#domino twins fic

[crosshairlovebot]

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

🏷️ @starrylothcat @32rotations @sinfulsalutations @moodymisty @nahoney22 @freesia-writes @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius @bobaprint @ladyanidala @crosshairsnose @jesseeka @thegalaxys-edge @snarky-mans-gf @chopper-base @wenalena @shredderwest @leavingkamino @rexamongthestars @r2d2staser @bluebird-dreams @pb-jellybeans @a-streakofblue @theawkwardartist12 @mylifeisactuallyamess @padawancat97 @littlecrowtime @jedipoodoo @ezras-left-thumb @lovelycurls

TAGLIST FORM

[superlarva]

Happy Father’s Day!

Okay, okay, considering what my fic is about I felt obliged to post something today :)

Here is the prologue. It’s just Rex finding out he’s a dad (he’s gonna be happy about it I promise, he’s just a little overwhelmed). Also, sorry, no baby domino twins yet, we’ll get there soon (Next Sunday).

Next chapter: 01

Rated: Teen

CW: Implied child abuse

Rex turned restlessly in his sleep, his forehead dotted with sweat despite the chill of the December night air. The room was silent but for his quiet breaths, dark but for the soft red glow from the digits on his alarm clock. It was not set to go off for another two hours.

Rex shifted again, rolling onto his back and throwing off the covers, a small, uncomfortable groan escaping from his parted lips. Then, his breathing hitched and stopped completely, his chest failing to rise. His face paled, shining against the dark sheets in the dim light.

Nothing moved.

Not the flutter of a curtain or the twitch of a muscle.

Everything was still.

Then, in an almost imperceptible movement, Rex’s eyes cracked open. Not quickly, the way one does when pulled from the depths of a nightmare, but slowly, as if from a dream one cannot quite place, a dream that is forgotten as soon as it is over.

The stillness was now broken, and the silence soon followed as he gulped down ragged breaths to refill his depleted lungs. He did not sit, not yet; he lay, content to breathe and stare at the ceiling above him.

It was Tuesday. Before dawn. Yesterday he had closed one of his biggest cases. Today he would be writing up his reports. A thought like this normally bothered him. He would itch to get back into the field, to be assigned a new case, not to sit at a computer painstakingly entering information into charts, but today he felt this desire eclipsed by another. Perhaps from the dream or something else, he did not know.

 Rex pulled in next to the only other car parked outside the 501st district police station. He did not need to look to know it was Cody’s. His brother always seemed to be in the office and for once, Rex was grateful towards Cody’s insomniac tendencies. He could use the company.

Rex cut the ignition and sunk back into his seat, closing his eyes. He had felt off ever since he woke up. There was a strange feeling in his chest he could only describe as anticipation: a mixture of excitement and dread, nervousness and hope. The feeling was not new to him, but the way it sprouted seemingly out of nowhere was.

He sighed, opening his eyes, and running a hand through his short blonde curls. He had thought the hot shower and quiet 5 am drive down to the station would have soothed the feeling away, but clearly he had been wrong. Rex took a few more minutes to collect himself before he stepped out of his car and made his way into the station.

Cody was sitting behind a large oak desk, hunched over a thick stack of papers lying on top of an opened manilla folder. When Rex moved into the doorway of his office, he looked up, eyes going wide before darting over to the clock above the door, then narrowing in on Rex.

“Rex?”

“Cody.”

“You’re here early.”

Rex nodded, dropping heavily into the chair in front of his brother’s desk.

Cody glanced down at his papers, hesitating, before pushing them aside and leaning his forearms on the desk, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Rex fidgeted, suddenly embarrassed. He didn’t even know how to explain his feeling to himself, how could he explain it to his brother?

Cody cocked an eyebrow, waiting for Rex to elaborate. When he didn’t Cody leaned back in his chair, “You look tired. There’s a cot in the closet, I could—”

“No,” Rex cut him off, standing abruptly. “I just… I just need to work. To focus on work.”

Cody hummed knowingly, sliding the folder back in front of him as Rex made his way out.

 Work that morning was slow and by lunch the past six hours of typing up reports felt more like six days. Rex dragged himself into the kitchen to make a second cup of coffee and maybe grab something to eat from the vending machine since he forgot to pick something up on his way in.

As he was flattening a crumpled dollar bill to fit it into the vending machine, he heard rustling behind him. Rex turned around and saw Wolffe holding out a brown paper bag.

“Apparently I’m Cody’s delivery boy now,” Wolffe said, nodding to the bag, “It’s a Reuben.”

Rex took the bag and mumbled an apology before ducking his head and reaching for his wallet in his back pocket for more money.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s covered,” Wolffe said rolling his eyes—well, his eye—and hitching his thumb towards Cody’s office. Before stalking out of the kitchen, Wolffe leaned in and smirked, “You look like shit, man.”

Rex grimaced and sat down with the sandwich. It was good, he had to admit, but hard to enjoy. His mind kept wandering to the feeling of anticipation coursing through his veins that had only been growing as the day wore on. He had been doing so well recently. He had wrapped up a major gang related violence case and gotten a promotion, been best man at Bly’s wedding, and had just agreed with his therapist that he no longer needed weekly counseling sessions.

His heart felt like it skipped a beat, and Rex took in a short sharp breath, then shook his head, chuckling; maybe Kenobi had been wrong in his assessment of his wellbeing. He sighed, dumped his half-eaten sandwich in the trash, and made his way back to his desk.

 Rex was in the middle of a meeting when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. All eyes turned to him, and he quickly reached into his jeans and switched it to silent mode without checking the number.

Cody paused, crossing his arms in front of his chest before continuing to brief him and the rest of the 501st on… whatever it was he was briefing them on. Rex was too focused on counting his breaths and trying to suppress the awful feeling that kept washing over him. It only became worse with every passing minute. He felt his eyes glossing over and he diverted his gaze to the floor, vaguely aware of his hands fidgeting in his lap.

“Rex?”

Rex’s head snapped to attention, eyes focusing in on Cody’s creased brow as his older brother knelt down in front of him. Rex shifted in the chair looking anywhere around the now empty room except at Cody.

“C’mon, old boy,” Cody said trying to catch his eye, “What happened?”

Rex shrugged; he honestly did not have an answer for that.

“Do you…” Cody trailed off, eyes darting back and forth, “Do you want to come over for dinner?”

Rex began to shake his head to refuse the offer but stopped when he met Cody’s pleading eyes. His brother was just as worried as he was. About what, he had no clue, but it would be better to have something to distract himself with, even if that something was Cody grumbling at the TV about which play they should have made during the football game.

“Okay.”

Cody smiled and straightened up, “Alright, give me five and we’re out of here.”

As Cody left the meeting room Rex dug his phone out of his pocket and scoffed as his screen showed the time to be 4:55 pm. Of course Cody would make sure they left no earlier than 5. The scoff died in his throat as he caught sight of two new notifications.

A missed call and a voicemail.

Both from the same number.

The caller ID was labeled “KCPS.”

Rex blinked. His face went pale, and he clutched his chair like at any moment the gravity in the room might reverse.

He was done with the system. He had been done with the system when Cody, one year his senior, had aged out and assumed responsibility for him seven years ago. They couldn’t make him go back. They couldn’t—

Rex shook his head, trying to steady his labored breathing. They couldn’t make him go back because he was a 24-year-old man. He was no longer a child. He no longer depended on the system.

His breathing evened out and slowed. He clicked open his phone. If CPS wasn’t calling to collect him, then what were they calling for? He hit play on the new voicemail and held the phone up to his ear.

Hello. This is Taun We from Kamino Child Protective Services. We are trying to reach Rex Fett. If you are Rex Fett, please call this number back immediately. Our number is…

Rex dropped the phone from his ear and redialed the number. His heart was pounding in his chest. As the first tone rang Cody appeared in the closed glass doorway. Rex held up a finger and turned so the phone would be visible to his brother. Cody gave him a thumbs up and a quick smile just as the call connected.

“Hello?” Rex started, his pulse beginning to beat in his temples.

Hello, this is Taun We from Kamino Child Protective Services. How may I help you?

“I, uh, received a call earlier today asking for me to call you back,” Rex said before hastily adding, “This is Rex. Rex Fett.”

Yes, of course. Mr. Fett.

The woman on the other end of the line paused for a moment to shuffle around papers. After a few seconds she found what she was looking for and continued.

Your children Echo and Fives Se have been removed from the custody of their mother Nala Se. Because you are their biological father, they will now be placed in your care. Are you currently residing in the country?

“Yes,” Rex froze, unable to do anything other than answer her question.

And you are currently employed as a police officer of the 501st district?

“Yes.”

Are you physically and mentally fit to care for a child?

“Yes.”

Rex couldn’t breathe.

We will be waiting for you at the Kamino CPS office at 32 and Broad Street where you will be able to collect your children. At what time do you expect to arrive?

Rex opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He looked to Cody for help.

Cody’s mouth was set in a tight line, brows pushed together, concern written across his features. As soon as he saw Rex’s eyes meet his, he pushed his way through the door.

What? Cody mouthed, stopping an arm’s length away from Rex and eyeing his phone.

All Rex could do was shake his head, eyes wide and teary.

A woman’s voice crackled to life from the phone. Excuse me, Mr. Fett? Are you still there? What time will you be arriving?

Now that Cody was in the room, he could hear the woman on the other side of the phone clearly. He extended his hand towards Rex’s phone, seeking approval from his eyes before taking it gently from the death grip Rex was holding it in.

Cody held the phone to his ear and put a hand on Rex’s shoulder, gently squeezing, “Good afternoon, this is Cody Fett. Rex’s brother. He had to… step out for a moment. Where are we to be arriving to?”

Please report to the Kamino CPS office at 32 and Front Street. Mr. Fett will be able to collect his children there. Will you be arriving this evening?

Rex was just starting to be able to sort through his thoughts as he felt Cody’s warm hand suddenly tense up on his shoulder. Rex looked up at his brother, whose tan face was quickly draining of color. His brother felt his gaze and looked down at him, flashing a quick, sad smile before responding to the CPS worker.

“We can be there in 45 minutes,” Cody looked over to Rex for confirmation and received a small nod. “Thank you. Have a nice night.”

Cody hung up the phone before the woman had a chance to respond, turned to his brother, and wrapped his arms tightly around him.

After a minute Cody pulled back to look at Rex. Rex’s tears had remained unshed, and he quickly blinked them back, “Cody, I—”

Cody held up his hands, “I know, Rex. I know. It’s alright.” Then, only after seeing Rex relax a little, “Let’s go bring them home, okay?”

Rex nodded, “Okay.”

[here-comes-the-moose]

Man sometimes I’ll be minding my own business, feeling perfectly fine and then I’ll remember this one comic someone made (it was a gorgeous comic and I hold it very dearly in my heart) where basically Echo walked in on Crosshair causing some mischief and accidentally called him Fives.

And then I’m no longer okay.

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Galaxies Apart but Always Together

Fives finds out that his brother is still alive.

🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋

Guess who's back on their usual bs! Yes, that's right, it's me. Thinking about Echo's rescue from the Citadel and what would've happened if Fives was still there made me think of this.

Angst but with some comfort as well because I'm not going to be that mean to you today :D

Tagging the usual suspects: @inkstainedhandswithrings @saturn-sends-hugs @the-bi-space-ace

“Where is he?”

“Fives. Calm down.”

“I said, where is he?”

His captain grabbed onto his shoulders and held him in place, face stern. “The medics are giving him a once over. I need you to calm down. Take a deep breath.”

“Calm down?” Fives’ anger felt bitter in his mouth. “I get an emergency comm asking for my immediate return and I come back expecting to be told that one of you has died only to find out that my twin is still alive. And you want me to calm down?”

“I get that you’re angry, Fives, but I need you to stay with me here.”

“You don’t get anything. You’re not the one whose batchmate has magically arisen from the dead. Let me see him!”

“You know I can’t do that. There’s no point in barging in there right now. They aren’t going to let you see him until they’ve finished running their tests.” Rex’s grip tightened slightly. “Stay here and settle down a bit. You can go and see him as soon as they give the go ahead.”

“How long have you known?”

Rex’s stoney face gave way to mild surprise. “What?”

“I said, how long have you known?” Fives’ fists were clenched at his sides. His jaw was set and he was not letting his next line of questioning go unanswered.

“We only found out today.” The captain’s hands fell down to his sides.

“So what? You just found him? By accident?” He was met with hesitation as Rex avoided making eye contact. His brother seemed to be more interested in looking over his shoulder and down the corridor rather than at his face.

“Not quite.”

“What do you mean not quite? You just said you didn’t know.”

“We didn’t know for certain.” Rex sighed and met his gaze again. He looked slightly defeated. It was only now that Fives noticed the bags under the captain’s eyes. It didn’t look like he had slept recently. “Once we found out what strategies the Separatists knew, I had my suspicions. Cody and Anakin were less convinced but-”

“Wait. Cody and Anakin knew?” He stared at his brother in disbelief, his blood starting to come back up to a boil. “What is this? Are you telling me that I’m the only man in the GAR who didn’t know his own twin was alive?”

Rex sighed in frustration. “Fives, just listen to me for a minute, okay? Yes, we thought it was a possibility. But we couldn’t know for sure. I mean, the chances of Echo being alive this long after the Citadel were almost non-existent! We felt it was best if you were kept unaware until we knew what we were dealing with.”

“So you kept me in the dark? On purpose?”

“Yes. But we did it for your own good.”

Fives rolled his eyes and turned to face away from his Captain. The sterile floor of the medical unit was far less annoying to look at right now than Rex’s face. They hadn’t told him. They hadn’t told him.

“Fives, listen.” He refused to turn back around. Rex continued anyway. “We thought it was best if you didn’t know right away. I know you. I’ve known you since you were a shiny. So has Cody. And because of that we know that you can be impulsive and reckless, especially when your squad is involved. If we had told you that there was a chance of Echo being alive you would have jumped on the next shuttle out of here and gone to find him no matter what we said. Doing it this way meant that if our suspicions were wrong, and there was a good chance they could have been wrong, then you wouldn’t have gone through the pain of losing him again.”

“Would you have told me? If you hadn’t found him would you still have told me?”

“We would have done what was best.”

That wasn’t a yes. It also wasn’t a no. Fives’ skin prickled. They might never have told him. Despite all of their suspicions and their plans and their knowledge of how much this would have meant to him, they still went behind his back. He deserved to have been there. He should have been there. 

“I want to see him.”

Another sigh. “I know. But you also know that you can’t right now.”

Fives could feel his cheeks start to burn and his eyes sting with unshed tears. A hand settled on his shoulder.

“Come to the break room with me. Sit down, take a breather, and I can tell you what I know. Then you can go and see him, okay?”

Fives swallowed the lump in his throat before giving a small nod. He pushed back the tears and stood up straighter, letting his brother lead him down the corridor to a small break room reserved for those waiting on updates from the medics. Fives slumped down on a small sofa, resting his elbows on his knees. Rex sat down next to him. He placed a hand on Fives’ leg to stop him from bouncing it up and down. With how pent up he was, there was a chance he would wear a hole in the floor before the end of the conversation. No-one said anything for a while. Fives could feel the tension in the air. It was Rex that tried to break it first.

“You feeling any better?”

“No.”

A sigh. “I just want to help, vod’ika. What can I do?”

“Just let me see him.” Fives wasn’t going to let Rex’s terms of endearment sway him. He knew his brother was trying to distract him from everything.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I can’t do that?” Despite the question, Rex didn’t sound frustrated. “Anyway, he’s not going to be much of a conversationalist when he’s sedated.”

Fives shot up, horrified. “Sedated?” The captain had failed to mention that tidbit of information before. Along with every other thing he’d kept hidden.

Rex flinched. “Err… yeah. They had to put Echo under to run the tests.”

“What? Why?”

“He freaked out when they tried to run the check up. Turns out he still has a mean right hook on him.” Rex gave a mirthless laugh. “He took a swing at one of the medics, nearly took his eye out. They thought it would be best to knock him out for the time being.”

Fives felt cold. His ears were ringing. Echo had never been the biggest fan of the medbay to begin with, but it was never so bad that he would attack the medical staff. “How bad is it?” There was no response. Rex looked uncomfortable, too uncomfortable for Fives to stop panicking about what had happened to his twin while he had been gone. “Rex. Tell me. How bad is it?” His chest felt tight.

It took a moment for his brother to answer. “It’s-” Rex paused and started ringing his hands. He always did it when the news was bad. It wasn’t a good sign. “It’s- He’s.” The captain’s shoulders slumped. “It’s worse than we thought.”

Fives felt like the ground had disappeared beneath him. He was shaking.

Rex screwed his eyes shut. He was squeezing his right hand a little too hard with his left. He was probably going to have a bruise there come morning. “He lost three of his limbs.”

That shouldn’t have been surprising but it was. Echo had blown up. Of course the chance of him losing his limbs was high. Maybe it was because Echo had already defied the odds just by surviving that up until this point Fives had assumed his brother was still in one piece. “What else?”

“I don’t know if this is the best time-”

“Rex. Please. I’m going to find out sooner or later. What happened?”

If Fives hadn’t been panicking before, he definitely was now. Rex looked like he was about to cry. 

“They experimented on him.” His voice was trembling. “We found him in a cryochamber. They had him hooked up to machines. So many machines. He was plugged in like some sort… some sort of object.” Fives felt his heart plummet. “Tech had to disconnect him from the server. They were extracting information from his brain, that’s how they knew the plans. But it wasn’t just his head. It’s his pulmonary system, his respiratory system. It’s all tied up with cybernetics.” Rex looked at him. His eyes were wet. “They were turning him into a droid, Fives. One they could command at their will. The medics aren’t even sure they can run the necessary tests, not when he’s more machine than anything else. Kix said his heart rate is lower than it should be, but that could be the new normal for him. We don’t know how much we can do.”

Fives’ stomach rolled. He felt like he was going to be sick. More machine than anything else. They’d hurt his brother. Used him for their own sick games. And they could have stopped it.

“We should have gone back for him.”

“We didn’t have a choice, Fives.”

“We should have saved him!”

“And done what?” Fives looked at Rex in surprise. He hadn’t expected his brother to snap at him. He watched the man next to him shift slightly, clearly unsettled by his own outburst. Fives didn’t know what to say, but it looked like he didn’t have to.

“I understand your anger, Fives. I do. I’ve spent the last year wishing we could have gone back for him. But we couldn’t. And even if we had, there was nothing we could’ve done. The Kaminoans wouldn’t have helped him, not with the level of injuries he had. And that would have been if we were even able to get him off-planet.

“I never wanted it to be this way, Fives. None of us did. But he’s back. He’s back and he’s going to need us now more than ever. We have to be there for him.”

Fives let out a shaky breath. “I’m so scared, Rex.”

“I know, vod’ika. I know.” Fives let himself be drawn into a hug as the two men shared their grief.

🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋

Rex was right. It was bad. Actually, the captain had understated just how bad it was. Nothing could’ve prepared Fives for the sight that had met him when he finally entered the medbay. 

His brother was on the bed, hooked up to wires and machines that were monitoring his vitals. Kix was right, his heart rate was too low. It was unnerving. Echo’s skin was pale, sickly, his usual tan muted by the pallor he used to get on the rare occasion he came down with a virus. Fives had asked the medics about the ports in his brother’s head, whether they would stay there. He was told that they couldn’t take them out, not without doing damage to Echo’s brain. They were going to have to stay.

The decision had been made to get some new legs made to replace the ones the Techno Union had given to him. No conclusions had been made about the scomp link just yet. They were going to leave that for Echo to decide when he woke up. 

Fives shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He was starting to ache and his hands were damp with sweat from where he had been clasping onto Echo’s. He’d been there for the last few hours, but he wasn’t going to move now. He was staying by that bedside until his brother woke up.

🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋

“What do you mean you’re leaving?” Fives stared at his brother in complete disbelief. He and Echo were in the barracks, having just come back from the mess hall. Echo had seemed tense and unusually quiet while they were eating, but never did Fives suspect that this was the reason why.

“I mean that the Batch have offered me a spot with them. And I’m going to take it.”

“But-” Fives didn’t know how to respond to that. That was it? After everything that they had been through? Rishi, The Citadel, Anaxes? He was just going to up and leave?

“I’ll still see you around, just not as often. I need to do this, Fives.”

“Do what?” Fives was angry. “Leave your brothers behind? After everything?”

“Fives…”

“Don’t “Fives” me! You're leaving the 501st! For a group of clones you don’t know!”

“They helped rescue me from the Citadel.”

“I would have too!” A fire burned hot in his gut. “The only reason I didn’t is because I would have been a liability apparently!”

“You know they made the right decision about that, Vod.”

“No! You don’t get to tell me what is and isn’t the right choice for me! Not when you’re about to go and run off with a bunch of strangers.”

Echo’s face turned stoney. He fixed Fives with a cold glare and folded his arms across his chest. “Stop. You’re acting like a child.”

Fives scoffed. “Me? A child?” He pointed an accusatory finger at his twin. “You’re the one that’s leaving us behind to go and hang out with your new friends that you’ve only known for all of five minutes!”

“And yet right now, they’re being far more accepting of my decisions than you are.”

“They didn’t even trust you!” Fives flung his arms up in frustration. “They thought you were working for the Separatists!”

“They had every right to do so and you know it.” Echo’s voice was level, but stern, unhappy. “This is my choice, Fives.”

“It’s a stupid choice if you ask me.” All he got in response was a glare. He rarely saw Echo this annoyed and that probably should have worried him, but he was too frustrated to care. 

“You’re 501st, Echo! You have been since the day Rex took us in. You can’t abandon that now.”

Echo bit the inside of his cheek, clearly mulling over what he was going to say next. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like his thought process involved changing his mind.

“I’m not abandoning anything. Things aren’t the same anymore, Fives. I have to do what’s necessary for me right now.”

And apparently that didn’t seem to involve his brothers. Nor his own twin. Fives looked Echo right in the eyes. “You’re right. Things aren’t the same anymore.” And with that he stormed out the door, barging Echo’s shoulder on the way and muttering a sharp “hope you enjoy your new family” as he marched down the hallway.

🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋

“There you are.”

Fives look up from where he was hunched on the floor to find Rex standing in the doorway, hands on his hips. His brother came over to sit next to him, slotting himself in the small gap between Fives and the next bunk over. It was narrow enough that Fives found himself pressed shoulder to shoulder with the captain.

“Echo’s leaving.” It was all he could muster up at this point.

“I know.” Rex glanced at him before staring at the wall opposite. “He tracked me down, panicking because you’d stormed off after an argument, so I’ve spent the last two hours trying to find out where you’d holed yourself up. And there was me thinking I was done with you guys and your fights."

When the attempted joke didn’t get a reply he nudged Five’s shoulder gently. “You know he’s making the right choice.”

That got Fives fired up again. “You’re letting him go?”

“I’m not letting him do anything. It’s his choice.”

“But you're our captain. Surely you can make him stay.”

“I could, but I’m not going to.”

“Why not? He’s leaving us behind!”

Rex’s face was gentle as he faced Fives. “He’s not leaving us behind and you know it. He’s going where he needs to be.”

“But he needs to be here!”

“No.” Rex gave him a soft smile. “You need him to tell you it’s all going to be okay. That’s not the same thing.”

“You’re letting him go off with a bunch of lunatics.”

His brother chuckled. “Once again, I’m not letting him do anything. And they’re good men. They’ll look after him.”

Fives furrowed his eyebrows. “You punched Crosshair in the face.” He was hoping that his unimpressed look would show the captain just how ridiculous he found this whole situation. Rex floundered slightly as he tried to find his next words.

“Err… well.” He coughed nervously. “Maybe I did.” He quickly pulled himself together. “But tensions were running high. We were all stressed out. I have every faith that they will look after him.”

Fives was still not convinced.

“I mean it, vod’ika. Echo’s doing the right thing.”

“You’re just saying that because he’s your favourite.”

Rex shot him a grin. “Maybe I am.” Fives punched him in the shoulder. “And maybe I’m saying it because I want both of you to be happy.”

Fives curled up into himself. He felt less frustrated and more disheartened. His twin was  going to leave. “How can I be happy when he’s not here?”

“Because you know he’s going to be out there somewhere. And you know he’s going to be doing what he needs to.” Rex leant into him, putting a comforting weight on his side. “I don’t want him to leave either. But I know that we can’t help him the way we want to, not right now. It’s not going to be easy, but I’ll take comfort knowing that there are people out there who can help him heal, and you should too. He’ll always be our brother, Fives. And he’ll always be your twin. Never forget that.”

🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋🁋

“I’m sorry I yelled at you.” Fives was sat on the bed in front of Echo, arms wrapped around his legs, which were brought up to his chest. He tucked his chin into his knees and glanced up at his brother, who was sat with his legs crossed, looking at his twin intently.

“I know.” Echo bowed his head and picked at the end of his scomp nervously. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“No, you were right to wait. All I would’ve done is yell at you sooner.” Fives tried to give a halfhearted smile, but his mouth twitched sadly. After his conversation with Rex, he’d come to find his brother, hoping to reconcile for what had happened before. Things were uncomfortably tense and Fives couldn’t help but fidget anxiously.

“I’ll always love you, you know that right?”

“Of course I do, Echo.”

“No. I mean it.” Echo stared at him intently. “I know that you’re going to get all caught up in that head of yours and convince yourself that I left because I don’t love you anymore. Or that I walked away because I blame you for leaving me at the Citadel.”

Fives flinched. That cut a little deeper than he was hoping.

“My path is different now, Fives. I can’t escape what happened to me on Skako Minor, but I can learn to live with it. I’m not the man I once was, and I can’t pretend like nothing has changed. I’m doing what’s best for me, Fives. Not because you’ve done anything wrong, but because what I need right now is to be with people who understand what it’s like to be different.” Echo shuffled forward awkwardly and took one of Fives’ hands in his own. “Things are different now, vod, but that doesn’t mean I love you any less. And, hey, now I can access even more reg manuals than before.” He gave his scomp a quick spin and grinned at his brother. Fives felt the corner of his mouth twitch up in amusement.

“I’m going to miss you.” Fives mumbled, brushing his thumb over Echo’s hand.

“I know, vod. I’m going to miss you too. But remember, I’m always going to be a comms call away. If you need me to get you out of trouble, give me a call and I’ll be right there.”

“Going to use all that new insider knowledge to save my shebs?”

“Of course.” Echo looked at him with a big smile before his face grew soft. “Everything is going to be fine, you hear me?”

“You said that before the Citadel.”

“Yeah, well.” Echo shrugged. “Geniuses can’t be right all of the time.” Fives shoved his shoulder, chuckling. 

He pulled Echo into a hug, wrapping his arms around him tightly and burying his head in his neck. “You promise me it’s going to be alright?” His voice was muffled by Echo’s shoulder.

“I promise, vod.” Fives was starting to feel better. He was scared, sure, but he trusted Echo’s reassurances. Maybe Rex had had a point. Maybe all he needed was to be told it was going to be okay. Stupid Rex being right all the time.

“Promise me they aren’t going to be your new favourite people?”

Echo laughed and gave him a squeeze. “Hmm, I don’t know about that. Tech has some pretty cool stuff to play with and Wrecker-” Fives jabbed his finger into his twin's side, which just made Echo laugh harder.

“Okay, okay. I promise. You’ll always be my favourite.”

“Di’kut.” Fives mumbled.

The galaxy may be changing, but if there was one thing Fives knew for certain, it’s that the dominoes always stuck together, even if they were galaxies apart.

[saturn-sends-hugs]

@the-bi-space-ace @floundrickthewayfarer

👀 oh. uh. …gimme a sec—

*digs through old wips bin*

OK SO, like the original post, this fic was going to be a time loop. specifically, a time loop of the citadel mission. MORE specifically, Fives, in a time loop of the citadel mission.

>:)

concept ramble below cut

the bare bones idea was just for the first chapter to be a domino twins focused rewrite of the citadel mission, complete with silly banter, devastation, and fives losing his absolute mind as he gets back to base alone.

but then!! fives would wake up! and tada, echos right there next to him like he was earlier, the mission hasn’t happened yet and hey, it must’ve been a dream.

but fives can’t help but notice that he knows exactly what’s going to happen. he recognizes what people are going to say before they say it, he knows the plan for the mission and knows every death that happens along the way. he’s uncharacteristically quiet through the whole thing, and when the shuttle explodes, he cant stop it.

he wakes up again. and again and again and again and every single time, he can’t save him. no matter what he does, no matter how he tries to change things, echo always dies.

or so he thinks, of course. i’m pretty sure the ending i had planned required fives to realize that echo DIDNT die, and the time loop only happened because they always left him behind

it was really just an excuse for me to pack as much echo and fives angst into a single fic as i possibly could. when else am i gonna get to explore all the fun possibilities like:

Fives struggling to cope with echos death in the midst of it replaying on a constant loop

Fives trying to convince Echo of the time loop and because he’s Echo he believes Fives, but it still never changes the outcome

Fives sacrificing himself for Echo only for it to fail as Echo dies instead

Them making it past the shuttle explosion only for a million other things to kill Echo anyway

Fives getting sick of the aftermath of echos death and the journey back to base and just… skipping back to the start

Fives convincing Rex of what’s happening and still nothing changes

Fives not being able to look at Echo anymore without seeing him die

Fives slowly growing more cold and distant towards his twin as he’s forced to survive in this nightmare

seriously the angst potential is limitless

but yeah. that was the idea :P we’ll see if it ever gets written.

[agerefandomrambles]

Title: Domino Effect

Word count: 1648

Little: Bob, Rooster, Phoenix, Hangman, Payback, Fanboy, Coyote

Cg! Maverick, Iceman, Penny, Slider

Warnings: involuntary regression, obligatory military warnings

Plot: Bob regresses during a meeting and sets off a domino effect, leaving Mav, Ice, slider, and Penny to watch 7 little ones

"Bob! Jesus christ, talk to me!" Phoenix screeches as the plane rolls to the side, Mavericks plane barely missing them as it zips past.

"Sorry! He's already coming around 'Nix, you gotta go up" Bob replies, snapping out of the daze he was in and trying so hard to focus on the enemy plane that he doesn't realise he used his nickname for Phoenix.

Phoenix just frowns softly and files that bit of information away for later, focusing on pulling the plane up and into the sky in an effort to escape Maverick.

It doesn't work of course, and Maverick ends up shooting them down only 2 minutes later.

"Copy kill" Phoenix sighs, pulling the plane down to land.

They land the plane quickly and the next team goes up. Bob starts to walk back to the lecture room but Phoenix places a hand on his shoulder, gently stopping him.

"Bobby... what's going on?" She asks softly, her eyes full of concern for her WSO

"I'm fine Phoenix. I'm just a bit spacey today that's all" He reassures her. He shrugs off her hand and starts walking towards the lecture room.

She frowns but follows him silently. She can't force him to admit what's wrong, so she settles for staying close to him so she can catch him when he does inevitably end up slipping.

The pair walk into the lecture room. Bob sits down and pulls out his lunch box, nibbling on a sandwich he packed. Phoenix walks over to Rooster, gently pulling him over to a corner where no one can hear them.

"Roo. I'm worried about Bob. He's on the verge of slipping and to be honest, so am I. I don't know what to do."

"Oh. Uhhh... how close is he to slipping? How close are you to slipping?" Rooster stammers.

"I don't know. He's spacey and he called me 'Nix and he just seems out of it" Phoenix sighs, her eyes darting over to Bob, whos still sitting in his seat and eating a sandwich while staring at the wall.

"OK, well Maverick only had 2 more flights left. One with Hangman and the other with Coyote. We can watch him until Mav gets back." Roosters says, injecting some confidence into his words.

Together the two walk up to the boy. "Bob? It's Roo, you ok?" Rooster asks softly, squatting down to his level.

Bob's eyes move from the wall to Rooster slowly and he gives Rooster an absent smile. "Hi Roo," he says in that certain soft voice.

"Hi Buddy. Are you feeling small?" Phoenix asks Bob, smiling at him gently. Bob pauses for a moment, his brows furrowing as he thinks but he nods, his cheeks turning a soft pink.

"Awe it's alright Bubba. Big brother Roo's got ya" Rooster coos. He sits down next to Bob and pulls out his own lunch. The two eat together while Rooster talks and asks Bob yes or no questions that he can nod or shake his head to.

Phoenix wanders off, finding herself sitting next to Payback and Fanboy as they heatedly debate some topic that's far too big for her to comprehend at that moment.

She must have spaced out because next thing she knows, there's a soft tap on her arm to get her attention.

She turns around, eyes focusing from where she had been just staring at the wall. She has to hold back a groan though when she sees Bob standing next to her, holding Roosters hand while Rooster is looking down at the floor, tears in his eyes.

"Hi 'Nix. Roo slipped and he's littler then me." Bob says, his eyes wide as he gazes up at Phoenix.

Phoenix opens her mouth to say something but to her surprise (and everyone else's), a loud sob bursts out of her mouth.

As soon as she's started, she can't stop. She sinks off the bar stool and onto the floor, sobbing into her hands as her hold on her headspace breaks and all of a sudden she's just a little kid expected to watch two other babies.

The whole bar just watches in shock for a moment, and it's Coyote moving that snaps everyone out of their daze.

Coyote immediately moves to her side and crouches down next to her in an effort to both comfort her and shield her from the rest of the bargoers. In the same movement, Fanboy and Payback launch forward and gather up Rooster and Bob, herding the two littles into the booth that they had grabbed in the hopes of keeping them from crying too. Penny busies herself with ringing the bell to grab everyone's attention.

"Anyone that isn't a part of the current Top Gun class needs to get out of my bar right now" She shouts, ushering everyone out in a matter of minutes.

That's the sight that Maverick and Hangman walk into. A rapidly slipping Coyote trying to comfort a distraught Phoenix who is sobbing on the floor, Fanboy doing his best to entertain a regressed Rooster (who is pouting and trying to eat floor chips), Payback (who is playing with Bob's glasses) and Bob (whos fast asleep on the table) and Penny trying to get everyone else out of the bar.

The pair just kinda stand in the entryway for a second, then Hangman scurries away from Maverick's side and joins the littles in the booth, also having slipped the second he walked into the bar.

Maverick lets out a long-suffering sigh, then whistles to get everyone's attention. The entire bar instantly goes silent as everyone freezes and looks up at him.

"Who here can honestly say that they are fully big right now?" He asks, his head sweeping the group of 8. Penny hesitantly raises her hand and everyone else stares at the floor.

"Seriously? 7 flips and every single one of you slipped?" Maverick groans, already pulling his phone out to call for backup. He speaks quietly into the phone before quickly hanging up.

"Alright, us adults are outnumbered so headcount Kiddos" Mav says not unkindly. The 7 littles immediately number off with Rooster being number 1 and Phoenix being number 7.

"Cool, we've got everyone here. Ok, how little are we talking?" Maverick asks, moving to join Penny while his mind is racing and planning.

Fanboy is the first to speak up after a few moments of unsure silence. "I'm around 10". Phoenix is next, Coyote having carried her over to the booth after she'd calmed down a little. "I'm 5!" she giggles. "I'm 2" Payback whispers, hiding his face in her neck. Bob pipes up with "I'm 4ish?" Coyote hesitates a second, not wanting to butt out before muttering, "I'm 8". Hangman immediately hi-fives him, saying, "Same bro". Rooster doesn't say anything, just staring around with wide eyes, clearly far too little for words at the moment.

Maverick sighs for what feels like the millionth time, turning to Penny when he realises almost everyone is on the lower edge of their age ranges. "Can you make up 4 bottles for me?" He asks her quietly. When she nods, he turns back to the pack of littles slotted into the booth. "Fanboy, Coyote and Hangman, you feel up for some fries and water?"

The three oldest kids nod, chambering out of the booth and jostling to the counter where Penny has already put a basket of chips and 3 (plastic) glasses of water.

Penny and Mav walk over to the booth with 2 bottles each and a calm settles over the group as everyone eats and the older kids and caregivers chatter quietly.

After 5 minutes, Ice and Slider walk in. Slider walks right in and takes a seat next to the 3 unattended boys, stealing a chip and chattering quietly to them.

Ice walks quietly over to Maverick and Penny, taking note of the fact that Bob is fast asleep against Penny and Rooster is asleep in Mavericks arms. "What happened?" Ice asks, amusement clear in his face.

"Bob regressed and set off a domino effect. Unfortunately, they all regressed and they all regressed to the younger end of their age ranges." Maverick sighs, careful to keep his voice low and not wake the baby in his arms.

"Can you help us get the kids back to our house? We can have a sleepover sort of situation. Penny already agreed to help watch them and I think you'd have to fight slider to get him to miss you" He adds.

Ice agrees and takes Phoenix and Packback in his arms, the 2 toddlers blinking slowly and sucking on their thumbs as they fight sleep. He places the 2 in his car and drives them to his and Mavericks house. Penny takes Bob because he's already asleep on her. He wakes up in the car but falls asleep again quickly. Maverick takes Rooster and Fanboy (he tried to take Coyote but he threw a fit at being separated from Hangman). Slider takes Hangman and Coyote, the two aging up slightly on the ride to around 12.

The 4 adults load the 7 kids out together and herd them into the house.

Hangman, Coyote, and Fanboy all start building a pillowfort for the sleep over immediately with Iceman supervising them. Bob and Rooster are laid down for a nap by Slider. Maverick and Penny make dinner with some help from Payback and Phoenix.

Within a half hour, everyone is fed and bundled up in the living room. Ice puts on Tangled and by the end of the movie, everyone is asleep in a tangle of limbs and blankets.

It might be the most chaotic babysitting he's ever had to do but looking down at his best friends, husband and adopted kids, comfortably asleep in his loving room, Maverick can't imagine a better way to spend a Saturday night

[tending-the-hearth]

hehehehehe guess who's back and more delusional than ever that fives is alive <3

during her walks to visit crosshair, omega finds herself taking the same path past a certain cell that holds a clone. she can make out the "5" tattooed on his temple, and despite everything, he manages a small, kind smile towards her whenever he spots her walking by.

he hears omega and crosshair escaping, laughs to himself when he hears crosshair distracting the guards, and hopes with all his might that both of his siblings can escape safely. when he hears the whispers of the escaped clones, of their disappearance off the planet, and the smile doesn't leave his face for days.

but something happens, and omega's back on tantiss. crosshair's still gone, but omega's being shoved past his cell, and he can barely muster a smile for her, but he does, because he sees the way her eyes light up just slightly when they make eye contact.

and suddenly, one day, the lights of the base flicker, and the doors to the cells are opened. there's shouting, and troopers running past, and he can't help but join the fight, knocking out a guard and taking his blaster.

and echo and rex have joined the fight to finally, finally get omega back, and they're running with the batch, and come upon a swarm of storm troopers and guards. they're holding their own pretty well, until a few get a bit too close, and echo's standing side-by-side with rex, and suddenly there's a clone kneeling in front of him, firing off at the guards, and instincts take over, and it's easy for echo to stand with him, taking out the higher ground while he goes for the lower ones.

it's a position so achingly familiar that echo can't help but take his eyes away from the battle, and he spots the tattoo. he spots it, and everything sharpens around him. he feels more alive than he has in months, and there's a new fire in him as he starts shooting again, moving around him, and he moves around echo, with a familiarity that has rex's shots faltering as he also recognizes the clone.

and the trapped clones are escaping, shuttles taking off towards safety, loaded with brothers who are still in disbelief that they're safe, and it's not echo who grabs his arm, it's omega, who recognizes him from their brief conversation back on kamino, before everything went to shit, recognizes her brother from his smiles, and she grabs his arm and pulls him after her onto the marauder, and echo's waiting, he's got his helmet off, and a massive smile on his face, and he can't stop himself from smiling back as he jumps onto the ship and into his twin's arms, rex laughing as his boys are reunited, joining the hug and holding echo and fives close to his heart as they escape.

[threadmonster]

Concept:

It's May 4th and Shinra has been talking about his plans to marathon Star Wars with Celty. He isn't particularly interested in the series but Celty is intrigued by aliens and all. Izaya is annoyed. Of course Shinra, as usual, only cares about Celty. It still makes him feel gloomy though, it's not like Shinra ever forgot his birthday before.

He gets even more annoyed when Shinra calls him for a favor. Why should he care if Shinra forgot a few things at the store? But it's fine, whatever, it's not like he has anything better to do. Even his own sisters didn't bother to send him his birthday death threat.

Shinra told him to let himself in. He doesn't know why all the lights are off. He huffs and turns them on all just to be bombarded by a chaotic mess of "Happy Birthday" wishes and a camera flash in his face.

He doesn't know what to say or how to react. He sees Shinra, Celty, his sisters, Kyohei and the van gang, Simon was there. He wants to get mad, how dare he be fooled like this. In truth, he doesn't even know how to feel about it.

You see, his self-worth is so low that he can't understand, people do care about him.

[literallyjustanerd]

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.

[fandom-friday]

Hello!! I’ve been seeing fandom Friday around so I thought I’d drop by!

First is this awesome fic about the Domino twins and Ahsoka being siblings (and a partial fix-it) by my good friend @saggitary. I cried 😂 many times while reading, and even did some art for it; it was that moving. I have gone back to read it multiple times

And then as a shameless plug my favorite Fives x Reader fic that I’ve written so far about reader finding out she’s pregnant at the same time she finds out about Fives’ death (but he’s not actually dead!) and of course it gets fluffy.

Anyhoo I best be on my way so have a good week Karrde!!

WOOOOOOT we love a good fix-it AU 'round these parts, and both of these fics seem to scratch that itch PERFECTLY along with a healthy dose of angst and maybe even some fluff! Covering ALL OF THE BASES here! Thanks so much for the recs!

Participate in Fandom Friday to show your favorite creators from this week some love! :)

[elismor]

For the five sentence fic thing...

I have a bad feeling about this.

I'll leave characters up to you.

Dig me, not altering the first sentence. :)

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

Credit where it’s due, Fives mimics General Kenobi’s delivery with uncanny precision, somehow managing to shift the register of his voice to match. And the accent? Spot on.

“You do not have the Force,” Echo grumbles. “That sabaac tournament was luck!”

"There is no luck, only the will of the --HEY. OW!”

This is for a Six Sentence Fic Challenge. If you would like, drop me a sentence in my asks (with or without a pairing, but please keep it to SW) and I’ll write 5 more. There are two open spots left!

[blackat-t7t]

Thinking about how Echo and Fives wanted to be assigned to another squad.

And everyone was always writing domino squad off, saying they'd end up on maintenance like 99.

What if instead of keeping domino squad together, Shaak Ti agreed to their request and assigned Echo and Fives to the bad batch as their new squad?

Or the other way around, Echo and Fives joining a "competent" squad and Hevy, Cutup, and Droidbait being left behind and stuck in with the other clones who weren't up to spec?

Maybe the trainers just write all of domino squad off as defective, and stick all nine of them together.

It's especially interesting if it happens when they're younger, before domino's graduation trial, so that they all spend more time in training together.

Like. Imagine how the batch would respond to new members added to the squad. Clones that look like regs, but are treated like they're "defective" in the same way. The batch resents them for being able to "pass" for regs and not being treated like somethinhg "other" for their whole lives; while the members of domino don't have any enhancements or advantages, so they have an inferiority complex even compared to the bad batch.

There would be a lot of clashing of personalities, regarless of whether it's all of domino squad or just two or three of them added to the batch. Hunter and Hevy would butt heads because they're both used to being in charge and taking point. Echo and Tech would quote regulations at one another whenever one of them tries to get away with something, and Echo would get protective whenever Tech quotes regulation at Fives. Grim, surly Crosshair would get annoyed by Cutup always cracking jokes. (Wrecker and Droidbait might actually get on fairly well.)

They'll pull together eventually, of course, but it'll take time for them to understand each other. In the end, they become a tight-knit group, very protective of each other.

And if it were Hevy, Cutup, and Droidbait added to the batch because they were left behind, there would be so much potential for angst, feeling abandoned by their former squadmates but not fitting in with their new squad. They'd probably shut everyone else out and stick together, just the three of them, and it would take time for them to open up to their new squadmates.

Does their relationship with their former squadmates improve once Clone Force 99 joins the war and Echo and Fives return for ARC training, and they realize how similarly they operate?

Maybe they start to forgive each other and work together a lot. Maybe CF99 goes rogue on a mission to rescue their regs' batchmate much earlier than in canon. Maybe Fives goes to them when he starts investigating the chips.

(Maybe the whole galaxy is saved because some sub-par regs got thrown in with the defective clones.)

[gun-roswell]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon), Star Wars - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo & CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives Characters: CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives Additional Tags: EchoVember, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo-centric, Fives Friday, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives Centric, ARC Trooper Thursday, Nostalgia, poetic narrative, Hurt/Comfort, Carrying On a Legacy, the domino twins Series: Part 38 of Echo/Fives, Part 12 of EchoVember, Part 2 of Fives Friday, Part 1 of ARC Trooper Thursday, Part 33 of 100x500

Summary.  The two were inseparable, becoming ARCs and now, Echo carries on for the both of them.

[oceansssblue]

100 CELEBRATION — PROMPT 17. PRINCE&SERVANT AU

REX/F READER 💖💔

WARNINGS: servant/slavery themes, social gap, mentions of war, soulbonds, first crush, fantasy aspects.

Note: Here we have a really fluffy timid sweet one for a servant!rex and princess!femalereader !! It will start in their childhood and skip through time. Switches between 1st pov and 3rd pov. Hope you like it! Xx, Blue.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The citizens of Bahr were also known as "water spirits" because of their surprising affinity with water creatures. The humanoid species could survive both underwater and in land; which made Bahr's cities beautifully diverse. Some towns were completely built under the ocean; others were constructed besides lakes and rivers. The Outer Rim planet had joined the Republic Alliance not so long ago; also enthraced by the idea of bidirectional protection and the reputation of the GAR. The Kaminoans had created clones of a mandalorian warrior that they later trained for different purposes; sold in batches all around the Republic for both servitude and personal army.

For the birth of Bahr's princess –the first descendant of King Fraland and Queen Altea– a new order of clones was sent to Kamino; and the kaminoans produced new batches of CT's and CC's and trained them for their new life. Some would end up serving in the palace or any of the Crown's properties; others would add to Bahr's already impressive army.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You had grown up with all the commodities of the world; from endless food on the table to the prettiest of dresses. As the only princess of Bahr, your education had been impecable as well; closely monitored by the planet's best academics and literates. You had a small flock of servants personally encharged of you; from nannies that looked after you during the day or night, to other female bahrises who were tasked to help you dress or join you in any of your multiple hobbies. Not all servants in the palace were natives; but yours were.

You had always been curious about the others, the humans; the clones. They were young too –almost as young as yourself– and from a different species; and they were boys. It was inevitable to want to find more about them. However, both the Queen and your nanies had always scolded you whenever you had tried to interact with one; so you had eventually given up on being friends with them. You still curiously observed them in the distance.

It was only at eight years old when you had your first conversation with a clone. With three clones, to be precise. They were arguing about going out on an adventure; and that had instantly caught your attention. Life in palace was –though you knew you were incredibly lucky– often boring. The oportunity of going outside was too tempting to ignore.

You remained hidden behind one of the numerous statues that were placed on both sides of the corridors –old Kings and Queens of Bahr, your ancestors–; attention tunned in in the conversation between the three boys. They weren't speaking in your native language; but your teachers had already taught you a handful of others, mando'a being one of them.

"We're not going to be able to see them properly, Fives" one of the boys said, voice a mix of exasperation and resignation. "They only come up to the surface when two true soulmates are on their own there".

Your curiosity deepens; they're talking about the Lake of the Soulmates; were small water dragons live in harmony until a couple of soulmates call them. Only in pairs they will respond; only when genuine, sincere emotions came into play. It was a sacred tradition on Bahr; though some often used it as a proof of a partner's intentions or honesty. It was a beautiful idea, the fact that soulmates existed, that someone was made specifically for you; you had always dreamed of visiting it.

"Yeah, I know" the boy named Fives whispered. "But won't seing them even under the surface be worth it? Please, Echo. I'm so tired of being trapped in here".

Something softened in Echo's face; the boy glancing at the third clone of the group with reluctant acceptance. This last one had short blond hair; a trait you hadn't seen in the rest of his brothers. It was a beautiful contrast with the bronze of his skin.

"If we get caught we could be punished or even decomissioned" he wasn't fully convinced either, though it was clear he wanted to go as well. "I don't know if we should risk it".

This was the perfect chance for you to step in.

You left the secrecy of your hideout; quietly walking towards them.

"You wouldn't be if you kindly allowed me to join you".

The three clones showed various levels of surprise and fear; jumping at the unexpected sound of your voice. Their eyes widenned.

"P-princess!" Fives stuttered, back in your native language.

Echo and the clone with the blond hair straightened inmediately.

"I desire to visit the Soulmate Lake as well" you continued, undisturbed. "I've always felt curious about them. If you allow me to tag along, and the guards find us, you may even tell them I asked you to follow me there; since I wasn't keen on going on my own. Do we have an agreement?"

Fives grinned; the other two looked unsure. Upon the first's incesant pleadings, they finally gave in, nodding in silence. The blond one turned towards you, speaking to you with a timid politeness.

"Your majesty, you may want to change to a less delicate shoe choice" he pointed out, carefully, and your eyes travelled down to your cristal sparkling sandals.

"Oh!" You blushed softly. "You are right, of course. I'll retire and switch to a more comfortable pair. I will see the three of you in the North Door in ten".

You gave them a firm nod and walked away. You were going to see the water dragons for the first time ever.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

At first, Fives, Echo and Rex were incredibly wary and tense around the princess. They had grown up learning about her; about how important she was and the responsabilities she was destined to carry. They were taught how to behave around royals; how they were not the same. It was shocking, the fact that she had even talked to them. The way she phrased things was a bit unusual, and perhaps so were some of her gestures and manerisms; but in all honestly, for a princess, she looked pretty normal.

The small trip to the Lake of the Soulmates was filled with Fives animated story-telling; Rex and Echo having long learnt how to filter him out, while the princess looked almost engrossed in his tale. All words extinguished when they finally arrived, though; the beauty of the scene that powerfull. The water looked almost like a mirror of the sky above; the trees painted in vibrant greens and oranges. There was a sort of magical peace that could almost be breathed in.

"Woah" Fives looked and wandered around almost in a trance.

Echo grabbed his shoulder and tugged him back before his brother could accidentally dip a feet on the lake's water.

The three clones and the princess made their way to the edge of it and kneeled on the grass, carefully pushing their bodies forward to inspect it; trying to get a peak of the creatures swimming beneath. But the creatures stayed hidden –as Echo had predicted–; and soon the adrenaline and excitement of the adventure extinguished.

Rex discovered himself observing the princess instead. Her hair was pinned up in an intricate updo; and a small sparkly tiara was perfectly positioned on top of her head. She had what looked like diamond earings too; and she was wearing a –expensive, he was sure– violet dress with some more accesories around her wrists and neck. Under all of that, Rex noticed her big expressive eyes and the warmth of her smile. He had always thought royalty as cold and distant –no matter how well they governed–; but perhaps he had been wrong all along. The princess chuckled at something Fives said; and Rex's eyes couldn't stop staring at her.

A splash and a gasp finally called his attention; wonder and excitement shining again in all of their faces. There was a water dragon close to the surface; it was a blurred mix of blues, cyan on it's head and turning progressively darker towards the blue indigo of the tail. The creature seemed to be curious about them as well; as it swam close to the four kids for a few minutes before dissapearing into the depths of the lake again.

They all glanced at each other in shock before chuckling and smiling happily. They stayed for what felt like another hour there, with mainly Fives and Echo bickering and Rex and the princess quietly observing. It was peaceful; freeing. Rex tenderly saved the memory in his mind.

The grins were still painted on their faces with their return to the palace.

"I had a wonderful time" the princess aknowledged them before they had to part ways. "Thank you for your company".

Fives grinned, showing a silly thumbs up.

"Yeah, cool shit, princess".

Echo rolled his eyes at his brother's choice of words and lack of proper decorum; and smacked the back of his head.

Fives shot a glance at him, pouting and catching up on Echo's silent complaint inmediately.

"Hey! I said princess!"

Luckily for all of them, the royal only watched them in amusement.

"We enjoyed your company as well, your majesty" Rex tried to spare them, nodding politely, golden brown eyes making contact with the princess's. "We wish you a good rest of your evening".

She smiled genuineningly; then courtsied in a last goodbye, walking away timidly, a small happy skip to her step.

Fives and Echo bickered at his back. Rex only wished their escapade to remain a secret –for their safety–; and to have shown the princess –she'd be their queen, someday– that clones weren't that bad.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Weeks pass after that evening with the clone boys; but thoughts about them haven't yet left your mind. You don't have much contact with people your age –or any at all, for that fact–; and you somehow find yourself yearning for more. You had enjoyed the afternoon with them; void of responsabilities and the pressure of being a princess. A royal. There was no-one to watch you with a critic at the tip of their tongue; no one to tell you how to talk or move, to punish you for things that weren't considered lady like. The memory of that tiny bit of freedom, of life, had stayed roaming around in your mind.

You had carefully asked around; tried to find more information about them. They worked in the kitchens; and though there were a few complaints about them being a bit of trouble, you generally only heard good things about the three clones. They were only two years –one, in Rex's case– younger than you; though a maid had –tried to– explain to you that with the clone's accelerated aging they'd look progressively older very soon.

Temptatively, you had tried to interact with them in the few months that followed the first escapade. They reacted exactly the same way as the first time; first with cautious wariness, and then slowly easing into a quiet, gentle friendship. Fives was the main source of trouble; Echo being the one to often reel him in and cut his crazyness short. He still joined him in few ocassions, though, and then it was Rex's turn to be the voice of reason. He was not boring by any chance –in fact, you find him very intriguing–; he just seemed more mature. Rex was observant, and surprisingly firm for someone as young as him; but he knew how to relax too. You felt warm each time you caught sight of his gentle smile.

You're on a quest to personally ask the palace's main cook to bake your favorite pie when you caught sight of them again; though not in a pleasant situation. Fives, Echo and Rex are all standing up in front of a –very obviously– angry chef; heads lowered down in a sign of repentance while the man screams inches away of their face. A quick glance around is enough to know what this is all about. The kitchen is a mess; almost as if there had been a fight –or an explosion– of flour all around. You understand the need to reprimand them if this has been the case; but the way the cook is spitting ill-words so close to their faces rubs you the wrong way.

"Useless clones, genetically engineered for what? You can't even behave in a kitchen! It's a relief you can't roam around through Bahr!"

Different degrees of hurt and anger crosses the boys faces. It grows like a flame inside of you as well.

"We understand your point, sir" Rex grits out, eyes still on the floor but posture firm. "It won't happen again".

"Of course it won't!" The cook suddenly invades his personal space and takes a violent hold of his face, nails digging into the skin of both cheeks to obligue Rex to look at him. "Because if you do, i'll make sure you're all sent back to Kamino and never see a ray of sunglight ever again!"

Something inside of you fiercely wakes up and shakes. A wave of ire and an overwhelming need to protect spreads through your veins; and you take a step into the kitchen and clear your throat, eyes settling on the cook in a heated stare.

"Princess!" The man exclaims, releasing the boy's face and taking a step back in utter surprise.

The three clones inmediately look at you. You want to comfort them, but it is a priority to get them away from this man first.

"Let this be the last time you dare to treat anyone this way" your voice holds an authority that doesn't really come from being a royal, but of a fierce heart that won't let any other option exist. "You will request a transfer to any other of the Crown's properties and leave inmediately".

The man is so shocked he almost sputters in his place.

"B-but princess..." his eyes flicker over your smaller form in a desperate way to find something to convince you with. "I'm the only one who knows how to bake your favorite Jhogan pie!"

Your expresion turns to one of disgust. The fact that this man...

"My favorite dessert can't be more irrelevant as opposed to the safety of other's lifes. I have given you the option to continue working elsewhere as a courtsey for all the years you've been working for us; but if you insist, I can make sure you won't find a job anywhere in Bahr".

The clear warning is enough to shut all of the cook's complaints down; and he turns around to send a hatefull glance to the three clones as if they have been the ones to dig his way out.

"Leave" you almost hiss then, years of trained patience coming to an end.

The man nods tersely, huffs, and walks away.

You breathe a sigh of relief when you're left alone in the kitchen with the other three boys. Their posture relax too; inmediately aproaching each other and mutually making sure they are all safe and good. The need extends to you.

"Are you alright?" You ask them, slowly aproaching them.

Fives and Echo look at you. Rex, for some reason, keeps staring at the floor.

"Yeah" Echo eventually answers. "Thank you for the save, princess. It was a kind gesture of you".

To your surprise, Fives steps forward and envelops you in a big, sudden hug.

"It was awesome! Did you see his face?" He laughs, and you chuckle as he releases you and takes a step back.

"It looked like his head was going to explode from holding all his anger back" you confirm with a tiny smile.

Your eyes travel back to Rex; who is still painfully silent, expresion closed off as if he were thinking of something deeply emotional and delicate.

"Hey" you carefully squeeze his shoulder and he breaks off of his trance, golden eyes locking on yours. "Are you okay?"

His eyes flicker over your face. He nods without saying a thing.

Your hand moves up and your fingertips carefully graze the skin of his redenned cheek. They won't be hurt like that ever again.

"You should get that checked by the doctor" you advise gently, lowering your traitorous hand to it's rightfull place. "Some marks have managed to break the skin and they might scar if you don't tend to them".

His golden eyes continue staring at you; creating a mess of contradicting and confusing emotions and thoughts you're too young to descipher yet.

"I will" Rex finally says.

When you leave the kitchen two minutes later, you murmur a soft and quiet "keep an eye on him" to Fives. The clone nods and grins.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

It has been a long day for Rex and his brothers. Their working conditions are vastly different from those of two years ago; from when the princess had faced off the main palace cook and sent the monster away. When she had protected them. The memory is still vivid and clear in Rex's memory. She had been so small, so young; and yet her voice had held such a fierce authority. She clearly cared for them; and in a world where clones –where he– meant nothing, that had touched Rex's heart.

Not having a dickhead for a boss doesn't make the hours and hours of baking any less demanding, though; and Rex can feel the ache on his muscles begging for a rest. He's on his way to the servant's floor when he hears music floating down the stairs; it's such a beautiful melody that the curious clone is already following it with quiet steps. He recognises the sound of the clarinas; small air instruments native from Bahr. But there's someone singing as well; and Rex's instincts are pushing him towards it, for some misterious reason he has no time –or desire– to analise.

He comes to a stop in front of the music salon; and takes a quiet peak inside to scan the room. At first, his eyes widen in surprise; then, he's left staring enthraced, hipnotized. He didn't know she could sing like that. The princess's voice is sweet and delicate; her range gently dancing over the notes in a peaceful melody. The song has a hint of melancholy; like a bird who sees the beauty of the outside world and feels awed and warmed by it, but can't quite hold enough strength on his wings to fly in it.

Rex golden eyes are absort on her face for the few minutes he stays listening; until a maid passing by the corridor softly reprimands him and he flushes in silence, straigthening back up guiltily.

"Don't just stand there all day, young boy. Go on" the woman tuts with a knowing smile on her face, and Rex fights down his blush and walks away.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

When you almost run into Rex in one of your late afternoon walks through the gardens, you can't help but gasp and stare at him in surprise. And not just because of the unexpected, clumsy encounter; but because of how different he looks. His growth has sprinted in this last four years. While you're looking your age –fourteen, now–, Rex –his brothers too– appear to be seventeen or so; the physical signs and changes of their teenage years dissapearing in a blink and quickly transitioning into his current appearence. He's tall, really tall now; slightly towering above you when you had once been of the same height. His facial features have changed too; shaped into firm, sharp lines. Gone is the kid Rex once was; he's certainly turning into a young man.

"Your majesty" he gives you a small courtsey and you smile at him with warmth. No matter how many little interactions you've both had over the years, Rex has never dropped certain formalities around you. It's endearing, really. "Enjoying a bit of fresh air before dinner is served?"

You nod without dropping your smile.

"Yes, indeed. The gardens are beautiful this time of the year, and a break from the noise of the palace is always welcomed" you pause and study him briefly. "Would you like to join me?"

Surprise fills his expresion; an sort of timid hesitance following.

"If you're sure, princess. I wouldn't want to disturb your moment of peace...".

You chuckle and tilt your head in a carefree grin.

"I wouldn't have offered if I found your presence disturbing, Rex" you tease him in good humour, gently linking your hand around his arm and tugging forward carefully. "It will be a short stroll, don't worry".

He doesn't say a thing. His golden eyes travel down to your hand anchored on his –surprisingly defined– bycep; then back to your face. It almost looks like he's thinking what the kriff you're doing with him. Ah, you suppose this tiptoes the line of being a royal, taking a walk with a –male– servant; but you can't help yourself. You enjoy his presence; always have, and right now a relaxing stroll between friends sounds nice.

Trying not to dwell on the fact that your bodies are touching –and the tingling sensation derived from it– you fill the –perhaps initially akward– silence with curiosities and stories about the plants you pass by; wether it's just their medical use or a particularity of a flower, or some other tradition that is rumoured in Bahr. He listens attentively, quietly; only intervening here and there. It's only after a while when you grow self-conscious; realising you're perhaps talking a bit too much.

"Forgive me" you smile guiltily, hand dropping from where you had been pointing at the petals of yet another flower. "You probably don't find all of this rants about flora interesting. You might not even like flowers for all I know..."

To your honest surprise, Rex carefully tugs said hand forward and holds it in his, gently squeezing.

"I do" he replies calmly, soothing your worries, voice deeper than it had been just a year ago. He glances at the green jade flowers and back at you. "It's the colour of your eyes, princess".

It's such an unexpected comment –and more so coming from him– that you can't control the flustered blush that inmediatelly spreads through your cheeks and down your neck. You shyly tuck a strand of hair behind your ear with your other hand; warmth spreading from where you hold him with the other one –as if some sort of energy were flowing between the two of you–.

Rex doesn't retract his comment; temptitavely caressing the dorso of your hand with his thumb, and a peacefull, almost pensive expresion on his face. You fall equally enthraced by him; gaze lost in the tenderness of his warm, golden eyes, on this new feeling sparkling between the two of you.

You had just started to see boys in another way; and Rex... Rex is beautiful. The sunset does wonders on his bronze skin, brings the gold out of his gentle brown eyes, he is undeniably handsome and his physicall appearence has nothing to envy the...

"Princess! Your majesty!" the urgent voice of your maid breaks the moment rather abruptly, tearing you out of your trance cruelly. "The King and Queen have been waiting for you in the Grand Comedor for almost ten minutes now!"

The woman continues to rant from far away, and you turn to look back at Rex with an amused chuckle –cheeks still redenned and already missing the warmth of his hand in yours–.

"I shall better go before they send a flock of angry maids to find me" you joke, still a hint of shyness on your voice and face.

Rex nods and takes a polite step back. You ignore how much your heart complains about that.

"Of course" he agrees, eyes still fixed on yours. "Have a good night, princess".

Your smile is as soft as melting butter.

"You as well, Rex".

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The next day, upon numerous innapropiate whispers of maids and servants all around the palace that reaches the rulers ears, three clones are sent away to be trained in Bahrs army. When a week later the princess's personal maids finally ask the royal sucessor the reason for her late melancholy, she brushes it aside and conjures an empty smile. She's a bird; but she has no wings.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Seven years later, life has not changed much. At least for you. At 21, you have more responsabilities as the Crown's succesor, and take a participant role in Bahr's important decisions; but that aside, life around you moves like it always has. Slow and boring; though comfortable and coveted. Diplomatic travels have become part of your favorite rutine At least that way you're able to explore Bahr's diverse cities, though you're not completely free to roam around as you'd like, but tied to long dinners and debates.

Your father has subtly questioned you about wether if you feel connected to any of Bahr's important houses heirs. Your answer has always been short and clipped. It's not that you hate all of them; some are not pretentious and fairly good company –hadsome, even–, but none make your heart skip a bit. You'll settle for someone eventually; but for now, you'll still hold onto the hope that someone who can will appear.

You're lost in thoughts when the sound of someone arriving at the Lake of the Soulmates –you had taken to visit it sort of regularly lately– pulls you out of your mind. You glance back at the new comer; a gasp inmediately abandoning your lips, face shifting with shock and surprise.

"R-rex?"

You stand up from the blanket you've placed on the grass, carefully making your way towards him. He looks just as shocked; stunned. It has been seven years since you last saw each other. He's so... He's a man, now. His eyes, though... His golden eyes hold the same gentleness.

"Princess..." he takes two slow steps towards you as well –until you're both standing in front of each other, your chin tilting up so you can see his face–. "Long time no see".

You shoot him a fond smile.

"Yes" your eyes flicker over every inch of his face. His brow is more pronounced, his jaw sharper. His lips... pouty. "You've changed".

Age has done nothing but make him look more atractive. The white and blue armour he's currently wearing –clinging to his strong muscles– only make the picture prettier.

"You as well, princess. You look..." he stops himself, cheeks tinged in red.

You can feel your heart trying to beat it's way out of your chest. You're nervous, but excited; you encourage him to finish the sentence with bright eyes and a tempting smile.

"I look?"

At first, Rex seems to hesitate; then, the soldier squares his shoulders and fixes his eyes on yours.

"You look more beautiful than ever, princess".

He tells you this tenderly but firmly; like there's no option to disagree, like it's an universal truth. The quiet passion swirling in his golden eyes makes your heart clench; tugging the corner of your lips into a radiant smile.

You close the small distance between each other with another tiny step; your body almost grazing his.

Years and years of lessons on politeness and decency, on how a royal should behave, sprints through your mind; though they are quickly shut down in favor of the fire that burns bright in your heart. Rex... Rex makes your heart skip a bit. Perhaps he always has –even when in your young age you couldn't see it as clearly as now–.

"You do too, Rex" you whisper fervently, looking up at him. "Beautiful".

Rex releases a deep breath; almost as if he had been afraid of you reacting badly to his compliment. He closes the eyes for a few seconds; as if saving the moment in his memory.

You gather your courage and swallow your own insecurities down; temptitavely caressing his hand with the very tip of your fingers –a sort of cautious invitation to do more about it–.

Rex opens his eyes and glances at you in surprise.

"Is this... okay?" you ask him timidly, hand almost trembling with your nervousness.

Rex looks to be lost in your eyes; he barely reacts, not moving a single inch.

"Y-yes, yes. If you want to, princess..."

The carefull caress turns into proper holding hands. You smile at how right such a simple thing feels.

"Will you ever call me by my name?" You tease him in good humour, a little amused chuckle escaping your lips.

Rex's eyes travel around as if you have put him in a four way crossroad.

"I shouldn't..."

Perhaps years and years of lessons on how not to behave around and with royals are flickering through his mind too.

The fire inside of you burns stronger. You end the distance between your bodies, softly anchoring yourself to him and gently wrapping your hands around his shoulders. He freezes, eyes fixed on your face, now so close to his.

"But I want you too" you reply, fervently.

Rex swallows; and you can almost feel his throat move.

"It might take some time for me to get used to it. But I can try... meshla".

You release all your tension and nervousness with a long, happy sigh; closing your eyes and pressing your forehead against his plated chest, breathing the warmth feeling he provoques in you in. Rex hands tentatively takes place in your back and caresses you gently. His tension deflates as well in the tender embrace.

Splashing water sounds force you to break apart; you both glance at the lake, but upon finding everything as usual, quickly return to search into each other's gaze. You already miss his arms around you –yours around him–; though there's still minimum space between you.

"How have you been all this time, Rex?" You ask him fondly. "You've been working for the army, have you not?"

"Just got promoted to Captain, yes" he confirms, and your eyes fly down to quickly study the pauldron on his shoulder and his blue kama, armour touches and upgrades you know well. "It has been..."

He hesitates, and you encourage him to continue with a soft smile.

"Go on. You can be frank with me".

Rex sighs and confesses.

"It's better than staying in the palace all day, every day. It makes me feel more usefull, valuable. I'm protecting people. Doing good things" he takes a breath in and quietly admits, a troubled expresion on his face. "It's not an easy task, though. I've seen... Men and woman die, lost friends. I never realised just how many brothers I had in Bahr until I started to feel like I was losing them".

His words and emotions are so honest and raw it brings tears to your eyes; though you don't allow a single one to fall.

You hold his hands in yours.

"I'm sorry, Rex. That Fives, Echo and you all felt trapped in the palace and then forced to walk away. Every native servant has decided to be there; but you clones never had the oportunity to choose. I'm sorry you've lost family as well. I hope one day you'd be able to forgive me, Rex..."

He shows you a fond smile and gentle squeezes your hand with one hand; the other coming up to cup your face.

"It's not like you had any say in our creation, meshla, or what we came to be. You were just a child as well. And honestly, the King treats us much better than other clones in other parts of the galaxy. I'm happy with where I am now; Fives and Echo as well".

"How are they, Echo and Fives?" You curiously ask him, wanting to know about the other two boys –now men– as well.

Rex smile can only be defined as proud.

"They're doing well. Both got promoted to ARC's at the same time, which is why we're all in the Capital now. There's going to be a small ceremony in the palace for all new ARC's, Commanders and Captains".

You blink in surprise.

"Oh, I wasn't aware of this".

Rex shrugs.

"I don't believe the royal family attends this" he explains "just some other high ranks from the army and the war council. It's a small thing".

You tilt up your chin and make up a quick decision.

"It's a big thing for you. I'll be there"

"You don't have to, prin... meshla..."

You smile and squeeze his hand.

"I know. I'll still try".

Rex nods, innerly touched and gratefull; and you're both left in silence for a few seconds, studying each other's hands and eyes.

"I thought of doing this a lot when we were kids" you confess, voice quiet.

Rex shoots you a surprised look.

"Holding hands?" He asks, a timid expresion on his face too.

"Among other things" you admit with a blush.

Rex is shocked by your confession; but his eyes only fill with tenderness and warmth.

"Why didn't you?"

You shrug.

"I was reprimanded a lot, told to not interact with the three of you. I was also afraid of you only accepting because you'd be afraid to say no and... And I was shy and just a child. I didn't truly understand what I was feeling and what to do about it" you glance to the say and chuckle, cheeks painted in an embarassed red. "You were my first boy crush".

Rex can't believe at first the words that are coming out of your mouth. But he sees the honesty in your eyes, the vulnerability, the tenderness and the desire; and he knows it's the beautiful truth.

He smiles and caresses your cheek with his thumb. He decides to confess as well.

"I would have accepted anything from you, princess, and not out of obligation".

Warmth spreads inside of you; this time the title sounding more of a sweet, personal pet name on his lips than a polite status reference.

Rex decides to risk it all. His other hand also travels up to cup your face in his palms; softly tilting it up towards him so he can study and caress every inch of your skin with his golden eyes.

"And now, meshla? Now that we aren't kids?"

"I..." you want him. You love him. He's the one. "I want the same things".

Rex's relieved breath flickers over your face; and barely a second later, he dips down to catch your lips in a tender, heartfelt kiss. You make a small, pleased sound in your throat and surrender to him; body melting in his embrace and kissing him back with the same softness and hunger, both mixed into perfect bliss.

When you're forced to breathe, Rex rests his forehead against you in what you know is a Keldabe kiss; taking each other in.

"I've told myself a million times iver the years that this couldn't be. That you were just a dream, an illusion I would never reach".

Your heart aches. Perhaps true, honest love is just like that; so raw and powerfull it heals as much as it aches.

You nuzzle your nose against his and answer him softly.

"I know there's responsabilities to both and that we'll face more than one public judgement. We will need to be carefull. But I've always felt curious about you, Rex. We're both older now. Perhaps things won't work out, and that's okay; but I feel very strongly towards you and I'd like to have the chance to see where this goes now".

Rex smiles and pecks your lips again. Oh, you'll soon grow addicted to it.

"Like I said, princess, I'll take whatever you're willing to give" he grins, and you're so happy you can't help but laugh against his lips.

There's a louder splash coming from the water again; and this time, a quick, initially uninterested glance turns to be an overwhelming shock. You both watch, stunned, how two blue water dragons repetitively jump up and down the surface of the lake, clearly playing with each other and having fun, oblivious to the two of you.

You stare at Rex in shock.

"Are those... Did we... Are we..." you can't seem to form the words, too overwhelmed and nervous about the possible implications of this.

Rex stares back at the small creatures.

"If we were... We should be able to call them towards us, right?" He cautiously asks.

You nod, heart pounding. The two water dragons stop playing and hover over the surface of the lake, as if suddenly realising they were being watched and looking back at you curiously.

You take a deep, centering breath and close your eyes; focusing on trying to conect with any of them. To tug at some sort of invisible connection.

You gasp at the feeling of something wet and slippery pressing against the skin of your neck; opening your eyes in wonder, staring at the almost magical female water dragon that is nuzzling against you and chirping happily.

"T-try it" you tell Rex, hands shaking to caress the legendary creature, the animal playfully nipping at your fingertips.

Rex imitates you; closing his eyes and trying to find his own connection with the other water dragon. He frowns, and nothing happens at first; but then, the creature –darker in colour but with also more white streaks in it's tail– shyly aproaches him and spins around his forearm, then moving to hover in front of him.

Rex looks at his dragon in awe and then turns towards you.

"We're soulmates" he voices, love and wonder shining in his golden eyes.

You smile and close the distance to kiss him.

"I guess that explains why I have always felt drawn to you. Yes, we are".

Rex swallows your happy chuckles and you smile against his lips. The two water dragons play around your entwinned shape, chirping happily.

THE END.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Author note:

I love Rex so much godddddd...

Ps. With this one we only have one more prompt left for the 100blueceleb. It's a short story of a demon!echo / angel!ofc ; I have already planned it through and am in the process of writing it. It's gonna be a blast, mark my words! I'm so excited to share it with y'all. Stay tunned!

Xx, Blue.

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[phantom-of-the-501st]

Frustrated Clones and a Whole Lot of Trees

Bonus halloween fic! 👻 This is not the one I was in the middle of writing, but I was just reminded of this idea and couldn't bear to not write it down. So here it is!

Just some clone shenanigans in some creepy woods

Tagging @saturn-sends-hugs @inkstainedhandswithrings and @the-bi-space-ace

He ignored the aching in his legs and the branches knocking against his helmet. His lungs hurt as he struggled for breath. He kept running. Whatever that was, it certainly wasn't normal and he was desperate to get as far away from it as he possibly could, as quickly as he could. He could still remember the sensation under his skin as it's eyes stared into him, like his blood had begun to freeze, ice crystals carving away at the inside of his veins. Like his lungs were filling with water and his head with fire. Like his flesh was beginning to slide from this body. He'd managed to turn, to escape, to run. He had to warn the others.

Suddenly, he collided with something solid and tumbled to the ground, dirt making its way into the crevices of his armour. He panicked and scrambled up, pointing his blaster at the thing he had just made contact with.

"What the kriff, Hardcase?"

It was Jesse. Hardcase felt his shoulders slump in relief as he holstered his blaster and went to help his brother up off the floor. "Oh... thank the stars... it's you." He said, panting. His lungs struggled to pull in enough air now that he'd stopped running and he felt a strong ache in his chest. His legs felt like jelly beneath him and the forest was swaying slightly.

Jesse brushed dirt off plastoid before turning to look at his brother. Even though Hardcase couldn't see his face, he was fairly certain Jesse was glaring at him. He probably would've cared more if the world was spinning less and he could actually feel anything below his hips.

"What was that about, 'Case? All I wanted to do was get back to camp and the next thing I know I'm being body slammed into the ground!" Jesse winced and gripped his shoulder as he rotated it a little. "That's gonna leave a bruise." He complained.

"Sorry, Jess. It's just... there's something out there."

Jesse got tense, his head tilting towards Hardcase and concern bleeding into his voice. "What kind of something?"

"Ghosts."

Hardcase watched his brother's stance falter slightly. It was a little easier to concentrate now that his blood wasn't rushing in his ears as much.

"Ghosts? What? Like force ghosts?"

"No. Like spooky ghosts."

He knew at that point that he'd totally lost the other.

"Spooky ghosts."

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure!" Hardcase grew frustrated. "What? Do you not believe me now? You were all concerned like two seconds ago!"

"Yeah, because I thought you'd actually seen something. Ghosts aren't real, Hardcase! You know that!"

"What about force ghosts? You were literally just talking about force ghosts!"

"For kriffs sake that's not the same thing! Force ghosts exist. Other ghosts do not."

"I know what I saw."

"I think you know what you think you saw."

"Oh come on, Jess! Work with me here!" Jesse wasn't looking convinced. Hardcase felt anger bubble in his gut. "I am telling you, there's something out there!"

His brother just sighed and shook his head. "Look, tell you what. We'll head back to camp and tell the others. If the general thinks it's worth checking out, then we'll go and have a look, okay?"

Hardcase wasn't sure he wanted to go back there. Actually, no, he was definitely sure. He did not, under any circumstances, want to go back to that place. He wanted to leave and get as far away from this stars forsaken planet as possible, preferably back to his bed on Kamino, where he would be safe from whatever was out in these trees. But the others needed to know what was out there and if anyone would know how to handle it, it would be Obi Wan.

Hardcase trudged behind Jesse as they made their way through the forest. It took around ten minutes of walking in slightly uncomfortable silence before they began to see the glow of a campfire through the branches. They made their way into a small clearing, where the rest of the group were all sat in a circle, some on boxes and others on the floor, arms propped on knees or legs spread out in front of them.

"There you are!" Rex said cheerfully. "I was starting to get worried that we would have to send a search party out to go and find you two." He kept his tone light, but Hardcase knew that there had been at least a small amount of genuine worry there. He and Jesse removed their helmets and tucked them under their arms.

"Scouting go okay?" Kix asked, titling his head to look up at his brothers.

"Hardcase is seeing things." Jesse said as he dropped down to sit next to the fire.

Kix's eyebrows furrowed. "Anything to be worried about? Did he hit his head or something?"

"No." Said Jesse easily. "At least I don't think so. But he is seeing ghosts."

"Force ghosts?" Obi Wan asked inquisitively.

"That's what I wanted to know. But nope! No force ghosts, just spooky ones apparently.

"Spooky ones?" Cody looked a little bemused.

"Spooky ones."

"Oh jeez, really, 'Case? Ghosts?" Hardcase gritted his teeth as he looked over at Fives, who was sat in front of the crate Echo was on, his brother's legs on either side of him.

"Lay off him a little." Tup said. "He hasn't slept properly in like... three days."

"You haven't slept in three days?" Rex said, clearly alarmed.

"Oh, he has slept." Jesse chimed in. "Just not a lot."

Rex and Kix shared a look of concern, their gaze flicking over to Obi Wan, who seemed to be thinking, but not overly worried about the fact that Hardcase was apparently sleep deprived. And seeing dead people.

"Tired enough to start seeing ghosts?" Kix asked.

"Oh, probably."

"I can't believe you haven't slept in three days!" Fives exclaimed. "No wonder your eyes are deceiving you."

"You're one to talk." Echo said, poking his brother in the shoulder. "You once didn't sleep for seven."

"When was this?" Rex seemed even more panicked. He was ignored as the twins started bickering with each other.

"You're right! And you know what, Echo? It was awful. I started seeing colours!"

"You can always see colours, di'kut!"

"I meant tasting colours! ...or smelling them? I don't remember. But it wasn't good!"

"No wonder you don't remember. You hadn't slept in a week!" Echo said, shoving his brother in the head as Fives tried to bat his hand away.

"That's not as bad as the time one of the shinies had to go to the med bay because he accidentally ate glue." Jesse added.

Rex looked absolutely horrified. Cody leant over to whisper in his brother's ear. "How exactly is your battalion still alive?"

"I have no idea." Rex responded in despair.

"Hey, let's not forget the time you got stuck in the air vents and had to be rescued by Commander Wolffe!" Fives said, pointing an accusatory finger at Jesse. "He was definitely not happy about that one."

"Wolffe is never happy with anything."

"Of course he isn't! He has to keep rescuing clones from air vents!"

Rex just shook his head. "I want a new battalion. This ones full of defectives." Cody simply gave him a comforting pat on the back, although the grin on his face wasn't conveying much actual sympathy.

Hardcase's arm began to shake with the amount of force he was gripping his helmet with. They weren't listening. He finally snapped.

"Will you lot just listen to me for five minutes!"

Everybody turned to stare at him in shock, with the exception of Obi Wan, who simply looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Hardcase closed his eyes and took a deep breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. He opened his eyes and looked at the Jedi.

"There's something out there, General. I don't know what exactly, but there is something out there and it isn't good."

"You just said it was ghosts!"

"Oh, shut up, Fives!"

"Don't tell me to shut up! You can't come in here on three days of no sleep and tell us that there are things that don't exist out there!"

Echo clearly felt the need to intervene as he held onto Fives' shoulder to prevent him from getting up. "Don't be an ass, Fives."

"He's the one-!"

"Calm down, all of you!" Silence fell over the camp as Rex's voice dissipated into the trees. "Stop acting like children. If there is something out there, we need to know what it is. What I do not need-" He turned to look at Fives and silence him before the protest he was about to make made it past his lips,. "Is a bunch of qualified soldiers arguing with each other! Now be quiet, and listen to what Hardcase has to say." Rex cast a stern look over the squad before nodding his head at Hardcase, encouraging him to continue.

"Err... thank you, sir." Hardcase gave a nervous cough. "Like I said, there's something out there. I don't know what it is, but I don't think it's safe. I think we need to get out of here."

"Hmm..." Obi Wan was tapping his finger on his chin. "Did this thing try to hurt you at all?"

Hardcase didn't really know how to answer that. He remembered the sensation, the awful, crawling, burning sensation. It had been terrible. But the thing hadn't actually tried to hurt him. It never even came near him. Yes, Hardcase had felt awful, but he was physically fine. The only injuries he had were from colliding with Jesse as he ran away. "Well... no."

"Hmmm..." Nobody said anything as the general continued his thinking. Fives glanced at Echo nervously, and then over at Jesse who just shrugged.

"I think we need to go and have a look. Together." Obi Wan finally said.

Well... that was the last thing that Hardcase had wanted to hear.

〰〰〰

The group marched through the forest, blasters at the ready. Obi Wan led the group, lightsaber held out in front of him as a light source and with the clones paired up behind him. Hardcase and Tup, Jesse and Kix, Fives and Echo, and then Rex and Cody at the back. They were getting closer and closer to the spot where Hardcase had seen the ghost and he could feel his hair standing on end. His blacks felt damp as he sweated nervously. He adjusted his fingers on his blaster and hunched up his shoulders, as if doing so would protect him from whatever was out there. He could see Tup glance over at him out of the corner of his visor.

Then they stopped.

"Is this the place?" Obi Wan asked, surveying the trees around them. There didn't seem to be an edge to the forest. It just continued on into the distance, endless.

Hardcase swallowed. His throat felt tight and his mouth was dry. He adjusted his hands again. They were clammy. He could feel his blacks clinging to his palms. "Yes." It was all he could get out.

"Okay. Spread out in your pairs. Hardcase and Tup, head north. Jesse and Kix, east. Fives and Echo, west. Rex and Cody, south. See if you can spot anything. Don't go far and come back here when you're done searching. Understood?" They all nodded. "Good. I'll stay here and keep look out." The pairs nodded again and headed off in their designated directions.

Hardcase's breathing was uneven. He was scared. More scared than he had ever been. He didn't want to encounter that thing again, nor did he want it to find any of his brothers either.

"You okay?" Tup asked.

Hardcase was tense. "Err... yeah. Just nervous, ya know?"

"Sure. I get it." Tup stopped and gave his brother a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. "Look, it's going to be okay. We'll do a quick scout and head straight back. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."

Hardcase just tilted his head slightly as a reply, to which Tup gave his shoulder another squeeze.

As they started moving again, Hardcase couldn't help but feel a little frustrated. He knew Tup was just trying to help, but it was also clear that his brother didn't actually believe him. There was something out here. He knew it, even if no one wanted to take his word for it.

They marched onwards, stopping and spinning in a slow circle every now and then to check their surroundings. Nothing. The more they went on, the more nervous Hardcase grew. It was too still, too quiet. He didn't understand. There was supposed to be something here. They called off their search after twenty minutes and decided to head back to where Obi Wan was. Hardcase didn't know whether to be annoyed or relieved. There was nothing there. Nothing to be worried about.

And now his brothers were going to think he was even more crazy. Great.

When they got back to their original spot, only the twins were absent, although it didn't take long for them to appear through the trees.

"Find anything?" Rex asked.

"Nope!" Fives responded. "Just trees. A whole lot of trees." He sounded frustrated. Hardcase couldn't blame him. They had all been marched out to the middle of some dark woods to go hunting for a whole lot of nothing.

"Okay, well. The others didn't find anything either. If there is anything here it doesn't look like it's going to be making another appearance any time soon." Obi Wan looked at them all. "I say we head back to camp. We'll all get whatever sleep we can and then wait for a pickup tomorrow."

A chorus of "yes, sir!" echoed through the trees and they all made their way back to camp.

By the time the pick-up shuttle touched down just after sunrise, Hardcase was now four days down on sleep and feeling rather grouchy because of it. He was even starting to think he actually was insane. Maybe he had been seeing things before. The lack of severe injuries suggested that there had been no weird encounters (unless pinballing off his brother counted. Jesse was clearly unhappy about the extra set of bruises he'd acquired). They had found nothing, and nothing had tried to ambush them in the middle of the night. Hardcase knew because he hadn't been able to keep his eyes off the trees.

He sighed and slumped down in a seat, resting his head on the window. It felt cool and relaxing. It soothed his growing headache and put just enough pressure on his temple to distract him. Everything ached and he just wanted to go home. The armour was uncomfortable and still lined with dirt, his feet were covered in so many blisters they were practically a different shape, and his neck felt so stiff he was sure his muscles had ossified. Things had been weird on the way back to camp. He was either being coddled by concerned brothers who were almost certain he had lost at least 90% of his senses, or he was being snipped at by the other half who blamed him for the impromptu field trip that had left a couple of them left with twigs lodged in places they didn't want them.

Rex had looked like he was ready to leave all of them behind, hoping that the ghosts were in fact real and that they would take them somewhere where they couldn't give him any more grey hairs. Cody was also close to being sacrificed to a paranormal entity if Rex's tired stares were anything to go by.

As soon as everyone was seated, the craft started to rise, ready to start heading back towards Kamino. Finally. This planet could burn for all he cared. Hardcase opened his eyes and looked at the trees as they became smaller below them. He froze. His blood turned to ice.

There was a figure standing in the middle of the clearing they had just taken off from.

And they were staring right at Hardcase.

[singswan-springswan]

For the first sentence ask: "What would possess you to do something so foolish?"

oooh! let's make it Domino twins!

"What would possess you to do something so foolish?" Echo begged to know. His hands were clasped plaintively together, and the beginnings of a mental breakdown were misting in his eyes. Fives pressed his lips into a line. He propped his hands on his hips. "To be completely fair, Ahsoka left me alone with the blender."

game here