trying to be enthusiastic, but being away form each other for so long was hard, It had become harder since She had been promoted and spent more time on Coruscant, and less time out in the field.

“Well, I’ll be thinking of you, every minute.” She said with a sad smile. Fives leans in and presses a quick kiss to her lips, lingering for just a second.

“I’ll think of you every second.” He mutters as he pulled away. She laughed

“Show off.”

The reports that came in from the battle of Ringo Vinda were horrifying. She had read over everything, she couldn’t understand what would make Tup do that. It made absolutely no sense. And talking it over with Kix and Jessie at 79s made even less sense. When Kix got up to use the refresher she joined him sliding into the ladies to cool off a little. It was a very busy night at the bar, she would feel better if Fives was with her, but with everything going on she had more questions than answers. Something was very wrong, Fives would never attack the Chancellor. She just hoped they found him soon and figured out what was going on. As she steps out into the hallway she runs into a trooper.

“Oh, Kriff. Sorry I wasn’t-” She was interrupted by an all too familiar embrace.

“Mesh’la, thank the maker.” Fives gasped, he pulled her against him and burrowed his face in the crook of her neck, taking in her scent once more.

“Fives! What is going on, what are you doing here?” She asked, she was happy to see him, but also shocked. He pulled away from her and looked around scanning for anyone looking for them.

“I don’t have time to tell you everything. There’s, a plot, there’s these chips in our heads and…All of us are in danger. Mesh’la I… I’ve gotta see this out.” He looked into her eyes pleading. She reaches up and touches his face.

“Fives please, I…I can’t lose you too.” She whispers.

“You won’t I promise” and with that he was gone.

“He said it was bigger than any of us, that he only wanted to do his duty, and the the mission and the nightmares…were over. Then…He was gone. I…” Rex had sat down with her in a secluded place in the Temple, trying his best to explain what happened. She was shaking, she couldn’t believe what he was telling her.

“No…Rex, please tell me their looking into it at least? He couldn’t have died for nothing!” She was practically begging him, for answers. He looked so downtrodden, He knew how much She had lost, what he had lost, what they shared.

“I’m sorry…but the chancellor’s doctors are sure it was a parasite.” He tried to be comforting, he wasn’t fully convinced himself, but he had to try to convince her, so she can move on.

“A Parasite? Rex…” She was skeptical, this was more than a virus or a Parasite, there was more to this. She felt the sting of tears in the corner of her eyes, she leaned forward to put her head in her hands. She felt an ache in her chest. She just wanted to hear his laugh, she missed that. She missed the feeling of Echo’s hand just barely touching her own, the sparkle in his eyes. She missed her boys.

“I Know. I guess we’ll just have to see” Rex spoke softly and reached out to touch her shoulder. They were clones, made to fight in this war, but at what cost?

When the war was over, it didn’t take her very long to figure out something was very wrong, Despite having deciding to step down after fives death and having lived a civilian life style for a few months everything about this new empire felt wrong. The second Rex reached out saying he was trying to organize a clone resistance movement to help clone defecting the empire she was onboard immediately. But she definitely wasn’t expecting what was to come. Neither was Echo. After being with the bad batch for a while, and coming to terms with his new way of life, he wasn’t expecting the day that he decided to join the clone underground was also the day he was going to be face to face with the love of his life. She felt like her brain was brain short circuiting when he saw him. He had changed, obviously but, at the same time he was exactly the same. Echo is the first to approach putting his good hand on her face as tears come to his eyes.

“I never thought I’d see you again,” His voice was whisper soft and full of emotions, He traced the shape of her cheeks and Jaw, in awe of the woman in front of him.

“Neither did I. I thought. I was sure, you were dead.” She fumbled over his words as she reaches for him, trying everything in her power to keep herself together.

“Not dead just…Very far away.” He said with a smile. “I’m sure, Rex told you…” his voice trailed off, he didn’t really want to talk about everything that had happened to him, He just wanted to see her, hold her, tell her how he felt. “I thought about you, all the time, at least…I’d like to think I did, I know I did once I was out of there.”

“I…I know. I thought about you too, Fives…He helped but, there was always someone missing.” She felt a tear roll down her cheek, she hadn’t talked about Fives in a long time. Echo felt the sadness in her, felt it in himself.

“Fives…You and Him…I heard.” Why was it so impossible to say a whole thought right now? Everything he wanted to say kept getting stuck inside him.

“Yes, He and I were together, after you…He told me…you loved me. And I…I love you too, I just…Kriff this is-” Echo didn’t hesitate, pulling her close and pressing his forehead to hers, he needed to be closer to her, metal limbs be damned.

“I still love you. I know, I know it’s been a long time but, I’ll do anything to keep you safe, keep you with me, keep this… I won’t give up a second chance. If you’re willing to give it.” His breath on her skin, her arms around his neck, it wasn’t the same, but it was damn good.

“More than willing, happy to.” She mutters. “I…Needed this, Needed you to comeback. And now…”

“I’m here. I won’t leave you behind. I promise.” He says sincerely. She flinches.

“Don’t…Promise things, Fives…He made a promise he couldn’t keep and It haunts me.” She closes her eyes as she felt even more tears peaking though. He understood, all too well, he understood.

“Got it, No promises.” His brow furrowed. “What did he promise?”

“That I wouldn’t lose him.” She murmurs as she looked back up at him, watching as the realization flickered in his eyes.

“I see. I’m sorry Cyar’ika, It seems for a while you lost us both.” Echo’s voice cracked slightly at the idea that she’d been alone all this time.

“I’ll be okay, now that you’re here.” She pressed her forehead closer to his, the sensation of having him close again was soothing, after missing him for so long. They had each other now. And they would, for a good long time after.

Masterlist

Taglist: @silvernight-m @queerponcho @boredzillenial

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crosshairlovebot · 1 year ago

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in the dreaming comes the warmth / the domino twins

characters: echo & fives (NOT CLONEC*ST)

description: the ache of missing fives leaves a hole in echo's chest that only his brother's warmth can fill.

warnings: angst. loss. grief. mourning. echo is still grieving despite being part of clone force 99. it's not mentioned, but i imagine this particular moment of pain is triggered by crosshair's chip activation and leaving him behind on kamino.

this was a request from a lovely twitter mutual who wanted a hug between echo and fives <3 i haven't written for echo before so i hope i did him justice. also posted this on ao3. feedback is welcomed, reblogs are appreciated <3

Echo knew he was dreaming when he recognised the bright white hallways of Tipoca City, which in the waking world sat submerged in the Kaminoan oceans to fade into rust forever. The hallways were as familiar to him as the curves of his face, memorised and so burned into his memory it was no real shock that he could navigate them as he did now in his sleep.

Echo walked through the corridors, passing what he knew were squads of his fellow troopers with faces identical to his, except his dreaming made them blurry, not fully formed. He passed the gangly Kaminoan’s, their large eyes prominent in the haze of their figures, which seemed to blend with the clinical white of the walls. He didn’t exactly know where he was walking until his feet took him to the junior cadet barracks, the ones he and his brothers shared in their brief childhood.

It was surreal seeing it now, as he walked in, the shapes of the beds and the curves of the walls more defined than the hallways, more distinct in his mind. He took it all in, breathing in the scentless air. The last time he was here, he didn’t even have his name yet – none of them did.

The beds were so much smaller than he remembered. He smiled and sat down on one. He ran a hand he shouldn’t have over the cloth blanket, its fibers feeling as familiar as his own skin. An ache formed in his chest for all he had lost.

The door whooshed open, and his head shot in the direction of the noise. It was then he saw himself run in and climb onto the nearest bed, pulling his knees to his chest and burying his face in his arms.

Echo blinked in surprise.

His child self was curled into a ball, as tight as he could manage, and Echo could only see the curly dark hair of his head. He remembered he used to do that when he got overwhelmed, but he couldn’t remember when he stopped. He watched his child self grip onto the sleeves of his standard issue cadet uniform tightly, the knuckles on his little hands white.

His child self didn’t see him and made no moves to show that he knew Echo was there at all. It was strange to see himself like this. To see a snapshot of the person he was for a short amount of time.

Echo slowly stood up, the urge to know what it was that made his child self cry when the door opened again, and his breath got caught in his throat and his eyes stung when he saw who it was that stepped in the door.

This was not just a dream, but a memory.

Fives’s tiny face was the same as his had been, except his brother’s seemed to be perpetually twisted into a smirk, and if it wasn’t, it itched at the corners of his mouth, ready to bloom at a moment’s notice. But his face now held no impishness, instead, his small brows were furrowed as his gaze landed on his brother’s curled-up body on the bed.

“Hey, 21-0408, why the long face?”

Echo had to sit down and cover his mouth with a hand to stop the sob that dared to escape his throat. His brother’s voice, albeit that of his child self, felt so incredibly comforting. He thought he’d never hear it again, even if it was that little boy’s voice that all clones had as young cadets. To Echo, it just sounded like him; like Fives; like it did in his fuzzy memories.

His childhood had been a fleeting blur of training programs and accelerated growth, so he didn’t remember much of it. But he didn’t forget moments like this, where his brother’s love had engulfed him.

Echo watched his child self slowly peek his eyes out from his arms at his older brother.

“Go away,” Little Echo mumbled.

“Come on, 21-0408,” Little Fives said and climbed up onto the bed next to him, trying to pry open his arms. “What’s wrong?”

Little Echo ripped his arm away and wiped his tear-stained face and nose with his sleeve. Echo grimaced as he saw the dark line that now appeared on the red fabric. He forgot kids could be gross sometimes, even himself.

“I said, go away, 27-5555,” Little Echo grumbled. “I want to be alone.”

Little Echo had no idea just how much time he would spend alone.

“Why?” Of course, Fives never let up about anything, even as a child.

Little Echo scowled at his shoes on the bed. “I…I keep messing up…”

“This module is hard, vod’ika,” Little Fives placed a hand on Little Echo’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Fives was barely older than Echo, but his older brother never let him forget it. With the Mando’a nickname ‘little brother’ sticking to Echo for practically as long as he’d known Fives. He pretended to hate it, and he’d give anything to hear it again. So, hearing it now, Echo’s heart seized. He wanted to grab his younger self by the shoulders and tell him to treasure the nickname; to never roll his eyes and pretend to hate it; to call Fives ori’vod in return because he knew he’d get a kick out of it.

“But everyone’s good at this module except me…” Little Echo voiced quietly, not entirely convinced.

Echo tried to wrack his brain for what module his younger self was talking about, but his dreaming made it too hazy to pinpoint; like if his subconscious ventured too far away from the scene in front of him it would fizzle away, and his dream would move onto something else. And he wanted to stay in this for as long as he could.

“You’ll get it eventually; it just takes practice,” Little Fives reassured.

“I’m going to fail…and never be a soldier…” his younger self sniffled. Echo saw his eyes gloss over again with unshed tears.

“Don’t talk like that,” Little Fives chastised, punching him lightly in the shoulder, a furious look on his face. “You’ll be fine. I’ll help you.”

Little Echo’s face lit up with hope. “You will?”

Little Fives nodded. “That’s what brothers do. We look out for each other; have each other’s backs.”

Echo watched his younger self sniffle as he looked at his older brother, who gave him a reassuring smile.

“Promise?” he said.

“Promise,” Little Fives said with so much conviction, that it made Echo’s heart squeeze again. He was always so sure of everything, never faltering – not even for a second. Once Fives believed in something, he didn’t waver. Ever.

Little Echo smiled, and wrapped his arms around his brother, who hugged him tightly. Echo watched them embrace, anchoring themselves to each other. He didn’t realise he was crying until he felt a tear fall on his hands in his lap. He reached up to wipe them away, scoffing lightly at himself.

“Hey, Echo, why the long face?”

Echo’s heart seemed to expand and stop as he turned around, seeing Fives standing there behind him several metres away. He turned back to where their younger selves sat on the bed and saw they had vanished, that the room had melted away into a long bright endless plane.

“Fives?” Echo wiped his face again and he saw Fives grin at him, before walking over. Echo blinked around the tears to take the sight of him. His figure was much clearer than anything else he’d seen so far in his dreams. Fives was adorned in his ARC trooper armour; helmet tucked under his arm with a proud smile stretched across his face. He willed his subconscious to stay in this moment, that it would be cruel to rip him from it with no warning. He needed time with him.

“Don’t look so happy to see me,” Fives joked when he came closer, his mouth quirked in that smirk that was so incredibly familiar seeing it felt like coming home.

Echo laughed tearfully. “Your ugly face is just so scary, I can’t help but cry.”

Fives threw his head back in a loud guffaw before punching Echo lightly on the arm. “It’s good to see you, vod’ika.”

Echo’s heart filled with so much warmth at the affection. “Good to see you too, Fives.”

Fives smiled at him before Echo asked, “What are you doing here?”

Fives didn’t respond, he just looked at Echo thoughtfully. Echo cleared his throat and shook his head. “When they found me on Skako Minor and you weren’t with them…”

He felt Fives’s heavy hand land on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. “I know. But I’m here now.”

Echo felt his lip tremble and he willed himself to take a breath. “I missed so much time with you.”

Fives shook his head. “Don’t think about that.”

“How can I not? I missed everything. I missed…”

“I wouldn’t have wanted you to see that anyway.”

He didn’t need to say the words for Echo to know what he was referring to.

“I…I would’ve believed you.”

“Then you would be dead too.”

Clones were conditioned not to linger on the losses of their fellow brothers. It was the nature of what they were bred for. Born knowing they would die. They were taught to take a moment to mourn, then to keep going. There was no time to let the grief linger in war.

But this was much harder than Echo had been conditioned to think.

Echo’s grief for losing Fives was too complicated for that. Echo lost Fives after the fact. He was mourning him outside of the mourning period, outside of the war. And it was something he didn’t know how to handle. The grief could sit for longer, dawdle almost now that there wasn’t another mission to focus on instead. And it was painful. A never-ending agony that oscillated between a dull ache to suffocating sharpness in the hole of his chest.

Fives had been a constant in his life, from cadets to losing their squad on Rishi Moon, to joining Rex in the 501st, all the way until the fateful night of the Citadel rescue. Fives had been there for all of it. Even thereafter, in the brief lucid moments in cryostasis on Skako, his thoughts would drift to his ori’vod. So, to be released into that mourning, to realise he was free, but without his beloved brother by his side was lonelier than stasis had been.

And hearing how exactly Fives met his end had not made it any easier. It was the unfairest of deaths, and that knowledge almost hurt more. That he wasn’t there. How if he had been, it may have gone differently.

There were so many moments where Echo would think of something he wanted to tell Fives, only to realise a moment later that he couldn’t. It was a cycle of remembering he was gone. Those milliseconds of bliss, before he remembered, were bookended by the searing hurt. And there was no one to share that hurt with.

Rex was elusive in his hiding and had gone through his mourning period. And though Clone Force 99 had provided him with a home, a comradery, that he was grateful for, they had not lost anyone the way Echo had lost Fives. They didn’t fully understand.

Echo just wanted the one person who understood him, who knew him inside and out.

In other, much less complicated words, Echo missed Fives so, so much.

And at those lowest moments when he missed him; when the aching felt never-ending and moving forward felt futile, Echo imagined what it would’ve been like had they both found their ends together. How much easier it would’ve been on his heart, to know that his brother was with him even in death. That if there was an afterlife, it would be spent together. That their hearts had stopped at the same time, one not forced to go on without the other helping keep it in rhythm.

The galaxy had not been so kind to grant him that.

“I…I know,” Echo replied quietly, his throat thick.

He watched Fives’ face study him for a moment before his brow settled into a crease, and his hand tightened on Echo’s shoulder. “Echo…don’t be sad.”

Echo looked at him with disbelief. He could see all the texture in his face and feel the puff of breath against his nose. It was as if he wasn’t dreaming at all. “How…how can I not be sad? You’re not here.”

“No, but you are. You have a second chance, Echo. A second chance to live.”

Echo shook his head. “You should be here too.”

“Maybe. But my path was different to yours. You finally get a chance to choose what you do with your life. Nobody else; you, vod’ika. That freedom I was fighting for? You have it now. You have for both of us. Do something good with it. Something we’d both be proud of.”

Echo looked at his brother searching his face for something he couldn’t name. Maybe he wasn’t searching at all, but memorising. Memorising the look Fives was giving him now; the pride, the unwavering belief he had in him. He hadn’t seen it in such a long time. No one had expected anything of him in just as long.

“Promise me you will, Echo.”

He didn’t even need to think about it. “I promise.”

Echo could feel the waking world calling him, so before Fives faded away, he wrapped his arms around his brother. Fives dropped his helmet and didn’t hesitate to embrace Echo back. Arms tightly holding each other, hearts pressed together and beating in time. Echo could feel Fives’s solid chest and his warmth as if he were awake. Everything felt right in the brief, brief moment. That anchor had returned. That pain in his heart had dulled in his dreaming and been replaced with the warmth of his brother he’d been wishing for. He gripped the edges of his brother’s armour, afraid to let go, to leave this moment. But knew he had to. He’d made a promise.

“I love you, Fives,” he choked out.

He felt Fives’s palm run over his hair as he spoke against his ear. “I know. I love you too. Remember, I’m looking out for you.”

Echo jolted awake. His chest heaved as he tried to remember where he was, and his body ached like it just run a marathon. Across the small corridor, Wrecker slept, soft snores sounding. The nightlight in Omega’s space glowed softly through the curtains, and Hunter had fallen asleep on the floor, his back leaning on the wall next to the ladder, no doubt guarding their sister’s bad dreams. He could hear Tech tinkering away in the cockpit, on watch as they flew through hyperspace. Where was Crosshair?

Oh. Right.

Echo ran a hand over his face and turned towards the wall, his eyes stinging with tears. He curled in on himself, wrapping his arms around his middle, ignoring the bulk of his scomp. He tried to preserve the warmth he felt from his dreams which threatened to evaporate in the chill of hyperspace. He pressed his eyes shut, willing himself to go back into that dream, to return to Fives and get one last look at him, but it was no use. He was here. And Fives was there, or somewhere.

It could’ve been a few minutes or an hour when he heard a voice. “Echo?”

He turned to see Tech looking down at him in his bunk, adjusting his goggles. “What is it, Tech?”

“I’m afraid it’s your turn on watch.”

“Great. Thanks,” Echo grumbled.

He tried to inconspicuously wipe his eyes as he swung his metal legs out of the bunk and stood up, stretching his neck. He watched Tech remove his goggles and rub his eyes and sat down on the edge of Echo’s bunk. They had limited space, and Echo didn’t mind sharing.

“Sweet dreams,” Echo told him as Tech lay down, falling asleep almost immediately, as he tended to do.

Echo walked to the cockpit and shut the door so the light from their travels wouldn’t disturb the others. He sat in the pilot’s seat and sighed, putting his head in his hand, no hair on his head to clasp as he tried to recentre himself. He took in some steady breaths, focusing on a screw in the floor panelling. He did everything he could to quell the turning of his stomach and the throbbing in his chest. Just as quickly as it had filled in his dream, the waking world had returned that giant hole in his chest, seemingly aware that something had filled it again briefly, and now it felt the absence more.

When would this feeling of emptiness end?

The Marauder shifted in its hyperspace travels, tilting off course slightly, triggering some alarms. Echo immediately sprang into action, and his hand and scomp grabbed the controls to steady the ship. With a frown, he checked the stabilisers and saw they needed recalibrating. Didn’t Tech just deal with this after they’d left Ordo Moon mere hours ago? He tried and failed not to get annoyed – he just needed to fix this, and quickly so they didn’t veer off course and fall into a star. He sighed, knowing they’d have to come out of hyperspace for these repairs. Maybe the ship had been more damaged than he thought.

Echo slowly pulled back the hyperdrive lever and the ship came to a halt in open space. He hoped no one woke up with the disturbance and that this wouldn’t take long. They didn’t have time to waste. He placed the Marauder in idle whilst he scomped in and started recalibrating. It was a lot easier now that Tech had upgraded his cerebral interface, so there was less strain on him. He was able to scomp in and load up the commands without much effort. As the commands processed through the system, he watched the stabilisers respond and recalibrate in his mind’s eye.

It was then he felt a shiver run up his spine.

A monitor beeped, interrupting his realignment, and Echo looked at a screen searching for the alert among the pop-ups when he noticed the time.

05:55. Echo’s breath hitched.

He heard the door behind him slide open but didn’t look away from the monitor. He couldn’t.

“Everything okay in here? I felt something,” Hunter’s voice thick with sleep asked.

Echo kept his gaze on the numerals, and he allowed himself to smile, that warmth he’d been longing for slowly filling the hole in his chest.

“It will be,” he told Hunter.

Fives was keeping his promise, so Echo would too.

banner art by @vimse thank you for reading! <3

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TAGLIST FORM

#larissa writes #the bad batch fic #echo fic #echo bad batch fic #domino twins fic #fives fic #the bad batch angst #clone trooper fic #clone trooper angst #501st fic #arc trooper fives #arc trooper echo #tbb echo fic #gen fic #what even are the tags for a gen fic on here

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literallyjustanerd · 1 year ago

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Twist The Knife To Keep The Scar (Fives & Echo, grief/mourning)

Rex is leaning over his cot, face drawn into a gaunt mask. He knows what Echo will ask. Echo thinks he knows the answer. He asks anyway.

“Rex… where’s Fives?”

In their own ways, both Fives and Echo experience outliving the other. But in the end, it's Echo who has to find a way to live on in a galaxy with half of himself missing. A galaxy that, despite his brother's best efforts, Echo sometimes wishes he hadn't survived to see.

Back on my bullshit ruminating about Fives and Echo never getting to see each other again!

Dividers by the incredible @freesia-writes with amazing helmet art by @lornaka

General vibe: Grief, angst, dissociation, recovery, found family

Words: 4,888

Characters: Fives, Echo, Rex, Tup, Omega, The Bad Batch (mentioned)

Read it here or support me on AO3.

There's an exquisite heat in the air around him. Then a harsh, biting cold. A blinding light, then suffocating darkness. The ecstacy of adrenaline thrumming in his veins, then blood-curdling terror choking him until he cannot even scream. Hope, then despair. Peace, then pandemonium. Repeating in an endless cycle so maddening he wants to split his own skull open to quiet the furore.

And then, he's awake.

He comes back fighting from the void. Lurching, crying out, violent and reckless on instinct and little else. He wrenches at what’s left of his limbs, dismayed when they flail freely, unbound by the tethers and wires he’d grown so used to. It’s bright. He cowers from the light, though can’t think to shield his eyes with his one remaining hand. It’s an eternity before a voice reaches him through the ringing in his ears. The voice of a brother. It changes, alternating between speaking calm words and barking sharp orders. The familiarity is enough to break through Echo’s hysteria. He stills, holds back his own cries to try and make out the words. In time, his bleary vision begins to take in the sight around him, foggy shapes coalescing into a silhouette, then a face. It’s Kix.

It’s Kix. His brother Kix.

He stands in a halo of fluorescent light at the head of Echo’s cot, calling brisk instructions to the other medics. At his order, the lights dim, soothing the ache in Echo’s eyes. He lays a hand on Echo’s shoulder, firm and grounding, and sternly tells him not to try and move. It’s then that he realises that there are lines attached to him. A great deal, in fact. IV tubes snake from his wrist and the crook in his elbow. There’s a port below his ribs syphoning some sort of clear-pink fluid, and wires running to electrodes arranged in a grid on his chest. He listens when Kix tells him they're all there for good reason. He believes it when Kix tells him he’s safe, they’ve got him, he’s okay. Someone raises a cup of water to his lips, and though Echo nearly chokes on the tiny sip, it still makes him want to sob with relief. By his head, Kix makes an adjustment on one of his IV flasks. He doesn’t raise his eyes when he says,

“Someone find Rex. Tell him he’s awake.”

Memory floods back into the broken kaleidoscope of Echo’s mind.

“Where is he?”

Rex hadn’t answered him the first time he’d asked, careening down hallways and around corners, still half-convinced he must be dreaming or dead. He had tried to convince himself that Rex was just distracted. That maybe he hadn’t even heard the question at all, despite it being one of the first things past Echo’s lips the moment he regained control of them. It was plausible: the blaster fire was loud enough and the chaos was all but overwhelming. But even in his addled, delirious state, he had caught the twitch in Rex’s jaw, the guilty way his eyes darted across the room, cagey, avoidant. Everything Rex never was. Echo had not asked again, had instead put the last of his meagre energy into clawing his way out of hell. And, despite his expectations, he’d made it. They all had. He had seen the sun again. He hadn’t lasted much longer than that– his atrophy and fatigue had come back to claim him once he’d been loaded into a transport. Still, the question remained stuck on his tongue as he passed out, not quite able to speak it aloud. He does it now, though, when Kix has cleared out the medbay and Rex is leaning over his cot, face drawn into a gaunt mask. He knows what Echo will ask. Echo thinks he knows the answer. He asks anyway.

“Rex… where’s Fives?”

Three standard rotations. Nine Republic-sanctioned mealtimes since making it off Lola Sayu and out of the Force-forsaken Citadel. And still, Fives has made no appearance in the mess hall. Rex suppresses a sigh at the empty seat next to him, tries to still the bounce of his leg under the table. He gives up on his rations halfway through, sliding them across the table to Jesse as, wordless, he leaves the rows of bustling benches. It’s not easy to track him down. He checks the gym, the boilers, the bridge, even the laundry rooms before he comes to the cold, cramped halls of the armoury. It’s all but abandoned, only a handful of troopers choosing to skip or postpone their meal break. Rex weaves through the tight corridors of catalogued rifles and torpedoes, affording a distracted nod to the men who greet him with the usual salutes. Finally, he spots his brother in the back corner. He's counting stock, eyes boring into a datapad as though it's the only thing tethering him to himself.

"Fives.”

It gets no response at first. He’s far too wilfully engrossed in his task. Just as he has been in every spare moment since leaving The Citadel. Rex has watched him move like a man possessed from hauling cargo to running maintenance protocols, reviewing battle maps to making supply orders. More productive in three rotations than he’d ever been in a week. If he’d eaten, Rex hadn’t seen it. If he’d slept, it hadn’t stuck, judging by the dark, gaunt circles draped under his eyes. They age him, make his cheeks look too sharp and his skin too pallid under the ship's stark lighting. The half-serving of rations churns in Rex’s stomach.

“Fives, look at me.”

There’s a hand on Fives’ shoulder, one he throws harshly off like a man woken from a nightmare. He blinks at his brother, unable or unwilling to focus his gaze.

“Don’t,” he says, before he knows quite what he’s refusing. Self-consciousness leeches into his fingertips, tightening around the datapad. It’s too much to keep his face turned in Rex’s direction, so he points it back at the wall.

“You know you can’t go on like this. You’re running yourself into the ground,” Rex coaxes. A hot rush of shame burns across the back of Fives’ neck, his shoulders raising against it. He’s being spoken to like a scared stray tooka. Like a cadet with a skinned knee. Given the choice, Fives picks the easier of two options and lets anger steer his reply.

“I know what I’m kriffing doing. Don’t need you checking up on me.”

“Then it’s a good thing you don’t get a choice in the matter.”

The growl Fives gives in response is involuntary. His fingers grip harder at the datapad. A sign of losing control? A sign of trying to keep control? Just because he itches to feel something break under his hands? After waiting patiently for a reply of some kind, Rex fills the silence again.

"I'm not trying to tell you to stop caring. I know that's how it feels, but I'm not. I just want you to take care of yourself, too."

"And what's the point of that?!" Fives blurts. The datapad clatters across the floor, the sound louder than it should be, echoing and doubling off the towering metal walls. "What does it even matter anymore if he—" As quickly as the dam breaks, he stems the flow. Straightens his back and swallows the words back down, bitter as they stick in his throat. The seconds scrape by, sandpaper against his frayed mind. His teeth grit, eyes closed. He waits. But Rex stays silent. No more platitudes, no stern, parental reminders about health and self-care. In time, Fives is seized by the fear that Rex has grown tired of his tantrum and left. But when he turns away from the wall, his brother is there, his gaze steady, open. Waiting.

"I… It was supposed to be… It was always …"

Try as he might, the thought won't make it out of his head in full, ending up in pieces by the time it tumbles past his proud, clumsy lips.

"Always the two of you," Rex finishes for him. "Right from the start, I know. We all knew." Rex's mouth quirks, his eyes dipping downwards a moment. Fives wonders what memory it is that drives the expression. While he is still caught in a losing battle against his own voice, Rex continues, holding the silence at bay. "You know, back after the invasion on Kamino, Cody and I wanted to take one of you each? We both needed a new ARC trooper. It seemed perfect." He steps forward, turning to lean against the wall next to Fives. No resistance this time when a hand braces on Fives' shoulder. There's a lump in Fives' throat that is hard to swallow around. Rex continues. "But when we got one look at the two of you together, the way you were with each other… Well." The quirk in Rex's lip grows to a smile, small and fragile. "Cody and I never managed to stay together long. We were always pulled apart. We couldn't let the same happen to you."

A dry, guttural sob bursts from Fives' chest, breaking through the barrier of his clenched teeth. The words follow before he can stop them.

"It should have been me."

The reprimand he expects does not come. Instead, Rex keeps his gaze on Fives, as resigned as it is devastated. There's a soft understanding in the way he breathes; slowly in, heavily out. Underneath all his composure, it becomes clear just how intimately Rex knows this feeling. How many times Fives’ words have crossed his own mind after returning from battle. Fives lets go. Finally cuts the string he had tied to the top of his head to hold himself off the ground. The plastoid of Rex's shoulder pauldron hurts when Fives' forehead hits it. He relishes the pain.

Goosebumps break out across Echo’s skin when he steps into the rain. He gasps at the little pinpricks of cold, radio static dancing in the gaps of his armour. The sensation is not unpleasant, just another that he had long since given up on ever feeling again. Mercifully, the perpetual storm over Kamino has momentarily ebbed; Echo would not trust himself to stay upright on his cybernetics in a full typhoon. Walking is still entirely alien to him. He knows he must look a mess, unsteady and teetering, each step a lurching fall forward with the hope that the sordid mess of durasteel beneath him will catch his weight. Hunter stands a few feet ahead of him, and he’s flanked by the other members of Clone Force 99 as they disembark. Though they form up around him, clearly ready to act as a buffer if one of Echo’s gambled steps doesn’t pay off, they say nothing, only watching from the corners of their eyes. Affording him his pride. Preserving the illusion of normalcy.

They needn't bother. Under Echo's carefully-drawn expression there is a storm as vicious and brutal as the worst of Kamino’s tempests.

Kamino has changed since the last time he had walked its sleek, streamlined halls. It feels cleaner, smoothed over, more soulless than usual. Was it always so cold here, even inside? Beside him, two of his new squad are bickering. Though only a few feet away, their voices reach Echo from a distance, muffled, underwater. He feels thin. Not just malnourished, though he evidently is. His whole existence feels thin, as though he isn’t actually there. Someone could walk straight through him and feel nothing more than a cool breeze. A fleeting pang of regret tells him he should be with Rex, should have stayed with the 501st. But beneath the crashing waves on the surface, in the depths of his mind he knows that it’s better to be a stranger than to face those who know him, what he was and who he’s lost. What he’s become. Rex could feel it, too, when he had seen Echo off on the landing field.

“If that’s where you feel your place is, then that’s where you belong.”

Was it about belonging? Or was it just that he couldn’t bear to stand so close to the edge of the gaping hole that had been left in his life?

The only time Echo had ever talked about this with Fives, he had been shut down with a single look. A thousand words in a microscopic expression, the silent language they’d forged together accidentally through years of traded glances. Across battlefields and barracks, strategy meetings and mess hall benches, until they knew the other’s mind by instinct, sometimes better than they knew their own.

“When,” Fives had said, with the weight of the galaxy behind the word. A shield raised against the knife of Echo’s ‘if.’

“When we both make it to the end of the war, we’re going to Naboo first. General Skywalker talks about it all the time. It must be worth the hype.”

Maybe Echo should have pushed it. Doubled down on his ‘if’ and done something, said something to prepare them for having to keep breathing after the other was gone. They had never dared to say aloud that their plans for a galaxy-wide sightseeing tour could grind to a halt in a single heartbeat. For years they had curated their list of destinations, sights to see, cities to explore, foods to taste and cultures to learn, everything they had always been denied. Neither wanted to be the first to say their grand adventure might never happen. Or, worse, that it could be a solo trip. Echo opened his mouth. But the minute twitch in Fives’ brow told him all he needed to know: he was picking at a thread that could unravel them both. Once one of them was gone, the other would surely die in every meaningful way. There was no point in even acknowledging the possibility. So instead, he lobbed a wadded-up piece of dirty laundry at Fives’ head and smiled.

“Fine. Naboo first. But I still want to see the museums in Alderaan. Don’t care if I have to drag you kicking and screaming.”

Beside Echo, the muted conversation grows louder. Words repeated. Someone trying to get his attention. One of them, the big one, Wrecker, slaps him on the back. It jars the rivets along his shoulder blades, sending sharp bolts of pain through his spine as he’s thrown forward by the force. It’s too fast for his cumbersome legs to catch him, and in a split second Echo has accepted he’s going to hit the floor. But the impact doesn’t come, and he opens his eyes to find a shamefaced Wrecker holding him aloft with one arm looped under his chest.

“I– Sorry, Echo, I didn’t mean to– Should’ve been more careful,” he stammers, returning him to his feet as though he weighed less than empty armour. The shock brings Echo crashing back into his body, makes him feel real again in a way he is woefully unready for. The others are staring at him, their eyes singing like blasterfire on his skin. It takes an embarrassingly long moment to will his mouth into moving.

“It’s fine,” he mumbles, unable to meet anyone’s eye. “I’m fine.”

He wonders if it’s better to be stranded in a vast, flat desert than to stand at the edge of a bottomless pit.

It’s after Umbara that Rex overhears Fives with Tup. Lights-out was hours ago. They’re out of the barracks, but Rex can hardly reprimand them for it: half of the men, himself included, have had scarcely little sleep since what happened on that wretched, awful planet. All over the ship there are small groups of vode, hunched over mugs of caf at tables in the kitchen, crammed into bunks together, running endless drills in the gym. Rex despairs at being unable to do more for them, but he knows better than most that nothing could grant his brothers rest or peace in a time like this. Still, something in Fives’ tone tugs him closer, makes him linger around the corner and strain his ears to listen.

“–not about glory or heroics.”

“But what about what you–”

“Forget what I did. Okay? What I did doesn’t matter. I’m telling you , here and now, you stay alive.”

They’re sitting on the ledge of a large bay window, faces backlit by the ship’s external lighting and the low ambient glow of hyperspace outside. Tup has his legs drawn to his chest, a steaming mug cradled in his hands, while Fives leans forward, elbows on his knees. Rex knows he should make himself known. Or at the very least walk away now. It’s not his place to eavesdrop.

He doesn’t move.

It was a different version of Fives that came back from losing Echo. Sharper edges, harder, but more brittle. Scar tissue where there used to be unmarred skin. He still jokes, even still plays pranks and pulls stunts to entertain those around him. But his laughter is never quite as free or unguarded. His eyes scan every room he enters, searching, never finding. And most noticeably, he’s developed an intense protective streak over his brothers. Especially the shinies.

“I just want to fight for our brothers. Like you and the others have been.” Tup sounds chastised, confused. Still so sincere. Rex chances another glance around the corner to see Fives topping up his brother’s mug from a small flask before he takes a swig himself. Another breach of regulation Rex can’t rightly fault him for.

“You want to do something good for your brothers?” Fives says, voice low. “You survive the war. You stay around for them. You live to see a day we’re not forced to risk our lives for people who don’t karking care, don’t even know we exist .”

Rex doesn’t realise just how much of a hypocrite Fives has become until months later. Until he’s holding Fives to his chest on the floor of a derelict warehouse, the smell of blasterfire and burnt flesh thick in the air.

Losing Echo has made a hypocrite of Fives. As fiercely as he protected his brothers, as many times as he told them not to be heroes, he never reserved the same caution for himself. In fact, he launched himself headlong into more perilous situations than he ever had with Echo. He hid it under his status: an ARC trooper was supposed to be a more independent agent, a knife to make the daring precision cuts, carving a path for the battering ram of his fellow troopers. Still, Rex worries what the real motivation behind his recklessness might be.

“...Okay,” Tup says finally. But Fives still says it again.

“Just stay alive. Kark the war, kark the Republic, just… stay alive .”

An overwhelming silence falls over his mind, like a blanket of thick, black velvet. Relief. The sudden dying out of a background murmur he had never recognised until it stopped. The quiet is all-consuming, incomprehensible, fantastic. The release of a muscle flexed for years on end. Finally waking from a nightmare to the unworldly hush of night. A dream he knew well, but had never put name nor reason to. Weight lifted from his chest, breathing free, movements wholly his own for perhaps the first time in his life. Respite from the storm. But underneath the stillness, there’s a foreboding: a forest only falls silent in the presence of a predator.

It’s been years, but Echo still panics whenever he wakes on a medical bench. Pain blooms in his frontal lobe as he pitches himself upward, his hand raising to find a bacta patch plastered there beneath the rivets.

“Echo?”

Omega’s voice sounds so fragile. She lays his name out delicately, like she’s afraid she’ll break it. He immediately forces his eyes open to give her a reassuring smile, desperate to rid her of that timid tone.

“Hey, kid.” He cuts her off when she opens her mouth again– “I’m fine. Promise. Good as new.” A quick scan of the room, and he sees his brothers around him, all in varying stages of regained consciousness. All with matching scars on their scalps. Marking them, finally, as free men. If Echo was awake enough to have full use of his body, he would smile at the thought. His gaze lands on Rex, standing guard in the doorway, and he finds that the smile grows completely on its own.

It had taken months for Echo to feel like a part of Clone Force 99. That was mostly by his own design: any attempt at bonding from his new teammates had been met with a wall of solid durasteel. He’d lacked even the decency to respond with anger, denying the others the barest hint of emotion. Scared that even hostility was too much of an intimacy. But his brothers had worn him down, for better or worse.

“Echo, you ever play Sabacc? Cross always cheats, but if we team up on him we might win!”

“I noticed on the last mission it seemed your cybernetics were somewhat miscalibrated. If you like, I can take a look at them and make some improvements?”

“If you’re going to sit up and brood in silence again, you can at least make it worth your while and drink with me. …And for the record, I don’t cheat at Sabacc. I’m just better.”

Before he knew it, he had four new brothers.

Just what he got for vowing never to get attached again.

Rex offers him a hand when he tries to lift himself to his feet, one he gratefully accepts.

“Did it feel this strange for you?” he asks, blinking hard. Rex gives a stiff shrug.

“Didn’t have time to think about it. When I got my chip out, I… had other things to think about.”

Echo doesn’t pull at that thread.

“So… He really was right.”

No matter how many times Rex had explained Fives’ death, Echo had never made sense of it in the past. It didn’t help that Rex’s own recollection of the incident was garbled, fogged over by confusion and grief. All Echo could gather was the vague notion of fear, paranoia and conspiracy. His brother had died desperate and frantic, with a warning to Rex that made little sense in the moment and even less when retold after months of rumination.

It made far too much sense now.

“Yeah,” Rex sighs, eyes flitting to each of the other clones in the derelict room. “Yeah, he was. I just wish…”

Echo nods.

“Me, too,” he breathes. It’s silent for a moment, until Rex speaks again. Echo isn’t sure what makes his brother say it now: despite Echo’s probing questions since he’d first been rescued, Rex had never answered. Now that he does say it, though, it hits Echo like a punch to the gut.

“He never got over it, you know.”

Even after he had begun to consider himself a real member of the Bad Batch, Echo had done little more than coast. Though he still put all his effort into their missions –it was hard to break such a hardwired work ethic– his heart was rarely invested in their assignments.

And then, just like that, the war had ended.

Standing aboard the Havoc Marauder, watching Kamino turn into a pinprick of light in the ocean as they fled, Echo had felt a sudden, harsh pang of relief that Fives was no longer with him. He would feel it often in the coming months as The Empire tightened its grip on the galaxy, sometimes morphing into a bitter jealousy: Fives never had to see what had become of the Republic. Of their brothers.

Slowly, he and the others gather their bearings, carve out as many seconds of rest as they dare before scraping themselves together to leave. They aren’t naive enough to consider anywhere safe for long. The silence as they trek out of the rotting venator is heavy, and it’s jarring when someone breaks it.

“One of your men really figured all this out?” Hunter says to Rex, sounding sceptical in a way that sparks an involuntary flare of anger in Echo. “The chips, what they were for, Order 66, all of it?”

“I don’t know if he knew what it all meant,” Rex says, kicking aside a hunk of warped durasteel to make way for Omega. “But he definitely knew what the chips could do to us. And he figured out the Chancellor was behind it long before anyone else ever did.”

“The Emperor,” Tech interjects, “technically speaking, now.”

Rex shrugs halfheartedly, then continues, eyes trained firmly on the ground in front of them;

“I shouldn’t have been surprised. If anyone was brave, skilled and stupid enough to pull that kind of stunt off, it was always going to be Fives,” he says, smiling wistfully. “But I’m sure you’ve all heard far too much about that since Echo joined you.” The silence from behind Rex makes him pause, turn to see the others’ confused expressions in the light of his headlamp. He looks to Echo, gives him a bewildered, questioning frown, and Echo shrinks, unable to meet his eye. As close as he has grown with his new brothers, there are still a few nerves too raw to touch.

He stays in touch with Rex as often as their situation allows. It may be an unnecessary risk, the number of calls he makes to Rex’s encrypted comm frequency. He always disguises it under some flimsy justification, sharing a scrap of intel or paltry status report. Hardly anything substantial. Nonetheless, Rex answers every time. And he never ends the transmission when the information runs out and the conversation turns trivial.

“She’s getting good,” Echo tells him, smiling vaguely out into hyperspace. “She’ll be a better shot than I ever was.”

“Sounds like she’s got a good teacher.” There’s pride in Rex’s voice. Echo never did manage to outgrow his giddy reaction to positive feedback. Especially from his Captain. Silence takes hold, and Echo searches for something to keep the transmission going, but Rex gets there before him.

“You know my offer still stands,” he says gently. “There’s always a place for you here, brother. I’d be glad to have you back.”

Echo isn’t quite sure what makes him pause. Months ago, in the last days of the war, and even after its end, he would have jumped at the chance. To be back with Rex, to return to something he knew, to what he could only assume was the closest a clone could get to home. He’d been so directionless, disconnected from himself, unsure there was even a self left anymore.

“I…” He begins the sentence with no way to finish it. There’s a lot he wants to say. A lot he wants to do. He’s still getting used to wanting things again at all. It was a strange feeling after spending so long adrift, running on inertia without drive or purpose. But once the Batch had turned from soldiers to brothers, then to sister as well… Once his chip had been removed, and he’d learned exactly what his brother’s death had meant, all Fives had done to try and protect the family he had left…

“I think I understand,” Rex says, and Echo wonders in dismay if he’d said any of that out loud.

“I want to go with you,” he finally blurts. “I want to help you, I do. Eventually. But right now…”

“It’s okay.” Rex’s voice is softer over the comm. Too soft. Echo digs his scomp into the side of his thigh, breath tight in his throat. “You’ve got to do what’s best for your vode. And right now, the best thing you can do is stay around for them.”

A noise in the cockpit behind him sends Echo scrambling to wipe at his eyes, whirling his chair around to find Omega peeking down at him from her tailgun-come-bedroom.

“Couldn’t sleep,” she says, like she’s apologising. “Are you talking to Rex? Can… Can I sit up with you?”

Who is he to say no to her, when she looks at him like that?

Rex keeps the frequency open far longer than he probably should, regaling Omega with war stories, some true to life and some Echo knows for a fact are embellished. Still, he doesn’t correct him, not when it would only dull the spark in Omega’s eyes, listening so intently. Echo says nothing when Rex begins the story of two particularly brave ARC troopers, incredibly daring and heroic on the battlefield, but–

“–absolute idiots everywhere else.” Omega giggles uncontrollably, and even Echo smiles: he’ll cop that one. Though he does have to cringe at some of the misadventures that follow. At least Omega enjoys laughing at these two ridiculous, childish ARC troopers and their exploits.

“They were always better when they were fighting together,” Rex tells her, and Echo’s chest seizes, “but even when they were separated, even when they didn’t realise it, they still fought for each other.”

Echo makes the decision right then and there, with his brothers asleep in their bunks behind him, Omega perched on the arm of his chair and Rex’s stories in his ear. When (not if, when ) this is all over, he and his family will go travelling.

Naboo first.

#drabble #fic #do i write a fic now where rex tells echo about umbara and echo has to deal with knowing what his brothers went through #or do i finally leave these poor men alone #sw tcw #tbb #star wars: the clone wars #star wars: the bad batch #sw tcw fic #tbb fic #arc trooper echo #arc trooper fives #domino twins #captain rex #clone wars angst #angst #grief

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renton6echo · 2 years ago

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Fanfic AU where Echo stays with the 501st

An AU fanfic where Echo never left with the Bad Batch and went with Rex and Ahsoka to Mandalore. Maximum chaos, with Echo and Darth Maul going toe to toe only because I feel like they would talk disparagingly to each other and comparing their injuries. Also I just want to see Echo grump at a Sith because he totally would.

Echo being the most confused and traumatized when he sees his brother and mentor turn on Ahsoka and him when his chip doesn't activate

Finally finding out the truth about Fives because Rex would not have told him what really happened to him twin yet

Echo trying to snap his brothers out of it, but unable to break through the influence of the chip

Working with the droids to help Rex and Ahsoka find a way of the Venator

Burying his brothers with Rex and Ahsoka

Wow this is an angst mine and now I've made myself sad.

Has this been done yet @thebispaceace, @floundrickthewayfarer @saturn-sends-hugs @phantom-of-the-501st? If so someone drop me a link!

#arc trooper echo #I feel like I just only want to hurt him even though I love him #tbb echo #star wars the clone wars #the bad batch #the angst twin strikes back #captain rex #ahsoka tano #star wars #arc trooper fives #domino twins #arc trooper jesse #501st legion

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fives-not-5 · 11 months ago

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RP Starter - Clone Wars Era (Open)

Before they left for the mission, Rex asked him if he was okay. But as he usually did, they usually did... He shrugged it off and pushed it down. He lied. He said he was fine.

He was a soldier. He couldn't afford to let personal issues get to his head. At least that's always what he'd believed, been told to believe as a cadet.

His own experiences on the front lines and in the 501st torrent, quickly helped him to change his mind. To Think more for himself than what he was taught to think.

This had also helped him realize, how wrong so much of what he... His vods.. Had to go through really was. And really, that was part of what had him so distracted.

They made their way onto the gunships. His general was better than most. He paid close attention to things.. And he had made the observation that something was on his mind.

As he looked ahead, he was silent. It was something unusual for him. Skywalker took notice, asking if he was okay. This time, it was Anakin who asked if he was okay.

Distracted, he didn't respond at first. Until he was tapped on the shoulder, and a few looked at him in concern.

He sighed as he looked back at them. He tried to ease their mind.

"I'm okay, I'm okay."

"Let's just worry about the mission for now."

It was about a week ago. But.. This wasn't something he could exactly talk about.

Sure, Rex would understand. But the general never would. No Nat born could possibly ever understand this. Losing vodes..

Jedi could lose people. Nat borns could lose people. But it was different, they were allowed to process those losses, they we're allowed to give a second thought to it. But clones, they weren't exactly given that right. They had to move on.

And... That's exactly what happened with Echo. He had already lost Droid-Bait, Cutup and Hevy. And as hard as the other three members of his squad hit when it happened.. Echo was the hardest.

They had always been the closest in the squad. They were the Domino Twins. He watched as he got blown up during the Citadel rescue. As he was ordered to move on without a second look to him.

A third time he was asked. The question. He'd been asked so many times lately. The question felt like a routine at this point. As he heard the words "𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚?" This time.

This time he didn't respond how he was supposed to. This time he didn't respond the way the engineered him and his vodes to think.

"Only because I have no choice."

#rp starter #open rp #arc trooper fives #star wars the clone wars #star wars rp #the clone wars rp #star wars #angst starter #domino twins

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megafrost4 · 1 year ago

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I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaack

Gosh, re-reading this hurt, but now I can finally introduce a big plot point I’ve held onto for a while...well, there’s a lot of those, but still.

COMMENT IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED/NOT IT’S BEEN A WHILE!

@eyecandyeoz @sifuprincesscarry @frigginsunshine @mustluvecho @archisstically-done

Chapters: 49/? Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker Characters: CT-7567 | Rex, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo, Hunter (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Tech (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Crosshair (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Wrecker (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives, CT-5597 | Jesse, CT-6116 | Kix, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Darth Maul, Cad Bane, Mace Windu, Hondo Ohnaka, Mother Talzin, CC-3636 | Wolffe, Plo Koon, Padmé Amidala, Howzer (Star Wars) Additional Tags: Post-Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Order 66 Happened Differently (Star Wars), Alternate Universe - Slavery, Les Miserables - Freeform, Clone Trooper Inhibitor Chips (Star Wars), Heavy Angst, References to Depression, Anxiety Attacks, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Torture, Aftermath of Torture, Medical Torture, Suffering, CT-7567 | Rex & Ahsoka Tano Friendship, CT-7567 | Rex Needs a Hug, CT-7567 | Rex is a Good Bro, Protective CT-7567 | Rex, Hurt CT-7567 | Rex, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug Summary:

Look down, look down, don't look 'em in the eye Look down, look down, you're here until you die

Look down, look down, you'll always be a slave Look down, look down, you're standing in your grave

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one-happy-silent-geek-girl · 2 years ago

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girl help I can’t decide which Winter Soldier AU I like the best: Rex and Cody; Fives and Echo; Jesse and Strike (this one could work both ways which is an additional point of indecision ugh)

DON'T ASK ME THAT LIKE I CAN CHOOSE GIRL

#tho my heart will always go to domino twins angst 👀#swift #moob #ask #every talks #swift fanfic

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imabeautifulbutterfly · 7 months ago

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Well that's not what I was expecting. If I wasn't all cried out from last night's finale, I'd be shedding tears at work.

All the Stars in the Sky

(aka: I was lonely and made myself sad... )

Fives x Reader - Fives doesn't see a good outcome to his situation so he writes a letter to his cyar'ika just in case 💔

To all my Fives lovers out there, he gave Rex this letter specifically for you:

Hey Cyar'ika,

It's Fives. I guess by now you've seen the news. I can't imagine what you must think of me but I swear it isn't all that they make it out to be. You know me - I fight for the Republic, for you and my brothers. For the truth. No matter what you hear, please believe me. This plot to overthrow the Jedi, the Republic, and everything we believe in is so much bigger than just me. I've gotten way in over my head, Cyar'ika, and I'm scared. I'm scared they'll shut me up to hide the truth. I'm scared they'll take you away from me. Please believe I'd never leave you of my own accords. Believe in me. I love you, Cyar'ika.

I used to think that the day I became an ARC trooper was the happiest day of my life. But then I met you. When I first saw you in that pretty little dress sitting on a barstool at 79's, I had a whole thing planned. I had all the best pick-up lines ready to get you to go out with me but when I made my way over there, I saw the stars twinkling in your eyes and I couldn't speak straight and I fell off my chair. The only thing I could say then was "it looks like I've fallen for you." It was the dumbest line ever but you laughed. You laughed and it was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard. Echo said you'd never say yes to going out with me after that, but you did. You did and I have no idea why. What made me so special?

Let's face it, I'm a clone - one of a million - I was never meant to live past this war. But you made me rethink that. I'm not so naive as to think I could have it all, but with you maybe I could have. We imagined our own little house out in the middle of nowhere with our three beautiful kids. You swear they'd look like me but I'd hoped they'd be as beautiful as you. I dreamed of wrapping you in my arms, finally having something of my very own that no one could ever take from me.

The reality of everything that's happened is so heavy right now, Cyar'ika and I'm not sure how this will end. I wish I could hold you in my arms one last time. If I have to die to fix this, I want you to know I died thinking of you. I died thinking of your lips on mine. Don't give up on me, Cyar'ika. I'll always be with you. Always. You can count on it. I'll tell Echo and Hevy, and all the boys up there hi for ya. I love you more than all the stars in the sky.

Your favorite ARC Trooper,

Fives

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jedi-hawkins · 6 months ago

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Raining Flowers

The Clones all deserve flowers! Or maybe they think you deserve flowers 😉 Either way, love is in bloom this week for the Clone Flowers Fic Event!

Throughout this week, May 20th-25th, certain participants will be posting their own fics of Clones and different flower themes that were selected! The participants as well as the Clones and flowers they will be writing for are listed below and links to each fic will be added as they are posted! 💐 Follow the tag #cloneflowerficevent to see them all as they come!!

Event Masterlist

@arctrooper69 - Tup, Rex, Gregor @photogirl894 - Hunter, Wrecker, Fives @nahoney22 - Fox, Tech @totallyunidentified - 99, Cody @dragonrider9905 - Hardcase @l-lend - Wolffe @moonstrider9904 - Howzer @eyecandyeoz - Waxer

Make sure to go check out their entries too, we'll be posting throughout the week!

Pairing: Echo x fem Jedi!reader

Chosen Flower: Cherry Blossoms

Word count: 3.7k

Rating: PG-13

Warnings/Notes: Mentions of death, mourning, disordered eating/recovery, nightmares, all canon trauma related to Echo's Techno Union arc, suggestive fluff, some swearing, reader has hair, friends (idiots) to lovers, mutual pining, a bit of angst

Beta-read by @photogirl894

As a Jedi Master you’re always being run hither and yon throughout the galaxy. Your most recent assignment has you on Naboo as head of security for a symposium of senators. Your squad of support troopers is set to arrive later today.

You have to admit, you’re a little nervous. The squad that’s being sent is Clone Force 99. You’ve worked with them before and get along with them well enough, but the thought of their newest member is what’s making your stomach churn.

Echo. You knew him before the mission that killed him, before he was even recruited for the 501st. He was your closest friend and confidant. After his valiant efforts on the Rishi Moon Outpost he was stationed on your Venator. You quickly recognized his skill for strategy and recruited him as your personal tactics advisor along with his twin, Fives. No matter how bad of a day you had, dinner and a walk with Echo always lifted your spirits.

Then Rex had to steal your Domino twins from you. You were so proud of them and you knew Anakin was gaining two of the best soldiers you’d ever seen, but you were still sad to see them go. You still kept in touch with Echo, you could always count on at least one holocall a week. You’d just fill each other in on the happenings in your lives, brainstorm war issues that were giving you trouble, talk about everything and nothing all at once. You were able to see him a couple times when you were sent to work with the 501st and it was always like no time had passed.

Then the Citadel happened.

You didn’t let anyone see you cry for him. A Jedi mourning a single clone? It felt like not many would understand, and the war was still raging. You had to move on with your head held high, and yet you were numb for months.

Fives kept in touch with you, you offered your condolences, but held it together for him. The two of you would share a holocall every month or so to catch up and reminisce in memories of Echo but it still wasn’t quite the same. Even though your best friend was gone, you found yourself talking to him under your breath about your day, just like those weekly holocalls.

Eventually the pain faded to just a dull ache in the background. Then Fives went rogue and was ‘decommissioned’ as the report put it. The last tie you had to Echo was gone. The Chancellor held that report under lock and key, so once again you mourned one of your Domino Twins with little comfort.

The numbness took over again, but this time it didn’t linger for quite as long. Just when you got to the point that memories of Echo and Fives brought happy tears, you got the comm from Anakin. They found Echo.

The guilt nearly swallowed you whole. Echo had been alive this whole time and you didn’t know. They mounted a rescue for him and you weren’t told. His recovery happened and you weren’t there. Today would be the first time you’d seen or spoken to him since your last holocall before the Citadel. You couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Why hadn’t he reached out to you before now?’

You had kept to yourself partly because you were being run into the ground by the Council, but also because you wanted to give him space. You weren’t sure he even remembered you. Would he still be your Echo?

Rex knew what Echo had meant to you and commed directly after they rescued him to fill you in more than Anakin had. He didn’t reveal much more, but he had let you know that the Techno Union did things to him. That he looked different, that he was found with a lot of integrated mechanics. That was months ago, and you hadn’t heard much since.

So here you were, anxiously wringing your hands awaiting the arrival of Squad 99.

You recognize their ship as they land, thankfully they scrubbed their nose art off before this mission. Probably with some convincing from Anakin. The ramp lowers and Sergeant Hunter disembarks to meet you.

You quickly run him through the plan for today. The symposium isn’t until tomorrow, but it is up to you to survey the venue to note ‘problem areas’ and make sure nothing is compromised.

Hunter suggests that Wrecker and Crosshair pair off and that he’ll go with Tech. He gives you an all-knowing look when you do the math of who’s left. You’d mentioned Echo in passing before to Hunter while on missions. When he commed to debrief about this mission, he asked how you were and suddenly you were spilling nearly everything about your history with Echo. Hunter had assured you his squad was taking care of him and that your worries would stay between the two of you.

“You two need the time to talk.” Hunter muttered, squeezing your shoulder and calling to his brothers.

You’re left waiting at the bottom of the ramp for a few more minutes before a figure appears in the Marauder’s door. Your stomach drops at the sight of him.

He looks so different. New metal legs shine in the sunlight, and a scomp link is where his right hand used to be. ‘No more double wielding,’ you think to yourself. His new armor is red and black, Batch colors. Your heart does warm at the sight of the kama he’s wearing, at least he hasn’t forgotten that he’s still an ARC. His new helmet is tucked under his scomp arm.

His eyes brighten when he sees you. Mechanical studs for Maker knows what dot his scalp, but even though his skin is much paler and his face is sunken in, those are still the same amber eyes that you’ve sought comfort in so many times.

Your voice is shaky at first. “E-Echo?”

Some color spreads across the bridge of his nose as he rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, d-different I know. You look good though.”

You smile at his compliment and lead the way to the side of the venue you two will be surveying. At first you walk in silence, neither of you really sure how to bridge the gap between you. You want to ask him how he’s been, how his recovery went, explain how sorry you are for not being there, but the words keep getting stuck in your throat.

You open your mouth to say something, but Echo beats you to it. “Do you still like roast bantha?”

“Y-yeah?” You respond, a little taken aback by his odd question. “Why?”

He shrugs “Because I had some the other week and it was the first real meal I enjoyed since returning.”

“It was my favorite, still is.”

“I remember.” Echo gives you a sideways glance. “You can ask, I know you want to.”

Of course he knew what you were thinking. You go back to wringing your hands. “I- I want to apologize first. I didn’t even know a rescue was happening, I should have been there but no one told me. I was off the grid on Taris.”

Once the words start, they don’t stop. “Anakin commed me after they got you out but they didn’t let me see you on Coruscant. Then you were reassigned and I didn’t know where you were. I’m sorry I should have reached out, but I wanted to give you space. I didn’t know if you remembered me...”

Echo stops you by resting his hand on your shoulder.. “It’s okay, really. You don’t need to apologize. I had a whole army of people fussing over me. I should have reached out, that was on me. I just didn’t know how you’d feel about all… this” He says gesturing to himself.

“Oh Echo, no. I don’t care about that. I was just so worried, I just wanted you to be okay.” You say hurriedly. “Are you- are you okay?”

He nods, turning to start walking again. “I am, there’s been some adjustments but I’m getting used to it.”

You tilt your head curiously, “Tell me about it. If you feel comfortable.”

“Of course I feel comf-'' His words are cut off when he stumbles on the stone path beneath your feet. “Well that’s one thing. These damn legs. The Techno Union gave me some rudimentary ones, but these are much more complex. They’re heavier and made me a couple inches taller too. I probably looked like a newborn fathier for the first couple weeks.”

You stifle a snicker and Echo notices.

“You can laugh, really.” He reassures you. “I missed that laugh of yours. You always shared my sense of humor.”

“Did they hurt?” You wonder aloud, glancing down at his metal thigh.

He shrugs, “Nah, not really. They’re wired up so that I can feel some sensation of moving but I can’t really register touch, it’s more of a dull pressure. Sometimes I’ll get some weird feelings, like an ache or an itch in my leg that’s not there, Tech called it ‘phantom pains.’ The most annoying thing is that I always feel warm now from the mechanics in me.”

Echo can see the curiosity glinting in your eyes. “Here.” He says, halting and propping his foot up on a nearby garden wall. He moves his kama out of the way before he gently takes your hand and presses your hand to his left thigh.

You can feel the warmth under your palm. It’s not quite like the warmth from human skin, but it’s not like the warmth from a databank either. It reminds you of the warmth of your lightsaber, you can still feel Echo’s life force pulsing under your touch.

“Incredible.” You mutter as he readjusts himself. “I remember you were always freezing before.”

He chuckles. “Yeah, I suppose I was. I would always steal Fives’ blankets.”

Your heart pangs at the mention of Echo’s twin. “Rex told you, I assume?”

“Yeah. He did.” Echo sighs. “Said something in his and Tup’s heads malfunctioned but couldn’t tell me much else. We had a little memorial for them.”

“That’s nice. I wasn’t there when it happened, he and I talked about you a lot.”

“I know he definitely would have had a few jokes about this.” Echo says waving his scomp link, trying to lighten the mood.

Your brow scrunches. “I’m surprised Anakin didn’t offer to make you a hand like his.”

“He did, I just thought I’d keep the scomp. Means we don’t have to lug around an astromec to get into places. I don’t mind it, it’s all right.” A sly smirk spreads across his face.

You groan at him. “Was that a kriffing joke?” You say, fully laughing at him. “You’re terrible. Fives would be proud.”

Echo’s laughter joins yours. “Yeah, he would’ve nearly pissed himself watching me figure this thing out. One morning I nearly took my eye out trying to rub it with this.”

You cover your mouth and groan at the thought as Echo continues.

“Another time I was enjoying some morning caf and leaned on the counter, only I forgot I didn’t have a hand anymore and the scomp slipped. Fell flat on my face and I smelled like caf all day.”

Again, your laughter starts back up at the mental image. “The Batch, are they treating you well?” You ask between giggles.

“They are.” Echo says with a nod. “They’ve really helped me through some of the rough parts.”

“Oh?”

“Well of course Tech has helped me figure out the kinks of my new mechanics.” Echo shrugs. “But he also really helped me with speech. For a while my mind was a bit jumbled. My thoughts were broken with old battle strategies, the data Techno Union kept pulling. I would lose the word for something right before I said it, use the wrong word, misunderstand what someone was saying. Tech helped me realize that my brain had literally been damaged, rewired, and that it would take time to come back from that. When I didn’t have the words, he had them for me. Others may find his tendency to finish peoples’ sentences a bit annoying, but I was thankful for it. Saved me a lot of frustration when I was trying to communicate early on.”

“I’ve always found that trait of his endearing.” You reply, not wanting to stunt Echo’s sharing.

“And Hunter’s great too. It’s been kind of nice having someone else in charge. He talked to me about it, acknowledged that I had more wartime experience than him, but he knew I needed to take a step back and heal, not be the one with all the answers.”

You smile at his mention of the Sergeant’s intentions. “Hunter has a big heart, he sees a lot more than you’d think.”

Echo nods. “He helped me with other things too. I sometimes get these electronic migraines. Tech thinks they happen when the mechanics in my head overstimulate the electrical activity of my brain but he couldn’t really figure out a solution. Hunter did though, since he gets migraines himself. Showed me his whole care routine to shorten them and ride it out.”

Memories of the time you witnessed one of Hunter’s migraines make you wince. “I hope they’re not too bad.”

“No, not with their help. The hardest thing to figure out was how to gain weight again.”

“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed, I mean you look…” Your words are lost as you gesture to him.

He gives you a sly look, but continues without comment. “Yeah. Food just wasn’t the same for me when I woke up. I don’t really understand the science behind it, but I wasn’t fed in Purkoll. They must have been giving me something but when I woke up I was emaciated and, I just didn’t have an interest in food. The appetite came back pretty quick as I started being more active, but I just couldn’t find stuff that made me want to eat. I mentioned the Bantha roast, that was Wrecker’s idea since he remembered you making it one time on mission. He’s been a big help in finding things I like. He also has this way of packing an insane amount of calories and protein into a meal. He was also pretty big in helping me regain muscle mass. Surprisingly, or maybe not, he was always the one to check in on me, make sure I wasn’t being pushed too hard.”

You smile. “Wrecker is a sweetheart, and he does have a way with food. He can make those GAR ration packs taste better than anyone. He has a way with people too.”

“His workouts are intense, though.” Echo jokes.

“Tell me about it.” You shake your head. “I hope Crosshair hasn’t given you too much trouble. He can be intense in a different way.”

“Crosshair?” Echo repeats. “Nah, he’s okay. He gives me shit like he does everyone else. He was a nice change from all the doctors fussing over me. He didn’t look at me like I was fragile. He didn’t treat me like I was going to break at any second, even when he…” Echo trails off, but you can sense his thoughts.

“You have nightmares don’t you.” You state gently.

Echo nods. “One of the first nights I was with them I had this dream. I was back there in that city being taken apart and pieced back together again; having my mind played with. I’m pretty sure I was talking in my sleep, yelling more likely. When I woke up I saw Crosshair was on watch, but he had his back turned to me. He didn’t say anything the next day and neither did the others. I don’t know if they heard me because they’re all heavy sleepers, or if Crosshair told them not to say anything. I don’t know if he’s been doing it on purpose, but he always takes watch when it’s my turn to sleep. Whenever I’m napping too, he’s always there with his back to me. It helped with the dreams, knowing I had someone watching for me.”

“Echo…” You mutter, unsure of what to say. You want to comfort him, but what could you do for him that his squad hasn’t already? He’s healing without you.

A breeze picks up before you find the words causing soft pink flowers to start raining down on the two of you from the trees above. You move to brush them out of your hair, but Echo’s hand wraps around your wrist to stop you.

“No, leave them.” He says, “They’re pretty.”

You bow your face to try to hide the warmth rising in your cheeks as Echo guides you to a nearby bench.

“Sit with me for a moment?” His voice is timid.

“Of course.”

“You helped me too, you know.” Echo says, tracing his fingers over your palm.

“How could I possibly have helped you?” You sigh, trying and failing at hiding the sadness in your voice. “I wasn’t there, haven’t been there.”

“But you have.” Echo insists. “It’s hard to explain, but in Purkoll I had these moments where it was almost like I was myself again. It was probably in the lulls when the Separatists weren’t accessing my memories. In those moments I talked to you, like we used to. I talked about my days, reminisced about the good times, funny memories. I think it’s what kept me from losing myself entirely. And when I woke up… I sort of kept doing it. The Batch is great, but they didn’t know me before, you know? They’ve never known me as anything other than this.”

Echo gestures to himself with his scomp before continuing. “And Rex, he did, but staying with him felt like it would’ve been a step backwards. I needed to move on, but I didn’t want to forget who I was, you knew me better than anyone, even Fives. There were days when it felt like I would never recover, never be the elite soldier I once was. Those were the days I talked to you the most, imagined what you’d say back to me. In my mind you’d let me have my pity party, then tell me to get my ass in gear. I should’ve just commed you for the real conversation, but I was a coward. I was afraid that you’d look at me like I was broken, so I kept you in my head. I hope that’s not weird…” He trails off.

You don’t even know what to say as your chest fills with awe. All this time, he’s been talking to you?

Echo gently tucks a loose strand of hair behind your ear. “These flowers suit you.” He says gently, filling the silence.

You glance up at the tree above you and hum to yourself. “They’re cherry blossoms. Fitting.”

“How so?”

“They’re a symbol of rebirth and new beginnings.” You explain. “Echo, it’s not weird or cowardly that you’ve been talking to me. I’ve been doing the same actually. I thought about comming you every day after Anakin and Rex told me they found you, but I was so terrified you wouldn’t remember me.”

He gently grasps your chin with his thumb and forefinger to raise your eyes to his. “I could never forget you. You were the tether that kept me, me. I wish we hadn’t wasted time getting back in touch.”

A light laugh passes through your nose. “Another lesson of the cherry blossoms. They bloom for only few days and remind us that life is fleeting.”

“If life is fleeting, then I guess I should go ahead and do this.” Echo mutters before leaning towards you.

He’s timid at first when your lips connect, but grows more bold as the seconds melt into minutes. You can feel his scomp arm pull you closer as his hand tousles in your hair. There’s a tiny voice in the back of your head chastising you, ‘Jedi cannot have selfish attachments.’ You immediately push it aside.

This, the love you have for Echo is no selfish attachment. You already lost him once, you mourned him and never turned from the light. He was your light. Your confidence builds as his tongue begins to explore yours, the garden around you fading away. The feelings you both harbored for each other all these years are finally confessed without a single word being spoken. It’s just you.

You don’t even know how long you two have been tangled in each other when you can hear a faint beeping coming from Echo’s bracer. He must have heard it too because he breaks away from you with a grumble before answering the comm.

“Echo, go.” He answers.

‘Echo, it’s Hunter. We’ve all finished our surveillance and are back at the Marauder, what’s your status?”

Echo’s eyes flit to you with your hand pressed over your mouth trying to keep from laughing. “We-uhhh got dis- duh… sah-sidetracked. Something suspicious we had to investigate.”

From the tiny snicker Hunter lets slip you can tell he doesn’t buy it. ‘Alright, we’ll keep your rations warm. Will the General be joining us?’

“Sure Hunter, I’d love to.” You call before Echo can answer.

‘Sounds like a plan. Don’t take too long or you’ll kiss- I mean miss dinner.’

“Womp-rat bastard.” Echo grumbles when Hunter ends the call.

You nearly keel over with laughter at Hunter’s comment and the expression Echo has on his face.

“I’m glad you find this amusing. How in Sith’s Hells did he even know?” He says, obviously trying to keep a straight face.

“Oh please.” You say, grinning. “Hunter’s literally enhanced to sense everything, he got us good. Come on,” you say, standing up. “Let’s finish our round so we can go eat.”

Echo stands shaking his head, but he takes your hand and gestures further down the path. “After you, ner sarad.”

“That’s mando, I recognize it.” You say over your shoulder. “What does it mean?”

Echo smiles at you, his eyes, those same old eyes lighting up. “I'll tell you all about it.

#the bad batch #star wars #tbb #the clone wars #cloneflowerficevent #tbb echo #ct 1409 #ct1409 #arc trooper echo #clone trooper echo #echo #bad batch echo #the bad batch echo #fives and echo #echo x reader #echo x you

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jiminjamms · 9 months ago

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sex therapy :: 27. missed me?

chapter tags/warnings: manipulative! naoya. therapist! toji. a very broken marriage (cont.). heavy angst but i am still not gege. infidelity/adultery. corruption. family drama.

word count: 3.0k

notes: i hope everyone has been swell! sending hugs to every corner of the world, and i hope my writing can be your little break from reality. i have also added more chapters to the fic since i cannot wrap up the story in the next few chapters, ha. enjoy! likes, comments, and reblogs are much appreciated. xoxo

fic masterlist | 01. 02. 03. 04. 05. 06. 07. 08. 09. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33.

12:33 PM Toji called 12:33 PM He told me that my daughter collapsed in front of the twins? 12:34 PM And you got into a fight with her? 12:34 PM How did that happen? 12:34 PM Are you with her right now? 12:37 PM Answer me please, I need to make sure she’s fine (Missed Call) 12:38 PM Can you phone me back asap? Thx 12:38 PM I’m still in the office right now, wrapped up the weekly meeting with the operating committee 01:01 PM Hello? 01:01 PM Hey, are you there? (Missed Call) 01:12 PM Toji called again, he gave me a rundown, and I have to say… 01:12 PM I’m very, very disappointed in you

Perhaps the better word would be terrified, but Naoya was truly and genuinely astounded.

How the fuck did this happen?

Naoya could feel his breathing grow shallow and his body turn cold as he read through each message from his Chief Operating Officer once, twice, three times. For a while, he stared at his chat history, his shaking thumb hovering over the screen while his mind went blank.

What started as an argument between just you and him now had your father involved. Not only your father, though—but also Mai, Maki, and now Toji?! How bothersome. Of course, you had to drag everyone into this! The world always had to revolve around you.

Naoya could not think straight as his chauffeur sped him back to the office from Mari’s apartment later that day. Even when he returned to his CEO suite, he could hardly focus on his conversations with department heads or strategy discussions with the Board when Daisuke L/N’s messages haunted him like an omnipresent and malevolent spirit.

‘I’m very, very disappointed in you.’

Goddamnit!

Naoya did not miss how your father was absent from the afternoon’s meetings either (although he was not stupid enough to point that out aloud at work when Naoya himself was involved in why), nor did he miss his own father’s narrowed gaze which seemingly lingered on him longer than usual.

Oh goodness, did he know, too?

No, he couldn’t have. Otherwise, Naobito Zenin would have pulled him to the side by now and given him a long and stern lecture.

Yet, when the early evening arrived, Naoya ultimately decided he must talk to you directly.

Not because he actually cared about your well-being. (Ha, as if.) But because he needed to quash the possibility that the rest of his family, particularly his Board Chairman father, could get a whiff of his quarrel with you before all hell broke loose.

Moments like these warranted him to push aside his dignity before things could worsen.

His greatest fear would be for this recent argument to become a domino effect, as the downfall in this marriage would certainly place him in hot water.

With that, the current Zenin CEO then tapped his phone for your contact.

He needed to check up on you but ended up in voicemail.

So, he dialed once more.

Voicemail.

Again.

Why were you not picking up his calls?

You always found a way to irk him with how ungrateful you could be. Sure, there was no secret that you hated him. He would admit he was rude, belittling, and patronizing, treating you like a trophy to tote around, a doll to splay at his will, and a woman who needed to learn her place. He knew this and you knew this, because he exclusively tolerated this marriage as a means to accelerate his life.

Despite everything, he made sure his wife was well-fed and looked after, only for you to throw a tantrum and now get his extended family involved? Ludicrous. Why not focus on the good things about him? Could you not see how he had attempted to reach you at least thirty times throughout the day? (His ultimate reason admittedly was selfish, but that’s not the point.)

Anywho, since when did you think that ignoring him was acceptable?

In a frustrated fit, Naoya tossed his phone into his desk’s paper heap and huffed.

To set things straight, he had made many sacrifices in his life to get to his seat today, like how—back in the day—he had to watch TV anchors praise his older cousin while sipping champagne in the Maldives with…whatever girlfriend he had been with at the time. Life had been hard, but he at last had everything he should’ve been entitled to since birth. This position, this family, and this company belonged to him, regardless of what stupid fucking traditions dictated.

Unsurprisingly, when Naoya took the helm, everyone scrutinized him. Sure, he might have lacked in a few (or, more accurately, a lot of…) regards since he hadn’t been built into the position the way Toji Zenin had been, but having you as his wife made him look good in family conversations and public discourse.

He just needed a little more time to get people to trust him. Then, once all the pieces clicked into place, he resolved to toss this marriage to the side.

That ‘time,’ he hoped, would be soon.

For now, he just needed to keep you for as long as he sought fit.

Buzz.

Well, speak of the devil.

You must finally be returning his call.

The sky had gone dark in the windows behind him now, but Naoya practically leaped from his seat, scrambling and shoving papers aside to find his phone buried beneath several printed reports. He hated how his hands quivered as he held the device, not that he could control himself at this point, and he snapped the moment he swiped at his screen.

“Where the hell are you?” Naoya hissed, clipped and impatient.

He did not get an immediate response, which infuriated him even more since he taught you to acknowledge him on the phone.

But then, he learned why.

Because instead, Naoya heard a low and harrowing chuckle.

“I guess you missed me, kid.”

The end to a marriage, for obvious reasons, would never be as glamorous as the start to one.

Many would dream for years about a wedding, but far fewer would think the same about a separation.

‘I'm going to file for a divorce.’

Admittedly, you were nervous when you announced the decision aloud in a crowded room for many eyes to see and ears to hear.

After all, even if you recognized the need for a change in your matrimony, you feared the consequences. You didn't want to cause your families to grow apart or your fathers to resent you. In addition, Naoya had been such a dominating fixture in your life these past few months, and he had led you to believe your days without him would be meaningless.

However, no longer could you set aside your emotions for his sake, nor would you expend extensive effort to salvage your marriage for other’s desires. Your sole purpose henceforth was to live a satisfied life without sacrificing more than what you already have for a husband who hardly look your way.

As a result, when you acknowledged divorce as the best possible solution to your demise, you were grateful for the emotional support and relieved faces from your worried father, the younger teenagers, and your trusted therapists.

Especially Toji.

“Come with me,” the very man ordered once you stepped into his apartment’s corridor with him.

Everyone else had been brought down to the apartment’s lower level after the earlier discussion in the master bedroom, with Megumi forced to take on the role as host in his father’s absence. The younger Fushiguro might be aloof and sometimes awkward, but word had gotten around that he was a good chef with his aunts nagging at him to prepare dinner.

“C’mon, don’t you want to show us what recipes you have learned on TikTok?”

“...No, not really. Can we just order KFC?”

The other conversation that drifted upward was between your father and the other three therapists, which made sense given that they all used to be colleagues back when Toji had been the CEO.

There was laughter, chatter, and the entire brouhaha brought ease to your nervous heart.

“Ladies first,” Toji said at some point after you had trailed behind him. He had taken you several meters ahead, opening the door to invite you inside. “This is my home office.”

You did not yet see the point in him doing a House Tour 2.0, but you walked in upon his gesture anyway. The hardwood floor beneath you felt warm, your body heating up slightly despite the coolness in the air.

Toji kept his office space as tidy as the rest of his abode. He had a white leather couch situated by the doorway and a workspace configuration to the side with desk lamps, an expensive chair, and a dual monitor setup.

Above his screens, Toji probably had fifteen accolades in cherry wood frames, each to showcase his achievements as countless magazines named him the best leader, the top executive, and the most promising innovator.

What caught your attention, however, was the wall beside his workstation.

There was a corkboard.

At first glance, the tacked-on magazine cutouts and photograph snippings seemed like a messy litter on the brown surface, but thin red strings—which made this look like a detective movie prop—connected one piece to another and suggested an order to the chaos.

“What is this?” you asked, a question not directed to anyone in particular as you neared the corkboard without waiting for Toji’s permission.

Upon closer distance, the vague letterings and images became clear.

The newspaper cover story fastened at the very center read in big bold print: “Zenin Corporation Announces New CEO.”

As the realization dawned that this was what Toji meant to show you, the man’s measured footsteps came up from behind you. He stopped at your side, watching how you inspected each element on the corkboard as though his room was your laboratory and he was your professor.

“The World Economic Forum estimates that more than 5% of global GDP is lost to corruption around the world each year,” he began, crossing his thick arms firmly over his chest. “Many articles you see here had been published online only to be taken down not even a few hours later. I suspect that Naoya this year alone has spent hundreds of thousands, if not millions, bribing the Japanese media to curate the public image he needs.” He then pointed around. “Look for yourself.”

You would have called Toji out for being a total creep if the objective of this collection had not been obvious. With scarlet threads weaving together to reveal an elaborate web of deceit, Toji had been curating an exposé.

There was one photo from your wedding day. Standing at the altar with Naoya, you looked so happy and blissful back then, the vibrant bouquet in your hands a colorful contrast against the pristine white of your Vera Wang wedding gown, your face radiant with a smile oblivious to the heartache that would come.

This publication, you have seen before.

What you did not recognize, however, were the articles dated from nearly a year ago, well before your wedding day, with even more printed five months ago, two months ago, one week ago…

…and reading the titles made you feel sick.

Japanese Hotshot Shares Intimate Kisses with Rumored Girlfriend Photos Reveal Recently Married Executive’s Secret Affair? Exclusive: Zenin Corporation CEO Spotted in Mexico with Alleged Lover

The accompanying pictures had the same two subjects in plain clothes and baseball caps, showing off little skin to reveal their identities to prying busybodies. Yet, upon an immediate glance, you recognized Naoya Zenin as the taller figure and assumed his very precious ladyfriend must be the other.

Photographers had snapped the two embracing each other in a cab’s backseat, sharing a secret kiss after a luxury mall date, and holding hands while stepping into a private plane.

All to say, you were revolted.

The more you mulled on these printouts, the more you could feel visceral disgust build in your chest.

To think you once contemplated saving a marriage with a man like that. Whatever his plan was for him and this woman, did he intend to make you a side character to their romance until the day you would die?

Your gaze darted around, and the photo with the most unobstructed view of their faces placed you on pause.

All of a sudden, a hard lump formed in your throat because, Holy shit, she’s…stunning.

Seeing the woman who your husband had had his sights on immediately unlocked a whole new level of insecurities within you.

No wonder Naoya could not bring himself to be married to you when he had her.

The woman was exquisite, to say the least. Despite the picture’s poor quality, you noticed her bright elegant face, plump pink lips, and long full lashes—precisely the characteristics that would turn heads in a crowded room. In fact, you secretly wished that you possessed her overflowing pulchritude as well.

If she was an angel from your point of view, she must also be in Naoya’s eyes all the more.

You gingerly drew a circle around her with a finger.

“Is she his mistress?”

Why did you even ask that? You already knew the answer. But, you wanted to confirm the facts rather than satisfy your curiosity.

Meanwhile, Toji ran his index finger very slowly over his lower lip.

He answered a while later.

“Yes.” As you had expected. Then, he added, “But she’s also my ex-wife.”

What—

Your jaw dropped to the trenches.

If you thought tonight had been filled with enough revelations, this one really sealed the deal.

His…ex-wife?!

Unlike the man before you, hiding your deepest emotions had never been your forte. Instead, you had gone stiff as your mind reeled in shock.

“She’s…Tsumiki’s mom,” you said quietly at the realization.

Yes, you have heard a lot about her. However, to make the connection between the lady in the picture and the woman who owned currently Naoya’s (and previously Toji’s) devotion stirred awake a thousand emotions.

Anger. Bitterness. Resentment.

Megumi had told you plenty about her before.

‘Treated me like a bag of shit, spent all my dad’s money on her shopping sprees every weekend, and even neglected her own daughter—my stepsister.’

Her pretty face could only go so far in disguising her dark heart.

With this understanding, you finally grasped Toji’s bitterness when he first met you. How fickle fate had been to him. Comical, even! For his younger cousin to take his succession rights to the clan, his executive position in the company, and—to top everything off—his wife from his family. Only for you (of all eight billion people in the world) to show up at Toji Fushiguro’s office asking for sex therapy?

Now, you comprehended why Toji and Naoya despised each other.

In addition, you understood why Toji and his colleagues had been suspicious of you. Trust takes time to build yet a moment to shatter, and all of them have had this trust broken before. By Naoya, yes.

But also, by her.

“What’s her name?” you had to ask, ignoring the searing ache in your heart.

Your therapist, on the other hand, tried to play off his vexation by shoving his hands into his front pockets.

“Mari,” and also, “She still uses my last name.”

Wow.

The audacity that some people in the world have.

“Here let me help.”

“Hm?”

At first, you did not quite get what Toji was referring to until he started tearing the magazine photos and newspaper stories.

Wordlessly, you gawked at him, both in confusion and astonishment.

“Why—”

Before you could complete the thought, Toji had placed everything into a neat stack and thrust the pile into your hands. “There,” he said with finality. “If you are to file for a divorce, take these to Naoya. See what the bastard has to say. Staying with him any longer would be a fatal flaw.”

Toji had never seen a single interaction between you and his cousin in person, yet he could confidently say your husband was the hamartia in your life. Perhaps the signs had always been obvious. Or perhaps, his recent experience in a toxic marriage allowed Toji to notice the red flags in yours from miles away.

“If you give him too much time, he’ll come up with his offenses,” he went on. “We don’t need to outfight him, though. We simply need to outthink him.”

Something about Toji’s emerald eyes gleamed in a way you had not seen before.

It was a different side to him, one where he planned and strategized, a flickering core of the businessman he used to be.

“Hi.”

You and Toji froze at the sound.

Megumi’s voice had startled you two as the boy peered in from the hallway, waving a phone in his hand—your phone. “Sorry to interrupt but, uh, he called again.”

Interestingly enough, Megumi did not need to explicitly mention a name for you all to know who he referred to. As your screen flickered on, you noticed the numerous missed calls and text messages that had flooded your notifications, all from one particular culprit, no doubt.

Instead of embarrassment, your body surged with aggravation at how your husband suddenly seemed desperate to know your whereabouts.

So now he cared, huh?

Before you could retrace your steps towards the door, however, Toji had already done so. He retrieved the device from his son’s hands and started dialing a number from your phone.

You tried to stop him. “Hey, what are you—”

But Toji dismissed you, pressing your phone to his ear as the call began to ring, and his lips curled into a wicked grin when the other line must have picked up.

“I guess you missed me, kid.”

last chapter || next chapter

end notes: I am excited to show the interaction between Toji and Naoya—I have been thinking about their conversation for a long time! This chapter is less of a whirlwind and more of a setup for the rest to come. Thank you for your support!

taglist: @dissociatingdiva @httpsplanetmarsdotcom @nemoyr @huangfairy @shadowarchon @203steph @agentdedf1sh @cloudybabes @lynn-writes-things @illicitwriter @7oji @kikuchimi @chaoticjojofan @musicisme333 @kumocchin @s-guru @mwahilovemylife @hey-gurls69 @cloudsinthecosmos @moon-mumu-moon @kazscara @skilerfrostfairy @funicidals @nico707 @proteovaldez @tsukiyohanayome @marimoares @qirbys @puffaloxx @sakanoshitaa @arizzu @kissditrio @lewd-bunny14 @mistyheart @szired @supsii @yvy1s @lazyassfinals @katkbc @tokyometronetwork @downtown-roponggi @the-cosmos-network

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return-to-twisted-wonderland · 3 months ago

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Welcome home, you're back where you belong.

Please read the FAQ if you have any questions!

Hello! Welcome to the blog that's spun off from my very rampant and fun AU! In this AU, Yuu or whoever you've named were taken from TWST into a different world as a kid or baby, only to return to TWST during the entrance ceremony. Now they have to renavigate a world that was lost to them with magic. You are more than free to just make up a Yuu for this or design your own version, anything is welcomed!

From these ideas can come comedy, due to whatever shenanigans the siblings get up to, and angst, you've returned home to see how much has changed around you. Nothing is concrete which allows for endless possibilities with this concept!

I will normally use Yuu for the sibling or child if they go unnamed in the ask.

Mod talks

Current Siblings or children:

Yuu Crowley - Crowley's kid [The-Broken-Truth]

Marcus Trein - Trein's son [The-Broken-Truth] Married to Azul

Darius Crewel - Crewel's son [The-Broken-Truth] Dating Vil

Canis Woods-Vargas - Vargas' son (Wolf beastman) [🔆 Anon]

Opening Ceremony: Heartslabyul

Domino Spade - Deuce's twin brother [🔆 Anon]

Roxas Hearts - Riddle's estranged older brother [The-Broken-Truth]

Emily Rosehearts - Riddle's sister [👻 Anon]

Trinity Clover - Trey's younger sister [🔆 Anon]

Dekker Diamond - Cater's brother [🔆 Anon]

Jacob Howl - Jack's older brother [The-Broken-Truth]

Nox Bucchi - Ruggie's older brother [The-Broken-Truth]

Hari Kingscholar - Leona's twin sister [👻 Anon]

Sundew Ashengrotto - Azul's younger sister [🍋 Anon]

Cordelia Ashengrotto - Azul's step sister (Not related to Sundew) [🦑 Anon]

Aquarium Ashengrotto - Azul's sister (Not related to Sundew or Cordelia)

Verde Ashengrotto - Azul's older brother (Not related to Sundew, Cordelia, or Aquarium) [💚 Anon]

Nessie - Octotrio's friend [🍇 Anon]

Peridot Leech - Jade and Floyd's younger brother [🍋 Anon]

Toryn Leech - Jade and Floyd's older brother (not related to Peridot)

Jayden Viper - Jamil's twin brother [The-Broken-Truth]

Didem Bint Asim - Kalim's younger sister [🐧 Anon]

Honeycrisp Felmier - Epel's twin sibling [🍋 Anon]

Riley Hunt - Rook's younger sister [👻 Anon]

Desmier Schoenheit - Vil's younger sibling [🎨 Anon]

Sage Crewel - Crewel's daughter (Not related to Darius) [🦑 Anon]

Kit Honest - Fellow's younger sister [🔆 Anon]

Aoda Shroud - Idia and Ortho's brother [The-Broken-Truth]

Belladonna Shroud - Idia and Ortho's sister (not related to Aoda) [🍋 Anon]

Aurum - Silver's sister [🐩 Anon]

Cyrus - Silver's brother (Not related to Aurum) [The-Broken-Truth]

Dusk Vanrouge - Lilia's son [🔆 Anon]

Malynne Draconia - [🔆 Anon]

Dawn Vanrouge - Lilia's daughter (not related to Dusk) [The-Broken-Truth]

Thornton Draconia - Malleus' brother (Related to Aurum) [🐩 Anon]

Vivienne Vanrouge - Lilia's wife (not related to Dusk or Dawn Vanrouge) [🕊️ Anon]

Ceceri - Sam's little sister [🫧 Anon]

Mayet Artemiyevich Pinker - Che'nya's adopted older sister [🪻Anon]

Oisin LeBlanche - Neige's half-brother [🪻Anon]

Nanette LeBlanche - Neige's twin sister (Not related to Oisin) [👻 Anon]

Mimzy & Genesis Crewel - Poodle Beastmen Crewel's daughters [🍇Anon]

#twisted wonderland #return home au #intro post

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marymunchkiin · 1 year ago

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I need an ambulance, everything HURTS-

I added more detail and lighting to this post! I originally did this and then made the more simplistic version because i didn’t like it! but here it is!

deepest apologies to my dear @monako-jinn-stories for putting up with me saying i hated it, then dealing with me through making the simplified version, only to post this one anyways

Reblogs and likes always apprecaited but please don’t repost!

#star wars #the clone wars #art #star wars art #tbb #digital art #the bad batch #bad batch #echo #fives #domino twins #ARC trooper Fives #ARC trooper echo #the bad batch echo #angst #mae's art #may's art

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coffeeandbatboys · 7 months ago

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Where Your Road Leads

Pairing: Fives x Fem!Reader, platonic Torrent (Kix, Jesse & Rex) x reader, platonic Echo x reader

Warnings: Heavy angst, temporary spousal death, pregnancy, fluff, language, throwing up...I think that's all

A/N this is possibly my longest one shot ever...

A knock sounds on your door.

Kix.

You'd been expecting him for the last two hours and he’s just now made it to your home. You open the door with every nerve buzzing.

“Kix, what took—”

You pause in fear when his face reveals only sadness and guilt.

“What's going on?” You demand, ushering the medic inside.

“I'm so sorry, vod'ika.” Is all he can manage with tears gathering in his eyes. Fives. Something bad happened to Fives. You’ve heard the report that he'd tried to kill the Chancellor, and that he was wanted by the Corries. But you thought he'd be safe with Rex. After all, the captain had been worried about him when he stopped by earlier.

“Kix.” You repeat. “Where's Fives?”

The medic takes a deep breath.

“He’s been,” he chokes on a shaky breath and his already unstable voice lowers to a whisper. “killed.”

Your knees buckle beneath you and you want to throw up. You stumble to the ‘fresher, Kix following behind to hold your hair as you empty the contents of your stomach.

“Oh, maker! No….fuck no.” You cry, dry heaving now. “There's no way.”

Kix runs a hand over his face to hide the haunted look in his eyes.

It takes a few minutes for your breathing to calm down. “And the test?” You quietly ask the question you've been dreading since he came in. It’s the reason you were expecting him, after all.

He turns to face you.

“Conclusive. You're two months pregnant.”

For the next six months, Torrent is always a comm away. Kix stopping in to make sure you're eating well enough to support both you and the baby, and Jesse helping you set up a nursery. Rex goes with you to most of your appointments if he can. You're grateful to have a family, even if they're not blood, and even if you and Fives weren't officially ‘married’. He’s still your husband, and they're your family.

It still hurts to wake up with a cold back where there would normally be the warmth of his chest, pressed against it, and anything that reminds you of Fives in your apartment remains untouched

When Echo is brought back, he finds out all about what happened and decides that the Bad Batch can wait. For now, he needs to uphold a promise that he'd made to Fives when the two of you first got together. If anything were to happen to a domino twin and his significant other was left behind, the remaining brother would take care of them. Even with the looming realization that his best friend is dead, Echo couldn't be more excited to be an uncle.

A year and a half later, you're sitting at the table, reading about the Chancellor’s ‘accidental' death and a subsequently revealed plot to kill the Jedi via the GAR, when you hear the front door open. Echo must be back with little Fiv'ika from the store earlier than expected.

But the footfalls that find their way into the kitchen aren’t mechanical like Echo's, and there's no excited babbling from your son.

You turn to see just who had let themselves into your house and—

Well…damn. This is new.

Fives is standing in the doorway. His curls are a little longer and his shoulders hang a bit, but he still has that light in his eyes, and his goatee is kept the way he always used to do it, and the tattoo is on the same spot that it always was.

You don't trust your eyes with the image. He can't be alive. He would have been here this whole time if he was alive.

It’s only when he speaks that you accept that he's here.

“Ner runi…” he murmurs, and you cross the distance to throw your arms around him. He's warm and soft and above all, he's real.

“Fives!” You cry, bitter tears rolling down your cheeks. “Where the hell have you been? You were dead!”

Instead of letting him answer, you grab his face and crash your lips against his. He returns the kiss with a relieved hum and tugs you closer. When you pull away, he wipes a few tears off your cheek with a calloused thumb, and his own eyes become glossy.

“I went in deep cover to investigate the chancellor. Commanders Cody and Fox are the only ones who know that I'm alive at all.”

The front door opens again, and this time it’s the sounds of your laughing child and Echo announcing “We’re home!”

Fives, however, stills with panic and pulls away from you.

“Osik,” he curses himself. “I should have realized that you could have moved on.”

I didn't.” You cut him off. “I didn't move on. You're in for the surprise of your life, Babe.”

His eyebrows scrunch as Echo and Fiv'ika enter the room. Echo stops in his tracks when he registers Fives’ face and you silently take the child from his arms.

“Firstly I want you to meet your son, Fives Jr., or as we call him, Fiv'ika.”

Fives’ eyes go wide and his knees suddenly feel shaky. He's not sure that he trusts his voice, but he tries anyways.

“You had our first kid and I wasn't there? Oh, maker. Fuck.” he brings a hand to cover his mouth, and tears spill over his cheeks. He falls to his knees and looks up at you.

“Ni ceta, Mesh'la. I don't know what to say…”

You shake your head and tug on his sleeve, silently asking him to get up. You wrap one arm around the love of your life and press your temple to his, while the other arm holds your son.

“It’s okay. You whimper. “We’re here. Were together.”

Fiv’ika reaches tiny hands up to grab his father’s goatee. Fives lets out a wounded noise and kisses your cheek.

You pull away for a second.

“Secondly, you’ll want to see who’s been helping me.”

Confusion crosses his face and you look over to Echo, who’s been standing outside the doorway of the kitchen.

“Who is….” Fives trails off, eyes locking on his twin. “Echo?”

The paler clone’s eyes fill with tears and he nods.

“Su cuy’gar, Fives.”

Your husband gives your shoulder a squeeze and rushes towards his brother with open arms. The two quickly fall into a sobbing embrace and you watch, practically beaming.

“I would ask how you’re alive but if I survived being blown up I’m pretty sure that it’s not that hard.” Echo laughs.

Fives only looks horrified. “I am so sorry to both of you. I should have been there-”

“Hey,” you stop him, moving next to both of them, Fiv’ika in between. “We’re safe.”

Fives pulls you all together in a hug, mumbling “I love you all so much.” He’s holding his entire world—his wife, his son, and his twin brother—in his arms, and he’ll be damned if he’s letting any of you go soon.

Mando'a translations:

Vod'ika: Younger sibling

Ner runi: My soul

Osik: Shit

Ni ceta: I'm sorry; I kneel

Su cuy'gar: Hello; You're alive

#tcw fives #echo and fives #arc trooper fives #fives and echo #fives #fives lives #fives x reader #arc trooper fives x reader #fives x fem!reader #arc trooper fives x fem!reader #fives tcw #star wars #coffee speaks #the clone wars #fives x you #fives star wars #Spotify

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